BOOKING ANOTHER VIKING CRUISE ONBOARD...QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS

[Fieldofdreams]

Does it matter if one books an additional cruise(s) when first boarding a ship or at the end of the cruise? Generally speaking what types of discounts or promotions are offered when booking onboard? Any additional thoughts, suggestions, recommendations are welcomed. 

[Mich3554]

There might be OBC offered as a perk for booking additional cruises, and this OBC is applied to your current cruise.  You have more time to spend it if you book it early, because it is non refundable OBC.

[Clay Clayton]

The potential for onboard credit is one reason we don’t pre-pay gratuities or silver spirt anymore. 
 

Only benefits I’ve seen to meeting with the onboard consultant earlier rather than near the end of the cruise is you get longer to ponder and it’s much easier to get an appointment. 

[Fieldofdreams]

1 hour ago, Mich3554 said:

There might be OBC offered as a perk for booking additional cruises, and this OBC is applied to your current cruise.  You have more time to spend it if you book it early, because it is non refundable OBC.

Very interesting, thanks for the info.

[Fieldofdreams]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

The potential for onboard credit is one reason we don’t pre-pay gratuities or silver spirt anymore. 
 

Only benefits I’ve seen to meeting with the onboard consultant earlier rather than near the end of the cruise is you get longer to ponder and it’s much easier to get an appointment. 

Thanks Clay

[Mich3554]

10 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

The potential for onboard credit is one reason we don’t pre-pay gratuities or silver spirt anymore. 
 

Only benefits I’ve seen to meeting with the onboard consultant earlier rather than near the end of the cruise is you get longer to ponder and it’s much easier to get an appointment. 

This too.  

[longterm]

12 hours ago, Fieldofdreams said:

Does it matter if one books an additional cruise(s) when first boarding a ship or at the end of the cruise? Generally speaking what types of discounts or promotions are offered when booking onboard? Any additional thoughts, suggestions, recommendations are welcomed. 

We booked our next Viking ocean cruise while on our March cruise; looking back, I don't see any advantage to setting the meeting at the beginning or at the end of the cruise--the OBC and discount that they offer are going to be the same. Getting an appt. to meet with him was easy and we were able to meet the same morning.

When we met with the rep, he pulled up the same web pages that any of us can see if we go to Viking's site; the ONLY advantage to meeting with this guy was the onboard discount and OBC he extended to us. He had only been at his job a few weeks, and the lack of experience was obvious. While he was friendly and got our trip reserved, I had already done all the research, so there was little for him to do. It was clear that he had no discretion to extend additional discounts or offers.

[OneSixtyToOne]

51 minutes ago, longterm said:

When we met with the rep, he pulled up the same web pages that any of us can see if we go to Viking's site; the ONLY advantage to meeting with this guy was the onboard discount and OBC he extended to us.

I wonder why Viking Ocean doesn't offer voucher discounts like they do on their river cruises? That is a pretty good deal and guarantees them repeat business. IMO much better than an OBC and costs them about the same.

[Mich3554]

47 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

I wonder why Viking Ocean doesn't offer voucher discounts like they do on their river cruises? That is a pretty good deal and guarantees them repeat business. IMO much better than an OBC and costs them about the same.

As I remember it, we got $400 each of OBC AND $1100 off the price of the cruise too (I had to go back and look at the invoice).  I think with our past guest discount, the grand total off was $1500 off the cruise. 

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, longterm said:

We booked our next Viking ocean cruise while on our March cruise; looking back, I don't see any advantage to setting the meeting at the beginning or at the end of the cruise--the OBC and discount that they offer are going to be the same. Getting an appt. to meet with him was easy and we were able to meet the same morning.

When we met with the rep, he pulled up the same web pages that any of us can see if we go to Viking's site; the ONLY advantage to meeting with this guy was the onboard discount and OBC he extended to us. He had only been at his job a few weeks, and the lack of experience was obvious. While he was friendly and got our trip reserved, I had already done all the research, so there was little for him to do. It was clear that he had no discretion to extend additional discounts or offers.

The OBC you receive is non refundable, if you don’t spend it before the end of the cruise, you don’t get the balance.  So it might be important to book early so you have the time while on the cruise to use it up.  
 

I have to disagree with you on what the consultant can do.  For us, she went to bat for us about allowing the OBC to remain on our account until the end of our back to back to back. We received so much OBC from missed ports that at one time we had nearly $5000 of OBC between the ports and the 2 cruises we booked.

