Very Disappointed in Viking River Cruise

Very disappointed in Viking's handling of the recent Portraits of Southern France Cruise. We were traveling on the Viking Hermod which was damaged during the first night of cruising (backing into an object per crew on the boat). The boat cruised for 1 1/2 days and then was docked in Lyon for the remainder of our time on the boat. Guests were offered the opportunity to be bused to tours and then we were bused to Avignon to spend 2 nights in a hotel (quality on par with a Holiday Inn). The food at the hotel was awful (numerous previous posts have also reported poor food quality so Viking is well aware). Viking appointed a very junior crew member to handle all arrangements, he certainly tried but this was much more than he could handle.

Lost the majority of our scheduled river cruising. Very expensive trip turned into bus tour. Viking has now offered us a 25% credit on a future cruise, completely unacceptable.

My truthful negative post on Viking Facebook page has been deleted, several people have commented that their posts have also been deleted.

Very concerned about what is going on with Viking:mad:

This happens often every summer with Viking but very few cruisers hear about it because they only see the glowing FB posts and the Gleaming and flashy commercials on PBS.... Reality is somewhat different than the pretty commercials....

Very very few do research or come to Cruise Critic and educate themselves about the reality of cruising the rivers of the world.

To be fair to Viking they have no control over the weather, river conditions or even accidents that happen on busy rivers. All cruise lines have issues and DO bus passengers....

Firstly, sorry to hear that thing didn't go as planned, I know I would not have been happy either.

Secondly, don't be surprised or outraged at posts getting deleted on a corporate Facebook page, this is entirely normal. Facebook pages for companies are an extension of their marketing departments, not customer support so they will route people to the usual channels and remove complaints etc. in the same way they would paper over a defaced billboard.

It is nothing personal, it just isn't what the Facebook page is for.

Thirdly, don't regard the 25% discount offer as the end of the line. That is the start of the process and where they see how many people will go away happy and take the offer.

You need to reach out directly to them and let them know how unhappy you are. Engage in the negotiation process with them and you'll probably end up happier than you are right now, but it will only happen if you take the first step and contact them at the address they publish frequently in this forum: TellUs@vikingcruises.com

Mark

Thanks for your response and comments about Facebook posts being deleted. Never thought of the corporate Facebook page as an extension of the marketing, certainly makes sense. Makes forums like Cruise Critic that more valuable/reliable.

I have responded to Viking's offer expressing my dissatisfaction, I hope your thoughts that things will get better are correct.

History suggests it will have a better outcome than not contacting them at least :)

You won't be able to come back and tell us all about it though, but that is normal with individual settlements.

Your post on FB has been removed...

Your post on FB has been removed...

Quelle suprise :)

Very disappointed in Viking's handling of the recent Portraits of Southern France Cruise. We were traveling on the Viking Hermod which was damaged during the first night of cruising (backing into an object per crew on the boat). The boat cruised for 1 1/2 days and then was docked in Lyon for the remainder of our time on the boat. Guests were offered the opportunity to be bused to tours and then we were bused to Avignon to spend 2 nights in a hotel (quality on par with a Holiday Inn). The food at the hotel was awful (numerous previous posts have also reported poor food quality so Viking is well aware). Viking appointed a very junior crew member to handle all arrangements, he certainly tried but this was much more than he could handle.

Lost the majority of our scheduled river cruising. Very expensive trip turned into bus tour. Viking has now offered us a 25% credit on a future cruise, completely unacceptable.

My truthful negative post on Viking Facebook page has been deleted, several people have commented that their posts have also been deleted.

Very concerned about what is going on with Viking:mad:

I have friends who were scheduled on the sailing this Sunday. They just got notified this Tuesday, the cruise was cancelled. The Viking Customer Service leaves a lot to be desired.

My friends did not know about the link, so I will pass that along.

Sort of off-topic, but it's a corporate decision how to handle a Facebook page. And as a social media strategist, I can say that it's considered poor form in our industry to delete posts that complain about or disparage the company, as long as they're not vulgar, overtly hateful, or trolling. If a company allows someone to post on their Facebook wall, they're inviting discussion (and criticism). If they don't want that on their page, they could disable user posts.

I manage the social media for a student loan servicer. As you can imagine, people have plenty of things to complain about, whether it's our fault or not. We engage with each comment and try to make things better, and never delete a post unless it falls into the area I described above.

Viking just wants to white-wash its reputation, and clearly doesn't understand the "social" part of social media.

Touché, says the girl who has been banned from Vikings FB page! :)

Sort of off-topic, but it's a corporate decision how to handle a Facebook page. And as a social media strategist, I can say that it's considered poor form in our industry to delete posts that complain about or disparage the company, as long as they're not vulgar, overtly hateful, or trolling. If a company allows someone to post on their Facebook wall, they're inviting discussion (and criticism). If they don't want that on their page, they could disable user posts.

 

I manage the social media for a student loan servicer. As you can imagine, people have plenty of things to complain about, whether it's our fault or not. We engage with each comment and try to make things better, and never delete a post unless it falls into the area I described above.

 

Viking just wants to white-wash its reputation, and clearly doesn't understand the "social" part of social media.

I agree that they should not be deleting posts. However, in my experience I have found this to be the norm. I have posted on the Today show website more than once about things I did not like. My posts were certainly not vulgar or hateful, but they were removed within 10 minutes. I also posted on our local tv station about a reporter's unbelievable inappropriate report and it was also quickly removed.

