Viking River Cruises
Reviews and Complaints

This is unusual for me to be writing a negative review of Viking Cruises since my wife, Elena, and I thoroughly enjoyed two previous river cruises (Bordeaux and Rhine) and are scheduled to take our third in France (Provence 7-day Cruise with post extension in Dijon) initially flying October 27, 2018. The reason I am complaining is how horrible Viking scheduled our flights, and their stubborn refusal to rectify at no additional cost. One of Viking's selling points is their low airfare, but apparently unless one initially pays an extra $50/person to purchase Viking Air Plus, all scheduling is done by a computer. Apparently, the computer selects the cheapest flights from airlines with which Viking has contracts, and this means the cheapest for Viking and NOT ANY consideration for reasonableness for the travelers. Yesterday, I received our flight itinerary. Viking had booked with United, and the flight from San Diego thru Washington (Dulles) DC thru Brussels to Marseille, France was reasonable and OK with us. HOWEVER, the flight home was TERRIBLE! Viking's computer had scheduled our first leg home @ 8:30am from Lyon, France. Because of our Viking post extension in Dijon, which is 132 miles or so north of Lyon, arriving at the Lyon airport 2 hours ahead of time, or near 5:00am, would require we leave Dijon at 2:30am by bus or 3:00am by car. This means we would have to wake up at 1:00am or so, thereby eliminating our last night's sleep in the expensive hotel. If that was not enough, the return from Lyon thru Brussels thru Newark, NJ, to San Diego had a near 4-1/2 hour layover in Newark! Because this return flight itinerary was so unreasonable, I assumed (incorrectly) that Viking would correct the situation by rescheduling us on more reasonable flights, at no cost. HOWEVER, my AAA Travel agent, who was managing our trip, and I, after at least three phone calls, were unable to get Viking to waive the $50/person Viking Air Plus they insisted upon before changing my return flights to ones that are more reasonable. My wife and I finally gave in, and now we leave Lyon at 1:20pm (allowing us plenty of time to get there from Dijon after having a full night's sleep). We get home in San Diego late at 11:10pm, but I guess that cannot be avoided. The AAA Travel agent told me that even after paying $50/person for Viking Air Plus, that not all flight options are available without paying an additional $150-$250/person for better flights if these flights are not included in Viking's contracts with the airlines. So, in summary, either initially pay the extra $50/person for Air Plus to give yourself a better chance of not being surprised and infuriated by a totally unreasonable schedule as happened to us, or be prepared to pay this later if/when your luck runs out and you get a crappy schedule. I know it is only $50 X 2 = $100, but I am so angry with Viking! Their service up to this point has been outstanding, so I just cannot accept their unwillingness to correct at no charge their totally unacceptable flight schedules. I definitely will tell this story to anyone who asks about my trip or about Viking cruises, so I assume that Viking will suffer far more than $100 in bad marketing. Good luck to you; but be forewarned. - John

Dear Ryan,

In regard to your correspondence dated July 20, 2018, there is no misunderstanding; rather, there is a total misrepresentation on your part. Each and every time we met on Viking Hermod regarding the West Indies Explorer cruise, you stated unequivocally that we would get an automatic free upgrade to one of the three higher category cabins because both the Deluxe Veranda and Deluxe Veranda V rooms were sold out.

When we received the booking confirmation on June 18, 2018, it did not contain any information regarding a cabin upgrade. We were not comfortable with that and questioned you in person, again on the Viking Hermod, about this omission. At that time you assured us that we would get an upgrade, you even opened the Viking pamphlet and showed us that we would get one of the three upgraded rooms. We still did not feel comfortable, we met again before getting off the ship and you said that you would send an email documenting that fact. No email was received, which prompted my emails of July 11, 2018 and July 18, 2018.

At no time during any of our discussions on board did you state that the guarantee category for a "free upgrade" was for a different booking date. You were consistent throughout each and every one of our meetings regarding the West Indies Explorer cruise that we would get a free cabin upgrade. Nor did you ever inform us that there would be an additional cost in order to get the cabin upgrade. This is our third Viking cruise. Unfortunately, the experience for the West Indies Explorer cruise has not been satisfactory to date. Please rectify this to adhere to Viking's impeccable standards.

My husband and I went on the Grand European Tour booking # 4845417.

