viking---unbelievable and even worse

[Mark_T]

You have to balance the few complaints against the thousands of passengers each week that enjoy their cruise and return to book again.

 

You also have to balance the comments from those who have never sailed with Viking but have no problem expressing strong negative opinions about the line.

 

We cruised with Viking in China and had a wonderful time there, everything arranged to perfection.

 

We will be with them again in Vietnam and Cambodia in February .

 

In this case it is never going to be good news when a cruise line has to cancel a booking whatever the reason, but Viking are not the first to cancel a cruise and they certainly won't be the last, it happens, it is always going to be a big disappointment.

 

... and once again just in case it gets forgotten, the whole paying in full in advance thing only happens in the USA, Viking customers elsewhere don't do this and if Viking customers in the USA were less willing to do it and stopped booking then it wouldn't happen there either, yet they still do it in their thousands each year ...

[Rosethorn40]

I still don't understand all the hatred to Viking on this board, especially from those that have never sailed on a Viking boat. I would never put down any line that I haven't personally tried. I might say from what I have heard/read it doesn't seem like the right fit for me.

 

I am about to go on my second Viking River Cruise. The first was last year, and it was about as close to a perfect trip as I have ever had. Yes, I am a glass half full kind of person, and even when things don't go as planned I tend to focus on what did go right. As long as DH and I both return to the USA alive, and all limbs attached I will consider it a win

 

Personally, I think the OP's anger is a bit over the top. He has plenty of time to make other arrangements. His scorch earth attitude makes it impossible for Viking to try to work with him on a solution that might make him happy, or at least not quite as unhappy. The fact that they even try to reach out to unhappy customers on these boards, something I don't see from other lines tell me they are customer orientated.

[CPT Trips]

Hydrokitty & CPT Trips

 

 

I would pass on the free trip because our vacation time is too valuable (and limited) to deal with Viking. I'd rather spend money and get what I want, but that's just me. Now, if it were another line offering up a free cruise, the ones that get the great reviews, I'd take them up on it in a nanosecond!!

 

Ah! The joys of retirement.;). Not much need to deal with the cruise line if I'm not paying the bill.

[Hydrokitty]

After cruising for 30 years more or less and on 6 lines and 16 or 17 cruises, we decided to venture onto Viking for a european river cruise, we had missed keukenhopf at peak twice so timing was critical in this case. we booked a cruise, that with air, cost over 13 thousand which was a lot but not a record for us.

 

Then after my deposit is down i found out that i had to pay it all 9 months in advance... wow is all i could say but i broke the amex out and choked it all down. So now i'm 13 thousand out of pocket but hoping that it would be worth it in the end.

 

suddenly yesterday i get an email out of the blue from my travel agent "they have canceled your cruise and you have 30 days to rebook". I call my agent who spends an inordinate amount of time confirming that this is true but all Viking wants to do is resell me on a different cruise. NOT INTERESTED i say and after about the 5th time my travel agent understands and tells them i want a refund and compensation for the money they've had all this time (3 months) for nothing. He relays that not only do i get no compensation, i get no refund for 3 or 4 weeks WOW.

 

I tell my wife and she is somewhere between incredulous and upset and insists i must have got it wrong, so I dial Viking and give her the phone. it boils down to:

 

- we still don't know if the ship is actually canceled or they double booked the cabin or they just decided to charter it out.

- Viking "generously" agreed not to charge us a cancellation penalty!!!! yes that's what they said.

- Viking agreed to move us to another ship for no price increase... again their words not mine.

- After we declined their "GENEROUS" offer, she said she would try to expedite our refund but even expediting a refund takes two days for a "DECISION".

 

Only bright spot in this travesty is they could've waited till two days before we were due to leave or something... no matter what however we don't do business this way and Viking is now dead to us but HOW DO WE STOP THE MAILERS EVERY 3 DAYS???

