Do not accept a Viking Voucher

[Njkm]

The customer service provided by Viking, if there is a problem, is abysmal.  We have taken one cruise by Viking which was great.  However, if you have a problem you are out of luck with Viking.  And I would say make sure you read the fine print, but some policies are not even printed.  It’s advertising and making things as obscure as possible.  Make sure you understand the policies for cancellations and your insurance.  I would advise you to put on your credit card (even if a 3% increase) as you will need the credit card company to advocate for you.  Viking’s customer service needs help in addressing customer needs when there is a problem.  The voucher issue is huge.  Do not accept a voucher under any circumstances!!  Book your trip and call the insurance company and make sure you understand the coverage.  If for some reason you cannot take the trip, do not postpone, do not accept vouchers, cancel the trip and rebook at a later date.  Do not…do not accept a voucher!  For us, we will never take another cruise again.  The whole experience has left us with very bad feelings about the sleaziness of the cruise industry.

There is a huge problem that seniors are having with Viking River Cruises: This company has duped us and others of thousands of dollars, and is being completely unresponsive and unmoving on any resolution. As I read on the internet I see that the same issue is happening to thousands of other seniors. For some the issue is due to Covid, but for others, like us, this has not very much to do with Covid, but a progressive neurological issue. We felt our trip was protected by the travel insurance that Viking recommended, but they duped us into accepting vouchers and are now not allowing us to cancel and receive a refund for our trip ( though we have medical documentation that it is unsafe for one member in our party.) I can send the particulars on our situation if needed, but this is the .... Chain of events that they are putting thousands and thousands of seniors through: *Purchase a Viking cruise. (for many this is their life savings and the big event they have been looking forward to) *Cruise purchased with their “recommended and advertised” travel insurance (Trip Mate). Assurance is given that Viking is backed by their “risk free guarantee” and excellent insurance coverage to protect you if a medical issue should prevent you from traveling. *A medical issue does arise. You are encouraged to roll over your vacation to a later date. (“Then you won’t lose your insurance and hopefully then you can travel. We will give you vouchers and that way you will save money rather than cancelling and rebooking.”) *The new date of cruise comes up and you still are unable to travel due to your medical issue. Your doctor tells you that you will no longer be able to travel..that it isn’t safe. You have medical documentation and try to cancel your cruise, thinking you are backed by Viking’s wonderful insurance. Trip mate says you have this wonderful policy; there should be no problem. Then you let them know you have vouchers from when the trip was rebooked. It is then that they tell you that the vouchers will not work with the insurance. *Viking has never informed you that you were giving up your medical trip protection when you accepted vouchers. You have not signed any agreement or acknowledgment of this information. At the time you rebooked, you were told you would receive vouchers, but there was no explanation that this would change anything. In fact, you asked if this would in any way affect your insurance and you were told, "absolutely not …you are always backed by Viking’s wonderful insurance and risk free guarantee.” At this point you have not received your vouchers and there has been no information that you have in any way altered your insurance coverage. This is the trap that they are setting for their customers. I can provide more details if needed. I hope that this office can do something about this. I have already contacted the Attorney General which triggered a response from Viking. However, their only response was that we could give the vouchers to someone else. We do not know anyone we would give $35,000 trip to that would appreciate it. We do not feel this is an unacceptable resolution under the circumstances. Governor, we hope you can help us in this matter and not allow this business to continue these dubious business practices. Thank you so very much for your time and consideration. 
 

[Ecnarps]

Sadly, I understand where Njkm is coming from.

 

We recently booked our January 2023 Viking Ocean cruise using future cruise vouchers from a previously cancelled cruise. Here are some lessons learned (the hard way) and things to watch out for if you’re in a similar situation.

-       TripMate cannot be paid for with voucher credit (even if you had it on the original cruise invoice). You have to rebuy it via credit card or check.

