So Many Changes!
Summer 2022- So Many Changes! For a while there we could not keep up with ports that were open or closed, or which ships were on the CDC orange list...or how many passengers and crew were being quarantined. We still see many complaints from passengers on cruise line fan blog sites about ruined vacations and quarantines. Yet 90-95% of passengers are healthy and experience a good cruise from what we know.
The biggest problem we see now is the cancellation of flights going to embarkation ports, and the airlines are doing their best with limited flight crews, ground crews, and gate personnel.
Cruise lines are also suffering from crew shortages, so my recommendation is to be kind and deal with it. It will take perhaps years to get back to normal, with consistently good service in our favorite cruise line. Lower your expectations, be kind and grateful for hard working crews, or honestly, don't cruise now.
Here we will try to summarize our observations as we see them in travel industry news, in the hopes that travel in all forms will get better. We are all suffering from the past 3 years of pandemic.
Travel Agent takes a Viking Ocean cruise - Fall 2021 (TravelAgent magazine)
Cruising 10 days roundtrip from Valetta, Malta this fall on Viking Venus, the newest of Viking’s 930-passenger ocean vessels, I discovered that this ship -- launched in 2021 -- may just be the world’s safest ship when it comes to pandemic era protocols.
Of course, that's anecdotally just "my call," but I've experienced robust health/safety protocols on eight other cruise ships of major cruise brands in 2021 too. All those ships -- big or small, ocean or river -- had well-thought-out protocols, most more robust than what I've experienced this year on land or in the air.
So what's making Viking Venus (and her five sister ships) so different within the cruise industry and far ahead of many land-based venues? Here's some insight...
Safety First
While nearly 20,000 passengers traveled this summer on Viking ships through late August, only 32 people tested positive for COVID-19. Only four of were symptomatic. That’s less than 1 percent. Only two people were hospitalized.
Certainly, that's partly attributable to Viking’s strict protocols for its ocean vessels that include vaccinations for all guests/crew on the ships, daily temperature checks, daily health questionnaires, social distancing, masking requirements and capacity controls (about 400-500 people sailing on each ocean cruise, rather than the maximum of 930 normally), among other steps. But other lines have adopted these and other protocols too.
So what's special? Here's where Viking Venusand her sister oceangoing ships stand out with these added protections: :
• A state-of-the-art PCR testing laboratory on each ocean ship -- the only ones at sea for major lines within the cruise industry;
• A mandatory, daily PCR saliva testing requirement for all guests and crew; and
• UV technology disinfection as two large, high-technology robots roam ship corridors and public spaces at night, similar to what's done in hospitals.
"It's been a heck of a year," Torstein Hagen, Viking's chairman, told reporters on our sailing. “ "The vaccine has helped a lot but it's not enough."
Daily PCR Tests
Viking's guests receive this tray -- positioned on their bed upon embarkation -- with PCR saliva test tube vials, hand sanitizer, masks, sanitary wipes and a daily health questionnaire. (Photo by Susan J. Young)
Arriving in my suite on embarkation day, I discovered a COVID-19 prevention/protection/PCR saliva testing kit placed in a try on my bed. The tray also held freebies for guest use, such as masks and hand sanitizer. It also had a health questionnaire which needs to be completed daily submitted to the cabin steward, or completed on the Viking app.
Plus, the tray held a contact tracing device that guests are asked to take with them while traveling around the ship and ashore on shore trips. It can be worn around the neck or tucked away in a purse or pocket. Allan Conoval,travel consultant, cruise specialist and franchise owner, Cruise Planners in Wanaque, NJ, sailed on a Viking ocean ship recently and liked the contact tracers for guests as "an added precaution."
Viking is clear that the device is not used to track guest movements during the cruise; it only detects which guests may have come in contact with a guest who has tested positive for COVID-19. That way, the line can take appropriate measures such as more testing.
PCR-Testing Laboratory
Viking's state-of-the-art PCR laboratory onboard its ocean ships can run 1,500 PCR saliva tests for guests and crew daily. Each lab is staffed by two dedicated technicians who run the daily tests, and a doctor who reviews and evaluates results.
