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

[JVilleGal]

Book box store does not give a ----, and sadly it always seems that Viking should but it sure often does not seem that way.

[SoccerMom#3]

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

 

I appreciate Viking encouraging me to contact them. I sent them an email today and told them specifics on my Viking Air experience. I also told them that our Rhine Getaway in April on the Viking Eir was the trip of a lifetime. And yes, I would go on another Viking cruise. The good far outweighed the bad.

[JVilleGal]

Book box store does not give a ----, and sadly it always seems that Viking should but it sure often does not seem that way.

 

 

Hummmm I hate "auto correct" BIG BOX STORE

[franski]

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.

 

We booked an extra night in Prague pre-cruise at the hotel that Viking was using - and although we didn't expect anything other than the hotel - we found out breakfast was included - and we were encouraged to use the shuttle bus they had for the people who booked the pre-cruise extension. Nice surprise, I must say....

 

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.....

 

We have found some pretty good private transfers - with prices that match the local taxis. Nice to have someone waiting when you exit the airport!!

 

Fran

[franski]

.... then called Viking Air again in early February 2015 and didn't get a nice person on the phone. .... I hung up and called back the next day and got a nice Viking Air person.

 

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.

 

Unfortunately, this isn't a "one off" scenario. We have experienced quite a few inconsistencies in our dealings with Viking. It doesn't stop us booking with them - but we are less inclined to give a resounding endorsement because of these incidents.

 

We booked extra nights in the host hotels both pre- and post-cruise for our trip in May of this year. Booked and paid in full almost 5 months ahead.

 

About 6 weeks after we had done this, my TA received a call from Viking telling her that they couldn't honour the booking in Berlin as the hotel was completely booked. BUT - if we wanted to book their post-cruise package (to the tune of $1150 for 2 - vs $400 dollars... the extra $750 was for a city tour and 2 breakfasts) they could leave our booking intact.

 

We declined - and found another hotel. Not impressed with the whole scenario - but we ended up with a lovely boutique hotel that included Wifi (as the Hilton in Berlin does not included Wifi except in the lobby....). I did make sure I had the paperwork showing that we had a confirmed booking in Prague - didn't want to get there and discover that booking had been cancelled as well!!! :eek:

 

Fran

Edited July 9, 2015 by franski

[CPT Trips]

Is it just me? Is the "report" function not working?

[JVilleGal]

Is it just me? Is the "report" function not working?

 

 

I promise I have not said "anything" today to piss anyone off ;)

[H2Otstr]

Is it just me? Is the "report" function not working?

 

I have found that it often does not work on my iPad but will work on my laptop.

[CPT Trips]

I have found that it often does not work on my iPad but will work on my laptop.

 

Aha! I use my iPAD. Not going to fire up the PC just for shouting.

 

Jvillegal, you get a pass :p just don't shout ;)

[Hydrokitty]

Aha! I use my iPAD. Not going to fire up the PC just for shouting.

 

Jvillegal, you get a pass :p just don't shout ;)

 

I didn't get a pass and I wasn't shouting, just emphasizing! :D:D

[CPT Trips]

I didn't get a pass and I wasn't shouting, just emphasizing! :D:D

 

It wasn't about you on that other thread. :cool: Guilty conscience perhaps? :p

 

Our host might have removed the post in question by the time you returned. And I certainly wasn't going to dignify it by using the quote function.

[Hydrokitty]

It wasn?'t about you on that other thread. :cool: Guilty conscience perhaps? :p

 

Our host might have removed the post in question by the time you returned. And I certainly wasn't going to dignify it by using the quote function.

 

I guess I do because when I looked for who it was, I was the only post with caps!! Glad it wasn't me. I feel better now. :D

 

 

Have you decided on your river cruise yet?

[CPT Trips]

recently back from a VIKING Budapest to Nuremburg

 

we booked our own air ... cruise lines NEVER find YOU the best deal. We flew on LOT for a bunch less than VIKING would charge and LOT gave us an upgrade to "middle class" for a small number of dollars. It takes more work to book yourself but the effort pays. I should say, we found the flights then went to our TA and said, "this is what I found ... beat it."

 

They didn't, and booked what we found .....

 

I don't agree with you comments about cruise air. Try to beat PHL - Marsailles and Lyon -PHL including transfers of 100+ km at either end for $775 pp rt.

[Hydrokitty]

I don't agree with you comments about cruise air. Try to beat PHL - Marsailles and Lyon -PHL including transfers of 100+ km at either end for $775 pp rt.