 

I don't think OP is being unreasonable at all. First he wants to see the tulips in bloom, which means April/May. He's tried twice before and was either too early or too late, so he books with Viking for a specific time period. Viking policy is payment in full within 30 days of booking, so he pays out $30,000 only to get a call that his cruise has been cancelled and he has 30 days to book another cruise, for which Viking will not charge him extra. He declines and Viking tells him it will be 3-4 weeks for his refund to be processed. Now Viking has his $30,000 in their bank account and is getting interest on it at a rate of 4-5%, which interest Viking gets to keep while OP just loses it. This has absolutely nothing to do with the Viking ship or crew or the service they provide on board, this is strictly corporate and he has every right to be spitting nails. Obviously you've had 1 wonderful trip with Viking and I'm sure all of us who post here are very happy for you...but there have been too many times when Viking has displayed incredibly poor customer service. I have never cruised with Viking and I never will....not because I hate them, but because #1 they insist on payment in full for a trip that's a year in the future within 30 days of booking and #2 because too many people have experienced poor customer service from them. I think you will find that most of us on CC are optimistic, glass half full kind of people. You have to be to travel these days! But to expect someone to give up their "bucket list" trip and substitute it with a different trip isn't being unreasonable to me.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Hydrokitty

[QueenofEverything]

The OP said $13,000 not $30,000. Bit of a difference. If you are getting 4-5% interest on cash, I want to talk with your financial advisor!! :eek:

[Rosethorn40]

The OP said $13,000 not $30,000. Bit of a difference. If you are getting 4-5% interest on cash, I want to talk with your financial advisor!! :eek:

 

Thank you! I was thinking the same thing. 5% interest on savings? Better odds than the stock market. I'll transfer every penny in my 401K!

[pvlinda]

Most businesses have a time frame for processing refunds. Viking has a paid in full policy, and if you aren't comfortable with it, take your business elsewhere. I don't see the need to constantly spew negativity about the company at every opportunity.

[Rosethorn40]

Sorry, typing on my new laptop and still trying to get the hang of it, but I wanted to finish my thought.

 

As far as payment in advance, Vantage, which BTW sends me colorful brochures about once a week, and they rival/surpass any that I received from Viking, anyway Vantage wants your money a year in advance. They don't require it, but they do offer a discount if you do, which makes it attractive incentive to pay a year in advance.

 

I've had trips cancelled, itineraries changed (To the point where I didn't even recognize the cruise I paid for), and disappointments when things didn't turn out the way I wanted, and yes, I've been upset.

 

It's hard to tell as I am sure we don't have all the facts, but it appears that his original trip was cancelled by the cruise line, options for another cruise were offered, but he wasn't interested for whatever reason, and he is so MAD, how dare Viking ruin HIS trip (Like he was the only one affected). I am going to take the comments he attributed to Viking representatives with a grain of salt. I was a customer service supervisor for many years in a call center. I had customers tell me all kinds of stories about what my team member allegedly said to them, but when I reviewed the call I found the customer's memory was slightly faulty.

 

Three-four weeks is a little long for a refund. I bet he doesn't wait that long. I think the longest I waited was 10 days, and that's when my Honeymoon trip on the American Queen was cancelled at the 11th hour.

[JVilleGal]

For those who say "anyone but Viking"--

 

 

 

Is it possible that they have more complaints is that they have more ships (and passengers) than everyone else combined?

 

 

 

Would it be then correct to say that Viking has more satisfied customers as well?

 

 

 

We've never river cruised as yet (probably in 2017 or 2018), so I have no horse in this race, just being devil's advocate.

 

 

Maybe you have not been reading CC long enough where Viking is concerned???

[CarlyDawwg's Ma]

Wow! Reading these forums is better than any episode or version of BRAVO's Real Housewives! Where's Andy Cohen when you need him? There's a show to be made here! :) (Just trying to lighten the mood..)

