BEWARE - Viking 125% FCV for Viking Canceled Cruise

[Squawkman]

Lew - Also, you might want to consider the Cape May - Lewes Ferry. You take your car from the tip of the NJ shore to the Delaware and can continue to the Chesapeake bridge - tunnel  if you're staying east. Nice boat ride plus saves a lot of driving.

[-Lew-]

13 hours ago, Squawkman said:

If you're continuing south, you have a lot of choices. Let me know what you're looking for - quiet seclusion, boardwalks, Atlantic City, quaint B&Bs, etc. Asbury Park has undergone a transformation from run down to upscale with tons of restaurants and night spots that cater mostly to millennials. The Jersey shore is approximately 130 miles - not as much as California, but quite a lot - and, like CA, very varied.

 

13 hours ago, Squawkman said:

Lew - Also, you might want to consider the Cape May - Lewes Ferry. You take your car from the tip of the NJ shore to the Delaware and can continue to the Chesapeake bridge - tunnel  if you're staying east. Nice boat ride plus saves a lot of driving.

 

Awhile back we did a road trip to Virginia Beach with stops at Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City, MD along the way.  We enjoyed walking the board walks and the beaches and would like to do something like that again.  As far as hotels go, they've run the gamut from some pretty basic on Coastal Maine to some very nice properties in Florida and Hawaii.  Luxury isn't a requirement at the beach: however, something above what we experienced in Maine would be nice.  Lunch at the beach or along the boardwalk would be fine with an option for something nicer for dinner.

 

We didn't do the ferry last trip, so thank you for the suggestion.  We did drive the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and would likely go that route again.  

 

In addition to the above, we want to work in driving the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It's been on our bucket list for a long time.

 

[Squawkman]

Lew -

I’m going to suggest Ocean City (NJ) as it has what you’re looking for. OC is a dry town - no bars or liquor stores permitted - so the atmosphere is quiet. You can bring your own alcohol for consumption in your room, and there are large liquor stores on the land side of the 9th Street and 34th Street causeways. There are several motels and one grand old style hotel (Flanders) on or near the boardwalk. For dinner in “nicer places”, I suggest driving a few minutes south. There’s the Deauville Inn in Strathmere just over the causeway from the south end of OC as well as other nice seafood restaurants a little further down in Sea Isle City (all of these have full service bars). You can rent bicycles, tenders and surreys which are permitted on the boardwalk before noon. The Music Pier probably will be closed after Labor Day, but it is a nice place to sit for a while in the shade. I believe the boardwalk shops and food are at minimum open weekends. Check out ocnj.us (official website).

[retiredman]

Squawkman, I guess fine dining rules out Twisties lol.  Might I suggest The Reeds in Stone Harbor? Beautiful setting and fine dining.

[Squawkman]

2 minutes ago, retiredman said:

Squawkman, I guess fine dining rules out Twisties lol.  Might I suggest The Reeds in Stone Harbor? Beautiful setting and fine dining.

My NJ shore favorites are the Shrimp Box (Point Pleasant) and the Lobster House (Cape May). Never heard of Twisties. But my all time favorite is still the Lobster Box in City Island (Bronx, NY). Been going there almost 50 years.

[-Lew-]

1 hour ago, Squawkman said:

Lew -

I’m going to suggest Ocean City (NJ) as it has what you’re looking for. OC is a dry town - no bars or liquor stores permitted - so the atmosphere is quiet. You can bring your own alcohol for consumption in your room, and there are large liquor stores on the land side of the 9th Street and 34th Street causeways. There are several motels and one grand old style hotel (Flanders) on or near the boardwalk. For dinner in “nicer places”, I suggest driving a few minutes south. There’s the Deauville Inn in Strathmere just over the causeway from the south end of OC as well as other nice seafood restaurants a little further down in Sea Isle City (all of these have full service bars). You can rent bicycles, tenders and surreys which are permitted on the boardwalk before noon. The Music Pier probably will be closed after Labor Day, but it is a nice place to sit for a while in the shade. I believe the boardwalk shops and food are at minimum open weekends. Check out ocnj.us (official website).

 

24 minutes ago, retiredman said:

Squawkman, I guess fine dining rules out Twisties lol.  Might I suggest The Reeds in Stone Harbor? Beautiful setting and fine dining.

 

13 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

My NJ shore favorites are the Shrimp Box (Point Pleasant) and the Lobster House (Cape May). Never heard of Twisties. But my all time favorite is still the Lobster Box in City Island (Bronx, NY). Been going there almost 50 years.

 

Thank you both for your suggestions.  I will certainly look into everything you mentioned.

 

Your mention of seafood restaurants has my mouth watering...

[retiredman]

15 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

My NJ shore favorites are the Shrimp Box (Point Pleasant) and the Lobster House (Cape May). Never heard of Twisties. But my all time favorite is still the Lobster Box in City Island (Bronx, NY). Been going there almost 50 years.

If you have been to the Deauville, Twisties is a stone's throw south on the bay. An old Jersey shore speakeasy, rum running joint from prohibition times. A fun place with fun people, not as well known among the "shoobies".

