happytalk44

Our free air on The Great Lakes cruise could not be upgraded.

10 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Heads up, something  to keep an eye on: I am hearing in the chatter that not all of the FREE airfare offers can be upgraded.  

 

I have 2 questions that will probably offend some.  Please forgive but they are important to me.

1) Can nice jeans be worn in the dining room on America?  We have a traveling/packing issue for our Oct cruise on the Mississippi and I need to organize.

2)  Can Anyone tell me where the smoking area is?  (Just go with it!  🙂 )

As someone who actually read the Terms and Conditions on Viking's website before booking my first cruise, I read the following section in which it is clearly stated that changing to a promotional fare is considered a cancellation with cancellation fees involve. That section can be found in the following link:

 

www.vikingcruises.com/terms-conditions/index.html

 

I have to say that this was a positive for me as I knew that the fare churning so common on other lines would not allowed on Viking and that Viking would not be allowing for the nickel and diming by the passengers of the cruise fare when calculating the per diem value per passenger that Viking would have available to spend on the expenses of provisioning the cruise or providing entertainment.

 

By the way, the cruise fare and airfare has increased for my cruise since I booked. Viking has not asked for the difference and I have not called to volunteer to pay the increase.

This price drop is not a promotional fare. it is an actual drop in price.

I would not expect any cruise line to ask for extra money for increases. However, your passage contract does state that they have that option.

You know, I don't think the sarcasm helps when the purpose of my original post was informational only. Pure FYI for those who might not know Viking's policy. I did not expect a Go Fund Me account! Concerning yourself with my reading skills is not really helpful, is it?

Hi Happytalk, just noticed you said insurance was paid. Was that through VO? And is that why you can’t cancel and re-book?

 

Seems we need a discussion of how insurance plays into booking strategy also.

Yes, insurance is with VO. Had to do it at booking due to the pre-existing clause.

Just because you and your travel agent assumed that Viking would adjust fares, doesn't make it so. Airlines don't give you money back if the price drops. Car dealers don't give you money back and other than that some cruise lines do it, you shouldn't reasonably expect all cruise lines to have the same business model.

 

Viking is different from other cruise lines. It does not play the pricing games that other cruise lines play and once on board, you won't be nickeled-and-dimed to pay for this that and the other thing in order to make up for a cut-rate fare that was simply used to entice you on board knowing they would make it up later--and in spades.

 

You have plunked down a goodly sum of money for your B2B2B and while you are a bit annoyed now, you have a year to get over it, so that you can actually enjoy your vacation, which all of us here are sure that you will. There is more to like about Viking than there is to dislike.

Thank you for your thoughts. Many of your comments do not address my issue but it is kind of you to take the time to respond. As I was merely hoping to get the price drop of several thousand dollars it seemed appropriate for me to ask. We have cruised many times on lines and are not "nickel- and- dimed" and do not cruise on "cut-rate" fares.

Again, I thank you for your thoughts but I doubt you really know if I will "get over it".

I found today that our B2B2B for the Far East in October 2019 had a significant price drop in one of the segments. I contacted my TA re: this and have been informed that the price at booking is "locked in" and can not be changed.

Interesting-- and I will never book Viking Ocean again. Stuck now as my insurance is paid.

Just FYI for anyone who wants to book a VO!

We are currently on the Crown for the 10 day NE/Canada. It is wonderful. Ship is in great shape and food is delicious. Can not imagine what folks find to complain about. Have not heard a single complaint in 6 days so far. Sailed on her years ago and see no difference!

Update on Trip Mate insurance--

It has been a fiasco but thanks to the wonderful customer service of Steven and Sue at Viking River Cruises--and our amazing TA-- we have finally received payment from Trip Mate. Many inconsistent statements from the company finally resulted in the checks arriving but it required a great deal of agony and effort on the part of all-- for our benefit! It is hard enough to have to go through the process without having to put up with deception and shenanigans from the insurance company.

Viking River Cruises will continue to have our support after seeing the wonderful care we received from them when the going got tough.

Thank you Steven, Sue and Donna!!

Update on Trip Mate insurance--

It has been a fiasco but thanks to the wonderful customer service of Steven and Sue at Viking River Cruises--and our amazing TA-- we have finally received payment from Trip Mate. Many inconsistent statements from the company finally resulted in the checks arriving but it required a great deal of agony and effort on the part of all-- for our benefit!

