How do I get a refund from Viking River Cruise?

[rcaruso]

I have cruised with Viking twice, Gate 1 once and Avalon once. In all they are about the same. I thought the food was better on Viking than Avalon. The second cruise on Viking was in November and yes part of it was on bus. However, the cruise director handled it well. so we will be taking our third cruise in Dec to Paris and Normandy. We weren't happy about the river levels, but what could we do but make the best of it. The hotels chosen were fine, in fact the rooms were bigger than the room on the ship. The food was ok, I think the three dinners could have been better, but with what Viking gave us to make up for something beyond their control made everything fine. We live by the Mississippi River and know first hand how the river can be high and then low at the drop of a hat.

[Viking Cruises]

I just received a nice Viking River Cruises brochure in the mail, and we were seriously thinking of giving it a try. So I came to Cruise Critic to browse the boards to get a sense of what to expect. Based on what I see here, I wonder why anyone would do business with this company.

 

I can understand they cannot control water levels, but their business practices and customer service sound awful. Needless to say, I won't be taking a Viking River Cruise.

 

Dear Jersey42,

 

There has been a lot of talk on these boards about water levels in Europe over the past few months. If you’re just starting to look at river cruising and make decisions based on the posts about low water, well, that is unfortunate timing for us and is disheartening to hear. If you are considering a river cruise, here’s a little information that you may find helpful…

 

Low water conditions on European rivers are rare and hard to predict. There is no 'dry' season, and no 'wet' season. Although rainfall throughout the year in most European countries where we sail is not divided exactly even over the months, it also does not display a pattern of extremes. The drought and low water conditions we experienced in the fall of 2011 were highly unusual. In fact, in the last thirty years, only three other instances have been recorded that came anywhere close. In the unlikely event a cruise would be impacted, we would inform our guests as soon as we had a clear picture of such an impact.

 

Regarding your concerns about Viking’s customer service, we’d like to convey that we of course want all of our guests to enjoy a wonderful trip, but for those whose expectations were not met, we try to speak with each individual to address their concerns, keep their trust, and work to make improvements based on their candid feedback. We are actually rated very highly by our guests — a great many of whom choose to travel with us again and again. You’ll even find some of them here on this thread, in Cruise Critic members Lauren, Turtles06 and rcaruso. If you would like to contact us directly — even if it’s simply to ask any additional questions about river cruising in general — we’d be happy to hear from you at TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com.

 

Kind regards,

Viking River Cruises

[Ozjohnno]

I would rather read from Viking how it came about that their ships were effected and other cruise company's weren't. Deeper drafts?

[jeniliadisuja123]

please tell me how i can get my money back,if my toor is canceled before some days

[dissappointed2]

the reply by Viking is very untruthful in the fact that they DID NOT in any way attempt or intend to notify us of any possible itenerary changes due to low water! In fact, they acted like it was a complete surprise half way through our cruise....having already made adjustments in the schedule to coienside with their plans to stop the cruise...the crew gathered everyone together the night before the buses arrived at 8am to tell us that they just found out due to low water levels the "all river traffic" had been stopped. That wasn't true either as smaller ships continued on the rivers. Any the part about making arrangements for sister ships to continue the cruise with same cabins, etc. is also not the truth. We were put on buses for the last week of our "cruise" and spent that week packing and unpacking, on and off buses, and eating 'banquet hotel food' everynight. Their guests that were arriving in

Basel at the end of our scheduled cruise, for the cruise in opposite direction were also not told of the problem, but were met at the airport, taken to a hotel rather than the ship and they were then told they would spend the first week of their cruise on a bus.No 'clear picture' of the situation in any form and we were told on returning home we would be contacted for compensation. Well that didn't happen either. After 3 weeks I started making calls to them and week after that I was informed I would receive a 'discount' on a future cruise.The did, they send us coupon for 30% off what we paid to be used toward a FULL FARE cruise within 12 months. We had booked last minute with a strong discount so the 30% off our fare toward a FULL fare was an insult. They don't offer full fares, but instead offer all sailings as a "two for one". So that added insult to injury. They do not attempt to do what is right and seem to go out of their way to make a point that you are at their mercy as stated in the contract you will sign. I know you will have better luck on your cruise.

Dissappointed2

[pflorio994]

I have taken 3 Viking river cruises and have never had a problem with the company. In fact, I found customer service to be very courteous.

 

I have been on the Romantic Danube, Elegant Elbe and the Rhine Getaway. All trips were taken in the last week of October or early November.

 

If people do their research, they will see that water levels fall. In fact, when you are on board, they explain the water levels of the rivers. It is not Viking's fault that Europe did not have a rainy season and the water levels became very low. Look at our own Texas; where people are crying for water because they had severe drought this past year.

 

I am looking forward to doing another trip with Viking this coming November.

[dissappointed2]

You are correct that Viking doesn't control the water levels and that's why I said do your homework before you buy as Viking will no tell you of any problems....and did not tell us on the ship until they told us we will go to buses in the morning.

 

Continued good luck on future cruises with Viking.

[Viking Cruises]

I would rather read from Viking how it came about that their ships were effected and other cruise company's weren't. Deeper drafts?

