Key West was on the itinerary but Viking told us 5 months before they would not be docking. It was our first river cruise it was 23 days Bucharest to Amsterdam with Viking . Please view our advertising policy page for more information. In some cases, an itinerary may be adjusted with certain destinations dropped and new ones added. Four excursions that I wanted are already sold out. This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Only in very rare circumstances are the sailings canceled outright. View all of our Luxury Cruise sailings and offers. Applies primarily to to bookings with the following content. 2) Risk-Free Guarantee for guests who made a reservation between March 1, 2021 to October 31, 2021; 3) Risk-Free Guarantee for guests who made a reservation between May 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021; 4) Risk-Free Guarantee for guests who made a reservation prior to April 30, 2020. In a statement issued to the Star Tribune, Viking confirmed that some of the ship's first scheduled departures were canceled this summer, and that the luxury vessel is temporarily operating. Just got order from Doctor to cancel due to sudden onset of autoimmune kidney disease. 2023 Trustpilot, Inc. All rights reserved. She and her husband Ed recently took an 8-day cruise on the Viking Venus off the . If you voluntarily cancel your cruise you may only get a partial or no refund depending on how close to departure you cancel your cruise. 05 Aug 2022. The plane returned to the gate and he was transported to the local hospital. The vaccinations mean nothing anyway. Why all other passages under the same situation had no such problem were not explained by Viking. The Rhine River is more sensitive in terms of river flow because it lacks the dams that are on the Danube River. Scenic. ST PAUL, Minn. There's been a lot of fanfare surrounding America's Great River cruise operated by Viking Cruises. 3. We booked the *********** cruise with Viking prior to COVID *****************. Spoke to several people today, including a supervisor My husband and I were scheduled to leave for our Viking cruise around Spain on Jan. 11. January 27, 2018. Cruises beginning in 2009, this is not the first error and being loyal We would never do a river cruise again, Paid for a cruise in Nov 2021 for an Oct 2022 cruise, 2 days before departure I broke both wrists, contacted Viking about a credit for for a future cruise - a very rude man said Viking would do nothing- they had my money for almost a year and basically told me "to bad". The confirmation email said cancellation for any reason loss of deposit. My family of 4 has booked a Viking cruise with a pre and post cruise excursion. When you are covered by the Risk-Free Guarantee you may change your cruise reservation with notification to Viking. Related: Booking your first river cruise? Apply and select your preferred metal Card design: classic Platinum Card, Platinum x Kehinde Wiley, or Platinum x Julie Mehretu. A place on the excursion I tried to book. Subscribe to RSS Not at all, according to Rudi Schreiner, president and co-founder AmaWaterways as long as youre willing to be a little bit flexible. Schreiner does not hold with that assertion because river cruise lines simply adjust their schedules year after year for optimal weather conditions. $200 Airline Fee Credit: Get up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year in baggage fees and more at one select qualifying airline. Booking 6819824. MVJ is locked for this specific cruise , and if you try to book the cruise (UK website) the first available Fjords cruise in now April 2022. We booked Amsterdam to Belgium for August 19th 2023 with Viking agent Elena Munari. Oceania officials said Russian and Ukrainian ports would be removed from 2022 itineraries, while Viking River Cruises canceled . Viking Cruise recommends that their customers insure their travel & trip with Trip Mate Travel Insurance. South America & the Chilean Fjords - Ocean Cruise Dates & Pricing South America & the Chilean Fjords From $5,999 | 18 Days | 8 Guided Tours | 4 Countries Itinerary Dates & Pricing Resources For current fares, please call a Viking Expert: 1-866-984-5464 or Request a Quote today. Subscribe to Apple News. I encourage all Americans to do the same. The sailings. Viking River Cruises has left an official reply on this complaint. This years summer drought in Europe could affect your upcoming river cruise, but its highly unlikely your cruise will be canceled outright. Obviously, we cannot go on the trip. This insurance company is worthless and doesn't live up to the stated reimbursements as advertised in its' brochure. Simply make the simple changes to the hotel reservations so that one of the rooms includes two beds. In this case, you will receive a full refund of your cruise fare. Now I see all this advertisement that waives ar fares , deposits and other things we paid for Horrible company in terms of customer service. Courtesy Sheila Davies. That is all it took, I was hooked. My experience with Viking River Cruises is that if they cancel, they will either refund your money or . I contact Viking customer relations, and was first told that the flight tickets were paid by Viking already. Then when operations started again, we decided to book a cruise to sail November 2021 At the time we booked, vaccines were not a requirement. How could we?? Its infuriating and disrespectful. You will be cruising, you will be enjoying," he said. Outside of the current welcome bonus, youre only earning higher rewards on specific airfare and hotel purchases, so its not a great card for other spending categories. For more than 15 years we have helped nearly 50000 customers resolve their issues and will never stop striving to ensure further improvements on our platform for a better communication between companies and customers. Get up to $300 back per calendar year on the Equinox+ digital fitness app, or eligible Equinox