Price Increase for Silver Spirits Package and Gratuities?

[vslparis]

Looks like the SS package is now $25 per person per day .  I had put the package in my shopping cart yesterday (or the day before ) and for my 28 day trip it was $558 per person for the length of the trip; today it showed $700 per person 😬.  Someone on another social media site also mentioned that plus an increase in gratuities but I can’t confirm that since I hadn’t done that one yet.  Did anyone receive a notice about an upcoming price increase in these ? 

[TayanaLorna]

No notice from Viking.  Why would they really?  Yes MVJ shows $25 pp per day for drinks package and the recommended gratuities went from $15 to $18.  Viking drinks package is still about the lowest in the cruise industry.

[SantaFe1]

24 minutes ago, vslparis said:

Looks like the SS package is now $25 per person per day .  I had put the package in my shopping cart yesterday (or the day before ) and for my 28 day trip it was $558 per person for the length of the trip; today it showed $700 per person 😬.  Someone on another social media site also mentioned that plus an increase in gratuities but I can’t confirm that since I hadn’t done that one yet.  Did anyone receive a notice about an upcoming price increase in these ? 

Ouch!  SSP is in my cart and now has increased substantially.  That will teach me to procrastinate!!

[Azulann]

Yes, my Silver Spirit package will cost me $250.00 (which includes gratuity on each drink) for my 10 day cruise. This would be the first price increase since Viking Ocean started sailing. No big deal. 

I agree that it is still a good  deal if you love cocktails  

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Azulann

[Squawkman]

Just checked MVJ for our river cruise. Gratuities there are now $20pp per day. SS is Los $25.

[SantaFe1]

51 minutes ago, vslparis said:

Looks like the SS package is now $25 per person per day .  I had put the package in my shopping cart yesterday (or the day before ) and for my 28 day trip it was $558 per person for the length of the trip; today it showed $700 per person 😬.  Someone on another social media site also mentioned that plus an increase in gratuities but I can’t confirm that since I hadn’t done that one yet.  Did anyone receive a notice about an upcoming price increase in these ? 

Valerie, check your cart again.  I previously just checked today’s price in the SSP section, not in my cart.  The price in my cart is still the old price, $558 for the two of us for our cruise.  The price listed if newly ordering today is $700 for the two of us.  I just quickly bought the package from my cart, and with the 3.3% discount it was $538 for the two of us.  

[vslparis]

23 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Ouch!  SSP is in my cart and now has increased substantially.  That will teach me to procrastinate!!

I know ! It probably wouldn’t be so annoying to pay an additional $5  per person if I had a 7-10 day cruise or if I hadn’t noticed it for a few months rather than a day or two after I meant

to purchase it .  Oh well, still a good deal as I imagine the cost of cocktails on board will be increasing too.  

[vslparis]

10 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Valerie, check your cart again.  I previously just checked today’s price in the SSP section, not in my cart.  The price in my cart is still the old price, $558 for the two of us for our cruise.  The price listed if newly ordering today is $700 for the two of us.  I just quickly bought the package from my cart, and with the 3.3% discount it was $538 for the two of us.  

Well, I did that too and paid the old rate, however when I look at the invoice it shows $700 per person ( vs the $558 per person) and when I look at the balance I now owe on my cruise it is $280 more . That $280 is the difference between the old SS price and the new one minus what I just paid  😒

Edited January 1, 2023 by vslparis

[SantaFe1]

18 minutes ago, vslparis said:

Well, I did that too and paid the old rate, however when I look at the invoice it shows $700 per person ( vs the $558 per person) and when I look at the balance I now owe on my cruise it is $280 more . That $280 is the difference between the old SS price and the new one minus what I just paid  😒

Well, I paid, it showed the $538 amount, and thanked me.  So I think I got it.  It won’t appear on my bank statement for a few days, and I’ll check again.  But our Hawaii cruise in 2024 is now $800 for the two of us!  We are going to have to stop drinking, LOL.

