Viking documents

[Nippy Sweetie]

With our next river cruise soon I waited for the usual package of docs to arrive. Nothing doing. Complained to Viking and told they'd been emailed. No use to me. Feels suspiciously like cheese paring to expect customers paying a great deal of money to have to print out pages of documents including many adverts for their tours. Now I'm wondering if the quality of cruise will be similarly disappointing.

We've not had this trouble with three other travel companies we've booked with recently.

 

Edited August 29 by Nippy Sweetie

[sharkster77]

Are you using a travel agent?  Our Viking documents, along with luggage tags, name tags, etc., were sent to our TA.  Our TA also offers to print out our documents--no need to use our our ink and paper.

 

We've traveled with two other non-cruise tour companies, and emailing documents has become the norm.

[Ryan208]

We will be leaving two weeks from tomorrow for our cruise (Paris to the Swiss Alps). Sharkster is right - if you’re using a travel agent, they are sent your materials. Not sure why they do this, but we found it to be an inconvenience. This time we dealt directly with a rep at Viking so we get everything directly. We called her yesterday with a minor question and she asked if we had gotten our emailed materials yet. We had not received them, so she immediately sent them to us. It is many pages, but she told us that we just needed to print out the first seven or eight pages because that’s where you will find, amongst other things, the phone numbers and addresses for the hotels (if that’s part of your tour), the phone number for the ship and the address of its initial docking location, which in our case is Trier, Germany. To me, the most important information in the document is the phone number we could call on our day of travel if there should be a problem with our flight, such as if it were canceled (in which case they could reschedule for us) or if it was going to be late in arriving so they could let those picking us up at the airport know. We received the package containing our luggage tags in the mail a few days ago. The other tour company we’ve dealt with in the past few years also emails as many documents as possible. I guess that is standard practice these days. 

[Nippy Sweetie]

We've never used a TA. No point for us. As I said the other three companies automatically sent full printed out docs. For what we're paying Viking the documents should be personally hand delivered and printed on parchment.

Why should I have to open docs and try to identify key ones then spend ages and toner on printing them out.

Very poor service from Viking.

[deec]

Viking used to have a wonderful booklet specific to each cruise listing the excursions.  It was so helpful after the cruise to look back and remember what we did without having to do our won journal.  I could just make notes!

[Nippy Sweetie]

Well guess what? A pile of print outs arrived today from Viking. No covering note just 40 pages of printing. Hmmmm.

[Ryan208]

Aha! I guess that might mean that someone at Viking reads these boards. Glad you got your pile of paper. Happy cruising! 

[Nippy Sweetie]

I should say 40 double sided pages of printing. 80 pages then! Glad I didn't have print all that out.

[CDNPolar]

On 8/29/2024 at 10:00 AM, Ryan208 said:

We will be leaving two weeks from tomorrow for our cruise (Paris to the Swiss Alps). Sharkster is right - if you’re using a travel agent, they are sent your materials. Not sure why they do this, but we found it to be an inconvenience. This time we dealt directly with a rep at Viking so we get everything directly. We called her yesterday with a minor question and she asked if we had gotten our emailed materials yet. We had not received them, so she immediately sent them to us. It is many pages, but she told us that we just needed to print out the first seven or eight pages because that’s where you will find, amongst other things, the phone numbers and addresses for the hotels (if that’s part of your tour), the phone number for the ship and the address of its initial docking location, which in our case is Trier, Germany. To me, the most important information in the document is the phone number we could call on our day of travel if there should be a problem with our flight, such as if it were canceled (in which case they could reschedule for us) or if it was going to be late in arriving so they could let those picking us up at the airport know. We received the package containing our luggage tags in the mail a few days ago. The other tour company we’ve dealt with in the past few years also emails as many documents as possible. I guess that is standard practice these days. 

 

Viking copy everything automatically to the TA because the TA is "in charge" of your booking and you have limited access to change the booking except through the TA. 

 

You will notice on page 4 or near that page you will find a heading "Shipping Address - Final Documents".  If this has your TA mailing address, then the final documents including the ship luggage tags, and the red leather Viking luggage tags will be mailed to the TA.

 

You can ask your TA to change that address to your home address and then all will go to you.

[CDNPolar]

21 hours ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

Well guess what? A pile of print outs arrived today from Viking. No covering note just 40 pages of printing. Hmmmm.

 

I think that you will find that although Viking used to - as @deec mentioned - send a beautiful printed booklet out, it is now all electronic, BUT if asked, Viking will print and mail.

