On board booking

[natshala]

Hello all, we will be on our first Viking cruise in March. We know policies change frequently, so we’d like first hand info from someone currently or very recently onboard.

 

Are there any advantages to waiting until we’re onboard in March to book a 2025 cruise? Of particular interest is the final payment date. V wants 14 months in advance if we book now. We’d like a shorter date.

 

Any other perks like OBC, etc. to booking onboard?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

[whitbob]

We are on Mars now and received this in last nights Daily.  It isn’t very detailed.  We booked on board August 2022. The discounts were $500 booking, $200 past level guest and $200 for booking onboard.   Per person. The $500 was the saving was  sale rate at the time for this cruise.   We also have $200 total OBC.  We checked with TA before traveling and this was the best deal at the time, so we transferred the booking to him  after booking on board.  Final payment was 6 months before sailing.  

 

 

 

[CDNPolar]

3 hours ago, natshala said:

Hello all, we will be on our first Viking cruise in March. We know policies change frequently, so we’d like first hand info from someone currently or very recently onboard.

 

Are there any advantages to waiting until we’re onboard in March to book a 2025 cruise? Of particular interest is the final payment date. V wants 14 months in advance if we book now. We’d like a shorter date.

 

Any other perks like OBC, etc. to booking onboard?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

If you do book, don't leave it until the last minute on board because you will get "shipboard credit on current sailing" and that from my knowledge must be spent onboard.  You cannot move that anywhere.  The first time we booked onboard, we left it to the last day and we had to spend the credit in the gift shop or lose it. 

[SantaFe1]

I have two questions about this.  First, can you book a River cruise on an ocean cruise?  Second, does a River cruise have the capacity to book another cruise while onboard at all?  Thanks!

[Kellybc]

We booked a River cruise on our October ocean cruise. We got the promotional $25 deposit, payment six months prior to cruise, an additional loyalty discount (don’t remember how much) and used the shipboard credit toward gratuities on the ocean cruise. 

[deec]

in our recent experience you can NOT book a future cruise while on a River ship but they were offering vouchers...$1oo and get $200...but can only be used 1 per person per NEW cruise booking.  But you can buy I think 10 and they can be gifted.

BUT rules and offerings change

[SantaFe1]

4 minutes ago, deec said:

in our recent experience you can NOT book a future cruise while on a River ship but they were offering vouchers...$1oo and get $200...but can only be used 1 per person per NEW cruise booking.  But you can buy I think 10 and they can be gifted.

BUT rules and offerings change

Yes, I do remember hearing about the vouchers. I think I would rather book on an ocean cruise. Thanks!

[deec]

they are very different cruising experiences.

[natshala]

OP here…my error. I meant VO not V in my post. Sorry for any confusion. I really appreciate all of your comments.

[Mich3554]

3 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

I have two questions about this.  First, can you book a River cruise on an ocean cruise?  Second, does a River cruise have the capacity to book another cruise while onboard at all?  Thanks!

Yes, you can book a river cruise on board an ocean cruise.  No, you cannot book a cruise while on a river, but you can buy $200 vouchers for $100 while on a river cruise that are good for ocean, river and expedition.

[Squawkman]

Any cruise booked within 2 weeks of disembarkation of any cruise is eligible for a “welcome back” shipboard credit of $200 per person. The type and length of cruise - as well as other discounts and promo codes do not affect this amount. I believe only Viking agents can apply this credit, as we only use the same Viking agent for our bookings. We have continually taken advantage of this credit for several years.

[Clay Clayton]

15 hours ago, natshala said:

Hello all, we will be on our first Viking cruise in March. We know policies change frequently, so we’d like first hand info from someone currently or very recently onboard.

 

Are there any advantages to waiting until we’re onboard in March to book a 2025 cruise? Of particular interest is the final payment date. V wants 14 months in advance if we book now. We’d like a shorter date.

 

Any other perks like OBC, etc. to booking onboard?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Others have answered your questions, but I wanted to note that I’m surprised that Viking won’t give you a six month final payment on the cruise you want to book. Typically, if you have a cruise booked (the one you’re taking in March counts) and you ask, they will make final payment for the cruise your booking be 6 months prior to embarkation.  This was the case in August when we booked a cruise for March 2025 while onboard. But we have done the same thing via our travel agent. 

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

Yes, I do remember hearing about the vouchers. I think I would rather book on an ocean cruise. Thanks!

 

Regarding the vouchers that you purchase on the River Cruises...

 

We were told by the Cruise Director on our River Cruise in August of this year that the sale of these vouchers was likely to cease in 2024.  I have not confirmed this anywhere else, but this Cruise Director announced this during a port talk to the entire ship, so I would hope her information was credible.

 

The vouchers that you have purchased would remain valid with no expiry date, BUT, you would likely not be able to purchase them in the future because Viking was discontinuing the sale of the vouchers.

 

Also to note that you cannot apply a voucher to any cruise that is already booked, whether you are at final payment or not.  The voucher ($100 for $200) can only be applied at the point of booking.

 

This rule alone has stopped us from buying these vouchers, because we typically always have one or two Viking cruises booked in the future and so the vouchers are useless to us.

[dreamercruise]

Would someone know the amount of discounts for booking a 7-14 days cruise  while onboard a Viking ship? I know the discounts are $500 per person for a cruise of 15 days or longer.

