Viking River Payments

[famcruisefun]

Hello all

I am new to this forum - we are hoping to take our first river cruise in 2020. We've done many ocean cruises - but have never sailed with Viking before. Friends have recommended Viking so we're hoping to give it a try. We like the number of choices for excursions, the cabins/suites available on Viking, and the reputation for great service that Viking has.

 

We talked with someone at Viking last night and we were ready to give them a deposit for a trip in October 2020 - until they told us that payment in full would be due by July 30th of 2019! That seems crazy that they need full payment 15 months before the trip. We told them we'd have to think about that. I've done some research and see that they changed their policy last year to make payment due earlier.

 

The woman we spoke with kept asking us for a code from a brochure - telling us that some people have a code that allows them to pay later.  We have a code - which gives a discount on the deposit and the stateroom, but nothing about when payment is due.

 

Is this what others have experienced? Is there any way around the long lead time for payment? We're having a hard time justifying having them hold our money for 15 months prior to our trip.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/advice/words of wisdom from more experienced river cruisers!

Kelley

[Host Jazzbeau]

Viking has been inconsistent on payment dates.  They have demanded payment well in advance of all other cruise lines (generally 1 year), but in the past they were willing to let you pay 6 months out just for asking.  Lately they seem to have eliminated the flexibility and even moved the dates further back.

 

Why not research other cruise line offerings?  Nobody will expect final payment anywhere near this early. 

[AllisonJames]

I had the same experience in December.  Was going to book for June 2020 and they wanted payment in full 18 months in advance.  I thought that was ridiculous and booked Crystal River instead, which is probably a better fit for us anyway.  They later came back to me and acted like they were doing me a big favor and said they would do 12 months in advance.  If I were you I'd tell them you won't book without payment in full 6 months out and you will probably get it.  My sense from the boards is that between all the new ships they've brought on, AND recent bad publicity (i.e. Viking Sky and the recent river ship accident) they are more flexible now then they were last December. Or look at another line as they all have better payment policies.

[KevinandSally]

This is an extract from Vikings terms and conditions in the UK.

 

A2.2 When you make your booking you are required to pay a deposit of 25% of the total price. If your travel is due to commence within 10 weeks of your booking then the total price shall be payable at the time of booking. In any event the balance of the total price of your travel arrangements must be paid at least 10 weeks prior to travel commencing. Your booking will not be confirmed until we receive your deposit and if the balance is not paid by the due date then we shall cancel your booking and retain any deposit. Any monies paid to any Travel Agent in relation to your booking are held by such Travel Agent on our behalf at all times.

[BarkLessWagMore]

We chose not to book with Viking solely because of their payment policy. It just rubbed me the wrong way and all of their competitors have much more reasonable policies. We instead booked with Avalon and could not have been happier with our decision. We recently returned from our Prague to Budapest trip and it was exactly what we were promised and then some. I would encourage you to look at all of your options. Viking has by far the most advertising but there are many lines that can provide a first-class trip for you.

[notamermaid]

Indeed Viking only has the 12 or 18 months in advance policy in North America. In the UK they stick to more or less to the EU standard. No way would I ever pay for a service in full 18 months in advance.

 

You could try to make it clear to them that you will only travel with them if they offer you a better deal. Or, as has been suggested, look elsewhere. Not sure if there is a way of booking through the UK people for you.

 

notamermaid

 

[Roz]

This is one of many reasons I won't book with Viking.  No land tour or cruise company I've booked with insists on full payment a year or more in advance.

 

I sail solo, and Viking insists on charging solos 200%, no exceptions.  

 

Roz

[need2travel1]

That's a ridiculously long time for Viking to hold your money before you actually cruise, I don't think there is another line that asks for full payment that far in advance.  Please do look around at some of the other river cruise lines out there,.  So many of them go to the same cities/towns/ports that in some cases it really does come down to just your own personal preference/likes/budget, etc.  

[famcruisefun]

Thank you all so much! We spoke with the person we'd talked with last night and now that we have a code (which, per the brochure gives us lowered stateroom price, onboard credit and lowered deposit) she can change it so final payment will be due 6 months out. Honestly, I feel like that's still too far in advance. With other cruises and group travel we've done, typical final payment is 60 or 90 days out.

We are going to do some shopping around. It's a bit overwhelming to search through all of the river cruise companies out there - I'm thankful for this forum to see other thoughts and experiences. I appreciate your help !

 

[Roz]

27 minutes ago, famcruisefun said:

Thank you all so much! We spoke with the person we'd talked with last night and now that we have a code (which, per the brochure gives us lowered stateroom price, onboard credit and lowered deposit) she can change it so final payment will be due 6 months out. Honestly, I feel like that's still too far in advance. With other cruises and group travel we've done, typical final payment is 60 or 90 days out.

We are going to do some shopping around. It's a bit overwhelming to search through all of the river cruise companies out there - I'm thankful for this forum to see other thoughts and experiences. I appreciate your help !

 

 

Read Host Jazzbeau's sticky at the top of the forum.  A good primer on the basics of each cruise line.

 

Roz

[pontac]

16 hours ago, Roz said:

sail solo, and Viking insists on charging solos 200%, no exceptions.  

 

Depends. Maybe that's Viking USA policy, but it's not Viking policy in other regions. Last week single gentleman on our cruise told me he'd paid 150%, but that price was only available for cabins on the lowest deck ('aquarium class').

 

We know from previous discussions on this board that the different Viking countries have different policies. Maybe Viking USA don't offer any discount for single travellers or maybe they didn't have any cabins  available on the lowest deck

[pontac]

17 hours ago, famcruisefun said:

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/advice/words of wisdom from more experienced river cruisers!

 

@famcruisefun

Hi Louise, the recent discussion on the subject of Viking payments may have some items of interest

 

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2660414-payment-dates/

 

[AllisonJames]

Most of the companies seem to have payment 90-120 days out but we found some have low deposits but higher cancellation fees — for example AMA had a $400 cancellation fee for a couple which we thought was a bit high.  Crystal has a much higher up front deposit (25%) and payment 120 days out, but a lower cancellation fee and they gave my travel agent in writing that if we cancelled we could apply deposit to another cruise and wouldn’t be charged the cancellation fee.  I was very happy with that because occasionally we do have to reschedule because of work obligations.