Viking River Cruises
Reviews and Complaints

Trip was originally booked in June 2019 for a cruise in July 2020 which was cancelled by Viking due to Covid. We were offered to book another cruise with a $500 booking discount at 125% value of the original cruise so we rebooked (booking number 6159243). We also purchased the travel protection plan. We started calling Viking in May (thinking the 120 day cancellation applied) but were told that the that doesn't apply in this case and that we could cancel up to 1 day before the cruise. In May, both travelers have developed medical conditions (and meet the requirements for "specified reasons") that would prevent them from going on the cruise but were told that eventhough we qualify under the term of the protection plan the refundable amount is zero because a voucher has no value and is non-refundable. So we called twice and were told there was no way we could get our money back, the best we could do is call to cancel and get another travel voucher which we will *never* be able to use based on our age and diagnosis. All we want is the money back that we originally paid back in 2019. I don't understand why we paid for the travel protection plan if Viking won't refund at least the monies they have been paid (may be less than cruise value). Numerous calls to Viking have not provided any solution to this problem - all we can do is cancel and get another non-transferrable voucher. We can't help that our health has changed so dramatically over the past 3 years but I thought that's why we purchased the insurance. Please help.

First for all I have MULTIPLE complaints on our recent July Viking River cruise. We started the 18 day event on July 5th from Paris and traveled to Normandy and back to Paris for the first leg of two cruises. This was our third Viking River cruise and it was fantastic like that others we traveled on. We traveled to our second leg that would depart from Lyon France. We ere booked on the France Bullet train from Paris to Lyon, in coach and not first class.

FIRST Issue: When we boarded the Viking River Boat, we found the air-conditioning was lacking the dinning and bar area could not maintain a comfortable setting. They blamed the hot weather and a larger compressor was ordered. The air-condition problem was never fixed and the heat in both areas was totally unsatisfactory. They continued to blame the high heat, but many of us had said with Viking before in similar high heat conditions and the boat air-conditioning was able to handle the heat.

SECOND Issue: The support staff for dinner and bar area were noticeably understaffed and cased along delays in service. They tried to compensate for the understaffing by increasing buffets, which very uncommon in Viking. A couple people told me they waited 20 minutes for deserts.

THIRD Issue: We were offered a free beverage upgrade when we signed up for the new France's Finest cruise. I had no problem with the Viking system recognizing my complimentary beverage on the first leg, but they Viking cruise from Lyon had no account of the complimentary beverage package. I was told to check with the Service Desk to resolve the problem, Upon explaining the issue with the Service Desk, I was informed that shoe could do nothing to help my without me proving to her that I paid for the service. She asked for a copy of my paid invoice, without that she could not help. One thing I noticed on this particular cruise was some of the staff started to use the word NO, which I never heard on previous Viking Crusies. In order to resolve the payment issue, I was required to call Viking in California on my dime and they immediately pulled up my record and emailed me the invoice to clearly noted the beverage package was complimentary. I should this to the lady at the service desk and she said she needed a hard copy so could see it to her management for approval. It was like I was trying to cheat Viking for the drink package. So I emailed it to her and she sent it off to her management and it was immediately approved. What a waste my my vacation time and I had to pay for the call to Viking! I still have no idea why she could not handle this issue herself with a few internal emails to verify my records. Clearly she needed training on how to resolve customer issues.

Tensions were high at time because the ship was so hot. First timers said they would never travel on Viking again. All Viking needed to do, was tell the passengers there was a serious Air Conditioning issue that could not be resolved during the cruise. Unfortunately the Captain could not speak to understand English so there was no need to express dissatisfaction to him.There were a few other issues, but they related to the tour guides.

We were excited to book another Viking cruise, but like many of the passengers, we too are having second thoughts. I assume they have grown too fast and lack the staff and finances to handle the growth.

There are many European river cruise companies to choose from...so don't choose Viking. Go with any other company! I had my first Viking River cruise several years ago during the Christmas markets. I felt the experience with Viking was ho-hum for many reasons. BUT, I thought maybe it was the time of year. When Viking had their 25th Anniversary Sale with air included, my cousin wanted to go and I thought...give Viking another chance. Other people have wonderful experiences with them. So we decided to book a 14 day Rhine/Danube trip. I figured this would be a second opportunity to prove they are the superior river cruise company. (I've gone on Gate1 and liked them a lot.)

