Current on-board future cruise discounts?

[WanderingBrit]

The last time we booked while onboard we saved $450 per person, and received OBC for the sailing we were on. Can anyone share their first hand experience of current discounts?

 

Kevin

 

[CCWineLover]

6 hours ago, WanderingBrit said:

The last time we booked while onboard we saved $450 per person, and received OBC for the sailing we were on. Can anyone share their first hand experience of current discounts?

 

Kevin

 

Just got off Viking Saturn.  Deals of OBC have lessened.

Too much post-COVID demand for cruising I would estimate.

Was offered just $100 pp OBC and just a couple hundred onboard savings.  

Declined.

May well depend on itinerary and time of year, but it is clear that demand is high.  People were booking way out into summer of '25 !!  Perhaps the $25 deposits have something to do with it as well.

[WanderingBrit]

4 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Just got off Viking Saturn.  Deals of OBC have lessened.

Too much post-COVID demand for cruising I would estimate.

Was offered just $100 pp OBC and just a couple hundred onboard savings.  

Declined.

May well depend on itinerary and time of year, but it is clear that demand is high.  People were booking way out into summer of '25 !!  Perhaps the $25 deposits have something to do with it as well.

Just what I was looking to learn - thank you.

 

We've already got a March '25 cruise booked taking advantage of the $25 deposit and the prior guest discount, and I had wondered if perhaps that was good as it was going to get!

 

Kevin

 

[Mich3554]

Not as good as it used to be.  We added a cruise onto our WC while on board through the cruise consultant and the perks are not near what they were in 2021.  

[Squawkman]

The “welcome back” discount now makes more sense than ever. If you book with a Viking agent within 14 days of disembarkation, you’ll get $200 pp SBC regardless of cruise length and other discounts. We just did this 2 weeks ago. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

FYI Today is the last day of the 25th Anniversary sale. Lots of great deals and I don't think prices are going lower. Lots of demand right now.

Viking sent me a reminder...

Call Viking at 800‑464‑3595 contact your travel advisor

25th Anniversary Sale SPECIAL OFFER ON ALL-INCLUSIVE VOYAGES

Book Today with a $25 Deposit Plus, Up to FREE Airfare ASK FOR OFFER: EBD LEARN MORE Book your next voyage with a deposit of just $25 and receive up to FREE airfare. From river voyages that take you into the heart of Europe to ocean and expedition journeys that reveal the best of the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, Hawaii, the Great Lakes, Antarctica and beyond, each of our itineraries includes enriching experiences designed for curious travelers like you. Where will you choose to explore?

[WanderingBrit]

6 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

FYI Today is the last day of the 25th Anniversary sale. Lots of great deals and I don't think prices are going lower. Lots of demand right now.

Viking sent me a reminder...

Call Viking at 800‑464‑3595 contact your travel advisor

25th Anniversary Sale SPECIAL OFFER ON ALL-INCLUSIVE VOYAGES

Book Today with a $25 Deposit Plus, Up to FREE Airfare ASK FOR OFFER: EBD LEARN MORE Book your next voyage with a deposit of just $25 and receive up to FREE airfare. From river voyages that take you into the heart of Europe to ocean and expedition journeys that reveal the best of the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, Hawaii, the Great Lakes, Antarctica and beyond, each of our itineraries includes enriching experiences designed for curious travelers like you. Where will you choose to explore?

 

The end of May was the original "last day of the 25th Anniversary Sale" 🙂

I'll be curious to see if fares really do go back up once July hits.

[OneSixtyToOne]

4 minutes ago, WanderingBrit said:

 

The end of May was the original "last day of the 25th Anniversary Sale" 🙂

I'll be curious to see if fares really do go back up once July hits.

 

I'm sure there will be a 4th of July sale, but some of the current deals have filled up so I think what we will see is the EBD promo on '24 and '25 sailings, which isn't anything special.

[CCWineLover]

We went ahead and booked using the deals.  Bird in the Hand.  Sure it might be better in a month, but since its a cruise we want, why wait?   Everyone makes their own choices.  Sort of like investing, there is not easy or right answer.

[flare3192]

We booked Egypt with extensions to Israel and Petra while on the ship. A month after coming home it dawned on me to check when the Jewish high holidays are in 2024 -- something I think the cruise salesman should have looked at before suggesting the dates as he is Israeli and was raised there. We were supposed to arrive Oct 1 2024 and leave October 5 -- As it turns out Rosh Hashona is Oct 2 - 4 2024. That is like Christmas over here -- most things would be closed. We asked to change the date and we are going 3 days earlier as that was available. However in the month  since we originally booked, Viking had a price increase of $500 per person and would not do anything for us to honor the original price even though I feel that the onboard person steered us incorrectly -- he suggested the dates to us -- we did not come with dates picked out. As I told Viking, their employee was raised in Israel and should know to look for the holidays as they are on a lunar calendar that is different from our calendat. In 2023 the holiday is Sept 15 - 17 so we would not have had an issue. Unfortunately we are out an additional $1,000. With Viking you have to be careful because there is no grace. Doesn't matter who makes the error

[deec]

Kent,  what exciting adventure did you and Pam book next?  We will be interested to know how the  Italy, Adriatic and Greece is!  Arctic Explorer looks good too!  I think we will look at Bergen to NYC if the boat sells and we can be gone in the summer.  So many places to explore.

