Trying to help my Parents with a Viking nightmare

[donaldsc]

I have not plowed my way through this entire thread but did the OP's parents book the cruise directly with Viking or with a good TA.  If it was Viking this is yet another reason why you should book with a good TA.

 

DON

Edited December 28, 2022 by donaldsc

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, shmabbies said:

All we have now is an OP who approximately 48 hours ago chose to join Cruise Critic and use some pretty serious language to lambast Viking, the airlines, and an unnamed insurer for what was a choice by their parents to travel at a specific time (dead of winter during the holidays), to a specific destination across the world, using a specific insurance carrier.   At this point, I still just keep seeing the word CHOICE.

 

Pretty much sums it up.

 

Another drive-by attack on a cruiseline.  Wagers on whether or not we will ever hear again from "nightmare"?

[kctwinmommy]

1 hour ago, shmabbies said:

It's been over 24 hours, closer to 48 hours, since we heard from the OP, who chose to make some pretty vicious statements IMHO.   Isn't this a little strange?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bingo! That's why I commented last night, just to follow this to see if they ever came back to share what happened. They even said they wouldn't share more without their parents permission, which was odd since they were already posting here on their behalf.

[TrulyBlonde]

Actually, my 1st post ever on CC was due to a problem I had with a cruise line and some mold issues growing under my bed. I was very upset and was also called a drive by because I was new here.

 

I am sympathetic towards the family that were clearly very upset and needed to vent. Have some compassion.

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, shmabbies said:

It's been over 24 hours, closer to 48 hours, since we heard from the OP, who chose to make some pretty vicious statements IMHO.   Isn't this a little strange?

 

Not really. The guy, who is really upset, feeling helpless and therefore angry and striking out, comes to get some information and some help in sorting through the mess,  and mostly what he gets is people telling him, over and over again, he is wrong to feel angry and that it is his parents fault that they are in this position. Yes, there are lessons to be learned for the future but no one wants to continue to read over and over again the same "its their fault" message as every newcomer arrives to the fray and has to get their licks in.

 

He took the best of our advice and then left. It is a pattern that repeats itself. No one sticks around after the first punch. Do you blame them?

[Selion]

17 hours ago, LibertyBella said:

Rudely saying the passengers are "no shows"

Telling facts are considered rude now.  Ok.  How would you sugar coat it?

 

Again, the issue isn't with Viking.  They missed the boat, literally.  The vacation plan was ruined and gone.  The issue is how do they seek compensation from the insurance they purchased.  All the "woulda, coulda, shoulda, but didn't" talk is about how to preserve and salvage said vacation plan.  At this stage for this vacation, it's just noise.

[Twitchly]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Another drive-by attack on a cruiseline.  Wagers on whether or not we will ever hear again from "nightmare"?

I’m thinking the handle “Viking-nightmare” is a clue as to their intended longevity in this forum. 
 

Not casting stones here. There was a point where I would’ve been happy to post to any refrigerator discussion group under the name “LG-Is-a-Pile-of-Steaming-Pig-Feces.” 

[Mich3554]

3 hours ago, TrulyBlonde said:

Actually, my 1st post ever on CC was due to a problem I had with a cruise line and some mold issues growing under my bed. I was very upset and was also called a drive by because I was new here.

 

I am sympathetic towards the family that were clearly very upset and needed to vent. Have some compassion.

It is far too common to blame the wrong party.  We saw lots of that last summer when airlines were not delivering luggage on flights.  It was all Viking’s fault.

We travel with contingency plans at all times.  Crap happens, and a cruise requires that a lot of things happen as they are supposed to happen to come off successfully.  Statistically, sometime this is going to break down.

 

[Heartgrove]

Gee! Response #7 by the OP says that they are on their own cruise currently. Instead of a drive-by - they might be out of touch? Such assumptions!

[SJD117]

5 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

Gee! Response #7 by the OP says that they are on their own cruise currently. Instead of a drive-by - they might be out of touch? Such assumptions!

The same response states that an update would be provided if the parents are able to achieve a resolution. So it’s possible — just possible — that instead of a drive-by, there’s been no further communication on CC because a resolution hasn’t occurred.

[oskidunker]

What gets me is that any criticism of ones beloved cruise is met with anger, disbelief and accusations. Sometimes it is bad decisions  by cruise lines  . They are hurting and need to make money.. they are cutting costs.

 

i have over 25 cruises with Princess, my only cruiseline until I went on Oceania a month ago. Went on a 4 day Princess cruise over thanksgiving. Food not good portions ridiculous. Service bad .ship overcrowded. No more for me. Oceania was great, likePrincess used to be 10 years ago,  things change, I guess. We were very sad to leave Princess. 

Edited December 29, 2022 by oskidunker

[longterm]

11 hours ago, oskidunker said:

What gets me is that any criticism of ones beloved cruise is met with anger, disbelief and accusations. Sometimes it is bad decisions  by cruise lines  . They are hurting and need to make money.. they are cutting costs.

