Viking Cruises

This was our second Romantic Danube River Cruise with Viking. Our first trip was wonderful and we had bragged and suggested to many of our friends and family etc. they they go. We asked our children since that they were old enough if they wanted a traditional Christmas at home of if they wanted to go on a river cruise as their gift. The were thrilled with the idea of seeing all of the things we had told them about a year prior, so we set up the Romantic Danube Cruise over the Christmas Holiday Dec 19-26, 2015. Since we had many travel miles on our first trip we did not book our airfare before and after same with the either end cruise extensions on our first trip and had wonderful direct flights both ways. We met several people on the first cruise that said the bookings through viking's air and extensions were a nightmare and wished they had just paid and handled it themselves, so we listened and even though we did not have the miles this trip we took care of all of this ourselves again. Which, after meeting many people on the 2016 cruise we were thankful we did. Several people we did not get to say goodbye to as they had to get up at 2 am to drive and drive to catch a flight to go home. We had watched the river issues for months prior to our dec 2015 trip as we knew there we issues with the levels along our route. This is no fault of Viking, we just wanted to be aware of what to expect and be able to make alternate plans if necessary. I chatted online with Viking several times and connected with customer service via phone several times for a few months prior to check on the river situation. I also wanted to let them know we would like 1 stateroom with twin beds and 1 stateroom with a double bed since we had paid for 2 rooms this trip. We were assured the room configuration would be no problem, but they could not tell us until closer to the cruise what the situation with the river was. Okay, we understood that. I did make a few more chats and calls as it got closer to verify the room configuration which they guaranteed would be correct, but still would not be able to talk about the status of the river but to check the website http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/about-my-cruise/current-sailings.html which I checked daily. There were no changes to our cruise except that we were moved from the Freya to the Lofn which didn't matter to us. Just to be on the safe side, and knowing that we did not want our family to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on a bus we had a family meeting and agreed to go ahead and make a reservation at the Sacher Hotel in Vienna for the 24th and 25th and purchased train tickets from Vienna to Budapest for the 26th as we had already booked our hotel at the Corinthia for the 4 days after the cruise since there is so much to see there. It looked like the only issue we could possibly have with low points of the river would be the stretch between Vienna and Budapest. We are not "bus tour" people and after the cruise director almost died from the bus wreck on the Idun cruise we were on the first day of our 2014 cruise, we for sure were not taking the bus tours this time. We enjoyed venturing out into the city and it worked fine for us because we could move faster and see more and since the schedule for the next day is given to you the night before we could plan our day accordingly. The first night on the ship David, the cruise director and Harry the Hotel Manager made an announcement that they were very excited that we were going to be able to make the entire trip as planned to Budapest since the river had gone up with the recent rains. Everyone on the ship was thrilled! We did not have to cancel our reservations until the 23rd to get a refund so just to be safe we waited and checked daily with the staff to make sure that there were no changes. They assured us multiple times that all was on schedule and so on the 23rd we cancelled the reservations at the Sacher and our train tickets. Back to Day one of the ...cruise We were supposed to disembark from Nuremburg but at the last minute we got notice that we would be disembarking from Elengen instead. Okay fine. We arrived on the ship before 3 pm with the anticipation of eating the lunch which they said was offered up until 3 pm, but when we got there everything had been put away. okay... Well we saw a few staff members on the ship that we knew from our previous cruise. We went up to say hello. Of course they cannot remember everyone they meet but they did their best after we told them we were on the Idun trip in 2014 with the bad bus wreck where all of the people were injured and the director hit the windshield of the bus and was hospitalized for the remainder of the trip. Long story short it helped them remember us. George saw that we were hungry as we had been on a train for about 3 hours from Heidelberg, and so he rustled up some sandwiches and salads for us and another family which arrived around the same time and was surprised to see the food gone. OK... thats fair. they fixed it. Then Harry the Hotel Manager of the ship who was also on the Idun with us in 2014 took us to our state rooms. We immediately noticed that both rooms has been set up with twin beds. Harry apologized and stated that he would have the problem corrected immediately. We came back to our room after dinner and the beds had not moved so we moved around the night stands, shoved the beds together etc. etc. OK... we were just so thrilled to be there we overlooked it. They never said anything to us about the room. We were to spend the night in Erlengen and the itinerary which was provided to us that night stated that the tour bus would be departing for Nuremberg at 8:30 and the ship would leave the dock at Erlengen at 9 am and the tour bus would pick everyone up in Nuremberg at the end of the day then during dinner, we would shove off to the next destination. We had requested a taxi to take us into Nuremberg through the concierge for 8:45am so we could take our kids to the Nuremberg castle and hit a few of the shops that we saw last time we were there. This also would give the bus tour people time to be gone and us not be in their way and the ship wasn't departing until 9am according to the itinerary we were given. As we were heading to to door to get off the ship and meet the taxi (that apparently was not called) we felt the ship shove off from the dock at 8:45 am. We were stuck on the ship for the entire day and our kids did not get to see any of Nuremberg. We did not realize that what was a 15 min car ride would take the entire day via ship because there were 5 locks which are cool, but take a long time to go through. We were very surprised that the ship would leave early and trap us on the ship especially since the previous cruises were always on time and followed the schedule given. Our kids were very sad that they did not get to see Nuremberg at all except the cab ride from the train station to the boat. But they are troopers, and again we had such a great trip the last time we convinced them they would see lots of castles along the way. At this point I was starting to get frustrated, but kept my chin up for my kids. We made it Regendburg, passau and Melk with minimal issues and we kept asking the staff and crew is everything still going along as planned because we have these expensive hotel reservations at the Sacher and we want our kids to have a nice Christmas etc.etc. oh yes yes yes no changes. We promise no changes all is good... Once we arrived in Vienna is when everything really started to go bad. On the 23rd we went ahead and cancelled the Sacher reservations and the train tickets because we were told again and again that we would make it