Viking has created the only PCR labs at sea — Photo courtesy of Viking
Never one to follow the pack, Viking has distinguished itself from other major cruise lines by focusing on “exploring the world in comfort.” Unlike most of its colleagues, it doesn’t allow kids under 18, it doesn’t have casinos and it doesn’t charge extra for Wi-Fi, laundry, specialty restaurants or beer and wine at lunch and dinner. Plus, one shore excursion is included in every port and every cabin comes with a private balcony.
But nowhere are their differences more apparent – and more important – than in their handling of COVID-19.
Viking is the only cruise line requiring daily PCR testing and the only one to put their money where their mouth is and build their own onboard labs to get it done.
While most cruise lines are requiring passengers and crew to be fully vaccinated, those that allow children under 12 – who aren’t eligible for vaccines yet – are the most vulnerable.
Test tubes are left for guests every night — Photo courtesy of Lois Alter Mark
“We’ve shared our testing protocol with a couple of the large cruise lines and they said they can’t afford to do it,” says Torstein Hagen, Viking founder and chairman. “Frankly, I can’t see how they can afford not to do it.”
Hagen says, “We are taking ‘cruises’ out of our URL because we don’t want to be associated with that other bunch. We are scientifically oriented. We are different.”
The first cruise line to stop sailing when COVID hit last year, Viking immediately started looking at ways to ensure their guests would be safe when they started again. “We saw what was happening, realized we were not prepared for it and just turned the ship around,” remembers Hagen. “It was an obvious decision to make. The health and safety of our guests has to come first.”
All Viking passengers undergo daily PCR testing — Photo courtesy of Viking
They called in experts like Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono, M.D. (who they later hired as their Chief Health Officer) and started studying the situation, paying special attention to the massive outbreak on the Diamond Princess, where, according to Japanese researchers, the seven deaths and almost 700 infections aboard the ship most likely stemmed from one infected person.
“The conclusion was that the only way to stop the spread was by testing daily,” says Hagen. “So the protocol we developed was based on those early findings.”
According to Dr. Bono, “We knew at the time that the technology and science really supported PCR labs because that was the type of testing that most reliably caught the virus the earliest. So then it just became a matter of configuring the space onboard the ships to accommodate the labs and make sure we had the right kind of equipment and the right kind of lab techs – who we trained ourselves. These labs are truly state of the art.”
On every Viking ship, test tubes are left in staterooms at night for guests to spit into when they wake up in the morning. The test tubes are then picked up and delivered to the onboard lab. River ships, which are too small for onboard labs, partner with shore-based labs. Results come back within 3 to 4 hours for both.
But that’s only part of it.
Viking has already done almost 200,000 PCR tests — Photo courtesy of Viking
Every Viking passenger is given a small contact tracing device to wear around their neck or keep in their pocket. “I insisted on those and was accused of being conservative but I like to think of it as being cautious,” laughs Dr. Bono. “There will be positive cases and we want to make sure that we identify and contain the virus as quickly as possible. The important thing is preventing the spread because that’s where the biggest risk is. The testing is kind of like a radar – it tells us where you’ve been – but it’s the contact tracing that tells you where the virus might be going.”
Since Viking started sailing again in May, they’ve tested more than 19,000 guests on their ocean ships. With an average cruise length of 10 days, that’s almost 200,000 tests – with only 32 positive results and just four people with symptoms.
“On another ship, those 32 would have been wandering around, spreading the virus,” says Hagen. “Cruise lines operating shorter trips maybe think they can get away with it, that it won’t happen while they’re on the ship. But it will spread in droves once those passengers disembark.”
The UV-C robot disinfecting the World Cafe — Photo courtesy of Viking
When someone on Viking tests positive, they’re isolated in their cabin until they can be taken off the ship. “We’ve made arrangements with the best hotels – with the best views – in each port so they can quarantine comfortably, and we keep tabs on them every step of the way,” says Dr. Bono.
Because Viking believes that, in addition to their guests and their crew, they have a responsibility to the places they visit, they have developed strong partnerships with local health port authorities, sharing their protocol and letting them set capacity caps (which have averaged about 50%).
As those local authorities get familiar with Viking protocol and its effectiveness, they often defer to the cruise line for testing. It’s not a stretch to see that, because of this earned trust, Viking ships would get preference when it comes to visiting a port – especially a small, more remote one.
All Viking guests take their temperature daily — Photo courtesy of Lois Alter Mark
“We now spend as much on testing as we spend on fuel because the key thing is safety,” says Hagen. “Everything else is secondary…if you forfeit the safety of your passengers, you’re in for trouble.”
Viking’s bookings are up more than 40% from the same time in 2019 and guest satisfaction, according to post-cruise surveys, is at least as high as it was pre-pandemic. Passengers feel safe and other cruise lines would be smart to adopt Viking’s comprehensive COVID protocol if they want the industry to come back quickly and fully.
“I’ve heard some of my colleagues in the industry stand up on CNBC and say cruise ships, in general, are the safest place on earth and that is not true,” says Hagen. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if [Viking ships] are. I don’t know any other organization where people are tested every day. It’s the thing that matters.”
