Viking Sky survivors

[TexasTraveler54]

Contacted Viking Sky hotline yesterday.  They confirmed that the Jan. 26 sailing is the maiden voyage of the Venus.  Once they found the letter we received from the Chairman, they said itinerary was still being firmed up and details would be forthcoming to all Sky passengers.  After pointing out that cabins were selling on their website, I was connected with reservations.  They did not have any answers to how our offer was going to be accommodated.  Representative was sending my questions to her manager and said they would contact me within 10 business days.  Seems like we would have been contacted prior to offering for public sale, but maybe Viking has a master plan! 

[DGHOC]

That sounds odd TT, did you ask whether it was the sailing before the Barcelona to London cruise on the 26th? These plans must surely have been organised and given that there are over 900 passenger diaries to coordinate, it would surely be sensible to make contact with us sooner rather than later.

 

Perhaps we should call the London office and see if they are any more switched on. Failing that maybe a letter directly to the Chairman who sent us the invitation. Given it is only eighteen months until the launch of the Venus, I don't think we are being presumptuous in our request for info.

 

Has anyone else spoken with Viking?

[Haworth]

16 minutes ago, DGHOC said:

That sounds odd TT, did you ask whether it was the sailing before the Barcelona to London cruise on the 26th? These plans must surely have been organised and given that there are over 900 passenger diaries to coordinate, it would surely be sensible to make contact with us sooner rather than later.

 

Perhaps we should call the London office and see if they are any more switched on. Failing that maybe a letter directly to the Chairman who sent us the invitation. Given it is only eighteen months until the launch of the Venus, I don't think we are being presumptuous in our request for info.

 

Has anyone else spoken with Viking?

Viking UK are certainly aware of this as I passed over a query to them about this on Thursday, they did reply but nothing specific, no doubt we will all hear soon.

[Captain_Morgan]

as i said much earlier in the thread, "ref. the 'maiden voyage' being offered, i'm almost certain this will be on what is referred to as the 'shakedown cruise' which is what Jupiter was on when it struck the pier in Athens.  think of it like a dress rehearsal where 'friends and family', select media types, and corporate get a sneak peek at the product before the full revenue cruise begins."

 

which would explain why full revenue cabins are being sold to the public as the 'free' cruise offered will not be a revenue voyage as it would make zero business sense to displace that many full fare paying passengers.  my guess would be a cruise from Venice to Rome perhaps or even Rome to Barcelona?

[JDincalif]

In addition to emailing tellus@viking.com regarding the Viking Venus cruise, we asked our TA to investigate. Her contact at Viking responded that details regarding our maiden voyage cruise will be provided by email in the next couple of months.

[DGHOC]

Just copying this from another post.

 

I rang Viking over the weekend and they have called back today.

 

They can't give specifics yet, that info will be following shortly, but I suggested to the consultant that the Chairman's invited cruise would precede the Barcelona to London one which appears to be the Venus first sailing already open for bookings. She agreed that that would probably be the case but cannot give any info out yet as all needs to be finalised.

 

So presumably about the 19th January? Details will follow soon no doubt.

[ptkelley]

Hi! Has anyone received a written copy of the Terms and Conditions for the Voucher for the Future Cruise?  If so, would you please let me know where you got the written copy?  I have verbally been given slight variations of the Terms from the Viking Sky Hotline. I don't want to mess up. Thanks!

 

[DGHOC]

In a letter from Torstein Hagan

' Furthermore, you will receive a future cruise voucher equivalent to all monies paid to Viking for this journey. The voucher can be used over the next five years for any ocean or river cruise of your choice. If you do not wish to use the cruise voucher you may take 50% of the total voucher amount in cash instead.

 

From Viking UK guest services

'In addition to your refund please allow us to offer you a Future Cruise Credit. The credit will be for X which represents the value of all monies previously paid to Viking. This credit is valid for either a river or ocean cruise booked before the end of 2024 for travel until the end of 2025 and may be combined with our early booking savings and past passenger discounts.'

 

Both are in hard copy and the cruise credit included the cost of all Viking optional excursions paid for.

[ptkelley]

Thank you.  Yes, I should have clarified, I do have that information.  I was mainly wondering about maximizing the full amount of the voucher if I booked a cruise that had a value less than the voucher.  I have now called three times and had 3 slightly different answers.  Perhaps booking a cruise of equal or greater value than the voucher is the way to go. Thank you so much for responding

[Squawkman]

16 minutes ago, ptkelley said:

Thank you.  Yes, I should have clarified, I do have that information.  I was mainly wondering about maximizing the full amount of the voucher if I booked a cruise that had a value less than the voucher.  I have now called three times and had 3 slightly different answers.  Perhaps booking a cruise of equal or greater value than the voucher is the way to go. Thank you so much for responding

 

While we were technically not "survivors", we were adversely affected as with 2 days notice our planned Scandinavia cruise on the Sky was cancelled. We also received the full refund and voucher for a future cruise. The voucher did not include what we paid for airfare - only cruise fare - not sure if this was the same formula for survivors. As we had the final payment coming due soon for a cruise in November, we asked and were able to apply it to the cost of both cruise fare and airfare for this pre-booked trip. There was a balance left of $4 which we were able to apply to insurance - something originally covered by my credit card but now needed to be purchased.

