Covid inquiries for Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia

sdennis

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
1,486
Reaction score
963
Location
Wixom, Michigan
Country
llUnited States
Guys,

I'm supposed to go on a Viking cruise from Stockholm to St. Petersburg to Tallinn, to Copenhagen (with 2 islands in between). Anyone on this board have any insight on those countries? Are they letting foreigners in? Looking for any local insight vs. trusting the US Gov. websites, etc.

We are supposed to leave June 6 and trying to gauge if they will go but maybe get blocked from docking in any of those cities... or should we just cancel?

Thanks for any insight I can get from anyone closer to those cities.
 

von Marwitz

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
14,358
Reaction score
10,207
Location
Kraut Corner
Country
llUkraine
There are some restrictions in Sweden and Denmark, surely also in Estland. Russia is a country with its own agenda and under Putin and his cleptocrats not to be trusted - which includes the number of Covid cases they report.

Currently, several European countries are struck by the third wave of the Covid pandemic (British mutant). The restrictions change almost every other week - per country. Bottomline: It is impossible to say now what the restrictions might be in June.

If you ask my personal opinion:

It is a bad idea to go for a cruise. The pandemic will definitively not be over by June, nor will vaccination in most countries be finished (whatever you may be calling 'finished'). You can be almost certain that various degrees of restrictions will still be in place in June. Last but not least, if it strikes on a ship, it will be very difficult to contain. I seriously doubt that a cruise ship's ventilation and air-conditioning system is constructed to deal with a pandemic like Covid and you have many people in close quarters on a ship. I still remember when this whole s*** started that some cruise ship was struck somewhere in Japan with everyone on it quarantined in port for weeks with numerous deaths.

If I were you, I would cancel for this year. I wouldn't go on a cruise this year even if I got paid for it.

von Marwitz
 
Last edited:

sdennis

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
1,486
Reaction score
963
Location
Wixom, Michigan
Country
llUnited States
Valid Points. We will be vaccinated ourselves and if Viking allows it the entire crew and passengers will be vaccinated AFAIK. Viking already canceled everything up to 5/31, if we go we would be one of the first for sure. Advantage is the ship is small (900 passengers), so my worry is more being barred from doing anything in port because of local restrictions...
 

asloser

The Head Tuomo of the Finnish ASL Community
Joined
Jan 29, 2003
Messages
1,047
Reaction score
1,593
Location
Klaukkala-Finland
Country
llFinland
Estonia is currently one of the worst Corona hotspots in Europe. But it could be different come June but there is no way to know for sure. I do not know how it is in other Nordics but currently in Finland it looks all adults have got their first vaccination by end of June. I'd imagine other Nordics and Baltics cannot be that different.

I would also be surprised if the cruise crew is 100 % vaccinated by start of June - they should have no privileges over anyone else. I bet Viking is just playing time and cancelling it at later.

I concur with von Marwitz - and I also would be surprised if cruise like this really happened in June.
 

sdennis

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
1,486
Reaction score
963
Location
Wixom, Michigan
Country
llUnited States
I don't disagree with you guys and I think my wife is close to calling it off anyway, she gets her first shot on Friday. Just wondering if anyone over there knew "Yes no international travelers are allowed in until xx/xx/xxxx or something like that. Appreciate the opinions and thoughts.

I also suspect that Viking will cancel us soon but if they don't we have a decision to make.

The entire poitn of this trip was for my wife to go to St. Petersburg and if we get on the boat and they say "Oh BTW, Russia is closed to us!" it will be a huge money sink!
 

von Marwitz

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
14,358
Reaction score
10,207
Location
Kraut Corner
Country
llUkraine
I don't disagree with you guys and I think my wife is close to calling it off anyway, she gets her first shot on Friday. Just wondering if anyone over there knew "Yes no international travelers are allowed in until xx/xx/xxxx or something like that. Appreciate the opinions and thoughts.

I also suspect that Viking will cancel us soon but if they don't we have a decision to make.

