New Pricing

[KBs mum]

18 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Our focus the next couple years is Europe - several regions. Our past experiences pre Covid with Viking keep me coming back to look at itineraries and offerings, including pricing.  We were big Viking fans, but the cost for the return of experience, just keeps skewing us further away. 

We have two future cruises booked. One on Oceania with their new promotion. By far, the pricing is miles apart from Viking for similar itineraries, and as mentioned in a previous post here, includes more in areas that are important to us.  We also have another booked with Seabourn. This cruise is also significantly lower than Viking, and includes a whole, whole lot more on a much smaller ship.
I am calculating total cost per day per person in these comparisons. 
 

I know pricing is up - in almost everything. But when the difference is literally thousands of dollars apart for similar, or even a step up in product, it is difficult, and pound foolish for us to remain loyal. 
 

But I will keep looking, because we have such good Viking memories…..pre C. The new prices will either keep filling the ships or it will not. Only time will tell. 

We're now going for mostly land travel self guided itinereraries arranged to our requirements by TA, rather than putting up with the limitations of cruise travel. That said we are contemplating a river cruise with Scenic and Norway  with some travel on Hurtigruten's  coastal service

[rbslos18]

9 hours ago, SJD117 said:

That’s quite an extrapolation — from one steward on one ship to the entire company.

 

But if extrapolation is in order, I’ll say that the stellar service we received last month from Felix and Risa (our stewards onboard the new Saturn) bodes quite well for Viking. 

I stand corrected. will assume Felix and Risa are the norm and there are no problems with inexperienced staff on any of the new ships.  

[SJD117]

1 hour ago, rbslos18 said:

I stand corrected. will assume Felix and Risa are the norm and there are no problems with inexperienced staff on any of the new ships.  

You really should have met Felix and Risa. They were great!

[rbslos18]

4 minutes ago, SJD117 said:

You really should have met Felix and Risa. They were great!

I have no doubt Felix and Risa are outstanding. I believe they are typically the norm. However, check the Viking reviews on CC and there is an increase in concern about staff “training.”  The same is true about Viking air. Those who have a great experience rave about it until they get an agent whose training frustrates them. 
 

We, like many on this board, love Viking at its best. The typical customer is pretty happy. We count ourselves among that group. We have three cruises booked. We cruise on Viking with open eyes. Viking should not rest on its past laurels. It still has room to improve as one can see from posts on this forum.

[CDNPolar]

5 hours ago, rbslos18 said:

I have no doubt Felix and Risa are outstanding. I believe they are typically the norm. However, check the Viking reviews on CC and there is an increase in concern about staff “training.”  The same is true about Viking air. Those who have a great experience rave about it until they get an agent whose training frustrates them. 
 

We, like many on this board, love Viking at its best. The typical customer is pretty happy. We count ourselves among that group. We have three cruises booked. We cruise on Viking with open eyes. Viking should not rest on its past laurels. It still has room to improve as one can see from posts on this forum.

 

I am not standing up for Viking but many companies have training issues since the pandemic when operations were shuttered.  Many people left their occupation and during that down time found alternate employment and did not return.  The travel and especially the restaurant industry is a perfect example of this.  That meant when operations started again that they had a huge training agenda in front of them and probably limited training capacity.  Post pandemic became like a start up for some Viking ships.

 

I fully agree with the statements that I am quoting here.  We love Viking at its best too.  We are mostly ecstatically happy on board, and can deal with a newer less experienced crew member.  Where we have most of our dissatisfaction is reservations, air plus, and general issue resolution when you have to talk to someone in customer service.

 

I have said this before, and this is a harsh statement to some, but Viking's customer base is aging fast and they will need to start to appeal to a younger base.  They cannot afford to not recognize this.  This does not mean that they need to install casinos and water slides, but it does mean that to command the price they charge they must meet expectations for that price level.

[photopro2]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

Viking's customer base is aging fast and they will need to start to appeal to a younger base.

I do agree with much of what you say but I am not sure the opinion quoted above is quite correct.

 

Obviously people do get older and have to stop cruising at some point. But at the same time younger people grow older and enter Viking's target demographic at roughly the same rate as people age and leave it. Therefore, the customer base that Viking is marketing to remains more or less static.

