Latest Reviews and Complaints
Flight delay causing overnight hotel stay and a full day lost of our Viking trip.
The start of our Viking trip on AA 809 from Tampa to PHL was delayed by over 5 hours causing us to miss our connection in PHL. We had to book a room at the Marriott airport hotel to be back to the airport for a 7:00am new flight the next morning. This flight got us to PHL 11 hours before the flight from PHL to LIS. After staying overnight at the Marriott at a cost of $211.97, we then spent over 10 hours in the PHL airport waiting for the flight to LIS. We lost an entire day of our vacation and didn't arrive in Lisbon until Tuesday August 18, 2026.
Please advise what my options are for reimbursement for the hotel room cost and also the loss of a whole day of our Viking River cruise. Our Viking Booking number was 8967099: Vicky & Andrew Nicks
Please advise. Your help is much appreciated.
Desired outcome: I am requesting a reimbursement of the $211.97 hotel cost at the Marriott for the flight delay, and some compensation from Viking for the loss of a full day of our vacation on Viking. Hoping you can assist.
Confidential Information Hidden: This section contains confidential information visible to verified Viking Cruises representatives only. If you are affiliated with Viking Cruises, please claim your business to access these details.
Disillusioned
Our first cruise was with Viking in 2025, from Basal, Switzerland to Amsterdam. The trip was flawless and convinced us to book a follow up in 2026. Fast forward to today, August 11th. We are 7 weeks away from our Passage to Eastern Europe, Bucharest to Budapest. After looking forward to the trip for a year, we see and hear all the horror stories related to...
Read full review18 Viking Cruises Reviews
- All
- Reviews only
- Complaints only
- Resolved
- Unresolved
- Replied by the business
- Unreplied
- With attachments
The arrogance of Viking Cruise Lines
My wife and I booked an 8-day Rhine River cruise months ago. As the day got closer, we kept checking the Rhine's river depth. It was getting very shallow due to extreme temperatures and draughts. Two weeks ago, we realized that large sections of the Rhine were too shallow to navigate a longboat. My wife called Viking's customer service center and were told...
Read full review and 1 commentTalk about being underwhelmed
Everyone we talked with raved about their Viking Cruises. So we booked an Alaskan ocean cruise for July 2026. Well, it was totally underwhelming and I feel like we were overcharged for a promised level of service and quality but received a McDonalds level quality instead. Our room steward team was fantastic but that’s where the super experience stopped. The...
Read full reviewInstead of the unforgettable vacation promised, it rapidly became the forgettable one!
Recently returned from our Danube cruise that I planned for 2 1/2 years for our 45th anniversary and took along our adult sons and their wives. The booking process was a complete disaster where I literally had to make sure they did their jobs for them. And even with my efforts, they still screwed up the details and at my expense. 1 week before departure, I...
Read full reviewStay far far away.. Save your money
Well another day on this trip from hell. We are spending most days on board a bus as Viking says they can not navigate the River as it is two low. We paid for a balcony with a wonderful view and yet what we have is a AWESOME VIEW... of the Viking ship next to us. If we leave our curtains open then we will be giving our new (unwanted) neighbors a porn show...
Read full reviewHorrible customer service
OK so the ship is beautiful, the food incredible, the excursions well planned, the staff polite and helpful. So I am able to say some positves about the cruise but... If you're going on a Viking cruise, don't let them plan your flights. I booked for 4 people a year before travel and paid them in full 7 months before travel. Yet they booked us on multiple...
Read full reviewInsurance ins a scam
We bought insurance because my husband has (had ) Parkinsons. We are supposed to go on our cruise next month. I was able to find an extended family relative who also lost her husband recently without a beat (within a week). Viking wouldn't have been out a penny. Swift name change and passport numbers changed. But no, they made me file an insurance claim. SO...
Read full reviewViking does not live up to its motto
Our Viking river cruise to France was supposed to be a relaxing getaway, but the air arrangements Viking booked for us turned it into a stressful mess. We booked our flights through Viking — not on our own — because we assumed they would take responsibility if anything went wrong. Instead, they routed us on what felt like bargain‑basement flights with...
