TravelBanter

TravelBanter (http://www.travelbanter.com/index.php)
-   Europe (http://www.travelbanter.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12)
-   -   Viking River cruises, WTF! (http://www.travelbanter.com/showthread.php?t=182748)

tim...[_2_] September 11th, 2017 07:54 PM

Viking River cruises, WTF!
 
So,

I know that Viking are not the preferred supplier for some people here, but
I didn't realise just how bad they were

Just booked myself, through a specialist TA a bespoke package:

7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo, 4* on the ship, 5* in
the hotels, £1600 single occupancy (I calculated that it would be about 1300
double occupancy - single supplements are well down ATM because of the
political situation there). Plus a nanny to guide me from place to place
(Oh I do hate that, but I suppose sometimes it's necessary).

What do Viking want for their nearest equivalent, 3 nights shorter, but
admittedly a 5* ship?

5595 pounds, double occupancy with wait for it, a 100% surcharge for single
occupancy (are they going to be buying me two seats on the flight FFS!?)

OMG. Only difference is that the Viking offer includes tours in Cairo,
which I am going to have to pay for/arrange separately. (and for which I
want to do my own thing anyway, if possible). Plus they include the
unlimited drinks package (on the boat) which I was offered at a not
particularly attractive 20 pounds per day, so I declined.

And as for the 5* ship, word on the ground is that I get a good chance of
being upgraded anyway because business is so bad not all of the ships
operate each week, and you can't downgrade the punters who have paid for a
5*.

Most amazing thing is, some dates for 2018 are already sold out!

How much research do these people do?

tim




Surreyman[_3_] September 12th, 2017 08:48 AM

Viking River cruises, WTF!
 
On Monday, September 11, 2017 at 7:55:23 PM UTC+1, tim... wrote:
So,

I know that Viking are not the preferred supplier for some people here, but
I didn't realise just how bad they were

Just booked myself, through a specialist TA a bespoke package:

7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo, 4* on the ship, 5* in
the hotels, £1600 single occupancy (I calculated that it would be about 1300
double occupancy - single supplements are well down ATM because of the
political situation there). Plus a nanny to guide me from place to place
(Oh I do hate that, but I suppose sometimes it's necessary).

What do Viking want for their nearest equivalent, 3 nights shorter, but
admittedly a 5* ship?

5595 pounds, double occupancy with wait for it, a 100% surcharge for single
occupancy (are they going to be buying me two seats on the flight FFS!?)

OMG. Only difference is that the Viking offer includes tours in Cairo,
which I am going to have to pay for/arrange separately. (and for which I
want to do my own thing anyway, if possible). Plus they include the
unlimited drinks package (on the boat) which I was offered at a not
particularly attractive 20 pounds per day, so I declined.

And as for the 5* ship, word on the ground is that I get a good chance of
being upgraded anyway because business is so bad not all of the ships
operate each week, and you can't downgrade the punters who have paid for a
5*.

Most amazing thing is, some dates for 2018 are already sold out!

How much research do these people do?

tim


Have I understood you correctly - nearly £1,000 per night?
There must be an error?
Book your own flights and fix the cruise locally, saving thousands?
Maybe I'm naive, but I've seen such silly prices elsewhere recently - while searching to book a specific hotel at, say, £200 per night, up come 'offers' from established companies (Expedia, for instance) at around £700 per night. I can only assume they're just waiting there for some idiot to sign up?

tim...[_2_] September 12th, 2017 04:29 PM

Viking River cruises, WTF!
 


"Surreyman" wrote in message
...
On Monday, September 11, 2017 at 7:55:23 PM UTC+1, tim... wrote:
So,

I know that Viking are not the preferred supplier for some people here,
but
I didn't realise just how bad they were

Just booked myself, through a specialist TA a bespoke package:

7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo, 4* on the ship, 5*
in
the hotels, £1600 single occupancy (I calculated that it would be about
1300
double occupancy - single supplements are well down ATM because of the
political situation there). Plus a nanny to guide me from place to place
(Oh I do hate that, but I suppose sometimes it's necessary).

What do Viking want for their nearest equivalent, 3 nights shorter, but
admittedly a 5* ship?

5595 pounds, double occupancy with wait for it, a 100% surcharge for
single
occupancy (are they going to be buying me two seats on the flight FFS!?)

