twinkletoes4445

After cruising for 30 years more or less and on 6 lines and 16 or 17 cruises, we decided to venture onto Viking for a european river cruise, we had missed keukenhopf at peak twice so timing was critical in this case. we booked a cruise, that with air, cost over 13 thousand which was a lot but not a record for us.

 

Then after my deposit is down i found out that i had to pay it all 9 months in advance... wow is all i could say but i broke the amex out and choked it all down. So now i'm 13 thousand out of pocket but hoping that it would be worth it in the end.

 

suddenly yesterday i get an email out of the blue from my travel agent "they have canceled your cruise and you have 30 days to rebook". I call my agent who spends an inordinate amount of time confirming that this is true but all Viking wants to do is resell me on a different cruise. NOT INTERESTED i say and after about the 5th time my travel agent understands and tells them i want a refund and compensation for the money they've had all this time (3 months) for nothing. He relays that not only do i get no compensation, i get no refund for 3 or 4 weeks WOW.

 

I tell my wife and she is somewhere between incredulous and upset and insists i must have got it wrong, so I dial Viking and give her the phone. it boils down to:

 

- we still don't know if the ship is actually canceled or they double booked the cabin or they just decided to charter it out.

- Viking "generously" agreed not to charge us a cancellation penalty!!!! yes that's what they said.

- Viking agreed to move us to another ship for no price increase... again their words not mine.

- After we declined their "GENEROUS" offer, she said she would try to expedite our refund but even expediting a refund takes two days for a "DECISION".

 

Only bright spot in this travesty is they could've waited till two days before we were due to leave or something... no matter what however we don't do business this way and Viking is now dead to us but HOW DO WE STOP THE MAILERS EVERY 3 DAYS???

I don't blame you for being unhappy. I hope it all works out for you. There's no way we'd book with any cruise line that requires full payment up front. They really have you over a barrel. We personally wouldn't cruise Viking if they gave us a free trip. I hope you find a cruise that works for you. There's a lot of great river cruise lines out there. We prefer Uniworld, but there are several others that I'd also check out.

How generous of Viking to not to charge you a cancellation penalty. I don't know what those people are thinking at times. They do not excel in PR! I guess I'd give them a couple of days, but if they didn't refund the entire amount, I'd call AMEX. They are wonderful to work with.

Before we travel, I Google whatever the name of the place or ship and problems, just to see what pops up. It startling sometimes.

I'd call Viking and tell them to quit sending material to you. Or just toss it in the trash.

Thank you so much for the information. My blood pressure went down (although the comment about low water levels now has my attention, thanks, JazzBeau) and I am working hard to get my need for control under control. I am going to chill-ax. I am really looking forward to the trip and all the details you provided on the general flow of the trip and your knowledge as helped alot. As usual, Cruise Critic comes through. Thanks to all.

Enjoy your cruise!!

It was one of my favorite stops too. I enjoyed just sitting on the park bench watching the rivers go by... also the organ concert at St. Stephen's, although they did arrange a taxi for me to the cathedral and I walked back. In Regensburg they had a little train/trolley that ran back and forth every 15 min. or so. It wasn't far, but it was steep.

It was very pleasant n Passau. We just walked the area. But we weren't part of the walking tour. We just did our own thing there. We walked around and then stopped and had lunch at Blauer Bock. One of the shopkeepers recommended it. I could have sat there all day and watched people and the boats going up and down the Danube. It was good food and a lovely view.

We've not been to Regensburg but would love to visit there one day. The train/trolley sounds convenient. There are a lot of steep roads in the places with visited ... and most seemed to be cobblestone, which was a bit tricky to navigate. At least for us.

I hope one day we return to that area. It was our favorite so far (of our vacations).

There would have been some very very very long walks... No strolls!

I think the only place I would consider a stroll was Passau. It was still a bit of a hike, but it was so pretty there along the Danube.

