RetroRod

Booked and paid for two business class seats with Viking Air along with our Viking Ocean HL cruise for June 2019. A week after the booking I found the same flights on Delta, in business class, for $2000 less. I had my TA cancel the Viking Air flights and she requested a refund. After 10 business days still no refund to my CC. I emailed Viking and their response was their normal process for refunds is 21 business days. That is almost a month in calendar days. I believe that amount of time is excessive so I asked that the refund be expedited. No response yet to my request. Interestingly, when the flights were booked the charge hit my card in 2 days. So, with Viking Ocean requiring cruise fare payment anywhere from 6 to 8 months prior to sailing this is another example of Viking holding our $$.

You need to download the app prior to boarding. I didn’t know about it until we were on board and found it to be impossible to download due to WiFi speed. I had to wait until we were in a port coffee shop that had good WiFi.

This was a CC post from a previous thread and same subject. I saved it to show my TA when final payment time arrives.

“I understand that these are the current rules: (as of May 15, 2017)

Viking Cruises updated its travel agent advertising and commissions policy, giving travel agents a full and complete list of its acceptable practices for advertising, marketing, booking and rebating.

The changes were made “in an effort to protect the interests of all of the travel trade and the Viking brand.”

Some of its updated guidelines include:

• Travel agents will only be allowed to advertise Viking’s published rate, found on its website and in the GDS. Any other prices need to be approved by Viking in writing.
  
• Group rates secured through Viking’s group reservation system cannot be advertised to the general public.
  
• Agents will only be allowed to offer non-cash marketing incentives if the incentives are able to be redeemed and used onboard or if the retail value of the incentive does not exceed $100.
  
• For the onboard gifts, the incentive can’t exceed: $150 per guest for seven-night sailings,
  
• $300 per guest for eight to 14-nightsailings on a Viking vessel and
  
• $500 per guest for 15-night plus sailings $500 per guest.
  
• Points and miles can only be offered by an agent as a non-cash marketing incentive and have to be offered only through a credential membership program. Agents can only offer points and miles if the value does not exceed 25% of its published price and if agents has secured Viking’s written approval prior to advertising or offering it in any media.
  
• Agents also will have to include the full commissionable portion of a cruise fare in the rate shown or communicated. Other fees — fuel supplements, cruise taxes, fees and port expenses — have to be advertised separate from the commissionable portion.
  
• Agents must advertise in the currency of their clients — U.S. residents should see the price in U.S. dollars and Canadian residents should see it in Canadian dollars.
  

As part of its policies, Viking will continue to pay commission 29 days prior to departure date for cruise, air, extensions and insurance. For its onboard purchases — shore excursions, gifts and beverage packages — will be paid at their completion.”

Thanks for all the info on Stockholm. We're looking forward to this cruise and itinerary.

Booked for a HL cruise Stockholm to Bergen in 2019. Arriving in Stockholm early on Day 1. Does Viking have any excursions for Day 1? Day 2 the ship departs at 2:30 PM. I assume they will have excursions that fit the 2:30 PM departure. Anyone have experience with Viking excursions for Day 2? Any recommendations for on your tours?

Thanks for all the posts. Very good info that will be helpful in our planning. We're looking forward to this cruise.

We are booked on the HL cruise Stockholm to Bergen in June 2019. Currently, I and my TA agrees, we can probably get better airfares and possibly flight times if we do not use Viking Air. However, we would not be able to get the Viking transfers. Has anyone done a transfer on your own from the ship in the Bergen port (Skolten?) to the Bergen Airport (BGO - Flesland)? If so, how easy/hard was it to arrange and what company did you use? Any help is appreciated.

We sailed on the Star earlier this year and were in cabin 6092. The reviews said to avoid deck 6 if possible because of potential noise from the deck above. We were doing B2B cruises and this was the only cabin available that wouldn’t require us to move. We heard them cleaning/dragging chairs right above us just about every night at 2:30 AM. Very consistent!

We are booked for HL cruise for June 2019. I have started doing research on ports/excursions on both CC and Rick Steves website. I found on Rick's website what he calls the "Northern European Cruise Port Cheat Sheet". An extract from the sheet "This roundup explains how to get into town from each major Northern European port. While cruise-line excursions are available, virtually all ports are easily doable on your own. For detailed instructions and self-guided tours in each port, see the Rick Steves’ Northern European Cruise Ports guidebook." I plan on buying the book when the updated version comes out in August 2018. If the PDF doesn't load correctly I included the link to the website.

https://d3dqioy2sca31t.cloudfront.net/Projects/cms/production/000/014/033/original/226a20c82cac9935b3a560e30fc257f7/class-handout-cruising-northern.pdf

Cheat Sheet For N. Europe.pdf

We found the included tours to be pretty good. They usually aren't too long and not a lot of time on the bus. One of the nice things Viking has are the QuietVox headphones for all the tours. It makes hearing the guides a lot easier plus you can tell when you wander off too far you will start losing reception.

