Riviera River Cruises today announced that it will require all passengers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or present a negative test prior to boarding its ships when European river cruising restarts. The same requirements are also applicable to ship's crew members, who will also undergo additional daily temperature checks and ongoing health screenings in the interest of further precaution.
The new policy stipulates that vaccinated guests will need to have received all doses of a COVID-19 vaccine protocol, with the final inoculation administered a minimum of seven days prior to cruise departure.
Those who aren't fully immunized will be offered a complimentary COVID-19 test, which (provided their results are negative) will enable them to set sail as planned. Any guests who might test positive prior to their scheduled cruise will be able to transfer their departure to a different date without penalty.
"As we eagerly await our return to Europe's rivers, we've decided to require full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test before departure to increase safety," said Marilyn Conroy, Riviera River Cruises' Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing North America. "This new requirement, combined with our comprehensive customer care policies and health and safety protocols that will be in place aboard our ships, will allow guests to travel with us with confidence."
Riviera has already introduced new, flexible customer care policies in light of the pandemic, which include free changes made to new bookings and COVID-19 Cancellation Protection that comes standard with all reservations. The company also upholds a happiness guarantee, which offers to bring guests who aren't satisfied by the second day of their cruise home, refunding their booking and even covering any change fees or fare increases to their original airline ticket.
Riviera has also installed an enhanced set of health and safety protocols aboard its ships, including routine guest health screenings and daily temperature checks, luggage sanitizing, social distancing in public spaces, continuous cleaning of touchpoints and throughout public areas, full waiter service in restaurants and lounges, deep cleaning and full ventilation between sailings and medical checks and quarantine periods being required for all new crew members. The wearing of face masks may also be mandated when moving about the vessel or while on excursions.
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