[Hydrokitty]

The OP said $13,000 not $30,000. Bit of a difference. If you are getting 4-5% interest on cash, I want to talk with your financial advisor!! :eek:

 

When you're right, you're right...that was definitely my mistake. OP clearly said $13,000 not $30,000. As for my financial advisor...he's done very well for me and I'm keeping his name a secret! :D

 

I know Viking didn't cancel Rosethorn's trip on person, I really felt badly for the OP and Viking seems to be unapologetic about their decision to cancel his trip. Yeah, they offered him a different trip, but that's not the point, if he'd wanted a different trip he would have booked it! As for "Viking bashing" there's a big difference between wanting payment a year ahead of time and requiring it. It's true Vantage always gives you the opportunity to take a discount and pay in advance, but from what I read on CC, Viking requires its American customers to pay within 30 days of booking. Whatever you're getting in interest, you're losing it and it's additional profit they're making and they're going to make it for the 3-4 weeks it takes them to process the refund. It's not the money, it's the principle. I'll stand up for Viking when I think they're right and poster is being unreasonable, unfortunately most of the posts I've read about their corporate customer service makes that hard to do.

[Rosethorn40]

On a different note, and I'm really not trying to highjack this thread, but I don't know how else to ask you this....How was your Canadian Rail Odyssey with Vantage? DH is a huge railfan, and I want to give him this trip as his

60th birthday present (His #1 Bucket List item, mine is seeing the Loch Ness Monster).

[CaffS&S]

We booked with Viking for Aug 2016. I've read all the comments both negative and positive and it seems to me there are as many people who are happy with them as are not happy. I think you're correct - the volume of business they do generates more complaints. Many of the complaints seem to be from people who didn't do their research - which is something I've noticed happens with a lot of complaints in general. I worked in customer service for many years - I know from complaints! :D

 

I knew about the pay when you book policy (most times - I know people have gotten around it). Of course, I'd rather hold on to the money as long as possible, but it didn't bother us that much.

 

We chose Viking because I like their ships. I like that they are stopping at Kinderdijk - which not all Rhine cruises do. I like that they have a lot of ships to choose from. Not because of glossy ads.

 

We'll see. So far I'm satisfied. I'll come back next Aug and let you know how it went! :)

 

Cyber Kat - Just returned from an October 2015 Rhine Cruise and Kinderdijk was our first excursion and it was one of our favorites. With that being said, do not get too excited. After the walk to the site and a bit of a info lecture there really is less than 1 hour of windmill touring. You are pretty much herded in and herded out. We would of loved to have had another 1 hour or so to possibly rent bikes (or walk) to view the entire system of canals. You are at the mercy of the docking times and most of the excursions are limited to this time. You need to take a coach bus to most of the sites (some coaches are a 10 minute walk away also) followed by a bathroom break as soon as you arrive so your time touring is ticking away. We also were of the younger crowd on the boat (53/54 yrs of age) and felt somewhat frustrated at the limited time you had at each port. Rudesheim was absolutely beautiful but did not dock until after 5:30 pm. Everything other than restaurants was closed, disappointing. But I must say The Hlin was a beautiful ship, very good food and the crew could not do enough for you. Maybe some years down the road we would try again!

Edited October 25, 2015 by CaffS&S

[Cyber Kat]

Most businesses have a time frame for processing refunds. Viking has a paid in full policy, and if you aren't comfortable with it, take your business elsewhere. I don't see the need to constantly spew negativity about the company at every opportunity.

 

Exactly! So many people complain vehemently about this policy. It's not like they are the only company doing river cruises in Europe.

 

And one thing I've learned over the years is not to set my heart on one particular aspect of any vacation. I run a Bermuda group - for people who plan on visiting the island. So many were counting on going there in Oct, and then Hurricane Joaquin came along and they were diverted to the Caribbean. These things happen. I can understand disappointment, but seriously - take a deep breath!

 

Our upcoming Viking cruise in Aug 2016 is a kind of "trip of a lifetime" for us, because it's a big expense (we're flying business/first - a first for us). But I'm prepared for water level issues and the possibility of ship swaps (one of the reasons we chose Viking - they have a lot of ships), or bus rides. I hope to see the castles and will be disappointed if I can't, but I still plan to have a great vacation. If our particular sailing get cancelled - we can book another. One of the advantages of waiting until you are retired, for the "trip of a lifetime." We did everything through Viking and we have the insurance, so I expect they will take care of the switch to another date.

