chabby101

To close this topic, I am relieved and happy to report that, after much discussion among Viking Cruises Customer Relations, my TA and myself, Viking Cruises agreed to refund it to me via a credit to my credit card, which I just received.

Thanks Fran.  Well, Viking Cruises seems to be different from other cruise lines, as I have found out to my dismay.  This will certainly impact on my future decisions regarding which cruising companies to go with.  I will certainly consider Avalon and the other cruise lines who treat their customers with better service. 

Viking Cruises informed me last week that the check is in the mail.  I continued to protest that the refund should be via a credit to my credit card.  I live in the Philippines, and I expect that, if it was sent through regular snail mail, it will take weeks, if not months, to reach me.  Worse, I am concerned that the check could be lost in the mail and I won't know until several months after. 

I asked if this manner of getting a refund by check is in the terms and conditions of the river cruise, and I was told by the Customer Relations agent that it is not, but that it is the company's policy.  When I pressed him about the reason for this unfair policy, he said that this is to enable a paper trail.  This is hogwash, since any transaction with the credit card companies will generate a ton of paper trail (my work entails dealing with credit card companies).  It does seem to me that Viking Cruises really does try to hold on to cash for as long as possible.  Very unsatisfactory result, and just adds to a long list of negatives for cruising with Viking.  Please be warned:  refund of cancelled tours, regardless of who initiated the cancellation, will be returned via check even if you paid for the tour with a credit card.  The only conclusion I could draw from this unfair situation is that Viking will try to hold on to your cash for as long as possible.

Thank you for all your comments, and it seems that I am not alone in my experience. It also seems that Viking Cruises monitors the boards for negative comments; I will provide Viking Cruises my booking reference, and await its response. I will share with you how this situation unfolds.

I, together with 9 other senior citizens, went on a Viking Danube river cruise (Vilhjalm) Budapest to Passau on Nov. 14-21.  Due to the low water levels of the Danube, our itinerary was revised, and Viking cancelled an optional tour in Budapest, for which my group paid for in advance.  We were told at the boat that we will be refunded in full, and we assumed that since we paid for this tour with our credit cards, the refund will be credited to our respective credit cards.  It has been two months since the tour was cancelled, and we have not received our refund.  My TA called Viking customer relations, and she was told that the accounting department is processing refunds for cancelled tours dating back to August 2018.  More importantly, she was told that the refund will be done through checks, and not through a credit to our credit cards.  The checks are to be mailed to our registered addresses.  When she protested, she was told that refunding our tour costs through credit card credit will entail additional costs to Viking, hence the decision to refund through checks.  I believe this is completely unfair! In my experience with all other cruise lines (Crystal, Celebrity, Princess, etc), refunds are done via the original form of payment.  I read, in a separate topic, how Viking requires full payment 18 months prior to the actual cruise.  It seems to me that Viking's corporate strategy is to hold on to customers' money for as long as possible.  In our case, it is not even Viking's money anymore, but it is still holding on to our money.

May I know if any one of you cool cruisers have had the same experience?

Thank you Rappersmom.  I have been feeling the soreness and will see my doctor soon. To all of you cruising, enjoy the Christmas markets!

53 minutes ago, Rappersmom said:

That was certainly weird. 

 

I certainly agree. I actually called Viking Customer Relations after the cruise about a related matter- I slipped and fell on the gangway in Linz; it snowed the previous night and the crew I felt didn’t take better safety measures. The response was alternately offhand and condescending.

To all of you cruising right now, please take extra care in walking the gangway, specially during rains and snow.

I have been faithfully monitoring this thread since September as we were scheduled to go on a Viking Romantic Danube Waltz cruise Budapest to Passau on Nov. 14 to 21, and certainly appreciate all the information and comments from all of you.  I would like to share my experience.

As the others have observed, Viking's Customer Relations did not handle this situation well.  The person I talked to did not deal straight with me; replies to my questions were evasive; for example when I asked about the position of the ship at the time I called, the answer was she did not know and I need to talk to the ship myself.  When we arrived in Prague (for an independent tour), I called Viking Vilhjalm and was told to call Bragi (docked in Budapest) where we will spend the night before proceeding on a bus trip to Vienna.  But when I called Bragi, the officer disclaimed knowledge of our arrival; it certainly seemed like  a lack of  coordination between the ships.

Finally, we embarked on Bragi, did the morning Budapest tour, and proceeded by bus to Vienna (after a tasteless lunch, another disappointment) to embark on Vilhjalm.  Another bus ride to Bratislava and thankfully, Vilhjalm was able to proceed with the rest of the cruise up to Passau.  

We were offered future cruise credit corresponding to 25% of the amount we paid.  However, given the way Viking has been dodgy about the whole scenario, I can't see cruising with them in the future.