[MikeyB]

On 12/14/2023 at 3:43 PM, dreamercruise said:

Would someone know the amount of discounts for booking a 7-14 days cruise  while onboard a Viking ship? I know the discounts are $500 per person for a cruise of 15 days or longer.

On my cruise last month on the Sky-

6-8 days $100pp

9-15 days $200pp

16-22 days $300pp

23-29 days $400pp

30-50 days $500pp

51+ days $1K

You would also receive $100pp as non-refundable ship board credit.

$500pp for 15+ days are for dreamers. 🙂

[CCWineLover]

On 12/15/2023 at 12:30 PM, MikeyB said:

On my cruise last month on the Sky-

6-8 days $100pp

9-15 days $200pp

16-22 days $300pp

23-29 days $400pp

30-50 days $500pp

51+ days $1K

You would also receive $100pp as non-refundable ship board credit.

$500pp for 15+ days are for dreamers. 🙂

MikeyB - this is the same schedule we have on the Neptune TA right now.

Note carefully that the 9-15 "days" break covers most of the Viking "2 week" cruises (15 days 14 nights), so you really don't get up to $300pp until the many 17 day cruises they have (like S.America)

 

We asked and there is NO more $500 pp for 15+

 

The onboard non-refundable credits are only $100 pp, down from times prior.  Viking has such demand our consultant said, that they don't need to incentivize people much anymore.  Sadly, gone are the good old days!

[MikeyB]

43 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

MikeyB - this is the same schedule we have on the Neptune TA right now.

Note carefully that the 9-15 "days" break covers most of the Viking "2 week" cruises (15 days 14 nights), so you really don't get up to $300pp until the many 17 day cruises they have (like S.America)

 

We asked and there is NO more $500 pp for 15+

 

The onboard non-refundable credits are only $100 pp, down from times prior.  Viking has such demand our consultant said, that they don't need to incentivize people much anymore.  Sadly, gone are the good old days!

Thanks for reaffirming.

I must add that Viking does need to continue their various promotions.  When I first started sailing Viking it was only river cruises.  Passengers sailing today pay less than what I paid in 2010.  Back then there was no free air promotions.  Viking Ocean started up with no promotions.  Viking attempts to target their promotions to passenger who appear "one and done".  I personally receive very few promotions.

Viking adding so many new Ocean ships so quickly affects their supply vs demand.

Do you hear me Viking?

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, MikeyB said:

Thanks for reaffirming.

I must add that Viking does need to continue their various promotions.  When I first started sailing Viking it was only river cruises.  Passengers sailing today pay less than what I paid in 2010.  Back then there was no free air promotions.  Viking Ocean started up with no promotions.  Viking attempts to target their promotions to passenger who appear "one and done".  I personally receive very few promotions.

Viking adding so many new Ocean ships so quickly affects their supply vs demand.

Do you hear me Viking?

 

What I want to see is a loyalty program better than what exists now.  The free air and other reduced pricing rarely hits what and when we want to travel.  As we are approaching 10+ Viking cruises, we would like to see something that is of benefit to us booking in the future - regardless of the other promotions that could be there.

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

What I want to see is a loyalty program better than what exists now.  The free air and other reduced pricing rarely hits what and when we want to travel.  As we are approaching 10+ Viking cruises, we would like to see something that is of benefit to us booking in the future - regardless of the other promotions that could be there.

Totally agree!  Viking lately has been doing heavily this free air stuff, likely possibly to attract new customers.  It is of no use to those who want to fly business class, as they don’t discount that.

wish they would do something with actual cruise price, but with high demand, I see why they won’t do that.

[Reaniel]

On 12/11/2023 at 2:59 PM, deec said:

in our recent experience you can NOT book a future cruise while on a River ship but they were offering vouchers...$1oo and get $200...but can only be used 1 per person per NEW cruise booking.  But you can buy I think 10 and they can be gifted.

BUT rules and offerings change

 

On Viking Lofn in 2022 for the Grand European Tour, and they only allowed us to buy 1 per person (and used 1 per person).  There wasn't an offer to buy giftable vouchers for us.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Reaniel

[Mich3554]

2 hours ago, Reaniel said:

 

On Viking Lofn in 2022 for the Grand European Tour, and they only allowed us to buy 1 per person (and used 1 per person).  There wasn't an offer to buy giftable vouchers for us.

That’s strange.  We did the GE on the Bragi in April/May of 2022 and I bought 16.  We could only use one per person per new booking.  

[Reaniel]

On 12/18/2023 at 10:34 AM, Mich3554 said:

That’s strange.  We did the GE on the Bragi in April/May of 2022 and I bought 16.  We could only use one per person per new booking.  

 

Our sailing was Oct/Nov 2022.  Maybe something changed during the months in between (or just specifically for Lofn).  But we were only allowed to buy 1 per person for our own use 😕

Maybe someone on more recent River cruise sailing could shed some light on whether it was a one-off thing for my sailing, or a permanent change...

[deec]

I have heard rumors that there will be no more vouchers in 2024 but those already issued will be honored.

[Reaniel]

54 minutes ago, deec said:

I have heard rumors that there will be no more vouchers in 2024 but those already issued will be honored.

 

No vouchers altogether?!  Not even to use on yourself?

What will they offer the River Cruises people then?