Amazing Viking Service

[Mich3554]

On 9/17/2022 at 6:58 AM, Selion said:

All these amazing onboard experience stories with Viking are wonderful.  Let me throw couple wrenches in this thread: amazing shore-side customer service.

 

Earlier this week we decided to cancel our Rhine River cruise under RFG and book a Viking Ocean cruise departing the same week in this November, because the promo is pretty good and we don't need to ever worry about ocean levels dropping.  Anyhow.  RFG vouchers may take up to 2 weeks to be issued and our concern was that we may miss the promo window.  So I started a chat session on Viking's website.  Emilia, the Viking chat rep, took my chat session.

 

I explained to her what we wanted to do and expressed our concerns that we may not receive the vouchers before the promo expiring.  She patiently waited for me to type everything out, and offered to manually confirm the booking (full payment would be due within 24 hours since it was 68 days out) with a typical Viking deposit (so that we get the promo), keep an eye on our RFG vouchers, apply them to the booking when they are issued, and refund my deposit for the new booking in full.  That was this Monday.

 

Earlier today I received an email from Emilia, stating she had applied our RFG vouchers and our new booking is in "final" status, and she had processed the refund of the deposits made on Monday.  She took care of everything!  I didn't have to follow up with her, or anyone at Viking, since our last and only contact.  For me that's a breath of fresh air.  So many other companies and cruise lines require constant follow ups just to receive what they promised they'd provide.

 

And one more interaction with a shore-side staff:  When I still had the river cruise booking, there was a Christmas market excursion at Strasbourg.  By the time we decided to book that excursion, it was sold out.  I called Viking, and the rep said she'd keep an eye out on that excursion if there were any cancellations and would contact me when spots opened up.  A while past and I got an email from her saying there were 2 spots opened up on that excursion.  I immediately went into MVJ and booked that excursion, and thanked her for the update.  Don't know how they keep track of excursion spots, but I'm both amazed and grateful that they can.

 

Viking isn't perfect, but for us they are pretty amazing.  😊

This!

Pre Covid, Viking was running a special.  I have a Viking agent that I try to use for all my bookings.  He’s getting harder to get hold of, but ALWAYS gets back to me.  There were a few cruises we were interested in booking, one was the SA one.  After I booked the others, I started on the SA cruise (bulk booking, I think I booked 3 cruises this phone call!).  The time we thought we wanted to go fell outside the promotion, and I was doing a bit of grousing about it over the phone to my Viking agent.  He said, I can do you one better.  If you leave 2 weeks before you want to leave, we have an unannounced special and I can knock 3x what the special is off the cruise.  We were not wedded to the dates I chose, so jumped all over that.  $3000 discount was much better than $1000!  
 

Edited September 18, 2022 by Mich3554

[Twitchly]

We’re currently on the British Isles cruise. We really wanted a railway excursion in Wales, but it was sold out by the time we could sign up, and it never became available before we sailed. As soon as we embarked, we went to guest services and asked to be put on a waiting list — they told us there were 12 people in front of us.

 

Within a day or two, we had tickets for the excursion delivered to our room. They had added a second, later excursion for everyone on the waiting list. Here’s the really fun part: because this was a railway tour, Viking had to work within the schedule and constraints of the railway company. In order to add a second group, they actually had to allow late boarding upon our return. The last tender to the ship was supposed to be at 5 pm, but ours went at 5:45, and the ship pulled out a few minutes later than intended. 
 

Impressive too that they managed to find a great tour guide on such short notice! Amanda Whitehead. Outstanding.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

On 9/16/2022 at 10:25 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

I've been following all of the stories and, hands down,  yours is the winner. Definitely, kudos to Viking for going the extra miles.

 

 

A heads up for all readers. Make sure to add the ship's e-mail address and the the ship's phone number to your phone's contact list before you leave home (along with the 800 numbers). You never know when you will need to contact the ship.

Hi Peregrina,

We leave at the end of the month for our cruise on Viking Sky.  Where do you find the email and ship's phone number?  I have opened every attachment I've been sent and can't find it.  We've received the packet with our luggage tags and it's not there either.

Thanks for your help.

Cynthia

[Haqdeluxe]

22 minutes ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

Hi Peregrina,

We leave at the end of the month for our cruise on Viking Sky.  Where do you find the email and ship's phone number?  I have opened every attachment I've been sent and can't find it.  We've received the packet with our luggage tags and it's not there either.

Thanks for your help.

Cynthia

It is most always in your eDOC pdf (1 for each in your party) and typically at the bottom of the 1st page. 