-       Any excess voucher credit (after your basic cruise and air fares are taken care of) can be used for air differentials, shore excursions, pre-paid onboard gratuity, Silver Spirit package, etc. (added to your invoice PRIOR to departure)… BUT cannot be transferred to onboard credit.

-       If you do purchase TripMate on your revised booking and subsequently need to cancel your trip, do not expect to be refunded ANY voucher money or voucher credit. TripMate does not recognize applied vouchers as being covered or refundable…even though YOUR money originally paid for those vouchers… which Viking probably had in their pocket for a long time at that point.

-       If you used vouchers for your revised booking, the Viking standard Guest Cancellation Schedule also NO LONGER APPLIES in any effective manner.  (IMO, an extremely disingenuous policy)

-       If you cancel your cruise OUTSIDE of 120 days prior to departure, Viking may allow you to apply the value of those vouchers to a different cruise.  Dicey…to be seen.

-       However, if you cancel your cruise WITHIN 120 days of departure… poof!…. your voucher (and therefore your money) is gone (Viking will keep it even though you haven’t been provided a penny’s worth of product).

Despite having been a huge fan of Viking (5 past cruises, 5 more currently booked), all of this has left a sour taste in my mouth for their one-sided business practices and quite frankly, I have a lot of reconsideration to do. Wish I never accepted any Viking vouchers.  Part of my near-term solution will be to buy third party trip insurance)…expensive but prudent.  I hope this little diatribe of mine will be helpful to anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation.  Buyer Beware!!

[KBs mum]

Any firm can recommend any product. It is up to the buyer to ascertain suitability. It is not compulsory to buy insurance via Viking. 

There are allways terms and conditions involved with insurance and vouchers, for cruises and anything else. A cash refund is always best. Most vouchers don't have a cash value, credit notes do. 

Read everything carefully, ask for a copy of the full the terms and conditions before making a decision if a lot of money is involved 

 

[cmaasfamily]

I'm sure your experiences are painful, but some of your arguments don't make sense.

 

"do not expect to be refunded ANY voucher money or voucher credit..." Why would you expect that? You can't be REFUNDED because you didn't pay. That's like going to WalMart, buying a five dollar item with a dollar off coupon, returning the item and expecting to get five dollars back instead of the four you paid.

 

Why would TripMate accept voucher credit? Again, it's not REAL money, it's a goodwill promotional discount - you can, if fact, get more "value" from Viking with it - larger stateroom, excursions, etc., but you can't spend it elsewhere because it is exclusively Viking scrip. 

 

"Cancel within 120 days of departure... poof!.. your voucher (and therefore your money) is gone..."

 

Again, vouchers are not money. 

 

"Viking will keep it even though you haven’t been provided a penny’s worth of product..."

 

No product or you, but opportunity costs for Viking. Have you ever bought or sold a house? If the buyer backs out late in the process the seller keeps the earnest money and the buyer doesn't get a penny's worth of roof, bedroom, or kitchen.

[Selion]

2 hours ago, cmaasfamily said:

Again, it's not REAL money, it's a goodwill promotional discount

The Kool-Aid is strong in this one.

 

While the vouchers may not be real money from a certain point of view, it represents real money paid for and collected by Viking.

 

2 hours ago, cmaasfamily said:

but opportunity costs for Viking.

Yes, but it should accounted by Viking as normal costs of doing business.  And what about our opportunity cost?  For the last 2 years, our deposits and fully paid cruises floated Viking's financial positions at 0% interest.

[JKCRUISES]

Cmassfamily your wrong. I did pay over $15,000 to Viking 4 years ago with REAL money. Viking cancelled 2 of my booked cruises and then changed my current booking to require a booster shot. I medically can not receive the booster shot, so therefore can not take get on a Viking ship. Why shouldn’t I be able to get a refund of my original monies paid? I understand no refund if I just changed my mind but Viking changed the terms from when I booked.
 

In your buy a house scenario they  breached the contract by changing terms and I would be able to sue for breach of contract.

 

If Viking does not change course on the no refund on vouchers under certain circumstances they are definitely alienating a lot of past, present and future clients.

