Thoughts About Cruising on Viking during Pandemic Times

We are safely home from 20 days aboard the Viking Jupiter.  Here are our thoughts:

Joanne doing her daily temperature check

Everything about Viking is       outstanding! 

Unfortunately, some people are not careful or just plain unlucky.  Upon boarding in Valparaiso, some folks tested positive for COVID. We guess the number positive to be 12. Although they were restricted to their cabins until they could be transferred to a sanitary facility ashore, we were among a few to be considered in close contact (shown by our tracking devices) with one or more of them preventing us from taking our shore excursion in Valparaiso.  Two days later in another port, we hiked on the Osorno Volcano and had a wonderful lunch in Puerto Varas with a spectacular view of snow-capped volcanos across Lake Llanquihue.

Unfortunately, Chilean and Argentinean health authorities prevented us from going ashore at our next three ports.  Even though this was a  disappointment, we enjoyed fabulous views of the Chilean fjords, Amelia Glacier, the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn.

Daily "spit in test  tube"
PCR tests - we had 20!

After eight COVID-free days and two brief tours in Punta del Este, Uruguay, one passenger, either not careful or unlucky, tested positive!  Although the passenger was transferred to a sanitary facility ashore in Montevideo, Uruguay, the country of Argentina denied us entry so that we could catch our flights home from Buenos Aires.   Viking knocked themselves out adding additional no-cost tours and an incredible onboard Tango show in Montevideo.  Viking chartered a plane to fly us to Miami.  Following an overnight stay at a hotel arranged by Viking, we elected to rent a car and drive to our home in Southwest Florida.

All in all, even though this was not the cruise we signed up for, we enjoyed an incredible Viking experience for a 5 star review. 

Postscript -  Lack of a mask specification (anything seems to be OK, a tee shirt pulled up and over one's mouth, for example) and lack of enforcement of the mask mandates in airports coupled with the caviler attitude toward the pandemic by some in the United States makes flying a little more risky than it should be in our opinion. 

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