[OneSixtyToOne]

45 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

As I remember it, we got $400 each of OBC AND $1100 off the price of the cruise too (I had to go back and look at the invoice).  I think with our past guest discount, the grand total off was $1500 off the cruise. 

 

I doubt the $1100 off the price was because you booked onboard. It was probably a current promotion that is available to anyone who knows the promo code. Other than the OBC which has to be used on the current cruise, I don't see any additional advantage with booking onboard vs waiting for a better promotion to come along. The river cruises allow you to purchase vouchers at %50 on the dollar. They can be used on any future voyage and are fully transferable to another person. IMO a better deal

[Mich3554]

13 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

I doubt the $1100 off the price was because you booked onboard. It was probably a current promotion that is available to anyone who knows the promo code. Other than the OBC which has to be used on the current cruise, I don't see any additional advantage with booking onboard vs waiting for a better promotion to come along. The river cruises allow you to purchase vouchers at %50 on the dollar. They can be used on any future voyage and are fully transferable to another person. IMO a better deal

Special Booking discount $300 

Past guest level one discount $400

Onboard booking savings $800

Voucher discount $646 

We also got $2750 business class fare

 

Directly off my invoice.  I KNOW that $1100 was just for booking on board as it was on the promotions.  
 

Viking allows you to only use one of those coupons per person, per cruise.  We did not have any when we booked this cruise.  However, the discounts we received far exceeded any coupon.  

Edited November 11, 2022 by Mich3554

[CCWineLover]

Regarding OBC's and discounts for booking onboard:

We always check and make an appointment early.  We don't always buy.

In our experience, the amount of booking discounts definitely vary - on a sliding scale of length of cruise booked, and also that scale varies depending on supply and demand.  (so you cannot just say a 14 day cruise gets $xxx discount).

The OBC also varies in the same way.  Have seen widely varied amounts.

 

The advantage of booking early is that the OBC's you get have to be used up by end of cruise (or when you leave the ship if you have B2B's).   Booking early gives you time to spend it before losing it.

 

We also do our research and know what we wish to look for.  It speeds things up.  The advantage for us if we really want to book a cruise is that the Consultant has real-time access to rooms available.  We've been known to write a few rooms down on paper and quickly have one of us run out there and take a look at them (to see how they feel, near stairs, movement, etc).  Can't do that on a phone.  Then we get home and transfer the booking to our Travel Agent.

 

I also like the idea mentioned that Viking Ocean do like Viking River and offer vouchers for sale to use on future cruises.

Edited November 11, 2022 by CCWineLover

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

The OBC you receive is non refundable, if you don’t spend it before the end of the cruise, you don’t get the balance.  So it might be important to book early so you have the time while on the cruise to use it up.  
 

I have to disagree with you on what the consultant can do.  For us, she went to bat for us about allowing the OBC to remain on our account until the end of our back to back to back. We received so much OBC from missed ports that at one time we had nearly $5000 of OBC between the ports and the 2 cruises we booked.

 

We had a similar experience, with the consultant having the discetion to offer significant extra discounts.

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

I wonder why Viking Ocean doesn't offer voucher discounts like they do on their river cruises? That is a pretty good deal and guarantees them repeat business. IMO much better than an OBC and costs them about the same.

 

You can buy as many vouchers as you want but you can only use one per person per trip booked for a net savings of $100pp. You pay $100 per voucher to get $200 off the fare. Viking offers them on the River cruises because you can't book onboard.

 

Also note, you can get, at least, the double returning guest discount, if you book within two weeks of the end of any cruise.

[MikeyB]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Also note, you can get, at least, the double returning guest discount, if you book within two weeks of the end of any cruise.

I would never, ever question your advice, but are you absolutely, positively certain about this?

I have heard on this board another spin on the "within two weeks of the end of any cruise".

What I heard was that Viking agents call some (but not all) passengers within two weeks of returning home and tell them of a discount they may obtain if they book another cruise.

Meaning, you cannot call them within two weeks, they call you.

[Peregrina651]

Mikey, you should always question my advice!  Viking never stands still and are always changing things.

 

I work with a TA, so I would never be called. However, I have booked through my TA within that window and gotten at least the double the returning guest and the 6 months final payment  -- but that was prior to the hiatus.

 

My suggestion is that anyone who wants to follow up on this should contact Viking (via e-mail to tellus@vikingcruises.com, not the phone center or chat) and ask about the policy, if it still exists and how it works.

[MikeyB]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

My suggestion is that anyone who wants to follow up on this should contact Viking (via e-mail to tellus@vikingcruises.com, not the phone center or chat) and ask about the policy, if it still exists and how it works.