One high-tech process extracts the RNA from the guest’s saliva sample. Then the samples are evaluated by a second machine that detects COVID-19. Results are available typically within four hours.
Travel Agent toured the shipboard lab while sailing on Viking Venus and learned that the goal is to detect COVID-19 early in any guest or crew member before an antigen test would ever pick up the presence of the virus. If the guest or crew member tests positive, they're given a second saliva test and a swab test.
But most importantly, those people testing positive and confirmed to be that via the second test can be identified and taken off the ship “before” causing any more extensive outbreaks among other guests.
While Viking’s river vessels do not have a PCR lab on board, they’re close to destinations so the line uses the same daily PCR saliva test process but partner labs ashore handle the testing and report results to the line.
The PCR Test Process
Every morning in the privacy of their accommodations, guests spit in the small test-tube-like vial and with enough saliva to fill "up to a certain mark." That's done before they drink any coffee or brush their teeth for the day.
Sometimes, getting the amount of saliva needed for testing can be a challenge as guests on our cruise mentioned to each other. But I hunkered down and did it. One gets the hang of it after a day or two.
If leaving for breakfast, I’d put the vial within a sealed plastic bag and place it on my in-suite countertop or on the tray or bed. Presto, it would be picked up by the cabin steward. If I was having breakfast via room service, I’d simply pop my head outside into the corridor and usually quickly find my cabin steward and hand it to him.
If a guest has not submitted a daily PCR sample by 9 a.m., the doctor says he's on the phone with housekeeping to ask where the sample is. Bottom line? Expect proactive cabin stewards to be knocking on your door after 9 a.m. to retrieve the vial. That will occur even if the “do not disturb” sign is on your door, as we discovered one day.
But many guests welcomed the tests. "The daily tests didn't bother me," Conoval said, "and yes, I felt safer."
Testing, Pro and Con
"I think we have done the right thing," Hagen says about the onboard daily testing requirement, noting that other lines don't do that "because they don't want to spend the money. We spend as much on testing as on fuel."
Many travelers on my cruise seemed happy that everyone on the ship was being tested every day. While opinions of the need (or not) for such stringent regulations vary, I personally did not feel the daily testing or other protocols detracted from my enjoyment of the cruise experience.
In fact, it was just the opposite – giving a sense of calm and safety.
The line’s perspective and that of other cruise lines we’ve talked with shows that positive tests do and will occur, as they will on land too. It’s how they’re handled that impacts any potential spread. And again, frankly, the processes at sea to prevent the virus’ spread seem quite robust.
Saliva tests are completed by late afternoon in Viking Venus’ onboard lab. By 4 p.m. or shortly thereafter, if anyone tests positive the doctor and hotel director are showing up at the guest’s cabin. The guest is asked to quickly pack, moved to a separate isolation area cabin and must remain there until the results of a second test to confirm the diagnosis are evaluated.
If results are confirmed as positive, the guest is taken off the ship as soon as it’s near an appropriate port. Viking has agreements with every port so it’s known in advance that guests testing positive will be accepted ashore and how the situation for them will be handled.
A Viking oceangoing ship is shown above in Iceland. (Viking)
That varies by government. For example, on our Malta cruise, if anyone tested positive they were taken off and went into immediate two-week quarantine set by the Maltese government. Viking told us they paid for the stays in quarantine accommodations.
But it's highly recommended to have travel insurance with COVID-19 protection too. Each government is different in terms of their policies. Cruise line policies for guest assistance "after" being taken off the ship also vary.
One interesting point? While many governments recognize the validity and benefits of the PCR saliva test, as yet that's not the case with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But Viking believes that more solid results from the testing program this year will be a good way to demonstrate the benefits.
In fact, the doctor briefing reporters onboard Viking Venus told the media that the line believes the PCR saliva test is more effective in finding any cases “earlier” than the norm – thus preventing a bigger problem.
