Voucher Deadline

[rbslos18]

Is the two years for using the voucher to schedule a cruise or to travel on a cruise within two years. Can I hypothetically book a cruise with a voucher today for December 2022?

Thanks

RB

Edited May 14, 2020 by rbslos18
typo

[Peregrina651]

Book within two years. 

 

However, don't rush to actually apply your vouchers at booking; wait until your pay in full date -- which you should negotiate with Viking before you make you initial deposit and you should ask 12 months prior to departure (so, December, 2021) unless you already have a future cruise booked in which case, pay in full 6 month prior to departure.

[CCWineLover]

On 5/14/2020 at 4:39 PM, Peregrina651 said:

Book within two years. 

 

However, don't rush to actually apply your vouchers at booking; wait until your pay in full date -- which you should negotiate with Viking before you make you initial deposit and you should ask 12 months prior to departure (so, December, 2021) unless you already have a future cruise booked in which case, pay in full 6 month prior to departure.

Hi Peregrina -

I must be confused.  I thought you had to apply a voucher to a brand new booking, not one that was booked (without a voucher) but still had a deposit down and payment not due for quite awhile.   How would you book a regular future cruise then - and apply the voucher many months later?  Wouldn't Viking say you were apply it to an existing booking, not a new booking.  Our TA told us we had to apply the voucher at time of booking (happened to be 15 months away), even though any additional fees weren't due until 6 months from departure.

Again - it is likely the case of different rules apply to different people and different scenarios.  No consistency or guidelines.

[Peregrina651]

50 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Hi Peregrina -

I must be confused.  I thought you had to apply a voucher to a brand new booking, not one that was booked (without a voucher) but still had a deposit down and payment not due for quite awhile.   How would you book a regular future cruise then - and apply the voucher many months later?  Wouldn't Viking say you were apply it to an existing booking, not a new booking.  Our TA told us we had to apply the voucher at time of booking (happened to be 15 months away), even though any additional fees weren't due until 6 months from departure.

Again - it is likely the case of different rules apply to different people and different scenarios.  No consistency or guidelines.

 

Good question and I would talk with your Viking rep or TA to find out how to hold off applying the voucher immediately or at least get some reassurance that if you have to change plans you don't end up losing the voucher in some catch-22. That is my big worry in all of this.

[CharTrav]

On 5/16/2020 at 2:36 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

Good question and I would talk with your Viking rep or TA to find out how to hold off applying the voucher immediately or at least get some reassurance that if you have to change plans you don't end up losing the voucher in some catch-22. That is my big worry in all of this.

Hmm.m.. good point .. we recently used our voucher to re-book the cruise we WOULD have been on right now.   It was more than enough to cover the cruise itself, extensions on each end, a better cabin,  and premium economy air.  There is no full balance due at all.  Did have to pay for TripMate insurance but because the "cost" was zero, the TripMate premium was the minimum (TripMate premium is determined based on a range of $ spent by each passenger (0-$2500 is $319).  Also, the voucher can be used to cover EVERYTHING up until the ship sails .. which means things like optional excursions and pre-paid gratuities. We actually have $ left on our voucher that we'll be using in 2022, in essence we have a voucher account.   

 

And yes -- having opened a voucher account .. what happens if we change our plans? Do we kiss the voucher account goodbye? I don't know.  

[CharTrav]

On 5/14/2020 at 6:41 PM, rbslos18 said:

Is the two years for using the voucher to schedule a cruise or to travel on a cruise within two years. Can I hypothetically book a cruise with a voucher today for December 2022?

Thanks

RB

You can travel whenever you want -- in 2024! So long as you use the voucher before the expiration date on the voucher itself - 2 yrs from the issue date.

[moatenote]

We were told 3 days ago that if we cancelled our September 2020 cruise, we could apply the voucher to our cruise to Alaska that is already booked for June 202.  The Alaska cruise is cheaper than the Med. one, and we would get a refund for the difference.

[Baron Barracuda]

Sorry if this is a bit off point but since Char Trav mentioned Trip Mate, does anyone know what happens if you had purchased Trip Mate insurance on the cancelled cruise?  Is the premium you paid included in the FCC,  can it be rolled over to the new sailing, can you get a cash refund, or are you out the money? 

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, moatenote said:

We were told 3 days ago that if we cancelled our September 2020 cruise, we could apply the voucher to our cruise to Alaska that is already booked for June 202.  The Alaska cruise is cheaper than the Med. one, and we would get a refund for the difference.

It just amazes me how Viking is totally contradictory in the way they handle things.