 

I have to agree with CPT on this..although to be fair, it could be that what you say applies to flying to and from Australia, which is certainly a much longer flight than either CPT or I have from NYC, PHI or NWR. I have never been able to beat Vantage air except for this last trip which involved flying from NY LaGuardia to Toronto and then to Vancouver on Air Canada....saved several hundred booking our own, hiring a limo for the 4 of us, which when Cap. One did my foreign transaction conversion cost us about $75 pp!! But for Europe, I have tried to beat their fares and I cannot, especially if I add in the transfers.

Plus there are a few foreign airlines that I don't like to fly, like Aeroflot and Lot and some of the South American and Asian ones.....nothing personal..they just tend to have less stringent regulations than US and major European airlines do. My favorite is Lufthansa.

[Di Princess]

The CAPT lives in Melbourne, FLORIDA, not Australia.

[Hydrokitty]

The CAPT lives in Melbourne, FLORIDA, not Australia.

 

Guess it's time to get my eyes checked..but I stand by the rest of my post.

[$hip$hape]

Guess it's time to get my eyes checked..but I stand by the rest of my post.

 

And before it's too late, I apologize for saying "I think I know you".

I don't. I thought you were someone else.:o

 

Sorry, I guess there is more than one person living on Long Island.:p

 

Michael,

Edinboro, PA (not Edinburgh, Scotland)

I hope you have a sense of humor

Edited July 10, 2015 by $hip$hape

[Hydrokitty]

And before it's too late, I apologize for saying "I think I know you".

I don't. I thought you were someone else.:o

 

Sorry, I guess there is more than one person living on Long Island.:p

 

Michael,

Edinboro, PA (not Edinburgh, Scotland)

I hope you have a sense of humor

 

LOL... Michael, sometimes I think I'm someone else too. No apology needed....it was fun trying to figure out where we could know each other from...and yes, as much as I sometimes try to ignore it, I am not the only person living on Long Island. :D

[biker1972]

If your only consideration is price then it is very difficult to do better than the contracted rates that the cruise lines provide for air. But there is always the concern that those highly restricted air tickets might create significant problems on the way to the cruise. Since you can't see the fare rules you have no idea what the cruise line provided at the low price. Go to the Cruise Critic forum about cruise air to get the full picture.

[hiccups]

I don't agree with you comments about cruise air. Try to beat PHL - Marsailles and Lyon -PHL including transfers of 100+ km at either end for $775 pp rt.

 

Not only was our airfare through Uniworld cheaper than we could have booked on our own, booking with them qualified us for savings that made Uniworld less expensive than the other lines we considered.

[Hydrokitty]

Not only was our airfare through Uniworld cheaper than we could have booked on our own, booking with them qualified us for savings that made Uniworld less expensive than the other lines we considered.

 

That's what I discovered too....and you have to add in the cost of transfers to and from the airport....and as previous posters have pointed out, there's a lot to be said for arriving after an all night flight, claiming your luggage and then turning it over to someone else to make sure it makes it on the bus while you sit down and watch!! But to be fair, a lot of it depends on where you're flying from. If you're leaving from a city without a major international airport, you could wind up with a very long travel day filled with airline and/or plane changes in more than one airport.

[remydiva]

I guess the OP is too busy enjoying his cruise and anniversary as he hasn't found the time to pop onto this thread to update us...hope so!

 

Oh to be a fly on the wall!

[JVilleGal]

Ditto that!

[Hydrokitty]

Ditto that!

 

We'll here all about it when he gets back.......my money's on everything went fine and they had a wonderful time and the hotel did whatever it was that they were asking for to celebrate their anniversary. Far be it from me to take Viking's side, but I really don't think this was their fault....I think it was the fault of the big box agent, who maybe was new or in over her head....and was compounded by his failure to double check documents immediately because he was traveling....it happens.....but only one time!

[Go2See]

I would guess that everyone was communicating and anniversary man did not have the vocabulary definitions correct.

 

I found out that I could have specified my airline preference with Viking... I didn't so I will go on my least favorite airline.

However.....

In the pile of verbiage that was coming my way.... I did hear that I could modify my flights and have some add on stopovers for no extra charge.

I as really happy about that:D!

So was this Viking and big box's problem? Or just a newbie (me) not understanding things correctly, although at the time I thought I understood it all.:rolleyes:

 

I choose the take on some of the responsibility because I am new to this. Next time due to time, experience and cruise critic... I will ask better questions!:)

I plan to have a blast. As I go on my first river cruise.