Upgrade offers for cash

[oskidunker]

If you are on a guarantee, does Viking ever offer upgrades for cash?

[millybess]

10 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

If you are on a guarantee, does Viking ever offer upgrades for cash?

I’m interested in this question also, but from a slightly different perspective.

 

On our cruise next month they swapped our cabin because of a “maintenance issue”. We said we would pay for an upgrade, but not the full price. They naysayed it because they didn’t want to set a precedent. I see the cabin is still available 😊

[oskidunker]

At some point they come to the realization that some cabins wont be sold so they can upgrade guarantees there or offer a reduced price . I did hear about an $800 offer from v2 to penthouse some years ago, although I don't expect that would happen today as ships  are booked  pretty full.

 

we are on March 20 , 2023;Northern lights. Still many cabins available. March 8 sold out. So maybe in two weeks something happens   I expect we will get v2 or maybe a DV. 

[mhb1757]

GTYs often get “upgrades” but most often within the same category (I.e., you have a DV6 GTY and you get a DV3 or a DV4). I have read here of a few people with a V2 GTY that got a DV. But since they are all the same cabins just different locations on the ship I don’t think it makes much difference. I think it would be really rare for a V GTY to wind up in a PV cabin. There just aren’t that many PV cabins and I think they generally book up quickly. I have not read here of anyone in a GTY getting an upgrade for cash offer, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. 

[millybess]

23 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

At some point they come to the realization that some cabins wont be sold so they can upgrade guarantees there or offer a reduced price . I did hear about an $800 offer from v2 to penthouse some years ago, although I don't expect that would happen today as ships  are booked  pretty full.

 

we are on March 20 , 2023;Northern lights. Still many cabins available. March 8 sold out. So maybe in two weeks something happens   I expect we will get v2 or maybe a DV. 

There are a lot of cabins available on our March 15 cruise too. That’s why we were surprised they didn’t take our offer. 

[phil1107]

I assume that Viking like to fill every cabin and I assume that the greater the number of available cabins, the more effort they will make to fill them.

 

we are cruising in April and there are still more than 30 cabins unbooked. I have been tracking it and it is virtually unchanged since a month ago.

 

I would like to get an upgrade but do not want to pay the standard cost.

[Squawkman]

FWIW, In 2018, we were offered an upgrade from a DV4 to PV1 for $199pp 10 days before embarkation. We grabbed it. It was an 8 day Med cruise. Never offered a discounted upgrade again.

[oskidunker]

Have no idea what fwiw means, sigh.

[millybess]

3 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Have no idea what fwiw means, sigh.

For what it’s worth…….😊

[gbldcl]

3 hours ago, phil1107 said:

I assume that Viking like to fill every cabin and I assume that the greater the number of available cabins, the more effort they will make to fill them.

 

we are cruising in April and there are still more than 30 cabins unbooked. I have been tracking it and it is virtually unchanged since a month ago.

 

I would like to get an upgrade but do not want to pay the standard cost.

Please advise how you "track" available cabins with Viking.

Thanks

 

[phil1107]

I went to their website, did a dummy booking and counted, by category, the number of cabins listed.

 

This underestimates the number of cabins available for 2 reasons

1) some categories show as ‘guaranteed’ without listing cabin numbers. So I assume that there is at least one unbooked.

2) the booking system only seems to show a maximum of 5 numbered cabins. So I assume that even if more than 5 are unbooked, only 5 will be shown.

[KathyA]

On Homelands a couple of years ago, about 10 days before sailing, we were offered an upgrade from a PV3 to a Penthouse Junior Suite for $1000. Took it. It was fabulous. The listed difference in price for those two rooms was $2200.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oskidunker]

I wonder if many people book within 30 days of sailing? There must be a reason they assign some cabins at the pier , especially when cruise not sold out.  Maybe more guarantees sold then available cabins so they are going through move over offers

[springtravel]

5 hours ago, oskidunker said:

I wonder if many people book within 30 days of sailing? There must be a reason they assign some cabins at the pier , especially when cruise not sold out.  Maybe more guarantees sold then available cabins so they are going through move over offers

We have friends that were booked in a DV in 2019.  A week before the sail date, they got a call offering $10,000 and a PV if they postponed.  They did and booked for 2020...and you know what happened.  They are finally going in April, since the voucher was expiring.   

