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Can Viking Remain Viable With This Extreme Revenue Loss

airtana

By airtana,
in Viking Ocean

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PeterPan48

PeterPan48

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, MrRandal said:

 

Was the deposit not refunded simply because you applied it to another cruise? Or did Viking refuse to refund your deposit? If they are not refunding the $1000 deposit, we need to factor that into our equation. We're already going to be out $1600 in travel insurance, $300 for depositing FF miles back into our account (assuming Delta survives all of this) $100 pp cancelation fee with Viking as well as possibly $1800 in a post cruise hotel that I foolishly booked with a non refundable fare. So I'm looking at almost $5K lost if I cancel, $20K if I gamble and hope Viking survives and lose.

 

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PeterPan48

PeterPan48

Posted
Posted

Mr Randal...just verified with DH...We were refunded our total bill including the $1000 deposit to the tune of ~$17000.  We were able to book a future cruise for June 2021 and only needed to put down a deposit of $500 total.  We bought Alianz travel insurance through our TA which has been extended for 2 years from purchase date.  Still need to talk with airlines regarding redeposit of points into our account for canceling of flights. 

Good luck to you re:  getting your money back.  The stock market, the virus, social distancing..Yikes ! Just taking it one day at a time.

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Roger88

Roger88

Posted
Posted

They will suffer sufficient loses in the begining but in a long run it wont be something rediculous. Its a normal situation for business to gow down and then go up. Businesses such as this one always suffer from such incidents. If you really want to go on this cruise and support the company, the best way to do it is to book their next cruise. I would also suggest getting additional insurance just in case. Anyway, hope everything goes well. Take care 

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MrRandal

MrRandal

Posted
Posted

I believe we have decided to wait until May 1st, and see if Viking actually restarts operations as they indicated they would. If they are able to, we will watch and see for a month. If they do, and all goes well, we'll most probably take the gamble. If things don't look good, we will most certainly request a full refund. To rebook this cruise, I'd be losing $5K plus adding another Insurance policy. If that is the case, we may just need to put it off for a couple of years. We already have a cruise booked for 2021 to French Polynesia, and neither of these are inexpensive, we can only afford to take one a year.

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duquephart

duquephart

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, MrRandal said:

I believe we have decided to wait until May 1st, and see if Viking actually restarts operations as they indicated they would. If they are able to, we will watch and see for a month. If they do, and all goes well, we'll most probably take the gamble. If things don't look good, we will most certainly request a full refund. To rebook this cruise, I'd be losing $5K plus adding another Insurance policy. If that is the case, we may just need to put it off for a couple of years. We already have a cruise booked for 2021 to French Polynesia, and neither of these are inexpensive, we can only afford to take one a year.

 

How do you lose 5K if you get a full refund? What am I missing?

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MrRandal

MrRandal

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, duquephart said:

 

Unfortunate. Everything we have paid in is to Viking only so we would get the whole works back per our TA.

 

I have talked to someone who indicated Viking may issue a voucher for the Insurance paid, which would save $1600. I have not verified that with Viking. And of course that is only a positive if Viking remains viable.

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Denny01

Denny01

Posted
Posted

The Real question is, can I ‘remain viable’ without cruising!?!?

 

My Viking River cruise Bucharest to Budapest that I should be on right now was cancelled, and a late April Silverseas cruise is cancelled. I took the Viking 125% FCC refund and the Silverseas 100% cash refund. Why? Silverseas was a ‘try a small ship into small ports/good deal with TA’ cruise and not a prime Line I’d use. Viking I’ve cruised a number of times and look forward to trying the Ocean and Exploration cruising. worried about it folding and losing the FCC? Worried is the wrong word; Losing the FCC is not minor but I can absorb it, and I’ll bet on the come and get a nice 25% deal - and I’ll book the new cruise prior to end of April so I have the ability to cancel/change a few days prior. Heck, I’m booking a 2022 Great Lakes cruise on the new Exploration ships, and will add a Norway Midnight Sun cruise sometime in 2021. So I’m either an Ostrich or a Soothsayer. 

 

Back to will i lose the FCC. I have no idea of what leverage Viking has financially and if it will survive; but I’ve lost a great deal more on the Market by just sitting here watching great companies take big hits. And I realize there are those that think Viking will scam them on the 25% in some way. Yeah, I guess, but from experience, I don’t see this as such a company. 

 

Enough. For those who think Viking could get a loan or bailout from the US Govt - nope. The new bill specifically blocks foreign companies from getting any loan/funds. But who knows how it all really works. I’ll just go on line and read all that factual stuff in some website that insists all is crashing.....or another website that insists its all a hoax. 

 

None of this is a recommendation for anyone else, just an example of what I’m doing.

