The luxury ocean, river and expedition cruise line Viking announced that it has canceled the request for testing on COVID-19 before the cruise, as well as during the trip.

The line said it decided to make the change because the CDC recently updated its travel protocols and no longer requires those traveling to the U.S. from a foreign country by plane to show a negative entry test.

On the line’s health and safety webpage, it posted an update saying “On June 10, 2022, the U.S. announced it is eliminating the COVID testing requirement for air travelers to enter the country… Therefore, effective immediately, Viking will discontinue all on board COVID testing fleetwide. However, we will continue to provide testing if a guest reports symptoms, requests a test, or if our Medical Team deems necessary.”

And while the Viking also no longer requires a pre-cruise test unless the destination requires it, it still warmly recommends that guests still pass it before arriving on boarding day. There are two ships that will be an exception to this rule. Selected trips to the United States and Canada on Viking Orion and Viking Octantis will continue to require guests to show a negative test before cruising.

Vaccine requirements on the cruise for passengers and crew remain in place, and the crew will continue to wear masks and be tested as needed.

During the shutdown of the cruise industry, the Viking installed PCR laboratories on all its ocean-going ships. Because of these labs, the line has been able to perform daily PCR testing on COVID-19 on all guests and crew since it resumed operations in May 2021. According to line founder and president Torstein Hagen, this has allowed the line to quickly isolate cases on board and prevent any epidemic on their ships.