Well, everything was seamless in the booking/pre-cruise process till the last week when Delta changed our air significantly, i.e. 3 hours later. I called the air department to explain that this meant we were arriving closer to noon than at 8 a.m. and would have no time to explore the city. Was it possible to change to a day earlier since the airline made a significant change? Esmerelda said that their policy is to change to a flight earlier in the day but since there were none, a day earlier would work. I understood we would be responsible for our hotel and transfers since we were no longer arriving as originally scheduled--and was happy to do so. No complaints there. I confirmed there would be no fees or price increases since this was Delta's change and Esmeralda agreed and said the ticket would be reissued shortly. In the meantime, I was sent a revised flight schedule by Viking which was actually the original schedule. So I called Viking back again and was told not to worry, it takes a bit for the ticket to be reissued.

When I looked on my Delta app, it appeared the ticket had been reissued for a day earlier. But all the previous tickets also showed up so I called Delta and they removed all but the new itinerary.

After a week of dreaming of spending a full day in Amsterdam, hurriedly taking care of all the loose ends at home, today, as I was checking in on the Delta site, I kept getting an error message. It said the tickets were not issued. I called Delta. They confirmed Viking never reissued the tickets (they were still for the original date--although nothing on the Delta site showed we had any other flights except tomorrows.)

I called Viking and I was on with them for over two hours. Kitty (supervisor) just repeated over and over that they could do nothing. We were on our original flight booked because the delay wasn't long enough. (This is not true in the real world where this amount of time allows a passenger to rebook). I explained that I spent hours this last week confirming our hotel and transfer reservations and finalizing items in my household so I could leave a day early because Esmeralda, a Viking Representative confirmed our day earlier flight. Kitty confirmed that the notes in the Viking file stated that we did talk to Esmerelda and that we'd requested a flight one day earlier. She didn't ever say, Viking screwed up. She said that this change was not possible at this late point. I said it wasn't late when I requested as it was one week earlier. It was as if we were the bad guests for requesting an air deviation when Delta made the change. Under normal circumstances, 3 hours is enough to change your flight without any penalties or increases in fare.

I asked to speak to Kitty's supervisor or someone higher in the air department as I had been assured that we were going a day earlier by Esmerelda. If this turned out not to be possible, why didn't someone call as soon as they knew so we would not be working on lodging in Amsterdam. We have lost a day in Amsterdam. I have lost over 60 hours of planning with Delta, Viking, and lodging accommodations. I asked Kitty to check out my phone conversation with Esmerelda. She said it would take 36-72 hours to do this which would be after the new scheduled flight date. We'd be back to our original itinerary.

Viking should be ashamed of themselves. They say they offer a wonderful, seamless experience with air and cruise. They say their employees are top notch. However, it is only wonderful if the employees do their jobs and someone dropped the ball on our reservation. But no one will admit it. Now we've made airport arrangements, everything is packed...and we're delayed a day.

Please use Gate1 or any of the other river cruise options. Viking doesn't care about customer service and they won't admit when they are wrong. I had so wanted to be a satisfied Viking customer. I travel a great deal and give shout outs to all the great companies...but unless Viking corrects this situation, I won't be shouting positives about them.

Desired outcome: Viking reviews conversation between Esmerelda & myself. I'd like an apology, with Viking accepting full responsibility. Viking could upgrade our room & include gratuities on this voyage, But unfortunately, Viking won't read this until we are well on our way. If no upgrade or gratuities, a partial refund for this error.

July 19, 2022

We waited diligently for booking of prime tours offered on this excursion (booked about 18 mo ago) to open yesterday. The prime tours (Falmouth, Bruges, Paris, Porto, Grenada, Murcia and Barcelona) were already sold out! These prime tours were the main reason we booked this particular trip. However, be advised that unless you booked the super premium cabins onboard, you are out of luck as thepeople in these cabins bought up all of these tours and they are sold out before our booking even opens. Apparently there is class discrimination and money talks. I’m expecting the same problem when dining options booking opens next week. We had a wonderful experience on the Viking River Grand tour 3 years ago and expected the same on this ocean cruise. Not to be. We are extremely disappointed and unless Viking realizes they need to make additional arrangements for the more popular prime tours, we will not recommend Viking to our friends and family nor will we ever book with Viking again. The response received is “priority cabin booking” is first. Who knew when we booked initially? This particular cruise is also a limited offering.

After having two cruises to the nile cancelled and one to paris switzerland because

1. Covid issue (understand)

2. Ship not completed (?)

I have spend many hours reviewing and researching all tours prior to availability and go on to book the minute I can and... Paris louvre museum & panoramic paris and picturesque poldark they are sold out... Why... How... Very disappointed and frustrated. Did not spend all this money to just ride on the ship.

This may not be a not be a big deal as most... But a very big deal for me...

Please advise how to get on these tours... Please...

