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

[$hip$hape]

Does that about sum things up and get this thread back on track?

Yes !:o

Nice summary JVilleGal .

Edited July 16, 2015 by $hip$hape

[xpcdoojk]

Here I go...:o

Maybe it's just because I had a hard time following post#121

"I can't say anything for sure".

 

 

 

...and what do these last few posts have to do with the OPs problematic Viking River Cruise ?

 

Not too dang much...

 

So, the OP, wants to get the attention of Viking to get their needs addressed. Happy for them they got their wish.

 

At that point the thread really has no purpose.

 

So, people here realize a connection and you want to shut it down. That strikes me as being at the very least intolerant, and at the worst something close to trying to stop communication. I guess I am old fashioned and prefer to remember when we had free speech. I know that is a fantasy in todays world, CC and the internet, but, I am not quit ready to live my life by the totalitarian point of view quite yet.:rolleyes:

 

BTW, my wife worked at that darker blue school for 7 years (well at least their medical building), and I too attended gradual school at the other better lighter blue university.

:D

cheers:cool:

 

jc

[JVilleGal]

Does that about sum things up and get this thread back on track?

Yes !:o

Nice summary JVilleGal .

 

 

Ohhhh thank you, though now I have likely Pissed someone off, again! Such is life on Cruise Critic :D

[xpcdoojk]

Ohhhh thank you, though now I have likely Pissed someone off, again! Such is life on Cruise Critic :D

 

nope, never pissed by words written in an anonymous forum. Just standing up for myself. Like I said, I am old fashioned.

 

BTW, I was scrolling thru this forum looking for other interesting thread, and I found an almost identical thread by the OP but a few days earlier. Thought it was very odd that there were two of these threads. I didn't bother reading it all but the bits I did read were very Deja Vu...:D

 

Kind of makes one wonder... You can find it 4 or 5 pages down. It is two pages long.

[Hydrokitty]

I think first thread was when OP discovered he had a problem and asked for advice on what to do next. Many of us responded and then it appeared that he was handling it + we got a little sidetracked as often happens. :D This second thread he started was closer to departure when he discovered a different problem: there was no record of their hotel reservation made through Viking....again many of us responded and again we got side tracked....:D

It's fun to discover that a fellow CC poster is from your hometown or you went to the same college...the fun part ends when you discover that you're (meaning me) so much older than they and you weren't at the same school in the same decade!! :eek:

[robert lockwood]

We got back from our Viking Danube River Cruise yesterday. Sorry it has taken so long to post an update - I had ISP issues. Which meant not email and internet on my computer - which turned out to be a good thing!

 

I’ve been critical of Vikings management on this site and I wanted to let everyone how our trip turned out….like I promised.

 

The ship, the crew, the food, our room and the tours were all first class. Especially the crew – they made this a wonderful 25th wedding anniversary vacation. We met new friends and danced every night - it has been awhile since we had done that. So the question is will we river cruise again? Absolutely! Will it be on Viking? Probably not – the crew on the ship really won us over but their management made some more decisions that will cause us to look at other cruise company’s in the future.

 

Management made economic decisions rather than consumer centric ones three times:

 

The Old Issue – We bought the Viking Air Plus package and paid extra for confirmed tickets with better flight times. These were confirmed flights with confirmation numbers. See my prior posts. In a nutshell - Viking changed our flights which meant getting to the airport at 6 am and having a 6 hour layover. For 7 days they promised to have a Flight Supervisor call our travel agent or us to resolve the issue. Every day we would call and they would repromise. They never called. During these 7 days they said they wouldn’t refund the money either – which is nuts as you can’t charge us for an additional option – not provide it – then keep the money we paid for the extra option. Before I left I wrote the CEO telling him about our situation. While we were on the ship I got a note that said they had given us back the flights we had already paid.

 

BTW – two couples from our cruise were on our same flight that Viking changed, then changed back did not paid extra like we did for these better flight times and there flights never changed – which makes you wonder why they chose customers who paid extra to bump. It doesn’t make sense.

