FLtimes

Have you all received vouchers already? We have not, but we don't really want one because we probably won't be able to fly. I am curious though why we don't have a voucher though. Also, did you get a refund of part of your airfare? We didn't book through Viking because Viking Air couldn't seem to change from the economy class airfare to business class when we decided 8 months ago that health conditions would necessitate business class air travel. We decided to fly home from Tallinn after the first letter when someone at the explorers desk told me that they could not guarantee that we would reach Bergen in time for our original flights and that if Viking made the arrangements they would send us home on coach. If you made your reservations through viking air, did they refund part of your airfare or include it in your voucher? If you made air reservations independently, did you get any compensation for that?

Are you getting a full refund or 1/2?

They have agreed to refund 65% of the fare and give a voucher of 50% on a future cruise as well as pay my change fee on the airline. They have provided no details on the terms of the voucher, and given that Viking routinely advertises 2 for 1 fares, I am not sure what the value of this voucher would be. I know we will never take an Ocean cruise with them, as beautiful as the Star is. I love their math. In the email, it says we have been reimbursed 115% (65%+50%). They make no mention of or apology for either the wasted airfare or the lost vacation with our traveling companions. This was to have been the celebration of my husband's 65th birthday and his brother's 75th birthday. This reunion time was very valuable to us. We planned it over 2 years ago. We could have done any number of other things, but we chose the low hassle way of traveling and cruising together for our reunion. Viking's attitude has been insulting and dismissive. Good thing Masterpiece Theater is on break and I don't have to listen to their ads for a while.

I'd gladly trade my coins for more reimbursement of our expenses associated with our cruise from Stockholm to Tallinn. Just got an email from Viking Customer Relations asking me to complete a satisfaction survey. Surely they jest.

:rolleyes:

Viking called me today, and refunds are trickling in. They agreed to pay my airline change fee (which they previously didn't commit to). But I ask myself, would I pay $6700 for flights and $4700 for a cruise from Stockholm to Tallinn with stops in Helsinki and St. Petersburg? That's essentially what Viking is having us pay for this experience after the 65% refund is credited.

We received the email last night saying we would get a 65% refund, and that a refund of 50% had already been processed. I can't find it in any of my accounts, so I don't know if they mailed me a check or what. They still haven't addressed the change fee that the airline charged to change our flights from Tallinn. On board the Viking rep said that if we allowed Viking to make our reservations, they would send us home by coach, even though we had business class reservations (not made through Viking Air). She told me to keep the receipts for the change fee for "possible" reimbursement. Still haven't heard anything from Viking on that note. Viking Air changed the flight reservations they made for our traveling companions, who had requested to stay and go to Bergen. Instead they were given reservations to Boston on Aug 4, even though they had several weeks of travel in Europe planned following the ill-fated cruise. Viking even cancelled their return flight to Boston from London in September. Their return from London has since been reinstated, albeit at a less convenient time.

I finally got an email from Customer Relations at Viking. Still no refund deposited into my account, but at least they acknowledge that I exist.

While we were on board a letter was left on our bed promising a 50% refund and credit on a future cruise and promising that Customer Relations would contact us when we returned home. I have not received a response from tellus. The email I sent to Customer Realtions has not been acknowledged. The true test of a cruise line is not how you handle things when everything is going well on your beautiful new ship--it's in the way you treat customers when things go wrong.

Hi Viking Cruises,

I have sent an email to you at tellus@vikingcruises.com. I will repost here when I receive a response to that email.

I wish I shared your optimism about Viking doing the right thing. We too were on the Viking Homeland cruise that ended in Tallinn. We did not make our air reservations through Viking Air, so when the notice came that we had a choice to go home or remain on the ship until it reached Bergen on August 7, skipping all remaining ports of call, we decided we should go home. Not hearing anything from Viking after we returned our form, and faced with internet access that was so slow that we couldn't reach our travel agency to rebook, I stood in line at the Explorer's Desk for what seemed like hours. They told me that they couldn't guarantee that we would reach Bergen in time to catch our business class flights back home, and that if we allowed Viking to send us home it would most likely be coach. Due to health issues, we had booked (and paid almost $7000 for) business class flights for this trip. So, with assistance from staff at the Explorers Desk, we changed our reservation, incurring a change fee of over $900. Today, when I talked with Viking Customer relations, they told me that Viking's offer to "make things right" would be to refund half of the cruise fee and give us 50% off the next cruise, but they were not authorized to reimburse us for the change fee in our air. We missed 7 of the 11 planned ports of call due to the ship's breakdown, and will probably not be able to fly in the future to take advantage of a discounted cruise. Some passengers were treated well, and were sent to Bergen and given excursions and hotel rooms. Others were shortchanged. We are still waiting to see if Viking comes through.