Spring Sale questions

[travelerdj]

hello all. Wondering if the quoted price in the brochure is the new "spring sale " price or if you need to call and use the EBD code to get a further reduced fare.  If the former, it does not look like any real savings from the previous pricing, at least for the cruise I was looking at Iconic Med 5/2024... I won't be using Viking Air, so right now it does not seem like this is the "sale" for me .  I know the best sale for most posters is an upgrade sale, but I am not sure how long I want to wait for that to potentially happen.. Make sense?  Thanks!

[cmaasfamily]

Our observation: Viking sets a price but shows it with a variety of discounts, sales, promotions, etc., which net out to the same thing (or within pocket change of each other). They are all "compelling events" manufactured to create a sense of urgency. Book when ready; you'll be fine. 

Edited March 2, 2023 by cmaasfamily
typo

[CDNPolar]

The other thing we see is that we constantly see ads for $25 deposits and free air, but when you click on the link you have to search for needles in haystacks to find the few cruises or dates that actually have free air.  We feel that there are deals available sometimes, but you have to do the digging to find them.  The ads catch your attention, but then you cannot find the deal.

[Squawkman]

39 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

The other thing we see is that we constantly see ads for $25 deposits and free air, but when you click on the link you have to search for needles in haystacks to find the few cruises or dates that actually have free air.  We feel that there are deals available sometimes, but you have to do the digging to find them.  The ads catch your attention, but then you cannot find the deal.

I disagree. Almost always free air is offered for cruises embarking soon - sometimes within weeks, but rarely more than a year. And oftentimes the free air month for one cruise is not offered for another in the same month.

[CDNPolar]

9 hours ago, Squawkman said:

I disagree. Almost always free air is offered for cruises embarking soon - sometimes within weeks, but rarely more than a year. And oftentimes the free air month for one cruise is not offered for another in the same month.

 

Well, happy that you disagree, but what you are saying is not our experience.  Different countries have different deals and what you experience in the USA may not be what others experience.  The last promotion that we received that claimed free air, we found precious few that actually had free air, regardless of when they departed.

[OneSixtyToOne]

On 3/2/2023 at 12:45 PM, travelerdj said:

hello all. Wondering if the quoted price in the brochure is the new "spring sale " price or if you need to call and use the EBD code to get a further reduced fare.  If the former, it does not look like any real savings from the previous pricing, at least for the cruise I was looking at Iconic Med 5/2024... I won't be using Viking Air, so right now it does not seem like this is the "sale" for me .  I know the best sale for most posters is an upgrade sale, but I am not sure how long I want to wait for that to potentially happen.. Make sense?  Thanks!

 

EBD pricing is typically already baked into the brochure fare. If the price has a strike out through it, the EBD has already been applied. If you go online and try and book the cruise and use EBD, you'll see nothing actually happens to the price. As far as I'm concerned it's a marketing gimmick, not a true sale code. If you book early enough, everyone gets an EBD, whether you use the code or not.