Viking's treatment of it's customers makes no sense... they combined two of my trips (without asking) into one "butterfly trip" which meant when I had to cancel the first, it cancelled the 2nd. What? Why? That' our policy,. 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. What? Why? That's our policy. Viking is not a good company to work with.

My husband and I booked the Christmas Market Cruise for Nov. 2023 from Switzerland to Amsterdam and received a payment extension (was not informed a onetime offer). Called approximately 5 days later to change to Amsterdam to Switzerland and lost our payment extension (was not informed would loose with changing booking). I called on July 14th spoke with Brook about payment extension information, received data that one time offer, and we couldn't get for new itinerary change. I asked her to let me talk to someone that could help me with this issue. After being on hold for a reasonable time she came back and told me that Viking was unable to grant my request. She told me "Tito" would not grant the request and he wasn't available to talk with me. We were just on a river cruise with one of your competitors and received much more customer service without even asking for it. This will be our 5th cruise with Viking, would think, that being loyal customers would have some benefits.

Planned a 7/8 day viking river cruise from 6/24/22-71/22., Regensford to Budapest. Viking Air was our agent. First flight out of Reagan National for trip, 6/23, was cancelled - unknown to me until time to attempt our check in. Viking Air failed to get notified nor did any party notify me. Called Viking and they discovered that the Airline, American Air, had cancelled around 3 am and rescheduled a flight out next day, 36 hrs later from different airport, which would have not made the boat departure even on day 2. Viking Air attempted to schedule an appropriate change but were unsuccessful. Had Viking / Viking Air been on top of the flight changes the result may have been our still making the cruise! Viking has so far refused to reimburse my approximate $7000 or provide a voucher for future cruise. Rather, Viking offered a 15% reimbursement. No. A suit against Viking / viking Air will occur if not resolved since they acted as my agent and let the ball drop.

My wife and I were booked on the Grand European Tour however when I got to Budapest, I tested positive for covid. As a result, I was quarantined in a hotel for 7 days till i tested negative then rushed out of the country within 24 hours of the test. I have the travel protection plan and was supposed to be covered for this type of problem.

I received a notification today from the insurance company with two checks totaling $3000.00 out of a $23,690 expenditure to Viking. This included the Travel Protection Plan which guarantees 100% reimbursements. The claim was filed over 30 days ago and to date we only have the 3 grand.

We are not thrilled with the insurance situation. Viking was a class act in Budapest but expected better customer service with the insurance.

If and when we receive the refund, we will be rebooking the Grand European Tour again .

I purchase the 2 Rhine River Cruise tickets for my daughter and myself for an Augua 2020 cruise. This was cancelled by Viking. I accepted a voucher, not knowing the voucher is not transferable. I found out after having to cancel again in 2022, due to being a hospital nurse and still having staffing issues and cancelled vacation. When I cancelled, my daughter let me know she would no longer be able to go in the future due to moving, marrying, and now a baby coming.

I contacted Viking to transfer the cruise to someone that can go and was told they would not allow it. One guy said "you have 2 yrs she can figure it out"! I have contacted them multiple times and told that although I paid the money and this does not affect their business in any way, they will not allowe to transfer my daughter's voucher to another person.

To me, this is thievery! You took my money, I would like to use the service, does it matter the Viking who goes with me? For all the good I had heard about Viking in the past, I have a bad taste in my mouth about this company. I would encourage anyone not to book through Viking and know that they for some reason have an issue with anyone transferring a voucher to actually use their services. They only want your money. It's all about them just having made an $15,000 profit without providing a service.

On September 8, 2021, I booked a Viking River Cruise from Paris to Normandy departing on July 24, 2022 and paid in full about a month later. The cruise is for myself and my disabled sister. At the time of booking the agent didn't mention that we would have to provide details of my sister's wheelchair or a letter from her doctor stating that she is fit to travel. It was only when I called Viking some two months ago to inquire whether there would be an iron in our room, that I learned about this. I provided the wheelchair information to the agent I spoke with two months ago and my sister's doctor mailed the fit to travel letter to Viking Cruises from their surgery in London on June 9, 2022. Since then I have attempted to speak and email with many Viking representatives, the last being Courtney, Senior Customer Service Supervisor on June 30 who informed me that the doctor's letter was being reviewed and that I would hear from someone either by phone or email within a week. I still have heard nothing and have left two voicemail messages for Courtney to call me. I am due to fly to London on July 18 to pick up my sister and travel to Paris on the Eurostar so I am getting really concerned. I have not mentioned my concern to my sister as I don't want to ruin things for her. I am really upset at the lack of communication from Viking.

