Final payment a year in advance of the trip

[AllisonJames]

In December we were all ready to book a Viking Rover Cruise for June 2020.  They wanted payment in full 18 months in advance.  They later came back and said, oh okay, 12 months in advance (gee how generous) but by then we were fed up.  Ended up booking with Crystal, which requires a higher deposit (25%) than some of the other lines but final payment is due four months out which we think is very fair.  Amawaterways is also four months out.  We book often with Azamara and final payment is due four months in advance.  When we booked Viking Ocean in 2017 payment was due 6 months out but that seems to be in the past, we are not interested in sailing Viking again due to the ridiculous payment policies.  It would have to be an absolutely incredible and unique itinerary.

[zitsky]

I wish you would write to tellus@vikingcruises.com

[AuntieWerewolf10]

4 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

I can only respond with our personal experience, but we had a cruise already booked and did not have the final payment made yet.  They then had a flash sale and the price dropped quite a bit.  In order to get that new price, we had to "cancel" the original room reservation and pay the $100 pp.  Then the room was released to inventory.  We could then "rebuy" the cruise at the new price and hopefully the room we had would be available.  In our case it wasn't so we got a very similar room.  Since the sale price savings was quite a bit more than $100, it was well worth it!

We had a similar situation during the Explorer Sale in October, 2018.  

Our TA talked to Viking and got an OBC.

Could have saved more by canceling and rebooking, but stayed with our original reservation. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

3 hours ago, zitsky said:

I wish you would write to tellus@vikingcruises.com

 

I would urge anyone who has decided not to book/cancel Viking because of these ridiculous policies to do just that.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

6 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

I can only respond with our personal experience, but we had a cruise already booked and did not have the final payment made yet.  They then had a flash sale and the price dropped quite a bit.  In order to get that new price, we had to "cancel" the original room reservation and pay the $100 pp.  Then the room was released to inventory.  We could then "rebuy" the cruise at the new price and hopefully the room we had would be available.  In our case it wasn't so we got a very similar room.  Since the sale price savings was quite a bit more than $100, it was well worth it!

 

Okay, that's fair.  Other cruise lines do it that way too.

[Pushka]

My issue isn’t lost interest but rather handing over tens of thousands of dollars 12 months ahead of the service then getting that money back in a timely fashion if I needed to cancel. And these days anything can happen to any company. 

[Dauntless]

37 minutes ago, Pushka said:

My issue isn’t lost interest but rather handing over tens of thousands of dollars 12 months ahead of the service then getting that money back in a timely fashion if I needed to cancel. And these days anything can happen to any company. 

 

Point taken.  Have you had trouble getting money back from Viking on any occasion?  I have given them money-not tens of thousands but I have booked air and shore excursions with them and then changed my mind and my money was returned in a timely fashion.  I assume you take insurance for these trips.  If your insurance is not through Viking then I would assume, regardless of what fate may occur to Viking, your investment and return would be covered by another company that does not operate through Viking.  Therefore, that money would be secured.  

 

The point was made by another poster about it being about 'cash flow'.  Isn't that the case with most decisions in life?  Unknown pregnancies can cause you to adjust how the cash will flow in order to make things run smooth.  I'm not suggesting this is a problem that would effect most of Viking's passengers, but 'these days anything can happen'.  Most of this group has major cash flow problems behind them or they probably would not have the extra cash, or credit, to make these trips.  At the age of Viking's target market we shouldn't be acting like a 20 year old that really doesn't understand how the world works.  And there are other choices if this presents a problem for some.  I think 6 months out is fair for final deposit and more than that is extreme but I know that is Viking's policy and just like not wearing jeans to 3 of the restaurants for dinner, it is their policy.  If I don't want to follow those rules, then I probably should make other choices.  I don't agree with Viking's policy for unreasonable charges for paper work corrections.  Especially for a line that claims to 'not nickle and dime you'.  The rest of that sentence should read 'because we plan on not bothering with the small change'.   This has not effected me but I know it happens and I feel it is totally unjust.  Even if other lines do it, Viking tries to position themselves as a line unlike the rest.

 

Though I am a big fan of Viking, just like living at home with your parents there are some things you have to adjust to or move out.

[cayman09]

5 hours ago, zitsky said:

I wish you would write to tellus@vikingcruises.com

I did just that 5-6 months ago, received no response. I told them that I would try Oceania unless they gave some consideration and that I had just completed a Viking River Cruise that I loved.....but no response at all. I'm now booked on Oceania.

[zitsky]

Dauntless, interesting post but not everyone who questions this new policy is someone who doesn't understand how the world works.  People have legitimate concerns. 

[TayanaLorna]

20 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

I can only respond with our personal experience, but we had a cruise already booked and did not have the final payment made yet.  They then had a flash sale and the price dropped quite a bit.  In order to get that new price, we had to "cancel" the original room reservation and pay the $100 pp.  Then the room was released to inventory.  We could then "rebuy" the cruise at the new price and hopefully the room we had would be available.  In our case it wasn't so we got a very similar room.  Since the sale price savings was quite a bit more than $100, it was well worth it!

Same thing happened to us.  However we were able to book the same room.  It may have been because we immediately paid the $1000 deposit and waited for a refund of our first deposit.  Final payment for the new booking was 9 months advance however Viking agent gave us the 6 months advance of our original booking.  As with CCWinelover, the price difference was worth it.  I think this is the only way to take advantage of a price drop.

[TayanaLorna]

11 hours ago, cayman09 said:

I did just that 5-6 months ago, received no response. I told them that I would try Oceania unless they gave some consideration and that I had just completed a Viking River Cruise that I loved.....but no response at all. I'm now booked on Oceania.

I wrote to tellus and also received no response.  I do think it is worthwhile to do so.  After all the excursion booking time was changed due to complaints.

[zitsky]

I have seen responses from Viking customer service on this board.  Do they also have a Twitter handle?

[philw1776]

Email to tellus is not going to do any good.  It's not like Viking corporate does not know that folks hate their early pay policy.
The only thing that will get a policy change is for cruisers to book Oceania, etc. instead and reduce Viking demand.  

Good luck with that as much of 2020 is already booked in advance.

When I can book my next Viking cruise & cabin of choice just 6-9 months out I will thank you publicly.