We tried to do the same thing and apply a voucher to a cruise we had already booked in the future - and were told several times that the voucher could ONLY be used on a brand new booking, so we weren't allowed to do that.  They even pointed to the language in the Viking statements about the use of vouchers that does indeed say "NEW BOOKINGS".  

They also said there is no refund of the differences if you don't spend the whole voucher.

 

So difficult to figure out what is true and what is not.  If you are successful in actually doing this, let us know.  Viking seems to say totally different things depending on who you talk to.

[cruiser0620]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

Sorry if this is a bit off point but since Char Trav mentioned Trip Mate, does anyone know what happens if you had purchased Trip Mate insurance on the cancelled cruise?  Is the premium you paid included in the FCC,  can it be rolled over to the new sailing, can you get a cash refund, or are you out the money? 

We are going through this process right now and the Viking representative we are working with has said we will get the price of the insurance back in the voucher that we can use for a future cruise.

[moatenote]

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

It just amazes me how Viking is totally contradictory in the way they handle things.

We tried to do the same thing and apply a voucher to a cruise we had already booked in the future - and were told several times that the voucher could ONLY be used on a brand new booking, so we weren't allowed to do that.  They even pointed to the language in the Viking statements about the use of vouchers that does indeed say "NEW BOOKINGS".  

They also said there is no refund of the differences if you don't spend the whole voucher.

 

So difficult to figure out what is true and what is not.  If you are successful in actually doing this, let us know.  Viking seems to say totally different things depending on who you talk to.

Uh oh, I must apologize for posting some mis-information.  I've been corrected, and I want to say what the situation really is.  We actually hope that Viking cancels the September 2020 Med. Odyssey cruise that we're booked on, so that we may get the 25% bonus voucher they've been offering.  So, we're delaying actually canceling the cruise and are waiting for a while.  As you may know, Viking posts a Cancel Date schedule for each cruise and the longer you wait to cancel, the higher the penalty it costs you--in that you forfeit a given amount from the refund.  The good part is that for now, Viking will let you use that penalty amount as a voucher toward a currently booked cruise or a brand new booking (and refund the remaining amount).  So, we've looked at the price of the Alaska cruise we have already booked for June 2021, and will wait until the date arrives that our penalty does not exceed that amount.  That date is about 1 month before the Med Odyssey is scheduled to embark.

    So sorry I didn't explain this correctly to begin with.  It's a bit difficult to explain, but I hope this makes more sense

[CharTrav]

3 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Sorry if this is a bit off point but since Char Trav mentioned Trip Mate, does anyone know what happens if you had purchased Trip Mate insurance on the cancelled cruise?  Is the premium you paid included in the FCC,  can it be rolled over to the new sailing, can you get a cash refund, or are you out the money? 

Yes. Everything you paid Viking including TripMate premiums was included in our voucher. 

[CharTrav]

Again - let me remind folks of the policy Viking set up whereby the cancellation policies you've always known are not in effect. Anybody who booked a trip before April 30th this year can cancel that trip as late as 24 hrs before your flight leaves and get a complete refund or voucher. The new  policy described here doesn't cover cancellation but does cover rescheduling. https://www.vikingcruises.com/risk-free-guarantee.html. 

[CharTrav]

5 hours ago, moatenote said:

We were told 3 days ago that if we cancelled our September 2020 cruise, we could apply the voucher to our cruise to Alaska that is already booked for June 202.  The Alaska cruise is cheaper than the Med. one, and we would get a refund for the difference.

Good news indeed! 

[deec]

That would GREAT...we were told that we would LOOSE the remaining voucher value.

[duquephart]

12 hours ago, CharTrav said:

Good news indeed! 

 

"We were told" and a couple of bucks will get you a coffee.

[CharTrav]

14 hours ago, CharTrav said:

Yes. Everything you paid Viking including TripMate premiums was included in our voucher. 

Sorry that my response was a bit mangled. Mixed you and our. Was thinking about our experience, which I'm assuming will be the same for you. Everything we paid including  TripMate was included in the 125% voucher we got. Like you I had assumed TripMate wouldn't be included and was pleasantly surprised that it was. 

[Baron Barracuda]

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

Sorry that my response was a bit mangled. Mixed you and our. Was thinking about our experience, which I'm assuming will be the same for you. Everything we paid including  TripMate was included in the 125% voucher we got. Like you I had assumed TripMate wouldn't be included and was pleasantly surprised that it was. 

Great!!!  That's $900 I wasn't sure I would see again.   

 

Maybe someone knows the answer to this one (always like knowing answer before contacting cruise line):  Are vouchers issued by booking number or by passenger?  Had dw and dd booked together in one cabin.  Would prefer next cruise be dw + self.  Have been told vouchers are non-transferable so can't substitute myself for dd.