There seems to be some confusion here:

 

1. Viking didn't cause the weather; the responsibility for getting the passengers to their destination was with the airlines, not with Viking.

 

2. If these travelers had done some preemptive planning, they might have been able to make their cruise. For example, they could have left a few days early, which is what we often do on cruises where we meet the ship overseas.

 

3. Coming onto this site and calling Viking "scammers" is totally uncalled for. Apparently the OP had no previous experience with Viking, so they based their criticism on one awful situation where thousands of travelers were (and still are) stranded all over the world.

[Goosebear Mum]

I am not yet a Viking customer, but thinking of ‘jumping ship’ from P&O to Viking, so been watching this forum for a while.  I was horrified at the the original post for several reasons…

 

1. The poster signed up to CC with a confrontational name, so has no intention of having any other opinion of Viking now or in the future

 

2. They called a company ‘scammers’ as their parents flight had been cancelled, with no alternative.  But most flights were in the same situation, due to the severe storm, even over here in the UK it’s been headline news. 
 

3. Their complaint really was more geared towards the insurance, not Viking, yet they stated:

“they are the kind of company that will trick you out of your money and not deliver anything back. Be warned!”

Actually, there are many examples on this forum of where Viking has gone above an beyond with their compensation, more so than many companies.  

 

i can imagine their parents utter disappointment, but coming on here all angry and confrontational, is not going to help. Some posters here tried to reply with good advice.  
 

They needed to direct their frustration at a resolution through their insurance 

 

 

[shmabbies]

Peregrina, I don't think being angry and upset and helpless entitles someone to publicly use some pretty strong terms to describe the actions of a third party - before all the facts are in and before there's even a remote chance for a resolution.   The words/terms I feel most strongly about it are calling someone else (person or business entity) a "scammer" and "the kind of company that will trick you out of your money and not offer anything back."   Those are just the two that stuck out to me; there were others. 

 

To refer back to my original post, I guess when the tree fell on my garage and demolished it, I could have publicly blamed - in vicious terms - the builder for locating the garage where he did 100 years ago, whoever planted the acorn that grew the tree that abutted the garage (admittedly this may have been a squirrel, but while we're at it, why not call the long-dead squirrel a "trickster" and a "scammer" as well), the scammer real estate agent who showed me the house/garage with an oak tree next to it that I was tricked into buying, among lots of other guilty parties, including the sellers who took my money knowing there was an oak tree next to the garage.  My homeowners' agent and the company were pretty much unreachable for a few days at first because - shock - other people had damage much worse than mine and there were a lot of us.  Did I get to call the insurance agency (that I chose) and the insurance company (that I chose) "scammers" and "tricksters" because they were helping people in much more dire circumstances and didn't solve my problem soon enough to suit me?  And, I might add, even the agent did NOT come out and tell me point blank not to worry, that I'd be covered.  Front line CSRs, such as we think OP contacted during a holiday, aren't usually authorized to give blanket approval statements.  They have to wait until written evidence is submitted.

 

Our "introduction" to the OP and the problem was in their words, and I thought their words were over the top.  Did I understand where they were coming from?  Yes I do.  It's a horrible situation that scares the heck out of me.  Do I think a lot of posters offered constructive suggestions on how to possibly make lemonade out of lemons?  Yes I do.  Do I think they received a good deal of back patting and cuddling from other posters?  Yes I do.  Do I think other posters, myself included, pointed out that they bore some responsibility for their predicament?  Yes I do.  I think OP received a diversity of comments and (just my opinion) I thought many of them were pretty generous under the circumstances.   When all is said and done, my own frustration (and I assume I'm allowed to be frustrated too) was with the unsubstantiated language and the timing of it (on Day One).  IMHO it was not appropriate.

 

 

[purpleally]

On 12/27/2022 at 7:39 AM, shadowlover said:

 

(On a somewhat separate note )We definitely noticed cost cutting and service issues on our recent trip.  We went down to guest services to inquire about our departure time (it was the earliest for a a later flight which viking booked through viking air) and the representative actually rolled her eyes at us.... I had to walk away.

Guest. Services. Rolled. Her. Eyes. At. You. ??????????

I’m not getting warm fuzzies for our first Viking  next summer. Would never happen on the luxury lines which we are accustomed to

Edited December 29, 2022 by purpleally

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, purpleally said:

Guest. Services. Rolled. Her. Eyes. At. You. ??????????

I’m not getting warm fuzzies for our first Viking  next summer. Would never happen on the luxury lines which we are accustomed to

 

Shouldn't have happened on Viking either, but as with all cruise lines, the staff at the Purser's Desk are the most junior new hires in the Hotel Dept. A quick stop at the GM's office, and that employee would most likely be looking for alternative employment that was more suited to their skill sets.

[PasadenaDave]

43 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Shouldn't have happened on Viking either, but as with all cruise lines, the staff at the Purser's Desk are the most junior new hires in the Hotel Dept. A quick stop at the GM's office, and that employee would most likely be looking for alternative employment that was more suited to their skill sets.