All cruise lines I have dealt with when they changed terms allowed for refunds.

[cruiselvr04]

I’m sorry for what has happened to you with your travel plans.  It must be very disappointing.  Good health is everything.  Hoping for some resolution.
 

Is there anyone in your circle who would give you even half of the credit for your vouchers?  In my opinion this would be a win-win with someone being able to cruise for less and you getting some of you money back.

[cruiselvr04]

We have decided to pull the plug on a Viking cruise before final payment.  We have 5 cruises booked on other lines with final payments out 30 to 120 days.  Paying 15 months out in full is out of our comfort zone. I’m sure we’ll be back to Viking when the dust settles but right now I’ll only book Viking if a cabin is available a few months out.  We just don’t want that money tied up in Vikings pocket and not ours.  We certainly do not want vouchers for large amounts that have so many restrictions.  There are other lines that are much more reasonable in their practices.  They will have our business for now.  

[Squawkman]

JKCRUISES - when Viking canceled your first cruise, I’m 99.9% sure you had an option to get a cash refund within a week or so. You most likely chose a FCV with additional credit (probably 25% at that time). From that point on, FCV T&C take over. If the booster shot is an issue, contact Viking. Good chances you can get exempt with a doctor’s note.

[Porcupine 52]

1 hour ago, Squawkman said:

JKCRUISES - when Viking canceled your first cruise, I’m 99.9% sure you had an option to get a cash refund within a week or so. You most likely chose a FCV with additional credit (probably 25% at that time). From that point on, FCV T&C take over. If the booster shot is an issue, contact Viking. Good chances you can get exempt with a doctor’s note.

When our cruise was canceled Viking gave us the option of our money back or the voucher. I wasn’t sure if we were going to do another cruise so I asked for our money back. Viking was very good about it. Had the money back in a couple of weeks.

 

We  ended up going to Iceland and using the cash for that trip. Did it cost me the 25%?  Yes for sure but I think unless you are 100% sure you are going to use it you should take the cash not the voucher.  The voucher comes with rules….and the cash doesn’t 

 

JMHO

[KBs mum]

2 hours ago, Selion said:

The Kool-Aid is strong in this one.

 

While the vouchers may not be real money from a certain point of view, it represents real money paid for and collected by Viking.

 

Yes, but it should accounted by Viking as normal costs of doing business.  And what about our opportunity cost?  For the last 2 years, our deposits and fully paid cruises floated Viking's financial positions at 0% interest.

@cmaasfamily reply will not not be popular, but it is a realistic view of the situation. The opportunity for a refund or insurance claim was before acceptance of the voucher offer, which negates a lot of legal protections and refund rights. Viking have not lied, but there seems to have been assumptions from customers about what Viking's terms and conditions would be, and what would be covered by insurance.

Viking have some sort of promotional agreement with the insurance company They are not the same company and cannot speak for each other. 

 

[JohnofCharleston]

1 hour ago, KBs mum said:

Viking have not lied, but there seems to have been assumptions from customers about what Viking's terms and conditions would be, and what would be covered by insurance.

 

I think a key problem is that Viking still sold a second insurance policy on the vouchered rebooking, and explicitly told OP that the same insurance provisions would apply:
 

22 hours ago, Njkm said:

In fact, you asked if this would in any way affect your insurance and you were told, "absolutely not …you are always backed by Viking’s wonderful insurance and risk free guarantee.”

 

Now that OP is medically unable to travel, and tried to use the insurance to get a refund, Viking is only offering useless store credit. That's not what the insurance policy is supposed to cover, the Cancel-For-Any-Reason provision may only offer future credit, but a genuine medical issue should be refunded in cash, up to the cash amount that OP actually paid for the original sailing.

 

I'm sure Viking didn't intend to defraud anyone, I'm sure there's no malice here. But it's still Viking's mistake, not OP's.

