Viking done us wrong

[pully8]

Agree with raising concerns with the cruise company.

They are responsible to respond.

However these forums and other travel related ones are wonderful sources for  information sharing.

Indeed last year and at other times of major problems on the rivers, the information from locals and people travelling, the updates were invaluable. 

 

 

[AF-1]

After reading this thread it seems that Viking had this river boat tied up on the previous cruise; and knew the current cruise would have the same issues.  

[Kenster]

Whenever there are river issues (high or low water) there seems to be an inordinate number of posts here about Viking handling the situation poorly and/or not being forthcoming with honest information.  Example, posts from people who contact Viking the morning of their flight to Europe and are told "everything is great!  The river is fine!  No problems!  Only to be told the minute they step on the ship that "unfortunately, due to water levels, we will have to change ships....." 

We have cruised three times on Avalon and never once had an issue while we have seen and talk to many Viking pax in the port towns that tell us they have swapped ships and are being bused four hours to see the sights, while their ship sits for two or three days, unable to move.  Last year, a Viking couple we met was on their THIRD ship.  All along the Danube, after exiting the Main Canal, there were cruise ship docked along the shore unable to move in either direction.  We sailed on through.  When we arrived in Vienna at the end of the cruise, we rafted with another line (not Viking.)  People on that ship were shocked when we sailed in.  They said we were the first ship to come in from the west in three days.  That's how long they had been stuck there, using the ship as a hotel with the cruise turning into a bus tour. 

In our nightly briefing, our CD kept us informed and there, indeed, were concerns about not getting through in one spot.  He told us all the contingencies that were made, including moving us to a First Class hotel, but we never experienced any interruption. Avalon has a very new fleet with shallow draft so they are less likely to have low water problem than other cruise lines with old ships.  High water? All bets are off!  You can't move those bridges.  (I'm not saying that Avalon is totally immune to low water conditions.  Just that we've been very fortunate.

Anything can happen to any cruise line. It's how you deal with it that makes the difference. 

[Roz]

Kenster,

 

I had a similar experience with Uniworld last year on the Rhine.  Before I left for Amsterdam I knew I was going to be sailing on a different ship than the one I booked.  Every day the cruise director informed us of schedule and itinerary changes in order to keep us sailing down to Basel.  Everyone was thrilled not to be riding on a bus or staying in a motel, so port changes and time adjustments didn't seem to bother anyone.  

 

I don't if it's because Viking has more passengers than other lines, but it seems like most of the complaints about not being informed of changes due to water levels are from Viking passengers.

 

Roz

[Paulchili]

Just for a comparison, let me tell you about our river cruises last year - it was a bad year for all rivers in Europe.

1 Our Viking Elbe cruise from Berlin to Prague was cancelled and we were notified a week before we were to leave for the cruise. We received full refund but no compensation for changing of air

2 This cruise was to be followed by an AMA Budapest to Bucharest cruise so we left for Europe (Budapest) a week later (flew for miles so it only cost us a change fee that Viking did not cover).

Luck would have it that our AMA cruise was cancelled as well as the ship couldn’t get past Vienna. We were offered a cruise of same duration from Vienna up the river instead of the Budapest to Bucharest cruise. In addition to this we received a full refund in a form of a credit for future AMA cruise - in other words, we get a cruise of same duration (different itinerary) PLUS a “free” cruise in the future. In addition, as everyone was in Budapest for the cruise they bused us all to Vienna AND as people were scheduled to end in Bucharest (we had a private tour there) they flew EVERYONE who needed to be there to Bucharest for free or home from Vienna for those that had no plans in Bucharest.

Now - that is what I call compensation for an inconvenience even though it was out of their control.

That will surely want me to cruise with AMA again (in addition to our “free” cruise)😀

Edited August 25, 2019 by Paulchili

[Squawkman]

I had the same AMA experience as Paulchili - only we had it on Viking Ocean. Our Scandinavian cruise was cancelled 3 days before embarkation as the ship we were supposed to sail on was the one that had the engine failure in the Norwegian Sea. We received a full cash refund (including air) plus a full fare credit for another cruise which we used to pay for one that was already booked. We even received checks by fedex for OBC.

[superchel]

17 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Just for a comparison, let me tell you about our river cruises last year - it was a bad year for all rivers in Europe.

1 Our Viking Elbe cruise from Berlin to Prague was cancelled and we were notified a week before we were to leave for the cruise. We received full refund but no compensation for changing of air

2 This cruise was to be followed by an AMA Budapest to Bucharest cruise so we left for Europe (Budapest) a week later (flew for miles so it only cost us a change fee that Viking did not cover).

Luck would have it that our AMA cruise was cancelled as well as the ship couldn’t get past Vienna. We were offered a cruise of same duration from Vienna up the river instead of the Budapest to Bucharest cruise. In addition to this we received a full refund in a form of a credit for future AMA cruise - in other words, we get a cruise of same duration (different itinerary) PLUS a “free” cruise in the future. In addition, as everyone was in Budapest for the cruise they bused us all to Vienna AND as people were scheduled to end in Bucharest (we had a private tour there) they flew EVERYONE who needed to be there to Bucharest for free or home from Vienna for those that had no plans in Bucharest.

Now - that is what I call compensation for an inconvenience even though it was out of their control.