The entire poitn of this trip was for my wife to go to St. Petersburg and if we get on the boat and they say "Oh BTW, Russia is closed to us!" it will be a huge money sink!
As said before - I believe it is impossible to forsee any details for June at this point. And believe that 'changes at short notice' will be the norm in June as well. So you will have the risk of a money sink IMHO.

In Germany, there is something of a conference of the (equivalent of the) state governors and the chancellor to convene on the measures for the next two to three weeks. They argue for a day, come up with a half-baked compromise and hours later at least some of the states say that they will not adhere to what they just agreed on. Within the country, you have varying regulations in the 16 states. It is impossible to "plan" anything further than three weeks into the future against this background.

Basically it works (or rather doesn't) like this:
You have the given situation on X-day. You have the advice of science, medicine, etc. what would be the appropriate thing to do on X-day and til X-day +45. You have the people moan that the pandemic is getting on their nerves. You have the economy complain that money is more important than containing the pandemic.

On X-day +14 politics decide to address the situation of X-day. The result is a half-baked compromise between what science advises, what the people complain about, and what the economy wants, i.e. it does not equal what should have been done to contain the pandemic already 14 days ago. Of the half-baked compromise, individual states chip off some pieces. Then it takes a week or two to implement the half-baked compromise or its remains. So measures always seem lag behind for at least a month and fall short of what's necessary.

In the meantime, the virus doesn't give a s*** about this muddle and creates facts that everyone has to carry the can for.
Rinse & repeat.

We've been just through this mess again with view on the Easter holidays 10 days from now. The half-baked compromise was announced yesterday, the chipping away has begun. Go figure...

I don't know how the other countries are doing. Some might be doing a bit better, some are doing worse.
But that is what you are going to have to base your cruise's shore leaves on. If you want to leave ship in Russia, I doubt that you will run into a problem doing so. At least not from the Russian perspective. Not because there is no problem, but because Putin decrees there is none. The kleptocrats there have determined that their money is more important than the welfare of their people and they couldn't care less about a boat-load of Americans and their health.

von Marwitz
 

Actionjick

Forum Guru
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
7,466
Reaction score
4,992
Location
Kent, Ohio
First name
Darryl
Country
llUnited States
Guys,

I'm supposed to go on a Viking cruise from Stockholm to St. Petersburg to Tallinn, to Copenhagen (with 2 islands in between). Anyone on this board have any insight on those countries? Are they letting foreigners in? Looking for any local insight vs. trusting the US Gov. websites, etc.

We are supposed to leave June 6 and trying to gauge if they will go but maybe get blocked from docking in any of those cities... or should we just cancel?

Thanks for any insight I can get from anyone closer to those cities.
I have to agree with von Marwitz, I wouldn't get on a cruise ship if you paid me to and I was a sailor. Not only are they crowded but the hygiene is questionable and I wouldn't trust the crew to put the welfare of the passengers above their own. Just my opinion.
 

von Marwitz

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
14,358
Reaction score
10,207
Location
Kraut Corner
Country
llUkraine
So my cruise did get cancelled by Viking last week!
I regret that your vacation got cancelled. But I believe it was the correct thing to do. All over Europe, the 3rd wave is at large and improvement is not in sight at this time. Better safe than sorry.

von Marwitz
 

sdennis

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
1,486
Reaction score
963
Location
Wixom, Michigan
Country
llUnited States
Yeah can't argue with it. Just we scheduled it and paid for it over 2 years ago! Now we are booked for the Med in December 2022 :)
Russia will have to wait.
 

Actionjick

Forum Guru
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
7,466
Reaction score
4,992
Location
Kent, Ohio
First name
Darryl
Country
llUnited States
Yeah can't argue with it. Just we scheduled it and paid for it over 2 years ago! Now we are booked for the Med in December 2022 :)
Russia will have to wait.
Spent a lot of time under the Med. Seemed nice.😉
 
Top