"There is testing and then there is 'testing,'" says Hagen, emphasizing the robust nature of Viking's program. For example, on most other cruise lines’ ships, normally once a guest boards, cruise lines don’t typically retest until mid-way through a cruise or even last-day and mostly that's so the guest has an antigen test result for re-entering the U.S.
But Viking’s daily testing may find those cases two or three days before the guest would show up with symptoms, or in asymptomatic guests, find it when guests have no clue they're sick. The daily test frequency cuts that time frame and often the number of people exposed.
Robots Disinfect with UV Rays
Many other health and safety protocols are at work on Viking's ships too. We observed Viking’s crew constantly disinfecting and wiping railings, elevator touch areas and other surfaces around the ship that guests touch.
At one point, I had forgotten to wear my mask while transiting a public area and a crew member immediately asked if I had one. I didn't have it on me, so the crew member “hold on, let me get you one.”
I liked the fact that they asked people without a mask to put one on “nicely,” rather than simply ignoring those who weren’t following the rules.
"I know of no other cruise line with such robust COVID-19 protocols, including daily temperature monitoring, daily testing through its onboard labs, a daily health questionnaire, and an enforced mask mandate," says well-known travel writer Judi Cuervo, a frequent contributor to Porthole, a consumer cruise magazine. She also sailed on Viking Venus this year.
One of the health/safety steps undertaken by Viking that's cool is that nightly, two high technology robots on each ocean ship circulate through public spaces, restaurants, the spa, gym, lounges, the theater, corridors and other public spaces.
The robots use UV ray technology to disinfect – just as medical facilities and hospitals do on land.
Other safety and health protocols or procedures offered by Viking? On our cruise, there was a Lufthansa air charter nonstop from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to and from Malta.
It was a "bubble" as all air travelers on the flights were Viking's guests only and thus all were vaccinated.
The nonstop flight provided a better safety net than a connecting flight to Europe, transiting a major hub and reboarding another plane, where all guests on both flights were not necessarily vaccinated nor tested.
Just Right or Too Much?
"COVID-19 safety measures trigger passionate debate, pro and con, everywhere and that certainly extends to cruising," Cuervo says.
Some travelers feel that being vaccinated is all that’s needed for them to feel safe while traveling and cruising. They may not want too many other restrictions or protocols.
But for others -- like me -- who’ve seen the statistics for breakthrough COVID-19 infections on vaccinated people, a more stringent onboard protocol program is welcome.
From my end, at the outset, the daily PCR saliva testing did take getting used to. But by the end of the second day, given this and other protocols, I felt very safe onboard.
Also, Viking is holding down capacity so at times the ship was empty in certain public spaces, plus the line has many al fresco dining spaces and is essentially adults only right now.Just pack patience and a go-with-the-flow attitude for any cruise.Things change daily.
On my Viking Venus voyage, the self-serve buffet was adapted to staff only service. That was the case on Cuervo's cruise too, until it wasn't. In addition, the day that self-serve buffet returned, the ship also adopted a "no dancing" policy.
"Bubble" shore trips (where guests aren't permitted to roam freely in destinations) or the normal ones guests are accustomed to (with exploring on their own) depend solely on the policies of local ports and nations. One country may require a bubble, another may not worry about vaccinated guests going out and mingling with locals.
Viking's publishes online information about its overall approach to health and safety protocols. Individual requirements for certain itineraries will be communicated directly to advisors and guests as well.
In addition, Viking TV offers a video interview with Dr. Rachel Bono, the line’s chief medical officer, and a former retired vice admiral of the U.S. National Naval Medical Corps. She also previously led Washington state’s response to the pandemic.
Conoval not only sailed on Viking but on two other major oceangoing lines' voyages this year. When it comes to health/safety protocols and the daily PCR testing, he's emphatic: "Nothing compares to the standard of Viking."
From Hagen's perspective, "it's safer than being at home." Frankly, based on our onboard Viking Venus experience, we'd have to agree.
