With all shore excursions canceled and many of those margaritas polished off we left Malta early that afternoon for Messina, Sicily, our next scheduled port of call. Online booking is always at your service! Of course, if you miss a stop, you can still enjoy the cities: Vikings Culture Curriculum program provides onboard performances and lectures from artists, musicians, and historians, along with authentic culinary demonstrations.. what happens with your (non-Viking) plane tickets? CC Help Jenn For the best possible time, youll want to be flexible. Free expert cruise tips and news from Cruise Hive! Cruise Hive was established back in 2008 and among the earliest blogs in the industry. Viking Cruises' Risk-Free Guarantee Policy NEW [Temporary] Policy: . Start planning early, and youll come home a more seasoned traveler with dozens of great stories to tell your family and friends. Our Viking Health & Safety Program is the same across our fleet of ocean and river vessels. Guests sailing the rivers in December can experience the traditional European Christmas markets and see the cities in a new way while enjoying local holiday treats and hot mulled wine, our source notes. Hard to bail if all you have is vouchers. Sums less than 20 will not be refunded but will be deposited on the cancelled booking for a new trip within six months (twelvemonths for cancellations from 15th of March 2020 and onwards). It was always easy to find an uncrowded spot outdoors on deck and also in public spaces like the Viking Living Room, a center-of-the-ship lounge which became my favorite spot to people watch in the evenings, as guests roamed to and from dinner and entertainment venues like Torshavn, the late-night jazz club-slash-cabaret with triple-digit pours of Armagnac and a strict no-dancing policy. The additional 25% is incentive for guests to leave their money with Viking. My fear is the re-booked cruises will take up space that Viking could use for new sales, new cash in the door. We'd been booked on Tulipsand Windmills for this past April. The voucher offers states: What constitutes "unable to use"? By For bookings containing more than 30 people, conference and some other bookings, terms and conditions 2 applies, which you can read here. Viking will issue full refunds to affected passengers or a 125% future cruise voucher that must be used within 24 months. However, Viking offers a few apps to make your cruise more enjoyable, and if you dont install them, youll miss out. These are limited capacity and can only be booked once onboard, so talk to the guest services team once you arrive and watch your Viking Daily newsletter to make sure you can secure your spot.. The price was slightly higher, so we have $2400pp to pay in November 2021. In 2019, he visited Japan and Mexico, and hes become passionate about spreading a simple message: Traveling isn't necessarily expensive, and it's one of the best paths to self-improvement. 119-90. Standard staterooms are much less expensive, and while theyre not exactly roomy, that doesnt matter if youre just using them as a sort of home base. In case you have purchased your ticket with a credit card issued in Russia or Belarus, payments of refunds are stopped by the credit card schemes, until further notice. The cruise line provides luxurious river and ocean cruises, with luxurious being the key word; while most people think of a cruise vacation as a by-the-numbers affair, Viking has redefined guest expectations by providing a carefully cultivated all-inclusive experience. Besides, the ship was operating at reduced capacity, with only 341 passengers on a ship built to accommodate 930 guests, which made the social distancing a lot easier on board. Thanks for your help-. Nassau, the capital city of The Bahamas and one of the most popular ports of call for Caribbean cruises, has set a passenger record . 0000003926 00000 n 0000057816 00000 n We rebooked for July 2021. The cancellation insurance is not valid if you cancel your trip less than 24h to departure. The deposited amount cannot be transferred to another person. The latest version of the confirmation is valid. 0000002092 00000 n When youre sitting in the Explorers Lounge perusing vintage maps or enjoying a thermal bath on the spa deck, youll know why Viking Cruises are held in such high regard. However, once youve paid, you dont need to spend much more. I believe a great many other cruise customers got caught in the same "you can use the vouchers for anything" trap and may well have stood the same ground as I --- there was quite a bit of talk on this subject at the time. If the outbound journey has not been used or cancelled, Viking Line has the right to cancel the return trip. John Heald, Brand Ambassador of Carnival Cruise Line, has announced the details for the next For Funs Sake (FFS) Cruise. I asked my TA pretty much the same questions and the response - directly from Viking - was that the vouchers from a canceled cruise that were applied to another cruise that was subsequently canceled would "regenerate" and can be applied to a cruise in the future. 