We are taking Viking on the Danube from Prague to Budapest for the Christmas markets this December. This is our first river cruise, although we have taken a number of ocean cruises. I don't understand the schedules and inclusions at the ports. I haven't gotten any specific on arrival/depart times or about the shore excursion offerings. Is this common for river cruising? How do I know if I want to book something separately ahead of time if I don't know what is offered? For example, I have heard that there is an optional offered by many lines in Vienna that is a little concert, but I have no details to figure out if planning on that versus doing our own reservations is a better plan. Likewise, what time do we get into Budapest (last port)? As a controlling type, this is making me kind of crazy. Suggestions?

Like the above posters said, it's hard to say what your arrival times and even docking locations will be. River cruising is so different than ocean cruising, but we are now totally hooked on river cruising. One thing we did was hire a private guide for Prague (set up by the Uniworld rep in the hotel), Salzburg, Vienna, and Budapest, but we did not do that until we were on the boat. Our concierge set those up for us. It was pricey, but worth every penny (for us). I had a knee issues going on on that cruise, and it worked better for us to do our own thing. On our next cruise we are not doing private guides, other than maybe Paris, the rest of our stops we are going with the included tours.

We also did the Prague to Budapest cruise and we loved it. I can only imagine how magical it will be during Christmas! I would love to do that one in the future...

Edited to add: I used to come up with minute-by-minute plans for our vacations. I would hand everyone in our family a color-coded itinerary with everything planned! So I understand your concern. :) But it is really nice to not think about much of anything. They will take care of you and if you want to do more or branch out more, ask the concierge for suggestions and assistance.

Another option to taking the cruise company's pre or post excursion package is to hire your own private guide. You can often book into the same hotel that the cruise is using for less money vs going through them. This gives you the convenience of not having to transfer hotels but you still save money.

 

I use PrivateGuide.com to hire private guides. You can enter the city you are looking for and the language that you need and it will give you a list of guides. You then contact the guides directly to check their availability and negotiate with rates. Often the private guides will suggest an itinerary if you let them know what will be included with your river cruise. This will help maximize what you can see and if you use a tour guide, you also get to skip lines. I used this site for my recent visit to Turkey and it worked very well.

Thank you for this info. We have a couple of free days so this might work out well for us. We really do like having a private guide. We get to do exactly what we want to do. Thanks!

Uniworld doesn't offer an evening boat ride with its cruise package, I'm not sure about the pre-cruise package. I couldn't justify the high price of the pre-cruise package, compared to what I could do on my own. We probably paid 1/2 of what they charged, and saw A LOT, and on our schedule. The staff at our hotel had our museum passes waiting for us when we arrived, helped us with Metro directions to the various places we wanted to see (if the walk was too far), made dinner reservations, arranged our transportation to the dock, etc. The pre-cruise package looked very limited compared to what we did.

 

Our cruise director did her best to schedule things for guests that were beyond the offerings of Uniworld, so that would be a possibility too.

 

Robin

Thanks for the info! On our last cruise, our cruise director arranged for us to have a private guide in several cities. I do know on this cruise we are not going to be on the go all the time. Last time we were totally exhausted. This time we're going to try and go a more leisurely pace in Paris. We aren't ones to make our own plans. Used to be that way. Now we just go with whatever is offered through the ship. We are really looking forward to this cruise. :)

While my DH and I didn't travel on Avalon, we did do Uniworld's Paris/Normandy cruise in late March and absolutely loved it. We went 2 days early, and ran ourselves ragged, seeing as much as we could, before boarding. We managed to see Notre Dame (and went to the top), the Louvre (and went back a 2nd day, on the last day of our cruise-on our own), the catacombs, Sainte Chapelle, the Arc de Triomphe (went to the top at twilight-gorgeous), and the Eiffel Tower (also went to the top-book early!!!). We stayed at the Hotel da Vinci, which had a spa pool in its basement, which could be reserved for a private swim. After 10 miles of walking each day for 2 days, it was a welcome treat.

