Viking IPO

[Mike07]

5 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

Moving to a more "mass market demographic" isn't a plus in my view.

 

If VOC decides that a small casino, a few formal nights, kids, extra fee restaurants etc are in their future, I would say Viking is in my past...

 

 

I think everybody feels that way. Though, let's not assume the absolute worse and hopefully, like the posted YT video above mentions, the secret sauce that made Viking what it is today and will not fundamentally change.

 

Somebody above mentioned they'd cancel VO and go with O if things decline.... Let's not get carried away....

 

Oceania is owned by _____________________ and trades under _______________.  Incidentally, RSSC, generally considered one of the highest small ship premium luxury lines also is owned by _________________________.

 

More or less, three letters, the same three letters, will answer all three above. And yes, you can buy said stock on NYSE right now. (Hint: Carnival or RCI would be the wrong answers.)

Edited April 23 by Mike07

[Mike07]

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

I have never, in a long "career" sailing on cruise ships, ever seen any cruise line stay the same.  Unfortunately they seem to all fall into the "bigger is better" mantra and move away from what originally made them so successful.  In 8 years sailing Viking we have seen notable changes in food and service.  Still good but not the Wow! of the first voyages. 

 

 

Do you think it could be because you've become accustomed to Viking and what the experience is like? Or, have you definitely noticed a drop in quality of the food, service, everything?

 

Also, it seems like post-COVID, everything got worse in the service and hospitality industry.

[Jim Avery]

I agree with you about post covid.  But it's about time to quit using that excuse don't you think? Why can't we get back to good service, hard work, and quality products?  And yes, food and service definitely not as original and in a negative way.

[Hockeyump]

In my opinion it is the food offerings, choice and quality, that have noticeably declined particularly in the World Cafe and Mafredis. On our recent cruise this was the main issue for us, everything else was at or above expectation. We did give instant feedback but not sure the explanations were accurate.

 

 

 

[PasadenaDave]

3 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

I agree with you about post covid.  But it's about time to quit using that excuse don't you think? Why can't we get back to good service, hard work, and quality products?  And yes, food and service definitely not as original and in a negative way.bus 

I think what Mike07 is stating is that service and quality across all of life is not the same as it was prior to January 2020.  It isn't an excuse, just fact.  For instance in Southern California, wages have risen for low level service personnel to such an extent that fewer people are hired to serve and thus service levels have declined.  I see evidence of that at Target, Coffee Shops and Eating Establishments and don't forget searching for assistance at Macy's!  Some places we like to eat don't open until 5:00 so forget about a nice lunch.

 

This is no excuse for the cruise industry in which prices have risen, but I assume that the same number of service people are still required.

[Mike07]

15 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

I agree with you about post covid.  But it's about time to quit using that excuse don't you think? Why can't we get back to good service, hard work, and quality products?  And yes, food and service definitely not as original and in a negative way.

 

 

It's going to probably take awhile to get back to that. Unfortunately, food costs have gone up for Viking as well as the rest of us. I'm unable to comment on Viking itinerary pricing prior to COVID.

 

In terms of service, that's subjective. I've generally been impressed with Viking, but it doesn't take much to impress me. Then again, my two cruises with Celebrity, the service was generally the worse, but I met so many passengers that had only ever sailed Celebrity and thought service was great. I didn't get it.

[CDNPolar]

31 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

 

In terms of service, that's subjective. I've generally been impressed with Viking, but it doesn't take much to impress me. Then again, my two cruises with Celebrity, the service was generally the worse, but I met so many passengers that had only ever sailed Celebrity and thought service was great. I didn't get it.

 

With Viking we have always "engaged" with the Crew to a larger extent.  With our Cabin Attendant(s) we try to engage with them on day one and then try to chat with them whenever we can.

 

Same with the servers in the dining rooms, and the wine servers.  When we find a team in the Restaurant we ask for them nightly by indicating this to the Host in The Restaurant and nightly we get to know them and again, engage with them. 

 

We find that we have a better experience when we actively engage them in conversation and generally interact with them.

 

I know some don't want to engage in conversation with the Crew and that is okay too.

 

For us any decline has been more in the menu and food side of things.  Not a lot, but it is like "shrinkflation" you don't notice it blatantly but it is there if you look. 