 

BTW - this will be our second trip to Holland and I have yet to see a tulip :)

[Cyber Kat]

As for "Viking bashing" there's a big difference between wanting payment a year ahead of time and requiring it. It's true Vantage always gives you the opportunity to take a discount and pay in advance, but from what I read on CC, Viking requires its American customers to pay within 30 days of booking. Whatever you're getting in interest, you're losing it and it's additional profit they're making and they're going to make it for the 3-4 weeks it takes them to process the refund. It's not the money, it's the principle. I'll stand up for Viking when I think they're right and poster is being unreasonable, unfortunately most of the posts I've read about their corporate customer service makes that hard to do.

 

Again - I don't understand all the fuss about their policy - if you don't like don't book with Viking - easy, peasy. I wasn't wild about the idea of paying that far in advance, but this is the cruise I wanted - so we played by their rules.

 

I don't expect sympathy or apologies from any large corporation. Give me another cruise - make it easy to book or give my money money back. It's a contract - no apologies required. If I get one - cool. If not - no big deal. It's business - nothing personal.

[Cyber Kat]

Cyber Kat - Just returned from an October 2015 Rhine Cruise and Kinderdijk was our first excursion and it was one of our favorites. With that being said, do not get too excited. After the walk to the site and a bit of a info lecture there really is less than 1 hour of windmill touring. You are pretty much herded in and herded out. We would of loved to have had another 1 hour or so to possibly rent bikes (or walk) to view the entire system of canals. You are at the mercy of the docking times and most of the excursions are limited to this time. You need to take a coach bus to most of the sites (some coaches are a 10 minute walk away also) followed by a bathroom break as soon as you arrive so your time touring is ticking away. We also were of the younger crowd on the boat (53/54 yrs of age) and felt somewhat frustrated at the limited time you had at each port. Rudesheim was absolutely beautiful but did not dock until after 5:30 pm. Everything other than restaurants was closed, disappointing. But I must say The Hlin was a beautiful ship, very good food and the crew could not do enough for you. Maybe some years down the road we would try again!

 

Thanks for the mini-review! We just mostly want to see all those windmills in one place. We were in Holland once before - years ago - and we saw windmills, but here and there - not all in once place.

 

As with an ocean cruise, for me the emphasis is on the ship experience. The ports are secondary. I'm looking forward to seeing them, but I just want to be on a boat on the river. I'm prepared for water issues - and in that case the ports will be more important, but I'll take what I can get. I'm going to be on a wonderful adventure either way!

 

We're going to be on the Mani - home it's as great as your experience on the Hlin. We're also doing 2 days in Amsterdam (on our own) and 3 days in Lucerne with Viking. I'm almost as excited to be flying business/first as I am for the cruise!

[Hydrokitty]

Again - I don't understand all the fuss about their policy - if you don't like don't book with Viking - easy, peasy. I wasn't wild about the idea of paying that far in advance, but this is the cruise I wanted - so we played by their rules.

 

I don't expect sympathy or apologies from any large corporation. Give me another cruise - make it easy to book or give my money money back. It's a contract - no apologies required. If I get one - cool. If not - no big deal. It's business - nothing personal.

 

Can't argue with a thing your saying, Kat...I just really feel for OP that he's tried twice to see tulips and failed and to me it was one of the most breath-taking sights ever. I think if what you expect from a large corporation is what Viking provided, it might have been easier for OP to calm down but you're right about it being business-nothing personal.

 

RE: Kinderdijk...we had the exact same feeling as CaffS&S...it was a favorite stop to see working windmills all in one location, but it was very windy the day we were there...great for windmills not so much for people. I would have liked to spend more time there too, but it is a fantastic photo op and very interesting place...bring a scarf or hoodie...it's a cold wind!