We, as a senior citizen couple, recently returned from a Viking Riverboat Cruise in Europe. Respectively, our ages at time of trip were 81 and 77. It was our observation that the average age of travelers on this trip was over 65. Our trip began on May 10, 2022 and scheduled to end on May 24, 2022. The actual cruise dates were to be May 13 through May 20, 2022.

In Germany, we visited Trier and Bernkastel on the 13th and 14th. Then to Cochen and Koblenz on the 15th and 16th, where we were last docked at the city of Winningen. We were scheduled to to leave and dock briefly in Niederlahnstein at noon on the 16th and continue on for scenic sailing on the Middle Rhine River, through the 17th and 18th until we reached Wurzburz and then later to Bamberg on the 19th, disembarking on the 20th, which was the scheduled end of our cruise.

However, we remained in Winningen and while docked there, excursions were made to either Heidleburg or Koblenz on the 17th. We remained in dock there until the 18th of May, due to a maintenance issue with the river locks, we were told. We were therefore advised on the 17th that we would disembark from the river vessel the next day, which was the 18th, as the boat could not proceed down the rivers as planned. Just like that, our cruise was over.

Then…our bus tour began in earnest. We departed for Wutrzburg at 7:30 AM on the 18th, lunch and a short city tour at 12:00 until 4:30 PM ,when we departed by bus again to Nuremberg. This eight hour bus trip had taken the place of a two and one-half day river cruise on the Beautiful “Father Rhine River”, as it is now, and has been referred to for a long time, by Germany. This scenic cruise along the Rhine was to have been the highlight of the entire river cruise, not to mention the most relaxing, romantic, and memorable events enjoyed as well. In fact, many of UNESCO World Heritage Sites are located along the Rhine’s riverbanks which additionally has been officially known as an international waterway since 1831. This was the “Heart” of the total trip, substituted by an eight hour bus trip that in no way could compare. This was to have been, “the icing on the cake.” This omission of grandeur should have been addressed by Viking Corporate, as well as a sincere and truthful accounting of what actually went wrong causing the sudden and premature disembarkation of the riverboat, and as a result the end of the cruise for each and everyone traveling onboard. The excursions, although enjoyed, are simply the appetizer, not the main course. Viking, in no way, has addressed this void in the expectations of everyone on this trip. It appears to me and countless others that Viking should have stepped up and offered substantial retribution to all of this trip’s travelers, for a promise unkept. Instead, the matter has been swept under the rug, and disregarded by the casual offering of a ten percent travel voucher for a future trip, which would have happened as a matter of fact, if the trip had exceeded expectations. Standard PR. In this instance, Viking Corporate has failed to even thank their senior citizen customers for their business, let alone recognize their disappointment in a failed product by explanation and retribution.

Of a personal nature, we as a couple pre paid gratuities for the cruise itself totaling $ 252.00. Our stay in a hotel mid trip was not covered by our prepayment of gratuities. An additional

$200.00 credit was to be provided us as a couple while aboard the riverboat for anything we chose, drinks, etc. We were not afforded that convenience.due to shortening of cruise. Three meals per day plus either wine or beer at lunch and dinner were to be provided each day while aboard the riverboat. Days in mid trip hotel were not totally so provided. Total payment for the trip not including upgrades and trip voucher for delay of trip by Covid, amounted to $9, 039.52

List of Complaints About Viking

Paying for business class for all our flights and being in economy class from London to Istanbul

Luggage at Conrad Hotel

Day spent on bus and at lunch at wedding venue when we were supposed to be visiting historical sights in Istanbul

Laundry not working for 2 days – having to spend all my free time troubleshooting problems on boat

Being told that we can use vouchers for on board but not able to use them and being lied to by multiple people

Having REALLY BAD, RUDE, HOSTILE, AGGRESSIVE, tour guides in Rhodes and being charged more money for excursions by Viking than what we would pay independently but not receiving good guides. Our guide was so bad on our 8 hour tour we left after 2 hours and had to pay $100 to get back to the boat.

I have given an extensive explanation to the excursion coordinator on Viking Sky.

My husband and I spent $30,000 for this trip. So far it is worse than a cheap Carnival Cruise. We are not even ½ way through our trip and we have had a lot of problems. I am disappointed, frustrated, and angry – I have extreme regret that we trusted Viking Cruises. My husband and I have been traveling all over the world for 30 years and this is the most wasted amount of money we have ever spent on a trip that is supposed to be exciting, interesting, and relaxing.

I will finish my list when this is over.

