Post COVID refunds

[Owlfred]

I was on the Sky March 6th Trans-Atlantic and March 20th mediterranean cruise. I have not received any refunds for:

--Cancelled portion of cruises

--Prepaid Viking shore excursions

--Unused portion of Silver spirits package

--On board account refund

--Prepaid transfers

 

The only refund I did receive was reimbursement of car rental from Miami on March 17th. I am getting inpatient.

[jeffbook]

As a follow up to my post of April 11, we received a large part of the refund for our cancelled Mediterranean Odyssey Cruise (March 20 sailing) on April 20 via e-check. 

 

There is a remaining amount still due us that was paid by credit card.  I was told by a Viking Customer Service representative that we would receive it shortly.  This is complicated by the fact that the outstanding amount was paid to Viking on a credit card that is now past its expiration date.  We had the same situation for our post cruise extension on this journey which Viking cancelled prior to cancelling the entire cruise.  That amount was eventually refunded to us via e-check.

[Thom71]

Received our credit to our checking account this morning... still waiting for our refund to our credit card account.

[JerryInIL]

1 hour ago, Thom71 said:

Received our credit to our checking account this morning... still waiting for our refund to our credit card account.

Same for our May cruise.  Paid within a month.

Edited April 28, 2020 by JerryInIL

[DrJJ]

On 4/20/2020 at 5:57 PM, DrJJ said:

Reporting here to  update. As of today Viking has refunded all but $1000.00 (my original deposit) of my total cruise fare to my credit card. They contacted me today to tell me that the original deposit was made to a credit card that was no longer active. In any event I have been told they would be mailing a check for the remaining $1000.00.

Last update. Received final refund by check this weekend. Viking has now fully refunded all payments I had made for the cruise. Unfortunately my air fare for Swiss Air, which I had made independently of Viking, has not been either acknowledged or refunded by Swiss Air, even though Swiss Air cancelled all my flights. But that is for another thread in another forum. 

[Jack E Dawson]

We received our full refund yesterday as a credit back to our credit card. This was for our April 6th Empires of the Mediterranean cruise that was cancelled on March 11th. I cannot overstate how professional, pleasant and helpful everyone at Viking was that I spoke to. 

 

Jack

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, DrJJ said:

Last update. Received final refund by check this weekend. Viking has now fully refunded all payments I had made for the cruise. Unfortunately my air fare for Swiss Air, which I had made independently of Viking, has not been either acknowledged or refunded by Swiss Air, even though Swiss Air cancelled all my flights. But that is for another thread in another forum. 

We had planned on being in Europe for 3 months after our transatlantic that ended up being a half-transatlantic.  We had a number of flights. So far only Iberia, RyanAir and American have said we will get refunds-although they have not yet been received. For LOT, Vueling, And British Airways we had to dispute the credit card charge as they were like Swiss and would not respond other than form emails telling us how to get a voucher. 
 

good luck!

[lackcreativity]

2 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

We received our full refund yesterday as a credit back to our credit card. This was for our April 6th Empires of the Mediterranean cruise that was cancelled on March 11th. I cannot overstate how professional, pleasant and helpful everyone at Viking was that I spoke to. 

 

Jack

Thanks for the update. We were patiently waiting for a refund by check for an April 11 river cruise which we requested March 12. I suspected that refunds for echeck payments may take longer. However, I was watching for an actual check to arrive in the mail, and just as I was typing this, it occurred to me that they may do a direct deposit to our account. Lo and behold, they refunded our full amount on April 15! I second your opinion that my contacts with Viking have been both pleasant and efficient during this process, as they have always been when booking cruises.

 

My actual intent in responding to your post was to tell you that I really hope you get to take the Empires of the Mediterranean cruise one day. It was our first and favorite out of all our great Viking vacations. 

 

Looking forward to better days ahead!

 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by lackcreativity

[Stumptowngal]

I was pleasantly surprised that it took only four weeks for Viking to refund our final cruise payment by e-check; plus a credit back to our credit card for excursions.  Now waiting to resolve refund of the initial deposit since it was made on a now expired credit card.  I have confidence it will be handled satisfactorily.  

 

As disappointing as it is to dismantle the details of our long-planned first Viking cruise to celebrate retirement, it’s a relief not to have been out at sea when the virus was becoming more widespread.  And considering the health and financial crisis for so many, our upended plans pale in comparison.

 

I wish Viking much success in working their way back from all this.

[Hanoj]

Viking cancelled our May 3, 2020 cruise on March 30 and we immediately requested a refund through our TA. All our cruise payments had been by e-check and the refunds posted to our bank accounts (two different ones were used) on April 26 and 27. Our TA was pleased since she expected it to take longer.

 

A small credit card charge for an optional shore excursion was refunded today.