[LunaSeaRetreat]

17 hours ago, Haqdeluxe said:

It is most always in your eDOC pdf (1 for each in your party) and typically at the bottom of the 1st page. 

Thanks, I haven't received them yet.  I'll check with my TA on Wednesday if they haven't arrived by then.

[biggerbearmom]

We were on the Mars in August. We had a $300 OBC that we were going to lose if we did not spend it. The problem was we were on quarantine until the last day of our cruise. I called down to the onboard store and asked about purchasing some items. Nataliya, who I believe was the assistant manager, totally came through. I told her what I was interested in purchasing and she sent me photos on whatsapp. We went back and forth on whatsapp until I finally decided on the items to purchase., and then she delivered them to our room.I felt this was service that went above and beyond.

[Maite88]

We have had excellent service on our Viking cruises.  During our most recent cruise in May on the Sky on embarkation day, DH asked our cabin steward if can get ice for our drinks in the room.  Not only he brought us and ice bucket, we had a bucket of ice every day when we returned to our cabin after our excursions!  
 

On the same cruise, on one occasion we went to the World Cafe for lunch and the Head Waiter noticed I was eating and not my husband.  He asked my husband “can I help you with anything?” DH replied, oh no thank you, I just need to go to the grill to get a burger.  He said to my husband, “tell me what you want, I’ll go get it for you”. and he did!  
 

I can tell you a few more stories as like I said before the service in Viking is second to none!

[florafun]

This is very recent....We are currently on the Canada & New England Scenic Shores cruise and due to Hurricane Ian had to make last minute changes to fly out of Florida. When we arrived at the Montréal airport at 11:30 pm, Viking had a private car waiting to take us to the ship where we were warmly greeted by the staff who had Mimosas available. Since we were unable to get the COVID tests done in Naples before flying out, the Viking staff did them for us at the ship's medical facility. Upon entering our cabin we found a lovely assortment of sandwiches and desserts along with a bottle of sparkling wine waiting for us. By then it was 12:30 am and we were famished and exhausted!

This kind of attention to detail and special service is why we are loyal Viking cruisers currently taking our 7th voyage.

[Peregrina651]

19 hours ago, Maite88 said:

On the same cruise, on one occasion we went to the World Cafe for lunch and the Head Waiter noticed I was eating and not my husband.  He asked my husband “can I help you with anything?” DH replied, oh no thank you, I just need to go to the grill to get a burger.  He said to my husband, “tell me what you want, I’ll go get it for you”. and he did!  

 

The folks in the World Cafe are great! 

 

I'm high-maintenance -- allergies. At lunch time, I have to ask what is in the foods on the hot-table -- no bell pepper, no garlic, no raw onion. One of the chefs will point, "you can eat this and this BUT if you want, we can also prepare this for you special," -- and then practically start ordering the dish for me. If they aren't sure about a particular dish, they know who was responsible for making it and will ask that person. They so want everyone to be happy and healthy with what comes out of their kitchen -- and they don't trivialize or ignore allergies.

 

 

[Twitchly]

4 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I'm high-maintenance -- allergies. At lunch time, I have to ask what is in the foods on the hot-table -- no bell pepper, no garlic, no raw onion. One of the chefs will point, "you can eat this and this BUT if you want, we can also prepare this for you special," -- and then practically start ordering the dish for me. If they aren't sure about a particular dish, they know who was responsible for making it and will ask that person. They so want everyone to be happy and healthy with what comes out of their kitchen -- and they don't trivialize or ignore allergies.

 

 

Yup. DH can’t eat licorice (it can give him a heart attack). It was initially a little tough to communicate this, licorice not being a commonly known problem. But once they figured out what we were talking about, they were very careful and thorough, especially at the Chef’s Table; they often gave him alternative courses or altered a recipe for him. 
 

It’s surprising how many things contain licorice. Most people can eat a fair amount of it before having heart problems, but DH has to avoid even small amounts. So we were grateful for the care Viking took.

[rmalbers]

My wife got two birthday cakes, not sure how that happened.  One at the specialty restaurant two days before her birthday and another one in our cabin on her birthday, with a bottle of bubbly. 

[FetaCheese]

I wrote the following on another thread, but I feel it's appropriate to tell again on this thread.

 

On last cruise (1st V), Greek Odyssey, Venus, ATH/ATH, ship was delayed getting into Pireus, due to port strike, on back end.

 

CD, Heather, on final night around 8:30, during dinner, came on to announce delayed disembarkation next morning.  All pax with outbound flights before 10am would not make them.  Ours was at 8:30am.  Guest services and Air department would be working overnight to rebook those pax who had V air.  (They would also help pax without V air, but they would have to go to guest services, and get in line.)

