VikingReviews of viking.com

We were very disappointed with Viking. This is not a 5* ship and completely overpriced. The food was very poor quality - at best pub grub.( cant find where to attach photos) You had to sit down at the same time - no flexibility - this showed in the food quality - mass produced - the dining room was very often dark due to the fact that we had boats moored either side of us so they closed all the blinds and curtains. We paid for the upgrade to include a full balcony - the balcony was unusable as we were mostly moored between two other ships so the cabin was dreary and dark.The suites were on opposite side of ship so if we were on the outside moored against another boat they were always on the outside so kept their views - The smells from the kitchen- frying onions, garlic, burnt oil filled the cabin if we did try and open the doors. The entertainment was poor, lacked any impact, the lounge was small and without being able to sit on your balcony it was the only other area to go especially if the weather wasn't good. It is impossible to balance this review - the only saving grace was the staff especially in the bar and dining room. Everything felt like a tick box exercise - nothing with any quality at all. Very poor value, lam not new to cruising and I felt that this was the worst cruise I have been on and I would never recommend them or use them again.

Shame on Viking Cruises. My Mom and Dad went on a viking European cruise that did not sail. The water level was too low so they were bussed to all destinations. The cruise was $28,000 (airfare was ontop of that). Viking said they would rebate $14,000 towards another cruise. However, my mum has stage 4 metastatic cancer with brain mets so another cruise may not be in the cards. Viking WILL NOT refund any money. They've said either put it to another cruise or nothing.... this makes me SICK. Shame on Viking taking advantage of people in this way. This woman may not make another cruise, refund the money another way you ignorant, disgusting company. Furthermore, they won't provide refund insurance to my mum if she vacations with them AND they won't let her gift the trip to someone else if she is too ill when the time comes. It's her or no one and they keep the money. THIS CRUISE LINE IS SCUM!! They are crooks that wont refund money to a dying woman and they don't deserve your business, take it elsewhere. SHAME ON YOU VIKING CRUISES SHAME ON YOU!!

We’ve booked cruises with several other cruise lines and have always been treated with care, like they wanted to retain us as customers—but not Viking. During the time of travel restrictions over Covid, I got Covid days before I was supposed to leave, so I wasn’t going to able to get into the country, let alone the boat. I thought that since I bought travel insurance, I’ll just make a claim, get a refund and try again some other day after Covid blows over. Big mistake. As it all shook out, Viking pocketed $9,663.83 of our money (That’s a lot of money!) and told us in their reply too bad, how sad (included in the letter below,) we’re keeping the money. As far as I’m concerned, they stole that money, but they’re a big company and who am I to fight them? Caveat Emptor. If you book a trip, don’t get hurt, or sick, or die, because even with insurance you might just get screwed. My wife’s letter: Hello, I booked a cruise January 2021 for me and my husband from Rome to Istanbul and an additional cruise for two guests joining us from Athens to Istanbul. This was for June 2022 to celebrate my husband’s retirement. We were very excited and willing to pay the very large sums of money to do this once in a lifetime trip celebrating a momentous time in our lives. January 2022 we had to change the booking to a lesser trip (Rome to Athens) for only two people due to family circumstances. Then, in June, we had covid and had to cancel going at the last minute. All in all, I paid $43,334.47 for the original booking and the amended booking. Of that, I received $33,667.64 in refund. That’s a difference of $9,666.83! That’s how much your company kept, and we didn’t get to go anywhere! I continue to get mailings from Viking offering me sales and specials which just end up aggravating me instead of inspiring or tempting me. I’ve told others of my disappointing experience with you and I have vowed to never use your company again unless you do something to make it right. I expected a lot more from a luxury company. So, would you please either a) take me off your mailing list (customer #XXXXXXXX) or b) bring this to the attention of someone who can do the right thing and give us a full refund of all that we paid? Viking’s reply: Dear Shirley, Thank you for reaching Viking Guest Services. We appreciate you taking the time to write in today, we hope you and your family are safe. I have taken care of your request to remove mailings. Due to delay in USPS processing can take 6-8 weeks we appreciate your patience and your inquiry. The voucher of $8,328.84 was redeemed to Martina's XXXXXXX and booking was cancelled at %100 penalty. The voucher would be considered used and lost, I apologize. If we can be of any further assistance at this time, you may email us or contact 888-663-8454 and any Service Specialist agent may assist. Best Regards, (name withheld) I’m sure he’s just following company policy Guest Services Department PS. The booked trip was to leave on June 11, 2022 on the Viking Sky going from Rome to Athens. I’m just now getting to the point emotionally where I can talk about it.

