Is final payment really due 11 months prior to embarkation?

[Georgia_Peaches]

We are investigating Viking Ocean for the first time and looking at a Med cruise on Juniper for May 2024.  The mock booking indicates final payment would be due in June of 2023.  Is this accurate or a computer error?

 

Thank you!

[Heidi13]

35 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We are investigating Viking Ocean for the first time and looking at a Med cruise on Juniper for May 2024.  The mock booking indicates final payment would be due in June of 2023.  Is this accurate or a computer error?

 

Thank you!

 

If this is your first cruise the final payment date requested can be 12 - 18 months before departure. However, you may be able to negotiate less, but not so common these days. When you book onboard, or have an existing cruise on the books, you can request a 6 month final payment date.

 

FYI - this is discussed in multiple threads and as a private company that is not a member of CLIA, Viking do not follow the others.

 

You have the option of delaying the booking until such time as you are comfortable making final payment. However, many Viking cruises sell out well in advance and have the potential of prices increasing. Note - the 2023 World Cruise embarking today, increased by $12K pp.

[Georgia_Peaches]

57 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

If this is your first cruise the final payment date requested can be 12 - 18 months before departure. However, you may be able to negotiate less, but not so common these days. When you book onboard, or have an existing cruise on the books, you can request a 6 month final payment date.

 

FYI - this is discussed in multiple threads and as a private company that is not a member of CLIA, Viking do not follow the others.

 

You have the option of delaying the booking until such time as you are comfortable making final payment. However, many Viking cruises sell out well in advance and have the potential of prices increasing. Note - the 2023 World Cruise embarking today, increased by $12K pp.

Thank you for this information.  As this is my first visit to the Viking board, admittedly, I did not search first...so thank you for taking the time to respond.  Another question, if I may...if we make final payment in June is there a period of time where this payment is refundable?  I hesitate to pay almost a year out when anything can happen to disrupt our travel plans.  If it's refundable for a certain period of time, then I feel a little better.  Again, thank you for responding.

 

PS...my mother hails from British Columbia...Bridgeport, Vancouver to be exact.

Edited January 9, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[formernuke]

Here's the standard cancellation schedule from the passenger contract (other rules may apply under different contracts)

Cancellation Fee Schedule Effective for Cruise Tours

(other than Grand & World Cruise Voyage) booked on and after August 1, 2018:

Written Notice received Days Prior to Departure Date

Cancellation fee Per Passenger

120 or more 119 to 90 89 to 70
69 to 50

49 to 30
29 or fewer

$100.00
20% of Full Fare 35% of Full Fare 50% of Full Fare 75% of Full Fare 100% of Full Fare

         

[formernuke]

Sorry- Didn't notice the formatting error until I posted. Try this!

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 minutes ago, formernuke said:

Sorry- Didn't notice the formatting error until I posted. Try this!

 

Great information. Thank you so much!

[Peregrina651]

 

 

The same information can be found on the Viking website via a link in the footer for the passenger ticket contract. 

 

Also links to the FAQ and other fun and  informative fine print.  

[donaldsc]

What difference does it really make if you have to pay 11 months before your cruise or 3 months before.  The cost is the same.  Paying early gets it over with,  

 

Before anyone responds w the "Viking has use of your money" comment, it the cruise costs $10,000 which is high and you could have made 5% on your money which is high, your loss from the early payment is only $250.  Big deal.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, donaldsc said:

What difference does it really make if you have to pay 11 months before your cruise or 3 months before.  The cost is the same.  Paying early gets it over with,  

 

Before anyone responds w the "Viking has use of your money" comment, it the cruise costs $10,000 which is high and you could have made 5% on your money which is high, your loss from the early payment is only $250.  Big deal.

Like I mentioned, paying a year in advance when anything can happen to derail those plans over the next year is/was a concern. But @formernukeposted a cancellation table that has given me some peace of mind. Regarding those who wonder at Viking’s use of their advance payment…akin to a free loan, are not wrong. I don’t happen to like giving free money but I also understand the concept of “their company, their rules” and will play along. By no means is questioning a 12 month prior to embarkation final payment date an outrageous thing to do…that’s just my humble opinion as I breech the cliff of all things Viking Cruising. 