[ptkelley]

49 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

 

While we were technically not "survivors", we were adversely affected as with 2 days notice our planned Scandinavia cruise on the Sky was cancelled. We also received the full refund and voucher for a future cruise. The voucher did not include what we paid for airfare - only cruise fare - not sure if this was the same formula for survivors. As we had the final payment coming due soon for a cruise in November, we asked and were able to apply it to the cost of both cruise fare and airfare for this pre-booked trip. There was a balance left of $4 which we were able to apply to insurance - something originally covered by my credit card but now needed to be purchased.

Yes, thanks.  I think if I want to maximize the use of my voucher I will have to do something like that.  Use the voucher all up at once, no carry over.  Seems like the voucher is passenger specific, too.  I still don't have the full understanding.  Thanks again. 

[cruzzzinma]

Our voucher was a credit in the amount we paid Viking for our cruise fare and airline tickets on the Northern lights cruise.

[TexasTraveler54]

On 6/17/2019 at 3:17 PM, ptkelley said:

Thank you.  Yes, I should have clarified, I do have that information.  I was mainly wondering about maximizing the full amount of the voucher if I booked a cruise that had a value less than the voucher.  I have now called three times and had 3 slightly different answers.  Perhaps booking a cruise of equal or greater value than the voucher is the way to go. Thank you so much for responding

I booked a 2021 cruise yesterday and asked about voucher use.  Agent checked and advised that voucher cannot be applied to  more than 1 cruise.  If cruise cost is less than voucher, remaining amount can be used toward airfare, excursions, silver spirits, etc.  Anyone else get different info?

[Squawkman]

5 hours ago, cruzzzinma said:

Our voucher was a credit in the amount we paid Viking for our cruise fare and airline tickets on the Northern lights cruise.

So in effect, you received your airfare twice - once as a refund and a second time included in your voucher for a future cruise?

[cruzzzinma]

Future cruise voucher  - here is an extract from the email we received with the voucher:

 

CRUISE CREDIT VOUCHER

NAME: 

ISSUED: 4/2/2019        EXPIRES: 4/1/2024 12:00 AM

 VALID ON VIKING CRUISES

AMOUNT: 

VOUCHER: 

*This voucher can be used on any new Viking Cruise. This voucher is non-transferable and all travel must be booked by the expiration date. Voucher must be redeemed prior to final payment. Once voucher is redeemed, it cannot be re-issued or used towards another cruise. No cash value and non-transferable. Other restrictions may apply, please call for details.

[DGHOC]

7 minutes ago, TexasTraveler54 said:

I booked a 2021 cruise yesterday and asked about voucher use.  Agent checked and advised that voucher cannot be applied to  more than 1 cruise.  If cruise cost is less than voucher, remaining amount can be used toward airfare, excursions, silver spirits, etc.  Anyone else get different info?

 

Ummm, this does seem to vary TT. I was told, upon booking my voucher cruise, that excess can indeed be used for future cruises just as long as the monies are used before the stated end date. Pre and post extensions could also be paid for by the voucher. I have an amount left over from mine.

[Haworth]

11 minutes ago, DGHOC said:

 

Ummm, this does seem to vary TT. I was told, upon booking my voucher cruise, that excess can indeed be used for future cruises just as long as the monies are used before the stated end date. Pre and post extensions could also be paid for by the voucher. I have an amount left over from mine.

This is what we have been told by our UK contact, that said we would like to book something for October 2021, the far East itineraries look good to us just waiting to see what show up

[Squawkman]

1 hour ago, DGHOC said:

 

Ummm, this does seem to vary TT. I was told, upon booking my voucher cruise, that excess can indeed be used for future cruises just as long as the monies are used before the stated end date. Pre and post extensions could also be paid for by the voucher. I have an amount left over from mine.

 

I did pay for a pre extension with my voucher.

[ptkelley]

On 6/19/2019 at 6:36 AM, DGHOC said:

 

Ummm, this does seem to vary TT. I was told, upon booking my voucher cruise, that excess can indeed be used for future cruises just as long as the monies are used before the stated end date. Pre and post extensions could also be paid for by the voucher. I have an amount left over from mine.

