New booking

[tobique33040]

I’ve seen this question asked several times but I looked and can’t find the exact answer I need. It’s seems like if I rebook the same cruise to another date, I lose the on board booking discount. I am interested in another date and direction so I’m curious if it’s a hard and fast rule or on a case by case basis. I know Viking is not very flexible. Thanks for any input. 

[cmaasfamily]

We recently did this and did not lose the onboard booking discount, but our prior guest discount was cut in half because of the time between our last sailing and the date of the revised booking.

 

I believe that was "standard practice", but we had lots of other topics to debate with Viking (not relevant to discounts) that may have influenced the final outcome. 

[CDR2001]

I changed an onboard booked cruise to another itinerary and date. I lost nothing, so I guess it depends on the timing of the change. 

[CDNPolar]

We booked onboard and then moved the booking and kept the onboard booking discount.

 

I would say that you should call Viking reservations, "suggest" what. you want to do, and ask if all will remain the same.  If they tell you no, thank them, ask them to leave the booking alone and end your call.

 

Call back and talk to another Viking agent and see if you get a different story.

 

We have found that Viking WANT to keep your booking but if you don't ask the right questions, you won't always get the right answers.

 

ONE THING:  Suggest that you want to MODIFY the booking you have, not cancel and move to another booking.  If you modify the booking you have you keep the same booking number.  

[tobique33040]

Oh golly, this is why I love these boards. So many people are really kind and are ready to help. Thanks so much. 

[2cruisecats]

On 3/4/2024 at 5:17 AM, CDNPolar said:

We booked onboard and then moved the booking and kept the onboard booking discount.

 

I would say that you should call Viking reservations, "suggest" what. you want to do, and ask if all will remain the same.  If they tell you no, thank them, ask them to leave the booking alone and end your call.

 

Call back and talk to another Viking agent and see if you get a different story.

 

We have found that Viking WANT to keep your booking but if you don't ask the right questions, you won't always get the right answers.

 

ONE THING:  Suggest that you want to MODIFY the booking you have, not cancel and move to another booking.  If you modify the booking you have you keep the same booking number.  

 

The word MODIFY is very important!  We recently modified our Far Eastern Horizons booking into an Expedition booking. Same booking number & did not lose any of the onboard discounts/advantages. Logged into my MVJ a few days later and the change already made to our account.

Edited March 5 by 2cruisecats

[tobique33040]

15 minutes ago, 2cruisecats said:

 

The word MODIFY is very important!  We recently modified our Far Eastern Horizons booking into an Expedition booking. Same booking number & did not lose any of the onboard discounts/advantages. Logged into my MVJ a few days later and the change already made to our account.

I really appreciate this advice. We are deciding what we will but MODIFY will definitely begin the conversation with Viking. Thanks again all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, tobique33040 said:

I really appreciate this advice. We are deciding what we will but MODIFY will definitely begin the conversation with Viking. Thanks again all.

 

 

For some reason, we call and use the word "cancel" because ultimately we do want to cancel that booking, but we want to move it to something else.

 

It is my opinion that as soon as the Viking agent hears the word "cancel" they cannot get past that.

 

Use the word Modify and you will be good.  But, still, if one agent does not give you what you want, end the call and call back, or ask to be moved to a supervisor.

[tobique33040]

This is such good information. I thanks again 😊

[tobique33040]

Well guess what. I got my travel agent to try to modify the cruise and though it is $500 less than when we booked, they won’t let us reduce the price. They said that the credits we got won’t work with this cruise even though they were used onboard. I dunno. I’m thinking of canceling and checking out some other lines even though I love Viking. 

[CDNPolar]

16 hours ago, tobique33040 said:

Well guess what. I got my travel agent to try to modify the cruise and though it is $500 less than when we booked, they won’t let us reduce the price. They said that the credits we got won’t work with this cruise even though they were used onboard. I dunno. I’m thinking of canceling and checking out some other lines even though I love Viking. 

 

Hmmm.... interesting....  Here is the deal on that from my perspective.