We signed up for the optional tour of the Dutch Cheese making and the Kinderdijk windmills (which was part of trip's included itinerary). Hence we paid for the Cheese Making tour $128 in total. The trip took place in the afternoon of 7/21/28

Your description of the tour reads:
"Enjoy a walk around the farm with your hosts, busy farmers making their living of the earth. meet the cheese makers who patiently create their product from fresh milk and learn the craft, process and history of cheese making, which dates back to pre-Christian times."

1. We arrived at the farm at 5:00pm. Daily operation there stops around 4:30pm. And so we were introduced to a large clean empty bath, with all its blades and other parts disassembled, and put aside to dry. All other equipment were empty and powered down as well. We got a brief a description of how the Gouda is being made, saw wheels of cheese in a brine bath and were ushered outside to the sables to see the cows.

2. We could have read a wikipedia article about cheese making and would have learned more. We didn't learn the craft, nor the process or its history. We didn't see any milk bath, cheese press, spinning, coating, sealing and the like. Nor did we learn the history of Gouda making. We were told of the mother of the family making cheese at home but were never told how that was translated into a large scale commercial process.

3. The walk around the stable was guided by a friend of the family not the farmers themselves who took his time detailing the breeding process of cows but without explaining why current procedures are being used (the man is neither a farmer not a geneticist and definitely nor a guide).

4. We were taken to the farm after touring the wind mills and found out that the Virgin Cruises arranged for a single bus for two cruise ships. The other group was taken to the farm first where they watch the entire process live and only then they toured the wind mills so they got their money worth. We got the opportunity to quickly sample a few cheeses and buy some.

This was the most expensive cheese that we we ever bought. $128 for the opportunity to buy a small wheel of cheese. What a bargain.

We feel that Virgin failed to deliver on its promised tour and we think that we are owed a refund.

Sincerely

[protected]@gmail.com

We are first time Viking customers. We purchased a advertised river cruise on Viking Beyla commencing 4 July. The day we departed Seattle for Berlin we received an email from Viking customer relations that water levels were low and the cruise may be changed. We spent 2 days in Berlin but nothing was said about water levels other than we would learn more upon boarding the ship. We were then told there would not ANY river cruise and the trip would be entirely by bus.

By remaining silent when Viking knew or should have known about the water levels we had no opportunity to come up with an alternative
. Instead we were marooned in Wittenberg at night with no alternative.
Viking has remained silent about compensating us for a substitution of a bus tour for a river cruise. We are disappointed and frustrated. We did not buy a bus tour.

