Pricing

[Jjg34219]

In August, 2022, we booked Empires of the Mediterranean for July, 2024. Havent really paid much attention to the pricing on Viking since we booked, but it has increased by about 25% since we booked, and the two extensions have also increased by about same amount.

We are so glad we decided to book while onboard in Alaska!

[molymoo]

33 minutes ago, Jjg34219 said:

In August, 2022, we booked Empires of the Mediterranean for July, 2024. Havent really paid much attention to the pricing on Viking since we booked, but it has increased by about 25% since we booked, and the two extensions have also increased by about same amount.

We are so glad we decided to book while onboard in Alaska!

We have found that if you find an itinerary that you want to book, do it and don't wait for a better deal and don't look back.  Cruise prices, airfares, etc. will inevitably go up (as with EVERYTHING) and special deals will expire.  We booked the Grand European in 2022 (after cancelling our 2020 trip) and in the fine print there was an offer for flat rate business class air for $1995.00 if you booked a suite.  We booked a veranda suite and enjoyed some lovely air accommodations last summer and considering the state of air travel/prices/conditions, we made out and I'm guessing that Viking might have lost on that one.  I have noticed that they are no longer offering that deal!

 

[CDNPolar]

We have passively noticed that Viking itineraries go up annually in some cases by $1000.00 pp.

 

Many factors.... time of year, etc.  But in general we see increases every year.

 

I work private sector and have not had an increase in salary in 5 years.  My husband works public sector and gets LARGE increases every year.  Guess he will be paying for the cruises now.

[WanderingBrit]

We booked Empires Of The Mediterranean for March of 2025 at the end of May, and it's gone up by $450 per person already. Same seems to be true of several other lines also, not just Viking.

[Hobson1754]

We recently booked Viking Homelands for 2025 on the new Vela. I got a quote from Viking on a Saturday (price same as website) & thought I’d leave it a couple of days - when I looked at it  again on Tuesday it had gone up by £600. Contacted them straight away via my TA & they honoured the original price - you definitely can’t hang around!!

[Baron Barracuda]

On the other hand some prices do go down.   Last June we considered the 33 day Grand Hawaii and Polynesia sailing for this Nov 10th.  Price for a PV2 was $18K.  Then they rolled out a sale at $14.2K and we happily booked.  In August the SUM23  promo dropped the price to $11.2 so we cancelled and rebooked, paying the $100 penalty.  Price is now $10.2k + free air.  I can see at least 40 cabins still available with v2 going for $4,499.  Not bad for 33 days.

[17pandd]

Well, ours has gone down by half and Viking says too bad, so sad.  I know it is the luck of the draw and I'm not letting it spoil my trip but I won't pay Viking a year ahead of time again.

[janetcbl]

We have two trips booked. One has gone down in price (many cabins available), one has gone up (only a few cabins available). Passenger load evidently makes the difference.

[CCWineLover]

5 hours ago, 17pandd said:

Well, ours has gone down by half and Viking says too bad, so sad.  I know it is the luck of the draw and I'm not letting it spoil my trip but I won't pay Viking a year ahead of time again.

Sorry for you indeed 🙂

It does depend on the itinerary.  Most of the itineraries are quite popular and THOSE prices go up, some by a lot.  A few are not popular (like the Polynesia one and some Transatlantics).  Those can go down.  Was your unfortunate bad luck.

So don't give up on Viking and/or make a blanket statement (won't pay ahead).  Take a close look at the itineraries you might like and make your decision based on that (and what you read about its popularity).

[Reaniel]

We're total cheapskates, and we wouldn't be cruising unless it's a REALLY good deal.

We went on the Grand European Tour on Viking River, and the pricing was $3000 (with air) ppdo for a standard stateroom.  This year, this pricing was offered again during one of the sales in the summer.

 

I understand most people doesn't really feel like keeping track of cruise prices constantly, but still, to take advantage of good prices, it's something you'll just have to do.

[CDNPolar]

Once we book, we generally don't monitor pricing....

 

We do note cruises that we are interested in that were last year 6K pp that are now 7K pp.  But once booked, we steer our eyes away.

[rmalbers]

I wonder if all the cruise credit for cancelled cruises has finally flowed thru the system.  I know on our  VO cruise two months ago I heard a few people were still using it up.  

[Azulann]

I like booking a cruise while on a Viking Ship. Love the. discounts offered  which lowers the cruise price, and best of all  final payment 6months before cruise. One can also move your booking to another future cruise if before final payment. 

 I do know Viking does offer  sales if some  cruises have low occupancy  a few months in advance of the sailing.  

But like others , once I book a cruise I never look at the price of my cruise  again. Same with my airline tickets. 

Edited October 26, 2023 by Azulann

[Mich3554]

I book cruises I want and just don’t look back at what the price might be later.  Some go up, some down.  I suspect it evens out in the end.  
 

I do the same for flights too.  Once I find flights that are acceptable price, time, connections 8 book and stop looking.

[duquephart]

I'm normally a "don't look back" type as well but got curuios. Found $5600 total difference between what we paid and what we would pay today on our next cruise. 

