Missed ports and nonrefundable shore excursions in Iceland. Any way to avoid this situation?

[Lizofwisconsin]

Hoping one of you clever people can help me figure out how to avoid this in the future.

 

We did our first Viking Ocean cruise this month, Iconic Canada, Greenland and Iceland, on Viking Star.

Enjoyable cruise, but due to adverse weather, high winds and waves, the last 3 ports were cancelled: Seydisfjordur, Djupivogur, and Heimaey.  We instead got an extra sea day and 2 days in Rekjavik.

 

Unfortunately, we had optional (paid) excursions in all those ports, so received "nonrefundable" returns to our ship account.

We had also booked a new trip, for which we received $200 in shipboard credit.

We ended up with about $400 in nonrefundable credits with 2 days left.

We did take a more expensive excursion in Reykjavik to use that up, but it was a pretty mediocre experience, made worse because we just did it to use of those $$ that would otherwise be lost.

 

I understand the need to cancel the ports, Viking doesn't control the weather, but the way they handle those nonrefundable credits is frustrating.

 

We are trying to decide, if we do try a Viking cruise again, if there is anyway to avoid this situation.

[wolfie11]

I don’t understand why your excursions were non refundable.  My understanding is that if you book a shore excursion with Viking and the port is cancelled, your money is refunded pretty much immediately.  If you booked independent, third party excursions through someone like Viator, this is in no way Viking’s problem.  Ports are frequently cancelled or changed especially in areas of the world where weather can be marginal.  It’s up to you to be aware of the cancellation policies of a third party excursion and it’s the risk you take for saving some money by booking independently.

[Lizofwisconsin]

Thanks Wolfie, 

 

these were Viking excursions. They were nonrefundable because they were booked with shipboard credits. We had gotten these credits from combination of Viking promotions, travel agent, and for booking a next cruise onboard.

 

so, they were posted as refunded to our ship account, but if we didn’t use them within the next 3 days, they would disappear when we exited the ship. 

[janetcbl]

35 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

I don’t understand why your excursions were non refundable.  My understanding is that if you book a shore excursion with Viking and the port is cancelled, your money is refunded pretty much immediately.  If you booked independent, third party excursions through someone like Viator, this is in no way Viking’s problem.  Ports are frequently cancelled or changed especially in areas of the world where weather can be marginal.  It’s up to you to be aware of the cancellation policies of a third party excursion and it’s the risk you take for saving some money by booking independently.

We had optional excursions that we had paid for refunded to our Viking account and used the money to help pay for gratuities. 

[CurlerRob]

30 minutes ago, Lizofwisconsin said:

Thanks Wolfie, 

 

these were Viking excursions. They were nonrefundable because they were booked with shipboard credits. We had gotten these credits from combination of Viking promotions, travel agent, and for booking a next cruise onboard.

 

so, they were posted as refunded to our ship account, but if we didn’t use them within the next 3 days, they would disappear when we exited the ship. 

I may be misunderstanding you, but it sounds like your credits from your TA and the Viking promo were always non-refundable, so when your shorex was cancelled, they landed in the same state 

 

The credits for onboard booking have always been refundable for us, but that was not specified at the time - we discovered that later when an unspent portion was refunded. 
 

One strategy to avoid being stuck with non-refundable credits is to not pay grats up front - use any credits for them at cruise end. 🥌🍺

[Lizofwisconsin]

Thanks Rob and Janet,

Our credits for onboard booking were non refundable.

We didn't pay for gratuities till the end, and did use those nonrefundable credits-- it's just that 3 shore excursions for 2 people were hundreds of dollars more than the nonrefundable credits.

[OneSixtyToOne]

35 minutes ago, Lizofwisconsin said:

Thanks Wolfie, 

 

these were Viking excursions. They were nonrefundable because they were booked with shipboard credits. We had gotten these credits from combination of Viking promotions, travel agent, and for booking a next cruise onboard.

 

so, they were posted as refunded to our ship account, but if we didn’t use them within the next 3 days, they would disappear when we exited the ship. 

Thanks for clarifying your particular situation as it was unclear why these were not refundable. The refund is given in the way it was paid for. In this case you used non-refundable credits so you received them back. How do you avoid this in the future? It seems that this is a pretty unique situation. My only suggestion is book a cruise that has a lower chance of so many cancellations. Ports that far north are always subject to cancellations. 