[CHammond]

One important thing to know, whether you get your travel insurance through Viking or somewhere else, it is not refundable, so keep that in mind, you can get viking's travel insurance up to 120 days before sailing, however, if you don't get it in the first 14 days after booking pre existing conditions are not covered. Also, I have successfully changed a cruise with viking's travel insurance to another cruise and the travel insurance was moved to the new cruise successfully so I didn't lose it. 

[Babr]

The same is true of third-party insurance. Although there are some policies that allow the waiver of pre-existing conditions at final payment, that makes no difference when the final payment is so close to initial deposit. If you wait until the penalty period for cancellation, you have given up all time-sensitive coverages such as CFAR, pre-existing conditions waiver, or financial default.

 

The policy can be moved to another sailing, but it is nonrefundable.

[DrKoob]

Just want to mention that the reason Viking has this policy is that they can. Their cruises sail full. If you don't want the stateroom, someone else will buy it. Been cruising for 20+ years and have never seen a cruise line with as loyal a clientele. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Been cruising for 20+ years and have never seen a cruise line with as loyal a clientele. 

Good to know. I can appreciate a company that provides a quality product and one that isn’t afraid to price themselves accordingly. We are also seasoned cruisers with 20+ years but our experiences have been more mainstream where the product continues to deteriorate while the prices increase. We priced a Celebrity cruise for the same time and similar itinerary that was only slightly less than Viking. But if you take a look at the Celebrity board lately you will see many posts about cutbacks and lacking value… it has driven me to look elsewhere and so far, I like what I see here with Viking!  Thank you (and others) for helping me understand Viking’s payment strategy. 

[Babr]

13 hours ago, donaldsc said:

What difference does it really make if you have to pay 11 months before your cruise or 3 months before.  The cost is the same.  Paying early gets it over with,  

 

Before anyone responds w the "Viking has use of your money" comment, it the cruise costs $10,000 which is high and you could have made 5% on your money which is high, your loss from the early payment is only $250.  Big deal.

The difference is that you have to pay to get your money back if something happens in that 11 month window that keeps you from sailing. It is not a revenue-neutral proposition.

 

Once the deposit is paid, one faces at least a cancellation fee or a more significant cancellation penalty starting at 120 days based on percentage of cruise fare. To protect against the penalty, one can buy a nonrefundable insurance policy.

 

One may not be making much on his money during that time, but he stands to lose more than your hypothetical $250.

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Good to know. I can appreciate a company that provides a quality product and one that isn’t afraid to price themselves accordingly. We are also seasoned cruisers with 20+ years but our experiences have been more mainstream where the product continues to deteriorate while the prices increase. We priced a Celebrity cruise for the same time and similar itinerary that was only slightly less than Viking. But if you take a look at the Celebrity board lately you will see many posts about cutbacks and lacking value… it has driven me to look elsewhere and so far, I like what I see here with Viking!  Thank you (and others) for helping me understand Viking’s payment strategy. 

 

You aren't alone in being increasingly disappointed with the mainstream mega ships. I spent 40 years, both working for and cruising with P&O/Princess and our final cruise with them was 2015. The once great cruise line was reduced to little more than budget cruises.

 

Viking may have dropped slightly since COVID, but I have no doubt you will find the onboard service vastly superior to Celebrity.

[gowilk]

21 hours ago, donaldsc said:

What difference does it really make if you have to pay 11 months before your cruise or 3 months before.  The cost is the same.  Paying early gets it over with,  

 

Before anyone responds w the "Viking has use of your money" comment, it the cruise costs $10,000 which is high and you could have made 5% on your money which is high, your loss from the early payment is only $250.  Big deal.

250 times thousands is the difference….i never book over 6 months away for that reason

[Pushka]

Not sure how it works for non Aussie insurance policies, but if you don't take it out until closer to the cruise, they won't cover you for any health issues that may develop over that period unless you declare them and they may accept it but usually with a premium hike.