 

Appealing to a younger base is no bad thing of course, because the younger you get customers the longer you have the opportunity to keep them. However, Viking seem to have found their niche by appealing generally to more "mature", more affluent, customers. This seems to have worked for them very well so far and, I would suggest, is probably sustainable.

14 hours ago, KBs mum said:

We're now going for mostly land travel self guided itinereraries arranged to our requirements by TA, rather than putting up with the limitations of cruise travel.

We have done the exact opposite. Having visited most of the places in the world that we were interested in as fully independent travellers when we were younger, we are now happy to put up with the "limitations" of cruise travel. Time has moved us into a stage in life where we are looking for relatively stress free travel and are happy to have most things arranged for us, making us a good fit for Viking as detailed above.

 

Coming back more directly onto topic......

Viking do seem to have noticed that some of their expedition ship offerings have been overpriced. I have just received a brochure from Viking UK, where a number of the Explorer itineraries are reduced in price.The most dramatic being the Antarctica and South Georgia island itinerary, departing 28th of October 2023, which has been reduced from £17,995pp to £9990pp

 

 

[Murt22]

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

I have said this before, and this is a harsh statement to some, but Viking's customer base is aging fast and they will need to start to appeal to a younger base.  They cannot afford to not recognize this.  This does not mean that they need to install casinos and water slides, but it does mean that to command the price they charge they must meet expectations for that price level.

This is true - but some of us have not been cruisers, and see the Viking experience as one that eliminates some of negative things of the big cruise ships. We will be doing our first ocean cruise next week, so we will find out if it is our sweet spot (hope so, as we have a 3 week Mediterranean and Adriatic cruise booked for next year). Don't forget that sometimes people don't cruise UNTIL they are older and people are getting older every day 😊

[Jim Avery]

And for those who want more entertainment and diversion along with no kids there is Virgin.  Sort of Pre school for moving up to Viking Oceans....🍹😎

[rbslos18]

4 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

Where we have most of our dissatisfaction is reservations, air plus, and general issue resolution when you have to talk to someone in customer service.

Agreed. There are areas where Viking can improve. The areas you mention will eventually hurt Viking. While it has a fabulous niche we find perfect for us, the areas above, unless improved soon, will take its toll. Just read Andy’s posts about the LA office. 

[rbslos18]

   4 hours ago,  CDNPolar said: 

Viking's customer base is aging fast and they will need to start to appeal to a younger base.

we did 30+ cruises on Princess. They changed their approach to big ships. The service in every area declined. We tried some luxury cruises which made us uncomfortable. Viking has a great niche with gorgeous, modern-interesting ships, no casino and no formal dress. While the typical service onboard is outstanding, there still is a lot of room for precruise experience improvement. I always feel

like a valuable customer onboard even when things don’t go as intended. That is not always the case precruise. The Air, customer relations and other such experiences feel uneven. 

[KBs mum]

3 hours ago, photopro2 said:

 

We have done the exact opposite. Having visited most of the places in the world that we were interested in as fully independent travellers when we were younger, we are now happy to put up with the "limitations" of cruise travel. Time has moved us into a stage in life where we are looking for relatively stress free travel and are happy to have most things arranged for us, making us a good fit for Viking as detailed above.

 

Coming back more directly onto topic......

Viking do seem to have noticed that some of their expedition ship offerings have been overpriced. I have just received a brochure from Viking UK, where a number of the Explorer itineraries are reduced in price.The most dramatic being the Antarctica and South Georgia island itinerary, departing 28th of October 2023, which has been reduced from £17,995pp to £9990pp

 

 

We travelled independently for years before reduced mobility and recommendations from friends resulted in cruises on Viking River, alternated with single city stays. From there we went to Viking ocean when it started up. We thought ocean wasn't as good as river for customer service or food. The limitations were worth putting up with for ease of travel in 4* accommodation. 

Viking standards have declined so much since we now think that they are not worth the cost or limitations. We have gone back to independent, spending less to do exactly what we want, the compromise being a loss of luxury when actually travelling, but mostly staying in 5* or good B&B when we get there. 

 

The reduction in price you mention brings the cost of the product more in line with what it is worth to us, we are keeping an eye out for reductions on itineraries we like the look of.

