Viking River Cruise – Our Story Gets Worse - Don't Do Business with Them

[sunsetbeachgal]

What a terrible and stressful situation from every angle, hope it all works out and that you in the end have an enjoyable celebration.

 

Our cruise next summer includes "free air", but after reading some of the issues with doing air through river cruise comoany I think I will take the optional $1,000 credit per person and do the air myself. Even though I can not get the air for $1,000 on my own, would far rather control my flights, seats, etc.

[hiccups]

What a terrible and stressful situation from every angle, hope it all works out and that you in the end have an enjoyable celebration.

 

Our cruise next summer includes "free air", but after reading some of the issues with doing air through river cruise comoany I think I will take the optional $1,000 credit per person and do the air myself. Even though I can not get the air for $1,000 on my own, would far rather control my flights, seats, etc.

 

I'd see what they offer first in terms of flights. To get our deal we needed to book our air through the cruise line, and not only was the price cheaper by about $200 PP than we could have gotten ourselves, the flights were the best of what was out there.

 

We received our documents last night, and no changes to our air, but I had also requested we be ticketed back in March (about three weeks after booking) so that I could select our seats.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I'd see what they offer first in terms of flights. To get our deal we needed to book our air through the cruise line, and not only was the price cheaper by about $200 PP than we could have gotten ourselves, the flights were the best of what was out there.

 

We received our documents last night, and no changes to our air, but I had also requested we be ticketed back in March (about three weeks after booking) so that I could select our seats.

 

Excellent advice. Certainly no harm or commitment at that point to get a quote. Thank you for the response! ;)

Edited July 7, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[Hydrokitty]

Excellent advice. Certainly no harm or commitment at that point to get a quote. Thank you for the response! ;)

 

You also have to consider transfers to and from the airport, which are usually included when you purchase air from cruise company and can cost as much as $100 to purchase from them. Of course, it also depends on where you're going and how comfortable you are with arranging your own transportation to and from the hotel/ship and airport. And most of all how good your TA and cruise line is.....I really feel for OP but I, like many other posters here, have to think that this screw-up involved more than just one person....someone else posted that there's enough blame to go around and I agree with that.

[Hoyaheel]

You also have to consider transfers to and from the airport, which are usually included when you purchase air from cruise company and can cost as much as $100 to purchase from them.

 

But often those "included" transfers are only included on the day the cruise starts or the pre-cruise trip booked through the cruise line - so if you want to fly in early and do your own thing, you might be out of luck. That was our experience with Avalon but no worries - a taxi from the airport to our hotel was plenty affordable and we had no need for their transfers.

 

Just a note to make sure you understand what you are or are not getting, no matter what you book. That's an important life lesson all around, I think :p

[Hydrokitty]

But often those "included" transfers are only included on the day the cruise starts or the pre-cruise trip booked through the cruise line - so if you want to fly in early and do your own thing, you might be out of luck. That was our experience with Avalon but no worries - a taxi from the airport to our hotel was plenty affordable and we had no need for their transfers.

 

Just a note to make sure you understand what you are or are not getting, no matter what you book. That's an important life lesson all around, I think :p

 

Vantage will include them if you book your early arrival with them. Which leads right into your next point, and that is make sure you read everything they send you as soon as you get it......an important life lesson in so many circumstances!!

Edited July 7, 2015 by Hydrokitty

[YoungDubFan]

Interesting note about Avalon. We always fly in a day early and have been able to get Avalon's transfer. Maybe we have a good travel agent.

[hiccups]

But often those "included" transfers are only included on the day the cruise starts or the pre-cruise trip booked through the cruise line - so if you want to fly in early and do your own thing, you might be out of luck. That was our experience with Avalon but no worries - a taxi from the airport to our hotel was plenty affordable and we had no need for their transfers.

 

Just a note to make sure you understand what you are or are not getting, no matter what you book. That's an important life lesson all around, I think :p

 

We are flying in early because we received a two nights' hotel stay from the big box TA. Even though Uniworld supposedly does not include transfers if you haven't booked the extension, our package includes the transfer. We are booked at the same hotel as the pre-cruise extension, so I'm sure that's part of the arrangement the TA has with Uniworld.