I think most businesses use FB as a marketing tool and don't want anything negative on it. Perhaps since your business is with a millennial customer base, the expectations are different.

really sorry you had that experience but believe you are correct to inform and alert others to your experience with the cruise operator. sadly some regard consumers as a mass market and demonstrate no regard for the individual, except for the cash they provide. luckily we have choices and there are other options.

hopefully a more acceptable outcome will be arranged for you.

That is very poor compensation for that change.

Personally, I would never cruise on a line that handled people that way.

Never say never! I think if you searched these boards you would find similar complaints against every cruise line on the market. From years of customer service experience, I've learned that people are hard to please no matter what.

Never say never! I think if you searched these boards you would find similar complaints against every cruise line on the market. From years of customer service experience, I've learned that people are hard to please no matter what.

I think you will find some cruise lines take care of their customers a lot better.

I went on the Portraits of Southern France cruise ( or non-cruise) on May 3, 2015 with other family members. The day we were to board the ship they moved it and didn't tell us. After driving around with a crabby cab driver we finally found the boat. Once we were on board the boat we were told the boat would go nowhere due to high water. We were put on long bus trips to see the sites. Halfway through the week we had to pack everything up and move to another boat that didn't go anywhere. A day missed, a full day bus trip to get to the other ship and long bus trips again to see the sites. I bought trip insurance that didn't pay for anything. Trip Mate is sold through Viking. Viking finds loopholes to void the insurance. We were given a credit to use toward a future cruise. Don't think I will ever use it as it's expensive to fly to Europe and then be totally disappointed. It is impossible to talk to customer service regarding this issue. When you call them you are put on hold endlessly then told to give them your number and they will call you back at their convenience. I baby sit. Vikings convenient time is not mine. This company is in big trouble.

I am sorry for your bad experience, buy why is Viking in big trouble?

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Other rivers in Europe and quite a few river cruisers were affected in May. There is an e-mail address here on CC that has been posted several times for the Viking customer support. I think it is in the thread Viking Rinda does not dock in Paris.

Do try to get in touch via e-mail.

Generally speaking, water related issues are mentioned in the fine print of all river cruise companies' brochures and contracts (at least the ones I have looked at) as being normal and companies reserve the right to change itineraries. However, companies give refunds, compensate or give cash in hand depending on where the company is based, what the rules for that country are or what the company's "policy on customer relations" is. This it seems varies quite a bit.

notamermaid

My husband and I were to sail on the Viking Hermod, leaving on Sunday, June 21 and received an email on Tuesday afternoon that the cruise , Portraits of Southern France, had been cancelled. Excuse was that the ship was in dry dock for repairs and was not ready to sail. I must say we were rather surprised and upset that this cruise was cancelled- a trip that was to celebrate our 55th Anniversary. After "digging on the Internet", and finding Cruise Critic, found out the real reason. Glad now that we at least were notified!! We are so sorry that you and others had such a bad experience.

Sorry to hear that your cruise was cancelled and that you won't be able to celebrate your anniversary as planned. I hope you are able to find a nice substitute. Consider yourself very fortunate.

We have still not heard from Viking, it has been over 2 weeks since Viking was aware of the boat damage and that our cruise was over. Still nothing since the pathetic mass email saying they would send us a 25% voucher for a future cruise.

Also very concerned about information contained in other posts;

1. Viking 'dropping' off guests from our cruise in town and not ensuring the guests were safely in their hotel room when we were bused to hotel rooms in Avignon. A huge selling point of cruising is that the company will 'take care and ensure the safety' of their guests.

2. Viking not being truthful to guests booked on the June 7th cruise. It has been posted that these guests were advised that the boat was damaged on Sat June 6th (indicating the company couldn't have known that the boat wasn't going to be able to cruise). Viking knew on Wednesday June 3rd that the boat was severely damaged and needed repairs.

In Vikings defense they may not have had the complete inspection to know just how damaged she was until The 6th. They may well have thought repairs could be made easily......

Viking also seems to make all decisions in California and this happened in Europe. A couple days to get a proper estimate of damage and then decide how to contact passengers many of whom are already in Europe or in route, add in the 9hr time difference. The perfect storm.

I am not a Viking fan and granted communication is not their strongest point but this is a no win situation no matter how they handled it. I would have been angry, mad and disappointed too!

Sorry to hear that your cruise was cancelled and that you won't be able to celebrate your anniversary as planned. I hope you are able to find a nice substitute. Consider yourself very fortunate.

We have still not heard from Viking, it has been over 2 weeks since Viking was aware of the boat damage and that our cruise was over. Still nothing since the pathetic mass email saying they would send us a 25% voucher for a future cruise.

Also very concerned about information contained in other posts;

1. Viking 'dropping' off guests from our cruise in town and not ensuring the guests were safely in their hotel room when we were bused to hotel rooms in Avignon. A huge selling point of cruising is that the company will 'take care and ensure the safety' of their guests.

2. Viking not being truthful to guests booked on the June 7th cruise. It has been posted that these guests were advised that the boat was damaged on Sat June 6th (indicating the company couldn't have known that the boat wasn't going to be able to cruise). Viking knew on Wednesday June 3rd that the boat was severely damaged and needed repairs.

Any Update? Have you heard back from Viking yet?

We received a full refund from Viking for our cruise and will not take another Viking cruise. We are booked on a cruise on Holland America, our favorite, to New England/Canada in early october.:):)

Just wondering what your disappointment was as I have friends that have booked on Viking cruises in the next few months.

We received a full refund from Viking for our cruise and will not take another Viking cruise. We are booked on a cruise on Holland America, our favorite, to New England/Canada in early october.:):)

What Viking cruise were you on, or did you cancel before the cruise started?