[KBs mum]

3 hours ago, JKCRUISES said:

Cmassfamily your wrong. I did pay over $15,000 to Viking 4 years ago with REAL money. Viking cancelled 2 of my booked cruises and then changed my current booking to require a booster shot. I medically can not receive the booster shot, so therefore can not take get on a Viking ship. Why shouldn’t I be able to get a refund of my original monies paid? I understand no refund if I just changed my mind but Viking changed the terms from when I booked.
 

In your buy a house scenario they  breached the contract by changing terms and I would be able to sue for breach of contract.

 

If Viking does not change course on the no refund on vouchers under certain circumstances they are definitely alienating a lot of past, present and future clients.

All cruise lines I have dealt with when they changed terms allowed for refunds.

When you accepted the voucher you waived your right to a cash refund. 

The booster shot is a requirement for entry into a lot of countries now, some won't allow entry at all without, and some require quarantine. 

If the countries you want to visit allow some sort of proof of medical exemption, Viking may accept it as well. If not can you use the vouchers for a Mississippi trip? As it's domestic Viking may be more flexible about vaccines, depending on what the CDC are saying. 

You may be able to use the vouchers to cover the cost of a cruise for someone else, at least then somebody is getting some benefit from them

[JohnofCharleston]

2 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

When you accepted the voucher you waived your right to a cash refund.

 

If that's the case, Viking should not have sold insurance on it. What would the policy be covering?

Edited January 28, 2022 by JohnofCharleston

[KBs mum]

2 minutes ago, JohnofCharleston said:

 

I think a key problem is that Viking still sold a second insurance policy on the vouchered rebooking, and explicitly told OP that the same insurance provisions would apply:
 

 

Now that OP is medically unable to travel, and tried to use the insurance to get a refund, Viking is only offering useless store credit. That's not what the insurance policy is supposed to cover, the Cancel-For-Any-Reason provision may only offer future credit, but a genuine medical issue should be refunded in cash, up to the cash amount that OP actually paid for the original sailing.

 

I'm sure Viking didn't intend to defraud anyone, I'm sure there's no malice here. But it's still Viking's mistake, not OP's.

As usual the devil's in the detail, I don't necessarily disagree with you, the issue is what is insured. The insurance is quoted as providing medical when on holiday, this is not the same as cancellation due to medical.

And so on, its a minefield, in god we trust, cash straight away from everybody else! 

[KBs mum]

20 minutes ago, JohnofCharleston said:

 

If that's the case, Viking should not have sold insurance on it. What would the policy be covering?

The policy would be covering whatever the policy documents say it is. It may be a superb policy for medical when abroad, and for lost luggage but not very good for anything else, we have no way of knowing. Its up to the buyer to check it meets requirements, or still meets requirements if circumstances have changed. 

[Heidi13]

7 hours ago, JKCRUISES said:

Cmassfamily your wrong. I did pay over $15,000 to Viking 4 years ago with REAL money. Viking cancelled 2 of my booked cruises and then changed my current booking to require a booster shot. I medically can not receive the booster shot, so therefore can not take get on a Viking ship. Why shouldn’t I be able to get a refund of my original monies paid? I understand no refund if I just changed my mind but Viking changed the terms from when I booked.
 

In your buy a house scenario they  breached the contract by changing terms and I would be able to sue for breach of contract.

 

If Viking does not change course on the no refund on vouchers under certain circumstances they are definitely alienating a lot of past, present and future clients.

All cruise lines I have dealt with when they changed terms allowed for refunds.

 

As with a number of others, your situation is most unfortunate, but it is another classic situation of buyer beware.

 

You stated Viking cancelled your cruises, so you were most likely provided the options of 100% cash refund, or FCV at 110% or 125%. When you receive an offer of 10 or 25% return on your money, you clearly are going to be incurring risk. It might be my heritage, but I learned at a very early age, nobody gives me money for nothing. It is very simple, cash back is safe,  FCV's = RISK. 