club memberships when you pay with your Platinum Card. I never come across a big bunch of ignorant, geriatric, moronic a$$holes as this group I had came across today! The photo is from my first premium, international award flight in 2012. We paid for trip insurance assuming that it would cover this situation but buying trip insurance through Viking seems to cover much less than most trip insurance policies. Water levels are unpredictable and can vary day by day, depending on what the weather brings. The cruise lines plan their itineraries to mitigate this risk. Think 3 times before booking with Viking!!! Labeled Verified, theyre about genuine experiences.Learn more about other kinds of reviews. The first five miles of headwaters have completely dried up. He he tried to take the trip solo, he was charged. Anyone can write a Trustpilot review. Is it cheaper to stay out in the bay and use your own tender? An apology is not good enough. Then when operations started again, we decided to book a cruise to sail November 2021 At the time we booked, vaccines were not a requirement. Expires March 31, 2023. It will take of the expiring vouchers and the booking can be changed with no problem whatsoever once a schedule for 2024 becomes available. I have contacted Watcdog BBC who are interested. This was not the case. When we got this schedule yesterday, we asked her ********** if she could rearrange things to take this cruise. Due to Covid pandemic our cruise got cancelled. I explain ship swapping in the section: . The high annual fee is only worth it if youre taking full advantage of the cards benefits. "But this is not a problem at all" - he said, because all we need is to make a booking for any date, just as a placeholder. The flight from Amman Jordan to We have since then tried to book a trip two times, and the required medical of a vaccine status made us cancel again. I believe this policy and practice is clearly unfair and rather reckless. "You might see some cities you might not have expected to see and you might miss some you wanted to see. To date we have sent a certified *** ****** ***** letter to VRC and had no response. The US gov has basically declared the "plandemic" over and all other mandates have been drop but Viking still won't change their policy. In the same cabin. A longtime editor at Cruise Critic, Erica has also written for The Washington Post, Fodors and Lets Go travel guides, and numerous print and online cruise publications. Unlike other river cruise lines, however, were very fortunate that we also operate numerous land tours throughout the region, so we have a fantastic network of local supplier-partners that we can leverage as necessary should alternate arrangements become necessary.. Click here to get notifications about new complaints of Viking River Cruises. As compensation we have been offered a derisory 200 voucher towards a future cruise. Viking Ocean Cruises. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile. Before you decide to. Sure we were free but that's no excuse. Dozens of cruises have been cancelled and some ports in the Caribbean and South America are turning ships away from making . Ocean cruise ships usually have at least 25 feet or more or more of draft which would preclude them from river cruising. We promise not to send you any unrelated messages, Click here if youd like to unsubscribe from notifications about new complaints of Viking River Cruises. I'm now wondering what the cozy deal is between Viking and Trip Mate, considering the vast number of Trip Mate complaints from Viking Cruise customers. We paid some #10,000 for premium air. We have a very good rain forecast for this Thursday/Friday, and fairly heavy rains coming, so [the situation] might change.. The next indicator of river flow problems is the Thames River in England. If you happen to be in the same position there is a group forming to file a class action law suit against Viking. Published on May 21, 2021. Breeze through security with CLEAR lanes available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues and get up to $189 back per calendar year on your membership when you use your Card. Viking has cancelled all 2022 departures of its Russian river cruise itineraries and ceased all operations in the country for the remainder of the year. Cannot go on a cruise if not jabbed even to countries which have no covid requirements any more. Weve taken note of your feedback and if you'd like discuss your trip further and welcome you to email TellUs@vikingcruises.com with your booking information. When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints. Karin Price Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. I won't be booking any future cruise with them. The even occurred in February of 2023. Cancellation conditions 2. This was told to me by two separate employees. Where the European rivers have locks and dams to control water levels, ships can still sail problem-free. All other passages from ******* for the same Antarctica cruise with Viking Octantis got their boarding passes with no problem. If you are concerned about the water level on your upcoming river cruise, do your due diligence before you take any action. They have a working relationship with Lufthansa but insist the flight has nothing to do with them, That is a strong cop out. However, you wont be entirely out of luck if your itinerary changes once you arrive at your ship. The drought category in England has reached the most severe designation of severe drought. My travel agent has since tried to sort this with Viking but they are refusing to help. Business Section was crowded 8 units wide while first class just in front We booked a cruise, paid the full booking amount. After 5 Viking It turns out that for the most part, if the ship sank, we would be high and dry standing on the sun deck. Editor in Chief Jan 26, 2023 01:33pm. Confirmation attached. Norwegian Cruise Line | Travel Requirements & Safety