to Budapest. One evening I stayed up late as there were several young people on this cruise and visited with the bartender to make sure the kids were supervised while they played a game of spoons. We had a nice chat and he told me of a Serbian restaurant that is very good in Vienna and wrote down the information and what to order since he knew we were one who liked to go off the beaten path. We took a taxi and arrived for lunch at this restaurant around 11 am. Sitting in this tiny hole in the wall restaurant was the director David, The hotel Manager Harry, the bartender, the head of housekeeping, the Mater'd, the chef Ronald and several others we had known previously and become familiar with. Apparently they had been there for quite some time as they had had several drinks and finished their food. They all said hello and were happy to see us there and helped us order the food etc. and we ate at the table next to them as a few of the other crew members arrived. Then one of the crew members ordered a round of shots. at that point we were finished eating etc and left them there and headed back to the ship as we wanted to find an Anglican Church in Budapest online and plan our christmas day mass and communion. We have pictures of all of us at this restaurant also. We headed to that nights briefing, remember this was christmas eve and about an hour after we shoved off David the cruise Director got on his microphone and informed the travelers that the waters had receded and we would not be going to Budapest, but could only make it to Komorado, Slovakia. Knowing that we had made arrangements months in advance to ensure we did not get stuck for Christmas in some nowhere place looking at dumpsters in slovakia, we were extremely upset to hear that David promised that he had been working on this all day with the captain to try and figure out a way around it but it just wasn't going to happen. That was lie number one, because we know he and a large part of the crew had spent the day in Vienna drinking at a bar and we know this because we were sitting right next to them. (we also have photos) They knew all along that we were not going to make it to Budapest and lied right to our faces. My husband and I of course were very upset as we had made many surprise plans for our children for christmas and had asked over and over and did not want to spend christmas on a smelly tour bus for hours on end. We had absolutely no intention in asking viking to pay us back for the days we would leave the ship early, we were prepared to just end our cruise early and spend one of the most holy holidays in a beautiful city and be able to go to church and have a wonderful european family christmas and communion on Christmas Day. Instead we were lied to. Of course I cried and cried as this was not the way I planned on my son to learn that santa was not real, and all of the work we had put into pre planning. We did not even have anything to put in their stockings except what I could scrounge from the galley and the maid carts. The rudeness from David was out of control also which just added fuel to the fire. When they offered to let my husband speak with the captain so to possibly understand better (my husband is an Ex US Naval investigative Officer) the situation he of course wanted to do so. My husband requested this over and over and over and was continually denied. Each day they kitchen sets out the leather bound menu for what is being offered that night and there is a section on the right of the menu you can always have should the speciality not be to your taste. That night there was no leather bound menu. Also, even though there is no assigned seating for dinner people usually meet up and sit together at the same table over and over. This night everyone was confused and we got sat away from our regular waiter that we had had since the cruise started and the waitress we had had the worst attitude. We wanted to order from the menu that was available every night because we are not fans of sea bass and risotto. She told us no. My husband was adamant that they find some chicken as promised. One of our new friends ordered the sea bass and said it was inedible and the risotto looked like maggots. The next night it was the same issue, and not only was it Christmas but it was her husbands birthday too. the poor man. We also purchased the silver drink package as we had learned that this was a pretty good deal for people who like to have drinks and talk with new found friends. the scotch which was introduced in 2014 by a viking bartender was once again on the ship but ran out and we were informed that they would not be refilling the bar since it was the end of the year and they were working on their end of the inventory. The silver package therefore was a disappointment for the extra cost. The captains dinner is usually the last night on the ship. The captains dinner was moved and the captain did not show up. He was a cold Ex Soviet Navy man who clearly had much abhorrence for Americans. He never smiled, never said hello and that was when we saw him. My husband asked again several times to speak to the captain regarding how he river could possible change that drastic over night after being promised every day that we would be making it all the way to Budapest. He over and over was declined. The very last night we were informed that we needed to have our bags out the night before so that they could be loaded on a bus and be taken to a hotel in Buda and that we would have to find our own way to the Corinthia from that hotel. I refused to accept this especially since we were staying on the Pest side. I requested a taxi that would take my family from the dumpster drop (literally, Our christmas view for two days was nasty dumpsters in Komoramo, Slovakia.. I have a pic of that too) the hour and 1/2 ride to Budapest to our hotel or at the least to the place where were were supposed to disembark the ship. This taxi ride cost us $160 euros. We made a complaint to Viking and I got a call in the middle of the night from a woman named Valerie Kepler. I told her I was sleeping, and she returned with a rude email stating that she was sorry she interrupted my nap. It was the middle of the night in Budapest I wasn't napping. She then had multiple conversations with my husband and they offered to negotiate with us some vouchers in the amount of $1250 per person if we sign a non disclosure statement but would not let us see it until we agreed to the voucher. We felt that what they had done really could not be corrected with money or vouchers, but looked over the prices and locations of the 2016 cruises. They have raised their prices so much this was a drop in the bucket. Then they offered us $1250 in cash if we signed the non disclosure. We refused again. We feel at this point it is more important to us that we get the word out to those of you who are thinking of going on a Viking cruise that there are many people like us who this has happened to. Viking has since blocked me from their facebook page and they delete anything negative and block users from seeing anything negative. They lie and entrap. When we only asked for honesty from the very beginning I would not have to spend all of this time putting these stories out there. We have found many lawsuits and settlements and loads of people who were offered similar things like us. Please don't fall for their commercials, pounds of mail they send you and the emails. They are not what they say they are. Here is an article where the Executive of Viking was indicted for Corruption. Remember a Fish stinks from the Head Down. http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2015/10/articles/fraud/viking-cruise-executive-indicted-for-corruption/