 

When Viking cancelled the cruises, you could have requested your $15,000 be returned, which would have been the prudent option. However, you opted to gamble that money for a 10 or 25% return. The large Future Cruise Vouchers certainly look appealing, but I would expect anyone that declines a cash refund and takes a $15,000 gamble would have spent considerable time researching the risks, so as to be a fully informed consumer. Since you are now complaining, I can only assume you didn't use a Travel Agent, nor did you thoroughly research the risks. How much research did you complete prior to accepting the FCV's?

 

Prior to accepting a $12,000 FCV, my Travel Agent and I held extensive discussions with Viking, over a couple of days, to determine the FCV's terms & conditions and any restrictions on use. I also spent another full evening re-reading the Passenger Contract. As an informed consumer, I accepted the risks and am aware of the potential pitfalls. If we are unable to take the cruise booked with these voucher, the fault is NOT Viking's, it is mine, as they have policies, which I learned and accepted. Regardless of whether I am an informed, or uninformed consumer, if I lose the money, the fault is mine. My alternative was receiving 25% of my money back under the cancellation terms, as I cancelled the cruise, not Viking.

 

With respect to Viking's "Breach of Contract", may I suggest reading the T&C, especially Section 10 - Health, etc. They clearly state you agreed to comply with the Viking health requirements at time of sailing.

[JKCRUISES]

When I accepted the FCC vaccines were not required let alone Boosters. I got the vaccine and I had a personal medical issue with the vaccine that prevents me from getting the booster. So how is that MY fault? I understand Viking wants to protect the crew and guests and they should but I also must protect myself and since I am unable to meet their current requirements, which were not a requirement when I accepted the FCC I should receive a refund or a medical waiver,  Viking has stated to me they will not accept a medical waiver and they will not give me a refund . I do find this unacceptable. All other cruise lines I have dealt with, when changing original booking terms have offered refunds.  I would 100% go on this trip if the booster was not required by Viking  The booster is not required in the country we are going to,  Going on a USA River cruise is not an option since Viking is requiring a booster on all their cruises currently.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, JKCRUISES said:

When I accepted the FCC vaccines were not required let alone Boosters. I got the vaccine and I had a personal medical issue with the vaccine that prevents me from getting the booster. So how is that MY fault? I understand Viking wants to protect the crew and guests and they should but I also must protect myself and since I am unable to meet their current requirements, which were not a requirement when I accepted the FCC I should receive a refund or a medical waiver,  Viking has stated to me they will not accept a medical waiver and they will not give me a refund . I do find this unacceptable. All other cruise lines I have dealt with, when changing original booking terms have offered refunds.  I would 100% go on this trip if the booster was not required by Viking  The booster is not required in the country we are going to,  Going on a USA River cruise is not an option since Viking is requiring a booster on all their cruises currently.

 

The circumstances are most unfortunate, but you did have the option of receiving a 100% refund when Viking cancelled the original cruises. You must have declined the refund in favour of gambling on what in those days was a 25% return on the cruise fare. You accepted the associated risks, which I'll suggest are even higher than normal, during the pandemic.

 

In April 2020, we had a significant portion of the World Cruise cancelled and Viking offered us 125% FCV, in lieu of the 100% cash refund. Based on the value and number of unknowns resulting from the pandemic, I determined, while the 25% return was appealing, common sense said the FCV risks were way too high, considering the number of unknowns and frequent worldwide changes due to the pandemic. Therefore, we accepted the cash. A year later, we moved our next WC up 2-years and those 125% FCV would have saved a few thousand dollars. However, I made the most prudent decision at the time, and have no complaints.

 

You also made a decision, but you declined the full cash refund, in favour of a fairly high risk gamble, when the World was in turmoil due to the pandemic. While you couldn't possibly have anticipated your inability to receive a booster, many other changes could have impacted your ability to use the FCV.

 

In my opinion, the root cause of your situation is not Viking's new booster requirements, it is when you declined the full refund.