 

We were to receive new flight itin overnight.  

 

We had already packed and had bags ready to put out before 10-11pm, and we did.  Put request for in-room breakfast, and went to bed.  We expected to get out on a later flight.  Awoke next morning real early, to find emailed new flight itin, departing the following day.  We didn't have to worry about rebooking, V handled all details.  

 

(From the emailed itin, time stamped about midnight, I suspect that V contracts with an outside company to arrange expedited rebooking in these types of occurrences).

 

Cabin steward knocked, and had new C19 tubes for us.  Also our bags were returned to us.  V was letting us stay on, same cabin, 1 more night.  A real shame, we got an extra day and night in Athens, courtesy of V !!  Even had the free V shuttle to Hadrian's gate/Plaka.  Wow !!  How's that for an example of Amazing Viking Service !!

 

It being a Sunday morning, we walked  (about 10-15 min.) to the beautiful St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, to attend liturgy.  A wonderful experience.

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by FetaCheese

[PlanoTim]

We’ve had plenty of times when we’ve had great Viking service.  Here are a couple form our recent cruise.

 

We were eating dinner in The Restaurant on the first night of our Alaska and the Inside Passage cruise.  The menu didn’t have a chocolate dessert selection.  My wife kidded the waiter that that shouldn’t be allowed.  He said he would take care of her and she chose one of the non-chocolate options.  When dessert came, she was severed what she had ordered and he also brought her a chocolate mousse (from room service?).  There was another night or two that didn’t have chocolate and he brought her a chocolate option without being asked.

 

The wine steward also had fun with my brother on this cruise.  My brother prefers beer (Coors light) rather than wine and he was presented his beer bottle like it was a bottle of rare wine – draped on the sommelier’s arm for approval.  I think he even gave my brother the cap to inspect and poured him a sample to taste.  It was fun.

[TeamBAlways]

I lost my wedding ring immediately after embarkation on our Homelands Cruise.  A crew member saw I was a little frantic looking around and asked me if I was ok.  As soon as I told him I felt like the entire staff dropped what they were doing and started looking.  That included looking in the parking lot, calling the taxi company and port authority.  They even said they would empty the vacuums if it wasn't located.  The bartender brought me a glass of wine and a cookie (you would think he knew me lol).  I ended up finding it within an hour.  The way everyone made sure I was ok and jumped on it was above and beyond! Of course they all jokingly asked me if I had my ring for the next couple of days.

[Clay Clayton]

9 minutes ago, TeamBAlways said:

I lost my wedding ring immediately after embarkation on our Homelands Cruise.  A crew member saw I was a little frantic looking around and asked me if I was ok.  As soon as I told him I felt like the entire staff dropped what they were doing and started looking.  That included looking in the parking lot, calling the taxi company and port authority.  They even said they would empty the vacuums if it wasn't located.  The bartender brought me a glass of wine and a cookie (you would think he knew me lol).  I ended up finding it within an hour.  The way everyone made sure I was ok and jumped on it was above and beyond! Of course they all jokingly asked me if I had my ring for the next couple of days.

Great story but please don’t tell us you found it on your finger😂

[TeamBAlways]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Great story but please don’t tell us you found it on your finger😂

No lol it was in our state room though so I did feel quite silly. I tried to blame jet lag

[CHammond]

We went on the Rhine cruise this summer, and really loved our captain, he was always out in the lounge talking and joking with guests and was so kind and personable. On Bavarian night my husband thought it would be fun to wear the lederhosen he had just bought, and the captain came out wearing an identical pair! He hugged him and said “ My brother “ . The captain had a matching hat that my husband really loved, and he said ,”I would so love a hat just like that to go with my outfit “. The captain pulled out his phone and said you can buy it at this store in the town we are docking at tomorrow. Well it turned out we had an optional excursion the next day and didn’t have a chance to get the hat. The captain found out we couldn’t get it, and the next thing we knew, he tiptoed up behind my husband with a nice package that he left on the chair and snuck away again. When we opened the package we discovered he had given my husband his own hat! We were really touched by his kindness!

[Twitchly]

I love this thread.

[FetaCheese]

Onboard Sea now.  Had dinner in Chef's Table, Calif menu.  Main was halibut.  Asked for a different wine enjoyed from a previous night:  A Chilean Cab Sauv. -- not white -- oh no !!  (By the glass item from list --we have SS Pkg.)

 

Our wine steward, Veronica, said no problem, found the wine,  Martino, and poured it.  I said it was a really nice wine that I would be asking for each night.

