Viking Cruises announced that they would be lifting COVID vaccination requirements for all guests on sailings effective November 1st, 2023.
Passengers embarking between now and October 31st, 2023, still need to be fully vaccinated to board.
In a note to booked guests, chairman Torsten Hagen wrote that much had changed in the world over the last 3 years, since the start of the pandemic and international travel had come to a halt.
"With most countries around the world lifting their vaccine requirements for foreign travelers, we can once again travel freely across all seven continents. It has been a gradual return, but I think we all can agree that life is back to normal.
"Viking will lift its requirement for all guests to be vaccinated against COVID-19, for voyages embarking on or after November 1, 2023. Our vaccination requirement will remain in place for all voyages embarking on or before October 31, 2023. As our research shows that the overwhelming majority of our guests are already vaccinated—and they have told us that, for now, they are happy with our existing protocols—we feel this is an appropriate transition period.”
Viking restarted operations in May 2021, following over a year of being shut down. The ocean-going ship Viking Star was the first to have a full-scale PCR laboratory at sea with capability to do daily large-scale testing.