 

Honfleur was one of our included tours, and I highly recommend it. It was probably one of our favorite stops. I'm happy to answer any questions about other choices, since most lines are going to offer pretty much the same excursions.

 

I will say, we hated the Versailles experience. Even in March, it was incredibly, miserably crowded. The gardens were lovely, however.

 

Robin

We're doing this cruise next year on Uniworld! We are giving some thought to skipping the Versailles excursion and staying on the boat. We are so excited! We're going to Paris 3 days prior to the cruise. We ended up using Uniworld's package.

We've only been on one other river cruise (Uniworld River Beatrice). We loved it so much that we booked another with Uniworld.

One of the things we are thinking about doing while in Paris, is a evening boat ride (maybe dinner?) on the Siene. Is this something they offer?

We took this trip on Uniworld in 2012.

I am not sure what the best time to travel is, but we went traveled at the end of August through the beginning of September. The weather was warm, with a little bit of rain, but most days were nice and sunny and not too hot.

We booked a suite and enjoyed it. We liked the extra room. You will not be in your cabin too much, so I wouldn't hesitate to book a lower cabin. We thought the River Beatrice was lovely.

The ports were all wonderful. We did the pre-stay through Uniworld in Prague. Our favorites were Prague, Passau, and Salzburg, although all were wonderful. We did the optional Slovakia tour, although I am not sure it's optional any longer. Our cruise was prior to Uniworld's switch to all-inclusive. We hope one day to repeat this cruise because it was so enjoyable.

We were very satisfied with the pre-cruise stay in Prague. We knew we could do it on our own for less money, but we are the types that want to be met at the airport and not think about a thing until we are dropped off at the end of the cruise. Our hotel was the Art Deco Imperial Hotel. The hotel was lovely. The staff was wonderful. The bed was so comfy. There is a Uniworld rep at the hotel. She was awesome. She arranged for us to have a private guide for our one free day. Prague is really a beautiful city. So much to see and do.

I don't know what will happen concerning the refugee situation, but it wouldn't stop me from booking this cruise. We're going next year to France and cruising Uniworld.

I'd book as far in advance as you are able to do if you want a specific cabin. They do seem to sell out far in advance.

Our concierge, Tania, arranged for us to have a private guide in Vienna, Salzburg (I wanted to see all the Sound of Music locations - and we saw all of them!), and Budapest. There is nothing wrong with the group tours they offered, but I had a knee issue and we wanted to be able to get a little closer to the sites without walking as much. For our upcoming cruise, we're going to do the Uniworld excursions.

Tania was so helpful! Make sure and talk with the concierge and he/she will make whatever you want to happen, happen. Uniworld is an amazing cruise line. They know the meaning of customer service. We loved every moment of our cruise and are thrilled that we have another cruise coming up next year. I am already looking at the Amsterdam cruises!

If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to answer them for you. :)

Have fun!!

We arrived in Lyon this afternoon and as the TomTom was leading us to our hotel (Globe et Cecil -- wonderful and centrally located) we saw our ship AmaDagio docked across the Rhone [with the APT banner affixed, as this week has been one of their cruises]. We had time this evening to stroll around Vieux Lyon and then arrived early for our reservation at restaurant Daniel et Denise [something about hotel/restaurant names here with "name et name" ;)] We both had the Quennelles [comme il faut] and enjoyed them, but I wouldn't make this a habit as I have done with Fois Gras [4 nights in a row! -- don't tell my doctor :D] Tomorrow we check out of the hotel and embark on AmaDagio for our cruise.

Can't wait to hear all about your cruise! I've enjoyed reading your prior posts.

Hi Terri

Nice to see you here. Please email me. I have a question for you.

Terri

How are you doing? I'll email you... :)

Several posters have commented that they plan to stick with ocean cruising to avoid the kind of low water problems that we have been experiencing on the Danube and Elbe this year. So I thought I would point out that Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean have just had to rearrange the itineraries of their cruises to avoid Hurricane Danny. I'll take low water as an alternative any day!

Same here!