Last July my parents spent over $11,000 booking a Viking River Cruise in Europe. My father had cancer, but had been given the green light by his doctor to go. The travel agent insisted they take out the travel insurance, which they did, and a couple of weeks before the cruise was due to leave my father’s blood cell count dropped dangerously low and it was decided it was best for them to cancel. They had been assured the trip insurance would cover it. Viking River Cruises demanded letters from my fathers doctors at least three times and had more than sufficient information, yet they still refused to issue a refund; instead issuing two vouchers only good for one year to the person’s name it was in, knowing full well my father had pancreatic cancer and the chance of him being able to use that voucher was extremely slim. My father passed away in April and we called Viking to see how to get the voucher transferred so someone else could use it and they said it was non-transferable; in other words, they plan on pocketing the $5500 without offering any service. We have a lawyer on it, who they’ve ignored and the vouchers are due to expire next month. They’ve dragged their feet on this purposely, so that on top of not having to reissue a voucher for my father they can say they’re now expired. Never have I heard of a company being so rigid that they wouldn’t re-issue a deceased man’s voucher, especially when they had all of the documentation and knew full well this would most likely happen. This is nothing more than an excuse to steal $5500 and force my mother into paying for another ticket if she wants to use her voucher. This shouldn’t be legal. This is the worst company I’ve ever dealt with; they absolutely have no remorse and refuse to budge.

We booked a Cruise in 2019 to go to Paris in 2020. The cruise was canceled due to Covid. We converter our money in a risk free voucher. After conversion they changed requirements to covid vaccine. We are not vaccinated. We've been postponing our Cruise since then and got no answers or returning our money.

Now they said the voucher is going to expire on December that means, we are not getting our money back and we can't Cruise.

Viking cruise lines canceled our cruise two years in a row due to covid. We have asked for a full refund numerous times but continue to get no response from Viking. They have changed the rules from our original booking and now require vaccines and covid testing. If we don’t comply with their new rules we can’t go on the cruise that we paid for nearly 3 years ago. Viking claims that our cash payment is now in the form of a voucher and has no value! We want our money back! When we purchased this cruise Viking had no medical requirements to travel. They can’t just change their rules and then refuse to give you your money back if you don’t conform to their new requirements. The customer service agents just recite the standard line that there is no longer a cash value only a voucher which we can’t use due to Viking changing their cruise requirements. We believe Viking is in breach of the original cruise contract that we signed. They can’t just change the rules and then keep your money! Full refund requested in cash!

Cindy Gotchey

Trip originally booked and paid for in 2019 for trip in August 2020. Viking cancelled due to COVID and offered 125% vouchers to rebook, which our group took. August 2021 cancelled by Viking who gave our ship to a Chinese group! We rebooked for August 2022, paying a few hundred dollars extra to renew TripMate Insurance. After our rebooking in 2021, Viking instituted a 100% vaccination policy, not in effect when we rebooked. Three of us cannot take the shots but have recently had COVID. Have called and written to numerous people supposedly in management and there is no exemption - period. Viking might give us a voucher extension until Feb 2023, but vaccination requirement would still keep us from traveling. They will not give cash back because ‘a voucher has no cash value’! A trip booked using a voucher has no cancellation clause with TripMate Insurance for any reason, including terminal illness or death!

Viking has had our money for 3 years and will not let us travel and will not refund our money. Is this even legal?

My wife and I planned an extended vacation and cruise on Viking. We gave them $33,000. Our departure date was set for 3/5/22 and returning to Seattle on 4/20/22. Unfortunately my younger son had to split up from his unmarried partner. That union produced two wonderful little children, currently aged 3/12 and 2 years old. My son became very depressed, developed a drinking problem to the point where he almost committed suicide. He called my wife to say goodby and she could hear him ratcheting the slide of his pistol while talking with him. She immediately called our older son who lived close by at that time and within minutes he was able to go to my younger son's apartment and get the gun out of his hand. He has since been in two one month treatment programs and seems to be doing well. However, he doesn't have any other support system in Seattle, besides us, and his brother no longer lives near him. My younger son's job is that of a ship yard welder. He has to be at work by 6AM, we have moved from our home in Bellingham to be near him. We get up at 4:30 to get to his apartment by 5AM so that he can get to work. We do this 3 or 4 days a week depending on the parenting schedule. Until the children are older and or my son finds another partner who is grounded and helpful we have become the primary care givers. The children's mother, in our opinion, is a Borderline Personality Disorder and her entire family, her mother, her father, are all very disfunction. We can't take any extended trips until they get older and our more independent. So far Viking has offered us vouchers, the Viking insurance carrier, Trip Mate, also gave us vouchers that are only valid for one year. Have spoken with various representatives and had email correspondence with same and at this point they are ignoring me and not responding me at all.

