Sailor Sam 407

Is that standard procedure for all cruises? I can understand that a World Cruise may be treated a little differently.

Thanks

Once the Shorex are loaded and available online, can you have a pdf of all the excursions emailed to you?

We've experienced this on another cruise line and it's much easier to navigate in that form.

The 2 vouchers in question were mostly from the cancelled cruise and were a combination of previous FCV's and cash. I have no issue with the T&C's of the FCV.

As I said, had we had been given the correct information (on 4 separate occasions) in the first place, none of this would have happened.

Squawkman - We did ask questions and got answers in writing and verbally (3 times) directly from Viking, before we made the decision to cancel. It was after the fact that they changed their response.

The 2 vouchers that were applied to the 2023 cruise showed the two year window to book by, not sail by. So there are no concerns there.

The 2 vouchers in question show the book and sail by the end of 2022. The issue is that Viking, in writing and verbally (they have this recorded), initially indicated that those two vouchers would be treated the same as the first two. i.e. two years to book. 

So, based on that, we cancelled the Med cruise. It wasn't until the actual vouchers were received did we note the change from what they had previously stated.

They will not accept responsibility that their staff made documented errors. Had we been given the correct information in the first place, none of this would have happened.

Yes, we are moving up the chain of command. 

There were 2 vouchers that were indicated on the new guest statement. We had 2 other vouchers and when our TA saw that they weren't included he contacted them. Those are the vouchers in question.

We cancelled our April 2022 Viking Mediterranean cruise, after getting written and verbal (on three separate occasions to our TA) assurances from Viking that our FCC would be valid for two years. Based on that information, we canceled and booked a Northern European cruise for August 2023 and used said vouchers.

Turns out the information that was provided to us by Viking was not accurate and we are now required to use the vouchers by year's end. It wouldn't be so bad if the 2023 cruise was offered in 2022, but it's not.

So, I'm just writing this as a cautionary tale and hopefully it doesn't happen to you!

We toured 'Old Town' Panama City in mid-November, when the Explorer was docked in Colon. At that time there was a Norwegian cruise ship that was anchored on the Pacific side, near the entrance to the Canal. We were told it had been there for some time. Just curious if you happened to notice if it was still there?

Thanks rallydave, good to know.

Speaking of lower cost flights. You may also be required to pay a baggage fee, as we did recently on a Regent booked flight.

The holidays on Explorer have already begun.

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

CDC is now investigating the Viking Star.

We are on the Nov. 15, 24 night Explorer Caribbean cruise. Last week we were sent a similar document, but it was much more flexible. In fact, only San Juan, Puerto Rico required a health clearance and Curacao shows as open. Here is the notice for Curacao, but every other port (except for PR) has the same requirements.

Willemstad, Curaçao

·          Guests must carry their proof of vaccination.

·          Guests can go ashore independently or on shore excursions organized by Regent Seven Seas Cruises.  

It appears that the 'Plan My Cruise' option has disappeared off the Regent website. Hopefully this is not permanent, as I found it quite useful.

Thanks Heidi13. Let me see if I can better explain with an example. You pre-purchase $1000 worth of excursions on your credit card. Between that purchase and embarkation, you receive a $1000 SBC. Upon embarkation you go to the Destination Office and say that you want to use that $1000 SBC to pay for those excursions and you want your credit card refunded or cash. That was an option available to us on Regent (albeit pre-covid), so just seeing if Viking offers same. Thanks

I hope I can explain this clearly. Some SBC don't appear in your account until after you've booked your excursions. Once you board, can you have those credit card paid excursions shifted to your SBC and have your credit card charges refunded? We did this with another line, but I don't know if Viking allows same. Thanks

The only down side is that the 125% FCV must be used for cruises in either 2021 or 2022. Doesn't offer a whole lot of flexibility.

June and July cruises have been removed from Viking's website here in Canada. No doubt a sign of things to come.

We received notification that "Shore Excursions are now open for booking" for our June 14 Into the Midnight Sun cruise. However, when you go to review there is nothing showing. I suspect a sign of things to come.

Canada's decision was based on science, not on politics.

Just to advise that, while we are not in the formal spreadsheet prepared by @SusieQft,  we also have received the majority of our refund today for our October 5, LA to LA cruise.

On 'My Viking Journey' under 'Payments and Cart' is the following statement: 

I asked the same question and was told by Viking that the upgrade is within the same category.

Thanks Clay. Appreciate that.