Cancelled Ports

[duquephart]

16 minutes ago, Mitina said:

Assuming this is true, going public will pretty much end any chance Viking will be this generous again.

 

Yeah -----'cause they're so responsive to genuine issues brought forth here.

As to your "assuming" snark ----- I can supply a copy of the advisement (FCC 2188338 ).

Edited July 25, 2023 by duquephart

[Mich3554]

2 hours ago, Twitchly said:

Sometimes Viking will substitute another port. For example, last fall we missed the Shetlands (waaah!) and were given a day in Stavanger, Norway, instead. On the same cruise we also missed Ullapool and were given … an extra sea day. 
 

One note about refunds for those optional excursions: they’re given in the form of onboard credit, which means you have to use them before the end of the cruise. That’s tough when your refunded excursion comes near the end of your cruise. We already had the Silver Spirits package and had pre-paid gratuities; the spa was booked up. So we ended up buying more stuff in the onboard shops than we normally would have. And keep in mind that the shops close for business a day or so before the end of the cruise. 

It depends on how you paid for it.  If you paid via voucher, or OBC received from a TA or as a perk from Viking, it is use it or lose it.  If you paid for your optional excursion prior to your cruise via cc, then you get refunded.  I had 3 cruises worth of missed excursions and learned about refundable and non refundable credits very well.  We got a chunk of $$ back from Viking from our lost refundable excursions.
Viking keeps track of which exact excursion is paid via OBC or cc.  

[MoBro713]

I paid for my excursions with ACH (bank draft).  If a port is cancelled will I get an OBC or a refund to my bank?  If it's an OBC, can I use that  for gratuities?

 

Thanks

[formernuke]

Yes you can always use once for gratuities. That’s why we don’t pay them in advance so we can use any once we get from booking another cruise 

[Mich3554]

2 hours ago, MoBro713 said:

I paid for my excursions with ACH (bank draft).  If a port is cancelled will I get an OBC or a refund to my bank?  If it's an OBC, can I use that  for gratuities?

 

Thanks

It will be credited to your account as a refundable credit.  If you do not use it, it will get refunded to you.  Viking will use non refundable credits first.  

[Mitina]

19 hours ago, duquephart said:

Mariehamn having already been removed from the itinerary bolstered my whine - not to mention the whole Gulf of Finland. 

OK, now I understand.  You recieved a future cruise credit for the significant itinerary change, not just missing Bornholm. Would've set quite a precedent to reimburse $1,000 for a weather related missed port.

[duquephart]

2 hours ago, Mitina said:

OK, now I understand.  You recieved a future cruise credit for the significant itinerary change, not just missing Bornholm. Would've set quite a precedent to reimburse $1,000 for a weather related missed port.

 

The Gulf of Finland was a seperate situation which resulted in a bit over $2000 (10% FCV). We also got nearly $4000 for cancellation of an extension even though it had been paid for with a voucher. Bornholm was Bornholm specific as I said: "We are sorry to hear you were unable to experience ----- ."

[Azulann]

23 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

Mariehamn having already been removed from the itinerary bolstered my whine - not to mention the whole Gulf of Finland. Maybe I just caught a sympathetic agent on a good day? Also got after them about a toilet issue one morning - another $1000.

So sorry you missed Mariehamn. it is on  a illdylic island of Arland archipelago.  The moment I stepped off the ship, I could smell pine trees, fresh sea air and small marinas all over the island with sailboats  it reminded me of the North Shore but no rugged coastline. it has a fascinating history. it is part of Finland but everyone speaks Swedish.

Hope you get back to the Baltic Sea sometime and visit it.

 

 

[SoDakPirate]

On a Viking cruise in 2017 we missed Porto due to rough seas. When we booked a trip a BTB a few months later for 2019 I asked our travel agent (NOW EX) to ask for compensation. She told me that she contacted her Viking business agent and nothing could be done. I politely called Viking and the gentleman who answered this random call said he would see what he could do.  A few minutes later he came back on the line and said he researched this and found that we had a pending reservation and if he credited us $800 PER PERSON on this new cruise would that make us happy?  I said" thank you so very much" and quickly ended the call before he changed his mind!