Booking #4688311

Our cruise ended in Odessa on June 15. We were foolish and chose the "free air" and let Viking book our flights. Viking had us having to leave the ship at 4 am to make a 7 am flight from Odessa to Kiev. Upon arrival at the airport in Odessa we had to wait for the ticket counter to "open" at 6 am, approx 25 minutes. We had checked in online and printed our boarding passes. Luggage was weighed and not overweight. Then we were told we had to pay for our luggage as the tickets were for "carry on" luggage ONLY. Viking must have thought we were on the ship for 12 days without any clothing! The "transfer agent" just shook her lovely head and left. We were forced to pay approx $200 for our suitcases. But that took almost 45 minutes as the office where we had to pay was without power! Now we are 25 minutes from the flight and have yet to get through security. We asked repeatedly at the counter that our luggage be checked through to our final destination, Detroit. We were told "no". No reason was given, just "no". (Let me add here that there were two other couples from our ship on the same flights - neither had any problem with checking their luggage without paying any extra fees, nor did they have any issues with their luggage being checked through to their final destinations in the US). Obviously whoever made our return flight reservation screwed up.
In Kiev we spent 2 hours in lines with our luggage to get it transferred via Ukranian Airlines (same airline we flew from Odessa to Kiev) to Paris and then via Air France to Detroit. Now the luggage was overweight as it is 6 lbs. too heavy on the scales. Forget the fact it wasn't in Odessa or that our own scale indicated the luggage was 3.5 lbs. underweight. Now we must pay another fee of approximately $200 again and literally run through the airport to get to our flight. One of us recently had a hip replacement. The handicap assistance we had asked for never showed up. We arrived in Paris and our luggage had been checked through to DTW. Small victory!
So we had a horrible trip home and spent several hundred extra dollars on our "free air" from Viking. I might also add that Viking booked us on Air France, an airline that has been experiencing rolling strikes for some time, and certainly when the booking was completed. I tried emailing Viking while onboard during the week to inquire how this would be handled if AirFrance was on strike the day of our return flights, but never received any reply to that email.
The cruise was certainly not as wonderful as our first cruise several years ago. Some of that was the region of travel, some the vessel we were on, some the crew. We had to literally ask every day for toilet paper. Seriously.
I asked to speak to the Hotel Manager about the concern we had with AirFrance return flights and was told by the desk clerk that he said to tell us "Viking will take care of any issues." I asked again for a direct line and name of who to call but never heard back from him.
We also paid close to $200 for an extra shore excursion for a Ukranian National Folklore Dinner. The brochure photo shows dancers, etc. Looked really wonderful. Well, we were stuffed into a too-small restaurant with someone playing the bandura.
sitting on top of us. That was the entertainment. The photo in the brochure is totally misleading. We were allotted one very small glass of wine. When we asked for more the waiter said "no, not allowed." The dinner was worth no more than $75 total.
Overall, we were extremely disappointed with the Viking River Ukranian tour. The food on board was nothing like our Rhine Cruise several years ago. We got the feeling Viking was trying to cut corners everywhere - perhaps to see if the cruise would be a success.
I've waited a few weeks since our return to make sure I wouldn't come across as angry as we were at the time, but just typing this has brought all those feelings back to the surface. We have learned a great deal about Viking and will never book a cruise with them again on our own - if we ever do. Advice to anyone reading this: Go through a travel agent so you have someone on your side and a person to call if needed, and certainly do not believe everything you read in the Viking brochures.

I am booked on the British Isles Cruise departing on August 25th. I attempted to sign up for shore excursions at 3:00am on my first possible date. Despite desiring morning excursions, I was only able to sign up for the most unpopular afternoon times each day. I was unable to sign up for the included excursion at any time on day nine. The cruise is advertised with an included excursion every day. When calling Viking their only suggestion was to talk to the concierge on the ship. This is VERY annoying and having no choices is disappointing. Viking has several weeks to correct this problem. Client number 4243464

I am so disappointed in the level of/lack of customer service at the corporate level. What is the point of filling out the Contact Us form if no one reads it? All the information was included in that form yet, a few emails later, we are still expected to submit the same information in another format. This is not our first disappointment with Viking, probably won't be the last either as we currently have a cruise booked for later this year. Even emails to our cruise agent do not get carefully read and appropriately responded to, with the information we requested. There are other luxury cruise lines out there. We will definitely be looking harder at them in the future, instead of just booking with Viking. I retired from managing/training corporate customer service for an extremely large company. If my agents sent out emails like we've been receiving, they would have been coached at the very least, monitored for improvement and further action taken as necessary. Again, Viking... you are not the only game in town! Your lack of customer service excellence is extremely disappointing!

Cruise was 6/3/2017 Into Midnight Sun, Viking Star
This was our third trip with Viking and the first two were excellent.
Most of the problems came with the Iceland extension.
First the flights from Iceland to Bergen were wrong( backwards).Corrected but we lost a whole day and cost us $170 for two bags.
We waited well over an hour in a van at the airport for two people who decided to eat before going to check in at the hotel. We also waited in the van again(an hour or so) on the way to the airport for two people who decided to go on their own.
Friends who booked with Viking a month or so before the trip got to Bergen direct and in the am and no bag fees. We arrived Bergen 8:30pm. Via Copenhagen.
My biggest problem was with the difference in treatment by Viking.
I called and explained the situation and was offered a $300 voucher. Our friends who we traveled with on all trips called after they found out I got a voucher and they got a $500 voucher for the same thing. When told that I wrote off Viking and didn't plan on using Viking again. Well now they would like to book another trip with Viking and I agreed if Viking would make it right. We tried and the agent Tatiana Pirog could not equate the situation. As a result I declined not to book. My friends the Smolinskis will not go unless we go. What is fair for one should be fair for the other. If it would be made right the four of us would book.
Barry Aspenleiter booking#4014580

From May 25 - Jun 8, 2018, my wife and I went on a Viking River Cruise: The Grand European Tour on the ship Viking Aegir. It started out in The Netherlands, and traversed through Germany, Austria, and Hungary.
I have deliberately waited about two weeks before summarizing the trip for anyone who might be thinking of taking a similar cruise. Rather than write in prose, I decided to put forth the cons and pros of the trip.
If you do not care to read this listing of cons and pros, let me simply summarize by noting that the Viking River Cruise advertisements and brochures naturally only paint the brightest of pictures; and, in all likelihood, deliberately hide much of the reality.

