Lower Price

Just two general comments: 1. It seems that “corporate” and “on board” are two different animals. (“Tell us” seems to stand somewhere between.) I saw this exact comment on another thread comparing Viking Ocean with a similar line. I also saw this as I was researching our first river cruise causing us to choose another company. 2. When questioning our TA on some of the pricing quirks on another trip (not Viking), her reply was “There’s always a catch.” We had an exceptional experience on our VO cruise and hope to be repeat ocean cruisers. Still not sure about our next river trip.

I don't know. When I made my problematic "on board" cruise reservations in June, the on board sales rep said he called corporate and got my about to be posted but not yet posted cruise price. So on board & corporate were the same on that. When I got home and looked on line at June prices, the price was $550 per person less. On board & corporate won't change that. How that can happen, ticks me off.

Loved my VO cruise experience but because of Viking corporate's intransigence, I just did what you did and after 6 Viking bookings, I booked my next river cruise elsewhere.

Phil: Anybody trying to sell me something, I consider “corporate”! Your on board purchase experience was pretty low. I’m now glad we didn’t take the time to talk to them.

Viking still trying to figure out selling ocean cruises - their reservations department is on a learning curve. They price their V2,V3,V4,V5,V6 cabins differently but when they assign you your cabin they claim there is no difference. They tried to say that a V3 was the same as a V5 but then cannot explain why they charge more for V3 cabins. Hopefully they will get their act together. And the shore excursion pecking order.......!

No different from any other cruise line. As Azulann points out, it is about Location of the cabins.....that is just part of the cruise experience....

Viking still trying to figure out selling ocean cruises - their reservations department is on a learning curve. They price their V2,V3,V4,V5,V6 cabins differently but when they assign you your cabin they claim there is no difference. They tried to say that a V3 was the same as a V5 but then cannot explain why they charge more for V3 cabins. Hopefully they will get their act together. And the shore excursion pecking order.......!

The difference within the classifications - Veranda, Deluxe Veranda, Penthouse Veranda, Penthouse Jr Suites and Explorer Suites - is cabin location. Some locations are more desirable than others. You pay more for the more desirable locations - just like front row seats cost more than the last row of the balcony.

We picked our exact cabin, so I don't understand what you mean my "they assign you your cabin." Whenever we cruise, I'm always looking for the best cabin within my price range. Personally, I think their act is very much together. I have no complaints. Our river cruise was phenomenal and I expect our Ocean cruise to be the same!

Joel Barry Brown...Which date are you sailing, 10/7 or 10/21?

We are booked for the 10/21.

Clay,

 

I too have contacted my travel agent and she is hard at work trying to figure something out with Viking I will likely give her till the end of the week and then contact Viking as well. I would be happy to take either an offer of OBC or a cabin upgrade. We'll see if the OBC is offered. If so, hopefully we'll be able to use it for a shore excursion or two while on the trip, since I know you can't use it to pre-book on MVJ. We can't cancel and re-book since we had used some other credits which would not be reusable.

 

Was your guarantee cabin assigned or are you still waiting to see where you land with that? Maybe you'll get a nice upgrade that way. Either way, I hope you enjoy your trip once you're onboard.

We are booked for July 2018. Purchased the cruise June 2017. Just saw they dropped the price $400 per person. Emailed out TA today. Waiting for her response. I expect to pay the lower price.

We are booked for July 2018. Purchased the cruise June 2017. Just saw they dropped the price $400 per person. Emailed out TA today. Waiting for her response. I expect to pay the lower price.

Good luck. I heard from my TA just yesterday that Viking doesn't really budge on that sort of issue and she was unable to get me anything, though she tried for days. I am still deciding if I want to try contacting Viking myself. The price has gone back up for our cruise, so I doubt I'd have much success. Let us know how your TA fares.

We are booked for July 2018. Purchased the cruise June 2017. Just saw they dropped the price $400 per person. Emailed out TA today. Waiting for her response. I expect to pay the lower price.

Good luck with that.

Repeat Viking customer, I made the BIG mistake of booking my next Ocean cruise while onboard Viking Ocean in June. The cruise was not yet posted on the net but about to be posted online. I asked the Viking salesperson who called corporate for pricing if I was getting the standard June price. Yes. There was a $400 on board booking discount. When I got home I noticed that the actual price posted online in June, July, August, etc. was $550 less per person. Viking would not budge on the price. I feel that this was a really disingenuous sales practice. Instead of a deal, I paid more for my cruise than anyone else.

You'll notice that my next cruise is NOT with Viking. A longtime customer motivated to look elsewhere.

Good luck with that.

