Mechanical Issues Delay "Star"

[AZMembergs]

Dear Viking guests & Cruise Critic members,

 

The situation aboard Viking Star during the July 25th departure of the Viking Homelands itinerary has been in flux during the past few days as we have attempted to communicate with guests as soon as we were aware of updates with the repair schedule and contingency plans. We originally thought that we would be able to sail from Tallinn to Bergen with guests onboard, and provided the option of either joining us on that sailing and carrying on with original travel plans from Bergen, or flying home early from Tallinn as soon as arrangements could be made. Many guests made decisions, and for those who chose to fly home at that time, Viking’s air team started making arrangements on the limited space available on flights out of Tallinn.

 

The next day it was determined that Viking Star would in fact not be able to sail to Bergen with guests and the remainder of the Viking Homelands itinerary needed to be cancelled. In the interest of time, we communicated to all guests what the revised options would now be: return home from Tallinn, or fly to Bergen for a hotel stay and again, continuing with original travel plans from Bergen. We did advise that available hotel accommodation in Bergen is limited. Unfortunately, due to limited hotel and aircraft space, we were not able to accommodate 100% of the guests who wanted to travel to Bergen.

 

Currently we have over 500 guests scheduled on charter and commercial flights from Tallinn to Bergen. These guests should now be receiving their flight information for August 4th, along with their newly created land program for their days in Norway. We understand that solidifying plans and final communications and travel schedules hasn’t happened as quickly as everyone would like, but we hope our guests understand that it takes time to make last-minute travel accommodations for all guests and to communicate the final arrangements. We sincerely appreciate everyone’s patience as we work as fast as we can to address each individual travelers needs and concerns.

 

Our Customer Relations team will contact all guests upon their return home. In the meantime, you can continue to work with your Viking Star crew, or you can contact us directly at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

Sincerely,

Viking Cruises

 

We appreciate your efforts that is being done for your current guests on the Viking Star.

 

What about those of us who are scheduled to board on August 8?

 

Many of us are planning to get to Bergen as early as August 6, leaving the USA on August 5.

 

Thank you for your response and consideration.

[chengkp75]

We appreciate your efforts that is being done for your current guests on the Viking Star.

 

What about those of us who are scheduled to board on August 8?

 

Many of us are planning to get to Bergen as early as August 6, leaving the USA on August 5.

 

Thank you for your response and consideration.

 

Viking has started a new thread regarding the 8/8 cruise. They are delaying the embarkation until 8/10, but providing accommodation and tours for everyone from 8/8 to 8/10.

[buggins0402]

We appreciate your efforts that is being done for your current guests on the Viking Star.

 

What about those of us who are scheduled to board on August 8?

 

Many of us are planning to get to Bergen as early as August 6, leaving the USA on August 5.

 

Thank you for your response and consideration.

 

they have addressd ...http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2243087

[AZMembergs]

they have addressd ...http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2243087

 

Our TA just called and forwarded this information!

 

Please extend a big thank you and our gratitude to all the Viking staff who have been working long, over time hours to rescue our first-time-ever Viking cruise!

 

Nessa & Barry Memberg

[Sometime Traveler]

We are booked for the August 8th cruise. Assuming the repairs to the Viking Star are completed, the itinerary for this cruise has changed significantly! London and Paris have been eliminated and a short visit to Copenhagen and a sale through the Kiel Canal inserted because that is where the ship will be after the repairs are done. So, what we paid for in the original itinerary, including overnights in London and Paris are no longer there! I feel that we should be given a credit against this cruise for the revised itinerary. I would never had booked this cruise in the first place if it did not include London and Paris. If Viking wants to keep its customers happy then they should do what is right and fair, which is reduce the cost of this cruise since 2 major cities have been eliminated from the itinerary. They are offering a 30% future cruise voucher, so take the 30% off this cruise! Am I off base here?

[Sometime Traveler]

I just heard back from Viking. They will not issue a credit for the current cruise because of the change in itinerary. They will only offer a $500 shipboard credit and a 30% future cruise voucher. My feeling is that this is unfair and wrong. The itinerary changed significantly due to the ship's mechanical issues and they had to eliminate the London and Paris stops. A credit towards the current cruise should have been issued. So in addition to being very disappointed in not getting to London and Paris, we are overpaying for a cruise itinerary that we did not sign up for! To add insult to injury, the extra excursions we signed up for and paid for while in London will not be refunded until after this cruise! What is that about? We paid in cash for an excursion they cannot provide now so why shouldn't I get my money back now? I have been in business over 40 years and if I treated my customers this way due to my error then I would have been homeless by now!!

