Final Payment Question

So I just got off the phone with a very nice Viking rep and he regretfully informs me that he is unable to change our final payment date. Even after some polite insistence and a check with his "supervisor ", they wouldn't budge.

I'm bothered by the fact that there are so many variations out there as to when folks are making their final payment. If the policy was the same for everyone then it might be easier just to reluctantly pony up. Full payment 14 months ahead of sail date, seems very inappropriate to me

I now have to decide how important this cruise is to me vs other small luxury cruise lines that I have enjoyed in the past. Those cruise lines requested full payment about 120 days before sailing and did not hijack my cash prematurely

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We have been on two ocean cruises and have booked a third. On both previous cruises - Homelands in 2015 and Athens to Barcelona in 2017 - we only had to pay 90 days out from departure date. That is also the case with our upcoming cruise - Alaska 2019. We didn't have to request this - just a standard procedure for us.

My TA has always required payment 6 months prior to the cruise (we've only been on one Viking Ocean but our friends use the same TA and have had to pay 6 months prior for their cruises). The TA has an agreement with Viking. When I booked my next cruise onboard and they told me that a "perk" would be being able to delay payment until 6 months prior I just asked him...HUH? My TA always did this. He looked at who my TA was and said, yes, you are right. So they must have agreements with certain TAs regarding final payment I would guess.

I now have to decide how important this cruise is to me vs other small luxury cruise lines that I have enjoyed in the past. Those cruise lines requested full payment about 120 days before sailing and did not hijack my cash prematurely

 

 

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So how much interest are you earning on on your cash right now and what is the penalty down the road if you decide to cancel?

Ironically we had the same discussion yesterday as I felt it really annoying we paid in full a couple of months ago for a December cruise. My husband's reply was, well basically what I just asked you, and the answer is peanuts.

So how much interest are you earning on on your cash right now and what is the penalty down the road if you decide to cancel?

 

Ironically we had the same discussion yesterday as I felt it really annoying we paid in full a couple of months ago for a December cruise. My husband's reply was, well basically what I just asked you, and the answer is peanuts.

Agreed! Well put. My bank pays less than one percent a year and I am losing a under a hundred dollars in interest payments on the current cruise. If I were really worried about that $100, I wouldn't be sailing with Viking in the first place.

Why does everyone think this is about loss of future earnings on cash? I'm a retired financial planner and agree with your comments about the future value of cash these days but that's not the point at all

What's bothersome (at least to me - clearly a minority) is there are multiple policies in place regarding when final payment is due. Sounds like many who have posted here have paid about six months prior to sailing so why do others have to pay greater than a year ahead

Since I haven't had a Viking experience yet I lack the rose coloured glasses. Hopefully I can acquire them if I decided to continue with the booking

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Why does everyone think this is about loss of future earnings on cash? I'm a retired financial planner and agree with your comments about the future value of cash these days but that's not the point at all

 

What's bothersome (at least to me - clearly a minority) is there are multiple policies in place regarding when final payment is due. Sounds like many who have posted here have paid about six months prior to sailing so why do others have to pay greater than a year ahead

 

Since I haven't had a Viking experience yet I lack the rose coloured glasses. Hopefully I can acquire them if I decided to continue with the booking

 

 

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I can only speculate about the discrepancies, but I assume there are several factors at play. I do know that consumer regulations differ from country to country, so things vary from the US to Canada to the UK to Australia.

It wouldn't surprise me if there is variation based on itineraries and even by ship. The newest of Viking's new ships may be more of a hot commodity, and have less flexibility in the deadline. Same issue may be at play with how fast certain itineraries are selling.

In the matter of the rationale behind the policy in general, I have seen other posters speculate that it is based on a desire to prevent cruisers from making down payments on multiple cruises, only to cancel the extras once they have firmed up their travel plans. I have also seen it suggested that the early payments are being used to fund the rapid expansion of the Viking fleet.

As a relative novice cruiser, with only one Viking river and one Viking ocean cruise (and one future ocean booked), I will reinforce the idea that there is a reason why so many people are willing to accept this policy. It is the same reason why you so often see posters write in their reviews that they booked their next cruise as soon as they got home: a Viking cruise is a fabulous experience!

We are sailing on Viking in August 2018 and originally when we booked in May, it was 45 days after the booking for final payment. Somehow our TA got it changed to November 2017 for final payment.

I agree that shortly after booking for final payment seems a bit much and am grateful that he got us 5 extra months. BTW, anybody here on the 8/25/2018 Viking Homelands( Bergen to Stockholm) cruise? I have started a roll call page.

Take care,

Diane

A PP asked why someone would book multiple cruises without definite plans to travel. I do this when my usual cruise line announces their itineraries. The opening price is almost always the most inexpensive, all categories are available and the deposits are not outrageous so I pick two weeks I think my DH can travel and hope for the best. He will know long before the final payment is due if we can travel and will be able to get a full refund of the deposit.

I remember reading somewhere that it is the TA that makes all the difference in the final payment options. If they know enough to ask before booking it is almost always granted while it is rarely granted after booking and/or deposit.

