Travelers beware of Vikings new travel voucher policy. NEVER purchase travel insurance through Viking!

[biggerbearmom]

I didn’t take the time to read through this entire thread, so I apologize if my comments are a repeat. We typically do our own pre or post extensions, and about half of the time purchase our own air. If you purchase Viking insurance, you are only covered for the dates of the actual Viking cruise, your pre/post and air outside of Viking would not be covered. Just something to consider if you like exploring on your own prior to the start of your vacation. Also, with Viking you are forced to purchase the policy as soon as you book.  We always purchase our travel insurance from Steve through thetripinsurancestore.com. We initially just insure the deposit amount which gives us the pre existing coverage. We then up the insurance once we make full payment for the cruise.

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, biggerbearmom said:

 We always purchase our travel insurance from Steve through thetripinsurancestore.com. We initially just insure the deposit amount which gives us the pre existing coverage. We then up the insurance once we make full payment for the cruise.

We do exactly the same thing with Steve!  He's so good.

For others who don't know about Steve Dassios and thetripinsurancestore, he has a thread on Cruise Critic going again.  Steve's Cruise Critic Handle is:

imtrustworthy

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2648-qa-cruise-insurance-with-steve-dasseos-of-the-tripinsurancestorecom-summer-2023/

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by CCWineLover

[biggerbearmom]

1 minute ago, CCWineLover said:

We do exactly the same thing with Steve!  He's so good.

For others who don't know about him and thetripinsurancestore, he has a thread on Cruise Critic going again.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2648-qa-cruise-insurance-with-steve-dasseos-of-the-tripinsurancestorecom-summer-2023/

 

Steve is the one who told me about just covering the deposit until final payment.

The other thing is that all of the policies he sells are primary coverage. With the Viking insurance you must claim with your own medical insurance before they will even consider or pay on a medical claim. There is really no benefit to using Viking insurance.

[KTRaveller]

On 6/27/2023 at 6:26 PM, ginnyb51 said:

Viking future cruise vouchers have no cash value and trip insurance is worthless if you need to cancel.  We purchased travel insurance through Viking but missed a general “notification” for an April, 2023 only offer to upgrade insurance to cover vouchers issued after Vikings Risk Free Guarantee expired.  We paid $6,000 in cash to Viking in 2020.   We have health problems and may need to cancel.  Just learned travel insurance we purchased through Viking will not reimburse for trip cancellation, cannot be refunded, and Viking will not refund or issue new vouchers under their Cancel for Any Reason Waiver.  This unethical money grab does not live up to the hype that Viking is putting out nor to the excellent customer service and retention activities of the past.  If we must cancel for health reasons we lose everything we paid.   Extremely disappointed in Viking!

We've had the exact same experience -- missed the April 2023 email notification (because we were on another Viking cruise.). Luckily we were able to squeeze in my husband's shoulder surgery between trips, with just enough time in PT before we have to travel just to make the cruise.  We had to cancel 3 weeks of plans for Europe before embarkation in Rome, so the value of the airfare to us dropped a lot.  I should have had an inkling about this when the trip insurance rate was so low  -- it didn't click that this meant it wouldn't cover the voucher value that we'd used to pay for the cruise.  If we could have canceled and rebooked at a better time, we would have -- though after weeks of dealing with the post surgery stuff in the extreme heat and discomfort of this summer, we will really enjoy the heck out of the ship!

[leishirsute]

On 8/15/2023 at 4:11 PM, biggerbearmom said:

Steve is the one who told me about just covering the deposit until final payment.

The other thing is that all of the policies he sells are primary coverage. With the Viking insurance you must claim with your own medical insurance before they will even consider or pay on a medical claim. There is really no benefit to using Viking insurance.

Please note that paying the deposit only does not lock in the Viking travel insurance premium cost.  In the course of a 20 minute booking phone call with Viking, I paid only the covering deposit only to have the Viking Tripmate insurance premium go up by $200/pp during the call because it wasn't paid in full at time of deposit.  Viking said they had no control of Tripmate rates and gave us a $100/pp shipboard credit to lessen the blow.  They refused to give $200 shipboard credit.

[CCWineLover]

So I keep wondering why people still do Tripmate.  There is so much info out there on Cruise Critic and other sites that could easily educate people on the pitfalls.  