Protocols. For that reason, the Rhine River is feeling greater effects of river flow and sooner than compared with the Danube. For Further Assistance If you have any questions or need further information please contact Reservations at 1-877-523-0579 or email customerrelations@vikingcruises.com, Monday - Friday, 6:00 AM - 6:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM, PT. In Europe, we dont cruise in January, February and into early March because its too cold, he explained. "Given recent developments and the developing conflict in Ukraine,. took the call and told us that schedule wouldn't be available most likely till January 2023. It was not a condition of completing this trip. My only hope now is for someone to cancel what I want.About time to give my loyalty to another cruise line. We called Viking and there is nothing that they will do to be able to use the over $7,000 paid for the trip. Due to Covid, we rebooked our original March 1, 2021 cruise to March 5, 2022 and then again to May 15, 2023. Our flexible deposit policy applies to new reservations only made between 17 December 2022 to 31 March 2023 and is combinable with all other Viking offers available. Start with these stories: The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. Look at the Mekong you dont cruise in May, June, July and August because its too hot. Booked a trip just before covid hit which had to be canceled for obvious reasons. Learn more. Viking Ocean Cruises has sailings listed for June, 2021. I was aware that cruise lines' cash flow issues and accepted the voucher. Viking Ocean Ships Currently Sailing: Viking Jupiter Viking Orion Viking Mars Viking Neptune Viking Saturn Viking Sea Viking Sky Viking Star Viking Venus Vikings entire river fleet of over 75 ships is also actively sailing. *Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. 488 total complaints in the last 3 years. Seldom travelers may not get enough value to warrant the cost. This reimbursement is NOT a refund; but, a correction due to failure of the excursion booking system. The Rhine River in general is not that deep. Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. River cruise lines do have contingency plans for dealing with river flow problems. Disembark on May 1 2023 they required us to pay us in full in August 2022 which we did. "We will not cancel any cruises," said Shreiner. For information about your specific voyage, please log onto MyVikingJourney.com. On the other end, river boats are built with a shallow draft of about six feet deep to avoid hitting the river bottom. In some cases, an itinerary may be adjusted with certain destinations dropped and new ones added. Service representative escalated our complaint that we were misinformed, tricked, lied to, defrauded - because we cannot sail on that date, we are not healthy and can't sail in the fall or 2023! Check here before booking an award fare. We appreciate you sharing your experience, Trevor, although we regret to hear of your disappointment. The food was awful , the service bad some waiters were very rude we were forced to do a lot of included tours or couldnt leave the ship . On November 26, 2021 when speaking with VRC representative we were informed that out ********* is in the form of a voucher and has no cash value and cannot be refunded. Because we were given a voucher, we can not get out money back. Their luggage has been moved over automatically so by the time they arrive on the ship they have their luggage, and then they sail on the other ship back to the destination.. The climate in Europe is changing and not for the better. . By Alyssa Lukpat and Ceylan Yeginsu. This card comes with a long list of benefits, including access to Centurion Lounges, complimentary elite status with Hilton and Marriott, at least $500 in assorted annual statement credits and so much more. It is a basic human right to be able to have access to flushing toilets and handwasting facilities. We were routed to resolution manager who was extremely obnoxious, rude, disrespectful, wasn't listening to the issue, saying 'yes, ok, sales rep make a mistake, mistakes do happen. The dire news youre reading about low water levels in Europe now, especially along the Rhine River, mostly concerns the cargo shipping industry in Europe. At best, youll do a ship swap mid-cruise, a slight inconvenience that will allow you to follow your planned itinerary. I want Viking to honour its Guest Cancellation Schedule and reimburse the $15,640.19 (Canadian) my husband and I paid for the Italian Sojourn cruise scheduled for May 15, 2023. I'm with Robin (see below). is a travel editor for TPG, with a focus on cruise travel. I was never informed that the vaccine would be required to sail and that our money would not be eligible for a refund. Why didn't Viking pay to dock? This is due to the cruise line planning on new summer UK domestic cruises for UK vaccinated residents only. This meant I was unable to book any excursions or drinks package, despite trying as soon as they were released. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only. The 766-mile Rhine is one of Europe's most important trade routes, with container ships plying their way around its looping bends. This made it impossible to catch the next flight from ***** to buenos Aries. Viking Cruises will test all guests and crew for COVID-19 with daily PCR testing when sailings resume, as part of the company's new Viking Health & Safety Program, the cruise line recently announced. Obviously a 2 week notice was impossible in our situation. We will never try Viking again! Bad cruise experience, shore excursions, bad weather bad handling, cold food, etc. Ive asked that one room in the hotels have two separate beds for our two adult children who do not want to share a bed. Their ad is wonderful but after all is said and done it is all crap. Cruises - Very disappointed with Viking River Cruises - Reservation # 2672768 We were supposed to