I am accusing Viking of corporate greed. My wife died unexpectantly in February 2022. I have asked for a refund and have been denied. They are suggesting that I either go alone or find someone else to go with. This is very unacceptable to me. I have explained that I have no desire to take this trip or another without her. They said because we accepted vouchers no refund would be possible. The best that they can do is refund my wife's portion in February 2023 and I would have 2 years to use my portion. Unbelievable this is how they are treating me. I have also been trying to cancel our trip that was supposed to take place July 27th since March 3rd. I have tried 3 times to cancel this trip the 3rd time being June 27th. I was told to forward my wife's death certificate for the 3rd time to them and they would get back to me. Not only is this unreasonable and stressful but very irritating. Any respectable company should understand that when someone loses their loved one their whole world is turned upside down. I have also written to the owner of Viking months ago and have not had a reply. There is not one person I have talked to that doesn't think Viking is in the wrong for not refunding the entire purchased price. I'm tired of being jerked around by the incompetent personal that Viking has employed. I have been respectful and patience but have gotten nowhere. Please review this mater and again I am requesting a full refund.

Our trip with Viking on the Grand European Tour did not go as we expected. We previously traveled with Viking on the Bordeaux rivers with very good success. Below is an enumeration of the many problems we encountered on the Viking Odin.

Viking Air difficulties:

We used Viking Air to book our flights. Our flights were changed three times, with the last change made about one week before departure. We were booked on United Airlines, who then used IcelandicAir. This was then changed to American Airlines, who then used British Airways. Finally, we were then informed that the flight was changed back to United Airlines. This was hard to keep track of.

In all instances though, we were not given seat assignments on our outbound flight from Eugene, Oregon (EUG). We kept checking back daily to see if seat assignments had been made. Nope. This was upsetting as it felt like the assignments were not finished. Also, we were unable to check-in online, and we could not get our boarding passes. Finally, Viking Air told us to just go to the check-in counter in EUG to get our seat assignments, that everything would be OK. We were suspicious of this response.

We did get acceptable seat assignments once we checked our baggage. This was a relief. However, when we got boarding passes, Martin received passes with TSA Pre-Check on them, Leslie did not, even though she is also TSA Pre-Check. This caused delays on all flights, and extra searches of Leslie in Eugene, Reykjavik, Budapest, Munich and San Francisco.

Pre-cruise extension in Bruges:

Our flights were booked through Viking Air. They were changed three times, with the last change made about one week before departure. This change made our arrival time in Brussels at about 1:00 pm (13:00 hours local time). This was good because our original flight plan had us arriving at about 6:30 pm (18:30 hours local time). However, even with this change, we were unable to participate in the first pre-cruise extension excursion.

However, upon arrival in Brussels (BRU), our transfer from the airport to the hotel in Bruges was not at the airport. We looked several times, we tried calling Viking unsuccessfully. Finally, Leslie called the Viking emergency phone number. This caused her to use her Verizon phone international plan at an extra charge ($10).

Leslie called three times to Viking Emergency. The first two times she was told that someone would call her back with information about what we were supposed to do. No one called her back. The third time, Viking Emergency told her to take a taxi to the hotel. She was told that this would be reimbursed by Viking. We took a taxi from Brussels to Bruges. The charge was 262.20 Euros. This translated to $273.26 plus a currency translation fee of $8.19 for a total cost of $281.45.

While on the way from Brussels to Bruges (almost at the hotel), we received a call from our transfer driver. He indicated that he was about to go to the airport. We said, “don’t bother, we are in a taxi approaching the hotel”. This was after waiting about two hours in Brussels for Viking Emergency to call us back. The transfer agent said he expected us to arrive at about 6:30 pm, so it was apparent that he was unaware of the flight changes.

About one week before our departure, we were informed that the Viking Aegir would be replaced by the Viking Odin. No other information was provided. Only after our arrival did we discover that the Viking Aegir had been in an accident with several injuries to participants on the prior cruise. This was unsettling.

After our transfer from Bruges to Amsterdam, we finally arrived on the vessel, Viking Odin. Despite taking great pains to complete all pre-cruise paperwork and Covid testing, we were not asked for any of the information. Instead, we were given a quick Antigen test and told to wait in our stateroom. If no one contacted us in an hour, we were free to move about the ship. This seemed a little loose and would have preferred a confirmation that we did not test positive for Covid.

While unpacking in our stateroom, I used the bathroom. I found the lights to be flickering beside the mirror. It appeared to me that the light bulbs must be loose in their sockets, so I proceeded to dismantle the light fixture and tightened the bulbs. This solved the problem.