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

So I keep wondering why people still do Tripmate.  There is so much info out there on Cruise Critic and other sites that could easily educate people on the pitfalls.  

 

I wonder the same thing.  Tripmate is not available to us in Canada, and Viking sends us to Manulife.  I think however that most people read a small portion of the threads on any section of CC and the information just does not get out there in a wider fashion.  Even though Tripmate is not available to us in Canada, we used to get their "flyer" with every booking we made and I have read it throughly and also know the history and reputation that it has on CC.

Edited February 29 by CDNPolar

[Tom N]

Yes, my 87yr old mother was just pillaged by Viking.  Now, I understand she is 87 and made a bad decision to accept a voucher because she had to cancel due to health reasons, and yes, trip insurance did nothing for her.  However, Viking's Voucher terms and conditions make it so she will never be able to use the Voucher.  No flexibility with a woman who now needs to have an assistant to accompany her.  When she asked to use some of the monies towards this caretaker, there was no desire or flexibility on Viking's part to work with the needs of the elderly.  A woman who ran out of Viking cruise destinations and was making this one her last.  

 

My wife and I, plus my two adult children have traveled Viking.  NEVER AGAIN!  Oceania has been the go to now.  Nice job Viking, you win the battle with my Mom, but lost the war for the business of 6 others (my wife and I, adult children/spouses) with high incomes.   

[leishirsute]

I ended purchasing annual policies that cover multiple trips for the year.  Comes out cheaper, but does not include cancel for any reason, just medical during travel, emergencies at home with family or trip changes by the travel providers.

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, Tom N said:

Yes, my 87yr old mother was just pillaged by Viking.    

Interesting and maybe intentional choice of words - "Pillaged" sounds like what the old Vikings did back in 900 A.D.

 

See you on the Oceania boards?

[FetaCheese]

3 hours ago, Tom N said:

Yes, my 87yr old mother was just pillaged by Viking.  Now, I understand she is 87 and made a bad decision to accept a voucher because she had to cancel due to health reasons, and yes, trip insurance did nothing for her.  However, Viking's Voucher terms and conditions make it so she will never be able to use the Voucher.  No flexibility with a woman who now needs to have an assistant to accompany her.  When she asked to use some of the monies towards this caretaker, there was no desire or flexibility on Viking's part to work with the needs of the elderly.  A woman who ran out of Viking cruise destinations and was making this one her last.  

 

My wife and I, plus my two adult children have traveled Viking.  NEVER AGAIN!  Oceania has been the go to now.  Nice job Viking, you win the battle with my Mom, but lost the war for the business of 6 others (my wife and I, adult children/spouses) with high incomes.   

So sorry to hear about your Mom's health situation.  Not sure you did already, but perhaps you can escalate your wishes via an email to Tellus@viking.com.  A higher level of customer relations.

[Frisky070802]

12 hours ago, Tom N said:

Yes, my 87yr old mother was just pillaged by Viking.  Now, I understand she is 87 and made a bad decision to accept a voucher because she had to cancel due to health reasons, and yes, trip insurance did nothing for her.  However, Viking's Voucher terms and conditions make it so she will never be able to use the Voucher.  No flexibility with a woman who now needs to have an assistant to accompany her.  When she asked to use some of the monies towards this caretaker, there was no desire or flexibility on Viking's part to work with the needs of the elderly.  A woman who ran out of Viking cruise destinations and was making this one her last.  

 

My wife and I, plus my two adult children have traveled Viking.  NEVER AGAIN!  Oceania has been the go to now.  Nice job Viking, you win the battle with my Mom, but lost the war for the business of 6 others (my wife and I, adult children/spouses) with high incomes.   

That’s very sad. Good luck to her. 

[Tom N]

Yes, my word "pillaged" was intentional.  Take her money and run with disregard.  I feel fine in saying this since I am 1/4 Swede (Maternal Grandparents 10 miles East of Falkenberg, Sweden) and my Wife's great grandparents homesteaded in North Dakota emigrating from the Rogaland region.  So yes, I am calling out my own.  Yes, my mom came down with Covid AND had a mild heart attack.  

 

Thank you for the tellus@viking.com

[JVilleGal]

Elliott.org a free consumer advocacy organization. They will ask for your paper trail to see what you have done to handle and resolve this yourself…. They do not take every case.