Huge price increase??

[CCWineLover]

33 minutes ago, Hanoj said:

Viking may be using dynamic pricing, increasing prices as categories approach being sold out.

Yes - it's been pretty obvious this is the case.  Just like hotels and airlines and other businesses.

[kctwinmommy]

2 hours ago, Hanoj said:

Viking may be using dynamic pricing, increasing prices as categories approach being sold out.

I think this was some glitch. The price increase, as I mentioned, would have been $16,000 more for the 2 of us. And our cruise has been sold out for months. A few cabins pop up on occasion, but not much. And then the next day, it was back down, close to what we paid. It was then another $2500-3000 for the two of us. That's an increase I could expect to see a year later.

[CDNPolar]

9 hours ago, Hanoj said:

Viking may be using dynamic pricing, increasing prices as categories approach being sold out.

 

This is entirely possible.  There are however a lot of theories about dynamic pricing including returning repeatedly to the same website (Viking for instance) and looking at a particular cruise.  The theory being that Viking monitor how often you return and look and the price may increase slightly with each return, so that you will be more encouraged to buy before it goes up again...

 

I have played games with this theory and visited Viking (and other sites like airlines) using my uncloaked browser, then used a private browsing window, and even a VPN, and I have never found differences in what price is offered. 

 

There is also a lot of discussion and opinion that the most reputable of companies do NOT do this.

 

You would have to have a Viking insider confirm or deny this.

 

However, the price on the website today is the price, unless it is advertised on a promo email at a particular price...

 

I believe however that Viking don't advertise the cabin price, but rather offer OBC, Air Discount, Free Air,  SSBP, or something like this.  This allows the cabin price to be fluid regardless of the promo.

 

[CDNPolar]

6 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

I think this was some glitch. The price increase, as I mentioned, would have been $16,000 more for the 2 of us. And our cruise has been sold out for months. A few cabins pop up on occasion, but not much. And then the next day, it was back down, close to what we paid. It was then another $2500-3000 for the two of us. That's an increase I could expect to see a year later.

 

 

Interesting... demand or dynamic pricing is certainly a possibility.

 

What I said previously about reputable companies NOT doing this was based on some articles that I read just recently on the subject.  I was actually researching this "lightly" for my interest.  Unfortunately I did not keep the URL's of the articles to share here.

[OneSixtyToOne]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

I believe however that Viking don't advertise the cabin price, but rather offer OBC, Air Discount, Free Air,  SSBP, or something like this.  This allows the cabin price to be fluid regardless of the promo.

This is definitely the case. I tracked our expedition cruise over a few months and it was offered with a variety of perks. We got a great discounted price and an included SSP. A couple of months later the SSP was replaced with a large onboard credit but the discount price on the cabin changed. The net price on the two was just about the same. 

Edited February 5 by OneSixtyToOne

[CDNPolar]

30 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

This is definitely the case. I tracked our expedition cruise over a few months and it was offered with a variety of perks. We got a great discounted price and an included SSP. A couple of months later the SSP was replaced with a large onboard credit but the discount price on the cabin changed. The net price on the two was just about the same. 

 

I believe that Viking has a target net return on every cabin/cruise and however they price the offer, they still get what they want/need.

 

I have taught sales and negotiation for most of my career and I teach sales people to create options for their clients but every creative pricing strategy gets us to the same net revenue in the end.  It is all about what will appeal to one vs. another.

 

SSP appeals to one and OBC appeals to another.  

[Cienfuegos]

Get cash in the door, and hold onto it.

 

Viking offered generous terms for vouchers issued during the Covid shutdowns, these vouchers are mostly used by now.  But the 25% "bonus" allowed price hikes which haven't receded.

[FoggyEthan]

Data point: Nov '22 booked "Iceland & Norway's Arctic Explorer" PS1 for $12,149pp. It's now $16,399pp. That's more than a third more. It's not a glitch, because this has been true for a while now.

 

But it's nearly sold out now, so it makes sense that the price goes up when they're confident of selling out the ship.

