Back to Back Cruises

[zelker]

Have never sailed Viking before.  Can anyone tell me whether Viking (a) gives any kind of discount when booking a B2B and (b) do you have to put a separate deposit down on each segment of a B2B or will they take one deposit for the entire thing?

 

Thanks!

[Heidi13]

When we booked a river followed by an ocean, both cruises were on the same booking number, so only 1 deposit. When we shifted to B2B ocean cruises, we retained the same booking number and a single deposit.

 

 

[zelker]

26 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

When we booked a river followed by an ocean, both cruises were on the same booking number, so only 1 deposit. When we shifted to B2B ocean cruises, we retained the same booking number and a single deposit.

 

Thx! Good to know!  Did they give you any kind of discount for booking them together?

[Clay Clayton]

If you happen to be booking with a travel agent who gives you the maximum allowable Viking OBC as a kickback from their commission, depending on the length of each segment you might do better to have them as two bookings. The OBC maxes out at 15 days, so if the combined cruise is longer than that, would be more valuable as two bookings. 

[BabsinTX]

We just booked a B2B on Viking Ocean.  Viking insisted that the two cruises had be booked as a single cruise.  FYI.

 

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, zelker said:

Thx! Good to know!  Did they give you any kind of discount for booking them together?

 

Negative on any discount for booking B2B

[deec]

We have 3 cruises back to back and received no discount.  In fact our air is more costly than any 1 of the cruises which I am still trying to figure WHY...but for now it will be easier letting Viking do the air.

[vslparis]

One thing to be careful about with B2B cruises is to make sure that you get the same cabin for both cruises if you don't want to be packing up at the end of the first cruise in order to move to another cabin.  I was on a trip last year with a couple that assumed that they had the same cabin but when I suggested that they confirm that, it turns out the the on-line company that they used to book the trips had given them a "guarantee" cabin for the second trip and never told them . 😪

Edited December 20, 2020 by vslparis

[vslparis]

11 hours ago, deec said:

We have 3 cruises back to back and received no discount.  In fact our air is more costly than any 1 of the cruises which I am still trying to figure WHY...but for now it will be easier letting Viking do the air.

It could be one of several reasons . If your flights are more than 30 days apart, many times there is an upcharge. Another reason could be that the city pairs ( where you are flying into and out of) are not "open jaw" cities ( many cities have a lot of passengers flying into one and out of another so the airlines will prices those 2 cites at the same cost as a roundtrip to one of them).  Into London and out of Paris is an example.  If your flights are not "open jaw" cities, the airfare will more than likely be priced as 2 one way fares. Last year we flew into Bali and out of Sydney and that city pair was priced as 2 one way tickets. Some cities or airlines have higher one way fares than others. 

[Peregrina651]

On 12/19/2020 at 9:51 PM, vslparis said:

had given them a "guarantee" cabin for the second trip and never told them . 😪

 

That is one reason why it is so important to see for yourself and to read the invoice/offer that Viking sends to your TA before your deposit is made. (If your TA does not send it to you immediately or gives you a hard time about it then maybe it is time to find a new TA). The invoice, which is generated by Viking not by the TA, includes all the important information including cabin number(s), a break down of charges and discounts applied, paid-in-full date, SBC offers, the cancellation schedule by date -- all items that you want to verify or adjust before making your deposit -- because when you put down the deposit, you have entered into a contract with Viking and the terms cannot be changed (other than adding or deleting airfare and/or pre-/post-extension)..

 

Moreover, each time there after that you make a payment or a change, you should get an updated copy of the Viking invoice.

[vslparis]

39 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

That is one reason why it is so important to see for yourself and to read the invoice/offer that Viking sends to your TA before your deposit is made. (If your TA does not send it to you immediately or gives you a hard time about it then maybe it is time to find a new TA). The invoice, which is generated by Viking not by the TA, includes all the important information including cabin number(s), a break down of charges and discounts applied, paid-in-full date, SBC offers, the cancellation schedule by date -- all items that you want to verify or adjust before making your deposit -- because when you put down the deposit, you have entered into a contract with Viking and the terms cannot be changed (other than adding or deleting airfare and/or pre-/post-extension)..

 

Moreover, each time there after that you make a payment or a change, you should get an updated copy of the Viking invoice.

I agree 100%.  I am a TA and never, ever  do a client's deposit ( be it with  Viking or anyone else) without first getting a confirmation from the supplier .  Anytime I do a payment , I get a confirmation also and make sure it shows exactly what I did,plus make sure that all the important info is still the same.  You would be surprised at what can get changed by someone's ( or some computers' ) mistake.  I am working with Tauck this morning because when they tried to apply another credit to a booking that I have, the computer accidentally refunded the original deposit ; something that I discovered when I looked at the updated confirmation !

Trust but verify is my motto. 

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, vslparis said:

Trust but verify is my motto. 

 

And that motto, imho, applies to us guests just as much as it applies to the TAs we work with. 

 

3 hours ago, vslparis said:

something that I discovered when I looked at the updated confirmation !

 

One of the reasons I ask for and save every iteration of my invoice.

 

[MSEm]

We have booked some cruises very early when doing  BtB cruises. I wanted to be in a specific location on the ship and have the same cabin. It sounds like after booking the cabin for the 1st leg of the cruise that cabin was not available for the 2nd leg of the cruise.

A good TA can really help you with any problems.  We were on the New Zealand to Sydney cruise that was terminated by port closures.  My TA had booked our air.  As soon as I knew where and when we would be disembarking I sent a text to my TA.  I included our flight confirmation numbers.

It was 5 PM on Sunday afternoon for my TA.  In less than 1 hour she emailed me our new flight schedule for returning home. She also cancelled our post cruise trip.