 

Since Viking has the best COVID safety plan of any cruise line and has required vaccinations from when they resumed operations, I am not surprised they implemented mandatory boosters. I actually anticipated it during the "Delta" wave of infections, so their announcement was not a surprise. Even if you hadn't anticipated the booster requirements, Viking provided almost 1 month notice of implementation. Frankly, if we were in your situation, we would have changed the booking earlier, so we used the vouchers at the end of last year, or once the announcement was made before February. Might not have been our preferred cruise, but any cruise with Viking is better than lost money.

[jherivel]

12 hours ago, Porcupine 52 said:

When our cruise was canceled Viking gave us the option of our money back or the voucher. I wasn’t sure if we were going to do another cruise so I asked for our money back. Viking was very good about it. Had the money back in a couple of weeks.

 

We  ended up going to Iceland and using the cash for that trip. Did it cost me the 25%?  Yes for sure but I think unless you are 100% sure you are going to use it you should take the cash not the voucher.  The voucher comes with rules….and the cash doesn’t 

 

JMHO

Yes same here. we had the choice of refund or voucher. Many saw the 125% voucher and opted without reading the fine print. It seemed obvious to us that once you took a voucher you had locked yourself into this option according to the voucher conditions .

 

We opted for the refund and used the money to pay off cruise we gad booked with another line. This was not because we were unhappy, it was because the cruise we wanted to do only operated 3-4 times within a short time. We had other cruises booked and it was not doable.

 

What has also muddied the waters is that the voucher conditions changed over time as the travel situation changed. Apples ain’t oranges and people need to clearly check what applies to their situation, not what others have posted.

[Squawkman]

15 hours ago, JKCRUISES said:

When I accepted the FCC vaccines were not required let alone Boosters. I got the vaccine and I had a personal medical issue with the vaccine that prevents me from getting the booster. So how is that MY fault?

You don’t get it, do you? You made a deal that required some risk. Several folks here have drilled that into you, but you still feel you’re entitled to a refund now.
 

You state that you would cruise if Viking gave you a medical waiver. Without detail here, my brother in law was advised by his doctor not to be vaccinated due to his medical conditions. When Omicron hit, another one of his doctors insisted he get vaccinated. He did and had little reaction - it might have saved his life as he did get Covid with no serious symptoms. Maybe you should see a different doctor. If there is still too much of a risk, then see what you could do to liquidate the vouchers you can’t use.

[Porcupine 52]

16 hours ago, JKCRUISES said:

When I accepted the FCC vaccines were not required let alone Boosters. I got the vaccine and I had a personal medical issue with the vaccine that prevents me from getting the booster. So how is that MY fault? I understand Viking wants to protect the crew and guests and they should but I also must protect myself and since I am unable to meet their current requirements, which were not a requirement when I accepted the FCC I should receive a refund or a medical waiver,  Viking has stated to me they will not accept a medical waiver and they will not give me a refund . I do find this unacceptable. All other cruise lines I have dealt with, when changing original booking terms have offered refunds.  I would 100% go on this trip if the booster was not required by Viking  The booster is not required in the country we are going to,  Going on a USA River cruise is not an option since Viking is requiring a booster on all their cruises currently.

If it makes any difference to you I am in the Vaccine test group and had the (real) booster since May of last year and have had not issues.    I totally understand that you may not want the booster, but Viking has a right to change rules.  If they come out with another booster for Omicron or the next variant it would not surprise me if Viking changes the rules again.  We all are going to have to roll with the punches today.

[KEN31VA]

All that I can add to the discussion is that almost all of the issues are not unique to Viking.  As with all of the cruise lines, it's easy to be swayed into accepting a FCC without realizing the risks.

[jonthomas]

We are now being told by Viking that we cant turn our cruise over to our agent since we used FCVs and they will not pay commission.

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, jonthomas said:

We are now being told by Viking that we cant turn our cruise over to our agent since we used FCVs and they will not pay commission.

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Negative, we booked on board and used a FCV. The cruise consultant sent a copy to our TA.