It would be hard not to notice the incredible growth of Viking Cruises – both on the rivers and the oceans. Since 2010, they have doubled their market share, and now have over 50% of the European River Cruise market. This is made more impressive by the fact they achieved this during a time when the whole river cruise market was growing – so their growth in absolute terms is even larger.
Their growth can be attributed to a variety of factors:
- Their overwhelming direct marketing campaigns – if you’re anything like me, you probably get printed flyers and brochures delivered to your house several times a month.
- Their TV advertisements on PBS, and their promotions with Downton Abbey have certainly worked.
- The Viking Air program, where air is included or significantly reduced makes it easy for people to anticipate their costs.
- The Viking referral program where past guests can refer others and each get a $100 credit is also a stroke marketing genius.
Most often their fares are several hundred dollars less than their competitors, which sometimes made me wonder – is Viking cutting some corners in order to keep prices low?
As travel agents, we often get invited to sail on ships for what is called a “FAM” (or familiarization) trip. Normally, travel agents are invited on board for off-season or shortened versions of a regular itinerary so they can experience first-hand what their clients will with a specific travel product.
It’s extraordinarily difficult to get a FAM trip on board Viking, because most of their ships are full, most of the time. So I felt extremely honoured – and was paying close attention – this past September when I was on board the Viking Egil on the Romantic Danube itinerary.
The short answer is that I don’t believe that Viking is rounding any corners. Instead, their price leadership is based on a number of other factors:
- Scale – when you own more than half the market, you should be able to conduct business at a lower cost than competitors. Viking does this well.
- Number of people per ship. The river ships are all approximately the same size. This is a function of having to get under bridges, and navigate the bends in the rivers. Most of the river ships hold between 140 and 180 people, and the costs to run them would be very similar regardless of how many are on board. The Viking ships are near the higher end of this range (although I never felt crowded on board their ships).
- Bicycles, gym equipment and spas. These are amenities that some of the other river cruise lines do offer that Viking does not. For our clients who find such things an important part of their choice of ship, we will push them to a different river cruise line.
Inevitably people want to judge quality of food and service compared to their perceptions of those things on the ocean cruise ships they have been on. If there were more than 1500 people on your last ocean cruise, then you will have been on one of the mass-market lines. These ships definitely serve a purpose in the market, but you will find the quality of food and service to be higher on Viking, than any of those lines.
Some people have asked if Viking is down-market version of the European river cruise (similar to what is available on a very cheap ocean cruise). That is certainly NOT the case – you will find the food, service and quality on Viking to be comparable to any 5-star hotel – and they just happen to be very competitively priced as well.
If you’re thinking of a Viking cruise, please don’t book directly with Viking! When you book through me, you’ll gain extra onboard credits that you wouldn’t otherwise receive (other than that, the pricing is exactly the same). The specific perk varies depending on when you book, and which itinerary and departure date you’re looking at. Please get in touch for specific information.
For example, you’ll receive $350 onboard credit per stateroom on select departures for the following itineraries in 2019:
- Viking Homelands
- Rhine Getaway
- Romantic Danube
- Danube Waltz
- Paris & the Heart of Normandy
- Lyon & Provence
- Châteaux, Rivers & Wine
If you’ve already booked with me, then you can rest assured that I’ve gotten you the maximum perk possible for your situation. To get that $350 onboard credit mentioned above, you’ll need to be very flexible with your dates, as the selection of departure dates is extremely limited. There is also some ‘fine print’ – the biggest one being that this perk is not combineable with Viking’s popular referral program.
Anyways, like I say, please get in touch so that I can find out exactly how much onboard credit I can get for your specific situation. I look forward to hearing from you.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