We got stuck on board because they did not follow the schedule twice... Food was not available as promised. Bought the Silver Package but refused to buy liquor once it ran out due to end of year iventory, Beds not properly put together (paid for 2 staterooms. We moved the furniture ourselves. Lied to about making it through ports until the boat has left port and we were stuck. Worst Christmas of our lives. Kids found out Santa wasn't real cause of the lies we were told. We had made alternate plans with no request for extra costa to Viking, just wanted a beautiful Christmas for our children. We couldn't even make it to church on christmas day. Captain hid from passengers. Didn't even come to farewell dinner. Obviously Ex Soviet... wimp. Ran away from me when I questioned him, and pretended to not speak english when I heard him 5 min before speaking clearly. Got stuck looking at dumpsters on Christmas day in slovakia... After we saw crew drinking in bar in Vienna then David aka "Julie"the Cruise director lied after we were trapped on he ship? He said he worked all day to resolve the problems. We understand low water and acts of god, but not lies. especially with our children. We hope we don't have to sue them, but they just think they can compensate with cheap vouchers that will never be used. Companies like this go out of business... for a reason. They are liars. Christmas was ruined. Has to swipe rotten oranges and tiny Tabasco from galley to fill stockings. So sad. Apparently all they spend is on Fox new ads. Shame on them. Karma just like krampus comes back.