Now that information I would never question!  🙂

I like Viking Oceans and Rivers a lot.  But I don't think that Norwegians know the definition of "loyalty".

It's my belief that it should flow both ways.

I spoke to a "senior sales manager" at Viking a few weeks ago about this issue.  She told me that the calls that Viking makes are targeted.  I told her that Viking runs after the "one and done" cruisers and ignores the base.  She actually agreed with me.

In my next lifetime, I will ask to be connect to Tor.

[Fieldofdreams]

12 hours ago, longterm said:

We booked our next Viking ocean cruise while on our March cruise; looking back, I don't see any advantage to setting the meeting at the beginning or at the end of the cruise--the OBC and discount that they offer are going to be the same. Getting an appt. to meet with him was easy and we were able to meet the same morning.

When we met with the rep, he pulled up the same web pages that any of us can see if we go to Viking's site; the ONLY advantage to meeting with this guy was the onboard discount and OBC he extended to us. He had only been at his job a few weeks, and the lack of experience was obvious. While he was friendly and got our trip reserved, I had already done all the research, so there was little for him to do. It was clear that he had no discretion to extend additional discounts or offers.

Thanks Bob , very helpful.

Don

[Fieldofdreams]

10 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

As I remember it, we got $400 each of OBC AND $1100 off the price of the cruise too (I had to go back and look at the invoice).  I think with our past guest discount, the grand total off was $1500 off the cruise. 

Thanks Mich3554 for sharing.

Don

[Fieldofdreams]

8 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Regarding OBC's and discounts for booking onboard:

We always check and make an appointment early.  We don't always buy.

In our experience, the amount of booking discounts definitely vary - on a sliding scale of length of cruise booked, and also that scale varies depending on supply and demand.  (so you cannot just say a 14 day cruise gets $xxx discount).

The OBC also varies in the same way.  Have seen widely varied amounts.

 

The advantage of booking early is that the OBC's you get have to be used up by end of cruise (or when you leave the ship if you have B2B's).   Booking early gives you time to spend it before losing it.

 

We also do our research and know what we wish to look for.  It speeds things up.  The advantage for us if we really want to book a cruise is that the Consultant has real-time access to rooms available.  We've been known to write a few rooms down on paper and quickly have one of us run out there and take a look at them (to see how they feel, near stairs, movement, etc).  Can't do that on a phone.  Then we get home and transfer the booking to our Travel Agent.

 

I also like the idea mentioned that Viking Ocean do like Viking River and offer vouchers for sale to use on future cruises.

Thanks CCWinelover for weighing in, good info.

Don

[bookbabe]

Tagging on to this thread, since it’s the same topic.  We have another Viking cruise booked which will have its final payment date shortly after we return from our February West Indies Explorer.  Our Viking rep said to contact him after we get back and he’ll apply the past guest discount.  Is there anything in the way of OBC or additional discounts that meeting with the onboard rep could generate?

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, bookbabe said:

Tagging on to this thread, since it’s the same topic.  We have another Viking cruise booked which will have its final payment date shortly after we return from our February West Indies Explorer.  Our Viking rep said to contact him after we get back and he’ll apply the past guest discount.  Is there anything in the way of OBC or additional discounts that meeting with the onboard rep could generate?

Yes.  At a minimum, the onboard offer usually include some amount of onboard credit for the current cruise and for the future cruise.  As others have said, there may be other benefits also-additional discounts etc. 

[MikeyB]

23 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Yes.  At a minimum, the onboard offer usually include some amount of onboard credit for the current cruise and for the future cruise.  As others have said, there may be other benefits also-additional discounts etc. 

Bookbabe is asking about an already booked cruise.

All she would be entitled to is the past guest discount of $200 pp.

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, bookbabe said:

Tagging on to this thread, since it’s the same topic.  We have another Viking cruise booked which will have its final payment date shortly after we return from our February West Indies Explorer.  Our Viking rep said to contact him after we get back and he’ll apply the past guest discount.  Is there anything in the way of OBC or additional discounts that meeting with the onboard rep could generate?

 

On an existing booking, probably not.

 

Over the years of Viking-watching, I have noticed that they pretty much adhere to not making changes to a contract once it has been agreed upon -- and legally paying the deposit means that you agree to the contract. That means that Viking OBCs and final payment dates have to be negotiated before you pay the deposit.

 

The only way to get more in the way of an OBC would be to move your booking to a TA who gives OBC (not all do and not all give the maximum Viking allows), if it can still be done at all since Viking has limits on when a booking can be moved to at all (and I don't know what those limits are; maybe someone else can chime in on that).