[Twitchly]

23 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

It depends on how you paid for it.  If you paid via voucher, or OBC received from a TA or as a perk from Viking, it is use it or lose it.  If you paid for your optional excursion prior to your cruise via cc, then you get refunded.  I had 3 cruises worth of missed excursions and learned about refundable and non refundable credits very well.  We got a chunk of $$ back from Viking from our lost refundable excursions.
Viking keeps track of which exact excursion is paid via OBC or cc.  

Interesting. Ours were a combination of voucher and pre-pay. Maybe our missed excursions were covered by our voucher. 
 

I can’t complain. I got some lovely things on the ship that I never would’ve bought otherwise!

[deec]

21 hours ago, SoDakPirate said:

On a Viking cruise in 2017 we missed Porto due to rough seas. When we booked a trip a BTB a few months later for 2019 I asked our travel agent (NOW EX) to ask for compensation. She told me that she contacted her Viking business agent and nothing could be done. I politely called Viking and the gentleman who answered this random call said he would see what he could do.  A few minutes later he came back on the line and said he researched this and found that we had a pending reservation and if he credited us $800 PER PERSON on this new cruise would that make us happy?  I said" thank you so very much" and quickly ended the call before he changed his mind!

We missed Porto too in 2017!  Were you on the Sky..Barcelona, Baltic and Beyond!  I wonder if I can still get compensation for the missed Porto!!!  LOL....we have been to Porto twice since and will be back this fall...hope you get to visit one day.  That was our first Viking Ocean Cruise and still one of my favorites! 

[SoDakPirate]

Yes. This was April 2017. It was our first Viking cruise. We were the first ship to cross the Kiel canal for the season. The local citizens were all lining the banks welcoming us!

[Ulsteinvik]

46 minutes ago, SoDakPirate said:

Yes. This was April 2017. It was our first Viking cruise. We were the first ship to cross the Kiel canal for the season. The local citizens were all lining the banks welcoming us!

Viking is lucky that they fit through the Kiel Canal with their fleet. That's why I can't understand why they kicked the Kiel Canal out of their itineraries since 2019.

[deec]

1 hour ago, SoDakPirate said:

Yes. This was April 2017. It was our first Viking cruise. We were the first ship to cross the Kiel canal for the season. The local citizens were all lining the banks welcoming us!

There was a British TV personality onboard...Ann McDonald, I think, she was doing a review of the ship for her TV series about cruising.  So glad we were able to visit St. Petersburg  and Tallin!

[Jammy Bun]

2 hours ago, deec said:

There was a British TV personality onboard...Ann McDonald, I think, she was doing a review of the ship for her TV series about cruising.  So glad we were able to visit St. Petersburg  and Tallin!

I think it's probably Jane McDonald, who was a singer on a cruise ship and featured in a BBC TV series in 1998, and became a much loved tv presenter.  I seem to remember that when she did the Viking Ocean cruise she had the Owners Suite - we were very envious!

[Hockeyump]

It was Jane McDonald that started our Viking journey. As my husband keeps telling me she has a lot answer for!!

[deec]

Yes it was Jane!!!  Senior memory!  She was in the Owner's suite!

[Jammy Bun]

15 hours ago, deec said:

Yes it was Jane!!!  Senior memory!  She was in the Owner's suite!

The tv programme is available on Youtube (at least in the UK) - I'm not sure whether I'm allowed to post a link, but the channel is UK History Documentary, and the episode is 'Cruising with Jane McDonald - The Baltic and Viking Sky'.  

[Heidi13]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:53 AM, Ulsteinvik said:

Viking is lucky that they fit through the Kiel Canal with their fleet. That's why I can't understand why they kicked the Kiel Canal out of their itineraries since 2019.

 

I'll suggest a Corporate decision based on costs, risk management and possibly also managing crew hours of rest. Navigating canals in compulsory pilotage waters is not cheap. Haven't been through Kiel, but I expect a tug(s) escort is probably mandatory, which is another significant cost factor. Panama & Suez easily justify these costs as the fuel savings are from the many thousands of miles saved and many additional weeks of steaming. However Kiel only saves about 250 miles, or about 14 hrs steaming.

 

From a risk management perspective navigating canals, with restricted channels and locks carries substantially more operational risk, especially when the ships are almost max length and draught.