 

She said the wine list was changing next day and would no longer be available, just a couple bottles left.

 

Veronica then offered to send the just opened bottle to my cabin. I said  thank you , OK, I would like that.  Returned to cabin that night, and there it was, along with a huge oversize goblet !!

 

Amazing Service !!

 

  

[donaldsc]

8 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Onboard Sea now.  Had dinner in Chef's Table, Calif menu.  Main was halibut.  Asked for a different wine enjoyed from a previous night:  A Chilean Cab Sauv. -- not white -- oh no !!  (By the glass item from list --we have SS Pkg.)

 

Our wine steward, Veronica, said no problem, found the wine,  Martino, and poured it.  I said it was a really nice wine that I would be asking for each night.

 

She said the wine list was changing next day and would no longer be available, just a couple bottles left.

 

Veronica then offered to send the just opened bottle to my cabin. I said  thank you , OK, I would like that.  Returned to cabin that night, and there it was, along with a huge oversize goblet !!

 

Amazing Service !!

 

  

 

That was good service.  However better service would have been to put the few remaining bottles aside w your name on them so you could have them for the rest of the cruise.  If you had not finished them off before the end of the cruise they could always put them back into stock.

 

DON

[deec]

We have had wine stewards do that for us!!!  One even hid the bottles!!! 🙂 

[Mich3554]

Last spring, one of the women we were traveling with on our river cruise passed out in Salzburg.  There was a physician on the tour and he took care of her until the German version of EMS arrived.  She was put into the hospital, and had some tests run.

There were 5 of us in our party, and all of us were going different directions on excursions that day.  DH and I had split up, the other couple had gone together and the woman had gone in yet a different direction.

I returned first from my excursion, and was immediately called by the guest services person on board, to let me know what was happening.  He came to our cabin to talk to me.  I told him that all of us had separated out that day, and as soon as I saw the others, I’d let them know.

Guest services was in constant contact with our friend in the hospital, and kept us apprised of updates.  After a few days, she was released, put in a cab and driven back to the ship.  When she arrived, the cab only accepted cash and my friend didn’t have enough on her, so the captain paid for the cab.  The chef sent a tray to her room after she got in and got settled, since she missed lunch.  They took very good care of her the rest of the trip.  Even after she got home, they followed up with a phone call.  

[donaldsc]

On 10/6/2022 at 5:21 PM, Maite88 said:

We have had excellent service on our Viking cruises.  During our most recent cruise in May on the Sky on embarkation day, DH asked our cabin steward if can get ice for our drinks in the room.  Not only he brought us and ice bucket, we had a bucket of ice every day when we returned to our cabin after our excursions!  
 

On the same cruise, on one occasion we went to the World Cafe for lunch and the Head Waiter noticed I was eating and not my husband.  He asked my husband “can I help you with anything?” DH replied, oh no thank you, I just need to go to the grill to get a burger.  He said to my husband, “tell me what you want, I’ll go get it for you”. and he did!  
 

I can tell you a few more stories as like I said before the service in Viking is second to none!

 

While I agree that Viking provides good service - we have gotten ice delivered daily to our cabin on every cruise that we have ever taken.  This is usual service.

 

DON

[Nancyteach]

On 8/29/2022 at 5:45 PM, deec said:

We were on the Jupiter with I Made this Spring.....40 days of great cocktails.....he explained his were the Best because they were made with "love"

 

I was just thinking about I Made the other day.  Was on Homelands cruise last June.  Every night around 10:30 I would go to the bar to get my tea as it would be hot.  He knew exactly how I liked it.  He would see me get off the elevator and have my tea ready by the time I got to the bar!  Best bartender ever!

[Mich3554]

A week or so ago on the Neptune, DH was talking to someone at the restaurant about one of our favorite restaurants at home.  The restaurant had a flourless chocolate cake that he adores.  We have been known to stop there for only dessert when we are dining out.  Several years ago, the restaurant closed and nothing he has tried has come close to this dessert.

 

The next day, we came back from an excursion and there was a covered plate on the table.   Thinking it was a mistake as neither of us had ordered anything, we were ready to call someone to find out what was going on.  The phone rang, it was the restaurant manager we were talking to the day before and she asked if we had tried them yet?  Tried what?  Under the cover were 4 perfect flourless chocolate cakes.  They were better than the original DH raved about!  They have since shown up on the dessert rotation.  
 

A few nights ago, we had an evening excursion, left around 6 pm, got back after 11. The restaurant had sandwiches and soup waiting for us in the Living Room when we boarded around 11:30 at night…..just so we wouldn’t starve after missing a meal.