No more flexibility on final payment dates?

[cruisewiththekids]

I was just told by a large online agency that as of Nov 1, 2018, Viking will no longer allow them to extend the final payment date to six months vs. one year for final payment.    Has anyone been told the same thing?

[philw1776]

Yes, numerous threads and discussions on this here.

[Peregrina651]

Yes. There are already two or three current threads on he topic.  The only way to get a 6m final payment date is to book on board. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2485751-final-payment-due/

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2614097-final-payment-a-year-in-advance-of-the-trip/

 

 

[cruisewiththekids]

Sorry, I guess I didn't scroll back far enough.

 

Interestingly, I just received a call from my TA, and she said for a sailing I'm looking at Feb of 2020, the final payment date is June 20, 2019, or about 250 days.     I'm not sure what to think about that.

[Heidi13]

For World Cruises and Grand Voyages over 35 days, each cruise has different payment terms. Last time I checked the 2021 WC was still 6 months, so you may be considering a longer cruise.

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, cruisewiththekids said:

Sorry, I guess I didn't scroll back far enough.

 

Interestingly, I just received a call from my TA, and she said for a sailing I'm looking at Feb of 2020, the final payment date is June 20, 2019, or about 250 days.     I'm not sure what to think about that.

 

Jump on it! You won't get any better. Most people are getting 12 months or longer. 

[Pushka]

There has been a slight change. If you already have a current confirmed booking and want to book another one then you can negotiate for payment in 6 months. 

[Peregrina651]

55 minutes ago, Pushka said:

There has been a slight change. If you already have a current confirmed booking and want to book another one then you can negotiate for payment in 6 months. 

 

Pushka, is this the AUS/NZ market or US? I'm asking because the different markets have different policies and different levels of flexibility.

[Pushka]

42 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Pushka, is this the AUS/NZ market or US? I'm asking because the different markets have different policies and different levels of flexibility.

 

US. It’s a very recent development. Unfortunately CC won’t let me publish any links as it doesn’t like these pages. It’s a closed group of people who are friends with Viking Cruises. 

[Cyber Kat]

On 2/12/2019 at 8:12 PM, Pushka said:

 

US. It’s a very recent development. Unfortunately CC won’t let me publish any links as it doesn’t like these pages. It’s a closed group of people who are friends with Viking Cruises. 

 

Wish I’d known that!  We had a confirmed booking for the Viking Sea in September. Payment is due in March. We just booked another cruise for September of 2020 - Trade Routes of the Middle Ages - and that final payment is due when we will be onboard the Viking Sea. 😳

 

We have been looking at cruises for spring of 2020 and there’s no way we can make that final payment now with the one for the fall due now as well.  They don’t make it easy to book multiple cruises at the same time!

 

 We love Viking, but I think we are going with Celebrity for the spring cruise. We can do a suite for quite a bit less than Viking. Plus Viking’s last Caribbean cruise leaves earlier than we wanted.  I want someplace warm after the winter 😁. Last time we did the West Indies Explorer, they were predicting a blizzard for back home and we were panicking about snow removal and whether our cat sitter could get to our house.  So we have to wait for mid April or May. 

[lackcreativity]

1 hour ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

Wish I’d known that!  We had a confirmed booking for the Viking Sea in September. Payment is due in March. We just booked another cruise for September of 2020 - Trade Routes of the Middle Ages - and that final payment is due when we will be onboard the Viking Sea. 😳

 

We have been looking at cruises for spring of 2020 and there’s no way we can make that final payment now with the one for the fall due now as well.  They don’t make it easy to book multiple cruises at the same time!

 

 We love Viking, but I think we are going with Celebrity for the spring cruise. We can do a suite for quite a bit less than Viking. Plus Viking’s last Caribbean cruise leaves earlier than we wanted.  I want someplace warm after the winter 😁. Last time we did the West Indies Explorer, they were predicting a blizzard for back home and we were panicking about snow removal and whether our cat sitter could get to our house.  So we have to wait for mid April or May. 

Generally, I have not objected to the early final payment issues, but as we have started to look at booking multiple cruises, it does become more of a challenge. We only take one cruise a year, but we do book the veranda cabins and they fill up fast. I am looking at one for 2021, but already have one for 2020 that is due in April. If we can book the 2021 cruise while on board this spring with a six month final payment, then maybe we can go ahead with that. Who knew that having fun could be so complicated!

Edited February 15, 2019 by lackcreativity

[Dauntless]

2 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Generally, I have not objected to the early final payment issues, but as we have started to look at booking multiple cruises, it does become more of a challenge. We only take one cruise a year, but we do book the veranda cabins and they fill up fast. I am looking at one for 2021, but already have one for 2020 that is due in April. If we can book the 2021 cruise while on board this spring with a six month final payment, then maybe we can go ahead with that. Who knew that having fun could be so complicated!

