Viking Sky April 2018 TA Cancelled

[amusea]

On Friday (Dec. 16) I was notified by my travel agent that she had just been told by Viking that the trans-Atlantic sailing on the Sky that I had booked for April 7, 2018 has been cancelled. I had already paid a deposit and the balance was due by December 31.

When I looked at the cruise on the Viking website it showed that the cruise was sold out in all categories which is suspicious. When I inquired about what itinerary would be sailed by the Sky on that date Viking said it was not sailing anywhere??

They offered to give me the same room I had booked but on the earlier March TA on the Sea. I asked if there was any compensation because I have already made arrangements, some of which will be very inconvenient to cancel. The answer was a big NO.

If this is all legit, I am notifying Viking through my travel agent that I do not wish to take the earlier sailing because in my opinion it is too early for a crossing. I just wondered if anyone has heard anything about this cancellation since nobody on the roll call has received this cancellation information from their travel agent and it is still listed on several major online websites.

[JVilleGal]

2018??? Just want to make sure it's not a typo...

 

 

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[AnneEwing]

I was thinking the same thing - is 2018 a typo? If not, why would you be paying in full 16 months in advance? And itineraries that far in advance are susceptible to change. Otherwise, the cancellation issue, if legitimate, may be because that sailing has been "chartered" by a third party/company.

 

 

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[garycarla]

If 2018 - then I doubt things like hotels and air have been booked and need to be changed.

[Peregrina651]

I was thinking the same thing - is 2018 a typo? If not, why would you be paying in full 16 months in advance? And itineraries that far in advance are susceptible to change. Otherwise, the cancellation issue, if legitimate, may be because that sailing has been "chartered" by a third party/company.

 

 

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US payment policies are different than in other countries and here Viking likes to get it's money upfront. We booked a 6/16 cruise in 6/14 and had to pay in full by 12/14. The policy is loosening up but Viking still demands (and gets) payment in full well in advance of most other cruise lines.

[amusea]

The dates I wrote are correct. In order to get the "sale" discount the cruise had to be paid in full by Dec. 31, 2016 for the April 2018 trans-Atlantic cruise. I have already made personal arrangements for time I was to spend in Europe visiting several countries after the cruise ended in Barcelona which now must be changed. Yes, it is an inconvenience. These Viking payment policies are quite unusual and I doubt I would agree to such a plan again.

 

Today another person on the roll call has received word from his travel agent that the cruise is cancelled and Viking would only say that the Sky is being redeployed but would give no further information.

 

You should understand that prices for the 15 day trans-Atlantic cruises are about 50% less than for other Viking Ocean cruises and therefore the demand is heavier so cabins tend to sell out farther in advance. My full cost was about $3000 for a deluxe verandah. It seems that some posters are not aware of Viking's unusual payment requirements for certain cruises.

[JVilleGal]

Viking has darn near every fare listed as some kind of special sale of one sort or another resulting in the requirement to pay in full a year or more in advance to the the "special promo". The is very typical of Viking business model.

 

 

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[JJean]

We are scheduled to leave on April 21, 2018 from Barcelona on the Sky so I am also wondering what is going on. I have not heard anything about our

schedule. We would be the first cruise after the transatlantic.

[JVilleGal]

We are scheduled to leave on April 21, 2018 from Barcelona on the Sky so I am also wondering what is going on. I have not heard anything about our

 

schedule. We would be the first cruise after the transatlantic.

 

 

I would definitely be worried!

 

 

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[Azulann]

According to my TA , this morning, this sailing is not cancelled.

We booked it in August....

So I will not worry about it till I hear directly again from my TA.:cool:

[JVilleGal]

Hummmm who to believe??????

 

 

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[Port Hope]

We are scheduled to leave on April 21, 2018 from Barcelona on the Sky so I am also wondering what is going on. I have not heard anything about our

schedule. We would be the first cruise after the transatlantic.

 

We just heard from our TA today that the April 21, 2018 "Barcelona, the Baltic and Beyond" has been cancelled as the Sky is being deployed elsewhere. No more info than that. However we can book on the earlier sailing of April 10 for the same itinerary on board their new ship. I asked the TA to see if he could find out if that's the Spirit? It doesn't launch until 2018. Plus, the Sea is on the same itinerary on the same dates (April 10). Are they going to have 2 ships on the exact same itinerary at the same time?

Will post again when I get answers.