[Jim Avery]

To clarify as to service.  We also find the crew to be one of the best things about Viking.  But most recently, as nice as crew was, they seemed short handed on numerous occasions.  No one would admit that there have been cutbacks to the number of crew onboard. 

[SJD117]

36 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

To clarify as to service.  We also find the crew to be one of the best things about Viking.  But most recently, as nice as crew was, they seemed short handed on numerous occasions.  No one would admit that there have been cutbacks to the number of crew onboard. 

 

The Viking experience could be worse --  a lot worse. (Paywall alert, but it's worth signing up for a trial to read the author's account.)

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-icon-of-seas/677838/

 

 

Edited April 23 by SJD117

[Mike07]

16 minutes ago, SJD117 said:

 

The Viking experience could be worse --  a lot worse. (Paywall alert, but it's worth signing up for a trial to read the author's account.)

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-icon-of-seas/677838/

 

 

 

 

Some of the big YT cruise personalities say "It's a 6k passenger ship, but because everything is so spread out, it doesn't feel like there are that many people on the ship." And then a work colleague of mine went on one of these monstrosities... during spring break and his reaction was "Yeah, it felt like there was 6k people on it, the buffet was always crowded, and there were lines for all of the fun stuff (roller coasters, water slides, etc.) just like any theme park"

[Twitchly]

6 hours ago, SJD117 said:

 

The Viking experience could be worse --  a lot worse. (Paywall alert, but it's worth signing up for a trial to read the author's account.)

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-icon-of-seas/677838/

 

 

Thanks for that. I will never again see those tubular water slides without thinking of a colonoscopy. 

[Steve Q]

Looks like Viking Holdings(VIK) will be going begin trading May 1 on the NYSE. They should be offering 44 million shares at a price of between $21-$25. That will be around a $1 billion IPO.

[Jim Avery]

A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you will be talking about real money......🤪

[OnTheJourney]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:35 PM, Jim Avery said:

so they should be making lots of money.

I'd think so too, especially with constantly building new ships. Given that they already offer pre and post extensions, which has them engaging at least partially in the land tour side of the travel industry, is there really a need to delve further into all that? There are enough land tour companies around that they likely wouldn't compete with anyway. But that's a purely uneducated observation on the matter. Perhaps concentrate on doing what they do best, with a goal of constantly try to improve on it. Spreading too thin could maybe start to dilute the quality of current offerings.

[OnTheJourney]

3 hours ago, Steve Q said:

(VIK) will be going begin trading May 1 on the NYSE.

Worth grabbing some shares? If even available. Might only be for the larger institutional investors. Certain mutual funds already have holdings in Viking, I think anyway. I'll have to discuss with my advisor.

[Steve Q]

3 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Worth grabbing some shares? If even available. Might only be for the larger institutional investors. Certain mutual funds already have holdings in Viking, I think anyway. I'll have to discuss with my advisor.

While you probably cannot obtain shares in the IPO, there is no guarantee that they will not be lower after a few days. The Underwriter usually will try initially to keep the shares from falling significantly. The price, however, will eventually settle at what the market thinks they are worth. It would be a good thing if the stock was able to appreciate over time.

[OneSixtyToOne]

15 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

I'd think so too, especially with constantly building new ships. Given that they already offer pre and post extensions, which has them engaging at least partially in the land tour side of the travel industry, is there really a need to delve further into all that? There are enough land tour companies around that they likely wouldn't compete with anyway. But that's a purely uneducated observation on the matter. Perhaps concentrate on doing what they do best, with a goal of constantly try to improve on it. Spreading too thin could maybe start to dilute the quality of current offerings.

Viking River’s Paris to Switzerland itinerary is now offering two new extensions that feature rail journeys. That now makes 3 Swiss rail extensions. It appears they are already moving in the direction of more land base options to feed into their various cruise itineraries. 

[CCWineLover]

On 4/23/2024 at 9:19 AM, Jim Avery said:

I have never, in a long "career" sailing on cruise ships, ever seen any cruise line stay the same.  Unfortunately they seem to all fall into the "bigger is better" mantra and move away from what originally made them so successful.  In 8 years sailing Viking we have seen notable changes in food and service.  Still good but not the Wow! of the first voyages.  Our next two bookings are on Explora Journeys and Scenic Ocean.  Both new lines with good reviews mostly.  But then back to Viking for a couple of river cruises.  As has been said many times before, the only constant in life is change.  We just go with what works at the time.🍸

Jim - have heard a lot of buzz lately about Explora.