Several weeks or more ago I sent an e-mail asking to be removed from their mailing list. Now they've added my sister's name (same address) and we got two catalogs each in 2 days' time, Jan. 5 and 6. Please...we'd like to save the trees! Patricia Turner, customer #[protected] Sarah Parslow, customer # [protected] 2215 River Ridge Rd. DeLand, FL [protected]

I was on the Romantic Danube trip from Budapest to Nuremberg 11/14/2015 to 11/21/2015. I will never travel with Viking again! Viking's management only cares about filling out the capacity of the each cruise ship. I have listed a few of my issues with the company below... 1) Safety on board is a huge concern, especially since the audience for these cruises is largely American. No checks for identification when entering the boat. 2) Food handling is another concern. All passengers are allowed to handle the serving utensils. On other cruises, within the first 48 hours, all food is served in individual servings or served by staff. This alleviates any viruses brought on board by any passengers to be passed on to others. So many passengers on my cruise got seriously ill with the norovirus. The hand-sanitizer located outside the dining hall does not work against the norovirus. 3) Withholding information about the itinerary for the week was very frustrating. Passengers were told only the night before when we were to change boats. On my trip, we were on 3 different ships! Packing up after dinner and then having to get up early to get on a bus is not my idea of a relaxing vacation. I am only in my 50's and I came back home exhausted! 4) The 2 meals provided off-ship were horrible. The first one was at a 5 star restaurant. What you find out when you get there is you are in a banquet hall upstairs of the 5 star restaurant. The food you are served is worse than a 1970's mid-western athletic banquet. The second meal I skipped, but I heard that a number of passengers were seated in a basement for their luncheon meal. I was happy that I had made alternate plans for my mid-day meal. 5) One night we were docked/tethered to another Viking cruise boat. My veranda looked directly into a stateroom of the other ship. Nice to see an elderly man passed out on his bed. He was obviously too exhausted from all the shuttling around that he could not bother to close his curtains. Poor thing. 6) Staff if poorly trained. A lot of eye rolling and rude comments to the passengers. (just another whining passenger)! Our tour director was terrible. He was always on his computer or phone playing video games. Never a nice greeting. And he has been with Viking for 13 years! 7) I paid way too much to be transferred by bus and then in Nuremberg we were docked so far out of town (in a shipyard) where there are no taxis or public transportation. I have e-mailed the company and I have called to voice my complaints. All I got was a small credit for another cruise! I am told that is their good-will gesture! I did meet some passengers from another cruise line that had a wonderful experience on their trip even though the river was low. They were put up in nice hotels in the cities that were on their original itinerary. Viking's excuse about the water level is just that...an excuse.

We are in our 70s and were caught with the Viking TV commercial with promise of easy, no worry-travel. We used Viking twice before for flight booking and the cruise and it was good. We recommended them to friends and relatives. This time we booked an Ocean cruise for 2016 thinking we will get the same worry-free experience. After all, that's a lot of saved up money for this worry-free travel. Viking help us book our cruise and our flights from Calgary to Barcelona. To our amazement, they booked us with 2 stops instead of 1 stop to get to Barcelona. Viking booked: Air France: Calgary -> Amsterdam -> Paris -> Barcelona (more expensive ticket and later arrival to destination) It could have been: Air France: Calgary->Amsterdam->Barcelona (early arrival and flight is cheaper) When we asked who booked our flight and why it was booked like this when there clearly a cheaper and efficient way to get to our destination with same airline. We explained that this is causing unnecessary physical and emotional stress for our travel. Not to mention, Paris is under terrorist threat. Viking wanted us to pay $300++ for change fees plus ticket price difference to change flights. They did not acknowledge what so ever that they booked a bad flight for us. They do not care if we get stressed or aggravate our health nor care about terrorist threat to a place. We even called Air France directly to get the flight changed. They said we have to go through Viking as 'BULK discounts were applied' with Viking so pricing is not the same if Air France changed our flights directly. Maybe Viking is looking at their own pocket book instead of passengers safety and interest. I wish we had known this. Definitely not worry free travel. We are super stressed and angry with Viking. You are handcuffed with Viking and all they want is $$$ with every move.

