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Viking River Cruise


DMCruiser
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Very disappointed with Viking River Cruises. Last August we booked our first river cruise, after many ocean cruises with many cruise lines. The cruise was for October 2017. In late September, my husband was diagnosed with a serious, progressive disease and we had to cancel the cruise more than 300 days prior to sailing date but after final payment. At the time we booked the cruise we also purchased insurance. After much discussion with Viking, they only refunded our payment for the cruise but would not consider refunding the insurance amount. If I had not purchased insurance at the time of booking, I still would have received full payment refunded up until June 2017. In other words, I should not have purchased insurance until June 2017 and I would not have been out the $850. It seems like the Viking agent at time of booking, should have made that clear. This process is clearly different from ocean cruises. In addition, I did not use a TA for this booking....won't do that again.

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If Viking refunded your entire payment, third-party trip insurance could have been rolled over to a future trip since you didn't use any part of your coverage. This is one more reason why a Travel Agent is such a good idea.

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I almost always purchase insurance when I book a trip because of the pre existing clause knowing fully well I would not get my the insurance money back if I cancel a trip. I just roll it over to another trip in the future.

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I understand that insurance is not refundable. However, my point, was that the Viking agent should have told me when the final date was that I could not get a full refund after. I really should not have purchased insurance until June even though full payment was due in September. If I had not purchased insurance I would not be out the costs of insurance and would still have gotten my full purchase refunded until June 2017.

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I understand that insurance is not refundable. However, my point, was that the Viking agent should have told me when the final date was that I could not get a full refund after. I really should not have purchased insurance until June even though full payment was due in September. If I had not purchased insurance I would not be out the costs of insurance and would still have gotten my full purchase refunded until June 2017.

What you lose by purchasing the insurance later is coverage for pre-existing conditions. That is a decision that you must make for yourself.

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What you lose by purchasing the insurance later is coverage for pre-existing conditions. That is a decision that you must make for yourself.

 

Not if you buy from a TA. Allianz has a policy that TAs sell that includes pre-existing coverage right up to Final Payment. I have purchased this through two different TAs. They also allow you roll the policy over to another trip if you haven't made any claims. And it includes vendor-default coverage.

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Not if you buy from a TA. Allianz has a policy that TAs sell that includes pre-existing coverage right up to Final Payment. I have purchased this through two different TAs. They also allow you roll the policy over to another trip if you haven't made any claims. And it includes vendor-default coverage.

 

Wow! I doubt it is available here in Canada.

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...After much discussion with Viking, they only refunded our payment for the cruise but would not consider refunding the insurance amount. If I had not purchased insurance at the time of booking, I still would have received full payment refunded up until June 2017...
Are you sure you would have received full refund? Viking's T&C says otherwise:

Following charges will apply: (Broken out by days before departure) 121 days or more is $100 per person.

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Our Sapphire credit card gives us 10k per person trip cancellation for free and doesn't exclude pre-existing we just must pay for the trip with the card. We buy separate healthcare for less than $500 the card also covers trip interruption up to 10k

 

 

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When I discussed the cancellation with the Viking agent, I was told that I would have had until a date in June to cancel the cruise and simply lose $100 per person even without insurance. After that date, I would have had to file through the insurance to get a refund. I have certainly learned my lesson, always book through a TA!!!

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When I discussed the cancellation with the Viking agent, I was told that I would have had until a date in June to cancel the cruise and simply lose $100 per person even without insurance. After that date, I would have had to file through the insurance to get a refund. I have certainly learned my lesson, always book through a TA!!!

Or... shift your paradigm - cruise fare is one bucket of money and insurance is another. You seem to have them bundled together as one clump when in reality they're two different line items, aren't they? Furthermore, I'd consider my strategy - never buy the insurance from the cruise as you put all your eggs (aka risk) in one basket. That is, if the cruise line goes belly up, so does THEIR insurance product so you wouldn't be able to make a claim! Besides that, the cruise lines' insurance typically doesn't offer enough medical or evacuation coverage for my comfort. (I use insure my trip and square mouth websites to compare policies.) Sorry you had this happen. I guess the upside is that it won't happen again!

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

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