 

Dear Ozjohnno,

 

All opinions aside, one reason you may hear from more Viking cruisers is simply that there are more of them. Viking had 2 ships sailing on the Rhine River, while other companies had 1 at most, and some companies had completed their 2011 sailing season altogether. On the Danube River we had 4 ships, while other companies had 1 — and on this river most everyone was in the same situation. So, you are correct in pointing out that not all sailings were disrupted, and this is also true for some of Viking’s cruises, depending on the dates and regions involved.

 

Ships do indeed have varying drafts, but that did not play into this particular situation much. For example, the port of Budapest at one point closed its facilities and all vessels, regardless of draft, were prohibited from docking.

 

Thank you for listening,

Viking River Cruises

[minimotorin]

I"m with Dissappointed2 on this one. While I understand Viking has no control over the weather I do expect to receive what I paid for wether it's on a bus or a a ship. The hotels and food we were offered were in no way equal to what was on the ship. Viking's solution as Dissappointed2 pointed out was to offer 30% off vouchers on a future FULL price cruise. I was offered this same deal but after 9 emails and 4 phone calls later I still have not recieved them. That's not very good customer service in my book. I will river cruise again but based on the US customer service alone I will not use Viking. Nothing but good things to say about the ship and service on it, but their counterparts in the US need to learn a thing or two.

[Viking Cruises]

I"m with Dissappointed2 on this one. While I understand Viking has no control over the weather I do expect to receive what I paid for wether it's on a bus or a a ship. The hotels and food we were offered were in no way equal to what was on the ship. Viking's solution as Dissappointed2 pointed out was to offer 30% off vouchers on a future FULL price cruise. I was offered this same deal but after 9 emails and 4 phone calls later I still have not recieved them. That's not very good customer service in my book. I will river cruise again but based on the US customer service alone I will not use Viking. Nothing but good things to say about the ship and service on it, but their counterparts in the US need to learn a thing or two.

 

Dear Minimotorin,

 

We passed your post along to our Customer Relations department and understand that they have since been in contact with you. It appears as though we didn’t have your most recent address updated in our system and communications mailed to you after your cruise have therefore not yet reached you. This is our error and we are truly sorry. The Customer Relations team member that you are now working with has assured us she will take care of this particular problem for you.

 

Again, we also apologize for your disappointment with the hotels and dining that were arranged when your ship could no longer sail. In the parts of Europe where we sail, the vital areas of the rivers have water levels measured in inches, not in feet, and as a result predicting them over a period of time is extremely difficult. This past November with the record lows effecting almost all traffic on these rivers, hotels and dining were particularly challenging to coordinate. Of course this is a bit of an explanation, but not an excuse. We really are sorry that you were displeased with these arrangements. Customer feedback, such as yours, will be invaluable to us in the future.

 

We’re happy to hear that you enjoyed the ship and service on it. We hope you will continue to work with our Customer Relations team, as we’d like to change your opinion of our overall customer service. As always, you can reach us anytime at TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com.

 

Kind regards,

Viking River Cruises

[minimotorin]

Dear Minimotorin,

 

We passed your post along to our Customer Relations department and understand that they have since been in contact with you. It appears as though we didn’t have your most recent address updated in our system and communications mailed to you after your cruise have therefore not yet reached you. This is our error and we are truly sorry. The Customer Relations team member that you are now working with has assured us she will take care of this particular problem for you.

 

[/email].

 

Kind regards,

Viking River Cruises

 

Ugh, i swear I'm cursed. Yes your rep called and left a message, i've called back twice and even given my email info on the message as I know it's difficult to get me by phone. I had provided my correct address multiple times in the past but still no luck. I like the fact that you are trying but this really should not be this difficult. Plus, your 'flyers' are having no problem finding me...

[Viking Cruises]

Ugh, i swear I'm cursed. Yes your rep called and left a message, i've called back twice and even given my email info on the message as I know it's difficult to get me by phone. I had provided my correct address multiple times in the past but still no luck. I like the fact that you are trying but this really should not be this difficult. Plus, your 'flyers' are having no problem finding me...

 

Dear minimotorin,

 

Honestly, we are so very sorry for the back and forth. We understand that your vouchers were sent out today via overnight delivery. If you don’t receive them please let us know at TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com. You can email us at anytime, about anything at all; we’ll always be very happy to hear from you.

 

Thank you for your continued patience. We look forward to this issue being resolved and hope that you will choose to travel with us again.

 

Sincerely,

Viking River Cruises

[minimotorin]

Yea, email recieved from Viking today, hopefully vouchers will soon follow. Thanks for staying with this.

[minimotorin]

Vouchers are here, which is nice to finally have them. Crazy that it took three months to get sorted out but Viking did keep following up with me each time I posted on here so they really do read these forums and respond to customer issues.

 

Bad thing is, you use them on curise sale prices and they drop to 50% value, ah well, something is better than nothing.

