Viking River Cruises
Reviews and Complaints

Booking #5134934 September 11-13.

We were very disappointed in our stay at Resort Villa La Veronica. We do not feel that this was up to par with our expectations from Viking. We've stayed in villas in Spain, Mexico, and Portugal that made La Veronica look like an old farm house. First of all, it was so far our it required a small 24 passenger bus to get us there on a dirt road. 6+hours on a bus that small was very uncomfortable. We were in room #3 and experienced a hot water shortage the first day. There was only enough water for one person to shower. I reported the problem and they assured me it was fine, but it wasn't. The next morning there was enough hot water again for only one person so we ended up showering one of us in the morning and one of us in the evening to solve the problem. The room was dark and dingy. We needed adapters to charge our electronic devices and were given one. We gladly would have brought our own if we knew that the villa couldn't provide 2. The stairs leading up to our room had ropes not actual rails to hold on to. Considering the average age of people traveling with Viking this could be very dangerous. We also wondered what would happen if there was a medical emergency because there is not easy access to this villa. The night we arrived our main entree at dinner was a salad with chicken on top. Way below our expectations being in Italy. We were also told that we were each allowed only one glass of wine with dinner. Really? Some people didn't even drink wine but this was pretty insulting considering what we paid for this excursion. The tours were fantastic the next 2 days again with the exception of being told that each person was only allowed one bottle of water. This again is a ridiculous policy. I guess the hardest part of this is our traveling companions did the same extension, rode in a nice large comfortable bus, and loved their sleeping accommodations. I'm pretty sure we paid the same amount of money for this excursion but we do not feel like the experience we had was worth the money we spend. We've already booked our next Viking cruise but I will definitely investigate the pre and post excursions before I decide to spend the money. Thanks for your time and consideration. Barb Burris.

We recently returned from our third Viking journey (Booking 5527192, Paris to the Swiss Alps). This river cruise began in Zurich and ended in Paris.

As background, I can walk short distances but have to use a wheel chair for extended distances. The wheelchair I use is light weight (25 pounds), collapsible, and has a light weight motor(10 pounds) that I attach. Meaning that distance on any excursion is never a problem.

The entire reason we took this cruise to take two excursions: The Alps and Versailles. I did my research plus called Viking on numerous times to make sure I could take these trips.

Our first excursion was "Highlights of the Alps". I followed instructions from the guide and entered the train that ascended the mountains. I went where I was told, sat where I was told, and locked the wheels on my wheel chair firmly as instructed. Unfortunately for me, my wheelchair flipped backwards and caused me to hit the floor with my head and skidded backwards. I was treated with a medic at the top. You have a full Incident Report on file as we completed one and handed it to our Host. The Guide felt badly of course, but she had not been trained to handle wheelchairs.

The other excursion that was important for us was Versailles. I did my research and know it is handicap accessible - they even provide wheelchairs if needed. It is fine with me if I can't see everything because of the terrain. I've been on harder trips than that, and I discussed all of this with Viking many times before we left.
But when it came time to depart, I was surprised that our Host refused to let me go. I tried to explain that I could handle it and didn't have to see everything if it was too hard, but to no avail. In my opinion, he wouldn't listen to me at all. A bitter disappointment to end our journey.

In other words, the two stops that were the reason we went on this cruise in the first place were disasters.

Upon return, I talked to Margaret Vigil (margaret.vigil@vikingcruises.com) about this. She said she could give us an $800 ship board credit on our next cruise, which sounded at least a bit reasonable until I discovered that everything didn't check out.

For example, we paid a discounted amount for "Highlights of the Alps" and used a voucher discount of $250 each for a total of $500. So Magaret's offer of $800 shipboard credit for our next cruse really amounts to only $300. And what good does a little shipboard credit to me if I don't sail with Viking again.

Add to that - we have not yet received a refund on our Highlights of the Alps trip which we were supposed to do.

Combine this with the fact that Maragaret at Viking has not answered several of my emails on this and it leaves me frustrated and somewhat angry.

If Viking doesn't want people with wheelchairs on their cruises they should say so. I'm willing to talk further about this, but since I haven't heard anything I'm considering taking further steps next week which do not involve Viking.

Please let me hear from you.

