SBC Vouchers for Canadians

[mariners]

On our next cruise on VO, we have SBC vouchers that can be used for onboard items.  The invoice has the vouchers in Canadian dollars.  How does that work if we don't use some, or all of them, until when we are onboard the ship given that the ship prices are in USD?  We do understand that they "will not be reissued or reactivated in case of cancellation".  The SBC vouchers were part of a promotion by Viking Ocean if that makes any difference.

[CurlerRob]

41 minutes ago, mariners said:

On our next cruise on VO, we have SBC vouchers that can be used for onboard items.  The invoice has the vouchers in Canadian dollars.  How does that work if we don't use some, or all of them, until when we are onboard the ship given that the ship prices are in USD?  We do understand that they "will not be reissued or reactivated in case of cancellation".  The SBC vouchers were part of a promotion by Viking Ocean if that makes any difference.

 

I expect they will convert them to USD onboard at the time of use. We had a similar situation currently - purchased an excursion prior to sailing in CDN, then cancelled on board. The refund was applied to our onboard account, converted from the CDN price to USD. 
 

No luck on CDN $ at par, unfortunately! 🍺🥌

[mariners]

Thank you, CurlerRob! 

 

We have friends who are joining us on this cruise and they have been asking questions that I can't seem to find the answers to online.  I could contact VO, as could they, but I thought I'd see what other passengers have experienced first hand.  Knowing that they/we can spend the SBC onboard is great!

 

It's unfortunate that CDN $ are not at par with USD (understatement) but, if we make the decision to take a world cruise, perhaps Clay or other players of LCR, will accept CDN loonies instead of USD bills.  🤣 

[CurlerRob]

6 minutes ago, mariners said:

… if we make the decision to take a world cruise, perhaps Clay or other players of LCR, will accept CDN loonies instead of USD bills.  🤣 

Seems fair. 🍺🥌

[mariners]

A World Cruise, or any cruise on VO, at par would be even better.

 

Once again, thank you for your response to my question!

[CDNPolar]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong here, but I do believe that Viking ship board or onboard credit transfers at par on the ship.

 

@mariners are you certain that this SBC can only be used ON THE SHIP?

 

We have had two types of credit from Viking and then there is what we get from our TA.  The TA credits we get are consumed immediately if we apply the SSBP or we purchase excursions in advance.  In this case you are getting CDN pricing on anything that you buy in advance. 

 

(Note however that the SSBP is typically $25 USD per night but for us Canadians it is $34 CDN per night.)

 

We have also had SBC from Viking that was specifically only available on the ship - this was a credit from a complaint we had.  This however could be applied to anything purchased once onboard.

 

We also currently have a SBC from Viking that was part of the booking promotion.  Perhaps the same as what you have?  We have been explicitly told by Viking that this credit will automatically apply to anything purchased before sailing including pre-paid gratuities, SSBP, or excursions.

 

I would call Viking and ask them to clarify as they have different rules.

 

BUT here is where someone might correct me...

 

I feel like any credit that we have had in CDN $$ when we boarded the ship appeared on the guest statement online at par.  I don't recall seeing a $200 CDN credit all of a sudden become less in either USD or Euros?

[mariners]

CDNPolar, we have two types of vouchers for this cruise.

 

The first voucher was a credit that Viking Ocean extended to us due to specific "circumstances" on our last cruise.  This was unexpected and was extended to all passengers on the sailing.   I had thought the credit would be given as an onboard credit.  Instead, I was told they could not be converted to a shipboard credit.  Those funds are currently being transferred back to my chequing account as I had already paid our cruise in full.

 

The second voucher is a "SBC Voucher" that was part of a promotion.  My invoice has the SBC in CDN $ as we paid for the cruise in CDN $.  My invoice states, "Will be applied To Onboard item such As:  Shore Excursions, Beverage packages and Pre Paid Gratuities.  Shipboard Credits will not be reissued or reactivated in case of cancellation."

 

Because we are undecided about how we want to use those credits, I was hoping to find out if, and how, they could be used once we were onboard the ship.  If they all have to be used before we board, we will need to factor that into our decision making on how to best use the credits. 

 

It doesn't make sense to me that VO would give us an onboard SBC with the CDN $ at par with the USD once we are onboard the ship. 

 

I will contact VO and get a written response from them.

 

Thank you for your response!

 

 

 

 

[CDNPolar]

6 hours ago, mariners said:

 

 

The second voucher is a "SBC Voucher" that was part of a promotion.  My invoice has the SBC in CDN $ as we paid for the cruise in CDN $.  My invoice states, "Will be applied To Onboard item such As:  Shore Excursions, Beverage packages and Pre Paid Gratuities.  Shipboard Credits will not be reissued or reactivated in case of cancellation."

 

Because we are undecided about how we want to use those credits, I was hoping to find out if, and how, they could be used once we were onboard the ship.  If they all have to be used before we board, we will need to factor that into our decision making on how to best use the credits. 

 

It doesn't make sense to me that VO would give us an onboard SBC with the CDN $ at par with the USD once we are onboard the ship. 

 

I will contact VO and get a written response from them.

 

Thank you for your response!

 

 

 

 

 

I will be curious to see their response to the value of these credits if you do not use them prior to boarding.

 

These kinds of credits can absolutely be used before you board or on board for the same purpose as listed.