 

New Issue – there was low water between Regensburg and Nuremberg so our boat sat for 3 nights just north of Passau and we took bus rides to Regensburg and Nuremberg. A 3.5 hour round trip and a 6 hour round trip. I realize that they don’t control the river level but other Viking Longships (the Tor, Jarl and probably others too) both went up and down the river as well as many company’s ships as we just sat there. They wouldn’t address why – so the only thing I can deduce is that since our cruise ended in Nuremberg and another started back to Budapest that same day – they were worried that if we continued on to Nuremberg that water levels got worse that the next cruise would be stuck. So they made the decision for our cruise to sit for 3 nights to benefit those on the next cruise who would then have a ull 7 day trip. They brought those guests from Nuremberg to the ship to start their cruise the day we got off the ship.

It was purely an economic decision – they could have continued our cruise as planned but it would have potentially risked the next cruises return. I’m not comfortable with the decision – sacrificing us for the next cruise - we all paid the same amount – and we were not offered anything. The on board crew did the best they could with management’s decision and I don’t fault them. I just think everyone should know that Viking operates.

Last Minor Issue – In total my wife and I paid ~$2,000 for a balcony room – which was very nice and was great while we cruised down the river – but we spent 4 days and 4 nights parked next to other ships so instead of a view of the river we looked into someone else’s room.

So I hope others find this information helpful – we will probably travel on Scenic or Tauck next year with friends that we made on this year’s trip. We all have a wager on if Viking is going to do something for us being sacrificed or for our non-view balcony rooms.

 

Both my wife and I travel often – probably 40% of the time so we know that things happen. It really makes you appreciate when things go as they are planned. Like our flights to Europe being delayed for 4 hours because none of the plane’s bathrooms worked – it meant we missed our connection and a day in Budapest. This is the adventure of travel and it happens sometimes. The difference is that the airlines provided us with food vouchers and a trip to the Admiral’s Club for the long layover. It was their way of saying “we are sorry and we care that you have been inconvenienced.” We didn’t have to ask - maybe Viking’s management team could learn something from the airlines.

[JVilleGal]

Oh dear.... I am so so sorry and sadly not surprised :(

[CruisingAlong4Now]

First off, glad you had a wonderful trip and didn't let these problems and worry ruin your trip.

 

Regarding: Last Minor Issue – In total my wife and I paid ~$2,000 for a balcony room – which was very nice and was great while we cruised down the river – but we spent 4 days and 4 nights parked next to other ships so instead of a view of the river we looked into someone else’s room.

 

this will happen on any cruise line. I sailed Tauck and had the same problem for half the cruise. It's a function of too many boats on the river trying to stop at the same towns and cities.

 

Regarding your other issues, Tauck is definitely customer focused and always responds quickly. I think you will be impressed with them.

[Hydrokitty]

 

Management made economic decisions rather than consumer centric ones three times:

 

Glad to hear from you, Robert, and that you more or less had a good time. I can only address the following issues.

 

The Old Issue:

 

" two couples from our cruise were on our same flight that Viking changed, then changed back did not paid extra like we did for these better flight times and there flights never changed – which makes you wonder why they chose customers who paid extra to bump. It doesn’t make sense."

 

The primary reason I can think of for bumping you and not the other couples is, for want of a better term, "customer priority"....ie..they had traveled with Viking before and were in an elite level as far as perks are concerned. I'm having trouble wording this properly (it's 100 degrees here) but on Vantage I have elite status because I have traveled with them 7x already. It could also be a function of who booked their trip with Viking and when they booked.

 

The New Issues:

 

" there was low water between Regensburg and Nuremberg so our boat sat for 3 nights just north of Passau and we took bus rides to Regensburg and Nuremberg. A 3.5 hour round trip and a 6 hour round trip. I realize that they don’t control the river level but other Viking Longships (the Tor, Jarl and probably others too) both went up and down the river as well as many company’s ships as we just sat there. They wouldn’t address why – so the only thing I can deduce is that since our cruise ended in Nuremberg and another started back to Budapest that same day – they were worried that if we continued on to Nuremberg that water levels got worse that the next cruise would be stuck. So they made the decision for our cruise to sit for 3 nights to benefit those on the next cruise who would then have a full 7 day trip. They brought those guests from Nuremberg to the ship to start their cruise the day we got off the ship. It was purely an economic decision – they could have continued our cruise as planned but it would have potentially risked the next cruises return. I’m not comfortable with the decision – sacrificing us for the next cruise - we all paid the same amount – and we were not offered anything. The on board crew did the best they could with management’s decision and I don’t fault them. I just think everyone should know that Viking operates."