Edited August 5, 2023 by KBs mum

[KBs mum]

It seems to us that some of the problem is that Viking had a unique product but now other lines are doing similar, and in some cases better, while Viking have declined rather than incorporated improvement, which could have been as basic as extending free laundry to more rooms, or making the drinks package complimentary in some. The decor can be easily refreshed without altering layout by different colours being used as mix and match when soft furnishig items or ornaments need replacing. 

There's a saying in business that standing still is going backwards, example being British Airways, first with lie flat beds, their First is  now a decent business class on a lot of airlines. 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by KBs mum

[rbslos18]

4 hours ago, KBs mum said:

It seems to us that some of the problem is that Viking had a unique product but now other lines are doing similar, and in some cases better, while Viking have declined rather than incorporated improvement…

While we have done around 40 cruises on 4 different lines, we have only been cruising with Viking since 2021. And we have yet to do a Viking River Cruise. We clearly don’t have your knowledge and experience with Viking. In what area or ways do you find Viking’s standards have declined so precipitously?

 

Since I am picking your brain, what lines do you find doing Viking better than Viking?

Edited August 5, 2023 by rbslos18

[KBs mum]

10 minutes ago, rbslos18 said:

While we have done around 40 cruises on 4 different lines, we have only been cruising with Viking since 2021. And we have yet to do a Viking River Cruise. We clearly don’t have your knowledge and experience with Viking. In what area or ways do you find Viking’s standards have declined so precipitously?

 

Since I am picking your brain, what lines do you find doing Viking better than Viking?

Food is now chain pub or supermarket ready meal standard. Entertainment is difficult to avoid being in all the lounges and barely of competent amateur standard. 

Previously the food was OK if average the entertainment was limited to the theatre and torshavn so easy to avoid. 

We look for travel with no entertainment and good food. We are not bothered if this excludes cruises 

[rbslos18]

10 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

Food is now chain pub or supermarket ready meal standard. Entertainment is difficult to avoid being in all the lounges and barely of competent amateur standard. 

Previously the food was OK if average the entertainment was limited to the theatre and torshavn so easy to avoid. 

Oh my. Thankfully this has not been our experience on Viking. We may not be good judges. We don’t cruise on Viking for the food or entertainment which is so subjective. All we really expect is well-prepared fish, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. 

We do frequent the arts and find the musicians and entertainers to be talented. World class, by no means. Our last Viking cruise we did have a world-class ventriloquist. 

[KBs mum]

18 minutes ago, rbslos18 said:

Oh my. Thankfully this has not been our experience on Viking. We may not be good judges. We don’t cruise on Viking for the food or entertainment which is so subjective. All we really expect is well-prepared fish, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. 

We do frequent the arts and find the musicians and entertainers to be talented. World class, by no means. Our last Viking cruise we did have a world-class ventriloquist. 

The seafood is frozen, as are most of the veg. The fruit was the same few things everyday. 

If the best entertainment was a ventriloquist the less said about the rest the better 

 

 

 

 

G

[greatver]

Fascinating. I have done 14 cruises on Holland America pre-Covid but since they now are going for the larger ships decided to try Viking for our first post Covid cruise based on its reputation. Hope we’re not disappointed!

[SJD117]

10 minutes ago, greatver said:

Fascinating. I have done 14 cruises on Holland America pre-Covid but since they now are going for the larger ships decided to try Viking for our first post Covid cruise based on its reputation. Hope we’re not disappointed!

You won’t be disappointed. One person in particular on this thread doesn’t like Viking at all. But others on Cruise Critic enjoy the onboard experience very much. Count us among them — we just returned from a wonderful Viking cruise to Norway and Iceland.

 

Have a great trip!

[KBs mum]

23 minutes ago, SJD117 said:

You won’t be disappointed. One person in particular on this thread doesn’t like Viking at all. But others on Cruise Critic enjoy the onboard experience very much. Count us among them — we just returned from a wonderful Viking cruise to Norway and Iceland.

 

Have a great trip!

I used to like Viking to the extent of not considering any other line. Then we went on a Northern Lights cruise with dire food and entertainment and a back office staff that didn't understand UK consumer law. 