[occruiselady]

We just returned from the Viking Star cruise disaster and I just got off the phone with Valerie from the Woodland Hills office. Viking is giving us a 50% refund of our cruise and 50% off a future cruise, even though we missed 7 out of the 11 ports on our itinerary. The people on the ship who won the "Norway lottery", approximately half of the passengers, are being given the same refund as those of us who were sent directly home. The Norway passengers were given a chartered flight to Bergen, four nights hotel stay, with meals included and free tours of the area. They are also able to take their original flights home, with the nice seats they preselected, like we did. My 6'2" husband and myself, who has major back issues, were given an 11 hour flight with middle seats in the middle section.

 

Can someone please explain to me why our refund is the same as the passengers whose vacation continued on? We prepaid for this trip two years ago, as did almost everyone, and it is the most expensive trip we had ever taken. We understand that these mechanical things can happen and we have been very nice about all of this, until now. Not all of us can afford to lose this amount of money for a trip that was not even close to what we paid for.

Please Viking do the right thing for your passengers, your reputation is on the line here.

Edited August 4, 2015 by occruiselady

[id4elizabeth]

Sometimetraveller - On the maiden cruise our itinerary was changed similarly. Our 2 days in Paris was changed to one and our 2 days in London was changed to one. The two port days were changed to sea days. The compensation offered as I recall was $200 per person ($400 per stateroom) OR 25% of our fare as a future cruise credit. We opted for the FCC and decided to do a river cruise that Viking has been doing a long time - figured that was a safer bet. Your itinerary changes seem a bit more severe than ours, but the 'compensation' is in line (although a tad better) than what we got.

 

Also on our cruise, Viking cancelled some of our paid-for optional excursions. We did not get a credit on our shipboard account, but like you had to wait until we got home - our last credit back not until mid-July.

 

Occruiselady - I agree with you 100% - why should the folks who went to Bergen get the same 'comp' as those who were forced to leave - makes no sense!

 

To all who are affected - wishing you the best of luck and safe travels. My heart goes out to you!

[Vineyard View]

We were on 29 days of Maiden Voyage - lost the London & Paris days as Elizabeth stated, and we also lost the Flam port (replaced by Oslo - which was a great port but Flam was important to us). The compensation by VO varied based on the percentage of overall cruise time disruption - so for instance our % was less than those on for 2 weeks. I am not saying any of us were real happy about the missed port days, trust me.

 

Oceancruiselady - Also COMPLETELY agree with your assessment.

 

This was a big disaster - for passengers it might have been with less angst if VO had been in consistent communication with you all. Even if they didn't have answers, it's okay to say 'we don't have answers yet, but this is what we are doing to get them for you and this is where we are right now'. The logistics were a nightmare I am sure for all. The crew I understand was excellent - and am not surprised by that. But the lack of communication and involvement from VO management - not okay. The end results for customers such as Oceancruiselady - totally not okay.

 

I am so very sorry for all who have had to go through this. A disaster for Viking as well for sure - but I support fully the argument Oceancruiselady states here and hope that VO will re-think the position that they are taking.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Vineyard View

[Sometime Traveler]

Thanks everyone for your comments. In the summer of 2013 we went on the China/Tibet trip with Viking. It was terrific and we had no complaints except that we were not informed to book our airline arrangements earlier and did not have great flights. But based upon your experiences now, and Viking's stinginess towards their customers, including me, I will have to think twice before I travel with them again! I will let everyone know how this cruise goes. We are leaving Thursday for Oslo for the one day pre-trip then taking a train to Bergen. Then we have to fly to Copenhagen to board the ship on August 10th sailing through the Kiel Canal on August 11th. of course all of this depends on whether they get the repairs done!!

[Viking Cruises]

Dear occruiselady,

 

We’re sorry to hear that disappointment and frustration have only continued now that you are home – and we appreciate that until now you have maintained a positive outlook. Please know that we will be reviewing each individual case that comes through our Customer Relations team, including yours. We hope that message was conveyed to you when you spoke with one of our team members. However, for good measure, please do email us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so that we are certain that you would like us to review your particular case and we will revert as quickly as possible. Having said that, please try to understand that our response times may be a bit delayed due to the heavy volume of calls our Customer Relations team is currently experiencing. We appreciate your patience and are looking forward to hearing from you soon.

 

Sincerely,

Viking Cruises

 

P.S. We also replied to you on another thread. Please forgive us repeating ourselves, but we want to make sure that we do all we can to reach you.