 

I'll be curious to see if we are allowed to tag along on the tours--from some posters here I've heard yes, but there's no mention of tours in our paperwork so we'll play it by ear.

 

I noticed for next year's cruises, rather than offering the two nights' stay, the big box TA is offering 10% off. If that can be combined with some of the specials offered by the cruise line, that's a nice savings.

[Los_Pepes]

In situations like this It find it useful (and sometimes entertaining) to go "scorched earth". I would file formal complaints with the FTC, IATA, my credit card company and my local AG.

 

Viking, and your TA for that matter, can ignore you and hope you go away, but inquiries from an AG or FTC tend to get peoples attention. You start tossing around terms like fraud and unjust enrichment and I would expect a call from Viking pronto.

 

They are so image conscious that it wouldn't surprise me if they would do whatever it take to quiet the OP ASAP.

[Los_Pepes]

We are flying in early because we received a two nights' hotel stay from the big box TA. Even though Uniworld supposedly does not include transfers if you haven't booked the extension, our package includes the transfer. We are booked at the same hotel as the pre-cruise extension, so I'm sure that's part of the arrangement the TA has with Uniworld.

 

I'll be curious to see if we are allowed to tag along on the tours--from some posters here I've heard yes, but there's no mention of tours in our paperwork so we'll play it by ear.

 

I noticed for next year's cruises, rather than offering the two nights' stay, the big box TA is offering 10% off. If that can be combined with some of the specials offered by the cruise line, that's a nice savings.

 

I must have missed it somewhere along the way but what Uniworld sailing are you doing?

[hiccups]

I must have missed it somewhere along the way but what Uniworld sailing are you doing?

 

We are on the River Queen for the 8/1 Legendary Rhine and Moselle cruise.

[Los_Pepes]

We are on the River Queen for the 8/1 Legendary Rhine and Moselle cruise.

 

It is coming up soon. Have fun and I look forward to hearing about it.

[Hoyaheel]

It's nice when someone (the TA, the cruise company) includes extras like those transfers or hotel nights. I never expect them - but if they're part of the package, I do make sure to count them when comparing options - try to get as close as possible to comparing apples to apples, as difficult as that can be in river cruising:D

 

(fortunately, I love doing that stuff - I can't imagine how frustrating it is for people who just want to know A or B...Actually, having read many posts in this forum, I get an idea of how frustrating it is:o)

[$hip$hape]

It's nice when someone (the TA, the cruise company) includes extras like those transfers or hotel nights.

I never expect them - but if they're part of the package, I do make sure to count them when comparing options - try to get as close as possible to comparing apples to apples, as difficult as that can be in river cruising:D

(fortunately, I love doing that stuff - I can't imagine how frustrating it is for people who just want to know A or B...

Actually, having read many posts in this forum, I get an idea of how frustrating it is:o)

Our Viking Cruise, in May 2016, is now paid for.

Before final payment, TA told us the flight part of the package was reduced by $600. per person, which is quite a lot!

However, when I asked her to separate the original cost of the flights from the cost of the cruise, I have yet to get an answer.:)

Time-wise, WE have a long way to go.:)

[biker1972]

Pricing the various parts of air included or "free" air cruise combos is next to impossible because of the contracted rates the the lines have. And when you try to book the cruise alone and get a "credit" for the air, the cruise part seems to go up in price. To make a simple comparison I find out the cost of economy airfare and subtract that amount from the package the cruise line offers. This tends to tell me how the "deal" stacks up with other offers. Pricing is certainly not transparent. :eek:

[DrivesLikeMario]

Interesting note about Avalon. We always fly in a day early and have been able to get Avalon's transfer. Maybe we have a good travel agent.

 

Has nothing to do with your TA. Avalon will transfer you for free if you show up to their pre-cruise hotel on the day of embarkation. :) It's probably the same for the airport, but I'm not positive about that.

[Hoyaheel]

Has nothing to do with your TA. Avalon will transfer you for free if you show up to their pre-cruise hotel on the day of embarkation. :) It's probably the same for the airport, but I'm not positive about that.