Ernest Seger
1465 Wolf Bend Road
Germantown, TN 38138
[protected]

Viking booked my flights to and from europe from minneapolis. We flew delta to amsterdam and air france home. Our experience on delta was good but our comfort on air france left us with a last impression of the trip that was less than favorable. We were seated in economy. The seats were small. Within moments of reaching cruising altitude the passenger in front of me reclined her seat and kept it reclined for the entire flight. This brought her seat-back and my video monitor within about 9 inches of my face. I am 73 inches tall and weigh 208 lbs. My knees were touching the back of her seat. I prefer to keep my seat in the upright position so for the duration of the flight, I was very uncomfortable and angry. I also was concerned for my safety should an emergency occur. I had difficulty getting out of my seat and I consider myself very healthy. What would happen in an emergency situation if the elderly, overweight and infirm couldn't get out of their seats in a timely manner. So, for comfort and safety reasons, I refuse to fly air france ever again. Maybe you should consider removing them as a partner in the viking experience. Because, my last impression of the whole trip was very unfavorable!

We had a lovely time. The entire team has been wonderful from the time we started our booking till our return. And the destinations and planned excursions were awesome.

I know everyone had a great experience with food options. I heard all the rave reviews on that. But I have to give you my feedback from my perspective. Being a vegan, I felt that there wasn't much in terms of options for me. Although the Maitre d and the entire kitchen team, were awesome and made sure they came and checked on what I could get each day, I still felt the options available were not much. My daily breakfast options were bread and fruits, and lunch and dinner mostly salads, and the special items that were provided. there was almost no protein. I don't mind going without protein for a couple of days and, while I didn't exactly go hungry, it was very difficult to do so for a long stretch.

We would love to take other trips on Viking and I am wondering if you all can take some suggestions on menu options for vegans. I enclose here a list of things that would be make a complete meal for a vegan (that includes protein and variety as well). Hopefully this can be incorporated in your meal options (It wasn't just me that was vegan, there were a few others who followed me in requesting special meals) and make it more enticing for me and other vegans to join you on your wonderful voyages. It is not just vegans, many of the meat eating travelers would also go for some of these healthier options..

Most people think vegan means salad, fruits, mushrooms, and tofu. There are so many more items that can be included and meals made more varied and interesting.

Please do let us know if you adapt these suggestions, so we can decide on booking future cruises with you.

I picked these items off the web (names are as per the web listing, so you can find them easily), but if needed I can send you links or recipes for all these items. (All these items do not include any dairy, eggs, mushrooms, and very minimal tofu. But still make it varied and I bet any vegan or even a carnivore would be pleased with these options)

Breakfast -
1. Indian Savory gram flour pancakes served with tomato salsa, avocado, hummus and cashew cream.
2. vegan frittata
3. Vegan Lemon pancakes
4. Vegan strawberry shortcake pancakes
5. Vegan blueberry oatmeal waffles
6. vegan tofu omelets with onions, scallions, peppers and cilantro
7. toast with vegan chocolate hazelnut spread
8. toast with vegan refried beans and avocado
9. vegan french toast
10. vegan banana bread
11. Vegan granola with almond or cashew milk
12. vegan peanut butter granola
13. vegan banana nut oatmeal
14. vegan citrus granola parfait
15. nutty cinnamon quinoa
16. pan seared oatmeal with blueberries

Salads -
1. chickpeas salad with cucumber, tomatoes, and onions
2. chickpeas and edamame salad
3. kale salad with chickpeas
4. Moroccan sprouted buckwheat salad with preserved lemons and toasted almonds
5. quinoa corn and edamame salad
6. avocado and cannelloni bean salad
7. quinoa lentil salad
8. 5 bean salad
9. moroccan couscous salad with chickpeas and vegetables
10. Vegan Lebanese potato, green beans and avocado salad
11. greek lentil salad
12. Greek Pantzaria salata (beet salad) Greek Barley salad

Soups -
1. vegan lentil soup
2. vegan peas soup
3. vegan pasta [censored]ioli
4. spicy vegan black bean soup
5. vegan vegetable chickpea chowder
6. vegan creamy cauliflower and wild rice soup
7. Mexican vegan chili served with bread or rice
8. Vegan minestrone soup
9. Greek chickpea soup
10. Greek lefki fasolada (white bean soup)
11. Greek patates yahni (potato stew)
12. Egyptian ful medames
13. Indian Spicy bean and vegetable soup
14. Indian warm dal with spinach

entrees -
1. Indian Basmati rice with cumin and peas, served with vegetable stew
2. Mexican rice and beans and vegetables (kidney beans or black beans)
3. Falafel with hummus and baba ghanoush
4. Vegan fettucini alfredo
5. Pasta primavera with added chickpeas
6. Vegan stacked enchilada pie
7. Indian chickpea curry served with rice or Naan
8. Chinese fried rice with vegetables (carrots, beans, peas, snow peas, water chestnuts, baby corn
9. Thai curry and rice (vegetables peas, beans, carrots, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, onions, tomatoes, )
10. Egyptian koshari
11. Egyptian brown rice mujaddara
12. Egyptian makloubeh (layered eggplant)
13. Greek Chickpeas with orzo
14. Greek Revithia sto fourno (baked chickpeas)
15. Indian Chickpea and sweet potato tikka masala
16. Indian Curried bean burger sandwith with sesame buns, avocado slices, tomato, onions and lettuce
17. Indian courgette and split channa dal
18. Indian chana masala