When I booked, I was told there would be a non-refundable $100 fee if we cancelled regardless of when we cancelled. Reading this thread, it sounds like many people expect to get 100% of their payment back. Is this so?:o

Mia

When I booked, I was told there would be a non-refundable $100 fee if we cancelled regardless of when we cancelled. Reading this thread, it sounds like many people expect to get 100% of their payment back. Is this so?:o

 

Mia

You have up until 121 days before sailing to cancel to get back 100% less $100pp. After that it is a sliding scale.

From the Viking Terms and Conditions:

So I just got off the phone with a very nice Viking rep and he regretfully informs me that he is unable to change our final payment date. Even after some polite insistence and a check with his "supervisor ", they wouldn't budge.

 

I'm bothered by the fact that there are so many variations out there as to when folks are making their final payment. If the policy was the same for everyone then it might be easier just to reluctantly pony up. Full payment 14 months ahead of sail date, seems very inappropriate to me

 

I now have to decide how important this cruise is to me vs other small luxury cruise lines that I have enjoyed in the past. Those cruise lines requested full payment about 120 days before sailing and did not hijack my cash prematurely

 

 

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I booked my first Viking cruise last week. It is a 15 day Christmas 2018 Rome to Rome Mediterranean cruise.

The Viking Agent I booked with, at first said final payment would be Oct something 2017. Balk, balk, balk...........I have 6 cruises between now and December 2018 (please don't hate me for that.....we've worked really hard & lived like paupers for years to afford traveling) so he pushed it to Nov 30, 2017.

Well like all y'all I really want to cruise on Viking so I put down the $500 pp deposit.

After a few days I just started getting kind of sick to my stomach about it. It simply does not feel right and goes against every financial instinct I have.

So after reading that others had the final payment moved to 6 months out I phoned the generic customer service number. The first girl of course said moving the date to 6 months out was impossible I told her that it seemed possible based on what customers report on CC but that I agreed she couldn't do it so would she please get a supervisor to help me.

The supervisor of course said it was not possible to which I replied that it did seem possible based on internet reviews and that I had cancelled an $18,000 Princess cruise to take the Viking cruise. I also said I had to pay for the six cruises I would actually be completing between now and July 2018. I mentioned how excited I was to include Viking as one of my preferred lines and what great things I've read about their product. (Btw all true statements).

The deposit did get moved to July 2018, six months out This cruise is not sold out for 2017 so that may have had something to do with it. Maybe cruises typically undersold are easier to negotiate.

I don't know what the metric is. Here's a thought though, as a river cruise company with only 200 or fewer people booked, cancellations are a much bigger deal than 930 bookings on ocean cruises. The ocean cruises have an economy of scale the river cruises don't and Viking is treating the ocean bookings like the river ones. Clearly other lines with 900-1000 passenger ships are surviving with 90 day final payments. I just think Viking is going through growing pains.

I booked directly with Viking on June 28 for the Sun TA, leaving Lisbon on Nov 6. I was told the final payment was already due (127 days out. Seemed odd to me, but I paid.

Three weeks later I called again to book friends on the same trip. They were prepared to make final payment, but the agent said it wasn't due until July 31. They went ahead and paid the whole amount anyway,

Paul

And for we UK cruisers booked on Viking Ocean:

Deposit 25% of fare at time of booking

Full payment due 70 days prior to departure date

Guest Cancellation Schedule:

70 days or more prior to departure - 25% of full fare

69-30 days prior to departure - 50% of full fare

29 days or less prior to departure - 100% of full fare

We booked a further cruise (with a great promotion) soon after coming home from our first absolutely wonderful Viking Ocean cruise - we were on the very special Viking Sky Christening Voyage Into the Midnight Sun - and because we were booking within a 30 day window from leaving the ship, we received a further discount which was a nice surprise! :D

And yet on the Viking US website it says:

 

A deposit for cruise/land of $500 per person is required to secure a confirmed reservation. When more than one cruise is booked, deposit and payment policies apply per cruise. The final balance is due no later than 90 days prior to sailing but special promotions may require an earlier payment ... Promotions and special offers may have different payment terms – please refer to promotion or special offers.

 

PS I'm sure we Brits wouldn't have been so reckless as to raze Washington DC to the ground. It must have been an accident! ;-)

an irrelevant statement for cruise critic

an irrelevant statement for cruise critic

If you are referring to the comment about razing D.C., it is a reply to an earlier comment and it refers to the War of 1812, when the Brits did try to raze D.C. and did in fact set fire to the White House.

If you are referring to the comment about razing D.C., it is a reply to an earlier comment and it refers to the War of 1812, when the Brits did try to raze D.C. and did in fact set fire to the White House.

That I understood but it seemed irrelevant to the posting about final payments

That I understood but it seemed irrelevant to the posting about final payments

We all go off topic every now and then.

When I booked mine last week they wanted payment too, I told them nope, not happening.. he moved it to June 2018 which is 6 months before we sail. I can ask for more more extension I was told, but I can live with 6 months before sail, not over 1 year.

alana

I received an email reminder from Viking today requesting final payment for our cruise that does not sail for another 14 months.

 

I was surprised and of course immediately checked our original booking information to confirm. Sure enough full payment is due June 30th 2017 for a sailing that occurs August 2018.

 

Based on my experience with other cruise lines this seems awfully early. Why does Viking require full payment so far in advance

 

 

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