[Lizofwisconsin]

3 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

How do you avoid this in the future? It seems that this is a pretty unique situation. My only suggestion is book a cruise that has a lower chance of so many cancellations. Ports that far north are always subject to cancellations. 

Thanks!  So I guess there is no way we could have done it differently.  Shrug.

[SJD117]

1 hour ago, Lizofwisconsin said:

Thanks!  So I guess there is no way we could have done it differently.  Shrug.

You might consider a driving tour rather than relying on a cruise and cruise extensions to see the country. I’ve done the Ring Road twice around Iceland and another driving trip in the northwest peninsulas. It’s a great way to travel!

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, Lizofwisconsin said:

We had gotten these credits from combination of Viking promotions, travel agent, and for booking a next cruise onboard.

It’s always the luck of the draw when getting credits from 1 & 3, above, but many on these boards have spoken of their TA giving refundable credit—so you might consider asking your TA about that—or finding one who gives refundable.

[Cienfuegos]

Good thread.  Another detail to monitor in the reservations process.

[Mich3554]

4 hours ago, Lizofwisconsin said:

Hoping one of you clever people can help me figure out how to avoid this in the future.

 

We did our first Viking Ocean cruise this month, Iconic Canada, Greenland and Iceland, on Viking Star.

Enjoyable cruise, but due to adverse weather, high winds and waves, the last 3 ports were cancelled: Seydisfjordur, Djupivogur, and Heimaey.  We instead got an extra sea day and 2 days in Rekjavik.

 

Unfortunately, we had optional (paid) excursions in all those ports, so received "nonrefundable" returns to our ship account.

We had also booked a new trip, for which we received $200 in shipboard credit.

We ended up with about $400 in nonrefundable credits with 2 days left.

We did take a more expensive excursion in Reykjavik to use that up, but it was a pretty mediocre experience, made worse because we just did it to use of those $$ that would otherwise be lost.

 

I understand the need to cancel the ports, Viking doesn't control the weather, but the way they handle those nonrefundable credits is frustrating.

 

We are trying to decide, if we do try a Viking cruise again, if there is anyway to avoid this situation.

Your excursions should have been refundable, unless they were paid via OBC.  

This is the reason why we never prepay anything.  We had one cruise we were on that we wound up with $3000 of both refundable and non refundable credit due to canceled ports and a lot of other issues.  The refundable credit, we wound up each receiving a $700 check for.  The nonrefundable paid our gratuities, alcohol bill, I went shopping in the Nordic shop and booked a private transfer from Valparaiso to Santiago hotel.  I think we had about $11 left.  

[CDR2001]

I would call Viking( or have your TA do it,)   I bet they will give you at least $200 future cruise credit. That was our experience when one port was cancelled recently. Our excursion money was refunded as we paid with card. 

Edited September 20 by CDR2001

[Baron Barracuda]

On 9/19/2024 at 1:27 PM, Lizofwisconsin said:

Thanks Rob and Janet,

Our credits for onboard booking were non refundable.

We didn't pay for gratuities till the end, and did use those nonrefundable credits-- it's just that 3 shore excursions for 2 people were hundreds of dollars more than the nonrefundable credits.

Wasn't that hundreds of dollars difference between the cost of the excursions and the non-refundable obc refunded?

[Zippeedee]

The easy answer is don’t pay for shore excursions with non-refundable credits. I just pay with my credit card or ACH. No worries about spending credits, though I never seem to have a problem using them. I would never pay $160 for a winter scarf, but I’m the happy owner of one thanks to my TA.

[Redtravel]

If the OBC came from your travel agent, it’s refundable. OBC from Viking is not refundable. We had $600 OBC from our travel agent.  Used some of it toward optional excursions.  We canceled an optional excursion. We got a credit posted to our account.  Used it toward gratuities. We knew that OBC from our ta was real money. Use it or get a real refund. 
On some cruises, I had nonrefundable OBC.  Go shopping. Prices onboard may be high. However, if you use OBC to pay for it, it’s like getting a prize.  With 3 days to go, there must be times when ship stores are open.  If you were already in your final port, stores would be closed.  Book a manicure, pedicure, spa treatment or drink.  
 