appetizers/snacks
1. vegan spring rolls
2. chickpeas stuffed zucchini boats
3. roasted red pepper avocado toast
4. smashed white bean avocado toast
5. hummus avocado toast
6. bruschetta
7. toast with cannelloni hummus
8. mini vegetable samosas
9. vegan moussaka
10. vegan kofta
11. greek fava bean spread
12. Greek spanakopita
13. Greek carrot keftedes
14. Greek revithokeftedes (chickpea fritters)
15. Indian onion pakoda
16. Indian sweet pepper bhajji
17. Indian dhokla

Desserts / sweets -
1. Vegan Banana split
2. sweet and salty no bake peanut butter bars
3. chocolate hummus on vegan biscuits
4. chocolate chip no bake granola bars
5. no bake cashew tahini bars
6. no bake chocolate espresso brownies
7. no bake peanut butter blondies
8. vegan banana cream pie
9. vegan raspberry cheesecake
10. no bake chocolate crunch brownies
11. best vegan cheesecake
12. vegan no bake peanut butter cup ie
13. vegan chocolate cupcakes
14. vegan brownies
15. assorted vegan sorbets
16. assorted vegan ice creams
17. vegan chocolate cake

Thank you for being patient and going through such a long message. We hope to hear from you about accommodations for vegans.

In my opinion Viking has a great scam going with their travel insurance partner Tripmate. We booked a seven day Mediterranean cruise out of Rome. After we paid in full they removed a stop, the main port we wanted to see, and gave us a $200 onboard credit. Thinking about it I felt it wasn't a very good deal paying over $8000 for a cruise that only has 4 stops including the ports that we fly into and out of. We cancelled about 180 days out. They gave us our refund minus the $200 cancellation fee, which was fine. When asked about the $840 insurance they said we only had 14 days to cancel from purchase date. In their own pamphlet states (cut and pasted)

"You may cancel this Plan by giving written notice to Viking Cruises within the first to occur of the following: (a) 14 days from the Effective Date of Your insurance; or (b) Your Scheduled Departure Date. If You do this, We will refund Your Plan Payment paid provided You have not filed a claim under the Plan."
We were over 180 days out..

On the insurance companies site Arch Insurance dba Tripmate inc. that you can only access if you are a registered "guest" of Viking they state,

"If You are not satisfied for any reason, You may return Your policy to Trip Mate, Inc., the Program Administrator, within 14 days after receipt. Your plan payment will be refunded, provided You have not already departed on the Trip or filed a claim. When so returned, all coverages under the policy are void from the beginning"
We are satisfied we aren't taking the trip so we don't need it...

For the effective date clause on the same pamphlet it states,

"Coverage begins when You depart on the first Travel Arrangement (or alternate travel arrangement if You must use an alternate Travel Arrangement to reach Your Trip destination) for Your Trip. This is Your "Effective Date" and time for all coverages."

So we called Viking and they said take it up with Tripmate because it's not their problem. We called Tripmate and they said too bad so sad call Viking they are the one that sold you the policy.

To retain an attorney would have cost us more than what they owe us. Lesson learned! We take at least three cruises a year and under no circumstances will we ever use Viking because they hold true to the Viking way..

I booked a Viking River cruise near the beginning of 2019 for a September 2, 2019 Waterways of the Tsars sailing. I was aware that Russia requires a visa for US citizens and specifically asked about this because Russia (according to their Consulate in NYC) requires individuals seeking a visa to have a "sponsor". I was told that if I stayed only with the ship's tours I would not need my own individual visa because Viking has a "blanket visa" that would cover me. Since I had previously visited St. Petersburg and Vladavostok (from a cruise ship) and found this to be true, I had no reason not to believe that Viking did, indeed, have a special arrangement.
About one week before the trip I called Viking to check on an excursion-related matter and during the conversation discovered that the "blanket visa" pertains only to Ocean Viking but not River Viking. By this point, it was too late to obtain a visa and I was forced to cancel the trip. The Viking Supervisor told me that it was not a "covered reason" for canceling so my insurance may not refund the cost of the trip.
I did file a claim but, if I don't receive what I consider a reasonable compensation, I will be taking this to every media outlet I can find so this doesn't happen to someone else.
All Viking representatives should be fully versed in the differences and for this trip there should be double-checking by the Viking staff to be certain that passengers booking this trip know they must obtain their own visa and how to obtain this "sponsorship".

