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Silver Spirits Drink Package


peasmith
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Hi can anyone tell me how much the drinks package is to purchase onboard and not prior to departure as I know it is cheaper in the UK if you pre-book but then we can't use the onboard credit towards it only if we use it to pay onboard. We are doing the Iconic Western Med which is 8 days (7 nights).

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Hi can anyone tell me how much the drinks package is to purchase onboard and not prior to departure as I know it is cheaper in the UK if you pre-book but then we can't use the onboard credit towards it only if we use it to pay onboard. We are doing the Iconic Western Med which is 8 days (7 nights).

 

According to the Silver Spirits pdf, the price for a 7 night cruise is $139pp and both people in the cabin must buy the package. The shipboard currency is USD (US dollars) and so I have given you that price.

 

Before you decide on the package, do the math; unless you want to get the package for convenience, the package doesn't work for everyone and may be just cheaper to buy your drinks one at a time and use your OBC to pay for them.

 

Remember that all coffees (except those that contain spirits), tea and hot chocolate are free 24/7 and there cans of soda in your minibar (which, except in the V cabins, will be replenished daily). Soft drinks, house wine and beer are free at lunch and dinner. Carafes of water are in your cabin and bottled water is available as you depart the ship each day. Viking encourages you to sample the local wines and beers; hence, there are no limitations on what you may bring onto the ship and there is no corkage fee in the dining rooms.

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Hi thanks for the quick reply!

 

 

We have booked the packages on all our river cruises (other half likes his drink and is often up into the small hours). In the UK the pdf versions are only if you pre-book before you go so I was wondering what the actual price was when embarking and adding it then or may be it is still the same. The river cruises were, for example, £97.00 (just got up to I believe £120.00) for pre-booking and 150 euros for a 7 nighter if done whilst on the boat. We have onboard credit so in effect not actually paying for it and we don't do the optional excursions etc.

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Thank you Mrs Miggins - No we haven't got it on this cruise (Xmas) although they did give it to us on the Sky for our October 18 holiday. I always do ask if there is anything they can include as we have travelled several times nor could they give it to us on our Ukraine one this coming September or our Rhine Getaway in December - may be tightening up as I always book early? I find the clientele from the USA often get loads of onboard spend - more than the UK do - think all their operations are done separately. We've done about 10 cruises with Viking already so wouldn't hurt them to throw in a few freebies along the way!

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Hi thanks for the quick reply!

 

 

We have booked the packages on all our river cruises (other half likes his drink and is often up into the small hours). In the UK the pdf versions are only if you pre-book before you go so I was wondering what the actual price was when embarking and adding it then or may be it is still the same. The river cruises were, for example, £97.00 (just got up to I believe £120.00) for pre-booking and 150 euros for a 7 nighter if done whilst on the boat. We have onboard credit so in effect not actually paying for it and we don't do the optional excursions etc.

 

For US pax, it is $139pp whether we pay in advance or wait until we board. BTW, Ocean and River SS packages have different prices and different rules.

 

Out of curiosity, is your OBC given in £ or $?

 

Another thing to look into is something new on Oceans and I don't know if it available on the UK site. Now when we pre-book on board expenses (optional tours, et.) we can use our OBC to pay for them--at least this is what I have picked up in my reading here.

 

Some of the extras we get are from our Travel Agents and not from Viking. UK pricing includes gratutities where US does not. But in general, I have found that unless they are really trying to push a particular cruise, the freebies are few and far between. Choose a popular itinerary and there is very little thrown in. Also, I found that booking on board gets you more.

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I suggest you wait until you are onboard before you purchase the drink package if you want it. If you purchase ahead of time, VO will charge your credit card. If you wait until you board, it will go on your shipboard account and you can use OBCs to pay for it. This also gives you a chance to check out the wine list prior to committing.

 

There is no price discount for booking before embarking.