In the evening, I turned on the lamp in the sitting room. This light bulb was also flickering. However, no amount of tightening fixed this issue. We decided to not use this lamp.

We also discovered that the light fixture on our balcony did not work. We tried several times, but, again, decided not to use the balcony after dark.

On our first day, we heard announcements over the speakers in our stateroom. Then they stopped working. We thought the program director decided to not broadcast into the rooms. Whenever we heard announcements, we tried to quickly open our stateroom door so we could hear the announcements in the hallway. After about a week of this, we talked to other passengers with the same issue. Some told us if we jiggled the volume control, it might start working again. We did this and found a position of the volume control that worked for the announcements.

Leslie washed her hair, then tried to use the hairdryer in the bathroom. She discovered that it would not plug into the outlet in the bathroom, though it appeared to be the proper plug to fit the outlet. After searching elsewhere in the stateroom, she found an outlet that would work for her. Basically, had to dry her hair out of the bathroom which annoyed her.

After about three days of sailing, the toilets stopped working. They would no longer flush. The vacuum system seemed to have failed for all staterooms. We were told the toilets in the common area still worked. I used the non-handicapped third floor toilet, and it seemed to work. However, after I used it, it stopped working and only the handicapped restroom on the third floor was working. All passengers were lining up to use this. This was difficult though, because the door sensor on the handicapped restroom door kept opening the door. After much experimentation, passengers discovered how to enter this room, stand away from the door, then they could lock the door. After several hours (after shore excursions) we were told the toilets were working again. This alleviated the line-ups at the one toilet that worked. However, the non-handicapped restroom was never put back into service. Instead, an out-of-order sign was taped to the door.

The day after the toilets were fixed, we discovered a wet spot on our stateroom carpet in the closet area. Water appeared to be along the wall behind the shower and into the closet area. We pointed this out to our housekeeper. She said this was a known problem in the shower door design, that water leaked on the hinge side of the shower door and would escape into the stateroom. We accepted this explanation at first. However, by the second day, the amount of water on the carpet seemed to be more than explained by a slight leaking from the shower door. Over the days, the wet spot became progressively worse to the point that the carpet was squishy when Leslie got out of bed. I ended up having to use the provided slippers to keep my feet from getting wet. We also asked for extra towels to put onto the carpet to help absorb the excess water. We replaced these daily.

About two days later, we woke up to discover that the ship had no power. This was the morning we were to arrive in Nuremberg.

The night before I had made arrangements to have lunch with my friends from the Nuremberg area. In fact they were going to drive two hours to meet up with us. But in the morning the ship was not only powerless, it was adrift in the river.

We were unsure if it was just in our stateroom or the entire ship. The lights were on in the hallway, so I ventured down to the coffee station to get coffee. The common area restroom worked, the coffee machine worked, but the water faucets in the common area sinks and the coffee station did not work. To my surprise, a housekeeper was vacuuming the floor in the lounge. I suspect I used the last of the water in the common area (handicapped) toilet and the last of the coffee.

The ship appeared to stop drifting and was tied up to the side of a canal (not a regular dock). I went in to check our stateroom backroom again and made the mistake of closing the sliding glass door. The door would not reopen!

Leslie tried to assist me getting out of the restroom. After no such luck, she called guest services. She was given a very flippant response that I should just unlock the door. I knew this was not the problem, that the door was stuck off of its track. Leslie insisted that help be sent to get me out of the restroom.

To her surprise, the captain showed up at our door. He saw the problem. He assisted by pressing on, and lifting the door back onto its track. We told him the door had been sticking and needed adjustment. He said he would add it to the list of items to be fixed, but that it was a low priority due to problems he was having getting the police (yes, several police cars had arrived to sequester the vessel) to approve allowing the ship into the canal for continuation into Nuremberg. Of course, we did not know of the prior problems Viking had with vessels just two weeks earlier.

So, we were resigned to using our restroom with the door in the fully open position. Fortunately, the door to the bedroom closed so we had some privacy.

Time was getting late for our first on-shore excursion in Nuremberg. I did not know when or if the water and electricity would be fixed. I called our friends and told them not to come to Nuremberg as we did not know if we were stuck on the ship.

Finally, buses were brought to the ship to send us all on our shore excursion about an hour later than expected. Of course, all passengers were without shaving, showering and toilets, so an early stop was finding toilets to use. It felt like we were being shuffled off the ship to get out of the way of the engineers.

We returned to the vessel after the shore excursion and discovered that three people were working on our bathroom door. They recognized the problem, made some adjustments that allowed us to almost close the door. It would stick before it was completely closed. This was the second time, of a total of four times, that the captain and/or engineers worked on our door.