 

Viking is very responsive when you contact tellus@vikingcruises.com  Use this email address for things like printed documents rather than calling the reservations line.  This is the group that will get things done for you.

 

I used to want the booklet and printed paper.  I am paper and my husband is electronic for everything.  I am switching to electronic now and I am going to make that work.

 

I hope you enjoy your Viking cruise!

[Nippy Sweetie]

Thanks @CDNPolar we hope we'll enjoy it too. It's interesting that the other companies that we have bookings with have sent excellent paperwork including well illustrated info leaflets etc. It certainly adds to our sense of anticipation and has led us to book optional excursions. The bland printed listings from Viking were a complete turn off.

[CDNPolar]

18 hours ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

Thanks @CDNPolar we hope we'll enjoy it too. It's interesting that the other companies that we have bookings with have sent excellent paperwork including well illustrated info leaflets etc. It certainly adds to our sense of anticipation and has led us to book optional excursions. The bland printed listings from Viking were a complete turn off.

When we first started to sail Viking we got "gifts" in the mail before sailing.

The package including the full colour booklet came in a felt/fabric zippered bag with the embarkation luggage tags and the red leather Viking luggage tags.  We got zippered mesh bags of various sizes, and even Viking nylon shopping bags that fold to a small pouch easy to slip into any waist or shoulder bag.

 

All that has stopped.  Just the email and then the luggage tags.

 

Shame really, and I have often complained - perhaps just in my head, but probably here too - that Viking need a better loyalty program, blah, blah, blah, but we are now about to embark on our 12th (I think) Viking cruise and we keep going back because we love the "product" once we are on the ship.

 

We met very dear friends on our first Viking cruise back in 2017 and they are very Viking loyal too, but they just returned from a Uniworld River cruise and the one thing they mentioned that really was evident to them, is that not once on that Uniworld cruise did any crew call them by name, which is common on Viking.  The crew go out of their way to remember and call you by name on Viking.  Small things like this - for me - negate the lack of a colour brochure.

[sharkster77]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

When we first started to sail Viking we got "gifts" in the mail before sailing.

The package including the full colour booklet came in a felt/fabric zippered bag with the embarkation luggage tags and the red leather Viking luggage tags.  We got zippered mesh bags of various sizes, and even Viking nylon shopping bags that fold to a small pouch easy to slip into any waist or shoulder bag.

 

All that has stopped.  Just the email and then the luggage tags.

 

Shame really, and I have often complained - perhaps just in my head, but probably here too - that Viking need a better loyalty program, blah, blah, blah, but we are now about to embark on our 12th (I think) Viking cruise and we keep going back because we love the "product" once we are on the ship.

 

We met very dear friends on our first Viking cruise back in 2017 and they are very Viking loyal too, but they just returned from a Uniworld River cruise and the one thing they mentioned that really was evident to them, is that not once on that Uniworld cruise did any crew call them by name, which is common on Viking.  The crew go out of their way to remember and call you by name on Viking.  Small things like this - for me - negate the lack of a colour brochure.

My wife always drinks Diet Coke, and on both of our cruises, and after the first dinner, he dining staff always remembered what her drink order would be--once while chatting with them about Diet Coke vs Coke Zero, they brought her both, to hold a taste test!  As you say, little touches like that are remembered.

[Nippy Sweetie]

I'm looking forward to the 'little touches' next week. We still have the blue felt pouch that docs and luggage tags came in. I also remember various other little gifts sent after bookings before now. Oh well, will just have to hope for the best. This is likely to be our last Viking cruise. We're striking out in new directions next year. Making up for lost time over COVID.

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, sharkster77 said:

My wife always drinks Diet Coke, and on both of our cruises, and after the first dinner, he dining staff always remembered what her drink order would be--once while chatting with them about Diet Coke vs Coke Zero, they brought her both, to hold a taste test!  As you say, little touches like that are remembered.

 

 I like a San Pellegrino water with dinner, NOT the Viking made sparkling water.  I have that in the cabin, but want the SP at dinner.

 

I can say that as long as we are sitting in the same section with the same serving team (which is typical for us) then they remember on the second dinner night and just bring it.

 

Love this.

 

These are the little things.... 

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

I'm looking forward to the 'little touches' next week. We still have the blue felt pouch that docs and luggage tags came in. I also remember various other little gifts sent after bookings before now. Oh well, will just have to hope for the best. This is likely to be our last Viking cruise. We're striking out in new directions next year. Making up for lost time over COVID.

 

May I ask where you are striking out and in new directions next year???

 

Just curious, but okay if you don't want to share.

