Change to payment arrangements ?

[Pushka]

Here is another difference between USA and AUS. Our $1000 deposit is completely non refundable. Perhaps there are a lot of US cancellations with such a high refund available.

[Cruise Junky]

Just came to this board to start looking at info for a couple of 2021 cruises we’re interested in. We are no longer considering this line after this ridiculous policy. 

 

 

[Scooterboy515]

19 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

Just came to this board to start looking at info for a couple of 2021 cruises we’re interested in. We are no longer considering this line after this ridiculous policy. 

 

 

It is important that you let Viking known this.

[philw1776]

It IS best for folks to contact Viking objecting to this early payment policy.

HOWEVER, presently there are too many of us eager cruisers booking 2020 Viking cruises for this to have a strong effect.  My 2020 cruise was announced 1 Nov and is already heavily booked.

Viking's supply of ocean cruises cannot meet the customer demand at this time.

I sincerely hope they do not overbuild the fleet and run into financial problems.  Service and quality would be sacrificed.

[Jim Avery]

8 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

It IS best for folks to contact Viking objecting to this early payment policy.

HOWEVER, presently there are too many of us eager cruisers booking 2020 Viking cruises for this to have a strong effect.  My 2020 cruise was announced 1 Nov and is already heavily booked.

Viking's supply of ocean cruises cannot meet the customer demand at this time.

I sincerely hope they do not overbuild the fleet and run into financial problems.  Service and quality would be sacrificed.

Sadly, that is the history of just about every cruise line I can think of.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

[terrydtx]

26 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

It IS best for folks to contact Viking objecting to this early payment policy.

HOWEVER, presently there are too many of us eager cruisers booking 2020 Viking cruises for this to have a strong effect.  My 2020 cruise was announced 1 Nov and is already heavily booked.

Viking's supply of ocean cruises cannot meet the customer demand at this time.

I sincerely hope they do not overbuild the fleet and run into financial problems.  Service and quality would be sacrificed.

Most of the 2019 Mediterranean cruises are already sold out and when we booked our  Sept 2020 Empires of the Mediterranean cruise, all of the DV through PV2 cabins were sold and we got one of the last 8 PV1 cabins. PS2 and PS3 were also sold out. I wonder how many would have been sold with the new 12 month prepay policy? I would not have booked if it had, 6 months is long enough for Viking to have mt money.

 

[philw1776]

21 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Most of the 2019 Mediterranean cruises are already sold out and when we booked our  Sept 2020 Empires of the Mediterranean cruise, all of the DV through PV2 cabins were sold and we got one of the last 8 PV1 cabins. PS2 and PS3 were also sold out. I wonder how many would have been sold with the new 12 month prepay policy? I would not have booked if it had, 6 months is long enough for Viking to have mt money.

 

My point was that a new Nov 1st cruise released under the new 12 month policy was still heavily booked within 2 weeks.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

Sadly, that is the history of just about every cruise line I can think of.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

Totally agree Jim. Not overly concerned with rapid expansion, as I'm more concerned with a buyout, once they really take business from the big guys. Never seen a buyout yet that worked well for the customer.

 

The predecessor Royal Viking Line was a spectacular cruise line until bought out about 1986. 12 yrs later they folded. Also the same with P&O, Princess & Cunard, which have been reduced to little more than budget cruise lines since being bought by Carnival.

 

You remember the good days with Cunard, while I remember them with P&O, but sadly those days are long gone. 

[bwc318]

Well I won’t be booking another Viking cruise due to the new final payment policy.

[Jim Avery]

38 minutes ago, bwc318 said:

Well I won’t be booking another Viking cruise due to the new final payment policy.

Easy solution, just don't book early.  As a rule we never book anything over 6 months out and have always gotten what we want.  Some of the best deals and accommodations come late.  We booked the Inaugural WC 8 months out and were amazed to meet passengers onboard who had booked (and paid in many cases) two years out!   The Viking onboard experience is so good it is worth figuring out how to deal with the shore side management.

[kathykay]

12 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Easy solution, just don't book early.  As a rule we never book anything over 6 months out and have always gotten what we want.  Some of the best deals and accommodations come late.  We booked the Inaugural WC 8 months out and were amazed to meet passengers onboard who had booked (and paid in many cases) two years out!   The Viking onboard experience is so good it is worth figuring out how to deal with the shore side management.

We had planned to book a 2020 cruise while on board our January 2019  cruise but with this new policy we won’t .  I like your easy solution, we’ll wait and decide later .

 

[Scooterboy515]

49 minutes ago, kathykay said:

We had planned to book a 2020 cruise while on board our January 2019  cruise but with this new policy we won’t .  I like your easy solution, we’ll wait and decide later .

 

Recently we were on the Sun from Rome to Barcelona.  I talked to the person responsible for booking future trips and was told if I booked while on the ship they require final payment at six months but if I booked off the ship it would be one year.  Go figure!?!?!

[Marykatesmom]

21 hours ago, kathykay said:

We had planned to book a 2020 cruise while on board our January 2019  cruise but with this new policy we won’t .  I like your easy solution, we’ll wait and decide later .

 

 

20 hours ago, Scooterboy515 said:

Recently we were on the Sun from Rome to Barcelona.  I talked to the person responsible for booking future trips and was told if I booked while on the ship they require final payment at six months but if I booked off the ship it would be one year.  Go figure!?!?!

 

Currently booking onboard is 6 months out.  However, if you are looking at popular itineraries there are not a lot of the cabins available for 2019.

[philw1776]

Booked onboard last month.  Payment due 6 months before departure.  Another incentive to book onboard.

[Jtm1979]

We booked the British Isles Explorer in Oct 2018, for the mid- July 2019 cruise, and I made my final payment yesterday............6 months out, not the year mentioned in this topic.  Maybe I've misunderstood the comments?

Jul 14, 2019 Viking Jupiter – British Isles Explorer

Feb 18, 2019 Viking Star – West Indies

Feb 05, 2018  Viking Sea - South America and the Caribbean

Feb 15, 2017 Viking Star – West Indies

Sep 14, 2015 Viking Star – Med Odyssey

 

[Heidi13]

5 minutes ago, Jtm1979 said:

We booked the British Isles Explorer in Oct 2018, for the mid- July 2019 cruise, and I made my final payment yesterday............6 months out, not the year mentioned in this topic.  Maybe I've misunderstood the comments?

Jul 14, 2019 Viking Jupiter – British Isles Explorer

Feb 18, 2019 Viking Star – West Indies

Feb 05, 2018  Viking Sea - South America and the Caribbean

Feb 15, 2017 Viking Star – West Indies

Sep 14, 2015 Viking Star – Med Odyssey

 

You must have booked prior to the policy changing. It changed at the end of October/November, but it only applies to new bookings. All our existing bookings were grandfathered..

 

[Hockeyump]

The policy changed in November so anyone booking prior to that had existing payment arrangements honoured.

[Marykatesmom]

13 hours ago, Jtm1979 said:

We booked the British Isles Explorer in Oct 2018, for the mid- July 2019 cruise, and I made my final payment yesterday............6 months out, not the year mentioned in this topic.  Maybe I've misunderstood the comments?

Jul 14, 2019 Viking Jupiter – British Isles Explorer

Feb 18, 2019 Viking Star – West Indies

Feb 05, 2018  Viking Sea - South America and the Caribbean

Feb 15, 2017 Viking Star – West Indies

Sep 14, 2015 Viking Star – Med Odyssey

 

 

The new policy started Nov. 1 2018.