We just returned from a November 8, "river cruise" with Viking that turned into an expensive bus trip. Viking was fully aware of numerous prior cruise problems caused by low river levels yet failed to notify it's customers of the serious impact. Corporate tells me that they only notify customers when the nautical crew alerts them. The crew obviously knew as it was a sister ship we boarded because our ship could not sail to the port we started from. I sent a letter to the President and CEO outlining the numerous issues. 13 hours of bus trips, reduced time to tour major cities such as Vienna and Budapest, packing and unpacking etc. The response was for a Customer Relations rep to call me. I documented the call and sent her my understanding of it and asked for any changes so it was correct and complete. She declined to comment. To date, Viking has not responded in writing to anything. I am asking Viking to update their communication policy to alert passengers of potential problems with their itinerary and to provide a cash refund for a portion of the cruise. They have refused to change their policy and offered a 20% voucher for a future cruise. I do not want to spend thousands more dollars with Viking and potentially have a repeat of the unsatisfactory experience. I have written a second letter to the CEO and filed a complaint with the BBB.

My wife and I booked a river cruise with Viking. The Rhine Getaway from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland on the longship Idi, starting 11-07-2015. Or at least the first days were on the Idi. Then after the Marksburg Castle we were cattle-car loaded onto a day boat with the passengers from another Viking boat for a 5 hour run up and back on a part of the river that the ship couldn't handle. 5 hours in one seat with a fried pork chop, canned mixed vegetables, french fries and cake.. No stop in Rudesheim. No German meal and music. No evening in Speyer after a short trip to Heidelberg. Instead we got a 3 hour bus ride to the middle of nowhere and feeble lounge entertainment. In the morning there was a 3 and 1/2 hour bus ride to Heidelberg and the same back to a matching Viking ship, the Kvistar, in the middle of nowhere. The next day, from the same nowhere, there was another bus ride to Strasburg. Back to the boat to get to Basel to just sit there to wait for the morning and a trip to the airport. Without a word from Viking, my wife and I took a rainy walk into Basel. If Viking says water level in the river was beyond their control I can accept that, it's obvious. But what troubles me is the fact that we bought their own travel insurance with the more expensive option of cancelling for any reason. They knew the water levels were extremely low before our trip even left the first port. On the night they finally told us we would be bus-ing it, they told us that the ship on the week before had hit the bottom of the river. If they had told us that we would not have gone and made the claim under the insurance. We complained to the Hotel manager on board and to the concierge. We told them to get us a plane home. They said we were 3 hours from any airport and that the cost would be entirely on us because we started the trip. They said we would find little if any recourse with "corporate" in California. We filled out their form at the end of the trip, asking to be contacted. It's been two weeks and not a word. We want and are entitled to financial compensation for their deceit. I have now done the on-line research about this company I should have done before booking the trip. If you look at you tube it is all smiles and positives, but look closer - looks to me like it's all done by Viking. I'm down-loading the you tube App so I can post reality. People deserve to be forewarned about this company.

We are leaving on a Rhine Getaway December 11th, 2015. This is our second trip with Viking. Our first was a very positive experience. Booking Number 2805035. We are traveling with friends. Last week we all got on a call and realized that we will not be arriving to our ship in Basil until after 5PM. We fly from Miami to London, then have a 4 plus hour layover, then fly to Basil. While our friends are all wandering the Christmas markets as promised in the advertisement, we will be enjoying the beautiful sights of the Heathrow airport. This may have been a good deal for Viking Air, it really ruins the first day of our trip. Flights are still available on Lufthansa that would get us there by noon. The Viking would not even speak with me because this was booked through a travel agent. The travel agent was on Vacation until today, however there is nothing he can do at this late date. Whom do I speak to about getting the first day of my trip back? At what point was it a good idea to fly us from Miami to London to fly us back to Switzerland? Our Viking Cruise last year at this same time was such a positive experience. Poor planning by Viking Air now has us second guessing if we should even go. The viking agent I did speak with was as sweet as puppies and ice cream and wanted to make sure I gave her all 5's on the survey, however they did nothing to remedy the situation