Lesson learned---never again!! It is hard enough to have to go through the process without having to put up with deception and shenanigans from the company.

Thank you Steven, Sue and Donna!!

IMO this is another reason to use a Travel Agent:

(1) TAs sell a policy from Allianz that has very good coverage, and when we had to cancel a trip for health reasons this spring they were very reasonable about what they asked for -- and then they paid 100% of our out-of-pocket costs

(2) Throughout this process, my TA was riding herd on them to make sure we didn't fall through any cracks in the process.

(3) BTW another benefit of that Allianz TA policy is that it offers 'pre-existing' coverage even if you only buy the insurance at the time of Final Payment.

Would you believe we used a travel agent??

She is on top of this but getting no help either.

Are you looking for suggestions on what to do or just letting everyone know about the problems you are experiencing?

 

I had never heard of this company until I saw your post and did a google search.

 

 

Sorry you have had to encounter all of this.

 

 

Keith

I am merely posting so that people know NOT to use Trip Mate insurance re: who they are the preferred insurance company for in re: to cruising.

Viking posted the above re: our concerns within an hour after my post. Looks good, right? OK--we sent them what they wanted and they called us this AM.

Wow! Sounds good, right?

Would you believe they say they are nothing but a pass-through for the insurance company and can not help us with the problem?

Just wanted to post this so everyone reading this would not think that their response was a solution to the problem.

Be VERY careful what insurance company you use through Viking River Cruises. This is the insurance company you would use unless you knew they are a scam and chose your own. It never occurred to us that any cruise line would use a disreputable insurance company but it is apparent that Viking does.

Looked at my claim on a different computer. Now I see many update postings thru 8/31.

Good luck! I just heard from Viking that they can't help me either!

This is the company used by Viking River Cruises.. Not an off-the -wall company I picked!

We have been attempting to receive payment from Trip Matesince mid-August. We were forced tocancel our cruise because I underwent back surgery. The Trip Mate website has an activity log foreach claim and I was able to access that. It showed our claim had been accepted and processed. I was also able to access other “status”information. The following summarizesthe significant entries to date.

Activity log:

8/25/2017. Call toclaimant. This was actually a return callbecause I used their callback system. Iasked about the status of payment and was told that the checks were mailed on8/18. There is no entry in the activitylog to this effect and I was told they didn’t enter that sort ofinformation. I was told the checks wouldarrive in 5-7 business days. (7 businessdays would have been 8/29.) Ichecked the USPS web site and mail fromMissouri to Florida should arrive in 2-7 days.

8/29/2017. Call to Claimant. Again, this was actually a return call because I used their callbacksystem. The checks had not arrived and Iasked where they were. I was told to“give it a few more days.” I told therepresentative that was not an acceptable answer and asked to speak to asupervisor. I was told one would callwithin 24-48 hours. (48 hours would be8/31.) The call was never received.

9/5/2017. In checkingthe site’s activity log on 9/6 I found an entry that purported that a call hadbeen made to the claimant(us) on 9/5. Nosuch call was received. Not only wasthere no message on our answering machine there was no indication that a “missedcall” had been received. In fact, onthat date our Caller ID showed no calls from anyone, missed or accepted.

9/6/2017. Call toClaimant. Again, this was actually areturn call because I used their callback system. I asked the representative about the supposedcall on 9/5 and she (Tamera) said that the call was made but “dropped” beforeit was completed. She could not explainwhy the entry was made if the call was “dropped” nor why the caller did notattempt to place the call again. Again,I asked where the checks were because they had not arrived in “5-7 workingdays.” She responded that she didn’tunderstand why I was told “5-7 working days” since the criteria they use is “10mail days.” When I asked her what thatmeant she could not define it but that the holiday (Labor Day) probably causedan additional delay; even though whatever the definition of “10 mail days” is,Labor Day was after that. Because ofthat I was told to wait yet another “few days.”

In each instance with these phone calls I confirmed mymailing address and (with the exception of the one on 8/25) I was given theoption of having payment stopped on the checks and new checks issued.

Trip Mate’s Claim Status screen for our claim shows that apayment was made and lists check numbers; however, no amounts are shown. (Separatechecks for myself and my wife.) At onepoint previously, when I was checking the site, there was an entry in theamount column for each of us. Unfortunately,I did not capture the screen at the time.

The information displayed at Trip Mate for our claim alsoincludes a claim status display for each of us. Both of these displays show that our claim is “paid closed” although wehave never received any checks.