 

den

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MrRandal

MrRandal

Posted
Posted

Thanks for your input and insight Den. All of us need to make our decisions dependent on our own personal circumstances. I've never cruised Viking, but I chose this line and this cruise because of Viking's sterling reputation. While I felt a little irritated having to send my entire cruise fare a year and a half in advance, I did so to book the cruise I wanted to take, in the cabin I wanted to cruise in. However, that was pre COVID-19, and I have a lot of money invested in a company that was humming right along until 3 weeks ago. Then I did a little homework and I found this in Forbes, published less than a year ago (April 15, 2019), talking about Majority stockholder/CEO Torstein Hagen "He is borrowing cash furiously (the company’s debt is $2.5 billion) to build more ships, and has also raised equity capital from the Canadian pension board and the U.S. private equity firm TPG." This from a company, that just a few weeks ago, was insisting on and receiving full payment 12-18 months in advance of sailing from their passengers. I'm not a financial expert, but it certainly seems like this company is pretty highly leveraged, and I'm just not certain how long they can withstand having 78 ships and 9000 employees sit idle with no income. 

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Candlesmith

Candlesmith

Posted
Posted
On 3/12/2020 at 11:52 PM, Captain_Morgan said:

There's no doubt the Italian shipyards are closed or barely operating out of an abundance of caution,


I would suspect Italian shipyards are more likely closed out of a paucity of workers more than an abundance of anything! 

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DaveSJ711

DaveSJ711

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Candlesmith said:


I would suspect Italian shipyards are more likely closed out of a paucity of workers more than an abundance of anything! 

 

Viking's shipbuilder, Fincantieri, is closed at least through March 29.  https://www.rivieramm.com/news-content-hub/news-content-hub/fincantieri-to-cease-production-for-two-weeks-to-prevent-the-spread-of-covid-19-58574

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Heidi13

Heidi13

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Candlesmith said:


I would suspect Italian shipyards are more likely closed out of a paucity of workers more than an abundance of anything! 

Fincantieri Shipyards, where the Viking ships are built is shut down from Mar 16 to 29th. Could be longer since Italy is still a hot spot, but haven't read any confirmation.

 

No word yet on the impact to the delivery of Viking Venus.

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duquephart

duquephart

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, MrRandal said:

Thanks for your input and insight Den. All of us need to make our decisions dependent on our own personal circumstances. I've never cruised Viking, but I chose this line and this cruise because of Viking's sterling reputation. While I felt a little irritated having to send my entire cruise fare a year and a half in advance, I did so to book the cruise I wanted to take, in the cabin I wanted to cruise in. However, that was pre COVID-19, and I have a lot of money invested in a company that was humming right along until 3 weeks ago. Then I did a little homework and I found this in Forbes, published less than a year ago (April 15, 2019), talking about Majority stockholder/CEO Torstein Hagen "He is borrowing cash furiously (the company’s debt is $2.5 billion) to build more ships, and has also raised equity capital from the Canadian pension board and the U.S. private equity firm TPG." This from a company, that just a few weeks ago, was insisting on and receiving full payment 12-18 months in advance of sailing from their passengers. I'm not a financial expert, but it certainly seems like this company is pretty highly leveraged, and I'm just not certain how long they can withstand having 78 ships and 9000 employees sit idle with no income. 

 

So ----- when you hear Viking has gone tits up and ole Tor's been spotted on a remote Barbados beach surrounded by three nubile young blonds peeling grapes for him ----- you won't be surprised?

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MrRandal

MrRandal

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

So ----- when you hear Viking has gone tits up and ole Tor's been spotted on a remote Barbados beach surrounded by three nubile young blonds peeling grapes for him ----- you won't be surprised?

 

Not a bit, and I wouldn't blame him. I just don't want to pay for the grapes.

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Captain_Morgan

Captain_Morgan

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, MrRandal said:

 

I don't believe any non U.S. based company is getting funding from this stimulus package. Not sure if Norway is offering its citizens and companies a stimulus package. We'll see, I guess.

 

Might not be directly related to a bail out, but Norway is not getting away unscathed

 

https://www.thelocal.no/20200326/norways-oil-fund-loses-13-trillion-kroner-in-coronavirus-crash?fbclid=IwAR3fW1aBfK1JBrCv4pqkXzCJhIXgwwajYZmKqEPtgPLLQDZ0Yy4ZpCZ6Cg8

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Aiken375

Aiken375

Posted
Posted
On 3/22/2020 at 7:36 PM, lackcreativity said:

We were told that our cash refund (in our case payable by check) would be within 21 business days, so I wouldn't get worried just yet.

Thanks for the 21 biz day tip.  Viking issued ours on day 20.  Have since cancelled another cruise, and they refunded it to my credit card that same day.  Good job Viking.  Hope you make it through.  We still love your ocean ships, but were significantly disappointed in our Viking River cruise.

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Eddievouge11

Eddievouge11

Posted
Posted

As you may know Viking has suspended operations to the end of June. 

Viking is also not paying their travel agents commissions on Viking cancellations when the passengers request a refund.

This is the same company that wants full payments often a year or more in advance.

It makes one wonder how financial stable that they are?

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