That will surely want me to cruise with AMA again (in addition to our “free” cruise)😀

I am so happy that AMA treated you so well in the face of disruption.  We had done a previous viking and it was spectacular...which is why we booked again so soon.  This one was such a let down.  Truly poor service.

[superchel]

On 8/22/2019 at 11:08 AM, G.M.T. said:

The town of Roth is correct.

 

The op was not sitting 3 days on the boat, ALL the photos were taken from a moving bus, never mentioned what Viking laid on. Within 1 hour drive of Roth, you have Nuremberg, Bamberg, Regensburg, Kloster Weltenberg,  and lots more.

 

Viking has been got at over various things but not over ship swap, which runs like clockwork with the number of ships they have available.

 

I think there is more to the op rant than just what they wrote. Who knows, maybe he considered himself a vip but Viking didn't, doesn't like German food, expected the natives to be running around in Lederhose and driving the cows into the mountains.

 

I bet the op was a bundle of fun on the boat, probably arguing with the Captain and Cruise Director about chocolate bars, could be turned into  film:

 

"Mutiny over the Bounty".

 

Just imagine, the op sets the officers adrift in a small boat and after a navigation miracle and  fighting off the natives (dropping their Lederhose) and reaching Nuremberg after a 21minute epic journey they are safe. The op is caught and is not sentenced to be hung at the yard arm BUT to take a Viking river cruise once a year for the rest of his life.

 

I think Viking did a good job showing Germany's waste management system and not just dumping plastic rest in the oceans.

 

 

Actually, I am the poster and YES we were sitting on the boat, non stop until they finally took us to Nurembeg.  See my second post.   The part of Roth they tied us too was an industrial waste dump.  The trip to Nuremburg did take two hours.  But thank you for making assumptions on something you know nothing about.  It is well known, (see the other posts here) that Tor was tied there for several days before our swap, and didn't move until our last day...and only then by backing down the canal.  What else would you like to discuss?  I only asked why the other boats we were encountering did true swaps while we were tied there, not moving...

[sumiandkage]

On 8/24/2019 at 5:43 PM, Roz said:

 

 

I don't if it's because Viking has more passengers than other lines, but it seems like most of the complaints about not being informed of changes due to water levels are from Viking passengers.

 

 

One of my bigger complaints about Viking in general is that there is a lot of poor communication, even when nothing is really going wrong. They seem to be not great at what should be simple questions like 'I'm getting on my ship in Basel today. Where is it?' and 'How much longer before out tour bus meets up with our docked ship?'  It's kind of mushroom-like and at some point, they're going to have to fix those issues as more and more of their guests demand the kind of easy communication you get from other parts of the travel sector.As my sister says 'Delta can tell me the gate for my connecting gate has changed from T5 to E18 to D27 in a giant airport in the course of 15 minutes. Why can't Viking tell me which of three ports out ship parked at in the early morning hours?'

 

I also felt like they tended to take the long route to get from place to place with the bus at times so we could enjoy looking at the countryside from the bus windows rather than getting to wander through some even more interesting small town even longer. So I can see them deciding to route the bus from dock to town by way of Andorra or something. 

[Bailey Swedishfish]

19 hours ago, sumiandkage said:

 

One of my bigger complaints about Viking in general is that there is a lot of poor communication, even when nothing is really going wrong. They seem to be not great at what should be simple questions like 'I'm getting on my ship in Basel today. Where is it?' and 'How much longer before out tour bus meets up with our docked ship?'  It's kind of mushroom-like and at some point, they're going to have to fix those issues as more and more of their guests demand the kind of easy communication you get from other parts of the travel sector.As my sister says 'Delta can tell me the gate for my connecting gate has changed from T5 to E18 to D27 in a giant airport in the course of 15 minutes. Why can't Viking tell me which of three ports out ship parked at in the early morning hours?'

 

I also felt like they tended to take the long route to get from place to place with the bus at times so we could enjoy looking at the countryside from the bus windows rather than getting to wander through some even more interesting small town even longer. So I can see them deciding to route the bus from dock to town by way of Andorra or something. 

In your travel documents is the email of the ship. We email them directly for questions like yous and usually get prompt accurate answers. We tried to get that info from Viking HQ and have been directed to the specific ship. Given conditions change quickly, the ship will have the most updated info about docking locations and departures.  And yes, we laugh that we take the long slow scenic bus ride TO the destination but seem to hit the highway back to the ship and cut travel times by  half. I guess they figure we're all awake in the morning and want to see the sights. By 4pm, all ya hear on the bus is snoring. 

[KathyK13]

On 8/25/2019 at 7:27 PM, superchel said:

Actually, I am the poster and YES we were sitting on the boat, non stop until they finally took us to Nurembeg.  See my second post.   The part of Roth they tied us too was an industrial waste dump.  The trip to Nuremburg did take two hours.  But thank you for making assumptions on something you know nothing about.  It is well known, (see the other posts here) that Tor was tied there for several days before our swap, and didn't move until our last day...and only then by backing down the canal.  What else would you like to discuss?  I only asked why the other boats we were encountering did true swaps while we were tied there, not moving...

Just to clarify...did Viking provide any excursions during the three days you were moored in Roth?    How many days were you able to actually 'cruise'?