[rmalbers]

Sounds like the only answer is to go to the store.  I know what I'd do, I'd get one of the rotating earth globes they sell!  I think they might be price locked so, it I remember the prices right, they are the same price on the ship as online.  (You should check that thought.) 

Edited September 20 by rmalbers

[SoCray4Cruz]

Options for those credits could be

1. do NOT EVER prepay gratuities

2.  Don’t get the drinks package & pay by the drink

3. Go enjoy spa services

4. Get a nice bottle of wine.  I hear some ships stock Silver Oak Cab….

5. Shop the store.  I bought a great pair of Glerup slippers that I love because we had credits to spend (I live in Florida, so wool slippers are an interesting shoe to own).  The leather bag store is also very nice.

[CCWineLover]

3 hours ago, Redtravel said:

If the OBC came from your travel agent, it’s refundable. OBC from Viking is not refundable. We had $600 OBC from our travel agent.  Used some of it toward optional excursions.  We canceled an optional excursion. We got a credit posted to our account.  Used it toward gratuities. We knew that OBC from our ta was real money. Use it or get a real refund. 
On some cruises, I had nonrefundable OBC.  Go shopping. Prices onboard may be high. However, if you use OBC to pay for it, it’s like getting a prize.  With 3 days to go, there must be times when ship stores are open.  If you were already in your final port, stores would be closed.  Book a manicure, pedicure, spa treatment or drink.  
 

Same exact experience here!  TA OBC for us was refundable.  We've had cruises where we didn't use it all and were sent a check or ccard refund when we got home.

We've also done the ship store thing!  We had a humorous experience on this one which is how I learned.  I didn't at the time understand the nuances of some Viking Credits.  On our last day before disembarking, fortunately a sea day, I went to the Guest services and asked if the credit showing on our account was going to be given back to us.  She said no you have to use it before the cruise ends.  I went upstairs, told my wife to stop packing, and we needed to go to the ship store to spend.  She was thrilled!!

[Lizofwisconsin]

8 hours ago, Zippeedee said:

The easy answer is don’t pay for shore excursions with non-refundable credits.

Can you explain how you do that? When I chose our shore excursions, it seemed like the site automatically used the shipboard credits till they were gone before offering credit card option. Maybe I have to look closer next time!

 

for whatever reason, our travel agent SBC were nonrefundable. I called another TA, she said theirs would be nonrefundable also. I know forum rules don’t allow TA referrals. 
 

in good news, Viking did contact us with offer of voucher (which exceeded the value of the nonrefundable SBC) toward future travel since we missed 3 ports. I’m appreciative of that!

[Zippeedee]

5 minutes ago, Lizofwisconsin said:

Can you explain how you do that? When I chose our shore excursions, it seemed like the site automatically used the shipboard credits till they were gone before offering credit card option. Maybe I have to look closer next time!

 

for whatever reason, our travel agent SBC were nonrefundable. I called another TA, she said theirs would be nonrefundable also. I know forum rules don’t allow TA referrals. 
 

in good news, Viking did contact us with offer of voucher (which exceeded the value of the nonrefundable SBC) toward future travel since we missed 3 ports. I’m appreciative of that!

My TA credits are nonrefundable and only appear on my account on the first day aboard. For my next cruise I booked onboard so I do have credit from Viking on my account now. I’ll use most of it pre-paying my gratuities before I can choose shore excursions.

[duquephart]

5 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Same exact experience here!  TA OBC for us was refundable.  We've had cruises where we didn't use it all and were sent a check or ccard refund when we got home.

We've also done the ship store thing!  We had a humorous experience on this one which is how I learned.  I didn't at the time understand the nuances of some Viking Credits.  On our last day before disembarking, fortunately a sea day, I went to the Guest services and asked if the credit showing on our account was going to be given back to us.  She said no you have to use it before the cruise ends.  I went upstairs, told my wife to stop packing, and we needed to go to the ship store to spend.  She was thrilled!!

 

There always seems to be some really nice jewelry or watches that could be picked from. Grievously overpriced but if it's funny money anyway ----------- Tip: prices are negotiable.