[CharTrav]

43 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Great!!!  That's $900 I wasn't sure I would see again.   

 

Maybe someone knows the answer to this one (always like knowing answer before contacting cruise line):  Are vouchers issued by booking number or by passenger?  Had dw and dd booked together in one cabin.  Would prefer next cruise be dw + self.  Have been told vouchers are non-transferable so can't substitute myself for dd.

Vouchers issued per passenger. We got two - one for me; one for hubby. 

On the issue of transferablility it depends.

 

If you decided to postpone, ie take a voucher, a cruise booked before April 30 (am reading the emails we got March 2nd about two still active bookings) - the one which lets us decide as late as 24 hrs before departure not to go - there is no mention of the 100% voucher being transferable . 

 

If you chose to take a voucher for a cruise cancelled by Viking because of the suspension of operations until Jun 30, that 125% voucher is fully transferable. 

 

And...if you booked or book a cruise with them before May 31 under their current NoRisk policy that policy reads the same as the email we got on March 2nd except that the 100% voucher is  fully transferable. https://www.vikingcruises.com/risk-free-guarantee.html

 

Hope this helps. 

 

And no - I'm not a travel agent. Just a retired systems engineer who is a nut for details. 😃

Edited May 21, 2020 by CharTrav

[Clay Clayton]

So let me ask a systems engineer who is a bit for details (or anyone else for that matter) if my reading of our voucher T&Cs is correct. 
 

We received a voucher for 50% of the value of our Covid shortened Transatlantic. We are currently getting quotes for a cruise in March 2021 and want to use this voucher towards final payment in March. Based on my reading of the voucher,
(picture below)  and the current cancelation policy , https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/risk-free-guarantee.html if the cruise is canceled, we would receive our money back that we have paid for the cruise (final payment is in August) but would loose the $899.50 pp value of this voucher.  Our travel agent says my understanding is correct if we cancel, but that if Viking cancels, then we would retain the value of the initial voucher. 

While that makes sense, I don’t read it that way so have asked for our agent to get that in writing from Viking.  Has anyone else gotten clarification on this situation?

[Heidi13]

Clay,

 

I suspect many interpretations are possible, but knowing Viking's willingness to do the right thing, my best guess is.

 

For our next river/ocean combo, we are using one of the FCC from the WC. Should Viking cancel the cruise, I expect we would receive a new FCC for the cancelled river/ocean combo. Technically it isn't a re-issue of the WC FCC, it would be a new FCC for a cancelled river/ocean combo.

 

However, if we cancelled without the Viking insurance, we get nothing back.

 

Didn't discuss it on board with the Cruise Consultant, as our first FCC was a month before they ceased operations and I expected a few changes before this is resolved.

[Clay Clayton]

I would usually agree with your first statement but after the number of emails and phone calls it took to receive our refunds for refundable obc and Cruise fare for our half Transatlantic I worry that Viking may not do the right thing. 

[CharTrav]

It is I agree a bit of a confusing thing. What happens if you use a voucher along with cash to book a cruise that either you decide to reschedule (the risk free policy is premised on rescheduling not canceling entirely) or that Viking decides to cancel (such as the extension of the suspension of operations through August announced 2 days ago)? Will the future cruise voucher received in either case cover the value of both the voucher used and the cash paid? Like @Heidi13, I would have confidence that if Viking cancels - yes it would. Not so confident of the other - would they hold to basing the fcc on just the money/cash paid to Viking, which by the way includes the TripMate insurance, ignoring the value of the voucher?

 

When I consider the 125% FCC we got for our cancelled cruise this month, it did not factor in or in essence refund to us the cost of two vouchers we'd used (ones I'd purchased onboard a previous cruise - one of those pay $500 for a voucher worth $1000). However, as I learned when I was rebooking our May 2020 cruise for 2022, those vouchers I'd purchased and applied had been tossed back into my voucher account. At least, if memory serves, that's what I think I was told. Will have to double check this with my Viking TA so don't hold me to that claim.....just in case I'm wrong. 

Edited May 29, 2020 by CharTrav

[CharTrav]

@Clay Clayton Referred to the email I had with my Viking TA earlier this month. And yes - the vouchers I'd purchased on a previous Viking River cruise and applied to the VO cruise this month canceled by Viking are indeed back in my voucher account. What would have happened to those vouchers if we had initiated the rescheduling/ canceling of our cruise this month I frankly don't know. And what will happen to our huge voucher we applied to the rebooking in 2022 if we decide (doubtful) that travel is still not safe in 2022? Will the future cruise voucher in that case only cover what we paid for TripMate since everything else will come from the voucher? I would hope not. And somehow I don't think so. 

Edited May 29, 2020 by CharTrav