Dick
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Hopeful repeal of the Passenger Vessels Services Act
From Travel Weekly, and agent magazine -
"When it comes to cruising, Hawaii and Alaska appear to have very little in common. More than half of Alaska's tourist arrive via cruise ship every year, while they accounted for only 1% of all Hawaii visitor arrivals in 2018, according to the nonprofit Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. That organization, a member of the State Policy Network, an umbrella organization for a consortium of conservative and libertarian think tanks, is joining forces with organizations in Alaska to call for reform or repeal of the 1886 U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA).
Why? Over the last year, the impact of the PVSA on Alaska had made headlines due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Before that, the average cruiser might not have known that foreign-flagged cruise ships, which account for all large cruise ships in the U.S. but one, must stop in a foreign port (Vancouver or Victoria, British Columbia, in Alaska's case) in order to visit U.S. ports. With Canada's current ban on cruise ships running through next February, this makes Alaska cruising nearly impossible for ships sailing from Seattle. But the law has had a much larger impact on the remote Hawaii market. For a foreign-flagged vessel to call on Hawaii and stop at a foreign port, there are no options with the proximity of Vancouver or Victoria. The closest stop is Fanning Island, Kiribati, 1,000 miles south of the state, which requires a day at sea each way. Ships sailing to Hawaii from California usually stop in Ensenada, Mexico, which is more than 2,000 miles from Hawaii, and the long cruise from the mainland to the islands and back means most Hawaii cruises are at least two weeks long, with about half being at sea.
The one PVSA-qualified, large cruise ship in the U.S. is Norwegian Cruise Line's 2,500-passenger Pride of America, the only large ship offering interisland Hawaii cruises, which was made possible via a PVSA waiver given to three ships in 2003 in order to launch the Hawaii cruises after a complicated deal with Congress.
According to Grassroots, the PVSA costs Hawaii overall $1.2 billion annually and costs the state about 9,100 jobs. The organization hopes that Alaska's "more immediate crisis will prove to be the window of opportunity for those in Hawaii and elsewhere who wish to remove legal impediments to vibrant ocean cruising in U.S. waters."
"The PVSA was enacted in 1886, long before either Alaska or Hawaii joined the United States," says a statement on Grassroot's website, which was submitted in March along with the Alaska Policy Forum, another conservative think-tank, to an Alaska Senate's Labor and Commerce Committee hearing requesting a PVSA exemption for Alaska this summer. "Its purpose was to protect U.S. maritime jobs, but it has failed in that mission. The last large ocean cruise liner built in a U.S. shipyard was in 1958. Considering the ineffectual nature of the PVSA, there seems to be little or no reason to continue it, especially when the costs so clearly outweigh the benefits. Even during pre-Covid-19 times, the act was a harmful restraint on trade."
Grassroot and the Alaska Policy Forum both contend that Alaska's current situation makes it clear "that this 135-year-old protectionist maritime law needs attention. Hawaii and Alaska have a history of working together to push for less costly federal shipping regulations Today, we want to rekindle this spirit of cooperation and support Alaska's plea that Congress grant it relief from an archaic and expensive law."
However, given that U.S. lawmakers seem more focused on encouraging Canada to permit ships to make technical stops this summer than to obtain a waiver to the PVSA, it seems there is an understanding as to how difficult it may be to get a waiver.
The Alaska congressional delegation -- Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young -- in February called on the Canadian government to reconsider its decision to extend its cruise ban for another year and said the move is "not only unexpected, it is unacceptable and was certainly not a decision made with any consideration for Alaskans or our economy." Top-ranking members of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure later asked Canada to allow ships to make technical calls at Canadian ports this summer.
The head of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, meanwhile, encouraged the Biden administration to consider a limited exception to the PVSA while working with Canadian counterparts on a solution. It may be easy to Blame Canada, but in this case, it seems it's been deemed easier to work with Canada rather than the those within the U.S. government committed to preserving the status quo."
Just repeal this antiquated and useless law.