[Clay Clayton]

We were offered and accepted a DV4 to PV3 upgrade on our 12 night Far Eastern  Discovery Cruise about 30 days prior to embarkation.  That cost was $199pp. We had booked that cruise during a promo which made all DVs the same price as a V2 so as I recall, we “saved” $2500pp. 
 

For our 14 night transatlantic in March 2020 (which became our half-transatlantic, damn you covid!), after boarding and learning there were about 400 aboard (a week before sailing Viking had offered vouchers for anyone who didn’t want to sail due to this mysterious illness that was starting to be reported) we spoke with Guest Services about the possibility of an upgrade to a Junior Suite and an Explorer Suite thinking this might be the only time we could afford them. The prices they quoted us appeared to be 50% of the difference between what we had paid and the posted price of the upgraded stateroom.  Since we had again booked during a promo where we paid V2 price for a DV4, the cost to upgrade was something p@much more than we could rationalize-as I recall $1299pp for the Jr Suite and $2999pp for the ES. So we opted to stay where we were as even the PV was going to cost $699pp I think.  

[Jim Avery]

On 2/24/2023 at 9:31 AM, oskidunker said:

I wonder if many people book within 30 days of sailing? There must be a reason they assign some cabins at the pier , especially when cruise not sold out.  Maybe more guarantees sold then available cabins so they are going through move over offers

We do.🍹

[deec]

On 2/26/2023 at 12:11 PM, Jim Avery said:

We do.🍹

Jim, do you find "last minute" special pricing somewhere for booking within 30 days...we would love to try and take advantage of that! thanks

[Jim Avery]

16 minutes ago, deec said:

Jim, do you find "last minute" special pricing somewhere for booking within 30 days...we would love to try and take advantage of that! thanks

We have had mixed results.  Some were amazing deals while others were truly sold out and we had to do something else.  Helps to have a good TA that will go to bat for you.  

[oskidunker]

9 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

We have had mixed results.  Some were amazing deals while others were truly sold out and we had to do something else.  Helps to have a good TA that will go to bat for you.  

How are the airfares from US  to Europe?

[Jim Avery]

1 minute ago, oskidunker said:

How are the airfares from US  to Europe?

Don't know, haven't looked.  Why ask me?

[oskidunker]

If you have booked cruises at the last minute you must have experience booking last minute air fares, right? Normally I have found prices within 30 days are higher but have not done it in a while. 

[Clay Clayton]

We find that these are the perfect times to use our airline points

[MightyDin]

A week before in my upcoming cruise on the Viking Polaris, I received a cash upgrade offer from a DN3 to NP for $499/person or to a Jr. Suite (NS) for $1099/person. The list price difference between a DN3 and a NP is $2700/person and a NS is $4700.  

[shadowlover]

we paid well in advance for a transatlantic cruise- maybe two years in advance.  We watched so many promotions (which we did try to get but they said no) pass us by.  Most on our cruise had free air, free silver spirits, on board credit of 500 dollars and upgraded cabins.  we were never offered anything...nada.  We couldn't cancel and rebook because they would have just provided vouchers and we would have lost our flights (which were awesome flights because direct and we deviated).

So I realize that they want to provide perks to get people to book the cruise and in order to fill the ship BUT.. you can't offer those of us who pre booked and paid a year in advance anything??  

Because everyone on board had the silver spirits we saw a lot of drinking going on during the sea days.  I was glad to not have it but I was annoyed by asking drunk women at the pool to stop their loud singing...They thought it rude that I asked.

Anyway.. I have let that go but I will never pay a year in advance again.

[Redtravel]

Last minute deals do exist.  If you wait, you may get one. You may also be out of luck.  If you are flexible with dates, you might get a deal. On popular routes, cabins can sell out.  If you are set on taking a specific cruise, look for a special code.  Get on email list.