Viking Cruises must be operating on a razor-thin margin. Probably because they spend a huge part of their budget on adverting. Do not cruise with this company. If you have a complaint, customer service will call and ask you repetitive questions, sent rote emails, but no resolution. I am looking for monetary compensation. Guess I will never see that!

My Complaint file with company August 14, 2019:

Terrible system to check if passengers are on board. On August 7th, I was almost left in Budapest. I forgot to take a paper card from Gunter * and they assumed all were aboard. Really! Does this company know there is a system of checking if passengers are aboard using your plastic room card. This is the 21st Century, computers are used everywhere. Also, the management, Mr. *, was very nasty. Said it was not their fault. They do not have to ask if you took your paper card when leaving the ship. What are those guys doing as passengers get off! Well, absolutely nothing. Very bad customer service. Mr. * refused to give me a complaint form.

Additionally, my on-board credit never was recorded. I showed a confirmation email and they insisted it would take 4 days to confirm with headquarters. Really! Well it was confirmed the last day of this terrible river cruise! Also, food is terrible. I had to send back every meal. Do check this statement with the restaurant manager. The free wine is terrible. Had to purchase the good wine. I did not expect buffet table (very crowded in such small space) at dinner in main dining room. Oh, they can ruin a hamburger! I took a river cruise 10 years ago and it was great — what a difference in 2019. This company is no different than the major discount cruise lines that go out of Miami. Guess the bottom line is profit.

Waterways of the Tsars-Booking #5429185
This was our seventh Viking cruise so we have obviously been very satisfied with the Viking product. However we were very disappointed with this cruise for more than one reason. To start the tour the first day we visited Catherine Palace in Pushkin. We stood in a "mob" of people for 1 1/2 hours just to get in the door. Once inside the tour was rushed and short. Probably because we lost so much time waiting to get in. I considered it a lost cause and a wasted day. We did survive that but on the second day it was a different story. We visited the Hermitage. Again we waited in a mob to get in but only for 30 minutes. However once in the door it only got worse. There were so many people one could only take baby steps to move from place to place along with getting pushed and shoved. One member of our party had his pocket picked. (partially his fault. We were warned about the pick pockets) I have never experienced a situation where there were so many people in one place trying to see the same thing. By the time you pushed your way over to see the piece that the guide was describing he was moving on to the next piece. After 30 or 40 minutes of this we decided it was best (and safest) to get out of the mob and find our way back to the exit and wait for our group to meet.(about 2 hours) A total waste of time and another lost day. As often as these tours take place the tour director and the guides have to be aware of these conditions and should warn people what to expect. Had I known it would be anything like that we would not have gone on the tour. Once we started cruising things improved a little. The past cruises we have done were on the newer boats and very nice. This time we sailed on the Rurik that was built in 1975. We had room 403 and had to stick washcloths in cabinet doors to stop rattles during the night. You could not spend much time on the sun deck because the engines are there running all the time and loud so if you wanted to have a conversation you had to speak loud. The cruising was good with some beautiful scenery and some old landmarks. However when we made a port stop there was very little free time for shopping and looking around. On our past cruises there has always been ample time for both. What was to be a highlight of the tour that I had my heart set on we had to pass by because of fog delaying us in the night. The city of Uglich. I know you have no control over that and safety is most important but to me it was another lost day and adventure that helped shape my decision to take this trip. We did a home visit once before on a Netherlands cruise and it was a great experience. Also lost was the chance to see the historic churches . There are some other small items but these are my main concerns. In the past I have given Viking an excellent rating however this one I would have to say somewhere between poor and fair. I feel that we lost 3 days of our tour because of this and feel we should be reimbursed for 3 days of the cost. Our trip total was $8989.23 according to my figures. I think a reimbursement of $2247.00 or
$1123.65 each is reasonable. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Best Regards
Bob Larson
[protected]@gmail.com
[protected]

Viking Sigrun Room 339 Review - August 14-21, 2019

We are following up on our Viking Cruise experience on the ship Sigrun, covering the period of August 14 - 21, 2019. This trip started in Amsterdam and ended in Basel. We had numerous extreme vibration and engine noise issues during this cruise, and will try to document these issues as they occurred on this trip.

• Wednesday evening (14th)/Thursday morning (15th): Started evening cruise from Amsterdam to Kinderdijk. Around 01:00 awoke to excessive noise and vibration in the room. This occurred until approximately 05:00 during which time we had no sleep.