[purpleally]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

No notice from Viking.  Why would they really?  Yes MVJ shows $25 pp per day for drinks package and the recommended gratuities went from $15 to $18.  Viking drinks package is still about the lowest in the cruise industry.

They absolutely should!  Give people a chance to prepay. Even Carnival gave its guests a heads up!
I think this is very sneaky on Vikings part

[vslparis]

6 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Well, I paid, it showed the $538 amount, and thanked me.  So I think I got it.  It won’t appear on my bank statement for a few days, and I’ll check again.  But our Hawaii cruise in 2024 is now $800 for the two of us!  We are going to have to stop drinking, LOL.

Not stop drinking, just drink more to make up for the extra cost 🤣.  
 

Send yourself an updated email from MVJ and you should see that the SS noted on there is at the new rate.not the old one .  I don’t think that you can see each individual payment made on your booking ( like I can on the TA invoice) but you should be able to see the total payments made and the , what should be, the new total for the trip which more than likely is the difference between the old and new SS pricing minus what you just paid online.  My trip total is now exactly $280 more than it was before which is the exact amount of that difference .

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, Squawkman said:

Just checked MVJ for our river cruise. Gratuities there are now $20pp per day. SS is Los $25.

Ah so River gratuities are more.  We are on an ocean.

[SantaFe1]

21 minutes ago, vslparis said:

Send yourself an updated email from MVJ and you should see that the SS noted on there is at the new rate.not the old one

How do I do this?

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, vslparis said:

I know ! It probably wouldn’t be so annoying to pay an additional $5  per person if I had a 7-10 day cruise or if I hadn’t noticed it for a few months rather than a day or two after I meant

to purchase it .  Oh well, still a good deal as I imagine the cost of cocktails on board will be increasing too.  

I saw a Living Room Bar Menu that someone posted when on a cruise in the last couple of months and thought the cost of drinks had increased.  Then saw postings of the wine list and wine by the glass went from $6 to $8 and those same wines by the bottle went from $25 to $30.  I figured the SSBP would soon increase.

[TayanaLorna]

27 minutes ago, vslparis said:

Not stop drinking, just drink more to make up for the extra cost 🤣.  
 

Send yourself an updated email from MVJ and you should see that the SS noted on there is at the new rate.not the old one .  I don’t think that you can see each individual payment made on your booking ( like I can on the TA invoice) but you should be able to see the total payments made and the , what should be, the new total for the trip which more than likely is the difference between the old and new SS pricing minus what you just paid online.  My trip total is now exactly $280 more than it was before which is the exact amount of that difference .

Yes on page 2 of the Guest Invoice that we request through MVJ shows each payment with corresponding dates.

[SantaFe1]

26 minutes ago, vslparis said:

the new total for the trip which more than likely is the difference between the old and new SS pricing minus what you just paid online.  My trip total is now exactly $280 more than it was before which is the exact amount of that difference .

Yep, I now have a notice saying final payment is due, and to contact my TA.  So I guess I got charged the whole thing.  That’s sort of false advertising.  I think Viking is fine raising their rates, but not fine saying you owe 558 then getting paid that abs then adding the the remainder.  
 

we are 43 days out from Mediterranean Antiquities.  We’re are you off to?

[vslparis]

1 hour ago, SantaFe1 said:

Yep, I now have a notice saying final payment is due, and to contact my TA.  So I guess I got charged the whole thing.  That’s sort of false advertising.  I think Viking is fine raising their rates, but not fine saying you owe 558 then getting paid that abs then adding the the remainder.  
 

we are 43 days out from Mediterranean Antiquities.  We’re are you off to?

We are doing the Bergen to NYC trip on 02 August . After that , our second attempt at the World Horizon 121 days starting January 2024 😀. Not going to let my husband carry anything in the World Cafe this time 😉

[Pushka]

We purchased the SS a few weeks ago, it was $520 AUD pp. I looked randomly last night and it's almost 50% more expensive, at $740 pp, due to the price increase and the fallen Aussie dollar. Phew. 

