Virgin voyages covid testing requirements 2022

Virgin Voyages will remove the requirements for pre-embarkation testing, according to a press release.

Virgin Voyages has responded immediately to the CDC’s decision to discontinue their voluntary COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships and will mirror the rest of the travel industry in removing pre-embarkation testing for sailings from July 24 on EU sailings, and from July 27 on US sailings.

Vaccine requirements will remain in place for both Scarlet Lady, operating out of the US, and Valiant Lady in the EU. Virgin Voyages is currently evaluating this policy and will announce further updates in the near future, the company said. 

Passenger and crew well-being is the major focus and they continue to follow the advice of their expert medical team. To clarify these updates:

• From the dates mentioned above, passengers will no longer be required to complete a pre-embarkation COVID test, applicable across the fleet, including US and EU operations. 
• For US sailings, passenger vaccination requirements will now be marked at 90%. This opens the opportunity for passengers who are not vaccinated to contact Virgin Voyages' Sailor Services to book a sailing if these thresholds are met. 
• Ship crew on all US and EU sailings will maintain their fully vaccinated status.  

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Latest update: 06 September 2022

For each cruise ship we provide a link to a page for that specific cruise ship that will enable you to make a booking for your Pre-Boarding FIT-TO-CRUISE COVID test at the Express Cruise ship COVID testing centre.

Cruise Ships Departure Dates

Virgin Voyages cruise liner operates the following cruise ships leaving Barcelona port:

Valiant Lady

Click here to make your booking for your FIT-TO-CRUISE pre-boarding COVID test for Valiant Lady

Departure dates from Barcelona for Valiant Lady:

COVID-19 entry requirements for Spain

Before boarding your Virgin Voyages cruise from Barcelona, you will first need to enter Spain and therefore meet the COVID-19 entry requirements for Spain, which we explain below.

To enter Spain from a EU or a Schengen country: you do not need to present any COVID certificate or to fill out a Health control form

EU countries include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Schengen countries also include: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland.

Since 18 June 2022, if you´re arriving to Spain from a EU country or a Schengen country, there are no more COVID related entry restrictions to Spain.

You no longer need to present a COVID certificate. Eg. you no longer need to present a negative COVID test certificate or vaccination certificate or a COVID certificate of recovery. Filling out a Health control form is no longer necessary either.

To enter Spain from any other countries (non-EU and non-Schengen countries):

- Negative COVID test certificate, vaccination certificate, or certificate of recovery or European Digital COVID Certificate equivalent

If you´re arriving to Spain by air from a non-EU or a non-Schengen country, COVID-19 certificates or EU Digital COVID Certificates or equivalents are required to enter Spain:

1. A negative COVID-19 test certificate for a COVID test taken within 24 hours of your departure to Spain for Rapid Antigen Tests and within 72 hours of your departure to Spain for NAAT tests (Nucleic Acid Amplification tests) such as PCR tests (Polymerase Chain Reaction tests), LAMP tests (Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification tests), NEAR tests (Nicking Endonuclease Amplification Reaction tests). You can also present your EU Digital COVID Certificate (EU DCC) of your negative COVID test or equivalent to the Spanish authorities.

2. OR a COVID-19 vaccination certificate that proves you had a full COVID-19 vaccination between 14 days and 270 days before entering Spain with one of the vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency or the World Health organization website. The list of vaccines valid to enter Spain can be found on these two websites:
European Medicines Agency official website of the European Union
World Health organization website

You are considered fully vaccinated after your single dose for unique-dose vaccines. For 2 shots vaccine, you´re considered fully vaccinated once the 2 shots have been administrated. You will be able to enter Spain with your COVID-19 vaccination certificate 14 days after the date you´re considered fully vaccinated.

From 1 February 2022, vaccination certificates become invalid after 270 days of you being fully vaccinated, which equals approximately 9 months. You will need to get a booster dose for your vaccination certificate to be valid to enter Spain. Your vaccination certificate will need to show the administration of your booster dose.

