ffnole

I cancelled a May 13 cruise when in the 25% penalty phase  was moving the next day to a 50% forfeiture. We were offered a 100 percent FCC. It is obvious that cruise is going to be cancelled. When that occurs, shouldn’t all booked passengers then be offered a full refund option? It shouldn’t matter if someone cancelled in advance of Oceania dragging their feet to cancel at the last moment. There is a financial reason for them doing that. These are not normal times...if they cancel regardless of when....a full refund should be offered. Good article on this exact point about cruise and airlines trying to keep your cash. The obvious risk of a future cruise credit is bankruptcy risk...and it ends up being worth zero. 

Always take the refund instead of a future cruise credit. A refund should be provided within 90 days. A future credit has far greater duration risk if you wait to use it a year or two from now. The duration risk is in event of an NCL bankruptcy filing, you become an unsecured creditor of the cruise line. In that case the odds of ever seeing you money (I.e. use of credit) is unlikely. Shorten that risk by taking the cash refund sooner,  cash is king in this environment. You can always rebook later once the crisis clears. 

Something to remember. A future cruise credit in event of bankruptcy filing of the cruise company (to restructure their debts in this current environment) would make the holder an unsecured creditor. Chances of getting any of your money back after secured claims (bank debt) are paid is slim to none. So if you have future cruises booked now and you are outside the cancellation window ...I would think long and hard about cancelling before you have to make a final payment. Given the state of the industry, you should have plenty of attractive cruise discounts coming your way once this crisis is over. The more of your cash they hold....the greater the risk you may be adversely financially impacted. 
 

And to the debates issue above, we were in the same exact spot on a May Oceania cruise. In our case only had $1,000 deposited. We cancelled before the large final payment was due (given risk discussed). Once we cancelled on our own, nothing that happens beyond that date applies to you. In other words, any lawyer will tell you there is no legal claim for different treatment or damages. Take what they offered and be glad you got that. 

That is our current situation.  Correct. We will elect the FCC since we had a large suite booked. It must be elected within one year of issue. Thus it doesn’t pay to declare early....wait until you are 72 hours away from sailing....could buy you a couple more months. Viking has a two year time period for the FCC and less restrictions. 

In times of crisis, management teams are evaluated on how they response. Some put the customer at the center of all critical decisions. They make decisions proactively with reasoned thought, communicate clearly and execute. Others get fixated on the bottom line and forget who they are in business to serve. They tend to follow a reactionary piecemeal approach.  Viking has taken the former path as a respected industry leader....Oceania to date is walking down the latter path....both with long term implications for their future. Oceania....you need to get you act together. 

Viking, as a direct competitor to Oceania, just turned up the heat with an industry best practice during a crisis. We have a May cruise on Marina that will incur steep cancellation policies unless Oceania changes their rules. I expect they don’t have any choice now given where Viking has gone to build customer loyalty. 

We have a cruise that departs Barcelona May 13....so 76 days from today. Today the cancellation penalty is 25%. Tomorrow it will increase to 50%. Unless of course the cruise is cancelled and then we would receive a 100% refund. Oceania agreed this morning in writing to push out the 25% penalty cancellation date for two weeks to March 13. That buys a couple of weeks to determine the lay of the land.....and also to see if the cruise is cancelled. We really were looking forward to this vacation....but I can’t afford the risk of being quarantined on a ship with important work obligations I need to attend to immediately after the cruise. Thought this would be helpful if you are in a similar situation. At least they showed some flexibility. 

The bottom line is this will be investigated by the proper authorities, including Viking management and conclusions will be reached as to the factor or factors contributing to this terrible situation which could have been catastrophic. What we know is that the Viking brand took a big hit to its reputation, which is more difficult when you consider they are a new company when it comes to ocean cruising. The tarnish is off the rose of previous glowing accolades. How they respond to crisis management today and in the future will determine whether it is permanent or temporary.

The captain of this ship is fully accountable for sailing in forecasted bad weather and being far too close to a rocky shore line....and only averted disaster by a reported 300 feet. Bad things happen when you make poor decisions....like engines failing in extreme weather. I imagine he has sailed his last voyage with Viking...because he didn’t put the customers safety first. You can debate that...give him kudos making the best of a bad situation, whatever....but a company with a new brand can’t afford to have questionable leadership driving their ships. Viking needs a fall guy to demonstrate they are serious with their mission of putting customers first.....and he is not going to survive this. Nor should he in my opinion. Class action lawsuits are just around the corner. How do you measure financial hits to your reputation as an industry leader in safe, luxury cruises?  

Will I cruise Viking in the future? Well we have a 93 day cruise scheduled next year and look forward to the journey. Will Viking be a better company as a result of this incident....I certainly expect so. But time will tell how they respond and how the public responds.