Romantic Danube River Cruse that became a Bus Tour November 1 to 8, 2015 My wife and I took the Viking Romantic Danube River Cruise departing Nuremberg (Erlangen) on 01-Nov-2015. After the second day of the cruise we were informed a decision had just been made that due to low water levels in the river, instead of sailing for the next two segments of the trip, we would be transferred by bus 1.5 hours to tour Passau and return by bus 1.5 hours to the docked ship for the night. The following day we boarded busses for the 4 hour ride to tour the Melk Abby and transferred to the Jarl’s sister ship the Atla. We were informed that a decision had just then been made that again due to low water levels, the ship could not make it to Budapest. Therefore, we were told that after our tour of Vienna the following day, we would return to the ship for the night. The following morning, we were again put on busses for the 4 hour bus ride to Budapest and installed in the Marriott hotel for the final night. My wife and I were staying on for two additional nights in Budapest at the Intercontinental Hotel and we requested that we be put there instead of the Marriott to avoid unpacking and packing again, but this request was not honored. During the Cruise, we were led to believe that the low water issue was a last minute occurrence and resulted in a last minute decision by the company to transfer us by bus. We ran into a number of other travelers during our stops in Regensburg and Vienna that had similar experiences with bus transfers and switching ships. Upon our return, we have read the various complaint boards and learned that the low water issue has been ongoing for part of the summer and in reality, this was not a last minute occurrence. We feel that we should have been notified in advance of our departure of the low water issue and been given the option to cancel our trip for a full refund. We specifically purchased the river cruise ($6, 235.99) to avoid having to pack, unpack, and repack multiple times as we traveled. We were also keen on the idea of SAILING along the Danube River! If we had desired a bus tour, we would have purchased a bus tour at substantially lower cost. We respectfully requested a refund of 50% of the cost of the River Cruise ($6, 235.99/2= $3117.99). We did received a call from Viking customer service offering us a $1000 credit on a future cruise. Obviously they don’t take customer service very seriously.

Had booked a Viking River Cruise for two (Danube Waltz) far in advance for cruise to start on 10/11/15 from Passau to Budapest. Deposit made and contract called for bal some 3 months prior to cruise. But 11 months before the cruise, was advised my booking was being cancelled due to non payment of $ due. Pointed out the written contract but still got cancelled out. Got 80% refunded w/20% taken as a penalty. Thank goodness the deposit had been put on a credit card and I got that 20% by filing claim w/the credit card co. Was upset at the cancellation as I had already booked my own airline tickets to/from Europe, forcing me to convert the trip to a land tour. But the land tour turned out really great, getting in all the major sights + more that was to be on the cruise. And it was done $3, 500 cheaper! After reading all the horror stories on Viking River Cruises, I am now very happy that they cancelled out my booking. Thank you Viking River Cruises! Thank you! You'll never see any more of my $.

My husband and I have received a change of itinerary for our 11/14/15 Danube Waltz cruise on extremely short notice. Viking is apparently aware of low water levels since before we booked this summer but we were not informed that a change may take place. The change involves checking in and out of a hotel and bus trips. I did not book a river cruise to take bus trips. I've been on the phone with Viking (getting customer relations on the phone was difficult) and they offer absolutely nothing to compensate for the inconvenience. I believe that's it's extremely unfair and unethical for Viking to not keep their travelers informed of circumstances that are a probable occurrence and not providing some sort of perk/compensation shows a lack of concern/commitment about the satisfaction of their travelers.

We booked a river cruise from Paris to Normandy for our 40th wedding anniversary which sailed Oct. 26, 2015 to Nov. 2, 2015. Our suite on the Viking Rinda was beautiful, although the pillows way too soft, the staff was very competent and the food good. However, one big problem was that we were docked in Le Pecq, France, not Paris as advertised in the Viking brochure. While Viking did advise us of this change a couple of months before departure, we were also told shuttle buses would be provided to and from Paris. However, there was a very limited number of buses provided to and from Paris i.e. one bus in the morning and two returning in the afternoon. If you are supposed to be docked in Paris and not the "parking lot" which was LePecq, there should have been multiple shuttle buses provided for the passengers. At the end of the cruise, those of us who booked a post tour extension to Paris were rushed off the boat on the morning of Nov. 2. The 24 passengers were on the shuttle to Paris at 9:15 am to arrive at the Paris hotel at 10:00am where the rooms were not ready until 3pm. While we understand they had to get the boat ready for the arriving passengers, we could have stayed in the lounge until later in the morning. Or, they could have provided a bus tour of Paris on the way to the hotel if they needed us off the boat so early in the morning. This was a very disappointing end to the cruise. Also, the day trip to Normandy included a two hour bus ride to and from Normandy which was not mentioned in the brochure. That meant 4 hours of bus time for a 10 hour day trip to Normandy. We were taken to the American cemetary and Omaha beach the last 2-1/2 hours of the tour. We should have been given more time at these sites.