Repeat Viking customer, I made the BIG mistake of booking my next Ocean cruise while onboard Viking Ocean in June. The cruise was not yet posted on the net but about to be posted online. I asked the Viking salesperson who called corporate for pricing if I was getting the standard June price. Yes. There was a $400 on board booking discount. When I got home I noticed that the actual price posted online in June, July, August, etc. was $550 less per person. Viking would not budge on the price. I feel that this was a really disingenuous sales practice. Instead of a deal, I paid more for my cruise than anyone else.

 

You'll notice that my next cruise is NOT with Viking. A longtime customer motivated to look elsewhere.

Bad move on Vikings part IMHO Phil. You have been a HUGE Viking cheerleader and repeat customer. I quite honestly am surprised. I am sorry that it was not made Whole for you.

This really makes me sad!!! Viking really should be honorable about this!

Bad move on Vikings part IMHO Phil. You have been a HUGE Viking cheerleader and repeat customer. I quite honestly am surprised. I am sorry that it was not made Whole for you.

I do agree. Phil's situation is different from the people who book a cruise at a published price, and then are dissatisfied when the price is lowered and they cannot get reimbursed the difference. I am also a big Viking fan, but they really blundered in this situation.

Good luck. I heard from my TA just yesterday that Viking doesn't really budge on that sort of issue and she was unable to get me anything, though she tried for days. I am still deciding if I want to try contacting Viking myself. The price has gone back up for our cruise, so I doubt I'd have much success. Let us know how your TA fares.

You are correct. I feel this is a big mistake by Viking. This is my first Viking cruise and very likely my last. They did give me a $300 credit towards an $800 drop in price. I would still be ahead to cancel, take the $100 penalty and re book. I would save another $300.00 for the two of us.

Dear Roomiec:

We are on the October 7, 2018 cruise from Hong Kong to Beijing. We also booked the Beijing extension so if you booked the Beijing pre stay we will see you at the hotel. Have a very happy Thanksgiving.

Joel Barry Brown

I would still be ahead to cancel, take the $100 penalty and re book. I would save another $300.00 for the two of us.

This is exactly what we did when our price dropped $500. But beware, you can't cancel and rebook the same cabin in one phone call. We had to book the cruise again, pay the $1,000 deposit again, reserve a different cabin, and then send an email cancelling the original cruise. Fortunately our cruise agent watched for our original cabin to come available the next day or so and moved us back into that. But we could have lost the original cabin. Plus they had our first $800 deposit (net of the penalty) for another week or so until it was refunded. Such a ridiculous way to handle the situation in my opinion.

We are going on a Viking Ocean cruise soon, but are glad to read the "warning" about their not-so-customer-friendly policy/attitude with regards to allowing clients who booked early to allow them to benefit from lower prices should they come down later. We had planned to book future cruises with Viking while on our cruise, but after reading this, we will AVOID the Viking Salesperson on board , and keep him/her at a distance with a Viking Barge pole - not sure what he/she says is reliable and from what is mentioned by another Viking client above, probably not !!! Perhaps, if more Viking passengers read this and do the same as we will, Viking management would look again at this strict attitude and relax their policy .

(Viking management should realize quite a number of their clients also sail with other similar competitors, especially their close rival Oceania Cruises, and if they do not treat their customers in a satisfactory manner, including with regards to fares rigidity, we could "run back" to Oceania, or Azamara, or Crystal, or Regent Seven Seas, or Seabourn, or whatever !!!)

Just to clarify any mis-understanding it was NOT a situation of looking for lower prices later. In my case it was that the verbally quoted price onboard was much greater than the yet-to-be-posted price on the internet since the cruise was just announced in June as we were aboard and had not been posted on the net. At home in June the finally posted price was not what we were quoted. That is my complaint, unaddressed by Viking. They keep saying that the price decreased. Not so, I asked for the June standard price and was told that I had it.

In Viking's defense, I checked with other guests who booked onboard previously posted cruises and they had no problems. Looks like a coordination problem with HQ, but one Viking should have addressed.

Just following up. We made final payment a little over a week ago. Within a few days after, I noticed on our MyVikingJourney account that our cabin had been assigned. We were lucky to get an upgrade that was basically the equivalent of the price difference when our TA contacted Viking. Since it was the same price for the upgraded cabin as we paid for our guarantee, I don't consider it any great gesture on Viking's part, but I am satisfied with the end result. Would have been nicer if Viking had just done that when asked, so we could have avoided the negative feelings, but I'm back on track hoping for a great experience on our Viking Ocean cruise!

Congrats! That is what I would have preferred rather than a third of the value as an OBC....but I will take what I agreed to and move on!

Have a great cruise!