RexMesiter

19 hours ago, Sleep7 said:

🙋‍♀️Hello wise pals on the Viking Board.

Just an opinion question..

What do you think the chances are that there will be a promotion code coming soon for a decent discount on either the "Italian Sojourn" or "Venice, the Adriatic and Greece" sailings at the end of March of 2024.

I guess minimum free airfare and best case scenario a great discount on the almost 4K pp fare.

Nobody has a crystal ball.. but anyone have any thoughts or experiences with something similar?

Thanks in advance.😊

If you use last year as a guide, in August 2022 Viking offered a free stateroom upgrade as well as the Silver Spirits package for Mar-Oct of 2023 sailings - the tours you are interested in were included in the promotion (see post #106 on page 5 of this thread).  Hopefully, they'll offer something similar for the 2024 dates.  Good luck.

17 hours ago, azdrydock said:

Over a dozen Viking cruises and we still get at least one Viking per week and they are from different TA's we have used. They have had offers targeted at previous cruisers such as double the loyalty amount. It appeared with the same code on the website about a month later but was available on far less cruises.

Are you saying you get the brochures from your TAs rather than directly from Viking?  It's unlikely that Viking would stop sending brochures to TAs because they rely heavily on them to generate bookings - individual cruisers are another matter.  Offering better deals to new customers leads to dissatisfaction for current customers; hence, they want to keep you in the dark about sales on cruises you've already booked.

My Viking agent said that he does receive a commission on the initial booking; if you subsequently transfer your booking to a travel agent it doesn't affect his commission.  As to the numerous brochure mailings from Viking, that was the case for us as well until we actually booked our Viking Ocean cruise - then the mailings stopped.  With Viking's targeted advertising, they don't want customers who have already booked to see sales offers for that same cruise that are better than the booked offer.

4 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

My TA operates differently. I don't pay the travel agency any money. I provide either my credit card # or my ACH information (routing and account # from bank) and the TA submits them to Viking on my behalf. Viking's name appears on the transaction, not the travel agency.

Thanks.  Would I need to make sure my ACH info gets added to my Viking account? That seems to have been deleted when I made the booking transfer.

How does ACH (or E-Check) work if you've transferred your booking to a travel agent?  Invoice I received from my TA included the full amount and didn't list a payment option that included the 3.3% reduction when paying by E-Check/ check.  Not sure of the payment mechanics - assume I pay the TA rather than Viking directly.  Should I just write a check that reflects the 3.3% reduction even though it doesn't match the TA invoice amount?

On 3/7/2023 at 6:02 AM, Peregrina651 said:

 

I believe their hours are 6am until midnight but since hours can vary, check the daiies on board. 

I read on CruiseMapper that Viking Bar operates 24 hours.  I hope this is true as I have a 6am departure and would like a caffeine fix before heading to the airport.  Here's the quote:

"Viking Bar is the 24-hour open lobby bar for specialty coffees, classic and made-to-order cocktails, gourmet sweets, and light snacks (pastries, cakes, sandwiches). Viking Bar also serves both levels of The Living Room (the Atrium lounge)."

This thread is a bit old, but couldn't find anything on this topic that's more recent.  I was thinking of transferring my Viking Ocean 14-day cruise booking to a travel agent and received an offer of $200pp in onboard credit.  From my internet research, this seems a little on the low end - what kind of perks should I expect?

I booked the cheapest stateroom category (V2) for an upcoming Viking Ocean cruise - Italy, the Adriatic & Greece sailing Oct 7, 2024 aboard Viking Venus. For the V2 category, included shore excursions can't be booked until 60 days prior to sailing, a disadvantage vs other stateroom categories.  Is it likely that some shore excursions will be full by the time I get to choose?

Thanks Essiesmom, I thought I had posted under the Viking Ocean and was surprised that my question didn't show up there - I'll copy it over now.  I'll be sure to check out the Rick Steves resources you mention.

Viking Venus is the ship.  Italy, the Adriatic & Greece is the tour departing from Rome in Oct 2024

I booked the cheapest stateroom category (V2) for an upcoming cruise. For the V2 category, shore excursions can't be booked until 60 days prior to sailing, a disadvantage vs other stateroom categories.  Is it likely that some shore excursions will be full by the time I get to choose?