[17pandd]

I agree with the don't look policy, but I also join roll calls for  cruises and that means whether you look or not you will hear about all the deals someone just got on your cruise.  I didn't look at the sales, didn't check on prices, they simply arrived at my attention.  This is our first trip on Viking, we're looking forward to a fun cruise with nice folks but this will not happen to us again.  

[Squawkman]

5 hours ago, rmalbers said:

I wonder if all the cruise credit for cancelled cruises has finally flowed thru the system.  I know on our  VO cruise two months ago I heard a few people were still using it up.  

I assume you mean Covid related cancellations. We have one left which will be used early next year. We used political related vouchers for 2 cruises this year (Ukraine and Russia).

[farmecologist]

On 10/25/2023 at 1:04 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

On the other hand some prices do go down.   Last June we considered the 33 day Grand Hawaii and Polynesia sailing for this Nov 10th.  Price for a PV2 was $18K.  Then they rolled out a sale at $14.2K and we happily booked.  In August the SUM23  promo dropped the price to $11.2 so we cancelled and rebooked, paying the $100 penalty.  Price is now $10.2k + free air.  I can see at least 40 cabins still available with v2 going for $4,499.  Not bad for 33 days.

 

Yeah...we only book on sales, etc... and only when they are very good deals.  We are not picky about the room class on Viking either.  The fact Viking only has "balcony" rooms on their ocean ships is amazing to us.  We used to hunt for deals all the time on other cruise lines...but the fact most other lines have non-balcony rooms made that difficult ( we will only stay in a balcony ).

 

If hunting for deals is being "cheap", so be it....Oh yeah, we are cheap!  🤣

 

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by farmecologist

[Mich3554]

Ok, I just made a liar out of myself.  We are booked on the Circumnavigation of Australia in 2025.  We booked on board at the beginning of the WC so we got some perks from that.  The price for the cabin I booked is about $6000 less than it is on the website today.  

[FetaCheese]

On 10/25/2023 at 2:04 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

On the other hand some prices do go down.   Last June we considered the 33 day Grand Hawaii and Polynesia sailing for this Nov 10th.  Price for a PV2 was $18K.  Then they rolled out a sale at $14.2K and we happily booked.  In August the SUM23  promo dropped the price to $11.2 so we cancelled and rebooked, paying the $100 penalty.  Price is now $10.2k + free air.  I can see at least 40 cabins still available with v2 going for $4,499.  Not bad for 33 days.

Booked 28 December Hawaiian Islands Sojourn in June 2023, for what I thought was a nice price, on a sale.  Included "free" Air, and "free" SSBP.

 

Now I wish I would've waited to book the Grand Polynesia voyage.  Fare has been reduced several times all summer and fall.

 

Supply and demand.  In the future, will book closer in.  V wants to fill ship.  Harder to do with longer itins.  $4,499 for 32 nights seems to be pricing at cost.  Still included free Air, but this close in, not sure V would provide it.  

 

[Breckski]

I certainly look at pricing (probably once a month) during the period where I'm not at monetary risk for cancellation.  If the price drops, I just tell my agent to cancel and re-book.  Did that today on a Seabourn reservation and saved $2k.  Not a lot of work on my part to save $2k.  And have done this before with no issues. 

[17pandd]

Except our insurance is 2k and does not carry over.  The day after our percentage penalties  kicked in was the big price drop on our cruise so with whatever that percentage is and our insurance, we will just enjoy the room we picked and call it a lesson from Viking.  It will be a nice cruise but the price drop is significant enough to remember how this goes.

[CCWineLover]

17 hours ago, 17pandd said:

Except our insurance is 2k and does not carry over.  The day after our percentage penalties  kicked in was the big price drop on our cruise so with whatever that percentage is and our insurance, we will just enjoy the room we picked and call it a lesson from Viking.  It will be a nice cruise but the price drop is significant enough to remember how this goes.

You must have Tripmate.  If so, that again is a reason we never do Tripmate.  We do a 3rd party and are always able to carry over the insurance to other cruises.  Never lost anything.

[Baron Barracuda]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

You must have Tripmate.  If so, that again is a reason we never do Tripmate.  We do a 3rd party and are always able to carry over the insurance to other cruises.  Never lost anything.

Learned that lesson when we cancelled and re-booked Polynesia.  Fortunately for us savings was compelling even after booking new non-Viking insurance

[shadowlover]

On 10/26/2023 at 7:10 PM, mwike said:

I certainly look at pricing (probably once a month) during the period where I'm not at monetary risk for cancellation.  If the price drops, I just tell my agent to cancel and re-book.  Did that today on a Seabourn reservation and saved $2k.  Not a lot of work on my part to save $2k.  And have done this before with no issues. 

most recently they have not really allowed this.  You can cancel but you can not immediately book the same cruise and same cabin.  there seems to be some sort of waiting period.  If you want to move your money to a different sailing then fine but I am usually too invested in the dates of sailing and cabin choice etc.

Also NEVER insure the entire cost of your trip until you have to do it (based on the rules of the insurance company).  Just insure the least amount- or the deposit.  Then you will have pre existing conditions covered.