 

 

 

 

 

[Squawkman]

Retiredman - where in South Jersey do you hail from? I lived in the Trenton area from 1975 - 2010. In 2010, I remarried and moved to my wife’s house in East Brunswick. Both of us were widowed, and tomorrow (6/26) will be our 10th anniversary.

[retiredman]

Cinnaminson, along the Delaware, across from northeast Philly. Happy Anniversary!! We enjoy that "Trenton style" DeLorenzos pizza now in Robbinsville whenever possible!

[CCWineLover]

Sounds like the New Jersey thread!

[-Lew-]

18 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Sounds like the New Jersey thread!

 

Hi Kent...

 

I'll take the blame.  I mentioned the Jersey Shore as a road trip stop if we don't cruise this fall.  With everything on hold, there's really not much cruise-related to discuss.

 

As is everyone here, I'm looking forward to getting back on topic...

[kcpvwill]

I agree this thread has drifted.  
We are successfully using the 125% voucher.  

[pduncan]

Am I expecting too much?  Just received email from Viking cancelling a Rhine Christmas Market tour a friend and I had booked for November 2020. 125% FCC offer applied to total amount we paid. I have sailed Viking river many times and Viking Ocean once. My friend had never been on any Viking Cruise. One incentive for my choosing this cruise was an advertised double Guest Discount offer of $400 applied to my portion of the cruise fare. I noticed in the computation of the FCC value that I am not getting ANY credit for this lost promotion amount so my friend, with no previous sailings with Viking,  is receiving more FCC than I am.  I called Viking Customer support and spoke with two representatives who didn’t seem to understand the point I was trying to make. One of them even suggested that I just get my money back if I was not happy with the FCC policy as applied. Since my friend and I have already booked another cruise for 2021 for which we still owe the final payment, which the customer support person was aware of, this felt like a very dismissive response. 
I am appreciative of Viking’s 125% FCC policy but am aware they offer this bonus to incentivize customers to allow Viking to keep the money customers have previously paid instead of having to refund it, so they in fact derive value from the “bonus.”   In point of fact, every time a cancellation is made by Viking and Viking takes the position that cash refunds or FCC is calculated solely on what the customer actually paid, the customer loses the value of all promotional incentives which were a part of what he/she based their original purchase decision on (onboard credit, special guest discount offers, etc) so we are never made whole with respect to the cancelled cruise. 

[Squawkman]

Pduncan - promotional discounts when you book stay with that booking. You may get new discounts when you rebook. Your premise is interesting, but these are never transferable to other bookings. I also had $400 promo, but will only get a $200 promo on my replacement booking. Still way ahead.

[Peregrina651]

Yes, you are expecting too much.

 

The vouchers are based on what you actually paid out of pocket for the cruise and nothing else. Your friends put out more cash than you did so they got more back than you did.

 

If you had cancelled the cruise before the penalty phase kicked in, you still would have gotten back only what you paid in.

 

If you had gotten 25% off on that cashmere sweater you just bought and you returned the sweater to the retailer, you don't get back the full price of the sweater, you get back the amount that went on your credit card and nothing more. It is the same with the discounts that Viking offers.

 

In any transaction, you are only entitled to get back what you paid out of pocket.

 

 

[Heidi13]

13 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Yes, you are expecting too much.

 

The vouchers are based on what you actually paid out of pocket for the cruise and nothing else. Your friends put out more cash than you did so they got more back than you did.

 

If you had cancelled the cruise before the penalty phase kicked in, you still would have gotten back only what you paid in.

 

If you had gotten 25% off on that cashmere sweater you just bought and you returned the sweater to the retailer, you don't get back the full price of the sweater, you get back the amount that went on your credit card and nothing more. It is the same with the discounts that Viking offers.

 

In any transaction, you are only entitled to get back what you paid out of pocket.

 

 

I agree with Peregrina, expecting 125% in FCV for money you didn't actually spend, I suggest is a little unreasonable.

 

The other consideration regarding promotions - the small print, or terms & conditions, as no doubt they stated they have no cash value.

 

If you aren't happy with the current promotions, Viking provide the option of requesting a refund for all monies that you spent. Should you accept the 125% FCV, haven't you already received a greater return on your investment than the $400 discount.

[pduncan]

Peregrina651 and Heidi13

  I understand your point that in fact I am more than made whole by the 125% FCC, even without adding in the promised $400 guest bonus.  This is my third cancelled trip this year, and the total special promotions (OBC etc) I've lost the value of exceeds $1000.  Just my frustration  talking!

[Heidi13]

37 minutes ago, pduncan said:

Peregrina651 and Heidi13

  I understand your point that in fact I am more than made whole by the 125% FCC, even without adding in the promised $400 guest bonus.  This is my third cancelled trip this year, and the total special promotions (OBC etc) I've lost the value of exceeds $1000.  Just my frustration  talking!

 

Frustration is understandable in these challenging times, but I prefer to focus on the positives.😀

 

If we had 3 cancelled cruises, our focus would be how to enjoy all those 25% bonuses - silver spirits packages, included DSC, optional excursions, pre/post excursions, upgraded flights etc. We have significant FCV's from the recent World Cruise and don't see any point in complaining/worrying about the missed ports and early termination, as we are too busy enjoying planning our next cruises. One already booked and another in the planning stage.