 

They told us no free transfers, period, when we didn't book the hotel or pre-cruise tours. Of course, we could book/pay for transfers if we wanted. But taxi cheaper.....

 

(could be an itin issue, too - our cruise started in NUE but Avalon's pre-trip was in Prague - so they didn't have a hotel in NUE)

Edited July 8, 2015 by Hoyaheel

[Donray]

Sounds more like the OPs fault and their TA then Viking.

[Viking Cruises]

Here is an update to our horror story. One day until we take off for a Viking River Cruise and our problem is still unresolved….and we now have something else to worry about.

 

#1 - We bought Viking’s Air Plus option and got flights that don’t have us at the airport in Prague a 7 am and have a 6 hour layover in London. To do this we paid an extra $428 – which was well worth the price. We bought this option so we had confirmed flights locked down when we made our reservation.

 

Then Viking unilaterally changed our flights back to the original (horrible) flights. We got an email that just said “review our flights” 3 months later. It didn’t say that the flights had been changed and it showed the same confirmation number on all 4 flight legs. At a quick glance it looked like what we had purchased….but they changed one leg. I didn’t catch it and they refuse to book us back on the better flights even though there is still room on the plane. They said it would cost them money.

 

#2 - Then Viking lied and said the airlines caused the change because they cancelled the flight. Our big box TA agent called the airlines and found out the flight has never been cancelled and is still available. When Viking was told this they switched to the excuse that the airlines had changed something else – again a call to the airlines disproved this claim. So Viking made the change and they refused to tell our agent why. Viking promised a Flight Supervisor would call back the last 3 days. They have yet to call. I bet that they made the change as it made them more money.

 

#3 - On top of this up to 6 Viking employees told our big box TA that they will not for any reason refund us the $428 that it cost for the better flights – even though they were not giving us the better flights we bought. That doesn’t sound legal to me – to keep the money and not provide the service.

 

New Problem - We also booked extended stay packages on either side of our cruise in Budapest and Prague thru Viking. My wife called them to arrange something special for our 25 anniversary - wait for it - they don’t have our reservation.

 

So what have we learned?

1. Don’t do business with Viking as they are deceptive and not customer centric - they intentionally (my belief) sent us our flight schedule that hid the fact that they changed our flights without consulting us or our travel agent.

2. Don’t do business with Big Box travel agents.

3. Don’t purchase your flights thru the cruise companies – we have cruised 10 to 20 times and this is the first time we have done it.

 

We have spent over 4 hours on the phone and writing several emails and letters. Viking keeps ignoring our big box Travel Agent and the big box Travel Supervisor has refused to get involved to fix the problem.

 

Disgusted in North Carolina

Viking River Cruises Confirmation Number: 2457078

 

Dear Robert Lockwood,

 

We sincerely regret to hear of the challenges you have faced in the days leading up to your cruise. The booking and planning experience should be exciting, not upsetting.

 

Please accept our apologies for being absent from Cruise Critic over the holiday weekend. We started looking into your described situation on Monday and discovered that our colleagues in both the Air department and Customer Relations were working with your Travel Agent and with the crew of your ship. Today we were informed that your return flights are being rescheduled; we hope this helps alleviate some of your frustration and disappointment.

 

We would very much appreciate hearing from you at TellUs@vikingcruises.com when you return home so that we may discuss your situation in full and get a better understanding of your experience. That said, we know that you have attempted to contact Viking via email before, but hope you will consider doing so again to this specific email address.

 

Mr. Lockwood, we are looking forward to welcoming you aboard in a few short days. Enjoy your cruise and Happy 25th Anniversary to you and your wife!

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

[Viking Cruises]

We didn't do the custom Viking Air when we originally booked our April 2015 trip last June 2014. January 2015 we got our airfare info from Viking for our trip to Amsterdam and return from Basil. The flights were ok but I was concerned about the layover time in both Chicago and in Frankfurt so I called Viking Air.