Cons
- I believe the ship was responsible for getting people sick, especially when fresh air was denied to guests during the "lock" downs of the upper deck. We were sick for one-half of the trip, with sore throats, non-stop coughing, and nasal congestion.
- There was no recognition or acknowledgment from the ship's staff, especially the program director who spoke to all the passengers each day, of the rampant viral infection circulating among the guests. Approximately one-half of the boat was sick with this infection. A simple acknowledgment would have gone a long way, as well as a reminder for people to sanitize their hands often.
- There was never any mention before the trip that the ship would be going through 69 different locks (canals) on the rivers. Due to low bridge clearance at these locks, the upper outdoor deck was closed for 5 straight days. This limited the amount of fresh air for the guests and very likely contributed to the viral infection that plagued half of the ship's guests and crew! We were "sardined" in the lounge area instead of enjoying the fresh air of the outdoors. We did notice that other Viking ships had their upper decks available. These were exactly the same ships.
- The Viking commercials show you a beautiful ship docked next to a magnificent castle or church…beautiful sights and scenery. As a result, we booked a "veranda suite" room with an outdoor balcony/veranda. What they failed to mention is that your boat is but only 1 of 4 other Viking boats visiting the same ports at the same time! We would wake up, open the curtain to our veranda and be, literally, a few inches away from another Viking ship. What a rip-off! These other ships offered the same excursions at the same time as our ship, making it that much more crowded everywhere we went. Again, it is not what was in their advertising.
- There was not enough free time for many of the shore excursions to explore a city on your own. This was especially true in Salzburg. We had about 1.25 hours between the end of the guided tour and lunch….and then only 20 minutes after lunch. It would have been much better if the free time was all clumped together.
- The lunch banquet in Salzburg was extremely rushed and very crowded! There was no salad or appetizer course and no coffee after lunch was served. The waiters were practically running to get the food on and off the tables.
- Before we arrived in Vienna, Austria, we were informed the night before by the ship's program director of the many wonderful Austrian coffee houses that we could visit; however, there was no time available to enjoy a coffee house, due to the precious little time available to explore Vienna on your own.
- When the upper deck was opened, there were no umbrellas put up for shade. We had to use the rain umbrellas provided by the ship. Yet, other Viking ships that we saw had their crew put up umbrellas on the upper deck.
- In the Aquavit Terrace, one of the canopies (the middle one) that would provide shade could not open and was never fixed for the entirety of our 14-day trip.
- The advertisements and brochures claim that you could enjoy dinner on the Aquavit Terrace; however, what they do not tell you is that, there are only 6 tables set for dinner and that you need to secure those tables by 5:30p for a 7:15p dinner serving. In short, it was first-come, first-serve only. We never got the chance to eat dinner on this terrace.
- Not a big deal, but the wi-fi on the ship was much to be desired.

Not a Pro or a Con, but just a fact.
- The average age of the people on our Viking River Cruise (Grand European Tour) was about 75+: We are in our late 50's.
- When we went out to the local pharmacy to buy drugs for our sickness, we met the ship's hotel manager, who was buying drugs for the sick crew-members.

Pros
- The cities, sites, and scenery are beautiful and magnificent. We visited many cities that we would not have ever thought to visit on a vacation. It was truly breathtaking.
- The staff provided very good service and were always willing to help.
- The "veranda suite" room that we had was terrific. It had a separate living room/lounge and a balcony/veranda. The latter offered stunning views, when not docked a few inches from another Viking ship, which, unfortunately, was too often.
- Early in the trip, our shower overflowed into the bedroom. The staff was excellent in drying out the rug and made extra certain that all was okay. They even left us a bottle of champagne and chocolates for our troubles. Again, excellent customer service.
- The musical program during the banquet lunch in Salzburg was very entertaining.
- The tour guides for both the included and "extra" excursions were very good. They knew so much of the history of the cities, sites, etc. We learned a lot.
- The breakfast and lunch on board the ship was excellent. The dinner was good, although we expected better. The chef cooked local cuisine, depending on the city we had recently visited. We enjoyed tasting foods from different countries.
- The cleaning staff did a wonderful job cleaning our room and doing the laundry. They were very thorough and did an excellent job.
- The transfers to/from the airport and ship were extremely smooth. The drivers were waiting for you as you located your luggage. Plus, we had a private car to ourselves upon arriving from the U.S. to take us to the ship.
- We met some of the nicest people on board the ship. Everyone was extremely friendly.