0000000016 00000 n Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. Amazing, Funny & Totally Awesome Cruise Photos, Click here to reload the page in order to enable certain features, Policy regarding COVID related Discussions. The cruise will start in Miami, Florida, where guests will embark on February 17, 2024. Have to wait it out. Wish to cancel a cruise booked with a voucher? When contacting Customer Service and Sales, please have your booking number and account number (including clearing number) available. I, and my TA, asked the question every which way and the answer was always the same. Under the terms of the voucher, you can't get your cash back until 2022, when the voucher expires. While cruise deposits historically were refundable as long as they were canceled before final payment was due, more cruise lines have begun to offer nonrefundable deposit options. 0000004508 00000 n I have a cruise booked for summer 2021 that is essentially a rebooking of the same cruise we had planned for summer 2020. The more you have in vouchers or will have to take in vouchers, the more the scales tilt to waiting for Viking to cancel. Standard features like heated bathroom floors and high-quality wooden deck furniture really help the cruise line stand out from its competitors (and no, we havent received payment from Viking for this piece). In addition, I have a substantial amount of onboard/shipboard credit to use upon sailing. Now they told me I could sell my original voucher to anyone i wanted to if i could not make a reservation before June 2022. The bedroom and walk-in closet of an Explorer Suite aboard the 'Viking Venus.'. The hotel staff was amazing and took extreme pride in their role and work. Started August 27, 2021, By But, Viking will continue to have a cash crunch into 2021 and 2022, as will the other lines. If you don't use the vouchers, you won't be able to get them refunded until they expires 2 years after they were issued. Part of the fun of a cruise is getting away from the stresses of your everyday life, and for many of us, that means turning off the smartphone for a while. We "lost" out the first rebook and got lots back the second rebook. "), As I fretted about the wisdom of being on a ship, overseas, in the middle of the latest wave, my fellow passengers seemed pretty damn chill about the whole thing. Copyright 2022 Travel + Leisure Co. All Rights Reserved. Started October 12, 2018, Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. Granted, youll need to have a taste for brandy to really get the most out of this experience, but if you have the palate, its an essential part of the trip. I hope it survives and is not bought out. We sailed on toward Malta, spending a merry Christmas at sea with a holiday-themed pub trivia session, Christmas carols, bites of caviar, and decadent desserts. But as I tucked into a dinner of Norwegian salmon and we sailed onward to our final port of Civitavecchia, near Rome, I worried about whether our whole ship was destined to spend the next few weeks in quarantine. Sailing down rivers puts you in the heart of many of the cities you visit, our source tells us. Since you only paid $14K, I'll assume you were on a short cruise of under 35-days, so the cancellation terms were: 0000003319 00000 n Both myself and my TA were straight out lied to, repeatedly, in the course of the rebooking. At least once during your sailing, the ship will offer behind-the-scenes tours of the bridge, where the captain and crew manage the direction and speed of the ship, and the galley, the kitchen, a Viking representative says. Thats our date. The FFS#6 itinerary is designed to give guests the perfect mix of sea days and port calls. The cancellation matrix is included on your Viking Guest Invoice or can be found at the links given below. In every other sense, though, its unmatched, especially when compared with cruises from other major companies. (I saw less mask slipping in my whole week on the ship than I do during a typical subway ride in New York.) Many people took their vouchers for 2020 cruises, and applied them to 2021 and 2022 cruises. If you cant travel as planned you must cancel or change your reservation as soon as possible. Madam M's from NYC has a store in Dubai. Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list. These events include cocktail parties, breakfasts, question-and-answer sessions, tea times, karaoke nights, and more. Already pre-pandemic their bonds were assigned Ba2/BB by Moody's which is a below investment grade, speculative junk bond. Upon arrival, the crew announced that Italian health authorities requested everyone aboard take a rapid antigen test before anyone could go ashore, according to the Viking crew. We have a river cruise, Tulips and Windmills, on Viking in April. It was the night before we arrived on one of Greece's most iconic islands, and cruise . If you had waited until they cancelled and took the 125% future cruise voucher the trip insurance would have been included. The Emirates were incredibly gracious and helpful to me (a female traveling for work with others and then alone). Note that special cruises, charter departures and trips with theatre tickets, opera, concerts and other event tickets may have different terms of cancellation and repayment. 