Edited July 1, 2023 by deec

[CCWineLover]

15 minutes ago, deec said:

Kent,  what exciting adventure did you and Pam book next?  We will be interested to know how the  Italy, Adriatic and Greece is!  Arctic Explorer looks good too!  I think we will look at Bergen to NYC if the boat sells and we can be gone in the summer.  So many places to explore.

After 2 tries we are finally going to do the Buenos Aires to Barcelona itinerary!

[Sleep7]

 

23 hours ago, Squawkman said:

The “welcome back” discount now makes more sense than ever. If you book with a Viking agent within 14 days of disembarkation, you’ll get $200 pp SBC regardless of cruise length and other discounts. We just did this 2 weeks ago. 

 

🙋‍♀️Question.. if you take a Viking River cruise does the "Welcome Back" discount work for booking an Viking Ocean cruise within 2 weeks?

 

[Squawkman]

13 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

 

 

🙋‍♀️Question.. if you take a Viking River cruise does the "Welcome Back" discount work for booking an Viking Ocean cruise within 2 weeks?

 

Yes. And don’t forget to buy $200 certificates for $100 which you can also apply. We did this in April which saved a net additional $100pp off cruise fare and $200pp SBC for an 8 day Iceland cruise.

[longterm]

1 hour ago, deec said:

 We will be interested to know how the  Italy, Adriatic and Greece is!  

Jumping in here... we did the Italy, Adriatic & Greece cruise in May 2022, and loved it; easily the best cruise we've done so far.

 

Part of what made it nice was that we were in Italy when it was just opening back up, so there weren't huge crowds. I stood in St. Mark's Square one morning at about 9am, and there were perhaps 20 people there, if that many. Hard to believe that's possible these days! We were in the Sistine Chapel when there were about 40 people total in the chapel, stayed as long as we wanted.

 

My only regret was that we didn't get to stay in Venice long enough, but that's a trip for the future, definitely in the off season when crowds are smaller.

 

We really enjoyed the post-excursion in Greece too; Delphi and Mycenae were 2 of my favorite stops on the entire cruise.

[Sleep7]

2 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

Yes. And don’t forget to buy $200 certificates for $100 which you can also apply. We did this in April which saved a net additional $100pp off cruise fare and $200pp SBC for an 8 day Iceland cruise.

Oh thanks for the info Squawkman!! I totally forgot about those half price certs.

So glad that the Welcome Back discount crosses over between river and ocean.🤗

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, longterm said:

Jumping in here... we did the Italy, Adriatic & Greece cruise in May 2022, and loved it; easily the best cruise we've done so far.

 

Part of what made it nice was that we were in Italy when it was just opening back up, so there weren't huge crowds. I stood in St. Mark's Square one morning at about 9am, and there were perhaps 20 people there, if that many. Hard to believe that's possible these days! We were in the Sistine Chapel when there were about 40 people total in the chapel, stayed as long as we wanted.

 

My only regret was that we didn't get to stay in Venice long enough, but that's a trip for the future, definitely in the off season when crowds are smaller.

 

We really enjoyed the post-excursion in Greece too; Delphi and Mycenae were 2 of my favorite stops on the entire cruise.

Great to hear about your adventures!  We are doing the exact trip in Feb/Mar 2024 and also the Umbria pre-extension and Athens 4 day post extensions.   Will be our first Viking ocean extensions (we always do our own before).  Hopefully that time of year will help reduce the crowds!  Looking forward to Delphi!

[wine-wine-wine]

7 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Great to hear about your adventures!  We are doing the exact trip in Feb/Mar 2024 and also the Umbria pre-extension and Athens 4 day post extensions.   Will be our first Viking ocean extensions (we always do our own before).  Hopefully that time of year will help reduce the crowds!  Looking forward to Delphi!

Sorry but just have to jump in. Greece is EASY. Almost as easy as England. I can definitely understand the desire to take a cruise there but it is quite simple to navigate by rental car or ferry (ok I would never drive in downtown Athens). 
 

DW and I have visited Greece eight times now and our least favorites have been on a cruise. 
 

If you are really interested in Delphi I would recommend renting a car, taking the easy 2.5 hour drive there and staying for two nights so you can really drink it in. We spent three nights there and were so glad - especially as there was a museum workers strike the first full day. 

[SJD117]

1 hour ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Sorry but just have to jump in. Greece is EASY. Almost as easy as England. I can definitely understand the desire to take a cruise there but it is quite simple to navigate by rental car or ferry (ok I would never drive in downtown Athens). 
 

DW and I have visited Greece eight times now and our least favorites have been on a cruise. 
 

If you are really interested in Delphi I would recommend renting a car, taking the easy 2.5 hour drive there and staying for two nights so you can really drink it in. We spent three nights there and were so glad - especially as there was a museum workers strike the first full day. 

 

On our first trip to Greece, in 1989, we did brave the Athens traffic and rented a car for the drive to Delphi. I have zero memory of the drive itself, but very fond memories of Delphi. We stayed overnight in the town in a very nice little B&B (probably an Airbnb now).

 

I agree that Greece is very easy to get around. On the 1989 trip, after Delphi we flew to Santorini, then meandered by ferry to Paros, Mykonos, Delos, Samos, Patmos, and finally to Kusadasi / Ephesus and Istanbul. Then in 2019, we drove down to the Peloponnese and finished with 10 days on Crete. All arrangements were quite doable on our own.