As a previous traveler with Viking I was very disturbed that after booking reservations for three of us, Viking Air Department changed the reservations so that we could no longer travel together as we had been informed when our flight reservations were confirmed 2months ago. When Viking was contacted they said there "was nothing that they could do" to restore the flights that had been changed to separate our party. After numerous phone calls and frustrating conversations with the Air Department and promises to" call back and correct the problem", ( which never occurred). We were forced to book a flight directly with the air- carrier at additional costs. When Viking air Department was asked to problem solve the problem they created they failed miserably and refused to correct the problem. After a few minutes with the carrier the problem was solved by changing one leg of the flights which Viking could have easily done if they had attempted to problem solve rather than refuse to assist me as a customer, my attitude would be different. Incidentally the change of reservations was not discovered until after the deadline to cancel the cruise. The only option we were given was to cancel the air portion and trust that Viking would do the right thing, unfortunately the trust in Viking had already been destroyed. WE will not let the incompetence of the Viking Air Department ruin our trip even though we have paid for air transportation twice in order to travel together as planned . WE Have requested a full refund of the air portion of our trip on the Viking Star and we were told that the refund may not be possible by the agent at Viking. Please document any similar experiences that you may have had with this company, especially the viking air department.

As many previous reviews have expressed my husband and I were lured in by romantic commercials and false promises of a "cruise" Viking knew they would not deliver. We contracted for an Elegant Elbe" cruise from Prague to Berlin from September 17, 2015 to October 2nd. The company did not inform us that no ships had sailed since late June due to low water on the Elbe until Sept 11th when we were already in Europe and could not change our plans. I guess we were lucky (?) because many of the passengers were not informed at all. We were housed on their boats (2) and fed but spent many hours on buses for our daily excursions. To ease our collective unhappiness we were offered $1, 000 vouchers for future Viking cruises. To echo another disgruntled customer, "most expensive bus trip we've ever taken." Not only is Viking deceitful, it is stupid not to care about the amount of negative advertising it is getting as there have been hundreds of us just this fall alone. We all have friends, relatives, coworkers, etc.

Viking cruises booking 2530994 berlin to prague 10 september 2015. My wife and I recently completed this 'cruise'. We could have and should have been given more notice of the low water problem, but overall we enjoyed our viking experience, although we paid far too much for the coach tour that we experienced. The notice received only just before we left advised we would each receive a aud1, 000 voucher for future travel. (our booking was through the australian office). My complaint is that the guests on board from the usa were advised that they would receive a usd1, 000 voucher (about aud1, 400). Our travel agent took it up with the viking australia and got nowhere. Was told that the credit is for 1,000 in the currency of booking. Not only is this grossly unfair, it is also incorrect. The uk guests were advised that they would receive the equivalent of usd1,000 in uk currency.

My wife and I, along with friends, took a Viking Cruise on the Danube departing September 25th, 2015 from Nuremberg, Germany. It was planned to arrive in Budapest on October 1st. It did not. Our Viking Cruise was a total disappointment, with a significant under delivery in overall customer experience due to: 1) the excessive use of bus transportation with “claimed” low waters in the Danube, 2) Viking's lack of communication on this issue prior to our trip commencement and during its duration 3) a requirement to change ships (Viking Var/Tor) for the second half of the cruise, and 4) no completion of the trip in Budapest where we were promised an evening cruise to view this magnificent city by night. Viking well in advance of our departure knew of the low water levels. No option of canceling our trip was given. Here are the details. 1. We did not have a full and fulfilling River cruise, using bus transportation for the bulk of the trip to access towns and cities, including Passau, Melk and Budapest. Our cruise became the most expensive BUS trip we have ever experienced. The extent of our bus transportation reduced our time to experience these major cites to well below the quality that Viking committed to. One bus trip exceeded 4 hours. We even missed the first evening in Vienna and much more that was promised. 2. The extent of our river cruising on the Danube was approximately 90 minutes completing the Wachau Valley, disappointingly at the end of the day, in dark lighting. This was hardly the time to see this wonderful scenery, take great photos, and see the promised beauty of the rest of this leg of the river. This part of the cruise was promised to start at lunchtime. It did not. 3. Our trip was not completed. We did not finish our voyage with a promised evening River Cruise on the Danube in Budapest. Luckily, we had extended our trip, and purchased an evening cruise in Budapest with a local operator and experienced this magnificent city from the river, but incurred the additional cost. Viking could have figured out a way to deliver this end piece of the journey. We, as has many of our cruise colleagues have, informed Viking of our negative experiences with their Danube Viking Cruise, asking for refunds and credits. We have communicated via email to Joost Ouendag, VP Customer Relations, Jason Pashko, Head of North America, and Torstein Hagen, CEO of Viking. We have heard no replies after requesting for personal phone calls to better describe our experience. We have been left with Customer Relations Case Managers who have offered us a 25% credit on a future trip. Consistent with Viking's “divide and conquer” approach to customer complaints, they refuse requests for taking the issue to senior management, and have offered credits ranging from 20% to 35% on a future Viking Cruise for our cruise colleagues. This is ridiculous. Why would an organization the size of Viking offer differing compensation levels across customers on the same cruise, all experiencing the same shortfall in experience? How DISAPPOINTING!