The ship was finally allowed to proceed through the canal to go on to our next port of call. I was very disappointed to call off the luncheon with our friends. I still don’t know if they believe my story.

Throughout the trip, our WiFi seemed somewhat intermittent. At first, we felt it might have been due to our location and lack of services. However, once we were docked, and we had a different Viking vessel on either side of our ship, we dismissed this thought. We had a strong WiFi signal from both other ships, just not our ship. We could not, of course, log onto the other ship’s WiFi because we did not have a stateroom number and a passcode. We were told the problem was with the Spanish router being used by our ship. This didn’t make a lot of sense because the other ships had a strong signal. Ours did not.

I mentioned four attempts to repair our bathroom door. After the third attempt, the engineer said it was a defective door. He almost had it fixed, but to open it we had to grab the door at the bottom to slide it open. Because we wanted to use the bathroom, we did this for two days. The engineer’s comment to me was “I don’t know how to fix it”.

We continued for a couple more days. Leslie had another instance of being stuck in the bathroom. By grabbing it at the bottom, we were able to open the door. We believe our housekeeper also had problems with it because we returned from our shore excursion to find two engineers working on it again. They finally got it working in a nearly acceptable manner, but we felt sorry for the mess that the housekeeper had to clean up after them. All of this time, they were working on the wet carpeting outside of the bathroom door, and they said nothing about this.

We were finally in Passau and looking forward to our optional Bavarian Cruise in Scharding. We were disappointed because this was not quite as we had hoped. It was more of a town walk, than a cruise. And we were late getting back to the boat because the salt barge was having problems getting docked to release the passengers.

The next day we were in Krems and looking forward to our Wachau Valley Winery excursion. Again, we were disappointed as this excursion was late in the day. We were expecting some food on this excursion, but we only received a bread roll. Perhaps the explanation when we signed up for this excursion was a bit misleading, but both Leslie and I thought we would get more food on this excursion.

Our cruise was nearing its end, but the water problems continued. We returned to the ship after our excursion, in Vienna I believe, to discover that none of the water faucets or toilets were working. The explanation was that the ship was resupplying its water tanks. But this explanation came from other passengers, not from any ship-wide announcements. All passengers were anxious to use restrooms after the excursion, but we were shuffled to the dining room instead. The water was back on by the time we finished our lunch.

General problems and issues that were exacerbated by the numerous problems above:

We found the stateroom bed to be very uncomfortable. It was too hard. The first two nights I slept on the sitting room couch because it was more comfortable for me. By the end of the voyage, Leslie was having problems with her back causing pains in her legs. This continued for three days after the trip and is only now improving. I attributed this to the bed because of the cramping it was causing me on the first few nights.

We understand that the boats need to sometimes dock side by side for shore excursions. However, this seemed constant at nearly every docking. The problem with this is that we were often unable to use our balcony at all. Considering that we paid extra for rooms with balconies, this was very annoying.

We also were often eating in the dining room with drapes closed because we had ships on either side of us. We believe these two issues are more important than how they were described in your literature.

At the same time, we were often unable to use the top deck because of the low clearance under bridges. So it was often difficult to walk around for some exercise. Many passengers were doing exercises in the common area and the main floor exits as there was no other place to do this.

Every day we would check the daily itinerary on the TV monitor. We found it somewhat annoying that the itinerary would not say what day of the week each excursion was planned. Many places were closed on Sunday or on Monday and it was a bit difficult to plan our schedules without knowing the day of the week.

Speaking of the TV, we were often unable to see news and stream shows. The news was likely related to the WiFi issues of the ship. The ship tracker channel was only showing the entire trip until the last two days of the cruise. Obviously, some work had been done on this.

We found one of the Guest Services representatives to be generally unhelpful and flippant in his responses to us. I suspect he was overwhelmed with passenger complaints throughout the trip. But still, not a reason to give flippant answers. In fact, passengers were often in the dark as to what was happening with the ship. It would have been more helpful if the hotel manager had been more forthcoming with descriptions of the problems had what was being done to address them.

Our main dissatisfaction was with the mechanics of the vessel. We tried to answer your questionnaire, but it was mostly about the people. Other than the one Guest Services representative, we believe the people tried very hard to keep us happy in these difficult circumstances.

We are now reluctant to recommend Viking to others, nor follow through on the next cruise we have already scheduled.

WE EXPECT a full reimbursement of our taxi fare, and a substantial discount on our next scheduled cruise or a refund of a portion of the charges on our Viking Odin Grand European Tour.