24 Hour Cancellation... confused and concerned about the word 'Redeemed'

[kawh]

We are about to cancel our cruise for later this month... we had the 24 hour risk-free cancellation.  I understand that we have 2 years to use the voucher.  If we book the next cruise this month (for a '22 cruise) , we will have a 14 day cancellation .  My concern is that, reading the fine print  on our 24 hour cancellation (provided in the link, not in the online guarantee page)  it seems that if we WERE to cancel the next trip before 14 days, we would lose the voucher?? Is this the case"  

 

Here is the wording... and it sort of hinges on the word "Redeemed"... at what stage is a voucher considered to be redeemed?  As soon as you book, or once you are within the no-cancellation period.  

Voucher can be used on any new Viking cruise and will be applied at booking. • Voucher must be redeemed by the expiration date prior to final payment. • Once voucher is redeemed, it cannot be re‐issued or used towards another cruise, and any unused balance of the voucher is lost and has no cash value.

 

Any insights appreciated.  In this climate, seems like if we rebook for December '22 we may have to cancel again.  South America is a mess of locked-out ports right now.  Honestly, Viking should have cancelled our cruise anyway.  

 

[KBs mum]

I read it as redeemed as soon as you use it instead of making a payment. As you used it all in one go to pay for the cruise it's redeemed. 

 

[Heidi13]

I concur with the above post. Once you have applied a FCV to a cruise it is "Redeemed" If you cancel, based on those terms, it would not be re-issued. However, if Viking cancel the cruise, the FCV would be returned to your account.

 

This was also confirmed with Viking by our Travel Agent, before we used our latest similar FCV's. Rather than cancelling outright, you, or your TA should request if the cruise can be delayed and still use the FCV. Based on Viking's terms & conditions it is still technically a cancellation, but they may give consideration.

[dreamercruise]

Question - will you lose your “redeemed” FCC even if your new cruise has a 14-day Risk-Free Guarantee?  In other words, if you cancel before the 14- day expiration, will you get back your FCC?  If so, when is the new expiration date?

kawk, if the 14-day RFG of the new cruise does not apply to the case of using FCC for payment, then I would wait before booking any new cruise.  Agree 100% that Viking should give us an option to cancel the existing cruise for full refund, as the itinerary will be drastically different.  I doubt very much we shall be able to enter any of the 2 Argentina ports (total 6 ports in the entire cruise) plus Falkland Islands and the embarking/disembarking port of Buenos Aires.

[KBs mum]

14 minutes ago, dreamercruise said:

Question - will you lose your “redeemed” FCC even if your new cruise has a 14-day Risk-Free Guarantee?  In other words, if you cancel before the 14- day expiration, will you get back your FCC?  If so, when is the new expiration date?

kawk, if the 14-day RFG of the new cruise does not apply to the case of using FCC for payment, then I would wait before booking any new cruise.  Agree 100% that Viking should give us an option to cancel the existing cruise for full refund, as the itinerary will be drastically different.  I doubt very much we shall be able to enter any of the 2 Argentina ports (total 6 ports in the entire cruise) plus Falkland Islands and the embarking/disembarking port of Buenos Aires.

Do you not get the cancel if itinerary very different option via USA consumer/trading standards legislation? 

[dreamercruise]

1 minute ago, KBs mum said:

Do you not get the cancel if itinerary very different option via USA consumer/trading standards legislation? 

Problem is that Viking is not officially publishing any changes.  We shall all find out within plus and minus 2 days of embarkation.

[KBs mum]

1 minute ago, dreamercruise said:

Problem is that Viking is not officially publishing any changes.  We shall all find out within plus and minus 2 days of embarkation.

Can you enjoy the cruise then claim a partial refund for the missing bits? Not trying to be clever, I ask as I know very little about US trading etc. laws

[cruiserchuck]

45 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

Do you not get the cancel if itinerary very different option via USA consumer/trading standards legislation? 

 

No, we do not have similar consumer protections in the US.

[dreamercruise]

3 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

Can you enjoy the cruise then claim a partial refund for the missing bits? Not trying to be clever, I ask as I know very little about US trading etc. laws

Sorry OP for getting off topic.  One last response and I shall keep quiet.

Do not worry about me, because I shall cancel for FCC to be used for booking cruises near sailing date (just to avoid any potential last-minute, unacceptable changes by Viking).  To answer your question, KBs mum, I travel for the itinerary (Iguazu Falls/Rio extension, Falkland Islands, and all of the Argentinian ports).  The Chilean Fjords is just icing on the cake to me, as I have seen enough glaciers and fjords from Antarctica, Norway, Alaska, and  Arctic in July).  Not interested of being confined to a stateroom/suite sharing bathroom with my husband for 18 days and bored by limited activities onboard.  Lastly, I do not want to risk the potential of being quarantined in Punta Arenas or Montevideo (nice place to visit but not to be imprisoned at the mercy of a callous warden).  The next cruise I book I shall be sure to cruise somewhere with nice hotels in case of quarantine.  Any partial refunds would be relatively insignificant compared to the total cost of my trip and stress.

[jonthomas]

So many of us have the same dilemma. There seem to be no answers. The only answer is to lose, lose, lose. Viking will not cancel cruises. They will just change the itinerary. Some have been offered compensation for itin change. It could look like a totally different cruise, but it will not be canceled.

[Squawkman]

1 hour ago, jonthomas said:

So many of us have the same dilemma. There seem to be no answers. The only answer is to lose, lose, lose. Viking will not cancel cruises. They will just change the itinerary. Some have been offered compensation for itin change. It could look like a totally different cruise, but it will not be canceled.

No, you don’t always lose - in fact, worst I’ve done was to break even - and I’ve had 6 cruises cancelled since 2019. The most recent was an itinerary change which I declined and got a full cash refund (would’ve gotten FCV if I had paid that way).

[jonthomas]

You have been most fortunate. Many will not write about their losses, it is just too painful. Breaking even is good too.