[kctwinmommy]

48 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

Data point: Nov '22 booked "Iceland & Norway's Arctic Explorer" PS1 for $12,149pp. It's now $16,399pp. That's more than a third more. It's not a glitch, because this has been true for a while now.

 

But it's nearly sold out now, so it makes sense that the price goes up when they're confident of selling out the ship.

Yes, then that's a legit price hike. Ours was only up $16,000/couple for about 24 hours. And people on another site said multiple cruises were suddenly jacked up too, but then all back to more normal a day or two later.

[Vineyard View]

On 1/12/2024 at 8:06 AM, Twitchly said:

Wow. Just checked the 2025 price for the British Isles cruise we took in 2022. It has doubled in three years. We wouldn’t be able to take it now.

We have wanted to sail the BI itinerary for a while now. Since Covid, prices have certainly gone up on most lines. That said, Viking cost per person per day on most every European itinerary is priced in the same category as some ‘luxury’ lines that include gratuities and alcohol. That said, if the included excursions offered on V meet your needs, then that is a cost factor. We are independent or DIY. 
A quick glance at Viking and Seabourn May ‘25. Both 14 day. 

Seabourn Balcony for two = $16,488 plus any excursions. Sq ft of 314-329 room/balcony plus excursions

 

Viking - PV (335 sq ft stateroom - lower categories are sold out on two May sailings) $24,400, plus gratuities and SSP if wanted

 

We keep looking at Viking, hoping to return someday after several cruises with them, but the pricing is a really big challenge. That said, they keep selling out. 

Edited February 7 by Vineyard View

[Hanoj]

19 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

We have wanted to sail the BI itinerary for a while now. Since Covid, prices have certainly gone up on most lines. That said, Viking cost per person per day on most every European itinerary is priced in the same category as some ‘luxury’ lines that include gratuities and alcohol. That said, if the included excursions offered on V meet your needs, then that is a cost factor. We are independent or DIY. 
A quick glance at Viking and Seabourn May ‘25. Both 14 day. 

Seabourn Balcony for two = $16,488 plus any excursions. Sq ft of 314-329 room/balcony plus excursions

 

Viking - PV (335 sq ft stateroom - lower categories are sold out on two May sailings) $24,400, plus gratuities and SSP if wanted

 

We keep looking at Viking, hoping to return someday after several cruises with them, but the pricing is a really big challenge. That said, they keep selling out. 

 

Our May 2020 BIE was of course cancelled. We looked into Viking for 2023 and prices were much higher and Viking's cost per day was more than some luxury lines. We chose Oceania and sailed their new ship Vista in August around the BI from Southampton to Southampton. It was a 12 night itinerary compared to Viking's 14 nights (how many guests use Viking's "days" in the denominator for per day cost comparisons?). But is was much more affordable than Viking for a Veranda stateroom (291 sq ft - between DV & PV size), in no small part since it didn't include overnights in two ports. Viking's tendency to include over night in ports (often both ends) is losing its appeal since it is very expensive compared to using a hotel.

Edited February 7 by Hanoj

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, Hanoj said:

 

Our May 2020 BIE was of course cancelled. We looked into Viking for 2023 and prices were much higher and Viking's cost per day was more than some luxury lines. We chose Oceania and sailed their new ship Vista in August around the BI from Southampton to Southampton. It was a 12 night itinerary compared to Viking's 14 nights (how many guests use Viking's "days" in the denominator for per day cost comparisons?). But is was much more affordable than Viking for a Veranda stateroom (291 sq ft - between DV & PV size), in no small part since it didn't include overnights in two ports. Viking's tendency to include over night in ports (often both ends) is losing its appeal since it is very expensive compared to using a hotel.

We'll miss you and Vineyard View on Viking in the future!

Yes they've gotten expensive - especially for their most popular itinerary (BIE).  

On the other hand, many of the transatlantics are going begging . . . 🙂

 

[Vineyard View]

29 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

We'll miss you and Vineyard View on Viking in the future!

Yes they've gotten expensive - especially for their most popular itinerary (BIE).  