 

I have no idea why Viking would decide to end your trip in Passau for any reason other than the water levels. I do know (and it is not in my nature to take Viking's side in any issue) that they have more ships than anybody and you were sailing at the height of the season. Water levels are an ongoing problem and there's really no solution, it depends on the snow melt in the spring and the rain in the summer....but I really find it hard to believe that Viking would sacrifice YOUR experience in order to preserve someone else's....that's just not good business sense...I think they might have kept you where you were so as to insure that you would not get stuck somewhere else and be unable to make your return flights leaving them with two groups of passengers wanting/needing to stay on the same ship at the same time.

 

Rafting:

 

Rafting has been a part of river cruising for the last several years and as river cruising becomes more popular and more ships are plying the same waters and docking at the same ports, rafting has and will continue to increase. It is one of those situations where you don't always get what you pay for and it's nobody's fault. No river cruise company has any control over where they will dock in any port. That is up to the port authority and/ or the dock master who have sole authority as to where a ship will tie up. It usually is a function of who's leaving first....and there's absolutely nothing you or Viking can do about it. I know Vantage puts a statement in each of its brochures for each of its river cruises that rafting is a part of cruising and should be expected. I'm sure Viking does too, although I don't know that for a fact.

 

I'm glad you had fun on your anniversary and I'm assuming when you arrived pre-trip there was no problem with your hotel reservations or you would have mentioned that. By all means look around at other companies since you have a bit of a bad aftertaste from Viking but be aware that some of the things you are most unhappy about, could have happened on any other line as well.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Hydrokitty

[remydiva]

I wonder if Jazz should make a post it sticky about 'rafting' as yet again, a new river cruiser is surprised to find...after paying mucho dollaro....that their balcony is really an obstructed view...if that...for half of the time.:eek:

 

We too are cruisers who always get a balcony of some sort but this last river cruise decided not to...got the 'aquarium' class cabin and were quite satisfied in that we 'saved' the money and the aggravation when we rafted over 50% of the time.:rolleyes:

 

'Build it and they will come'...they have and they do.

[Hydrokitty]

I wonder if Jazz should make a post it sticky about 'rafting' as yet again, a new river cruiser is surprised to find...after paying mucho dollaro....that their balcony is really an obstructed view...if that...for half of the time.:eek:

 

We too are cruisers who always get a balcony of some sort but this last river cruise decided not to...got the 'aquarium' class cabin and were quite satisfied in that we 'saved' the money and the aggravation when we rafted over 50% of the time.:rolleyes:

 

'Build it and they will come'...they have and they do.

 

Only they can build boats faster than docking facilities! I don't mind being rafted, as I've said on CC before I've met some very interesting people who were rafted next to us and wouldn't trade those experiences for a clean view. It's not at every port and most of the day you're off the boat anyway.

[alexkrn46]

thank you for the update. When our flights have been changed cancelled etc, we get nothing I must be doing something wrong.

[$hip$hape]

thank you for the update.

When our flights have been changed cancelled etc, we get nothing I must be doing something wrong.

You should post this issue on the Cruise Air section of Cruise Critic for resolve of similar experiences :

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=128

You should be getting notice from the airline. Things happen... all the time.

However, once we get our Airline and booking number, we check and re-check months, weeks and days before.

 

e.g. Air Berlin, on day of transatlantic flight to Germany, changed our seats back to economy after we paid upgrade fee for extra leg room.

Showed our information to the gate flight attendant. She said there was a "reconfiguration" of the aircraft and could not place us in seats with more room. However, gave us a whole center row of four seats for the two of us, plus initiated a refund for the upgrade not given... and an apology.

*Actually, I think since we bought tickets months in advance (real cheap), they re-sold our better seats.*

Edited July 21, 2015 by $hip$hape

[nordski]

I wonder if Jazz should make a post it sticky about 'rafting' as yet again, a new river cruiser is surprised to find...after paying mucho dollaro....that their balcony is really an obstructed view...if that...for half of the time.:eek:

 

We too are cruisers who always get a balcony of some sort but this last river cruise decided not to...got the 'aquarium' class cabin and were quite satisfied in that we 'saved' the money and the aggravation when we rafted over 50% of the time.:rolleyes:

 

'Build it and they will come'...they have and they do.