 

The fun part is easy.  It's the money part that's tough.

[Cyber Kat]

20 hours ago, Dauntless said:

 

The fun part is easy.  It's the money part that's tough.

 

Ain’t that the truth!  We can manage if it’s spread out, but one on top of the other is very difficult!  Now where are those winning lottery numbers? I keep thinking I have them, but no luck! 😜

[Dauntless]

39 minutes ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

Ain’t that the truth!  We can manage if it’s spread out, but one on top of the other is very difficult!  Now where are those winning lottery numbers? I keep thinking I have them, but no luck! 😜

 

I gave up on the lottery.  I now deal with Publisher's Clearing House.  Of course, the chances of winning are just about as good but there is no investment!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I guess we will see if Viking can make this new policy stick.  I agree that booking multiple cruises would make this very, very tough.  Perhaps management has not foreseen this, or maybe they just think that onboard booking will take up the slack?

 

I was considering a WC for a while--they want payment up front 6 months in advance for that one, which is common I think for such a long, expensive cruise.  That's reasonable--more than that is not.

[CCWineLover]

On 2/17/2019 at 8:17 AM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I guess we will see if Viking can make this new policy stick.  I agree that booking multiple cruises would make this very, very tough.  Perhaps management has not foreseen this, or maybe they just think that onboard booking will take up the slack?

 

I was considering a WC for a while--they want payment up front 6 months in advance for that one, which is common I think for such a long, expensive cruise.  That's reasonable--more than that is not.

 

One thing to keep in mind . . .  and we are taking advantage of this during our current cruise.

If you do book another cruise while onboard a cruise, not only will you get $$ discounts (depending on length of cruise), plus potential added shipboard credits, but you get the old policy of not having to pay the final balance until 6 months ahead of the cruise.  We did this do do a 2021 cruise since we won't have to pay until fall 2020.

So keep that in mind if you are taking a Viking Cruise.  This applies to River and Ocean cruises.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

20 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

One thing to keep in mind . . .  and we are taking advantage of this during our current cruise.

If you do book another cruise while onboard a cruise, not only will you get $$ discounts (depending on length of cruise), plus potential added shipboard credits, but you get the old policy of not having to pay the final balance until 6 months ahead of the cruise.  We did this do do a 2021 cruise since we won't have to pay until fall 2020.

So keep that in mind if you are taking a Viking Cruise.  This applies to River and Ocean cruises.

 

Yes, I think most here are aware of that.  Not very practical for most though--oh, let's go on a VIking cruise so we can book another one!

[philw1776]

20 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

One thing to keep in mind . . .  and we are taking advantage of this during our current cruise.

If you do book another cruise while onboard a cruise, not only will you get $$ discounts (depending on length of cruise), plus potential added shipboard credits, but you get the old policy of not having to pay the final balance until 6 months ahead of the cruise.  We did this do do a 2021 cruise since we won't have to pay until fall 2020.

So keep that in mind if you are taking a Viking Cruise.  This applies to River and Ocean cruises.

 

Maybe nitpicking here but "applies to River and Ocean" is not exactly correct.
Only on Ocean can you book another cruise with discounts and deferred payments.  Not on River (as yet).
Only on River can you buy $100 vouchers worth $200 each as credit when you BOOK (not onboard) another Viking cruise. 

Vouchers do not expire and can be used by anyone, not just the purchaser.

 

[harpy3]

I called Viking to verify their payment schedule--in full, up front.  With a sliding scale of penalties for cancelling, starting right away--for a cruise more than a year away in 2020.  Not sailing on Viking as they seem quite "full of themselves" with such a ridiculous policy.

[Pushka]

51 minutes ago, harpy3 said:

I called Viking to verify their payment schedule--in full, up front.  With a sliding scale of penalties for cancelling, starting right away--for a cruise more than a year away in 2020.  Not sailing on Viking as they seem quite "full of themselves" with such a ridiculous policy.

But which is negotiable if you already have a confirmed booking in place. 

[CILCIANRQTS]

21 minutes ago, Pushka said:

But which is negotiable if you already have a confirmed booking in place. 

 

Can confirm (sorry!) Pushka’s point through recent interaction with VO - negotiated by our very professional TA, of course!! 👍

[CCWineLover]

18 hours ago, philw1776 said:

 

Maybe nitpicking here but "applies to River and Ocean" is not exactly correct.
Only on Ocean can you book another cruise with discounts and deferred payments.  Not on River (as yet).
Only on River can you buy $100 vouchers worth $200 each as credit when you BOOK (not onboard) another Viking cruise. 

Vouchers do not expire and can be used by anyone, not just the purchaser.

 

Excellent point. My mistake in not being clearer.  I meant to indicate that on our cruise (Ocean) we could book either river or ocean cruises.   

Nice to know though about the different policy if are are actually on a river cruise.