I suppose every situation has a silver lining, and I’ve been waiting to see what opportunities might present themselves as a result of the fallout from the coronavirus.
I didn’t have to wait long.
Every cruise line has had to adjust, and some of the them have redeployed their ships and brought them a bit closer to home. So it is with Viking Ocean Cruises.
The Viking Orion was originally scheduled to arrive in Alaska in early June, but now she’ll be arriving early. As a result, Viking needs to fill four extra sailings in Alaska, and they are making it very easy for you to get on board.
This opportunity is unique for a number of reasons:
- Viking Ocean is normally sold out a year in advance for Alaska. The additional four sailings has opened up availability considerably.
- The 11-day itinerary between Vancouver and Anchorage normally has base pricing of $5799 per person. The extra four sailings in April and May are less than half that price, with fares starting at just $2799 per person. There appears to be reasonable availability in that price range at this point, although I suspect this will change quickly.
- Viking’s newly relaxed cancellation policy enables you to cancel your booking as late as 24 hours prior to departure without any risk. If you don’t go, they’ll give you 100% of what you paid in a future cruise credit. None of us know what’s going to happen with coronavirus, so this relaxed cancellation policy removes ALL the risk
- The airfare to/from Vancouver and Anchorage is either included or deeply discounted.
Here are the details about the four new sailings:
- Two departures from Vancouver, on April 26 and May 16, 2020. Two departures from Anchorage, on May 6 and May 26, 2020.
- As mentioned above, flights are either included, or available for a small add-on ($100 – $300)
- All Viking staterooms are Verandas and they start at $2799 per person. There are currently lots of cabins available for less than $3500 per person. This is less than half the regular price! On a per-day basis, this is actually less than the cost of Alaska on one of the mega-ships, with far better food, service and amenities.
- Viking Ocean includes an excursion in every port, beer & wine with meals, all port taxes and fees, wifi, specialty dining, specialty coffee, tea, juice and bottled water, and airport transfers. Transfers are not big deal in Vancouver, but the port in Anchorage is over 2 hours from the airport.
- The ports of call are Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, and Valdez. There is also a glacier-cruising day.
- If travel conditions worsen, you can cancel at short notice without penalty (see above).
This is incredible value, and we haven’t seen anything on Viking Ocean like this before. If you’ve been thinking about trying Viking, or a luxury small-ship experience, I don’t think you’ll find a better opportunity than this.
To secure a reservation on one of these cruises, please call me immediately: 1-800-876-0168. I will add extra onboard credits that you would not receive by booking directly with Viking.
Click here to get in touch today.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