 

The very nice person who answered the phone changed our flight from Denver to Chicago so we'd have a a longer layover in Chicago. April weather in Denver and in Chicago can be challenging so I'd rather wait longer in Chicago for our flight to Amsterdam than fret in Denver that we will miss our connection in Chicago. Also we only had an 80 minute layover in Frankfurt on our flight from Basel to Frankfurt and then our flight from Frankfurt to Denver. When I pointed out that Vikings info said 90 minute layover minimum in Frankfurt, they got us on an earlier flight out of Basel. They told me it would cost money to change but they would waive the fee "this one time". I said a very heartfelt thank you and was very pleased with our flights.

 

I was able to upgrade to premium economy our United flights on the United website since Viking then in January ticketed our flights.

 

I didn't want to push my luck with Viking at this point so I waited about a month and then called Viking Air again in early February 2015 and didn't get a nice person on the phone. I wanted to upgrade our seats on our Lufthansa flight home but the Lufthansa seats were not ticketed yet. Based on info I learned on Cruise Critic ( I love Cruise Critic!), I asked to have our Lufthansa seats ticketed. The Viking Air person basically told me it would cost me at least $1,000 per ticket to get my seats ticketed so early. Then he put me on hold forever. I hung up and called back the next day and got a nice Viking Air person. She was able to ticket my Lufthansa seats, again for no charge "just this one time". Due to Lufthansa policy, I couldn't change our seats until we got to the airport in Frankfort for the return flight (which I still wasn't able to do but we did have a great flight home).

 

Anyways the moral of my long story is that it really depends who randomly answers the phone at Viking as to what kind of customer service you get.

 

As aside I've used the "big box" company referred to in this thread for numerous vacations (not our Viking Cruise though) and have had great service from this "big box" travel department.

 

Dear SoccerMom#3,

 

We sincerely regret you experienced inconsistent service from our Air Department leading up to your April 2015 cruise. It is a priority that we provide informative and accurate service – with a smile, of course. We would be happy to hear from you to discuss your experience in detail. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

[Francis M]

I expect Mr. Lockwoods 25th anniversary cruise is about to take a decided turn for the better.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Francis M

[ganski]

I will chime in with positive experiences with Viking river cruises, We have been on 3 Viking cruises, Danube Waltz, Portraits of Southern France and Rhine Getaway, we are going on Chateaux, River and Wine this August and Heart of Germany December 2016. We have always booked through Viking and used Viking air transportation. Our last cruise which was Rhine Getaway December 2014, we needed to fly out of JFK and we were on the phone with viking for an hour and they did everything they could do to satisfy our flights. We left a day early with an evening flight out of JFK, to Amsterdam then to Basel. We arrived with plenty of time to visit the Christmas Markets, stayed in a hotel in downtown Basel and was able to get up early Saturday morning, take the train to Lucerne, sightsee the town and have plenty of time to make it back to the ship for a Saturday departure, The Viking air representative even gave us $100.00 ship board credit to use as we wish on our cruise. This year we are going to France, we have arranged the same type of flight, leaving on a Thursday evening, arriving Friday morning and staying overnight and relaxing in Bordeaux and then departing on our cruise Saturday. I have never had a problem with Viking or their flights. They seem to work with you and your schedule and will try to rectify any problem. i will remain a loyal viking traveller.

[JVilleGal]

So glad Viking dropped by to fix this mess... Though I think it may not have been all a Viking issue .....

[remydiva]

Pricing the various parts of air included or "free" air cruise combos is next to impossible because of the contracted rates the the lines have. And when you try to book the cruise alone and get a "credit" for the air, the cruise part seems to go up in price. To make a simple comparison I find out the cost of economy airfare and subtract that amount from the package the cruise line offers. This tends to tell me how the "deal" stacks up with other offers. Pricing is certainly not transparent. :eek:

 

Not necessarily...my invoice shows Viking Air for two $3590

then air special " Discount " of $3000 so Total is $590 for air

then cruise portion was $6011 with past passenger and other discounts applied for total owing of $5511.

 

So our invoice was $5511 + $590 =$6101 for Air and cruise for two...seems pretty transparent to me.

[Hydrokitty]

So glad Viking dropped by to fix this mess... Though I think it may not have been all a Viking issue .....

 

It probably wasn't but looking at the big picture it would appear to me that the company that stands to lose the most should step in and take the hit for making it right. I'm glad to see that Viking stepped up too.:D