 

Recently we were at a presentation by AMAWaterways and the terms "rafting" and "water levels" were, not surprisingly, left out of the conservation.

 

I think that they should be introduced as a "heads up" to prospective cruisers.

 

For example, HydroKitty has suggested how to turn "rafting" into a positive.

 

Secondly, company policies for detailing how they would deal with water level issues could surely be a means to differentiate one's product.

 

We have never been seriously affected by either of the above two problems on our river cruises, but as we encounter new health issues the possibility of long bus trips keeps us on the ocean ships right now.

[robert lockwood]

Well, it is almost been 3 weeks after our river cruise ended - Here is what has happened. I was quick to “trash" Viking and now I’m going to praise them for doing the right thing in the end. I trashed them before we left on the message board hoping to get someone from Viking would respond…and handle our problem - as they were ignoring my travel and myself. I was like a dog with a bone.

 

Messed Up Flights

We purchased the Viking Air Plus fight option then paid more for flights with better flight times for us. They had changed those flights to much less desirable times with a huge layover. While on the ship a couple of days we got a note that they put us back on the flights we had paid extra for. Which was great. Then when we got home I received a call and was told that they were also going to refund the cost of the Viking Air Plus package and the extra cost for the better flight times. So they did the right thing – I was not really expecting the refund but they wanted to compensate me for my time and hassle.

 

Our Cruise was shortened

Viking decided to stop our ship after it had only gone ~68% of the total miles. We were told it was due to low water but other Viking Longships were still going both ways on the river. Competitor’s similar sized ships were also moving up and down the river- but we sat. So our trip was diminished in 3 ways:

 

1.We missed cruising on 32% of the river.

2.We missed 20% of our cruise time because we were on buses longer than the original plan and we left cities at 3 pm to head back to the boat so we missed being able to go into Regensburg and Nuremberg at night after dinner or for dinner.

3.The entire trip – even the parts that went as planned were negatively impacted. It’s like have a great dining experience (wonderful service, food, wine and décor) but it took 1.5 hours to get the check. When this happens it diminishes the whole experience...same concept.

 

Viking came through and gave us a voucher for a future cruise that must be booked within 12 months that was in line with what we thought we had missed. Way to go Viking. I had the vouchers within a hour of talking with them.

 

So they came through – but it could have been a better process - I wish they would have told everyone on the ship that they would be offered vouchers. Instead we all got calls when we got home. I was initially offered a much lower percentage refund / voucher than our other friends on the ship. We all had the same experience and we should all have gotten a fair deal. I ended up getting a better percentage after I detailed the three things above. I didn’t give them a dollar amount until we agreed that these were valid issues.

 

Despite the unfairness and lack of transparency of the voucher process we will probably use the voucher – and it all because of the crew on the ship. They were great and won us over even when all this craziness was going on.

 

What did I learn? Where do I start? 1) To book my own flights so those are set in stone. 2) Choose a great travel agent rather than a big box store travel agent and 3) Plan your own pre and post cruise excursions. We did plan our own Segway tours and food tours and they were awesome and much better than the Viking bus tours. I’m also confident we would have gotten a better value on the hotels too. A good/great travel agent would have been a great addition. Live and learn.

 

Again – thanks to everyone who provided suggestions and kind words.

[Hydrokitty]

Robert....I'm really glad that Viking stepped up for you....as they should have...but perhaps you should repost this under a new title, like; "Viking came through" or something like that....I rarely sing their praises, but this time I think maybe they have a positive note coming....:)

[JVilleGal]

Ditto

[remydiva]

Robert....I'm really glad that Viking stepped up for you....as they should have...but perhaps you should repost this under a new title, like; "Viking came through" or something like that....I rarely sing their praises, but this time I think maybe they have a positive note coming....:)

 

The OP DID repost his more posiitve comments and results on this thread in July

The Gullveig's Crew was Superb - Management, not so much

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2237017

 

and now today another thread

Viking Came Through

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2244783

 

According to Host Jazz, in order to CHANGE the title of THIS thread and add a comment like "UPDATED VIKING CAME THROUGH " to the original thread, the OP has to make a formal request..perhaps on THIS thread to the Host and they can change/update/amend the title.