On the other hand, many of the transatlantics are going begging . . . 🙂

 

Thank you. We miss Viking as well. I’ve looked also at Mediterranean itineraries as another option for ‘25. While BIE is almost always a higher ticket itinerary with most lines, I am finding similar comparisons between the two in the Med.  If we used the included excursions, it would could sway the equation  a bit, but we don’t use ship excursions when we travel. Added to that, we’ve sailed many of the Med ports on Viking in the past, whereas smaller ships get into less mainstream locations. That all said, with the recalibrating of itineraries due to the war, it could be impacting many locations and adding new itineraries. Maybe Viking will switch some things up from their longstanding Med itineraries.  

Edited February 7 by Vineyard View

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, Hanoj said:

. Viking's tendency to include over night in ports (often both ends) is losing its appeal since it is very expensive compared to using a hotel.

I love the overnight ports at beginning  or even end  of  Viking cruises I have booked.  But then I love these  ports .I like that feature .We still do a pre and post hotel per cruise too. 

[lackcreativity]

2 hours ago, Azulann said:

I love the overnight ports at beginning  or even end  of  Viking cruises I have booked.  But then I love these  ports .I like that feature .We still do a pre and post hotel per cruise too. 

I love the overnight ports also, as they tend to be favorites of ours with lots of things to do. We don't generally do pre/post cruise stays, so that extra day at the beginning is a bit of a cost saver for us. We use that as a cushion in the event of flight related problems on arrival. Arriving a day early and booking a hotel on our own might save some money for us, but our time is limited and we accept the additional cost in favor of the convenience.

[Breckski]

It certainly appears that Viking is pricing itself as a luxury/ultra luxury line.  We recently booked a couple cruises.  Antarctica with Seabourn and Japan with Regent.  In both cases when comparing similar cabins, Viking was more expensive on a cost per day basis.  We haven't sailed with Seabourn or Regent before so we may be disappointed???  But at first glance we'll take the smaller ship, higher crew to passenger ratio, and lower passenger count.  

 

But as others have said, Viking keeps selling out their cruises so their pricing must be right on point.  Maybe a little low given the amount of fully booked cruises.

[Breckski]

3 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

I love the overnight ports also, as they tend to be favorites of ours with lots of things to do. We don't generally do pre/post cruise stays, so that extra day at the beginning is a bit of a cost saver for us. We use that as a cushion in the event of flight related problems on arrival. Arriving a day early and booking a hotel on our own might save some money for us, but our time is limited and we accept the additional cost in favor of the convenience.

😁

[Vineyard View]

28 minutes ago, mwike said:

It certainly appears that Viking is pricing itself as a luxury/ultra luxury line.  We recently booked a couple cruises.  Antarctica with Seabourn and Japan with Regent.  In both cases when comparing similar cabins, Viking was more expensive on a cost per day basis.  We haven't sailed with Seabourn or Regent before so we may be disappointed???  But at first glance we'll take the smaller ship, higher crew to passenger ratio, and lower passenger count.  

 

We were worried about the same things. We sailed SB last Spring in the Med. We were able to visit ports that Viking could not with a 450 pax ship. There are advantages to both lines, to be sure. But disappointed…..everyone has their preferences. We absolutely were not….

 

Edited February 8 by Vineyard View

[duquephart]

Viking wants to play in the luxury ballpark? Time to up their game!

[lackcreativity]

2 hours ago, mwike said:

😁

Okay, I see that I didn't explain that very well. We have limited vacation days from work, so can't easily add extra days for a pre-cruise. Knowing better than to fly in on the day a ship leaves port, that built in overnight on a Viking cruise saves us the cost of a pre-cruise stay. That is still true (I think) even if we are paying more for nights on Viking than we would a hotel in port. 

 

I am not sure I have done any better explaining myself this time, but it makes sense in my head! 🤪

[CDNPolar]

 

7 hours ago, duquephart said:

Viking wants to play in the luxury ballpark? Time to up their game!

 

Viking's price increases are getting to the point where we are looking at other lines.  We have been Viking loyal to this point with the exception of one cruise.

 

We especially feel that for the increase in price, they need to up their game.  Not only on the ships, but on the land resources as well.  Most of our interactions on the phone with Viking are good, but when they are bad, they are really bad.