Viking considered two extra days stuck on the ship suitable compensation for missed ports. 

We wrote to ask what the official policy regarding missed ports and entertainment frequency in the lounges only to receive a chat bot reply. 

As a result we have demoted Viking to a only if the price is right option. 

We were saved from an expensive mistake by comments on the Viking boards on cruise critic, we had a trip booked so determined to judge for ourselves before booking another. 

We are warning others as we were warned. If you like Viking at full price as is good for you, if you expect Viking to be the same quality as previous you will be disappointed. 

We would book again if the discount reflected the quality or the itinerary was unique 

 

 

 

 

 

[SJD117]

9 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

I used to like Viking to the extent of not considering any other line. Then we went on a Northern Lights cruise with dire food and entertainment and a back office staff that didn't understand UK consumer law. 

Viking considered two extra days stuck on the ship suitable compensation for missed ports. 

We wrote to ask what the official policy regarding missed ports and entertainment frequency in the lounges only to receive a chat bot reply. 

As a result we have demoted Viking to a only if the price is right option. 

We were saved from an expensive mistake by comments on the Viking boards on cruise critic, we had a trip booked so determined to judge for ourselves before booking another. 

We are warning others as we were warned. If you like Viking at full price as is good for you, if you expect Viking to be the same quality as previous you will be disappointed. 

We would book again if the discount reflected the quality or the itinerary was unique 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for identifying yourself as the person I mentioned.

Edited August 5, 2023 by SJD117

[KBs mum]

1 minute ago, SJD117 said:

Thanks for identifying yourself as the person I mentioned.

Why would I have a problem being identified with something I said? If someone has questions about why I said something I prefer them to ask directly rather than indulge in passive aggressive muttering

[rbslos18]

1 hour ago, greatver said:

Fascinating. I have done 14 cruises on Holland America pre-Covid but since they now are going for the larger ships decided to try Viking for our first post Covid cruise based on its reputation. Hope we’re not disappointed!

Greatver,

I would not assume you will not be disappointed. Do your homework! Eliminate the wild-eye lovers of Viking who can see no wrong and the equally extreme negative viewpoints. Find posts that touch on the areas important to you. What’s a good fit for someone else may be a negative for you.

We left Princess after 20 years of cruising (We were Elite) because of the larger ships which eliminated the Promenade Deck. It felt like a mass market experience. We like Viking’s laid back and subtle elegant feel. The cabin’s are modern with huge bathrooms. The ship feels modern, warm and spacious. Most important for my wife is the wrap around Promenade Deck. The meals we have had were delicious and the staff is very welcoming and typically well-trained. It is not uncommon for staff who regularly see you to greet you by name. We tried a luxury line three times and found it somewhat intrusive. It felt like my public sector work. Viking, with all of its minor nuisances, has been a perfect fit for us to escape. Modern, classy, upscale but not obnoxiously so. Read the tips posts and reviews. It is far from perfect but all that matters is it is perfect for you.
 

Edited August 5, 2023 by rbslos18

[formernuke]

KBsMum clearly had a bad experience on a cruise and chooses to extrapolate it to all Viking cruises.  She of course is entitled to her opinion, but you should also know that many of us do not have the same opinion. While there are certainly areas Viking can improve on (both globally and on specific ships or cruises), many find it much better than implied. 

[SJD117]

1 hour ago, rbslos18 said:

Do your homework! Eliminate the wild-eye lovers of Viking who can see no wrong and the equally extreme negative viewpoints.
 

Absolutely, do your homework! For example, if you prefer travel companies that specialize in photography, you may decide to go with Wild-Eye out of South Africa rather than a cruise. Different strokes for different folks!  🤣🤣🤣
 

www.wild-eye.com

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by SJD117

[Squawkman]

9 hours ago, rbslos18 said:

I always feel like a valuable customer onboard even when things don’t go as intended. That is not always the case precruise. The Air, customer relations and other such experiences feel uneven. 

That is why I always use the same Viking agent. Never had a problem that wasn’t satisfactorily rectified. While he still has to refer me to others for resolution, the difference is I tell him the issue, he puts me on hold, then transfers me to someone who knows the issue before I explain it. To me this is worth giving up a few hundred extra in SBC.