VikingReviews of viking.com

Despite poor reviews and being totally overpriced we took the cruise down the Mississippi early this year. We did experience some of the negatives highlighted by other customers I.e. poor service, overpriced excursions and quite disinteresting ports (ports not the fault of Viking) but did have a good time and enjoyed the trip. However we did incur problems on arrival in Memphis-left in airport after a long flight as rep appeared late - and on departure in New Orleans where nobody helped us in arranging a taxi in to the city. Obviously fell in the too hard category- even thought we asked the day before departure and on day of departure, and we were left with no other option but to leave the ship and walk in to the city and hopefully find our own taxi - which thankfully we managed. New Orleans is not a place to just wander about lost and Viking frankly put our safety at risk. On arrival home we provided both polite and constructive feedback to Viking(twice) but after long delays this feedback was met with bland responses showing no customer awareness or empathy - our comments were just filed in the closed bin. We have sailed with Viking a number of times and had a great time but unfortunately increased prices have seen a fall in quality and certainly customer care which is sad and we would have to seriously consider booking in the future

The flights for our river cruise on the Viking Aegir last week were so poorly scheduled that we are still in transit! Our total travel time will be 28 hours from Budapest to Phoenix when we arrive later this evening. Our arrival flight from Phoenix to Munich was also poorly scheduled, making it several hours longer than necessary. With a reservation made 10 months in advance, there was no excuse for this poor customer service.

The cruise was great, BUT the Viking pre-experience was HORRIBLE. 1) When it comes time to make excursion reservations, you are given a specific day and time to reserve your choices. I was ready the moment it opened; however, the Viking system did not function properly, so I called a Viking rep for help. She started quizzing me on all kinds of reservation details that wasted my time while I was trying to make my reservations. Then she locked my account so I was unable to make any reservations at all. I had to call a second rep to get my account unlocked by a superviser. In the meantime, I had missed out on making some reservations I had planned to confirm. 2) For the Antarctica Expedition, you are required to have a "Medical Assessment." My Viking agent told me I could have my PCP do it. I filled out the required form: all my answers were "NO." I do not smoke, drink, take drugs, nor take any medications. I walk an average of 3 miles per day. My PCP spent time going over the Assessment form with me, and she signed off that I had no medical issues and was in top physical condition. I submitted it on December 3, 2024 to VIKAND (a medical assessment organization used by Viking). I heard nothing from them until January 3, 2025, at which time they rejected the assessment because it was not stamped by an MD--which was not a requirement, according to my Viking agent. I called Viking Guest Services and they were of no help at all--in fact the agent was quite argumentative that I had to pay VIKAND $165 to get an MD to approve my assessment form. At this point I was very upset! So, I paid VIKAND and got a phone appointment. The MD was 20 minutes late for my phone appointment and had not even read the form I had previously submitted. He only asked me one question: "Are you physically active?" The phone conversation was less than 3 minutes, and he approved my assessment. This is a SCAM on the part of VIKAND to get money. There was no reason for VIKAND to reject my original assessment. And Viking was not at all helpful to resolve the problem. 3) I saw people on the cruise that I couldn't believe had been approved by VIKAND: there was a blind lady being led around the ship, using a white cane (why was she allowed to go to Antarctica?); there were overweight people who required extra assistance from the Viking crew to get in and out of the zodiacs; there was a man who had all the evidence of having had a stroke, who had to be helped everywhere by a relative. In sum, I am disgusted with the Viking pre-process that led up to the cruise; and there was a complete lack of client consideration. And for this, the cost was $27,000.

Into the STORM Viking Vela 1/16/2025 Bad choice Viking… 100 per hour winds, 40 foot waves! People physically hurt! Not to mention the emotional toll of going out into basically a category 2 hurricane! We bobbed around like a cork in the water. Glass breakage, furniture thrown everywhere. Water everywhere, patio doors broken. We are at port in Alesund Norway because our ship lost steering and propulsion. Our compensation you might ask … A free drink package for the rest of the cruise so we can all drink and forget about this and 60 percent off another cruise to trust them with our lives again. The captain stood on stage the night before telling us there were going to be 50 mile an hour winds behind us. We were worried but nothing prepared us for what we encountered. All for money, press on Viking … who cares how many lives you put at stake. I sustained a head injury as i said many are injured. Try to bury this and press on for money. Who made the choice to send us into that storm ?!!!