You will be able to enter Spain with your COVID-19 vaccination certificate as long as your last dose is of a vaccine authorized by the European Medicines Agency or the World Health Organization, even if your first doses were not.

You can also present your EU Digital COVID Certificate (EU DCC) of vaccination or equivalent to the Spanish authorities.

3. OR a COVID-19 certificate of immunity after having recovered from COVID. The certificate of recovery is valid from day 11 after your first positive NAAT test result and up to 180 days, which equals approximately 6 months.

You can also present your EU Digital COVID Certificate of recovery (EU DCC) or equivalent to the Spanish authorities.

Equivalents to the EU Digital COVID Certificate are issued by 40 non-EU countries that have joined the EU Digital COVID Certificate program.

The 40 non-EU countries and territories also included in the EU Digital COVID Certificate program include: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Benin, Cabo Verde, Colombia, El Salvador, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Israel, Iceland, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man), Uruguay, Vietnam, The Vatican.

You can find the list of the non EU countries and territories included in the EU Digital COVID Certificate program on the EU official page on EU Digital COVID Certificates.

Those who enter Spain with an EU Digital COVID Certificate or equivalent issued by any of the 40 non-EU countries will not need to fill out the Health Control Form, also known as the QR SPTH or the QR of the Spain Travel Health authority. More information on the Health Control Form is provided below on this page.

Note that the European Digital COVID Certificate is also referred to as the EU DCC, the Green Digital Certificate or as the European Green Digital Certificate. All these terms refer to the same European certificate.
The European Green Digital Certificate is simply a digital certificate that proves that you have had a negative COVID test, a full vaccination against COVID, or a certificate of recovery. So if you're a European citizen, you can either enter Spain with one of the 3 above-mentioned certificates or with your European Digital COVID Certificate.

If you do not have an EU Digital COVID Certificate or equivalent, your COVID certificate must be in English, French, German or Spanish. If you have a European Digital COVID Certificate or equivalent, then the language is not a problem as European Digital COVID Certificates are issued in the language of the country where it was issued and also in English. However, if you do not have a European Digital COVID Certificate or equivalent and if your COVID certificate is not in one of the 4 above-mentioned languages, it will need to be accompanied by a translation into Spanish made by an official translator.
You can find more information about the EU Digital COVID Certificate and COVID certificates needed to enter Spain on our page about the EU Digital COVID Certificate.
According to the Spain Travel Health website of the Spanish Health Ministry, children under 12 do not need to present any COVID certificate to enter Spain.

- Additional Health Control Form QR code needed for entering Spain by air

Any passenger arriving to Spain by air from a non-EU or a non-Schengen country with a EU Digital COVID Certificate equivalent does not need to fill out the Health Control Form anymore. EU Digital COVID Certificate equivalents include: EU Digital COVID Certificate of vaccination, EU Digital COVID Certificate of a Negative COVID test and EU Digital COVID Certificate of recovery or an equivalent issued by one of the non-EU countries that have joined the EU Digital COVID Certificate program. EU equivalents to the EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) refer to digital accreditations of vaccination and negative COVID test of recovery issued by the authorities of the non-EU countries that have joined the EU Digital COVID Certificate program. The list of these countries is provided above on this page.

So if you´re entering Spain with any of the 3 documents below issued by EU countries or their equivalent issued by the non-EU countries and territories listed above, you do not need to fill out any Health Control Form:

• EU Digital COVID Certificate of vaccination or EU equivalent,
• or EU Digital COVID Certificate of a negative COVID test or EU equivalent
• or EU Digital COVID Certificate of recovery or a EU equivalent

However, if you do not have an EU Digital COVID Certificate or an EU equivalent, e.g. if you´re travelling with a simple certificate of a negative COVID test, you will also need to fill out a Health Control Form for arrivals by air and present it upon arrival to any Spanish airport.

Health Control Form is not required when entering Spain by land, e.g., by car, train, bus or by sea, e.g., cruise.

According to the Spain Travel Health website of the Spanish Health Ministry, children under 12 do not need to present any COVID certificate to enter Spain and do not need to fill out a Health Control Form.