0000562812 00000 n The first two days will be fun days at sea, giving guests plenty of time to explore the ship and participate in various onboard activities. That came on top of the PCR test I'd taken a few days prior in order to enter Greece at all. As we mentioned earlier, Viking cruises arent cheap, but that doesnt mean that you cant travel frugally. It may be if we were retired they would have been comfortable with our booking the Summer. As with all other aspects of your cruise, the trick is to plan ahead. Brian Thomas is a professional writer with over 15 years of experience. Part of this was, of course, due to confusion among agents in the early days of cancellations and vouchers as to what was what. Long story short, I prevailed. For river cruises, tipping recommendations vary depending on your location. That is why Viking is offering a limited-time offerthe most flexible of any cruise lineso that you can plan your voyage with peace of mind. 0000585278 00000 n 89-60. Thank you Peregrina this is very clear and will be very helpful. But, Viking will continue to have a cash crunch into 2021 and 2022, as will the other lines. There are certainly enough COVID crazed angry people out there who are mad at anything that is perceived unfair or wrong. If not done properly, aspects of the policy can be accidentally nullified. I hope theyll be equally flexible if our cruise gets canceled. Viking has been extending the offer and it is now for bookings through the end of this month. The Risk-Free Guarantee allows guests to change their cruise date up until 24 hours before their planned departureand Viking will waive any fees. If youve cruised before, you know that Viking cruises arewell, expensive. As for the other items of value, it may depend on your negotiating skills. Please forgive me if this is already covered elsewhere. As one of the apps reviewers puts it: This app is an essential tool for getting the most out of your cruise.. In one sense, a Viking cruise is like any other vacation: It's what you make of it. It's beginning to look, to me anyway, like those of us who opted for vouchers and rebooked a 2021 or beyond cruise made an unwise choice. We were able to change our flights with no issue. I want to be able to cash out sooner rather than later, should it come to that. Expand. I forgot to say that in this situation 125% vouchers will be refunded at the 100% amount. That might not interest every traveler, but if youre interested in the inner workings of a major cruise vessel, its well worth the time. We "lost" the first time and "won" the second time. The date will be clearly stated in the e-mail; it is not a flexible date. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Nothing. By the time we'd left Messina, the reality of omicron, of the pandemic, and of waking up every morning to spit into a tube had started to weigh on me. 0000021972 00000 n This intimate club environment also offers a selection of rare vintage Armagnacs from 1935 through 1965., Dont miss the opportunity to sample these extraordinary, limited-quantity brandies from Frances Armagnac region in Gascony during your sailing.. When the 23 WC was posted, we again moved from the B2B to the WC. In case of cancellation due to medical reasons, a medical certificate must be submitted. Since the start, it's been our aim to provide the latest cruise news covering all the major cruise lines. Here is a link with their policy - taken from the Canadian site, so could be a bit different. Hes traveled extensively during that time, frequently touring the American Southwest as both a musician and a tourist. (confession: I did not know what to expect - would I be kidnapped?). I started the rebooking process almost immediately and was told the vouchers could be used for "anything." Valid for trips booked from April 2nd 2019. If the outbound journey has not been used or cancelled, Viking Line has the right to cancel the return trip. Let's be honest. Even the taxi drivers at that time were pro US because Trump had just taken action against Syria's Bassar al-Assad. To be covered by this guarantee, you must make a reservation on a 2022 voyage between November 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. Jun 03, 2020 at 4:02 pm. @Peregrina651, the link I provided was given to me directly when I did a chat with a Viking representative. This is a point of great confusion for me. Obviously, that didn't happen. Is like any other vacation: it & # x27 ; s most iconic islands, and.. Cancel your trip less than 24h what happens if a viking cruise is cancelled departure the return trip their were... This past April the WC FFS # 6 itinerary is designed to give guests the perfect of... 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