Was on board of partially canceled cruise. No promised reimbursement of travel expenses by Viking ?

[nast]

We were onboard Viking Star when Viking made the decision to suspend operations of all cruises.

It was day 3 of the voyage, and the rest of the 12 day cruise was canceled. 

 

Arrived 1 week ahead of schedule back in Tilbury and had to make new travel arrangements to get back home.

We did not book a Viking cruise package. 

Guest relations onboard told us we could make new travel arrangements and they will refund it later.

We needed to contact Viking Customer Relations once we got back home about this. That's what I did. 

 

Viking's respons ; With regards to any further out of pocket expenses, as the cancellation was a result of circumstances outside of our control, we can no consider any compensation payable in respect of any other expenses that guests may have incurred separately with third parties and which did not form part of the cruise package"

 

Anyone in the same situation ?

 

 

[terrydtx]

Did you have any travel insurance? If you did, you should be covered for any non VO expenses as a result of the cruise cancellation. Viking is only responsible for refunds from any booked Viking service. If you used Viking Air, Viking should have made the air changes to get you back home, if you booked your own air then your insurance would cover any changes to the itinerary.

[nast]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Did you have any travel insurance? If you did, you should be covered for any non VO expenses as a result of the cruise cancellation. Viking is only responsible for refunds from any booked Viking service. If you used Viking Air, Viking should have made the air changes to get you back home, if you booked your own air then your insurance would cover any changes to the itinerary.

 

Yes, I have travel insurance but they do not cover the travel expenses because government decisions and restrictions on free movement are not covered. These are exclusions and limitations. 

 

[Homosassa]

Viking's response is the same response you would receive from any cruise line to any passenger who makes their own pre or post cruise arrangements. 

 

Viking clearly outlines this in their Terms and Conditions" that is easily found on their website.

 

There are travel insurance policies that do include trip interruption coverage. As in any policy, coverage will depend on the price paid for the policy (more coverage, more money).

Edited April 20, 2020 by Homosassa
adding information about the Terms and Conditions

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, nast said:

Guest relations onboard told us we could make new travel arrangements and they will refund it later.

 

 

Before taking this to the insurance company, I would contact the folks at tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them what they can do for you.

 

 

[nast]

3 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Viking's response is the same response you would receive from any cruise line to any passenger who makes their own pre or post cruise arrangements. 

 

Viking clearly outlines this in their Terms and Conditions" that is easily found on their website.

 

There are travel insurance policies that do include trip interruption coverage. As in any policy, coverage will depend on the price paid for the policy (more coverage, more money).

 

I understand their Terms and Conditions. 

The thing is, guest relations onboard ensured us (3 times, also guest relations manager) that every expense made to get back home would be refunded.

 

 

[Cienfuegos]

7 hours ago, nast said:

 

Yes, I have travel insurance but they do not cover the travel expenses because government decisions and restrictions on free movement are not covered. These are exclusions and limitations. 

 

 

which insurance company, if I may ask?  It sounds like a company to be avoided.

 

In the US many "business interruption insurance" policies now exclude damages incurred as a result of virus. Insurance companies added that after they had to pay out for SARS. 

 

However,, many policies will pay out if you are forced to suspend operations due to government edict or national emergency. Many lawsuits have already been filed, citing the shut down edicts as the reason they had to lock up when there was no evident disease in their area.

[Redtravel]

Sadly, they put you in a bad situation. You can probably get reimbursed if you have travel insurance or used a credit card for the purchase of the cruise.  
viking should take responsibility for your added expense and should refund you for the cruise.

 

[Clay Clayton]

I would suggest you keep trying. It took me five or six emails and several phone calls to finally get Viking to refund the unused prepaid gratuities from our half-transatlantic aboard Sky which like your cruise was canceled after embarkation. 
 

FWIW, on that cruise Viking arranged everyone’s transportation back to their home airport irregardless of whether Air arrangements were made by Viking or independently. 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Clay Clayton

[Frenchberet]

On 4/20/2020 at 1:34 PM, nast said:

 

I understand their Terms and Conditions. 

The thing is, guest relations onboard ensured us (3 times, also guest relations manager) that every expense made to get back home would be refunded.

 

 

What additional expenses did you incur?  
 

In March our Australia/New Zealand cruise was cut short due to the virus situation.  Viking generously offered to make (economy) airline reservations for all passengers, regardless of whether or not they purchased through them.  We hadn’t purchased from Viking and decided to try to make our own reservations.  We incurred a $98 per person fee to fly out of a different airport and to keep Comfort+.  We cancelled all the post cruise reservations we had for hotels and excursions without any problem.  The deposits we paid were all promptly refunded to my credit card.
 

About 2 weeks later we received an email from Viking and they compensated us for the missed portion of the cruise.  I didn’t expect them to pay the $98 we incurred for the flights.  We had trip insurance but I really didn’t think to try to claim it.  Under the circumstances, we were glad to be back home.
 

I think you got the “right” answer from Viking.

[nast]

1 hour ago, Frenchberet said:

What additional expenses did you incur?  
 

In March our Australia/New Zealand cruise was cut short due to the virus situation.  Viking generously offered to make (economy) airline reservations for all passengers, regardless of whether or not they purchased through them.  We hadn’t purchased from Viking and decided to try to make our own reservations.  We incurred a $98 per person fee to fly out of a different airport and to keep Comfort+.  We cancelled all the post cruise reservations we had for hotels and excursions without any problem.  The deposits we paid were all promptly refunded to my credit card.
 

About 2 weeks later we received an email from Viking and they compensated us for the missed portion of the cruise.  I didn’t expect them to pay the $98 we incurred for the flights.  We had trip insurance but I really didn’t think to try to claim it.  Under the circumstances, we were glad to be back home.
 

I think you got the “right” answer from Viking.

 

We had to make a new reservation for a Eurostar train back home, cost of 448 euro. Price is very high because this reservation was made 2 days before travel.