Viking World Cruise opt-outs

[muggo11]

Is it possible to opt out of some/any of Viking’s included services (airfare, local hotels) to bring the base cost down on its cruises?  Particularly interested in those of you with world cruise fare experiences. 

[Heidi13]

7 hours ago, muggo11 said:

Is it possible to opt out of some/any of Viking’s included services (airfare, local hotels) to bring the base cost down on its cruises?  Particularly interested in those of you with world cruise fare experiences. 

For our upcoming WC, we didn't book pre or post excursons in L/A or London, as we know both cities and can find hotels cheaper. However, these were optional costs, over and above the WC cost, so no saving on the fare.

 

For flights, which are included, the flight allowance is included on the invoice as a separate component of the WC fare. However, the allowance is less than the cost of a business class flight from LHR to YVR. To purchase our own flights would have cost an additional CAN $1,500 to $2,000 pp. I could have saved money by using BA points, but then I have to book as soon as the booking window opens to guarantee the dates.

 

Viking also charge extra for deviations - arriving early or leaving later. We arrive L/A a couple of days early to ensure we make the cruise. We may not get much snow on the West Coast, but a couple inches can shut down the airport & city roads. We negotiated Viking waiving the deviation fee to eliminate this risk.

 

Summary - other than airfare, I am not aware of any opting out ability. Frankly, this is why we chose Viking, over mainstream penny pinching cruise lines, so certainly wouldn't want this benefit removed.

 

If it helps, I have compared the total cost of our previous WC and the per diem cost is virtually identical to the upcoming Viking WC, even though the Viking base fare was almost double.

[deec]

Our WC was an adventure of a Life time....it exceeded our expectations and was money and time well spent. 

[SantaFe1]

39 minutes ago, deec said:

Our WC was an adventure of a Life time....it exceeded our expectations and was money and time well spent. 

Agree with Deec.  We loved our WC, and our mantra was:  it’s not getting any cheaper and we’re not getting any younger!  If you can manage it, do it!!