 

The last Viking cruise that we "modified" was because when we booked it was $6,000.00 pp + air.  Then after booking the air became free.  We could not just attache the free air to our existing cruise because the booking had to be made during a specific date range (as per the promotion details) and our cruise was booked before that promo was available.  

 

Effectively they said we could "modify" to another set of dates for the same cruise to make the booking date coincide with the promo dates, but that meant that the original dates of the cruise had to change.

 

We got free air, which was about a $3K savings overall, but we could not get the same cabin price and ended up spending $500pp more on the cabin when changing the dates.  Overall we saved $2K on the booking.

 

The whole "modify" thing works but it is not without its limitations as well.

 

I get that you are frustrated, and we have been with Viking too, but our frustration is always land-side and not once we get on the ship.  We now have 4 future cruises booked with Viking and for some reason we keep coming back!

 

Hope you work this out.

 

Oh, and for things like this - not that I am blaming your TA as I am sure that they did their best - we ask to be on the phone with the TA when they make the call, so that we can be part of the conversation and make real time decisions with the TA.  As long as the TA approves of you being on the call, Viking don't care.  This way, if we want to abandon this agent and try for another agent to see their story, then we can just opt to end the call without making any changed.

 

 

[tobique33040]

Thanks so much for your input and the hint about listening in when our TA calls Viking. I agree with you that once we are on the ship, we are really delighted with the cruise. We have two more Viking cruises booked, and I’d love to do more. My travel buddy isn’t up for as many trips as I am, and the single supplement on Viking, well it’s basically paying for two people so I go with Tauck occasionally. Thanks again for your great comments.

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, tobique33040 said:

 My travel buddy isn’t up for as many trips as I am, and the single supplement on Viking, well it’s basically paying for two people so I go with Tauck occasionally. Thanks again for your great comments.

 

Yes, that single supplement is too high on many if not most cruise lines.  I do understand the cruise line pricing strategy and each cabin has a value that they divide in half for the pp pricing.  

 

I would hope that one of these days new cruise ships that are built - or retrofitted - will have more single cabins.  The challenge that I see is that a bathroom and reasonable closet and bed take up so much space, it would be hard to make a cabin much smaller than it already is.  But some cruise lines are starting to offer more single options.

[tobique33040]

Very true.  Tauck has no single supplement on their aquarium class so I’ve done a few with them. Occasionally some of the other ocean lines will have a good deal. I’ve yet to try one, but I might next year. I know there are single cabins on the big cruise lines, but I’ve only sailed Viking Ocean, and I definitely won’t go on any larger ship, so I’ll look for deals on the smaller lines. Some have butlers, which is a bit much IMO, but lots of people love that. For now, we have a Christmas cruise this year and Scandinavia next, both Viking. And I have a land tour in May. Thanks again. 

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, tobique33040 said:

Very true.  Tauck has no single supplement on their aquarium class so I’ve done a few with them. Occasionally some of the other ocean lines will have a good deal. I’ve yet to try one, but I might next year. I know there are single cabins on the big cruise lines, but I’ve only sailed Viking Ocean, and I definitely won’t go on any larger ship, so I’ll look for deals on the smaller lines. Some have butlers, which is a bit much IMO, but lots of people love that. For now, we have a Christmas cruise this year and Scandinavia next, both Viking. And I have a land tour in May. Thanks again. 

 

We are doing Rhine Getaway late November for 15 days - basically a Christmas Market cruise.

 

If you are talking about Viking Homelands, that is a faboulous cruise.

[tobique33040]

Yes that would be a great cruise.Smart idea to take a cruise at that time of year because as you said, it’s essentially a Christmas cruise. But my travel companion doesn’t want to miss thanksgiving at home so we are just doing the 8 day.
We are going on into the Midnight Sun. I did it two years ago with my daughter and loved it. So my friend and I will do it next year. The land tour I am going on in May is three weeks of Scandinavia. Lots of driving, but I love to be on the bus and look at the scenery. 
Btw, after the Midnight Sun two years ago, we took the train from Bergen to Oslo, which was lovely. Then, the overnight ferry to Copenhagen. The ferry was certainly downmarket from Viking, but the cruise through the islands out from Oslo was magnificent. 
Happy cruising to y’all.