Will enjoy hearing from you then on how they compare with the current Viking Ocean. 🙂

 

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, Steve Q said:

While you probably cannot obtain shares in the IPO

I ran it by my advisor. He's going to send the prospectus and look into getting shares as they become available. Can't see how it'd be a bad investment. Definitely on the aggressive growth side of the spectrum. Probably a good idea to give it some time and see where the price range winds up, as you already referred to. It would be good to see some appreciation from the share price. Doubt it'll be a dividend paying stock, at least not initially.

Edited April 24 by OnTheJourney

[SJD117]

6 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Jim - have heard a lot of buzz lately about Explora.

Will enjoy hearing from you then on how they compare with the current Viking Ocean. 🙂

 

Kent, I’d never heard of Explora before reading @Jim Avery’s comment and yours. So I did what any self-respecting senior would do — I consulted my dear friend, Dr. Google. The good Doctor directed me to Europa’s oh-so-luxe website and flowery language. I hope the company’s product is better than the marketing hype!  🤣

 

 

 

Edited April 25 by SJD117

[CDNPolar]

15 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

 Given that they already offer pre and post extensions, which has them engaging at least partially in the land tour side of the travel industry, is there really a need to delve further into all that? There are enough land tour companies around that they likely wouldn't compete with anyway. But that's a purely uneducated observation on the matter. Perhaps concentrate on doing what they do best, with a goal of constantly try to improve on it. Spreading too thin could maybe start to dilute the quality of current offerings.

 

The pre and post add ons are a very interesting one to me.  

 

We are NOT necessarily price conscious, but we do our diligence on pricing.  We were looking recently at a pre in London before the British Isles Explorer.  We were only interested in the 2 night because we have been to London before and don't need that much more time there.

 

This is all in CAD $$.

 

Two nights are $1,899.00 pp.

 

There are NO tours included, it is all self discovery.

 

There is a Viking Host, but we can decide what we want to see on our own.

 

Essentially, for transfers and two nights hotel and 2 breakfasts we are paying $3,798.00.  

 

Believe me, we can stay in the same hotel they put you in and pay for our own breakfast and transfers much cheaper than that.

 

I personally don't see what value this brings ME booking through Viking other than some convenience for us and profit for Viking.

 

Double this price pp and get three nights, one dinner, and 5 guided tours of various landmarks.  Basically 8K for 3 nights in London.

[CILCIANRQTS]

17 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Worth grabbing some shares? If even available. Might only be for the larger institutional investors. Certain mutual funds already have holdings in Viking, I think anyway. I'll have to discuss with my advisor.

If a private owner were looking to sell off his company, I suspect he might be able to maximize his return by going public to take advantage of inflated market value vs. pure book value. 😳

Just sayin’!

[2cruisecats]

On 4/23/2024 at 12:19 PM, Jim Avery said:

I have never, in a long "career" sailing on cruise ships, ever seen any cruise line stay the same.  Unfortunately they seem to all fall into the "bigger is better" mantra and move away from what originally made them so successful.  In 8 years sailing Viking we have seen notable changes in food and service.  Still good but not the Wow! of the first voyages.  Our next two bookings are on Explora Journeys and Scenic Ocean.  Both new lines with good reviews mostly.  But then back to Viking for a couple of river cruises.  As has been said many times before, the only constant in life is change.  We just go with what works at the time.🍸

I think we'd all be very interested in hearing your thoughts on Explora and Scenic Ocean after your travels. We've an Ocean and 2 Expeditions booked but always interested in other options.

[Steve Q]

One thing to note about Explora is that they do also cater to families with children and have a complete program for the kids. That may or may not appeal to many Viking cruisers.

 

 

[Cienfuegos]

3 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

If a private owner were looking to sell off his company, I suspect he might be able to maximize his return by going public to take advantage of inflated market value vs. pure book value. 😳

Just sayin’!

 

Yes.  I though it was suggested up thread that the principal purpose of this IPO is to fund the exit of two early institutional share holders. Not necessarily to provide much in the way of investment in plant and people, etc.

 

Viking Corporation is on the hook for a lot of investment in ships. Both delivered and promised for the future.

 

Note, I have not read the IPO documents, and have no interest in buying shares in the company.