Addressed issue with Hotel Manager, the next morning and informed him of the events from that morning. When informed of issue, he stated they have not had any reports of previous issues on this cruise ship. He also stated they have no other rooms available to move us. I then stated we could not continue to have this issue every night; and we would like to depart the cruise as early as possible. He stated he would also talk to the Captain regarding our complaint. We were very frustrated in our conversation with him and could not believe no one had reported this problem previously. We invited him to come to our room while the problem was happening, which they never addressed.

We had a follow-up meeting with the Captain that evening. His position was that the analysis they performed, based upon our complaint, and did not detect any mechanical issues with the ship that would account for this issue. He also stated they have not seen this problem before. We also requested him to come to our room if the problem reoccurs. We hoped this was a one-time occurrence.

• Friday morning (16th) - Awoke around 01:00 again due to the excessive engine noise and vibrations in the room. Went to front desk and filed a complaint about the issues and to escalate it to the Hotel Manager, which he would not do. He did agree to come with me to listen to the noise in the corridor outside our room. He attempted to close the door that goes to the ship stairwell outside our stateroom and was not successful. He then placed a call into the Chief Engineer, who arrived to look at the door issue. They proceeded to close the door, which provided no change to the noise level in our room. The Chief Engineer stated the wind and current causes this issue due to the increase in the engine rpm. In a discussion he had with the Captain at that time, the Captain indicated they would decrease the rpm level by 500 - 550 rpm's in approximately 45 minutes. If they did decrease the rpm level as they stated, it had no effect on the noise level in the stateroom. We had very little sleep for the remaining portion of that morning.

We again addressed the noise issue with the Hotel Manager in a more verbal tone. He had not yet heard status of his previous email to corporate in California, based upon our desire to depart the cruise. His escalation to his management was useless. Based upon a back-and-forth discussion, which he had no solution to the problem, he again was to follow-up on his previous email and get back with us regarding our departure from this nightmare.

At approximately 22:00 that evening, we stopped by guest services again. Hotel Manager gave us a copy of his response from corporate. Their solution was various flight options leaving from Cologne ranging in price from $7632, $1030, or $931 per person. The biggest insult to these prices was that we would be responsible for these costs. So here we were left with paying for a Viking Cruise Line issue with no knowledge if our optional insurance would even cover these expenses. We told him we would have to review this information. He gave us a hard copy of his communication with customer service, which by the way also included a comment about suite 340 behind us on the ship; and issues they must have reported on Thursday morning also. We had multiple discussions with suite 340 that paralleled our issues.

• Saturday afternoon Scenic Cruising (17th) Attempted to keep awake while watching the scenery of the Rhine, which proved useless since we could not keep awake. Went to stateroom and could not sleep due to vibration/noise issues since we were again under power. Had not planned on using my Cell Phone on the cruise, however had to in order to determine insurance coverage if we terminated the cruise. After multiple attempts, we did connect with the Travel protection plan again located in the US involving time delays. Makalia, the service representative, stated we would not be eligible for reimbursement if we departed the ship. We also left a message with Viking Travel out of Westmont, Illinois regarding our treatment so far. As we retired to our room for the evening around 22:00, the noise was still excessive in our room.

• Saturday Evening/Sunday morning (17th -18th) Excessive noise again a continuing issue from arrival into room earlier; and I finally had enough and again went down to Guest Services at approximately 00:00. Same individual was on duty from my previous trip to Guest Services on Friday morning.) He made a comment that he expected to hear from me that morning. He makes walks around the ship as part of his night duty and could hear the noise from our area of the ship. He stated he would record my complaint and escalate to the Captain. Went down to the desk again around 01:00 to again lodge a complaint. He stated both captains were on the bridge and aware of the problem and that they would be expected to reduce speed in another 45 minutes. Went back to front desk at 01:45 after the noise decreased due to approaching a lock. Watched us go through lock and noise started up after exit, but I eventually fell back asleep between 02:30 and 03:00.

Had another go around with Hotel Manger the following morning about the previous night; and I think he was pissed that I reported three occurrences earlier that morning. He had no other solutions other than to state it was now a Technical issue and the Captain now owned the problem. I also stated at that time I had recorded the noise in our stateroom.

Another meeting held with both captains that evening and again challenged the captains why we are continuing to have these Extreme noise issues. They again stated that no one has complained in the past about this issue. I asked if they had other similar ships reporting these issues and stated they didn't have data regarding other ships. I asked to change rooms with them so they could experience our frustration, but that their rooms had issues with their location below the water line. The younger captain stated wind and current do affect navigation so speed does become an issue. They dismissed my issue with Viking be responsible for my desire to leave the ship early.