I found out about the app from customer service while on-board. Couldn't connect to the app store using the ship's WiFi. I suspect it was a band width issue. I had to wait until on shore and found a coffee shop with WiFi. When I did get it downloaded I could only see cruise #! since we were doing B2B. Athens to Venice to Rome. CS said the app is new and has bugs. If you plan on using this app, downloaded it before you leave home.

No hands on prep for our Kitchen Table. There was some commentary for each course but not over the top. After the 3rd course with wine everyone was engaged in multiple conversations.

We just did the Kitchen Table on our Athens to Venice cruise on the Star with a small group of 7 people. We didn’t see it on MVY prior to the cruise and only found out it was available from the sommelier. We went into town with the Executive Chef and help select fish, produce, cheese and wine from local vendors. Later that evening we met in a separate dining area with a view into the kitchen and watched the chef and sous chef prepare the meal. Before the meal started we got a brief tour of the kitchen and watched them preparing meals for the 3 dining areas. The 7 course meal was pared with 7 different wines. All were outstanding. It was a bit pricey ($249 ea.) but we liked it and considered it an “experience”. NOTE: we did the Chefs Table first thinking it would be like Chef’s Table we have tried on other cruise lines. Other lines the chef talks about each course and the wine he selected to be pared with the food. On Viking it was more like a prix fixe tasting menue with no chef.

Just completed the Athens to Venice cruise on the Star. Viking did have a shuttle boat running from the ship to near St. Marks Square. It’s about a 10 minute walk from the drop/pickup point but you have to go over 4 bridges to get to the square. Not too bad but the large crowds of people can make it challenging.

Thanks for all the replys re: OBC and gratuities. Looks like it may be a “game day decision” 😊 as to will/if it be honored.

Does anyone know if OBC gifted by Viking be appled toward gratuities?

Viking finally posted excursions on Dec 18 vs. the Dec 28 date I was told by CS. I love it when a plan comes together:)

This is an update to my Dec 9 post re: Customer Service. I received a couple emails in response to me contacting Viking as was suggested. The CS response essentially reiterated what I wrote to Viking saying excursions would be available for viewing 110-100 days prior. I expressed my dissatisfaction with the answer. I received another email and was then told my concerns were being transferred to a "Seasoned Customer Relations Agent". I then received a phone call from the agent and he assured me all the shore excursions for my cruise were being loaded and they were holding to the Dec 18, 100 days prior time line. Sunday, the very next day, less than 24 hours from the first CS agent call, I get another CS call. She now tells me the excursions will be up and ready for viewing Dec, 28. (90 days prior). AMAZING! I'm not holding my breath waiting for Dec 28.

We heard so many good things about Viking River Cruises and our friends have done the ocean cruise. They loved it so we decided to try our first Viking Ocean cruise. We are doing B2B cruises in March 2018 starting in Athens (Empires of the Mediterranean) and continuing from Venice (Italian Sojourn) and ending in Rome. This will be our tenth cruise so we are not new to cruising. I like to plan/review (not book), well in advance, all the shore excursions that are available for each port. If a particular excursion is not available or of interest to us we hire a private guide. However, I'm learning early review/planning is not possible on Viking since the excursions are not showing up in "My Trip". I understand that excursion booking in advance is based on the cabin category you are in. For us it's 77 days prior to sailing. I contacted Viking CS to inquire about the excursions and was told they would be available for review 150 days prior to sailing. The 150 days prior came and still no excursions on the website. Contacted Viking CS again and was told it would be 120 days prior. The 120 date arrived and still no excursions available to review. Called Viking again and was told there was a "glitch" in the system and it would be fixed in 3 days. Apparently the glitch wasn't corrected as there are still no excursions listed. I then contacted my TA and she was told by a Viking supervisor they are loading excursions 110-100 days prior to sailing and they are working to solidify their process. I'm now inside my the 110-100 day window and still nothing. Hopefully, Dec 18 (day 100) all will be well. It is extremely frustrating to consistently get bad information from the agents representing Viking. Has anyone had similar experiences?