 

The transit also takes 8-10 hrs, so the actual saving can be as little as 4 - 6 hrs. You also have factor in crew working hours, as during a canal transit more Deck & Engineering personnel are required to supplement the watchkeepers, so hours of rest must be managed and maintenance/cleaning hours are reduced. Although not familiar with hotel scheduling, I expect their hours of work are also impacted during a canal transit.

[OneSixtyToOne]

38 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I'll suggest a Corporate decision based on costs, risk management and possibly also managing crew hours of rest. Navigating canals in compulsory pilotage waters is not cheap. Haven't been through Kiel, but I expect a tug(s) escort is probably mandatory, which is another significant cost factor. Panama & Suez easily justify these costs as the fuel savings are from the many thousands of miles saved and many additional weeks of steaming. However Kiel only saves about 250 miles, or about 14 hrs steaming.

 

From a risk management perspective navigating canals, with restricted channels and locks carries substantially more operational risk, especially when the ships are almost max length and draught.

 

The transit also takes 8-10 hrs, so the actual saving can be as little as 4 - 6 hrs. You also have factor in crew working hours, as during a canal transit more Deck & Engineering personnel are required to supplement the watchkeepers, so hours of rest must be managed and maintenance/cleaning hours are reduced. Although not familiar with hotel scheduling, I expect their hours of work are also impacted during a canal transit.

 

Kiel was transited during the repositioning cruise of Along Europe's Western Coast, which is no longer offered. The Trade Routes of the Middle Ages cruise is the exact same itinerary except it terminates in Bergan instead of Copenhagen. Along Europe's Western Coast terminated in Copenhagen and the ship was then used for the summer season in the Baltic and onto St. Petersburgh. That obviously disappeared, being replaced by a different Baltic cruise the begins/ends in Bergan. I suspect they lost business on the Baltic route since they no longer visit St. Petersburg and no longer need as many ships in the region..

 

I loved the Kiel transit. It reminded me of scenic river cruising. People lined the banks waving at us with Norwegian flags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[Jim Avery]

Reminiscent of the Cape Cod Canal transit on a WC .

[deec]

When we were doing it I did not appreciate how special it was!

It was a great cruise and welcome to Viking!

[deec]

4 hours ago, Jammy Bun said:

The tv programme is available on Youtube (at least in the UK) - I'm not sure whether I'm allowed to post a link, but the channel is UK History Documentary, and the episode is 'Cruising with Jane McDonald - The Baltic and Viking Sky'.  

I had a cameo spot in that video in the Laundry!!!

[travelbug11]

On 7/24/2023 at 1:28 PM, Peregrina651 said:

Over the years we have missed a number of ports. In most cases, there was some sort of substitution.

 

The only times we received compensation were:

1) when propulsion systems issues caused our cruise to be cancelled on Day 3 (we returned to our embarkation port for repairs but were invited to stay on board for the remainder of the cruise with free excursions every day PLUS received a full refund and a bit more). Our best "worst cruise" ever.

 

And 2) when our supposed to be Hawaii but turned out to be Mexico cruise encountered further problems when one single case of Covid on board caused 3 of the ports to cancel our permission to visit their fair towns (they were not equipped to handle an outbreak on board); Viking gave vouchers for all, a percentage of the cash portion of the paid (not on any vouchers used).

 

When Hawaii was cancelled, you went to Mexico I went to South America.  All of our Argentina ports were cancelled due to Covid.   We only had 2 ports on our 18 day cruise.  Beautiful scenery, very little compensation

[KTRaveller]

On 7/24/2023 at 11:57 AM, millybess said:

We missed Funchal on our Trans Atlantic in March.  We missed ports before and expected nothing.  It's all part of cruising in our opinion.  We were very surprised that we each got a voucher shortly after returning home.  We applied them to a cruise that we had already booked, but hadn't made final payment.

We were on the same cruise with you -- Kathleen and Chris.  We were also pleased and surprised to receive the vouchers for $250 each.  I think they were issued because the cause was an engine failure so we were slowed down just enough to have to miss Madeira.  We have just applied the vouchers to our accounts ahead of the date we can book excursions for our next cruise -- a very port intensive one, so this comes in very handy!  We embark the Sky in Rome on October 6, 3 weeks to Istanbul  Where are you going next?