[Cyber Kat]

RE: Kinderdijk...we had the exact same feeling as CaffS&S...it was a favorite stop to see working windmills all in one location, but it was very windy the day we were there...great for windmills not so much for people. I would have liked to spend more time there too, but it is a fantastic photo op and very interesting place...bring a scarf or hoodie...it's a cold wind!

 

When were you there? We're going in Aug. I would like to go in the Spring for the tulips, but I don't like the cold :) Probably going to be hot in Aug - but I can live with that if the ship's A/C works!

[janetcbl]

As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have never paid for a Viking Cruise a year+ in advance. Just tell them you are unwilling to do this; the rep "checks" with a supervisor and "okays" a 180 day advance payment. IMO this is still too far in advance as most cruise lines require final payment 3 months before sailing.

[Hydrokitty]

QUOTE=Rosethorn40;48104363]On a different note, and I'm really not trying to highjack this thread, but I don't know how else to ask you this....How was your Canadian Rail Odyssey with Vantage? DH is a huge railfan, and I want to give him this trip as his 60th birthday present (His #1 Bucket List item, mine is seeing the Loch Ness Monster).

 

There was great and not so much. The hotels in Vancouver, Banff and Toronto were fantastic. The Rocky Mountaineer was wonderful...the disappointments we had were as follows and if your DH is a huge rail fan they probably won't matter to him!!

 

1. This is a big one because Vantage doesn't warn you about it. The train tracks in Canada are owned by 2 freight companies and VIA Rail and Mountaineer rent track use. This means that if a freight train is coming VIA and RM have to pull onto a siding and give freight the right of way. As a result the passenger trains run anywhere from 2 to 16 hours behind schedule! It's not too bad between Vancouver and Banff. However, we were supposed to leave Jasper at 4 p.m. and cut short time at Athabasca to be sure we were in Jasper on time. We were and train departed at 8 p.m. We were supposed to arrive in Winnipeg at 4 p.m. and have a few hours to sightsee. We arrived at 3 a.m. and never even saw Winnipeg; and finally we were supposed to arrive in Toronto at 9 a.m. and have a city tour. We didn't arrive until 4:30 p.m. and our tour was cancelled. I understand the delays, I just would have felt better had I been warned. In talking to others I have discovered that our train was not unusual, but pretty much the norm.

 

2. Upgrade to gold leaf on the Mountaineer. It was worth every dime. The food and service were marvelous; your hotel in Kamloops is upgraded and you have your luggage taken to the hotel. Great Greek restaurant in Kamloops BTW.

 

3. sleeping car. Vantage told us the size of the sleeping car so we knew it was smaller than a jail cell....what we didn't count on was that when cabin is set up for sleeping (bunk style) one person can change clothes but the other one has to either leave or crawl inside the bottom bunk! Every night you could hear gales of laughter as we maneuvered around each other. But the good news is the beds were surprisingly comfortable and we slept very well. There is a WC in the cabin and when sitting on the throne my knees were against the wall!! (I'm 5'3"). There's a shower room in every car, fully private, and once you get used to the rhythm of the train, is an experience not to be missed. One thing they don't tell you: if you're traveling with another couple or very friendly with your next door neighbor, the room steward can stow the wall between your cabins and install a table. This gives you 2 cabins, 2 bathrooms, 4 chairs and a table during the day!! We were traveling with another couple so it was a real bonus!!!

 

4. Dining on VIA: the first leg of the trip from Jasper to Winnipeg the food and dining car service were outstanding. Second leg Winnipeg to Toronto we had a different crew and food and service were not as good, nor was the car kept as clean.

 

If you want more info on things to do and see in Vancouver and Banff feel free to e-mail me at chydro564@yahoo.com...I'd be happy to answer your questions.

[Hydrokitty]

When were you there? We're going in Aug. I would like to go in the Spring for the tulips, but I don't like the cold :) Probably going to be hot in Aug - but I can live with that if the ship's A/C works!

 

We were there in late April, 2010. I don't think it ever gets HOT in Holland...Aug should be nice but Keukenhof will be closed. Can you reconsider late Spring...it's not that cold, probably comparable to New England. The only places I needed my hoodie were Keukenhof, ZuiderZee museum and Kinderdijk..and it wasn't freezing, it was just windy and cooler than Brugges and other stops, which were very comfortable.