The OP has the right to feel deceived. Viking has known about the non-Paris docking for some time. Forty-five minutes - one hour from Paris is not docking right in the city as is claimed.

 

One of the major advertising claims of river cruises is the ability to walk off the boat and enjoy the port city. Riding a bus 1 hour each way through Paris traffic is not my idea of enjoying Paris. From the brochure:

 

Wake up to a full day in Paris. After breakfast, embark on a half-day tour of this dazzling city and take in its most remarkable sights, including the iconic Eiffel Tower. You’ll also see the École Militaire, Orsay Museum and Latin Quarter and the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame. Then we’ll drive past the Louvre and Opera House and along the famed Champs-Élysées. Return aboard for lunch. This afternoon you’re free to take in the Louvre, shop the fashionable boutiques, visit the artists’ district of Montmartre or enjoy a cruise along the Seine.

 

I don't think anyone is returning to the ship for lunch and then returning to Paris. That's four hours on a bus for two RT.:eek:

 

I can also understand why the OP cancelled. Who would want to continue to do business with a deceptive company?

 

This does not fall into the category of the right of the cruise company to change ports. Viking knew they would not be docking in Paris.

And unless people hold their feet to the fire, they're going to continue this practice. They can do what they want, but they risk losing customers. I agree with all you have said ... :)

When it comes to Viking…BUYER BEWARE!

There has been a lot of discussion on this topic here CC. It's too bad they chose not to be up front with you in the beginning. I personally believe they should give you a full refund of your deposit. Again, this has been a sore subject with some posters here, and I don't blame them.

We won't do HAL again until they change their smoking policy and if they ever go back to smaller ships.....which will probably not happen.

 

I am reading- with some surprise- the responses here to Viking Rivers - out of curiosity, who were all or you guided towards? And what were the advantages for you / not your TA who may not be upper tier with VR and therefore different compensation to them? Not saying that happened with your individual TA, but I have heard this elsewhere

I doubt HAL will change their smoking policy, but you never know. I hope so for those that wish to stay with HAL.

We love Uniworld, and we're staying with them, but if we were to choose another cruise line, it would be Tauck, Scenic or AMA. It depends on how all-inclusive you want your trips to be.

Visit the River Cruising boards and look for the Viking threads. There's always something going on. Their big issue seems to be customer service and how they handle (or don't) problems.

My husband told me yesterday that he woke up early and turned on the radio (he wears hearing bud things ... so as to not bother me). He said the radio guys (he didn't know what station) were talking about Viking and their issues.

When we were in Vienna, we hired a private guide and the guide told us that he hears lots of complaints about Viking.

Now ... there are plenty of people that love Viking and have no complaints. One big reason I'd never use them is you pay upfront when you book. And typically you book up to a year in advance. And don't let those 1/2 price numbers that Viking puts in their brochures fool you. If you were to pay brochure price, which you won't, you could be cruising on one of the higher-end river cruise lines.

This is where a good TA comes in handy. Ours knew we wouldn't we happy with a Viking cruise. And after reading all the complaints, I am so glad we didn't consider them. They've had a lot of flooding, or low waters and dock strikes in Europe. What separates these companies is how they handle these problems and Viking fell down a lot on these issues. But again, some people love Viking. I guess it's a good thing there are options.

It's similar to ocean cruising ... Carnival might be a right fit for some, but others may like RCCL ... and others O .... and so on. They key is to find what works for you. There are price differences in the river cruise market. You pay more and you get a higher quality product.

Our TA did the same for us last year. We are 4 star Mariners on HAL and she talked us into trying O. Don't think we will be going back! Enjoy!

That's good to know! I know we won't go back ... so we need to find a good fit for us. O does seem like it would be perfect for us...

Yes, our TA steered us towards Uniworld and AMAwaterways. All she could say about Viking was the rooms were small. We have not taken a river cruise yet, but when we do it will be either Uniworld or AMA.