This whole issue was a hot potato between the between the Captain and Hotel Manager with us being held HOSTAGE/PRISONER, or pay the cost to depart early.

• Tuesday Morning (20th) Problem with noise again reported with Guest Services. Same fella on duty. He called the bridge. Captain on duty stated they would be reducing speed in 45 minutes, and the remainder of the morning should be smooth sailing. Did not sleep well remainder of night and told fella that smooth sailing did not occur as promised from Captain on duty.
• When we returned to our room after our excursion, there was a note from the Guest Services, along with Champagne and a box of chocolates (which reminds me of Forest Gump, not knowing what you are going to get), which we took as a joke, and returned to the front desk.

The two owners of the problem (Captain and Hotel Manager) ignored us the remainder of the trip. What was to be a fun and relaxing vacation, it became a trip nightmare. Viking Cruise Line has very little escalation processes to resolve issues like we had, since you do not have available rooms should complaints of this nature arise. This room 339 along with 340 should not be booked on future cruises that go toward Basel. The stairwell behind our room was a magnet for whatever generated the motor noise and vibration. Vibration generated in room affected bed, safe door, bath room door frame, ceiling along with noise and vibration throughout the corridor of rooms going toward the front of the ship. There is no mention of this issue on their web site regarding these two rooms or any reduction on room rate.

Multiple comments made about time to arrive to next stop being locks or excursion debarkation point determine necessary speed to accomplish that arrival time. Thought should be given to leaving earlier so excess speed is not needed to accomplish arrival time.

I am quite sure trips from Basel will not have same issues due to river current going opposite direction.

As I think more about this noise issue and the statement from the Viking Cruise Line management on board, about never having this problem reported before, you would have thought they would have wanted to come to our room while the noise/vibration issue was occurring, in order to get additional information on the problem. This again leaves me to believe this was not the first occurrence of this problem.

Do not believe since problems were not reported on the other nights, that the noise/vibration issue was gone, you have the wrong assumption. Any time the ship was under power there was noise from the generators/engines, but these unreported events did not have the vibration component.

Would suggest a Viking Engineer occupy this room to get to root cause of problem when ship is going toward Basel, since on board personnel have no clue on how to resolve issue. Until this happens, you will have other totally dissatisfied customers.

I do not believe the onboard ship personnel stating this problem has not been reported before. Having two rooms for sure reporting this problem in the same area of the ship will escalate this problem. Hopefully, truthfulness will come out after a review process.

Can someone please tell me why this room was the second last room available on this cruise? Sounds very suspicious, based upon the issues we had with this stateroom.

Also, when asking for a copy of the issues reported with my stateroom, before my departure, she stated it could not be provided. (front desk)

After email exchanges between travel agency and VRC, they offer you a voucher on a future cruise with a 50% off tag, along with a non-disclosure clause. I told them I want a momentary compensation and they offered $500 along with the voucher. Told travel agency I did not want any future trips and additional expenditures with VRC.

Reviewing the number of complaints on their web site in general, they are not customer-focused and all they try to do is offer discounts on future cruises rather than addressing, fixing, and correcting the issues, which may mean the ship needs to be taken out of service. Knowing the almighty dollar, VRC would rather have dissatisfied customers and ignore the issues and continue to offer vouchers trying to drain more money from disgruntled customers, instead of paying them a respectable sum for their known problems that drastically affect the image VRC tries to portray.

Ship escalations going through California are a major delay due to time zone restrictions.

We had a 30 minute call with VRC customer service in California on Wednesday afternoon (8/28/19). They relay the same response we received from the travel agency regarding the last offer and the non-disclosure need. Again, emphasized we would not accept their offer and I was ready to start posting my review of the cruise. He asked me to hold-off on that while senior management reviewed all the data associated with this case. I would have thought this to already have been escalated to that level and senior management was already involved in the offer VRC delivered. I gave them 24 hours to come back to us with their final offer, before I proceed with my escalation of this seven day disaster.

Time is now 17:00 CST on 8/29/2019 with no response from Customer Service.

Deposited funds with Viking to book a river tour in Russia. Viking cancelled my booking and refunded all but $1900.00 of my deposit. They sent me a check for this amount, but made out in the name of my long-deceased Wife, who obviously had no part in the booking. After several conversations and emails, they have failed to send me a check made out in my name. I am pursuing Small Claims Court jurisdiction in the matter.