After cancelling a river trip due to covid and then rebooking for this year, we needed to make a change and have lost 100% of our money. SO INFELXIBLE!! And then a friend traveling had their air booked for the wrong month and an additional friend had their air deleted from their account so are left having to drive 8 hours to the next nearest airport. We'll stick to Hurtigruten from now on!

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON A FAILED VIKING RIVER CRUISE, YOU NEED TO READ THIS. My wife and I booked a Viking Rhine river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam in April of 2023. I had researched reviews of Viking river cruises before booking, and was shocked to see the percentage of ratings of “poor” or “awful” over 33% (see Tripadvisor Viking ratings). I get nervous when that figure goes above 10%, particularly when the number of ratings are high (over 100, indicating a significant sample size). My intuition told me this was a problem, but my wife really wanted to go, as three other couples we knew were going as well; I relented and made the booking. All in, the total price was ~$17,000, including business class airfare. I should have trusted my intuition. We got on the boat and I was favorably impressed. The vessel was clean and modern, the staff was happy and friendly, eager to please, the stateroom was reasonable in size (though the bathroom was a little too “intimate” with a sliding door). The food was very good and ample, mostly by buffet-style (more about that later), but could also be ordered off a limited menu. Four days into the cruise, I was relaxed and forgot about my concerns. And then, it happened… On the morning of third day, one of our party of eight has some digestive issues. She stayed in her cabin that day and we left the boat for our excursions. By the end of the day, my wife was not well and skipped dinner. Others in our party were not feeling so hot. My wife spent the next day in her cabin, mostly bedridden with nausea, vomiting and painful cramps. I went out for the first half of the day, but had to return with serious diarrhea. I went to bed and could hardly get out of bed until the next morning. We soon discovered that six of our group of eight had succumbed. We also discovered that we were not alone. In fact, by that time, most of the passengers and crew were affected in some way. The evidence points solidly to norovirus, a highly virulent gastrointestinal infection, and it was raging through the boat like the plague. By the fifth day, most of our group was able to get out of their rooms, but disinclined to undertake all of the off-board excursions, even though they were at an premium charge to the standard booking. Personally, I could barely eat anything for three days; I probably got ~100 calories/day. My wife missed several excursions and I missed one as well. The few that I did undertake were overshadowed by a desperate need to know where the closest bathroom was, as the worst could happen at any moment. I was downing Imodium like they were Chicklets. On the day we were to leave the ship, the smarmy program director made a reference to the illness that most on board suffered as a “little hiccup”. How demeaning and dismissive. The reality is that Viking blew at least a four-day hole into the middle of our expensive European vacation. The sad thing is, it didn’t need to happen. Gastrointestinal infections are not like COVID; you have to ingest the pathogen to get infected. This is generally a result of contaminated/spoiled food, contaminated water, and/or bad hygiene. I have traveled widely, on thousands of airline flights with meals, thousands of hotels and restaurants, even dozens of cross-Atlantic and cross-Pacific flights. I have never, not once, contracted a gastrointestinal infection from this. Restaurants have a high risk, because they have to control the food chain, the water and cleaning systems and the hygiene of their workers to manage the risk. Unfortunately, Viking amplifies the risk by serving many meals buffet-style. The problem is that, with a buffet, every serving utensil, every handle on a serving dish, every bottle or pitcher are touched by many of the passengers. This makes each of them an ideal vector for infection, because the crew cannot effectively manage passenger hygiene. This is why the infection spreads rapidly and widely. If Viking really gave a damn about passenger health and safety, they would immediately and permanently eliminate buffet-style service on their ships. This would increase service costs incrementally, but where do their priorities lie? Trust me; take a pass on any Viking cruise you may be considering.

Viking Mississippi overpriced overhyped and underwhelming. Horrendous cruise and excursions. Viking bus to the airport didn’t show. They left us at the door with our luggage to hail a cab and PAY for our fare Never again

I haven’t even been on my cruise yet even after asking them to stop sending me a pack of brochures at least twice a week they still keep coming. I politely explained the environment needs this to stop but they don’t seem to care. I don’t expect much on the cruise as they have spent all my money on postage and printing rubbish.

Viking moved forward with a cruise and would not allow us to reschedule without losing 65% of our investment offering 35% credit toward a future cruise if we rescheduled. They put us in hotels, busses and parked ships for the 8 days on the cruise. The ship moved 25 miles and back... that's it in 8 days. Balcony was worthless as we were tied to other boats day and night with 6 feet between our windows. Drapes drawn for privacy. It was a horrible theft of our money. Just Say NO!