If you get A Wealth of Entertainment channel (AWE), they have a series called Dream Cruises. A couple of the AMA river cruises have been featured. There's also a show with Burt Wolf where he is on one of the AMA cruises. It looked wonderful.

+1 our Travel Agent, who never says anything untoward about ANY Line told us that the best part of their Viking River trip was that it is now over.

We knew nothing about river cruising until I happened to see a Viking commercial on TV and gave our TA a call. She didn't say much except for she did not think Viking would be a good match for us. Our TA's sound a lot alike. Ours never has a bad word to say about any other line ... but she directed me in another direction very quickly. :) I am so thankful...

Oceania will also be new for us. We're jumping ship ... from HAL.

Also just read some of the many post and I feel sorry for anyone who is on the ship. This certainly does not sound like a line Oceana lovers would like.

If this Viking is the same as Viking River cruises, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. We've cruised Uniworld and loved it. Friends tell us Oceana would be on that level, which is why we're going to cruise Oceania in the near future. Viking has terrible customer service issues, among other things.

http://kimandcarrie.com/whats-the-food-like-on-an-amawaterways-river-cruise-menus-photos-and-videos/

 

I found this link recently. Lots of menus, and photos of meals plus a video of the breakfast and lunch buffets. For all of you that ask the question. What is the food like????

Wow, that looks awesome! I don't think anyone is going to go hungry on an AMA cruise! Thank you for sharing. :)

If anyone has the Wealth of Entertainment Channel, check out their Dream Cruise schedule. I have watched the two below and loved them! I even have them saved on my DVR.

Dolce

Medieval castles, landscapes rich in history, customs several centuries old, and stunning architecture, are witnesses to the splendor of bygone eras. This is a taste of the adventure that lies ahead as we sail the Danube, Europe’s majestic river.

Prima

This Christmas Time Dream Cruises follows the passengers of the riverboat Amaprima, as it winds its way through the heart of Europe in the days preceding Christmas.

Uniworld River Baroness - Where Does it Dock in Paris?

 

We are on the Sept. 20 Paris - Normandy cruise.

Thanks, cb

We're doing the same cruise next year. I can't wait to hear all about your cruise! Have fun! :)

Mine will be in 2017 to France and I need to see Normandy. I am going to look at Tauck and Uniworld and then AMA. After my horrible experience on Viking I need to be careful!

I think you'll have a wonderful time on any of those. I am sorry about your Viking experience. I am thankful they were never on our list.

Of course, suite dwellers on Uniworld have no need for an iron, since their butlers will press their clothes any time such service is needed ... ;)

 

J/k, portofino, I'm certain the Tauck experience will be outstanding. The folks we talked to on the SS Catherine who had cruised Tauck said their experience on that line was very comparable to the Uniworld experience. Have a great time!

 

(BTW, your comment on the Bordeaux cruise hit home; that's the next one we plan to take.)

The butler service was nice.

Oceania is our first choice for ocean cruising and we found the food and service on AMA comparable overall. Same for Uniworld. The beds are great on Uniworld, as they are on Oceania.

 

The Sirena looks lovely and we hope to cruise with Oceania again in the near future. I do hope the NCL ownership does not affect their quality.

That's good to know. We loved HAL, but after having problems on our last cruise, it's time for a change and Oceania is what we think we're going to try for our next ocean cruise. I have a couple of friends that made the jump from HAL to Oceania and were very pleased.

We loved everything about Uniworld.

We have done Viking which is a disaster. We do not particularly care about cost. We love smaller tours, not huge busses. We like the cabin to be as nice as possible. I would really appreciate everyone's input.

We're new to the whole river cruising experience. That being said, we have sailed Uniworld once (Passau - Budapest) and loved it. We had no complaints. It was really a perfect vacation. So, when it came to the next river cruise, we are going with Uniworld. This time we're doing Uniworld's Paris to Normandy and back to Paris.

From what I have read here, I think Uniworld, Tauck or AMA would be a good fit for us. We want upscale and that's what we felt we received on Uniworld. There might be others, but these are the three I've read the most about on CC.