This is an extension to my previous review as we now completed the trip which was a 15 day cruise to mediterran and northern africa. Several changes in itinerary both before and during the cruise. But the primary complaint stands, very limited activities and very limited or poor entertainment. The open seating in the main restaurant very poorly organized as one had to check in with a hostess who then summoned another host/hostess to a table. This interchange sometimes took 15 minutes with a backup of guests waiting to be seated. Once we were led to the table we noticed many empty seatings. We were told they hadnt counted on so many using the main dining room so didnt contract enough personnel (e.g. waiters). In the explorer lounge one would give their order to the hostess at the counter. When it was delivered it was never complete. The fruit didnt arrive, the bread didnt arrive. Nothing arrived together. We had to ask for butter and the toast we ordered at least 6 separate times. The beds are not so comfortable, somewhat lumpy. The food was ok, elegantly served, waiter service good, room service rapid but i wouldnt say thorough cleaning. The tours generally not very interesting. Some lectures very good especially with Russell. So i wouldnt say in general i personally would recommend Viking, we are back home and can say there was nothing memorable about this 15 day trip as compared to other cruiselines we have previously taken.

We took a cruise on Viking Buri an 4th August. We were due to fly, from LHR on a BA flight arranged as part of the package, at 1000am. As we were travelling from Bath this meant a very early start and, with it, an early night beforehand. During the night we received a notification from BA to say that our flight was cancelled and we were now booked on 6th. As it was only a week's holiday this was no good. During the night and the following day, though they tried to give wrong information initially, with the help of Viking, and having cancelled and rebooked taxis,we travelled at 1700, arriving at the ship around 2215. The refreshments on the flight were the meanest we'd ever encountered, a tiny, tiny packet of corn and a bottle of water. I say all this to demonstrate that we were tired and hungry. As Viking had been kept informed of our delay and progress imagine our surprise when they said they had a sandwich waiting for us. It was a bit disappointing. This was our 3rd Viking cruise and we were further disappointed that, having got themselves a formula, Viking hadn't changed a thing. Thus was again disappointing. You have to move in. There were no surprises save for the fact that they abandoned any commentary. For us, this was a loss of enjoyment. We have raised our concerns and been offered modest vouchers. But given that we missed meals, the chance to bond with fellow travellers and the chance to look at Avignon we don't think this really acknowledges this and it became clear that customer services were interested in dealing with correspondence and moving it on rather than addressing issues. They said that they had raised concerns with senior management but it turned out that this was senior management of the ship rather than the company. This is asking the pupil to mark their own homework. In the light of this, I emailed a senior executive of the company but received no response. Given we thought this a high end holiday this was all disappointing.

In 2023 we took a Viking river cruise from Bucharest to Vienna. The cruise itself was wonderful; the food on board very good and the metre D and chef took special care dealing with my allergies. however, the entertainment on board was very poor; there was a great keyboard artist who, when he was permitted to play, played wonderfully and we could dance, but he was often preempted by rather inane talk from the cruise host about some of the places we were visiting. There was very little local talent brought on board. We were just made to learn from both management and some crew on board that our staff gratuities were not in fact divided among the staff on board Kept by a Viking. We were given a rather halfhearted Explanation that they were put toward “staff events” but on discussing the issue more with staff, we were told that they’ve never heard of such events and certainly never participated. it became obvious that our staff gratuities were simply kept by Viking. our cruise included airfare, arranged by Viking, which we were forced to take because they would not give us a credit and let us arrange our own airfare. Were included. Arrival at the airport in Bucharest, the driver did not have our name on his list and never heard of us. despite the fact that Viking insisted on arranging the airfare and transfers. We purchased upgrades to premium economy, but for some inexplicable reason, although we paid, we did not receive those upgrades on two of the legs; one outbound and one return. On the return, we were downgraded after it was confirmed we had premium economy. Viking was useless when we contacted them to correct the issue. We took the issue to the airline who looked into the matter and reinstated our premium economy for that leg, which was from Toronto YYZ to Victoria, British Columbia YYJ.

Viking cruise around Iceland July 2024, Experienced a great Viking cruise from Barcelona to Puerto Rico in 2023, poor pre and post cruise hotels, but the cruise was really good. So we booked on the Viking Mars to sail around Iceland. Unfortunately it rained for 5 of the 7 days and the penultimate port was cancelled due to bad weather - all of the foregoing outside of Vikings control. However we noticed a distinct decline in staff and crew attentiveness, service and engagement from our previous cruise with Viking. Cabin steward was really very good, and the Maitre D at the chefs table was good, but otherwise no interest from the cruise director, the hotel director or staff, who made no obvious effort to raise the moral of the passengers crew or staff. It would seem that the weather got to everyone. Nice cabin, average food, good cabin staff, uninspiring excursions, and from our experience disengaged crew and staff. Off with Silversea next.