OMG. Only difference is that the Viking offer includes tours in Cairo,
which I am going to have to pay for/arrange separately. (and for which I
want to do my own thing anyway, if possible). Plus they include the
unlimited drinks package (on the boat) which I was offered at a not
particularly attractive 20 pounds per day, so I declined.

And as for the 5* ship, word on the ground is that I get a good chance of
being upgraded anyway because business is so bad not all of the ships
operate each week, and you can't downgrade the punters who have paid for
a
5*.

Most amazing thing is, some dates for 2018 are already sold out!

How much research do these people do?

tim


Have I understood you correctly - nearly £1,000 per night?


no 12 nights = 500 per night :-)

There must be an error?
Book your own flights and fix the cruise locally, saving thousands?


Yep

But that way you don't get any tours, which if you try to organise yourself
will cost you far more than the amount that the tour company pay.

But you can find independent travel agents who specialise in putting
together the package and as they will have multiple people on any one boat
for any one week can organise the tours as significantly lower cost. This
is what I have booked - with booked myself flights showing at 400 pounds and
single occupancy cruise cabin at 600 and 7 extra night at 50 pounds a night,
1600 all in is a bargain.

Prices in Egypt are low right now, I am pretty sure that we were due to pay
much more than I am paying today (and that was sharing a cabin with someone
rather than going on my own) when we had to abort our trip booked for just
after the uprising (unknowingly of course).

Everybody is advertising bargains - except Viking it seems

Maybe I'm naive, but I've seen such silly prices elsewhere recently -
while searching to book a specific hotel at, say, £200 per night, up come
'offers' from established companies (Expedia, for instance) at around £700
per night. I can only assume they're just waiting there for some idiot to
sign up?


Durban (SA) surprised me

SA is a cheap country and you can find good quality B&Bs for 25 pound per
night

And yet when I looked in Durban there are dozens of hotels offering rooms at
400 pounds per night, whilst others are offering the lower price.

I can't work out who pays this money. The majority of South Africans can't
afford it, and what is the nationality for whom SA is such a brilliant
location they will pay that much for a (for them) out of season beach
holiday when there are bound to be cheaper/more convenient/more luxurious,
out of season locations to go to?

tim




[email protected] September 13th, 2017 12:26 PM

Viking River cruises, WTF!
 
Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,


How much research do these people do?


How much research you should have done to understand
there is no Europe in your post?


tim...[_2_] September 13th, 2017 08:08 PM

Viking River cruises, WTF!
 


wrote in message
...
Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,


How much research do these people do?


How much research you should have done to understand
there is no Europe in your post?


yes there is

it's package deals sold to Brits, including all travel from the UK



tim...[_2_] September 13th, 2017 08:09 PM

Viking River cruises, WTF!
 


"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 04:26:17 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,


How much research do these people do?


How much research you should have done to understand
there is no Europe in your post?


and that in general you get what you pay for.


well that was my point

what could one possibly be getting for 4 times the price?

tim



Erilar September 14th, 2017 03:43 AM

Viking River cruises, WTF!
 
tim... wrote:
So,

I know that Viking are not the preferred supplier for some people here, but
I didn't realise just how bad they were

Just booked myself, through a specialist TA a bespoke package:

7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo, 4* on the ship, 5* in
the hotels, £1600 single occupancy (I calculated that it would be about 1300
double occupancy - single supplements are well down ATM because of the
political situation there). Plus a nanny to guide me from place to place
(Oh I do hate that, but I suppose sometimes it's necessary).

What do Viking want for their nearest equivalent, 3 nights shorter, but
admittedly a 5* ship?

5595 pounds, double occupancy with wait for it, a 100% surcharge for single
occupancy (are they going to be buying me two seats on the flight FFS!?)

OMG. Only difference is that the Viking offer includes tours in Cairo,
which I am going to have to pay for/arrange separately. (and for which I
want to do my own thing anyway, if possible). Plus they include the
unlimited drinks package (on the boat) which I was offered at a not
particularly attractive 20 pounds per day, so I declined.

And as for the 5* ship, word on the ground is that I get a good chance of
being upgraded anyway because business is so bad not all of the ships
operate each week, and you can't downgrade the punters who have paid for a
5*.

Most amazing thing is, some dates for 2018 are already sold out!

How much research do these people do?

tim





I looked at Viking briefly, but discovered they require one to pay for
every excursion in advance with no exception, and I can no longer hike long
distances, much less at average guide speed, so I dropped them from
consideration.

--
biblioholic medievalist via iPad


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:08 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
TravelBanter.com