 

 

 

We just returned from the Viking Star cruise disaster and I just got off the phone with Valerie from the Woodland Hills office. Viking is giving us a 50% refund of our cruise and 50% off a future cruise, even though we missed 7 out of the 11 ports on our itinerary. The people on the ship who won the "Norway lottery", approximately half of the passengers, are being given the same refund as those of us who were sent directly home. The Norway passengers were given a chartered flight to Bergen, four nights hotel stay, with meals included and free tours of the area. They are also able to take their original flights home, with the nice seats they preselected, like we did. My 6'2" husband and myself, who has major back issues, were given an 11 hour flight with middle seats in the middle section.

 

Can someone please explain to me why our refund is the same as the passengers whose vacation continued on? We prepaid for this trip two years ago, as did almost everyone, and it is the most expensive trip we had ever taken. We understand that these mechanical things can happen and we have been very nice about all of this, until now. Not all of us can afford to lose this amount of money for a trip that was not even close to what we paid for.

Please Viking do the right thing for your passengers, your reputation is on the line here.

[Vineyard View]

Really appreciate seeing this latest posting from you Viking.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear Vineyard View,

 

Thank you for the positive reinforcement! We know you’re not currently a guest on either of the impacted itineraries, but we just wanted to quick say “hi” to a former guest of Viking Star and let you know how much we’ve appreciated your points of view and feedback on these discussion boards. We also see that you have friends on the July 25th departure. Please pass along that we would also be happy to hear from them at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

Warmly,

Viking Cruises

 

Really appreciate seeing this latest posting from you Viking.

[BrianBoru]

Not too happy at the moment. It's 12:20 a.m., and I'm sitting with other Viking Star peeps at Tallinn Airport. We were told we had a non-stop SAS charter departing for JFK at 11:59. That departure was changed to 2:00 a.m. Now, we learn we're flying National Airlines (largely a cargo carrier with a small passenger operation), with a refueling stop in Iceland. Oh, and it's delayed until 3:30. Not cool, Powers That Be, not cool.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear Sometime Traveler,

 

We understand that some guests, such as yourself, may be disappointed with the necessary modifications made to some of the days on the August 8th departure. We see that you have been in contact with one of our colleagues today already, but please contact us directly at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so we can speak to you about your upcoming trip – and hopefully answer your questions and address your concerns. We hope to hear from you soon!

 

Kindest regards,

Viking Cruises

 

 

We are booked for the August 8th cruise. Assuming the repairs to the Viking Star are completed, the itinerary for this cruise has changed significantly! London and Paris have been eliminated and a short visit to Copenhagen and a sale through the Kiel Canal inserted because that is where the ship will be after the repairs are done. So, what we paid for in the original itinerary, including overnights in London and Paris are no longer there! I feel that we should be given a credit against this cruise for the revised itinerary. I would never had booked this cruise in the first place if it did not include London and Paris. If Viking wants to keep its customers happy then they should do what is right and fair, which is reduce the cost of this cruise since 2 major cities have been eliminated from the itinerary. They are offering a 30% future cruise voucher, so take the 30% off this cruise! Am I off base here?

 

I just heard back from Viking. They will not issue a credit for the current cruise because of the change in itinerary. They will only offer a $500 shipboard credit and a 30% future cruise voucher. My feeling is that this is unfair and wrong. The itinerary changed significantly due to the ship's mechanical issues and they had to eliminate the London and Paris stops. A credit towards the current cruise should have been issued. So in addition to being very disappointed in not getting to London and Paris, we are overpaying for a cruise itinerary that we did not sign up for! To add insult to injury, the extra excursions we signed up for and paid for while in London will not be refunded until after this cruise! What is that about? We paid in cash for an excursion they cannot provide now so why shouldn't I get my money back now? I have been in business over 40 years and if I treated my customers this way due to my error then I would have been homeless by now!!

[Viking Cruises]

Dear BrianBoru,

 

That sounds like a disappointing situation – and as you say, not cool. Please accept our sincere apologies for the late night, the flight alterations, and the resulting frustration and disappointment. If you think we might be able to help in the short term, please contact us directly at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. Otherwise, please do email us once you get home; we’d very much like to hear from you.

 

Kindest regards,

Viking Cruises

 

 

Not too happy at the moment. It's 12:20 a.m., and I'm sitting with other Viking Star peeps at Tallinn Airport. We were told we had a non-stop SAS charter departing for JFK at 11:59. That departure was changed to 2:00 a.m. Now, we learn we're flying National Airlines (largely a cargo carrier with a small passenger operation), with a refueling stop in Iceland. Oh, and it's delayed until 3:30. Not cool, Powers That Be, not cool.

[BrianBoru]

Thank you, Viking Cruises, I expect I will. I'm glad you're reading these threads.