 

Other posters have suggested that isn't necessary as if people are interested enough to read the 'final outcome' they will find the thread. Personally, I would like to see the thread title updated to give Viking credit where credit is due and to leave a better imagine than the original DONT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

Edited August 7, 2015 by remydiva

[Hydrokitty]

The OP DID repost his more posiitve comments and results on this thread in July

The Gullveig's Crew was Superb - Management, not so much

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2237017

 

and now today another thread

Viking Came Through

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2244783

 

According to Host Jazz, in order to CHANGE the title of THIS thread and add a comment like "UPDATED VIKING CAME THROUGH " to the original thread, the OP has to make a formal request..perhaps on THIS thread to the Host and they can change/update/amend the title.

 

Other posters have suggested that isn't necessary as if people are interested enough to read the 'final outcome' they will find the thread. Personally, I would like to see the thread title updated to give Viking credit where credit is due and to leave a better imagine than the original DONT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

 

Remydiva: my post was in response to OP's post of today in which, at the end of a very long thread, he posted that Viking had fixed everything. I suggested he change the title and repost his positive outcome as a new thread, making it easier for others to see the positive outcome, rather than having to search through hundreds of threads and pages of posts to find it at the end of his original thread. I do not think the original thread title should be changed... somebody screwed up the air OP paid extra for; nobody could give him a straight answer or showed any interest in fixing it and people have a right to know about that.....just as they have a right to know how Viking fixed it in the end.

[remydiva]

Remydiva: my post was in response to OP's post of today in which, at the end of a very long thread, he posted that Viking had fixed everything. I suggested he change the title and repost his positive outcome as a new thread, making it easier for others to see the positive outcome, rather than having to search through hundreds of threads and pages of posts to find it at the end of his original thread. I do not think the original thread title should be changed... somebody screwed up the air OP paid extra for; nobody could give him a straight answer or showed any interest in fixing it and people have a right to know about that.....just as they have a right to know how Viking fixed it in the end.

 

In any case, I still think that it is unfair to have a headline thread that is so negative ie. DONT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM remain intact without a retraction in the headline that is easy for new readers to see that 'oh, there WAS a problem and now it is fixed' and then they can follow the story from there.

 

just my two cents worth....no one is perfect, Viking isn't perfect, they fixed it.

 

To me, it is kinda like when a newspaper has headlines shouting out

READ THIS ABOUT THIS GUY WHO DID THIS HORRIBLE THING

 

and then days later, when the information needs correcting, there is a teeny tiny retraction or correction buried on page 28.

 

Hopefully his next cruise with Viking his voucher goes smoother.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Everyone is entitled to state their opinion on Cruise Critic. I don't censor you, and I won't censor OP. But you might want to consider that each new post pops this thread up to the top of the page.

[pully8]

glad things finally were sorted albeit after lots of heart ache. many will want to spare themselves the pain I know I would. important to read others experiences and opinions. better luck on your next cruise.

[Rudydog]

I've been reading your posts and am so glad this all got resolved in the end. But you really should not have had to spend so much time and energy to get to this point. A good travel agent is worth their weight in gold. A big box ta, not so much.

[Canal archive]

We live and learn. Regardless of how the OP originally booked it could have taken a lot longer if ever to resolve but now it is which is really good. From the company's side and the customers. So please no more snipping or niggling. It is a point for Viking and although for various reasons I would not travel with them my very good friends did and when he was taken very ill their responce could not have been bettered they even found room on board to accomadate his son as well for the remainder of the cruise.

CA

[gentlemancruiser]

In any case, I still think that it is unfair to have a headline thread that is so negative ie. DONT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM remain intact without a retraction in the headline that is easy for new readers to see that 'oh, there WAS a problem and now it is fixed' and then they can follow the story from there.

 

just my two cents worth....no one is perfect, Viking isn't perfect, they fixed it.

 

To me, it is kinda like when a newspaper has headlines shouting out

READ THIS ABOUT THIS GUY WHO DID THIS HORRIBLE THING

 

and then days later, when the information needs correcting, there is a teeny tiny retraction or correction buried on page 28.

 

Hopefully his next cruise with Viking his voucher goes smoother.

 

I could also tell you about a family members experience with an Elbe cruise on Viking last year and how badly they were treater before, during and afterwards by Viking corporate offices.

There was a lot of what I might call questionable business practices. I should note that I had a problem with my Avalon river cruise and I could also call into questions some of what happened with them but in the end it was made right. However I've never seen such horrible treatment from a company as what they described for me.