Question for frequent Viking Ocean cruisers

[vegasjandk]

Hello,

 

We have done one Viking River cruise and have a reservation for the North Pacific Passage with Viking Ocean in August 2021.  We booked that cruise with a special promo from Viking that gave us a reduced deposit and final payment date 6 months before departure.  We are now thinking of changing this to the same cruise in 2022 (other direction), but the base cost would increase and final payment would be 1 year in advance.  We are on the fence about making the change now and wonder if we should hold out for a better "deal." 

 

So the question is:  how often does Viking run promotions like the one we used for our original booking?  And do prices generally increase closer to departure?  Just wondering what your experience has been with Viking offers.  Any info would be appreciated!

[DrKoob]

Just a quick thought from a travel professional who deals with Viking a bunch. They are pretty much the only cruise line that consistently sells our their ships...really early. So they may run promotions but when they do, there may be very few staterooms left. Prices do go up as it gets close unless the ship is not selling well (which isn't often considering the loyalty of Viking cruisers). As far as how often they have promotions, that just depends. It seems like they are always having something. 

 

If you have a good TA, they will reprice you on a regular basis right up until you make final payment to pick up any great deals that show up. 

[CCWineLover]

37 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

If you have a good TA, they will reprice you on a regular basis right up until you make final payment to pick up any great deals that show up. 

Interesting . . .

That certainly has not been our experience.  Our Travel Agent is apparently one of the top 5 for Viking business, but we never had this happen.   In fact, it was I who had to be the one to contact them when I saw a price go down.  They would then be happy to cancel the original reservation, make the new reservation and the lower price, and tell me nicely that I owed $200 for the trouble (penalty fees).   

Certainly no proaction at all.   In fact, once we've booked a cruise, we only hear from them telling us final payment is due. 

I think repricing is a very touchy and hot topic.  Perhaps agents don't want to lose the higher commission and so don't advise their customers of the potential savings.

[DrKoob]

3 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Interesting . . .

That certainly has not been our experience.  Our Travel Agent is apparently one of the top 5 for Viking business, but we never had this happen.   In fact, it was I who had to be the one to contact them when I saw a price go down.  They would then be happy to cancel the original reservation, make the new reservation and the lower price, and tell me nicely that I owed $200 for the trouble (penalty fees).   

Certainly no proaction at all.   In fact, once we've booked a cruise, we only hear from them telling us final payment is due. 

I think repricing is a very touchy and hot topic.  Perhaps agents don't want to lose the higher commission and so don't advise their customers of the potential savings.

 

You have the WRONG travel agent. Mine sends me and all his customers a monthly sheet with all the details of their upcoming cruise with original pricing and upcoming pricing. 

 

Find yourself a LOCAL travel agent (not an online one) that you like. Your TA should be someone you know and looks out for you first. 

[Peregrina651]

Just how does the TA you are talking about get around the fact that Viking considers such a change a cancellation and a rebooking and thus charges a $100pp cancellation fee, as stated in the Booking Terms and Conditions?

[lackcreativity]

Just another thing to consider is that the entire cruise industry has been upended by Covid 19, and what Viking has done in the past may not be the case in the future. It may be a good while before they are selling out cruises again, so who knows if prices will be going up or down.

I do believe that the loyalty of Viking cruisers will remain a factor. We have two cruises booked for next year, and will return on board as soon as reasonably possible.

Edited June 28, 2020 by lackcreativity

[vegasjandk]

Thanks, all, for the helpful input.  Waiting to hear back from our TA with some additional info.