[Viking Cruises]

Hi toby4352,

 

We wanted to check-in with you and make sure that your Viking Star crew were eventually able to work out your travel details. We understand that solidifying plans and final communications and travel schedules didn’t happen as quickly as everyone would like, but we hope our guests understand that it takes time to make last-minute travel accommodations for all guests and to communicate the final arrangements. And we hope that we were able to accommodate your first-choice among the options. As you surely know by now, our Customer Relations team will be contacting all guests upon your return home – but if you would like to contact us directly in the meantime, we’d be happy to hear from you at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

We hope that you were able to enjoy your time on Viking Star and hope that you were able to connect with some of your fellow Cruise Critic members based on your post!

 

Very best,

Viking Cruises

 

 

Here it is now Monday morning August 3rd, our 5 th day in Tallin. Last night was a bit of a meltdown here on board some passengers ar people were getting notices at 7pm to have their bags packed by 10pm that night & that they were flying back to USA at 4am, the next morning. Others got a notice at 7pm, on the 2nd, that they will fly out to Bergen on August 4 th. To await their original air out of Bergen on the 8th, no word on where they will stay. Viking says if we get you to Bergen you will have a room. Fingers crossed. We are among many who have no word yet as to where or when we are leaving the ship. Anyone still on board from CC? I'd love to talk to you...we are in cabin 3049.

[Vineyard View]

Thank you Viking.

Having been a big supporter/defender of Viking this year, before & after our trip, it is good to see you jumping in here. I am sincerely hoping you can make it right, as best as you can, with all these passengers.....

 

And yes, I am quite certain our friends in this 7/25 trip will be contacting you!

Edited August 4, 2015 by Vineyard View

[Spice of life]

We have been offered $500 and $300 towards another Viking Cruise. Firstly we don't want onboard credit!!!! And another cruise reduction an insult. No Paris no London flying to a country we don't want to go to and staying in Bergen for extended time. We are travelling from Australia and another flight added is not welcome. To all other travellers from Australia and New Zealand would love to know your. Thoughts😀

[shipnc]

I know there are other travelers like us who are on the delayed 8/8 sailing who traveled independently and have hotel rooms for Friday. How do we find a Viking rep to coordinate our new hotels? Are they going to compensate us for the meals we buy that we would otherwise have eaten on board ? Why am I wondering where all these hotel rooms are going to come from whe they didn't have enough rooms to accommodate the previous cruse people. I have contacted Viking customer service and they said thy would get. Back to me in 7-10 days. I will try the other email but am not holding my breath. And by the way, BA lost our luggage so we are sitting in cold wet oslo with our travel clothes still on.

[Sometime Traveler]

We have been offered $500 and $300 towards another Viking Cruise. Firstly we don't want onboard credit!!!! And another cruise reduction an insult. No Paris no London flying to a country we don't want to go to and staying in Bergen for extended time. We are travelling from Australia and another flight added is not welcome. To all other travellers from Australia and New Zealand would love to know your. Thoughts😀

I totally agree! Viking is not fairly compensating its customers for a significant change to the itinerary. They should issue credits to all of the passengers on this cruise based upon a downgraded itinerary, not offer some future cruise voucher! BTW, what happens to an onboard credit if you do not use it? Is it lost or carried forward to another future cruise? Leaving for Oslo tomorrow to join you! This is feeling more like an adventure as opposed to a relaxing vacation! Not sure what to expect. Can't cancel now as we will not be able to take a vacation this year!

[Sometime Traveler]

I have another concern. I have been reading the European newspapers about the scheduled repairs to the Viking Star. It is starting to sound like repairs are not going very well and I am nervous that they will not be able to sail the Star through the Baltic sea form Tallinn to Copenhagen in time to begin the revised schedule on August 11th. We do not want to fly to Oslo just to find out that this cruise has been cancelled because they could not get the needed repairs done on time. Does anyone have any updated information about the status of the repairs? Viking does not communicate very well on these issues as they are desperately trying to salvage this cruise!

[NancyiNJ]

We leave for Oslo on Friday and I have the same concern. Will we arrive to be told that there are other issues and things have changed again or been cancelled.

[lovetosew]

Been watching the Skycam Port of Tallinn and the VS is still sitting in port and is not not scheduled to leave until this evening 11:30 p.m. Tallinn time. It was supposed to leave this a.m. and even yesterday at 5p.m. VS is one sick lady and I feel so sorry for the crew and the passengers past, present and future. We have been given the opportunity to pass on our cruise for which we are grateful and instead of touring Bergen will be watching post debate coverage on Fox News. Our best to all.