Date: June 13, 2018

Re: Booking #:4768577 Dona Ruth Wildove.
Donna Marie Gargas
Booking #:4772346 Jonathan and Malory Wildove
Amsterdam pre-extension 9/4-6 Rhine River Cruise, 9/6-13

To Whom it May Concern:

I am writing this letter regarding the confusion and disorganization that has taken place since receiving my flight itinerary. Due to this, I have had to make multiple calls to Viking (5-10 within the past few weeks) with a call on June 10 lasting more than 60 minutes.

The following has occurred which has caused much confusion and frustration for me:

-Jonathan Wildove and Malory Wildove contacted the Viking travel agent regarding completion of the Guest Information forms (GIF) since there was some confusion about them, and he stated that they would be completed.
-Upon recently contacting Viking customer service regarding another matter, I was told that Jonathan and Malory's (GIF) were still incomplete. Jonathan contacted that customer service provider, explained the situation, and she stated that the forms will be completed by her.
Again, when I spoke to customer service this past Sunday, I was told that there was still missing information on Jonathan's GIF. Jonathan emailed Viking with required information. During that call, I was also told that Jonathan and Malory's itinerary had been sent to them. I spoke to Jonathan today, June 14, and the itineraries have not been received.
-I received an email that my GIF was incomplete. I called customer service and was told that it was complete.
-Upon receiving the itineraries for Donna Marie Gargas and myself, the accompanying email emphasized that the name on our passports should be identical to the name on the flight ticket. They were not, so I contacted customer service to correct this matter. Note that our full names were on the GIF. Also, my ticket indicated that I was Mrs. Dona Ruth Wildove, and it should've read Ms. Dona Ruth Wildove, as on the GIF.
My return flight itinerary was incorrect and I was contacted by customer service about this problem. Again, I had to contact customer service to correct this error.
When speaking to customer service regarding one of the above issues, I was checking to be sure that Donna Gargas would be on the same flight as Jonathan and Malory Wildove, as I had paid the additional $50 for this so they could travel together. She was not on the same flight. Of course, this was corrected, but added to my frustration with this process.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I can be reached at [protected]. cc:Torstein Hagen President and CEO

Sincerely,

Dona R. Wildove

We paid the extra fee to be able select our flights for an upcoming cruise. The flights were booked and were noted not only on the Viking website (MyVikingJourney) but also with Lufthansa.
Noticed tonight that the flights were switched to a non-premium flight without any notice or consultation.
Called Viking. They blamed Lufthansa saying the flight was no longer available. NOT TRUE. I contacted Lufthansa and the flight is available at the class of service we paid for.
VIKING LIED! They have us now on this utterly poor flight with a chance of not making it in time for embarkation. Their only solution was to show up in the middle of the night the day the ship embarks.
Incredibly tone deaf and poor customer service!.

Booking NO.5024867

Viking danube cruise was great as was transfer to prague hotel.

However, transfer time could have been better planned. We arrived at the hotel about 11:30 am and were told by the viking representative that we could not check in until 3 pm.

We were told no rooms were available. However, some viking guests were able to check in at the front desk. I talked with the corinthia hotel manager and he said it was a viking issue and they the ones preventing check in until 3 pm. He did not want to contradict their policy.

This is an unacceptable practice. How can no rooms be available, then all miraculously available at 3 pm? This is poor customer service and furthermore the viking reps were unsympathetic.

I was very happy at the start of my trip and now need to question if I will travel with viking again.