[JJean]

Just talked to Viking and our April 21, 2018 is cancelled. We can go

on the Sea on April 10 for the same itinerary. Not sure what we will do,

my mom's 100th birthday will be on 7th so don't know if that will work. We

really liked this itinerary and we were doing it for our 50th anniversary.

Have to make a decision soon.

[garycarla]

I know, different people do different things.

 

We just booked Feb 2017 this week. Have not even paid yet. Our last cruise was booked inside the 60 day windoww.

 

Other folks are booking in Spring of 2018.

 

 

Again, different strokes.

[roothy123]

This may be totally unrelated, but there is a recent thread that mentions Viking has sent something out via email to UK customers asking if they have any interest in cruising in Alaska, New Zealand and Australia in 2018. There are no details, and particular ships aren't mentioned, but I suppose it's possible they're thinking of making some itinerary changes.

 

Just a thought!

[Azulann]

This may be totally unrelated, but there is a recent thread that mentions Viking has sent something out via email to UK customers asking if they have any interest in cruising in Alaska, New Zealand and Australia in 2018. There are no details, and particular ships aren't mentioned, but I suppose it's possible they're thinking of making some itinerary changes.

 

Just a thought!

 

Another poster had the same idea that maybe that is where the Sky will be redeployed in late 2017.

In any case, we have transferred our booking to the Viking Sea for it Trans Atlantic, March 27 2018. Same itinerary, we got a cabin upgrade and same pricing for air.

I started a new roll call for this sailing.:D

[cruzersky2]

I'm thinking about 2018, since I have 2017 Grand European paid-in-full. The Viking Homelands looks great, but there is not much info here about the Viking Ocean cruises and I asked my TA to get some inside comments. While the ocean ships look beautiful, and I love the Viking Homelands itinerary, when I looked a passenger's Youtube video, it looked kinda empty... Maybe why some cruises are being cancelled??

[Vineyard View]

Viking Homelands is a great trip. If you haven't tried Oceans, do. You will love it we thoroughly enjoyed both Rivers and Oceans. I think that the change has to do with geographical expansion.....which is a terrific thing!

[garycarla]

I'm thinking about 2018, since I have 2017 Grand European paid-in-full. The Viking Homelands looks great, but there is not much info here about the Viking Ocean cruises and I asked my TA to get some inside comments. While the ocean ships look beautiful, and I love the Viking Homelands itinerary, when I looked a passenger's Youtube video, it looked kinda empty... Maybe why some cruises are being cancelled??

 

There are a bunch of reviews in the review section. We have only done the river, but doing an Ocean next week. Excited based on what we have read.

 

From what I can see, those being "cancelled" are really just moving to other itineraries. It must be very hard to schedule and book these things a year or two in advance.

[cruzersky2]

Thanks garycarla & Vineyardview!

I'm so used to going to Forums I never thought of checking out the reviews. Lots of good info there. Viking Homelands is back on my bucket list :)

Edited January 8, 2017 by cruzersky2

[aussie1944]

Another poster had the same idea that maybe that is where the Sky will be redeployed in late 2017.

In any case, we have transferred our booking to the Viking Sea for it Trans Atlantic, March 27 2018. Same itinerary, we got a cabin upgrade and same pricing for air.

I started a new roll call for this sailing.:D

 

We were also notified that the April 7th Sky crossing was cancelled and we were booked on the Sea on March 27th. It is an inconvenience, but they did give some OBC. We have had to pay, but will be refunded in total less $100 per person if we decide to cancel before 90 days out or close to that.

[Azulann]

We were also notified that the April 7th Sky crossing was cancelled and we were booked on the Sea on March 27th. It is an inconvenience, but they did give some OBC. We have had to pay, but will be refunded in total less $100 per person if we decide to cancel before 90 days out or close to that.

 

Glad you have rebooked to the Viking Sea for March 2018.

Come join the rolll call.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2436439

 

Patti

[bradhere]

We are scheduled to leave on April 21, 2018 from Barcelona on the Sky so I am also wondering what is going on. I have not heard anything about our

schedule. We would be the first cruise after the transatlantic.

 

 

We just booked our cruise (02/23/2017) ON VIKING SKY

"Trade Routes of The Middle Ages"

Embarkation Date : April 14, 2018 Barcelona

Disembarkation Date: April 28, 2018 Bergen

Cruise Nights: 14

 

Signed: Bradhere