do a river cruise and ended up doing a motor coach tour due to low river levels. However, the most important part of any cruise, for me is the excursion choice. My bag is still missing and I will request (!) A *** incentive ********** was offered and accepted by us to use toward future booking. We also paid Port Tax for Honduras even though they chose not to book and pay to use the pier there. I specifically mentioned this scenario when I used the voucher and we were told as long as it was 120 days before departure we could rebook using our voucher. Not every river cruise line takes the same stance. My experience with Viking River Cruises is that if they cancel, they will either refund your money or give you a voucher in excess of the cruise value for you to rebook. The trip was for September 2020 but was cancelled due to the pandemic. One thing Amawaterways and many other river lines do is run two ships simultaneously on the same one-way itinerary, with one ship starting at one end and the other on the opposite end. Viking's river cruises are aboard Viking Longships and have a maximum of 190 guests. But this is one American that will never sail with this awful company ever again. Contact your Sales Agent or our Customer Service department online, via email, or by phone at 1-800-427-8473 and ask about potential opportunities for flexible cancellation policies, rebooking opportunities and other options. Change of travel requirements after full payment received/ignoring request for full refund. If you search Viking the risk free still pops up you have to read the fine print to realise its all over so be aware. A recent CNN article proclaimed that summer droughts like the current one, plus global warming, could signal a death knell for river cruises in the near future. All Mekong River cruises through Vietnam and Cambodia have been suspended until November 30. . We were issued the vouchers that had an expiration date October 2022. The departure flight from ******* was delayed due to the storm. On the next British Airways flight from London to Philadelphia, The Earn 5X Membership Rewards Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year. We were running between the airlines at ***** to find out what was going on, very frustrating. Regent Seven Seas Cruises was the cruise line forced to change the most stops planned for Russia, which included visits to the Solovetsky Islands, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and St. Petersburg, as well as Odessa, Ukraine. After contacting viking to inform the situation, Viking booked another flight for us. On the last day, all running water was turned off until we left the ship. We are not asking for a refund for the vouchers but to simply have them reissued to be used toward another cruise. Want all money refunded. It's a human right to have access to fresh water and clean sanitation. While we may have to make changes to some of our itineraries and have had to cancel a few voyages, impacted guests and travel partners have and will receive transparent updates and the opportunity to re-book onto another sailing, shared Ellen Bettridge, president and CEO of Uniworld, in an email to TPG. them to clean my clothes again and every night I am on the cruise, Read full review of Viking River Cruises and 1 comment, 16 years' experience in successful complaint resolution, Each complaint is handled individually by highly qualified experts, Last but not least, all our services are absolutely free. It goes against our guidelines to offer incentives for reviews. We paid 529+40 USD purchasing fees each for the tickets. If water levels are low, cargo ships cannot carry their normal loads of freight. At Viking, your experience means the world to us. Then they said (under the Risk Free Guarantee) we could have a voucher, but it would be a combined voucher which could only be used for one future trip. Global warming is indeed having an effect on European rivers. (I doubt theyll get that right). This would mean that river cruise lines could face severe disruptions . Part refund, at least 25%. Thats because the weight of the cargo such vessels carry affects their draft (the distance between the ships bottom and the water line). Last week, the cruise line cancelled all 2022 departures on its Kiev, Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary and said it was evaluating 2022 sailing that call in Russia. The draft is the amount of vessel that is below the water line. "Given recent developments and the developing conflict in Ukraine,. The line confirmed the steps to TTG on Wednesday (2 March) and said it was "deeply opposed" to the . US. In order to catch the next flight from ************ to ******* to get to the cruise on time we had to pay the tickets ourselves. The Risk-Free Guarantee allows guests to change their cruise date up until 14 days before their planned departureand Viking will waive any fees. I also booked this trip years ago when there was . Weve taken note of your feedback and while we understand you have already been in contact with our team, if you'd like discuss this matter further we welcome you to email TellUs@vikingcruises.com with your booking information. The dream vacation I have waited for 8 years has gone down the drain. Wanted us to travel with 3 flights via 2 countries, when we complained they hid behind T & Cs very sneaky & very poor customer service, they cited they couldnt absorb costs of a more direct flight routing. Like most cruise lines, Viking canceled all of its sailings during the pandemic. SA. We said yes. Enrollment required. My husband surprised me with the explorer suite,the room was beautiful,the balcony was amazing. This cruise has been sold out for weeks so if Viking reinstates the voucher, the cabin could be resold. They may run multiple ships back-to-back where you would transfer to another ship where the river is having navigational issues.

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