When I booked our trip with Viking, nobody told us that our cabin would be over the engine room on the Elba. When we cruised at night sleep was not possible. The room vibrated continuously. The crew said someone at Viking would be in touch to hear my complaint after the trip was completed. A month has gone buy and no one has called. We paid the same as the customers with non vibrating rooms. I think some credit is due for an expensive, less than pleasant vacation.

Our booking is 4692906. We have only one hour and five minutes from when our flight is supposed to land at Dulles to catch our flight. What if our flight from Cleveland is delayed even by half an hour for a thunderstorm or any other reason. Viking's representative, Reese, told me there is nothing they can do about it as the flight is ticketed. She knew I was not satisfied with her answer and switched off the customer satisfaction rating that you always get after phoning Viking. How did she do that?

Anyway, our greatest concern is missing our flight and our time in Russia for which we have paid a lot of money, and being frazzled and upset at the airport.

My wife and I just returned from the Viking Paris and the Heart of Normandy cruise on the Viking Kadlin May 18-25, and want to comment on the air travel. Booking number 4672217. We booked the trip a year ago with four other family members on the same day from the same agent. We had adjoining rooms on board.

We did not realize until just before we left that we were on three different planes, leaving at different times, with different routes, on the same day. One couple had a direct flight to Paris, the other two went through Frankfurt with different layovers and arriving in Paris at different times. The worst was that on the way home our flight from Paris to Philadelphia had a layover at Dulles in Washington, and the connecting flight was cancelled. So we ended up renting a car and driving from Washington to Philadelphia after flying from Paris. That is not Viking's fault, but we wish we had known when we booked that we could not count on direct flights to Paris. I am guessing that we could have specified direct flights and paid more, and I realize that we could have also paid more to coordinate the flights.

Other than that the cruise was great. Charles de Gaul airport is a nightmare - standing in line for three hours to first check in, then passport control, and finally security. We came to the airport over three hours ahead and got on the plane ten minutes before it left. Paris and all its attractions are mobbed with huge crowds. Giverny and Versailles are intolerable. But the boat and the crew, and the meals and the side trips were fun. I would do it again but would adjust my travel plans.

My husband and I took the Elegant Elba Cruise from April 28-May 5, 2017. This was our first Viking River Cruise. As we put in our evaluation, the Cruise was very nice, and our tour guide and staff were excellent. It all fell apart when we arrived in Berlin! The morning excursion was very poor on May 4 - lots of repetition from our drive in and the guide was very average. The Berlin at Night optional tour for 99€ each was a real rip off. We drove around for 90 min. and saw everything we had seen in the morning. No new information! Boring guide and everyone was complaining. We got to our restaurant - Georg Brady Brauhaus - for dinner and were cramped into hot and stuffy rooms. We ordered dinner and while placing our order, we asked for butter to go with our dry, cut bread. We waited through the salad course, when our guide came in to tell us that butter would cost us .50€ For each person. We were shocked - our 99€ / per person didn't cover butter? Our tour director paid for the butter but we did not receive it until we asked several times - delivered when we were finishing the main course. We were allocated 2 very small drinks. During our time at the restaurant, many went to use the restroom/toilet and were charged .50€. I know this is a practice in Europe but not when you were eating in the restaurant! We returned to the bus for 45 min of Berlin at Night - no new sites, boring guide! Unfortunately, this was our last memory of our cruise. Poor guides, no coordination between tours, an unsatisfactory dinner at 9pm, and very little Berlin at Night all for 99€ each. It seems a partial refund is warranted.

We missed our first flight due to a printing error on the flight information downloaded from Air France. Lines were overlapping each other and what we thought was the departure time was actually the arrival time. As a result we spent then next 40 hours in airports with 8 and 5 hour layovers over 3 flight arriving a day late for our cruise and exhausted.
We paid an additional$2, 850 to rebook our flight and now Viking refuses to address the paperwork faxed to them while we were still on the cruise or any of the 5 emails I have sent to Ralph Beyer - hotel manager of the Mani, Robin Ransom in the air department who rebooked my flight or Karen ChinnonDawson who demanded my payment. You know you were refunded or should have been for most of the original flight as I rebooked before it even landed on the first leg and the flight had been cancelled at that time. With all the flights you book I am sure you got a full refund which is what I am asking for. I paid $1980 for 2 premium class tickets and had to pay for my own upgrade on the flight there because I was told premium class was not available, but it was.
I am fine with paying for my own upgrades and the difference in the original flight - but Air France and yourself need to take some responsibility too. It it had printed correctly, which was due to their website not my printer as the bottom of the form was OK, none of this would have happened.
I tried to check in on line that morning and it would not let me said I needed to do it at the airport so I tried to at 2:30.
Viking is great when you are booking trips and giving them money, but their customer service is horrible when you are requesting a refund or have an issue. No one responds - they just bury their head and act like you did not contact them.
I will pursue this issue until I am refunded for my original flight.