Dear Sir
I am a frequent Viking traveller. It appals me to see the extent of plastic waste each time I get on and off your boats. I am concerned about the plastic waste from your free distribution of water bottles. I am sure the Senior Management of Viking would be aware of the damage to the sea environment from the use of plastic. Our supermarkets have rid themselves of plastic bags and I am puzzled why Viking does not show similar regard for the environment. Each passenger could be given a re-usable bottle at the beginning of each cruise. This could be replenished by means of a tank of cold water at the bottom of the gang plank. This way passengers will still have fresh cold water on disembarkation before trips. I would like to contact the Viking CEO about such a scheme. Could you please send me his email address and telephone number. Yours sincerely Ivan Blumenthal

We are currently staying at Hilton Prague for our Viking River Extension. WE HAVE HAD TERRIBLE SERVICE. Tonight is our last night. We've had no communication from Viking regarding departure information (since leaving the cruise). We went to ask about any updates regarding bus departure and by 6:00PM all Viking representatives were gone from the desk. As a result we are going to pay for our own airport transportation becuase we simply do not trust that Viking will get us there on time.

The hotel is also unexceptable. Again, we had to work on our own to change our room due to the loud construction noise experienced. Viking informed us prior to our cruise about the construction; I immediately called Viking customer service and was assured we would not be placed on a floor where we would be affected by construction. That was simply not the case. Room was noisy, small, and hot. Again, we went to Viking desk, no one was able to help us and had to work with hotel management to change our room. That process took over 4 hours. When I discussed with Viking desk representatives the next morning, she gave me an evaluation form to complete. No follow through, no checking in to see if we were okay.

We spend approximately $20, 000 for this cruise (Veranda AA, tip package, Silver Spirits package, post-excursion, first class flight via Viking). We will be departing tomorrow morning from Prague. I expect a response and resolution to a subpar post-cruise experience.

My wife and I returned from a Douro Valley river Cruise in early July. We generally enjoyed the cruise. The scenery and the ship itself was excellent. However there were some occasions when our enjoyment took a downward turn.
Service was very poor at times in restaurant. Had to wait over 45 minutes between first and second courses on more than one occasion. This was when other tables who had turned up later than us had been served with their third course. I did complain to the head waiter and the main courses turned up.
I asked the hotel manager if they had any fly spray as we were being pestered by flies in our cabin. I was given an offensive patronising and aggressive lecture on not leaving my cabin door open and allowing flies to come in and we don't allow fly sprays. In fact we only opened our cabin door to enter or leave and never left it open. I am afraid I gave the hotel manager a piece of my mind and made a complaint to the cruise director.
If the hotel manager was working for me I would have sacked him for talking to customers that way! His attitude and body language was aggressive and gangster like. I did get an apology and card from the cruise director but not from the individual concerned. I think at the very least some serious retraining is required.
The whole of the rest of the crew were always polite and willing to please.
The only other comment I would have is the pushing of alcohol all the time. My wife and I are tea total for personal and medical reasons and had to repeatedly ask for soft drinks which sometimes never turned up.
The actual cruise and the excursions, apart from the above, were excellent.

Booking Number 5356727
I booked this Danube Waltz because I saw it was on a new Viking Ship Sigyn.
The boat was changed to Uller & then to Ve. The problem is Ve is a 2015 boat & we were looking forward to a brand new ship. I called Viking & spoke to Estel Smith in Arizona (who was very nice). I asked for some compensation & she had to speak to her supervisor in California. The supervisor offered $75 each for on ship spending. Seeing that I spent over $14, 000 for this cruise & residing in a Veranda Suite AA, I felt this offer was tacky. I then countered requesting Silver Spirits for both of us & the supervisor told Estel no. Needless to say I was disappointed. Anything you can do would be appreciated. Thank you.

On July 6th clients Tom and Thea Maguire 5640374 were to travel on a Russian Viking River Cruise and were unable to do so because of a lack of Russian Visas. I Wanda Mattiace owner at Adventure Travel double and triple checked this on recorded lines and was told by your representatives that they would not be required. When my clients arrived in Atlanta to board flights booked (by Viking) they were told they could not board without Visas. This was checked multiple times by myself and other agents in my office and I was told they would be under a "blanket visa." In fact, I was even told they would not be required on the day of travel when I called because my clients were at the airport and could not board. Had I been responsible for booking the air I would have been informed the Visas were in fact necessary and made sure my clients had them for travel. I have filed this complaint with multiple persons in your organization and have yet to receive any help or reconciliation. My business does a lot of travel with Viking and I would appreciate a response. I understand that phone calls are recorded and would be more than happy to have Viking pull those phone calls during which the booking number was provided in order to help get to the bottom of this issue. Thank you and I hope to hear from Viking very soon regarding this matter.