 

Think positive and time to start planning on how to spend Viking's bonus money.🥂

[Cienfuegos]

Just want to mention the Cape May NJ to Lewes DE ferry has been on a Covid schedule for a while. 

 

The rules changed last week, and now allow passengers to leave their vehicles, if they wear masks. There are rules applied to northbound (to NJ) travelers.

 

https://www.cmlf.com/latest-covid-19-and-cape-may-lewes-ferry-travel

[hersheyhughes]

I rebooked our cancelled Southern Crossing to Mar of 2021. We got $400 in past guest discounts (promotional discount at the time). Now I am working to rebook for the fall of 2021and now I am only eligible for $100 past guest credit since now it has been more than a year since we have traveled with Viking (June of 2019).

I understand The promo discount going away, however, giving us credit for only $100, after 4 cruises with them. Their loyalty program is not much of an incentive for loyalty. 

We did receive the 125% FCC so this may be the reason they are holding the line.

I  even tried for any OBC for higher catagory booking, with no luck. Is any one else running into this situation?

 

 

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, hersheyhughes said:

I rebooked our cancelled Southern Crossing to Mar of 2021. We got $400 in past guest discounts (promotional discount at the time). Now I am working to rebook for the fall of 2021and now I am only eligible for $100 past guest credit since now it has been more than a year since we have traveled with Viking (June of 2019).

I understand The promo discount going away, however, giving us credit for only $100, after 4 cruises with them. Their loyalty program is not much of an incentive for loyalty. 

We did receive the 125% FCC so this may be the reason they are holding the line.

I  even tried for any OBC for higher catagory booking, with no luck. Is any one else running into this situation?

 

 

Hmmm....  I didn't know there was EVER anything more than a $100 past guest discount.  Are people getting more than that?  We have 4 Viking cruises done and still the next one is just a $100 pp past guest discount.  And we lost our promos - but are totally OK with that (I very much agree with Peregrina's reasoning and like the Sweater analogy).

Yes - Viking Loyalty program may not be what the other cruise lines are, but Viking is also very different in all ways from the other cruise lines - and that's what we like!!

 

We even had our 125% voucher BARELY cover rebooking the exact same cruise 1 year later (2021) since the prices had gone up.  For us there was no cabin upgrade, business airfare, SSP, and other things everyone talks about getting.  BUT - we got the cruise we wanted and that's all that really matters.  Now let's just home we get to travel!  (Midnight Sun, Venus, July 12, 2021).

[hersheyhughes]

I agree. Once you get onboard, the Viking experience is amazing.

If you book your cruise within 1 year of cruising with Viking it is $200. I rebooked in April and they had a promo doubling the past cruise credit. Since I was only 1 month past the one year I was hoping they would extend.

We are booking a more expensive one than we cancelled, so trying to get the best deal. 

This one has free airfare. Trying to figure should I book or wait for a different promo. 

Of couse, I could run the risk of trips filling up due to all cruises being cancelled this year.

Budapest to Prague, Homelands and Alaska, all amazing! 

We were 3 days away from getting on Viking Jupiter in Buenos Aires, when it was cancelled.

We cannot wait to sail with Viking again in the very near future.

 

 

[Squawkman]

As Hershey says, book within one year it’s $200pp. Book within 10 days of disembarkation, it’s an extra $200pp OBC. I work exclusively with the same Viking agent - not sure if that deal exists with a TA.

[Peregrina651]

18 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

As Hershey says, book within one year it’s $200pp. Book within 10 days of disembarkation, it’s an extra $200pp OBC. I work exclusively with the same Viking agent - not sure if that deal exists with a TA.

 

Yes. Same deal exists regardless if you book with directly with Viking or with a TA. Also, double discount if you book on board -- and if you book on board, the booking is automatically put in the name of your outside TA of record.

 

Hershey, time to please your case in a court of higher appeal!  Contact the folks at tellus@vikingcruises.com and tell them your story.  You have nothing to lose by asking.

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, hersheyhughes said:

If you book your cruise within 1 year of cruising with Viking it is $200. I rebooked in April and they had a promo doubling the past cruise credit. Since I was only 1 month past the one year I was hoping they would extend.

 

Sadly, our Travel Agency didn't do that for us.  Didn't even tell us.  I need to again talk with them.

We were on our 4th VOC last January.  We had booked the 2021 Midnight Sun in April and we got $100 pp past guest discount.  So I guess it doesn't automatically apply.  The TA must have to ask for it.  Good to know though - this forum helps keep the TA's honest I suppose.   Will be going back and asking for the additional $100 pp .   

It does amaze me how there is such an amazing variety of competence among TA's who work with Viking.  From reading Cruise Critic, you would think that completely different rules apply depending on how pro-active and willing your TA is to go to bat for you and not be an order processor.  Buyer beware, as they say.  This forum has helped us understand the subtle nuances of how to get the deals that are out there and the discounts that are "hidden". 

Edited August 16, 2020 by CCWineLover