• I KEEP SEEING THOSE CHARMING VIKING ADS – BUT WONDERING WHO OWNS THEM AND WHO IS PAYING FOR THEIR SEEMINGLY UNENDING GROWTH?

  Q – (12.9.24)  – I keep seeing these rather charming, British voice-over ads for Viking Cruises. It seems like they are among the largest lines but I am wondering who owns them and are they really that successful? The ads keep talking to me and inviting me to sail – but who is really doing the inviting?

  A –  There really is no such thing as “Viking Cruises”, There are three brands of cruises, Viking River Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises, and Viking Expeditions which, together, form a single company “Viking” that is owned by the Norwegian billionaire Torstein Hagen. The company is privately-owned, an anomaly among mega-lines and Hagen owns 77% of the company.

  It is quite a success story. Tor had been CEO of Royal Viking Line in the early eighties. In 1997, serving as a consultant, he helped a group of Russian oligarchs buy a shipping company. Out of gratitude, they sold him four river boats to launch his own company at a sharply discounted rate. In 2000, Hagen was able to quickly expand and his purchased KD River Cruises of Europe and their fleet of 22 vessels. KD also owned several advantageous anchorages which Viking still uses to its advantage.

  Viking does its Marketing out of a headquarters in Los Angeles but the real company headquarters is in Basel, Switzerland. This is where crew hiring, training, and marine operations is centered.   

  

  With more than 90 ships sailing on rivers, lakes and oceans around the world, Viking is one of cruising’s major players. Its European river fleet is the largest in Europe and Viking has river ships on the Mekong, the Nile and the Mississippi. The fleet continues to expand. Ten more Viking Longships will join the river fleet by the end of 2026 and a new Mekong ship, Viking Tonle, launches in October 2025.

  The ocean fleet includes two luxury expedition ships and 10 new-build ocean ships (all identical). Viking Vela is due to launch in December this year and Viking Vesta in 2025.

  Of course, with more than 90 ships in its fleet, and a massive new-ship building program underway, Viking is no stranger to debt.

  Entering 2023 it had  about 4.7 billion in debt. Viking’s interest expenses ballooned 41% between 2020 and 2022, and cruise operators have generally been looking to cut funding costs by selling new notes.

  Viking, the only pure-play luxury cruise line, has reported its first quarterly earnings since going public. The company is targeting English-speakers over the age of 55, a demographic with most of the wealth and a broad eagerness to travel. The cruise line generated 4.7 billion in revenue in fiscal 2023, compared to 3.18 billion in 2022 and 625.1 million in 2021. Like most of the cruise lines operating in North America, Viking profit patterns are extremely positive and debt is being paid down. 

• MAY WE REQUEST MORE “INSIDER’ AIR INFORMATION – THIS IS AN ‘AIRLESS” SITE

  Q – (12.9/24) – No one would deny that this is an unusually honest and helpful site, but I do have one criticism I hope you will consider. Whatever destination or mode of exploration you are discussing, the fact is that we need to fly there. So I think it would be extremely helpful to include more insider air advice whenever it relates to any of the questions posed. Just a suggestion. You seem to avoid air advice rather than take a deep dive into it. 

  A –  Fair enough – we are not air experts and, in fact, we do not believe that our business should be processing air arrangements. Our strengths lie in worldwide vacation planning. Air is a much more specialized field than many in the industry would acknowledge. Our approach is to outsource air for our clients to the very best air experts in the nation. We think that air has become a more complex component of the vacation planning matrix. Dynamic pricing and shortages of aircraft, pilots, and air traffic controllers is causing an increasing number of cancellations. So we want everyone we work with to have their own Concierge monitoring their flights for any changes or cancellations. We do not advise purchasing any airline ticket from any online firm that does not provide personalized flight monitoring services. 

  If you want to hear airline insider buzz from experts you may want to start following the following sites:

  • View from The Wing
  • The Cranky Flier
  • The Points Guy
  • The New York Times Travel Newsletter
  • Travel Weekly Magazine
  • Travel Pulse

  All of that said – we will leave you with just a little bit of gossip/valuable air information that we hope may be useful: 

  • When the Chinese tourism market opens up to its full potential, many airline executives expect to see pricing come down on international flights. This is particularly true of some of the better government-owned and controlled carriers.
  • US major airlines need to turn a profit – that is not a major issue for several of the world’s leading international carriers based in Asia and particularly the Middle East. Plane for plane – the Middle East currently provides the highest levels of service and dependability in the air. They also have the best record when it comes tot he number of flight cancellations.
  • International carriers vary in  terms of how they handle refunds to consumers. Currently, TAP, the airline of Portugal, and Air Canada have the poorest reputation when it comes to refunds related to issues of guest satisfaction.
  • Some international frequent fliers will tell you they try to connect overseas through Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. (Although the airport is technically in Virginia) This is particularly true when the flights are headed to the Gulf Region. It is thought that there are “Diplomatic” reasons for favorable pricing.
  • It is not a bad idea to do your flight searching with Google flights. They have a feature that allows you to request updates when the price of the flights you are interested in are heading south.
• A PERSONAL QUESTION ABOUT HOTEL TIPPING

  Q – Thanks for this really uniquely honest site. I keep looking for the ads! So nice to see a site where no PR crapola is tolerated. 

  My wife and I like to stay in four and five-star hotels when we travel regularly throughout Europe. We are wondering, under normal circumstances, who and how much should we be tipping non-food related staff?