 

At the very least, you can apply them to the gratuities if you did not pay them in advance.

 

Your credits are good... I am just curious how they tell you they will deal with the currency.

 

 

[CDNPolar]

I have just emailed Viking to ask the question about currency and conversion.

[mariners]

I thought I'd wait to contact them until tomorrow.  In my province, getting an answer on anything on a weekend is almost impossible.  I look forward to hearing what response you get.

[CDNPolar]

14 hours ago, mariners said:

I thought I'd wait to contact them until tomorrow.  In my province, getting an answer on anything on a weekend is almost impossible.  I look forward to hearing what response you get.

 

It is not out of character to receive a call from an email on the weekend.  I would assume from my previous experiences that I will get a call today.  Monday.

[CDNPolar]

My only beef with emailing tellus@ is that for some questions, I would like their response in writing and they often are not willing to do that...  Suspect that what you are being told may be true now but not a policy that they stick to.

[mariners]

CDNPolar, I had presumed that whatever response they provided to me in the phone call that they would follow-up by forwarding the information to me in writing.  I have not previously had any cruise line that wouldn't put what they told me in writing.   If that's the case, how does one have proof of what was stated at the time of the call? 

 

The reason I was going to wait until today is that I have previously had to wait as my call is transferred to different departments, escalated to someone who has more seniority, and/or have been told that I will get a response e-mailed to me once a decision has been made.  I have found that when I phone on a week day during regular hours that I have a better chance of getting a response on that specific day.

 

It's interesting that you state that you will get a return phone call.  Does VO show up on the number display on your phone?  Because we get so many scam phone calls, it is a rare occasion that we pick up the phone if we don't know the phone number and no name is provided on the call display.

 

Once again, thank you for following up on this question about SBC Vouchers as I'm sure that there are other passengers out there who will be interested in the response from VO.  (Of course, the caveat will be that what is true now might not be true in the future.)

[CDNPolar]

59 minutes ago, mariners said:

CDNPolar, I had presumed that whatever response they provided to me in the phone call that they would follow-up by forwarding the information to me in writing.  I have not previously had any cruise line that wouldn't put what they told me in writing.   If that's the case, how does one have proof of what was stated at the time of the call? 

 

The reason I was going to wait until today is that I have previously had to wait as my call is transferred to different departments, escalated to someone who has more seniority, and/or have been told that I will get a response e-mailed to me once a decision has been made.  I have found that when I phone on a week day during regular hours that I have a better chance of getting a response on that specific day.

 

It's interesting that you state that you will get a return phone call.  Does VO show up on the number display on your phone?  Because we get so many scam phone calls, it is a rare occasion that we pick up the phone if we don't know the phone number and no name is provided on the call display.

 

Once again, thank you for following up on this question about SBC Vouchers as I'm sure that there are other passengers out there who will be interested in the response from VO.  (Of course, the caveat will be that what is true now might not be true in the future.)

 

If I am understanding you correctly, you are calling in directly to ask questions, and then being transferred?

I email tellus@vikingcruises.com with my enquiry and they actually call you from this enquiry.  They have the answer when they call you back.  I have wasted too much time calling and being transferred trying to find someone that knows the answer.  This is why this email address is so great!

 

I should restate this.   Sometimes they will back up what they say in writing and sometimes they will not.  It depends on the issue at hand.

 

I expect the call sometime today so will post the answer as to the currency as soon as I get it.

[CDNPolar]

Viking got back to me and our SBC is in CDN funds on our invoice.  Any funds NOT used prior to sailing is converted to the currency onboard the ship and posted to our shipboard account.

 

So they DO convert the full amount, or remaining amount to the currency onboard.

 

I have never really paid attention to this before but now we have our answer.

[CDNPolar]

Consider that we could be in a better position to purchase in CDN before sailing than wait for the conversion.

[mariners]

Thanks for following up with VO and finding out the answer, CDNPolar.  There are lots of options for spending the SBC vouchers before we board the ship, and I have no doubt that our wallet will be lighter, too.  It's good to know that it is not a "use it or lose it" scenario if we choose to wait to book some things onboard the ship. It also helps to know the answer when we are looking at the Promotions offered for future cruises.

[CDNPolar]

5 hours ago, mariners said:

Thanks for following up with VO and finding out the answer, CDNPolar.  There are lots of options for spending the SBC vouchers before we board the ship, and I have no doubt that our wallet will be lighter, too.  It's good to know that it is not a "use it or lose it" scenario if we choose to wait to book some things onboard the ship. It also helps to know the answer when we are looking at the Promotions offered for future cruises.

 

Yeah... it is good to know.  I guess that I never really looked before because we use a TA that gives us OBC or SBC for every booking, but because we always book optional tours that is generally gone before we board.

 

We have our first SBC from Viking that is only valid on the ship and that is being put on a River cruise in November.  On our invoice it shows as $227.00 CDN pp and I don't remember why the odd amount.  It was perhaps a USD amount converted to CDN?  I will watch when we board what happens to that $227 CAD because this will be a European River Cruise and I would assume that it will convert to Euros.

 

Interesting however is that when we have booked on board an ocean ship, the invoice we receive and the deposit we pay is in CDN, but the OBC that is granted immediately for booking onboard is not $100 CDN coverted to USD, it is $100 USD on our ship board account.