The amount left over is what I am wondering about. Does it show up as an onboard credit in the cruise you used it for? There doesn’t seem to be a written policy on this. Twice I have been told by Viking Survivors Hotline it goes into on board credit for that cruise. Once I was told that if I use the voucher it is counted as used if there is s balance left I would lose it. 

[OnTheJourney]

Interesting about the residual, if any, remaining once the voucher is used. Had not thought about that. The one agent I spoke with, however, seemed to indicate a "use it or lose it" approach, so I didn't expect that anything remaining would be usable towards yet another cruise. 

 

The "maiden voyage" 1/26 cruise may have nothing to do with our invitation. There are always pre-public sailings that can involve various types of special, (non-public) invited groups. I suspect our sailing will be one of those. I'm hoping for a Venice to Barcelona, but  just being an 'armchair captain' here :0)  I can't imagine that this invited cruise would also already be open to the public, since how would they possibly coordinate (as many as plan to go) Sky guests along with public booking?  Lots of details to work out with it I suppose...will be interesting. Mid-January, however, seems likely. Has to be prior to that 1/26 sailing. 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by gretschwhtfalcon

[Hanoj]

2 hours ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

Interesting about the residual, if any, remaining once the voucher is used. Had not thought about that. The one agent I spoke with, however, seemed to indicate a "use it or lose it" approach, so I didn't expect that anything remaining would be usable towards yet another cruise. 

 

The "maiden voyage" 1/26 cruise may have nothing to do with our invitation. There are always pre-public sailings that can involve various types of special, (non-public) invited groups. I suspect our sailing will be one of those. I'm hoping for a Venice to Barcelona, but  just being an 'armchair captain' here :0)  I can't imagine that this invited cruise would also already be open to the public, since how would they possibly coordinate (as many as plan to go) Sky guests along with public booking?  Lots of details to work out with it I suppose...will be interesting. Mid-January, however, seems likely. Has to be prior to that 1/26 sailing. 

 

 

 

@gretschwhtfalcon, your undaunting adventurism is most admirable. Thank you for your courage, vim and vigor. You are a hero. Thanks for your contributions to these forums. I would happily be a paying patron to accompany you and other Sky voyagers on the Venus's "maiden voyage" or pre-maiden voyage.

 

[OnTheJourney]

9 hours ago, Hanoj said:

 

@gretschwhtfalcon, your undaunting adventurism is most admirable. Thank you for your courage, vim and vigor. You are a hero. Thanks for your contributions to these forums. I would happily be a paying patron to accompany you and other Sky voyagers on the Venus's "maiden voyage" or pre-maiden voyage.

 

Hanoj.....wow....such kind words....much appreciated. I never really thought of myself as the 'undaunted adventurous' type compared to some folks, and right up until the moment when I was pulled inside the helicopter door quite honestly I was petrified! I'd be happy to be with you as well on the Venus or any other voyage 🙂  As to whether or not I and the other Sky guests are indeed 'heroes', either way we can just surely be thankful that things turned out the way they did. The real heroes, in my book, are the crew of the Sky, CHC helicopter pilots and officials that coordinated and conducted the rescue efforts, and all the volunteers, Red Cross, police, etc. whose attentiveness and graciousness in handling the 400+ people in such an emergency was beyond reproach. 

Edited June 22, 2019 by gretschwhtfalcon

[OnTheJourney]

On 6/21/2019 at 12:45 AM, ptkelley said:

The amount left over is what I am wondering about. Does it show up as an onboard credit in the cruise you used it for? There doesn’t seem to be a written policy on this. Twice I have been told by Viking Survivors Hotline it goes into on board credit for that cruise. Once I was told that if I use the voucher it is counted as used if there is s balance left I would lose it. 

 

There is a "Viking Survivors Hotline"?  Seriously?  Gotta look that one up!!

[OnTheJourney]

On 6/15/2019 at 10:57 AM, TexasTraveler54 said:

Contacted Viking Sky hotline yesterday.  They confirmed that the Jan. 26 sailing is the maiden voyage of the Venus.  Once they found the letter we received from the Chairman, they said itinerary was still being firmed up and details would be forthcoming to all Sky passengers.  After pointing out that cabins were selling on their website, I was connected with reservations.  They did not have any answers to how our offer was going to be accommodated.  Representative was sending my questions to her manager and said they would contact me within 10 business days.  Seems like we would have been contacted prior to offering for public sale, but maybe Viking has a master plan! 

 

Just what is this "Viking Sky Survivors Hotline"?   And how is it contacted? 

[Haworth]

We have a named contact in the UK office who has dealt with any queries we have had, more than sufficient to meet our needs, just looking forward to finding the right cruise to book next