  A – This is, of course, a personal question which we will answer – but please do what is most comfortable for you:

  Valet/Baggage Handling – 1-2 Euros per bag based on service

  Concierge Desk – 5 – 10 Euros for services including dinner reservations or private touring (Dinner reservations should not be more than 5 Euro as the Concierge may well be receiving a kick-back from  the restaurant)

  Housekeeping Maids – In the vast majority of hotel properties worldwide, these are the hardest working and most poorly compensated service providers. An envelope with a brief note and a gratuity of 5-10 Euros per night would be truly appreciated and may well help out a family that needs some help. 

• HOW DO WE FIND THE VERY BEST ALASKA CRUISE OPTIONS AND AVAILABILITY AND PRICING ONLINE?

  Q – We will want to be booking a nice, very nice, Alaska Cruise next summer. We will be joined by four friends and we will want to sail out of Vancouver B.C. or Juneau on a cruise that is somewhere between ten and twelve nights. How do I do my research before taking it to a travel agent?

  A – Well, first of all, you don’t need to do your own research. For the commission they will earn, a travel advisor should be willing to get to know you a bit followed by some specific recommendations designed to meet your specific needs. But that said, you may want to start by clicking on the link to www.cruisetruth.com on the bottom of this page. Once on cruise truth (there is no registration required) just go to the cruise database section. There, using a simple drop down menu, you can search for cruises that are ranked among the Top Ten lines by company, date, number of nights, and destination. All of your options will pop up. There are no ads and there is no sales hype. It is a great way to search independently. 

  There are no prices. Consumers need to understand that the entire purpose of a travel website is to get you to click and to fall into the waiting arms of a crowded call enter where you will meet someone speaking to you from a small cubicle. They are paid a small commission to get you to book directly because it saves the company a much larger commission built into your quoted fare. No cruise line, or tour operator for that matter, that we are aware of, keeps real time availability information on their website. For that, your agent needs to look closely at the real time computer statistics – and they can change by the minute. 

  As to pricing – cruises are sold much like hotel rooms. As hotels book up for certain dates, the price of their rooms are raised by complicated algorithms. You would need to work with a qualified advisor or call the cruise line directly to get accurate pricing. Several cruise lines are canceling scheduled sailings in the Orient and Europe and placing additional tonnage in Alaska in anticipation of strong sales next summer. Do try to book your Alaska cruise 14-12 Months in advance. 

   

• WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE ANTI-AMERICAN FEELINGS THAT WILL LIKELY GROW UNDER A TRUMP PRESIDENCY?

  Q – (12.3.24) – Given all that is involved in traveling overseas on vacation about twice a year, and as a former engineer with a wife who is a CPA, we like to plan our travels almost two years out. As we look at 2026 and beyond, we are struck that neither traveltruth or any of the other major travel sites that we follow seems to have any concerns, as we do, that a Trump presidency, given his criminality and tendency to pull away from support of Europe and Ukraine, will result in waves of anti-tourist and anti-American feelings of a level that could make it really uncomfortable for Americans traveling abroad. You seem unafraid about taking on tough travel industry issues but we wonder why you have been so silent on this one? How do you see Americans being greeted in Spain and Italy, for instance, during the next four years?

  A –  You are projecting something that might happen. There is no solid evidence that we have seen that indicates that Europe, or any other part of the world for that matter, will turn its back and put up the “Unwelcome” signs for American tourists spending American dollars in their countries, because we have just elected a government that is to the “right” of what we had. Our clients traveling within Europe since the election are not experiencing any anti-American manifestations.

  Yes, there are over-tourism demonstrations in major Italian cities. There were some American tourists who were sprayed with water pistols as they sat in cafes along Laa Ramblas in Barcelona. But the kind of anti-American political rallies you suggest have just not happened. Not yet. That is probably why travel writers, most of whom are rewarded with free trips for every story they publish, have not tried to look ahead to judge what might happen under the Trump second reign.

  But you need to also put this into some kind of perspective. As American drifts toward the right so has large sections of Europe. Italy now has a right-wing government, Hungary has a very right-wing government, and the “Right” has made steady progress where their cooperation is now required to form any kind of viable coalition, in France.  So are the Europeans in any position to rally against our domestic politics?

  From our research, you may have a point. And that is the other side of the coin. Off the record, we know that two major tour operators are increasing the number of domestic tour programs they will be offering in 2026 while reducing some international destination departures. In  other words, although it has not yet been reported in the travel press, there are some interesting assumptions being made at the highest industry levels that international travel for Americans may well decrease under Trump. 

  Our Senior Editor, Richard Turen, reports that several industry leaders are concerned about the way American tourists may be greeted abroad in the near-future. The specifics cited in private, off-the-record interviews, involve the likelihood that before too long video of illegal immigrants being rounded up, placed in detention camps, and forcibly sent back to their country of origin, may dominate news coverage in major European capitals. The widespread video leading newscasts and major news apps may, it is thought, trigger a level of anti-American feelings we have not seen before. This will start in universities and then spread is the dominant theory. But this is just theoretical at this point. 

  If the United States does, indeed, as threatened, pull out of the NATO Alliance, that could also create high levels of anti-American feelings in Europe. We have, after all, for better or worse, established ourselves as Europe’s defender. 

  You ask why we have been “silent” on this issue. Traveltruth is a consumer-based Q&A site with no ads or PR phony hype. We try to respond to all questions asked. Ours is not a “political” site. There are more than enough of those. But the real reason we have been quiet on this issue is that, thus far, there is little evidence of the kind of anti-American behavior you are suggesting. It is interesting to note that some major travel firms seem to be planning for the eventuality of increasing anti -American tourist sentiment. But even there – let’s be careful about drawing assumptions. We know that a strong anti-tourist movement already exists in many major tourist centers abroad. But anti-tourist or anti-cruise sentiment is not necessarily directed at American citizens or a particular brand of politics. 

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