I recall a time at Guest Services on Viking last May in which clearly two of the young Vikings were in training mode.  I found them to be attentive and helpful,  It was clear that they were being trained and a more senior advisor was present.

 

I would tend to think that most people who spend the money required to sail on Viking would be patient and understanding of staff being trained on the job especially after a pandemic with a labour (bowing to Brits, Canadians, and Aussies on these boards with spelling) shortage.  Those who earned the money to travel in this manner understand the time it takes to become versed in the tasks at hand.  One does not instantly know how to do things.

 

The eye roll?  Not a training issue but a flaw of youth and character

[Twitchly]

1 hour ago, PasadenaDave said:

The eye roll?  Not a training issue but a flaw of youth and character

And being in the wrong career, which this individual clearly was.
 

I discovered early on that I could never, ever work in the service industry. I am in awe of most of Viking’s extremely courteous and friendly crew. I couldn’t do what they do in a million years.

[RD64]

The eye roll - always a matter of perception

[Jmoondance]

1 hour ago, RD64 said:

The eye roll - always a matter of perception

Depending on sircumstances,I would say. 

[Hockeyump]

Whilst never acceptable I am sure there are times when even the best customer services person in the world despairs at a question they are asked! So hard not to show a flicker of facial emotion.

[OnTheJourney]

13 hours ago, Twitchly said:

I discovered early on that I could never, ever work in the service industry.

I couldn't either. That whole "the customer is always right" mentality- at least with respects to always maintaining civility and being cordial in the face of sometimes difficult conditions (where it's obvious the customer is NOT right) must be tough. An acquired and learned skill for sure, but, like anything, some people have what it takes and some don't, despite perhaps having the same level of training. 

 

3 hours ago, Hockeyump said:

Whilst never acceptable I am sure there are times when even the best customer services person in the world despairs at a question they are asked! So hard not to show a flicker of facial emotion.

This is a good point too. Suppose this particular eye-roller has just been asked the same or similar question by the last 10 out of 20 people who were in line! 

[OnTheJourney]

14 hours ago, Twitchly said:

And being in the wrong career, which this individual clearly was.

Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps just having a bad day. Have to cut people slack sometimes. In this (increasingly so) age of customers or passengers (in this case) not always exactly being the model of couth and appropriate behavior, service personnel have an even more difficult time of maintaining their 'cool'. In this particular case, I probably would have worried less about the eye roll as I would have whether or not my question was at least adequately addressed. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[Newleno]

On 12/26/2022 at 9:58 AM, Viking-nightmare said:

Hi,

 

My parents have an AUS and NZ cruise booked from Christmas to past new years. It was going to be their first trying with viking and first time to that part of the world. They were so excited. They flights were also booked through Viking and they had purchased additional insurance. Due to the Winter Cyclone in the US their flights were cancelled. They then could not contact Viking due to the office being closed for Christmas. The emergency number said they could not get flights rebooked.

 

Now they are on the phone with customer service and are being told that they can’t get flights, can’t get a refund, can’t be given any credit, and the insurance is saying it does not cover this scenario.

 

At this point they feel scammed out of an enormous amount of money with nothing to show for it. They thought viking was a high end line but are left with nothing and no recourse.

 

Does anyone have any contact for someone at Viking that can make this right?

 

At this point I just have to warn everyone to read through all your contracts you sign with Viking carefully because they are the kind of company that will trick you out of your money and not deliver anything back. Be warned!

 

I am happy to provide more details, but would have to ask my parents. No doubt it is my parents “fault” for giving this company their money, but they are absolutely devastated over Christmas. What a shame!

 

 

Hopefully you will get the resolution and then you can give us your update.  Thank you for the information because I falsely assumed that if you booked the flights with Viking Package then problems like this would be covered by Viking, I falsely assumed that they would either get you to the ship or make you whole.  I was indeed ignorant about what the Viking Flight package entailed.  Good Luck to you.

[shadowlover]

6 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps just having a bad day. Have to cut people slack sometimes. In this (increasingly so) age of customers or passengers (in this case) not always exactly being the model of couth and appropriate behavior, service personnel have an even more difficult time of maintaining their 'cool'. In this particular case, I probably would have worried less about the eye roll as I would have whether or not my question was at least adequately addressed. 

Well said.  I walked away and let my husband deal with them and never said anything because I feel the same way- probably had enough of us complaining or asking a zillion questions by the end of a cruise!  The problem was not resolved but looking back I am not sure there was a better solution.  Getting off a cruise ship in the am in Puerto Rico with several pieces of luggage is a little tricky.  There is no easy place to store, not enough time for a rental car, not enough time to try and store at the airport and then tool around town but way too much time to spend in a boring airport with no lounges.  But we survived it haha.  Viking dumped bus loads of us off with no one even working at the united desk to allow us to check in.  there was no where to sit and it was raining outside.  I felt badly for the elderly among us.  The only united flights seemed to be early afternoon and they had us there shortly after 830 am.  Ticket counter opened at 11.  flight at 2:40 but it was then an hour delayed.  Oh the joys of travel.