Viking Sea

[Strangford]

Would someone with a more mathematical mind than mine take a look at those 2 Silver Spirit boxes above. Using xe.com 5 mins ago, I get the daily rate of AU$37 as £19.24 - close enough to the UK£20. The US$ daily rate converts to £20.58.  The 30% discount on premium beverages works out within a £ or two between the different currencies - but there is no currency conversion for the 'any drink up to' - it's US$18, AU$18, £18.  Who is getting the better deal here?

[Peregrina651]

 

Many thanks, @Canberra601 and @Strangford

 

Do you have the URL for where you found these documents? That way folks can always find their way to the most recent edition of the document. Viking may update the document but they don't change the URL -- and they certainly do make it hard to find things on the website. TIA!

 

22 minutes ago, Strangford said:

but there is no currency conversion for the 'any drink up to' - it's US$18, AU$18, £18. 

 

IMHO, the pitfalls of "dynamic pricing"!?  But, all kidding aside, I think that since pricing on board the ship is in USD, that the program description should be stated on the form in USD -- because that is what pax are going to see on the bar menu.

 

33 minutes ago, Strangford said:

Who is getting the better deal here?

 

The person who got the best exchange rate on the day they bought the package!  Viking sets the price and then doesn't worry about the day to day fluctuations of the currency market.

 

[KBs mum]

UK, AU and NZ passengers can pay for everything beforehand in their own currency and never have need to deal with US dollars, other than a rough drink price calculation, quotes in US dollars in advance are as much use as sterling would be in the US

[Strangford]

UK version

https://cms-assets.viking.com/mar_content/global-brand-identity/Onboard_GuestFacing/UK_CORP_SilverSpirits-AllProduct-2023-A4-R02.pdf

[Jim Avery]

If you pay as you go or buy the package onboard Viking  charge it to your credit card and the card company usually gives you the best available rate.  Spending thousands of dollars on a cruise and worrying over a few pennies one way or the other.....🍹

[KBs mum]

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

If you pay as you go or buy the package onboard Viking  charge it to your credit card and the card company usually gives you the best available rate.  Spending thousands of dollars on a cruise and worrying over a few pennies one way or the other.....🍹

We hit breakeven 7 days in. Last cruise lasted 2 extra days. Viking may have been more worried about the pennies than us😊

[Peregrina651]

6 hours ago, KBs mum said:

UK, AU and NZ passengers can pay for everything beforehand in their own currency and never have need to deal with US dollars, other than a rough drink price calculation, quotes in US dollars in advance are as much use as sterling would be in the US

 

Cannot agree with you on that one -- and I am only talking about the package description, not the per diem price of the package.

 

This Silver Spirits beverage package includes premium wines by the glass, house champagne by the glass, cocktails, aperitifs, and any drink up to £18, throughout the day and anywhere on the ship; The Chef’s Table premium wine pairing; 30% discount on premium beverages above £40 GBP, and 50% discount for premium tasting events

 

Since the drinks package is administered in USD and since those numbers will not change with the fluctuation of the exchange rate, for clarity shouldn't it be stated in USD on the order form?

 

If I am given a description of the how the package works in sterling (or whatever currency), I am going to calculate the dollar equivalents before I go and, for stereling, I am going to come up a maximum drink price covered by the package as something in the area of 21USD, not the 18USD that it actually is -- and I would be annoyed because little things like this bother me. It is easy enough to be given the correct information in the first place, so why not just do it??

[KBs mum]

8 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Cannot agree with you on that one -- and I am only talking about the package description, not the per diem price of the package.

 

This Silver Spirits beverage package includes premium wines by the glass, house champagne by the glass, cocktails, aperitifs, and any drink up to £18, throughout the day and anywhere on the ship; The Chef’s Table premium wine pairing; 30% discount on premium beverages above £40 GBP, and 50% discount for premium tasting events

 

Since the drinks package is administered in USD and since those numbers will not change with the fluctuation of the exchange rate, for clarity shouldn't it be stated in USD on the order form?

 

If I am given a description of the how the package works in sterling (or whatever currency), I am going to calculate the dollar equivalents before I go and, for stereling, I am going to come up a maximum drink price covered by the package as something in the area of 21USD, not the 18USD that it actually is -- and I would be annoyed because little things like this bother me. It is easy enough to be given the correct information in the first place, so why not just do it??

Exchange rates change slightly every day, so if the quote was in US dollars everyone who paid in advance by converting from sterling would be paying a slightly different amount depending on when. 

Also which exchange rate would be used, wholesale, bank, card? Some other rate Viking came up with? As Viking UK are a UK company it would make no sense for a UK customer to be billed in dollars. 

US Dollars are the onboard currency, Viking had to pick something, but there is no need to actually spend money on board so conversion rates don't matter. We don't even bother registering our cards onboard.

Having bought the SSP in advance if it's not offered as included, we just look at the prices in the bars to see if that drink is included or not. 

[Canberra601]

On 10/20/2023 at 12:41 AM, Strangford said:

UK version

https://cms-assets.viking.com/mar_content/global-brand-identity/Onboard_GuestFacing/UK_CORP_SilverSpirits-AllProduct-2023-A4-R02.pdf

And link to the AUS/NZ; AU_CORP_SilverSpirits-AllProduct-2023-A4-R02.pdf (viking.com)