Port flexibility on Viking compared to Azamara

[Mrs Miggins]

I have just been reading a thread on the Azamara board which covered more or less the same time frame as our recent Viking Sky voyage at the end of September.  Some of the ports were the same.  We missed Monaco due to high winds and had a sea day.  Many from the US were very disappointed as that was a bucket list destination.

Apparently Azamara had a similar situation and relocated to Nice, which pleased everyone.  I have also been onboard Azamara in the Greek Islands where Santorini was changed from the itinerary to Mykonos to avoid 5 ships and the resulting overcrowding.  We went to Santorini next day which was much quieter.

Does Viking have the ability to be flexible at the last minute in the same way ?

[uktog]

I do not think they do.  We saw exactly the same issue in Norway - Viking skipped ports in March and appeared to make no attempt to find alternatives (resulting in 4 sea days and most guests not being aware until we left Tromso that that was it our time in Norway was over so gift shopping was ended).  Conversely in July when there was an issue with ports in Norway on Azamara a new alternative (never previously visited by Azamara) was found.  It was last minute but it seemed the approval processes were much more in the hands of the Captain

[Rusty Scupper]

On our recent Viking cruise, missed two ports, substituted one. Did not get the impression Viking tried as hard to find alternatives as other lines, especially since the decisions to skip were made very early. But that was only one cruise without any deep explanation.

Unlike other lines, Viking did not refund port charge or make a peace offering, like a special event or freebie for missed call--not that I need one, but compared to what usually happens. (Actually, I'd enjoy more sea days on Viking.)

[CCWineLover]

Might be time for those people to switch to Azamara then.  All lines have pluses and minuses and it’s up to individuals to decide if the minuses (like this inflexibility) outweigh the pluses.

Edited October 23, 2022 by CCWineLover

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Rusty Scupper said:

On our recent Viking cruise, missed two ports, substituted one. Did not get the impression Viking tried as hard to find alternatives as other lines, especially since the decisions to skip were made very early. But that was only one cruise without any deep explanation.

Unlike other lines, Viking did not refund port charge or make a peace offering, like a special event or freebie for missed call--not that I need one, but compared to what usually happens. (Actually, I'd enjoy more sea days on Viking.)

Interesting point, we have missed port insurance and our insurers queried why port charges were not refunded with Viking.  I do not know the outcome of that conversation as the insurers settled in full with us but it was clear they found that non refund to be a practice not followed elsewhere.  Our decisions to cancel were made very early and in the case of one port the weather conditions reported were not what was actually showing on all forecasts or indeed what transpired on the day.  It felt like an early decision was made, it allowed the ship to crawl to the final destination (our last two ports were cancelled) so a saving on the fuel budget and two lots of port fees....hmmmm

[powderhorn]

3 hours ago, Rusty Scupper said:

On our recent Viking cruise, missed two ports, substituted one. Did not get the impression Viking tried as hard to find alternatives as other lines, especially since the decisions to skip were made very early. But that was only one cruise without any deep explanation.

Unlike other lines, Viking did not refund port charge or make a peace offering, like a special event or freebie for missed call--not that I need one, but compared to what usually happens. (Actually, I'd enjoy more sea days on Viking.)

I wasn't aware Viking did not reimburse port charges or provide some compensation for converting a port day into a sea day...I could see where Viking might see some cost benefits in missing a port (no port fees, slower sailing for next port, no cost for included excursion)....flight aware is a handy tool for looking at trends in air flight departures and arrivals....they even have a tab called the misery zone....not aware of any such tool that tracks similar info for cruise lines and ports....heading TA on Viking in December...plenty of sea days which we love....but we're also interested in touring the stops that were advertised for this cruise....Valencia has already been changed to Malaga because of a marathon race in Valencia (been to Malaga..not been to Valencia...sad face emoji)....now we're aware of our Cadiz stop coinciding with Constitution Day (national holiday)....hopefully they won't bypass Cadiz as well.....maybe we should start a thread where cruisers can post their itinerary changes and reasons given and compensation provided....for all cruise lines.......I have no idea how any cruise lines are managing itinerary changes or what their policies are regarding compensations for missed ports....

[Azulann]

IMO , Azamara  which has only three ships and run by a hedge fund group, might give more flexibility to their Captain. They also have smaller ships. 

 I have no problem when  a port is canceled due to weather. It happens. I hate port fees, which need to be added to cost of a cruise on other lines, here looking you Celebrity, for the grand total. I like the way Viking prices the cruise up front.   

When I book with Viking , the price is the price for the number of days of the cruise. I do know that there have been occasions when Viking did credit  passengers with some credit due to special circumstances. I've never been on one of those cruises. But then I am only  been of Thee Viking Ocean cruises.

 

 

[CCWineLover]

7 minutes ago, Azulann said:

IMO , Azamara  which has only three ships and run by a hedge fund group, might give more flexibility to their Captain. They also have smaller ships. 

 I have no problem when  a port is canceled due to weather. It happens. I hate port fees, which need to be added to cost of a cruise on other lines, here looking you Celebrity, for the grand total. I like the way Viking prices the cruise up front.   

When I book with Viking , the price is the price for the number of days of the cruise. I do know that there have been occasions when Viking did credit  passengers with some credit due to special circumstances. I've never been on one of those cruises. But then I am only  been of Thee Viking Ocean cruises.

 

 

It goes both ways with Viking (credits or not for missed ports) and I don't know how they determine that.  Seems one of our experts posted a bit ago that missing a port doesn't really save Viking much at all (he had good reasoning and credibility).

We skipped Antigua in the Caribbean on one cruise and no credits.

We substituted Barcelona for Tarragona Spain in a straight swap.

We substituted Casablanca for Gibraltar in a straight swap.

We are skipping Key West on our Dec cruise and we are credited $150 pp. 

No Rhyme or Reason.

 

Personally, even though sometimes disappointed, I have no problem with Viking as they obviously are not doing the changes to spite us or make us unhappy.  I also like that the port fees are buried in the price.  It is part of the "no Nickel and Diming" aspect that I enjoy vis a vis other lines.

[LindaS272]

Others have reported here that they got compensation by asking (or maybe by “complaining”). We have never asked for compensation due to missed ports—never thought of it—we like sea days!

[PlanoTim]

6 hours ago, uktog said:

Interesting point, we have missed port insurance and our insurers queried why port charges were not refunded with Viking.  I do not know the outcome of that conversation as the insurers settled in full with us but it was clear they found that non refund to be a practice not followed elsewhere.  Our decisions to cancel were made very early and in the case of one port the weather conditions reported were not what was actually showing on all forecasts or indeed what transpired on the day.  It felt like an early decision was made, it allowed the ship to crawl to the final destination (our last two ports were cancelled) so a saving on the fuel budget and two lots of port fees....hmmmm

I don't believe Viking charges port fees, so there is nothing to refund.

[powderhorn]

4 minutes ago, PlanoTim said:

I don't believe Viking charges port fees, so there is nothing to refund.

They pay port fees so trust me....it's in your fare......

[PlanoTim]

Just now, powderhorn said:

They pay port fees so trust me....it's in your fare......

True, they pay them to the port, but they aren't charged separately to the passengers, so can't really be refunded.  It's just a different paradigm that some (most) cruise lines, I think.