Booked river cruise to China, at $ 3625.00 per person, were charged
$ 5174.00 per person, apparently we have missed the special dates where
you can get the cheaper price. We have unfortunately day before booked the airfares to China and this is not refundable, so we can't cancel this trip, but hoping to get some adjustment. Customer service is very unhelpful,
negative, regardless loosing the customers. If this issue is not resolved, it will be our last trip with Viking. Last year we went to Russia, it was quite nice, a few small problems, but acceptable. This is a much bigger issue, over $ 3000.00 out of our original budget.
Awaiting your reply
Renee Hemelka

I recently returned with a group of 30 people from the Viking Sky Cruise Group # C103917 departing on April 14-21, 2018.
This group has traveled on your river cruises twice and decided to try the Ocean cruise this time. The ship was beautiful, and the personnel were delightful however, we did have a few issues.

We were very disappointed with the tour guides that are offered on the tours.
They do not speak or understand English well enough to be a tour guide. Some were worst than others, but the majority were also very boring. The groups were not divided into leisurely or regular walking tours. Many very SLOW people were in our groups that should have been in leisurely. Avalon offers active groups and I suggest that you look into changing your policies breaking the group down to physical needs to your elderly clients and not place them in regular groups. On one of our tours, the bus caught fire which was very disturbing as my client yelled to get off the bus as the guide was very passive about the matter. It ended up the brakes caught fire. Another issue was that our group all paid for the the BCN extension and was originally put in the Hilton Hotel and at the last minute was switched to the Renaissance in Barcelona. Upon check in, the hotel had given all the twin beds away and said Viking had not requested them, which I know we did. I called Viking and was told to have clients pay the additional fee, and submit when they returned, since the hotel charged one couple more money to have a twin room. The other clients were given a queen bed with a rollaway in a very small room which was unacceptable but had to be taken since there was no other recourse. One room was leaking antifreeze and they couldn't even accommodate another room. They tried to fix the leak but unable to do so. We were only there 2 nights so the 4 couples took what they were given and are asking for some sort of reimbursement. I think when Viking changed hotels, someone dropped the ball to request the twin rooms. I am hoping you can look into this matter and let me know what we can do to rectify the issues we had during our recent cruise. I am hoping to book this group for a 4th time, but not sure they will cruise Viking again. Please let me know!Barbara Four Corners Travel IATA [protected]

My 83 year old husband and I purchased a trip to Cuba for November 2017 on Viking Cruise Lines. The Viking representative touted and encouraged us to purchase their Tripmate cancellation package, which we though would be a good idea because of my husband's asthma and age. Shortly before the trip my husband began experiencing respiratory problems, ended up in the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia. We cancelled our Cuba trip. Due to the respiratory issues and coughing he began bleeding internally and was back in the hospital for three more days. We applied for a trip refund through Viking/Tripmate. After submitting the required paperwork we made multiple phone calls to check on the status of the refund. It is impossible to get through to a live person on the Viking Tripmate phone line. They put you on hold for hours and then suddenly they disconnect you. In checking with the Better Business Bureau I learned the Tripmate insurance has a 87% negative rating and only 10% positive. Consumer Affairs give them a one star rating out of five. Even Viking cruise sales representatives admit they hear constant complaints over and over about efforts to get refunds from Viking/Tripmate. Do not purchase Viking travel insurance. It is a scam; they know it and yet they continue to offer it. The last we heard is an eCheck was issued five days ago (according to their tracking website), yet when we call the service that issues the eChecks they have no record of anything ever being issues. At this point I cannot trust Viking Cruise Lines and certainly not their cancellation insurance. They know they have a problem, yet do nothing about it, so unethical. I will do everything I can to give negative feedback on social media until this issued is resolved.