[Mark_T]

As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have never paid for a Viking Cruise a year+ in advance. Just tell them you are unwilling to do this; the rep "checks" with a supervisor and "okays" a 180 day advance payment. IMO this is still too far in advance as most cruise lines require final payment 3 months before sailing.

 

That's exactly the right approach, and if they won't do that then book a different cruise line.

 

As long as the majority of USA customers continue to accept the 12 months in advance they will keep on doing it...

[Cyber Kat]

We were there in late April, 2010. I don't think it ever gets HOT in Holland...Aug should be nice but Keukenhof will be closed. Can you reconsider late Spring...it's not that cold, probably comparable to New England. The only places I needed my hoodie were Keukenhof, ZuiderZee museum and Kinderdijk..and it wasn't freezing, it was just windy and cooler than Brugges and other stops, which were very comfortable.

 

Last time we were there in June - it wasn't hot, nor was it cold. We're already booked for Aug, so not this time anyway.

 

We're looking to do the Van Gogh museum and the Heineken Experience this time because we missed them the last time. Heineken was closed, and the Van Gogh museum wasn't complete yet - they were moving all the paintings, so we didn't get to see them at the Rijksmuseum either. We're also considering the Dutch Resistance museum - my husband's father was born in Holland, so this is of interest. I think we went to Keukenhof the last time we were there. I know it was a huge garden park with lots of flowers - just no tulips :)

 

I think we've hijacked this thread as well!

[gowilk]

Cyber Kat - Just returned from an October 2015 Rhine Cruise and Kinderdijk was our first excursion and it was one of our favorites. With that being said, do not get too excited. After the walk to the site and a bit of a info lecture there really is less than 1 hour of windmill touring. You are pretty much herded in and herded out. We would of loved to have had another 1 hour or so to possibly rent bikes (or walk) to view the entire system of canals. You are at the mercy of the docking times and most of the excursions are limited to this time. You need to take a coach bus to most of the sites (some coaches are a 10 minute walk away also) followed by a bathroom break as soon as you arrive so your time touring is ticking away. We also were of the younger crowd on the boat (53/54 yrs of age) and felt somewhat frustrated at the limited time you had at each port. Rudesheim was absolutely beautiful but did not dock until after 5:30 pm. Everything other than restaurants was closed, disappointing. But I must say The Hlin was a beautiful ship, very good food and the crew could not do enough for you. Maybe some years down the road we would try again!

 

WOW!!! Going to kinderijk in October and saying it wasn't impressive is like going to st Petersburg in December and wondering why they called it the city of lights.... Go at the right time and the place is different, it's an impressive flower field in late April- early May.

[Hydrokitty]

Last time we were there in June - it wasn't hot, nor was it cold. We're already booked for Aug, so not this time anyway.

 

We're looking to do the Van Gogh museum and the Heineken Experience this time because we missed them the last time. Heineken was closed, and the Van Gogh museum wasn't complete yet - they were moving all the paintings, so we didn't get to see them at the Rijksmuseum either. We're also considering the Dutch Resistance museum - my husband's father was born in Holland, so this is of interest. I think we went to Keukenhof the last time we were there. I know it was a huge garden park with lots of flowers - just no tulips :)

 

I think we've hijacked this thread as well!

 

:D We had the opposite happen to us the first time in Amsterdam...Rijks was under renovation so we went to Van Gogh...this last time we went to Rijks...it's amazing what they did to the place.

 

WOW!!! Going to kinderijk in October and saying it wasn't impressive is like going to st Petersburg in December and wondering why they called it the city of lights.... Go at the right time and the place is different, it's an impressive flower field in late April- early May.

 

Are you sure you aren't confusing Kinderdijk with Keukenhof? Because we were there in late April and Keukenhof was loaded with flowers but Kinderdijk was windmills and dikes. It was impressive but no flowers.