VikingReviews of viking.com

Knowing that water levels are too low in the Rhine, having run a ground twice this summer, Viking continues to run these cruises, taking all your money and not giving you what you paid for. They wait for the last minute and then send you an email about the disruptions. How is this even legal? It is unethical. I asked for my money back before the cruise and was told "No". After my "coach cruise" I noted that they still have the gall to advertise on TV that you "unpack once...etc. etc." We had to change ships 3 times. We didn't see the best part of the Rhine, missed out on excursions, had to wait around in the heat for coaches, were exhausted from 8 hour coach trips on freeways only to have to get back on a coach the next day if you wanted to do the next days excursion etc. I spent $24,000 on this trip and it was a rip off and a waste of money. To add to the misery we had to keep policing our on-board expense account as other customers drink charges were constantly being put into our account. The staff are nice, but the company policies are very wrong. Viking should not be running cruises on low water and should give customers back their money. This practice will be the downfall of the company.

Made a reservation over a year in advance. I had to cancel for medical reasons, instead of allowing me to change to another cruise I was forced to cancel outright and take the penalties. As we were going with a large group the others also cacelled ina show of solidarity as we will find ANY other competitor and Never go with Viking. Then to add insult to injury they said the calleation refund would process by 21 buisiness days it did not. Staff are not empowered to help people make changes or the system is too stringent. This was not a last minute change.

We took a Viking river cruise a few years ago and were satisfied. My wife likes having everything planned out, so we figured we'd do another cruise for our anniversary. She showed me the river cruise she wanted, so I used the chat feature to begin the process. Big mistake. The person who answered was polite, and he soon suggested he could call me to make the process easier. I agreed. Once connected, he asked for the cruise and date information. He then asked what offer codes I had. As a past customer, I get Viking brochures multiple times a week. I started by giving him the customer number on one of the brochures, but he said he had no access to that information (?). So I started giving offer codes, and he's say either "I don't see that one" or "that one has expired". I eventually found one that worked, to which he said "that one's pretty good", as if I were leaving money on the table. I asked if he know of any others, and he said "do you have any others you want to try?" As I later learned, chat agents are not allowed to provide offer codes. They are also measured only on their ability to book a trip. So despite the fact his email signature claims "Providing personalized customer service to meet your needs is my highest priority", that only extended to the initial booking. When I later had questions or requests, he was thoroughly unhelpful. While later looking through the stack of brochures, a page titled "Viking Inclusive Value" included a line item "Past Viking guest travel hotline for planning future travel". If ever I consider another Viking cruise, I will try that 'hotline'. They would have to better than the chat experience.

Maybe my expectations were too high, and perhaps this falls into the "You never get a second chance to make a first impression", but I was only moderately satisfied with my cruise experience and our air experience through Viking are was a completely fatal flaw. We traveled with a group of 24 and several of us paid for Air Plus to travel together. Never happened. While 20 of us were booked to fly home together, our SAS flight was cancelled and we were scattered to the wind all over Europe, now scheduled to get home over a 28 hour period. We are currently still stuck in Bergen, Norway, along with 6 others hoping to start our journey home tomorrow. Further complicating matters is we had a shuttle scheduled to take us from Chicago to Milwaukee which we could not longer use as planned. While Viking Air happily took our money, seemingly promising a seamless vacation experience, when we called after the flight was cancelled, it was "Sorry - it's not our fault that SAS cancelled your flight." When you take somebody's money for a premium service experience, you should step in and make things right when there is a problem with that service.

On our way to Iceland to catch the ship, two out of our three flights were canceled by United Airlines due to the weather. Realizing we were going to completely miss major, bucket-list portions of our itinerary, we consulted directly with a Viking Customer Relations Specialist. After confirming our options, we ultimately had to cancel the trip and fly back home.We immediately began the travel insurance process through Tripmate, as we had purchased insurance directly through Viking. While the cruise fare itself was refunded initially, getting reimbursed for our pre-paid excursions turned into a grueling, two-month headache filled with accounting errors on Viking’s part. We did finally receive the excursion money, but the real battle began with our airfare.Because we booked our air travel directly through Viking, they were the "merchant of record." Following the cancellations, United Airlines processed a full cash refund of $2,497.46 for our tickets. However, because Viking managed the booking, United returned that cash directly to Viking.Instead of passing our airline refund back to us, Viking is keeping the $2,497.46 in cash and refusing to offer us anything but a cruise voucher. We have contacted Viking customer service multiple times, and they remain completely unyielding, stating they will only issue a voucher for flights they didn't pay for and we never got to take.Forcing a voucher on a ruined honeymoon while pocketing the hard cash returned by the airline is completely unacceptable. Under DOT rules, consumers are entitled to a cash refund when a flight is canceled and not taken—even when booked through a cruise line. I have officially filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to fight this.

What didn't go wrong? Everything. River cruise turned into a bus tour. Absolutely. NO refunds, perhaps a future cruise voucher. In addition, if you’re thinking of suing for a refund. Think again. You need to file your claim in Switzerland. CHOICE OF LAW AND FORUM. YOU AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE WHATSOEVER IN CONNECTION WITH, RELATED TO, OR ARISING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM A CRUISE, CRUISE TOUR OR THE PASSENGER TICKET CONTRACT SHALL BE DETERMINED EXCLUSIVELY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATUTORY MARITIME AND GENERAL LAW OF SWITZERLAND, EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN ARTICLE 14. YOU FURTHER AGREE. Etc. READ YOUR CONTRACT!

Dreadful, time spent on one of their river boats in Germany ended up with explosive diarrhea and having to endure rude, arrogant staff. I'd rather be rowing up s-creek without a paddle than going on a cruise with Viking.

The experience is so great!