About one week ago, I received an email from our planned cruise company, Viking, stating that our Caribbean 10-day cruise was oversold, and they were seeking people willing to give up their reservation in return for a future enhanced cruise. The incentives offered were attractive. Doing our own planning and bookings, I knew what was needed to alter our plans for this opportunity. After a quick check of open alternatives, I left an overnight voicemail with Viking stating that we were willing to make the switch.
The following morning, I received a return call. After quickly discussing future cruises, we settled on an 18-day cruise from Buenos Aires around Cape Horn to the Pacific Ocean ending at Santiago (Valparaiso) Chile. Instead of a standard stateroom, we will enjoy a penthouse junior suite, 405 sq. ft., with its added amenities. Viking has returned all our funds committed to the present cruise, and the future cruise will be free (list price $31K)! Now, I needed to quickly fill a 10-day gap in our current vacation plans.
We needed to make travel bookings with only one week of advance notice. Kayak.com couldn’t help me for flights or car rentals, too short term. Smaller, value accommodations were already completely booked. We elected to stay on Puerto Rico. The island is 100 miles long and the home to 3.2+ million citizens. First, I was able to directly contact Enterprise for a vehicle rental. Next, I directly contacted two attractive, major resorts, Hilton and El Conquistador, for reservations, one on the south coast and one on the east coast. I wanted something similar to the experience of a luxury cruise.
Our Viking cruise was scheduled to be San Juan-to-San Juan after visiting a selection of eastern Caribbean islands. We had done a similar cruise previously (not all the same islands), and our motivation for this cruise was mainly to escape some winter weather. Thus, our ‘sacrifice’ was not major. We have not spent any time reflecting on the forgone cruise.
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