[JM0115]

7 hours ago, purpleally said:

They absolutely should!  Give people a chance to prepay. Even Carnival gave its guests a heads up!
I think this is very sneaky on Vikings part

We got no advanced notice.  SS is now $25 per day and gratiuties are $18 per day.  I think they should have been more forthcoming.  SS is the best deal in the industry but the other cruise lines send you a letter in advance.

[Squawkman]

8 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

Ah so River gratuities are more.  We are on an ocean.

They were always a little more as they were 15€ which up until recently was more than $15. 

[deec]

I am disappointed that Viking did NOT take this opportunity to include gratuities into the price of the cruise.

[Clay Clayton]

This is confusing. Below is a screen shot from the Viking website regarding gratuities-clearly saying they are now $17pp/pd not the $18 others are seeing on their cruises.
 

Additionally, I looked to see what they were for our upcoming Iceland and Norway’s Arctic Explorer 15 day/14 night cruise in July and according to MVJ they total $252pp or $16.80pp/pd for 15 days or $18 pp/pn for 14 nights (which is how I seem to recall gratuities were billed). 

[Squawkman]

31 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

This is confusing. Below is a screen shot from the Viking website regarding gratuities-clearly saying they are now $17pp/pd not the $18 others are seeing on their cruises.
 

Additionally, I looked to see what they were for our upcoming Iceland and Norway’s Arctic Explorer 15 day/14 night cruise in July and according to MVJ they total $252pp or $16.80pp/pd for 15 days or $18 pp/pn for 14 nights (which is how I seem to recall gratuities were billed). 

Gratuities have always been billed per night seemingly as the first and last days of a cruise are 1/2 days. River cruise gratuities had been odd amounts due to Euro conversion. For the heck of it, I checked the parallel FAQ on gratuities on the river site and it says $20 if prepaid and 20€ if billed on board.

[Squawkman]

Here’s something interesting - last month we booked a cruise using a promo which included gratuities. So I just checked MVJ which showed $18 per day - but the following paragraph appears on the right:

 

 Pre-Paid Gratuities are included for a portion of your trip. To purchase for the remaining days please contact us at 1-855-706-2326.

 

Then I checked my billing statement which clearly states:

 

Promotional Amenities EHT22 Complimentary Pre-Paid Gratuities
 

I’ll check this out with my Viking agent next time we speak, but I would expect Viking should pick up any increase for gratuities just as it does for cruise fare, prepaid extensions and excursions, etc. Honestly, I have no problem tipping extra, but I am a little perplexed with this policy.

 

Question for anyone who has prepaid SS:  do you get a similar statement for SS on MVJ?

Edited January 2, 2023 by Squawkman
Grammar

[Clay Clayton]

20 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

Here’s something interesting - last month we booked a cruise using a promo which included gratuities. So I just checked MVJ which showed $18 per day - but the following paragraph appears on the right:

 

 Pre-Paid Gratuities are included for a portion of your trip. To purchase for the remaining days please contact us at 1-855-706-2326.

 

Then I checked my billing statement which clearly states:

 

Promotional Amenities EHT22 Complimentary Pre-Paid Gratuities
 

I’ll check this out with my Viking agent next time we speak, but I would expect Viking should pick up any increase for gratuities just as it does for cruise fare, prepaid extensions and excursions, etc. Honestly, I have no problem tipping extra, but I am a little perplexed with this policy.

 

Question for anyone who has prepaid SS:  do you get a similar statement for SS on MVJ?

We have SS included for our upcoming cruise as part of the promo-I can only imagine the uproar if suddenly $5pp/pd appears on the onboard accounts. At the moment MVJ still shows it as being included. 🤞

Edited January 2, 2023 by Clay Clayton