Wanda Mattiace Owner
Adventure Travel Agency and Cruise Center
[protected]@adventuretravelnm.com

As I haven't heard from you about my compliant, I thought your competition would like to hear from us. Regards Ray

Dear customer service

I'm writing, to thank you so much for great time Patrick and I, had on our recent 10 night Viking Jupiter cruise departing from Copenhagen 9th May to disembarkation 19th May, Stockholm
Your crew and staff gave us superb service and catered for our every need, however prior to the cruise we contacted Viking about whether or not we needed a Russian visa.

We were informed that we being, Australian (Ray Everitt) and British (Patrick Renson -Smith) passport holders we did require Russian visa's. We found when we were on board the Jupiter we did not require visas. Accordingly we purchased the visas to the cost of $232.35 per visa.
Also
There was confusion by your admin. Staff on board ship as Mr Renson - Smith and I wanted the on board accounts, for both of us, to be settled on Mr Renson - Smith's visa credit card.

We advised your staff 3 times in person and 2 times via phone calls from admin to our cabin prior disembarking in Stockholm that all our accounts would be settled on Mr Renson- Smiths card. When I attempted to my final disembarkation, I was stopped by your security personnel, as notification showed, I had not paid my portion of the cabin account.
This was extremely embarrassing to me as fellow passengers were queued up behind me and looking at me as though I was attempting something untoward.
It was then Mr Renson - Smith went back to your admin people on board and got upset with them for the unnecessary and embarrassing situation caused by their slack administration.
One of your admin staff came to security and then gave the all clear to disembark.

Our cruise was the end of 3 weeks of celebrations for Patrick's 70th Birthday on the 5th May, culminating in a week in Sienna Italy, we told our friends who joined us for the celebrations, we were looking forward to our Viking Jupiter Baltic cruise. "They are potentially new Viking Passengers".
We are contemplating another cruise with Viking in 2020 to Alaska, but now we are little hesitant. These two issues have let your marvellous company down.

Please have a look at reimbursing the unnecessary cost of visas to us and have a word to your admin people, your efforts will be greatly appreciated.
Kind Regards
Patrick Renson Smith and Ray Everitt
www.concierge-csa.com.au
[protected]

Yesterday we went to our travel agent to book this cruise. Everything going fine and we're ready to make a deposit. Then we found out that the final payment was due the following month we were confused . We have never seen this before. We would have certainly secured this cruise but 16, 000 dollars is extremely very much for one year in advance. We were looking forward to this cruise but am very disappointed with policy. Please advise me if this policy changes at [protected]@yahoo.com. Thank you Jim

When I made the reservations earlier this year I asked b4 making a reservation by OLGA, if I could have my dialysis solution delivered to the port, I was assured I could do that. Today I received a call from another CSR and was advised they cannot do this. I would not have spent all my time and close to 15K for a trip I cannot go on. Now I have to contact my attorney and fight with these people and get my money back.

Sailed the Rhine Basel to Amsterdam on the Viking Mani end of May 2019.
Three of the six nights the railings above our stateroom rattled so loudly we could not sleep.
In addition, passed the time allowed, passengers wallk on the walking track topside and the noise
is extremely disrupting.
Four of the six days another Viking berthed by tying up next our ship, blocking our our light
and our views. In addition, their sewage treatment caused our ship to smell and the stink was
unplesant. There were many little docks available but Viking does not care about the
passengers blocked views or the stink, as they save money on the docking fees.
The dinner service was extremely slow...on 3 ocasssions our entre did not come for over an hour.
We were staring as the dinner is regimented and late to begin with...commencing at 7:15. Eating
at 8:30 is way too late and not fun. Neither the chef nor the matri di when told were helpful nor seemed
to care.

May 31, 2019 booked a cruise Bergen to Montreal expecting to later book a deviation on the flights, paid $100 each to be able to vet flights, did some research and decided to spend 4 days in Iceland on the flights from Toronto to Bergen on the Iceland air route picked by Viking. Then told, by a surprised Viking agent "no deviations with stop overs". We book a deviation/stop-over with almost all the 18 or so cruises taken, for example in April this year stopped in Lisbon on Budapest to Toronto flight. Pursued with Viking how to make a Iceland stop over but faced a stonewall even after escalating to manager, answer was always "air contract does not allow" asked Viking to check with customer service and marketing to see if something could be done as it seemed like a win-win situation especially since Iceland air offer a no charge stop over in Iceland on the flights booked. In desperation I asked "what if I take deviation for 3 days early throw away the Iceland to Bergen flight and purchase my own ticket from Iceland to Bergen 3 days later", answer from Viking manager -"we will cancellation all your further flights on the flight"! Nothing to do with any contract for flights just Viking policy, not customer service and lack of key information on usual flight products not being available. Booking too late to cancel but really like the idea of an Iceland stop-over. Very disappointed with Viking