[Tom2]

Viking cancelled our June 3, 2020 Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes Cruise on March 30. I applied for a refund and just got the final payment amount, which I paid by e-check, deposited back into my account today. I made the initial deposit, pre-paid gratuities, silver spirits package and tours on 2 different credit cards, and that has been put back on the credit cards. I initially had Viking Air but found out I could do better booking Business Class tickets direct so I cancelled Viking Air and that amount paid by e-check was previously refunded.  I purchased nonrefundable tickets direct from Delta and because I purchased them so far in advance, I decided to take the trip insurance offered by Delta. The flight was cancelled by Delta so I filed a claim. Here is the response I got back: “Thank you for choosing Allianz Global Assistance to protect your recent travel investment. We are sorry that your travel experience did not go as planned. We have completed our review of your claim, and unfortunately are unable to provide benefits under the coverage you purchased because:

Your plan excludes coverage for losses due to an epidemic.

Your insurance program provided Trip Cancellation benefits for very specific reasons. Unfortunately, cancelling your trip or having your trip cancelled/changed due to the Corona virus are not included among those reasons.” After going back and closely reading the fine print it appears that there are reasons listed to deny almost any claim submitted. So much for Delta Trip Insurance, should have stuck with Viking Air, but at least I will be able to use the e-ticket credit offered by Delta for our Viking “British Isles Explorer” Cruise next April. I have nothing but praise for the way Viking handled everything.

Tom

 

[DrJJ]

I suggest that you submit a charge back request to your credit card. I had a similar issue with Swiss Air, filed a charge back request with my Visa card, and received the charge back into my account yesterday.

[Tom2]

1 hour ago, DrJJ said:

I suggest that you submit a charge back request to your credit card. I had a similar issue with Swiss Air, filed a charge back request with my Visa card, and received the charge back into my account yesterday.

 

Thank you for the idea, I contacted AMX and they are disputing the charges. 

[Clay Clayton]

We received a credit on our credit card today reflective of 3/14ths of our cruise fare from our shortened transatlantic on Sky. So from disembarkation to refund was 37 business days (52 calendar). 
 

Unfortunately they did not include the balance of our refundable onboard credit so I’ve sent another email. 😢

[clojacks]

We cancelled our Oct River Cruise on April 25th, and have received our whole cash refund in a combination of VISA refunds and echeck refunds early this week! It took less than 2 weeks. Pretty relieved to have our $12000 back in our hands.

[lextrvlr]

Though posted elsewhere, I'll repeat here.

Kudos to Viking!  We canceled our paid December 2020 cruise on April 27. Though we were then told that our refund would take “about 45 days” the full amount was electronically deposited to our account on May first. We have not yet received the promised voucher covering the cancellation and travel protection fees. Viking's response could not have been more prompt or gracious. We will be booking again when the coasts are clear (and open).

[SuSuTrav]

100% of our canceled cruise to Iceland was credited to our credit card account . 
We told Viking on April 4 that we preferred a refund and received it a month later. We could have received a voucher for 125% toward another cruise but preferred a refund. 

[terrydtx]

I am very happy to report that we received our full refund in our bank account today from the cruise we cancelled on Tuesday. This a good sign on Viking's part of their viability going forward.

[JER/MPR]

Saddly cancled our July cruise April 21.  We also received full refund in vouchers and credit card in 8 days.  Great job Viking.  Can't wait to rebook when they start sailing again.   😀

[JerryInIL]

Viking sent a check for our deposit refund.  Guess it was too difficult to ask for the new credit card expiration date.  Too bad the travel insurance isn't as responsible as Viking.

[Redtravel]

Still waiting. Deposit was credited to our card last week. Still haven’t received the rest. Not feeling very happy.

 

[Baron Barracuda]

Haven't yet cancelled our July '20 river cruise but expect to do so soon.  Two days ago went online and cancelled over $3k in optional excursions. This morning was amazed to see refunds already posted to my cc.

[SoDakPirate]

I just received a deposit for e-check today. Here is the timeline:

August, 2019 Booked Imperial Jewels of China for April 5, 2020

Feb 2, 2020 Received notification from Viking that this cruise is canceled

Feb 5, 2020 Booked Into the Midnight Sun with a June 8, 2020 Departure

March 30, 2020 Received Notification that Viking is suspending service and we could take the 

        125% voucher or the "cash" refund

April 1, 2020 Notified TA that we wanted the "cash"

April 16, 2020 Received via email the VOUCHERS not the cash. TA notified Viking

May 7, 2020 Asked TA to inquire about projected date for refund. She was told they were           unable  to give a projected date.

May 16, 2020 "cash" refund received.

 

Additionally we  took out travel insurance with Allianz. It was considerably cheaper than Viking. They transferred our insurance from the China cruise to the Midnight Sun cruise and then gave us a total refund 2 weeks after.

Pleased with the process and our TA has been wonderful.  Very proactive and responsive- simply the very best!

 

 

[CurlerRob]

I understand there are varied experiences being had, but here's another very positive one. We cancelled our Far East & Alaska sail for April 2021. Our TA did that on May 12.  Full refund (less the expected penalty) back to my credit card on May 16!

 

Classy move by Viking in a world where so many of the companies are desperate. Hope the process goes well for others. 🍻

[Clay Clayton]

We received the final refund owed us yesterday (onboard credit balance) via check.  So 64 calendar days from disembarkation and three payments (two check and one credit card credit). Seems sorts long and like lots of unnecessary work to me, but I’m not running a mega company.  Just glad to have it done!