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I suggest you wait until you are onboard before you purchase the drink package if you want it. If you purchase ahead of time, VO will charge your credit card. If you wait until you board, it will go on your shipboard account and you can use OBCs to pay for it. This also gives you a chance to check out the wine list prior to committing.

 

There is no price discount for booking before embarking.

 

Bruce, in the past few months there have been some changes made to the MVJ payment system. One of the changes that has been talked about is that when booking shorex before you board, you can use your OBC to pay for them. Actually, I think it defaults to the OBC.

 

 

What I have not seen is if this also applies to purchasing the drinks package. I don't recall anyone mentioning it in the past few weeks but it is certainly a question that OP can ask Viking directly. If the OBC is in £, there may be an advantage to using it to buy the package in £ before boarding OR there may be an advantage to paying in $, it just depends on the exchange rate.

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On our first Viking Ocean cruise we did get lots of OBC. We are from the UK and it is very unusual but our booking had to be changed as the ship was not ready, so we moved from May to September. In addition our itinerary was changed as Istanbul had been dropped in the meantime. Our credit was actually designated as GBP but was changed on board to USD as of course everything was charged in dollars.

We found if quite difficult to spend, we already had the drinks package. The shops were not well stocked and had little back up. If you saw something you liked in the jewellery section then when it was sold you were too late. In the end we bought two watches. My daughter didnt like the one I bought for her, so I gave it to my sister. My husband bought a very trendy black watch, only problem is it is quite difficult to see the time !

All this was in the early days for Viking Ocean and I have no doubt they have now improved in this area.

On our last cruise we had a little OBC as we booked onboard for our next New Year cruise, only problem was that by the time it showed on our account it was the last day and the shops were closed. We did manage to spend it on some lovely products from the spa desk (shampoo, lotions etc).

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Thanks for all the interesting reads.

 

Peregrina651 - our onboard credit has been given in $ but it does mention the equivalent in £ next to it. Also with regard to gratuities these are not always included - if you book early they sometimes are but with river cruises they are never included and it has always been up to the passenger to tip or not to tip at the end of the cruise in an envelope posted through a slot but I understand the ocean cruises the gratuities are automatically added but you have the choice to take the automatic tipping off. However, on both of our forthcoming ocean ones we managed to secure prepaid gratuities as a 'promotional amenity'.

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Do your onboard credits show up in your MVJ. I see something that says that I have no on board credit vouchers but my Guest Statements shows some.

 

Thanks

 

Affirmative, as soon as I log into MVJ I receive a text box advising how much OBC we have.

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Thanks for all the interesting reads.

 

Peregrina651 - our onboard credit has been given in $ but it does mention the equivalent in £ next to it. Also with regard to gratuities these are not always included - if you book early they sometimes are but with river cruises they are never included and it has always been up to the passenger to tip or not to tip at the end of the cruise in an envelope posted through a slot but I understand the ocean cruises the gratuities are automatically added but you have the choice to take the automatic tipping off. However, on both of our forthcoming ocean ones we managed to secure prepaid gratuities as a 'promotional amenity'.

 

Thanks. All of this is good information to know. Good, too, that the OBC is given in $$; you don't have to worry about what the exchange rate will be on reckoning day.

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Our TA invoice shows the OBC from them, but they do not purchase it from VO until we make the final payment on the cruise. Once we make the final payment, I expect to see it on MVJ.

 

 

 

We made final payment well over a month ago and it’s not there. Our TA is telling us we won’t see it until we board.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Having just got home from a trip on the Viking Star here is my take on the drinks. The included wines were excellent. They often changed from port to port and we didn’t have a bad one. We ate in the chefs table restaurant where they pair wines to each course. You could upgrade your wines for that evening at $25 per person which we did and thought it beneficial for that dining experience (Prosecco to start, port to finish). We would have a couple of drinks in the bar after dinner, G&T, vodka and coke and our drinks bill was a tiny fraction of what we were charged on P&O a couple of years ago. I seriously considered the silver spirits package but was glad we saved the money.

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