[Nippy Sweetie]

@CDNPolar Sri Lanka for a land tour

[CDNPolar]

2 minutes ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

@CDNPolar Sri Lanka for a land tour

 

How wonderful.  We are in the process of booking our own land tour of China (my third time there) for next year starting in Shanghai, then to Lhasa and Shigatse Tibet, then to Xian, then to Shenyang, then home.

 

Jealous!  Sri Lanka is on our list, it is just the list is so long and time and money inhibit unrestricted travel.... oh my....

[Nippy Sweetie]

For just our relaxing hols there's also Madeira and Lake Como. 

[IAcruising]

Wow, I have a lot to learn. I'll be river cruising for the first time in 2026. 

 

You guys all talking about mailed documents, full-colored booklets, and zippered pouches? Mailed red leather luggage tags? What the heck is all that?

 

I haven't received "mailed" anything for a cruise in years!

 

[pontac]

8 hours ago, IAcruising said:

full-colored booklets, and zippered pouches?

 

Not received any post-Covid

8 hours ago, IAcruising said:

Mailed red leather luggage tags? What the heck is all that?

 

 

Has a flap (which you can just see on top label in its bag) on other side covering your name & address.

Edited October 3 by pontac

[Nippy Sweetie]

We certainly received the usual red leather luggage tags before our recent cruise. Also included were stickers to wear at the airport and tags to apply on arrival at the airport to enable cases to be taken to the correct cabin asap.

[pontac]

14 minutes ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

Also included were stickers to wear at the airport

 

 

We've never worn them in 15 cruises with Viking. It's easy to see the Viking reception committee and they've got our names on their clipboard, and they've never asked to see the sticker.

 

I think the stickers are for Americans to prove they've booked their air travel through Viking and are thus entitled to transport to the boat.

 

As air-fares are included in UK booked cruises it's unnecessary for us to wear them.

 

Anyway, the instructions say to put them on one's shirt. My shirt is covered by waistcoat, jacket and outercoat so they'd need x-ray vision to the the sticker😁

[CDNPolar]

23 hours ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

We certainly received the usual red leather luggage tags before our recent cruise. Also included were stickers to wear at the airport and tags to apply on arrival at the airport to enable cases to be taken to the correct cabin asap.

 

22 hours ago, pontac said:

 

 

We've never worn them in 15 cruises with Viking. It's easy to see the Viking reception committee and they've got our names on their clipboard, and they've never asked to see the sticker.

 

I think the stickers are for Americans to prove they've booked their air travel through Viking and are thus entitled to transport to the boat.

 

As air-fares are included in UK booked cruises it's unnecessary for us to wear them.

 

Anyway, the instructions say to put them on one's shirt. My shirt is covered by waistcoat, jacket and outercoat so they'd need x-ray vision to the the sticker😁

 

I won't wear the red sticker.  I feel like I should be grabbing hold of a rope and walking with the group....

 

I don't know the reason, when a UK resident does not get one but a North American resident does?  Why do I have to identify MYSELF but the UK resident does not.

 

It is not to prove booking air, because your name is on the manifest that the Viking Rep has at the airport.

 

We last minute booked a river cruise, were not on the manifest, and the Viking Rep did not question us and took us with the rest.

 

I think this is a ridiculous practice in actual fact.  The stickers - the Viking Reps are always easy to find.

 

However for the first time, we did receive our documents for our upcoming TA cruise and this is the first time I remember ever being given a location to find the Viking Rep.  In the past they were always easily found as soon as we exited the luggage hall.

 

Barcelona, Spain (BCN) - Airport Arrival and Transfer Information:

Upon arrival, please collect your luggage and proceed through customs. Once you have completed customs formalities, please proceed to one of the following meeting points, depending on which terminal you arrive in. A Viking representative carrying a Viking sign will be available at each location. Please be sure to wear the red Viking sticker enclosed in your travel documents so the representatives can easily recognize you.

 

Terminal 1: Go Natural Café

Terminal 2: Botero’s horse sculpture

 

If you cannot locate your Viking Representative, please proceed directly to the hotel address provided in YOUR HOTELS & TRANSFERS section or to the ship at the address listed in YOUR CRUISE ITINERARY under Your Cruise Dock Location. If you have purchased Viking Air, please retain your transportation receipt; you may submit it to the Guest Services Desk for reimbursement.

[Nippy Sweetie]

I'm in UK. Always receive stickers with luggage tags. Never had to wear them as Viking reps always easy enough to find. OH put his last one on his mobile phone case to differentiate between others' black cases.