[Suebriquet]

We received 20% refund vouchers from our Danube cruise last year. However, the small print excludes use when air fares are discounted more than 50%. I only found this out after I'd phoned in a reservation for another Viking cruise. We couldn't use the voucher for the post-cruise hotel, either. Finally figured out booking our own air would probably cost us more, despite applying the vouchers to the cruise only. This year cruise lines are offering very low air fares to Europe so, unless we decide to go to Asia, I guess those vouchers have no worth to us. Nice one, Viking!

 

I have to say that I'm surprised by your post and experience. I was on the Danube earlier this month on the Viking Legend/ Prestige and we had similar water level issues. Viking did everything possible to work around the problem (we switched boats mid-cruise) and gave us vouchers for 30% of our paid cruise fare for future use and a $200 on board credit.

 

There are historically low water levels this year. Not much Viking can do about that.

 

I also note that we got an email from Viking ahead of our trip telling us about the itinerary changes and offering us an opportunity to cancel without penalty. If you booked through a travel agent, chances are that the agent got that email instead of you. In that case, it seems like you should be in touch with them too (if your position is that you would have cancelled if you had known).

[notamermaid]

Putting new posts in old threads can be misleading, but with this threat I would like to say thank you, Sue & Frank, for digging it out.

 

It shows clearly the problematic situation - for the customer - to actually use a voucher to his satisfaction.

 

20 % is very little in my opinion, by the way.

 

notamermaid

[wandb]

I must admit, this thread has taken me by surprise. We have just booked our first ever river cruise, the Rhine Getaway, with Viking for next April. Normally, I would have researched EVERYTHING before booking, but in order to cruise with friends and take advantage of a good price, we booked without my normal research. I never even considered river levels!

 

Our cruise will be next April, and I'm wondering if there is a possibility of low water in the Spring as well as Fall. Hopefully snow melt and Spring rains would help--in fact, the rivers may be too high!!:eek: Would surely appreciate anyone's input here.

 

Have to buy the insurance by this weekend---think we will opt for "cancel for any reason"!!!:)

[notamermaid]

Low water is more frequent in Summer / early Autumn, April sometimes has issues with high water levels. High water is infrequently a problem in late Autumn.

 

It is not possible to say what the water level will be days in advance of the day you want to travel on. The situation can change for the worse - or the better - within 12 hours.

 

Insurance is a tricky business and normally river cruise companies reserve the right to change the itinerary at short notice stating in the contract that is is normal in situations of water level problems to do so. That is reasonable. However, companies do give money back for missed excursions, or give cash to spend for a lunch, etc. depending on the situation and their good will.

 

Read a little about the floods of 2013 here on CC and you might come to the impression that Viking offers the longest bus excursions as replacements for missed cruising. Quite a few past cruisers have reported on those bus tours.

 

A different matter for insurance purposes might be if you are notified too late of your cruise being cancelled because of flooding issues before you are due to fly. Again you might find a post on this problem here on CC.

 

Perhaps this can help you with the decision of which insurance to buy.

 

notamermaid

[SoccerMom#3]

We did the Rhine Getaway this past April (mid-April) and had beautiful weather. No problem with the water level on the Rhine either. From what I saw on Cruise Critic, the cruises the week or two after us had issues with the water level. Since water level can't be predicted, I would encourage you to get travel insurance just in case.

 

You will have a wonderful time on the Rhine Getaway

[lattelady]

We are in receipt of a couple of Viking vouchers. After seeing this thread, I double-checked the fine print. There are no qualifications on ours other than booking by the expiration date (one year from issue) and it can be used for any Viking cruise. On the other hand, I did have a travel agent tell me they (the travel agent) would not give us full value for our vouchers because they were discounting our cruise and don't get paid on portions covered with vouchers. In light of that, we are using another TA who is giving us full value for our vouchers.

[sandune1]

In November, 2011 I was on the Viking Christmas market cruise. I keep up with news so was aware of the heaviest rainfall in Europe in years that fall. When I arrived at the airport for a pre-trip in Budapest, I was informed of the altered plans. The past 2 or 3 cruises had been altered. Have to remember that any sudden change in weather can quickly alter the rivers...with by snow or rain, or lack thereof. Since the Legend could not sail to Budapest, we stayed at the LeMeridien in Budapest...very nice. That evening at the dinner we were told ALL optional excursions would be on Viking and also a 30% voucher. We were bused 3 hours to Vienna with a rest stop halfway. We had also been told due to a shallow area of the Danube we would be changing ships to a sister ship, the Prestige, which we would bus to when we left Passau then each would continue on their route. Was like I was walking into my room on the Legend as everything was the same layout. The downer was having to unpack/unpack, but looking back I should never have unpacked. Now when I see an advertisement on TV, you only have to unpack once, I laugh! All in all Viking was amazing with the details to the trip with the weather conditions out of their control. Advise would be to keep up with conditions although things could change overnight. Our levels were too low, but a friend who river cruised in summer 2013 had too high levels with very heavy rains in Europe...cannot sail under low bridges...so they were put in a hotel 1 night and bused day or 2. So, works both ways. Last summer, 2014, a friend sailed Viking from AMS to BUD and had absolutely no weather issues. I am on a Danube cruise to the Black Sea later this summer and can only pray the river stays at correct levels. Just know any options you have with cruise line and insurance. Bon Voyage!:)