Breath of Fresh Air on a Cruise Ship
There's nothing like breathing fresh air while cruising the open ocean. But what happens once you step inside a cruise ship — how does the air flow into your stateroom, restaurant and other spaces on board? This is precisely what Royal Caribbean Group wanted to confirm and understand in detail.
Enter the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI), with the support of the Healthy Sail Panel, globally recognized experts in medical practice and research, public health, infectious diseases, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime operations to recommend the most effective, scientifically sound ways to make the cruise experience healthier and safer. The team from UNMC and NSRI — specialists in bioaerosols (the study of airborne particles) and more recently worked with the U.S. Department of Defense on the study of air flow on airplanes — boarded a Royal Caribbean Group ship while berthed in Miami in July 2020. The scientists set out to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the ship's air management as well as understand how aerosols pass through the HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system.
Their work confirmed that under the current HVAC system the transmission of aerosol particles between spaces through the air handling system is exceptionally low and undetectable both on surfaces and in the air in most test cases. This is thanks to the robust and efficient system originally designed into the ship for maximum ventilation, continual fresh air intake and filtration. To add layers of safety and further minimize the possibility of spread, the team recommended adjusting shipboard settings to allow for the maximum air changes per hour and upgrading to MERV 13 filters throughout the system. In the medical facility, already equipped with an independent ventilation system, HEPA filters have been added for extra precaution.
"Our existing HVAC system is designed with several layers to continuously bring in the ocean air and filter it multiple times before it reaches our guests and crew. We are glad to see the study conclude that our robust system is effective in reducing transmission,” said Patrik Dahlgren, Royal Caribbean Group’s senior vice president of Global Marine Operations and a member of the Healthy Sail Panel. "By taking a scientific approach and implementing recommendations made by the experts at University of Nebraska Medical Center and the National Strategic Research Institute, we’ve created an environment that is even safer for our guests and crew. And we’ve done so without compromising their comfort — which is always front of mind because this is our guests’ vacations and our crew’s home at sea."
The study by UNMC and NSRI scientists, conducted in July 2020, helped inform the Healthy Sail Panel’s 74 detailed best practices to safeguard the health of guests, crew and communities cruise ships visit. Upgrading HVAC systems was among the critical recommendations outlined in a 65-plus-page report submitted in September. The robust set of measures put forth by the panel and adopted by the cruise industry as a whole is rooted in science, data-driven and developed with guidance from specialists, such as UNMC and NSRI bioaerosol team, public health authorities around the world and Royal Caribbean Group’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Calvin Johnson.
As of February 2021....
The CDC has not even hinted as to what it will approve for cruise line health protocols before allowing the cruise-starved public embark on a cruise ship. Actual cruises have been cancelled through April 30, and probably more future cruises will be cancelled. The pent up demand for cruises among avid cruise travelers is tremendous. The economic impact on cruise ports is terrible, with thousands of workers out of work...not just port workers, but suppliers to ships, crews themselves, and tourism workers in destinations. The cruise lines themselves have skeleton crews on ships, but each ship's idle time can cost millions of dollars every month. We are hoping that the vaccine rollout will mitigate the virus and its variants, and hopefully ships will sail before 2021 is over. Royal Caribean has designated a new home port for some of its ships in Barbados, so if cruisers can get to Barbados, and stay healthy to get back into the US afterward, cruises may start there. Meanwhile we wait, and pray for those lost and their families and for better times to come.
2021 Will be the Restart of Cruising!
November 2020-
Cruise lines are already getting their ships and crews together. They will be starting meeting the American requirements of test cruises, most of them in January 2021.
While we dont know how long it will take the CDC to approve the test results and certify ships, we expect Passenger-carrying cruises to begin the the second quarter
of 2021. Hopefully it will be sooner is a vaccine is truly approved and available to the cruising public.
Carnival Corp has to certify that all of it ships also meet the court-ordered environmental requirements, and it is not clear if that includes all of the Carnival
brand ships that sail from the US (HollandAmerica, Princess, Crystal, Cunard, Seabourn and Carnival).
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