We have been attempting to receive payment from Trip Matesince mid-August. We were forced tocancel our cruise because I underwent back surgery. The Trip Mate website has an activity log foreach claim and I was able to access that. It showed our claim had been accepted and processed. I was also able to access other “status”information. The following summarizesthe significant entries to date.

Activity log:

8/25/2017. Call toclaimant. This was actually a return callbecause I used their callback system. Iasked about the status of payment and was told that the checks were mailed on8/18. There is no entry in the activitylog to this effect and I was told they didn’t enter that sort ofinformation. I was told the checks wouldarrive in 5-7 business days. (7 businessdays would have been 8/29.) Ichecked the USPS web site and mail fromMissouri to Florida should arrive in 2-7 days.

8/29/2017. Call to Claimant. Again, this was actually a return call because I used their callbacksystem. The checks had not arrived and Iasked where they were. I was told to“give it a few more days.” I told therepresentative that was not an acceptable answer and asked to speak to asupervisor. I was told one would callwithin 24-48 hours. (48 hours would be8/31.) The call was never received.

9/5/2017. In checkingthe site’s activity log on 9/6 I found an entry that purported that a call hadbeen made to the claimant(us) on 9/5. Nosuch call was received. Not only wasthere no message on our answering machine there was no indication that a “missedcall” had been received. In fact, onthat date our Caller ID showed no calls from anyone, missed or accepted.

9/6/2017. Call toClaimant. Again, this was actually areturn call because I used their callback system. I asked the representative about the supposedcall on 9/5 and she (Tamera) said that the call was made but “dropped” beforeit was completed. She could not explainwhy the entry was made if the call was “dropped” nor why the caller did notattempt to place the call again. Again,I asked where the checks were because they had not arrived in “5-7 workingdays.” She responded that she didn’tunderstand why I was told “5-7 working days” since the criteria they use is “10mail days.” When I asked her what thatmeant she could not define it but that the holiday (Labor Day) probably causedan additional delay; even though whatever the definition of “10 mail days” is,Labor Day was after that. Because ofthat I was told to wait yet another “few days.”

In each instance with these phone calls I confirmed mymailing address and (with the exception of the one on 8/25) I was given theoption of having payment stopped on the checks and new checks issued.

Trip Mate’s Claim Status screen for our claim shows that apayment was made and lists check numbers; however, no amounts are shown. (Separatechecks for myself and my wife.) At onepoint previously, when I was checking the site, there was an entry in theamount column for each of us. Unfortunately,I did not capture the screen at the time.

The information displayed at Trip Mate for our claim alsoincludes a claim status display for each of us. Both of these displays show that our claim is “paid closed” although wehave never received any checks.

The article I referenced above...

http://www.countryliving.com/life/travel/news/a41571/renew-expiring-passports-now/?src=socialflowFB

Just saw an article that says it your passport expires in 2017 to renew quickly as it is expected they will take longer to process. The requirement for passports in 2007 is going to cause a 2017 back-up.

This article is dated Aug 12, 2016. To me it is saying this does not go into effect until July 2017.

Thanks for the explanation and apology. I never was concerned about the change 14 months out from the sailing date but was disturbed by the lack of communication when directly asked. This problem is now solved. Thank you.

We are on the same cruise. The changes aren't that significant. The point that the OP is making is that Viking made the changes without notifying our TA or us. Our TA has contacted them and they said they would get back to her, but they never did. It just doesn't seem to be very good customer service and makes us a little wary. Fortunately it is far enough in advance that we have not made air or hotel arrangements that need to be changed. Not going to let this hiccup dim my excitement for this cruise though.:)

It certainly won't ruin my cruise either. Just the principle of the thing. Hard to depend on and/or trust people in the future.

I see today on "My Viking Journey" that they have

1) changed the ship

2)changed the sailing date

3) changed the cabin

4) no notification

WOW! Great customer relations!

It's always good to hear from someone who's experienced the same "problem" with the same line....

There is a slight difference. Our Viking journey and booking does show the date and ship. It is the Viking website that does not have the ship in the inventory nor the same cruise date for any other ship. Makes it doubly hard to reconcile the two subjects. They continue to tell me to deal via my TA but they will also "get back to her". Catch 22!

My TA might not be the best but I find the problem with Viking. One can only call and get the same info. Can't make them "fess up! None of us can get a straight answer.