Trip to Southern France on Sept 8, 2015. Three days into trip ship's generators broke down and stuck on the bank for 4 days. Replacement tours offered were a 3 hour bus ride for a 45 minute tour of a town and then a 3 hour bus ride back. Sat on the boat for 3 days, program director provided no other options-guests to discuss local products, tours to local areas, etc. Requested additional tours--only at additional price. Hotel Manager insensitive--"We didn't do this on purpose!" Offered "voucher" minimal amount that must be used in one year. Lack of sensitivity, caring, compassion by Customer Service-gave company line and run around. All they are interested in is booking and making money. Severe Acute Food Poisoning: Third day became very ill from food poisoning-ate no other food than what was on the ship-could not have contacted contaminated food from any other source. Several other passengers also became ill. Lack of sanitary conditions in food prep.

We just returned from a Grand European River Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. Since we had heard rumors about water levels being low and some itineraries were being changed we contacted Viking several times prior to our departure. Each time we were told that out itinerary was NOT affected by low water levels and that we could be assured that we would sail from Amsterdam to Budapest. We even called the day before boarding and were told that our ship (the Mimr) was docked and waiting for our arrival the next day. When we arrived at the dock our ship was not there but a sister ship (The Vili). This was the first sign of trouble. Upon questioning the cruise director we were assured again that even though this was a sister ship there was no change in the itinerary. However, halfway through the trip we were told that we would be changing ships and would be bussed to our new ship location. This entailed packing, losing a day of the trip on the transfer bus and then unpacking on a new ship. Then two days before we were to end the trip in Budapest we were told that the water level did not allow us to go on. We were docked alongside 4 other Viking boats in a run down town and dock and spent 3 1/2 hours on a bus to Budapest and back to spend the night just to have to do it all over again the next day to disembark the boat. We understand that Viking has not control over the water levels but they should be honest about it so we could have chosen to take advantage of our cancellation insurance if we so chose. The ships and crew members were very nice and as advertised, but because of the deception and lies we do not recommend using this cruise line. Unfortunately we will not be taking the ocean cruise we were planning to take with them because of this experience.

We just returned from a much anticipated relaxing first River Cruise. We so looked forward to seeing the sights advertised by Viking not having to pack and unpack for a week. That didn't happen. The problem was low water in the Danube which caused us to miss many of the sights. No beautiful lit cities at night. No cruising into beautiful ports and having to change ships 3 days into cruise. We were not advised about the ship change until day before when they had to do this the previous 8 trips.After a total of 22 hours riding on busses in 8 days and very little free time (which was advertised) this trip was not so affectionately dubbed the "Romantic Autoban" by fellow cruisers. We had originally planned this trip for last April but were convinced by Viking sales that September would be better sailing. Wrong! Had we known we would have changed our date. (Trip insurance also)The staff was accommodating to a fault. They knew about the "deviation" but could not reply when asked about previous trips. Yeah, one day we got an extra free tour, a lunch and free wine/beer but it is our last Viking cruise. This was not a good value for the amount paid Viking. It is too bad that the highlight of the cruise was the three days prior we spent in Prague and the flight home. Very Disappointed! Feel cheated!