To TA or Not to TA ... Just Some Thoughts and Questions

Jazzbeau....Wow. Great advice. Im calling first thing in the morning.Thanks Jan

Thanks Carol, I’m waiting for a call back from a TA and now know how to re direct the conversation if needs be. Jan

For cruises we always use TA - get perks of two weeks free airport parking, etc. - well worth it. But that does not mean you shouldn't keep your eye on deals being offered and ask you TA to get them for you.

We used a TA. She was only OK for service but we got a huge discount from her company which I understand is no longer the case. On this World Cruise Viking gave free gratuities (I hope the crew gets these!), medical, Silver Spirits, laundry, business class airfare(for which we get miles) all visas plus immense ship credits which they merged so we can use on their extremely expensive hair salon, wine(I don’t usually drink Sassicai!) and excursions so we don’t have to buy things in the shops. As it stands, we won’t spend anything out of pocket on the entire 141 days.

Also got tons of bonus miles by paying with new credit cards and the balance with CSR at 3x.

I guess I’d still consider TA unless Viking would match an offer.

Reminder: Cruise Critic STRICLY prohibits naming Travel Agents, hinting at the name of a TA, or asking for the name of a TA.

I booked direct with Viking and got an upgraded cabin, free silver spirits package and gratuities included as well as past passenger discount.

Nippy,

Did you book this while onboard another Viking cruise?

This is my first experience with Viking Ocean. I booked the cruise on Feb 28, read many of the comments on this site, and decided I needed a TA. Also understood the booking should be transferred to a TA within 2 weeks of my booking. My quest was for a possible OBC and be able to pay the full fare 6 months from sailing. Just heard from my TA. Apparently if you want to be able to pay full fare 6 months from sailing you MUST request it at the time of booking, not a few days later. Of course they never mention the possibility of doing this AT ALL at the time of booking, but that is their “policy” Soooo..... if you want to pay the full fare 6months from sailing and not give them all that money up front, BE SURE you do it at the time you book the cruise. And it probably cant hurt to mention that this is being discussed on Cruise Critic!!

This is my first experience with Viking Ocean. I booked the cruise on Feb 28, read many of the comments on this site, and decided I needed a TA. Also understood the booking should be transferred to a TA within 2 weeks of my booking. My quest was for a possible OBC and be able to pay the full fare 6 months from sailing. Just heard from my TA. Apparently if you want to be able to pay full fare 6 months from sailing you MUST request it at the time of booking, not a few days later. Of course they never mention the possibility of doing this AT ALL at the time of booking, but that is their “policy” Soooo..... if you want to pay the full fare 6months from sailing and not give them all that money up front, BE SURE you do it at the time you book the cruise. And it probably cant hurt to mention that this is being discussed on Cruise Critic!!

Your TA is not giving you the correct info or just doesn’t have experience booking with Viking. You have 30days from booking with Viking to transfer your booking to a TA and shop around for the best OBC offer. The TA can broker a 6 or 7 month final payment date especially if the agency does significant business with Viking. I speak from experience in doing this recently. The original booking directly with Viking had me paying in full about 18months out from sailing. The key is finding an agent that knows Viking. It is not true that you must negotiate this with the original booking.

Viking used to allow travel agents to give discounts. My TA used to give 15% off the fare. Then Viking no longer allowed it. What they do allow is for the TA to give OBC. The OBC varies depending on the length of the cruise. $150 per guest for seven-night sailings, $300 per guest for eight to 14-night sailings and $500 per guest for 15-night plus sailings. You still get whatever is offered on the Viking site as far as the fare is concerned, past customer discount, etc. I think it is still best to use a TA to get the OBC.

Does this apply to the Viking Riverboats also?

Thanks Focused1. I will call my TA in the morning and pass on the info. If she cant help I’ll try another one.

Up date... after 2 phone calls to Viking by my TA, she got the final payment down to 6 months and a couple of weeks before cruise departure. Push for it near the booking time if thats important to you.

Many thanks to all who had input relative to this issue.

Many thanks to all who had input relative to this issue.

So glad you pushed your TA on this one. Congrats on your successful outcome.

Repeated abuse of the Cruise Critic ban on requesting TA information offline has caused me to close this thread. Please follow the Guidelines!