Read full reviewCompany will not stop bombarding me with brochures
I took one Viking cruise in 2022. It was okay but was not my cup of tea. There is very little to do onboard except look at scenary. I understand this is why people cruise but there are no other options for those who need a break from this. We also experienced an incident in Germany where one of the tour guides clearly was a Nazi enthusiast. This wa...
Read full reviewViking failures on passenger service involving medical issues and flights home.
In December we were on Viking Star, Cities of Antiquity cruise which embarked from Rome. A medical issue occurred and the medical staff forced me to go to the emergency room in Sicily via ambulance which was unnecessary because the medical issue was resolved in the morning we were forced to leave the ship. My disabled husband was basically held hostage...
Read full reviewRipped off
After using all our prior guest, onboard, and booking discounts, we paid almost $16,000 for a $17,800 British Isles ocean cruise for 2 people with basic accommodations ... VERY EXPENSIVE for the trip, but we thought Viking was worth it. About 10 weeks before the departure date, my father was diagnosed with 60 +/- days to live. Viking said we could not...
Read full reviewParis and The Heart of Normandy
WHAT A DISAPOINTMENT! My wife and I did the exact same cruise a few years ago and it was AWESOME. So awesome we invited 2 other couple to do it with us as my wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary and one of the couples we brought also celebrated their 20th anniversary. I bragged about the food, the crew, even the beaches of Normandy. One of the...
Read full review and 1 commentNot truthful
We booked a river cruise to Lyon, France in 2024 for a sailing in August, 2027. At the time, we were told the final payment was due in February, 2027. But, now I get an email the full payment is due nearly 2 years ahead of the sailing or 21 months. That is, in my opinion, a long time for this company to hold onto nearly $20,000 and I'm not happy about it. I...
Read full reviewA rebooking is not a cancellation
@vikingrivercruise - @TorsteinHagen - My wife and I booked a Christmas Markets river cruise departing December 2025 with Viking in October 2023 and paid a very reasonable deposit. It was then paid in full in May 2024. Unfortunately, 17 days before the cruise my wife had a fall resulting in broken bone making her unable to travel. Forcing us to reschedule...
Read full reviewWish I did my research before this one.
I have been on 3 Viking cruises and this is the last with them. We are on as I write this 11-19-2025. We booked over a year ago and only offered Tokyo to Sydney (50 days over $100,000), After boarding and talking to many passengers we were told of the "segments" that were never offered to us, we would not have sailed that long. So on board for 2 days I...
Read full reviewCaveat emptor - all that glitters is not gold
My expectations were very high - mostly due to the extraordinary advertising via television (I became enamored with Viking during Downton Abbey), the glossy and expensive magazine brochures that we received almost monthly, as well as online advertisement. For 15 years, a Viking River Cruise was number one on my bucket list. We cleaned out a retirement...
Read full reviewLied to before purchasing tickets
There are 7 of us taking the Athens to Venice cruise this September. 4 of the group bought their tickets early. Later 3 of us decided to join them. When we asked how we could all be put together, we were told all we had to do was have Viking link together our numbers, which we did. Total lies! As of today, we are not able to eat together for technicalitie...
Read full reviewBeing left behind... and ignored by Viking River Cruises
The three of us - my husband, I and our son - took a Danube River cruise on Viking Baldur from Budapest to Passau the week before Christmas, Dec 17-25, 2023. It was cold and raining or pouring most of the days. However, despite the miserable weather, our overall experience with Viking was fairly good and I would give it 4 stars if not an extremely unpleasant event that took place the last night and a return airport transfer poorly planned by Viking.
Unfortunately, our on-board feedbacks and my on-line review sent to https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/contact/cruise-review.html have been ignored by Viking. This is sad and reflects poorly on the company's reputation.
1. About the event of the last night that resulted in three not-so-happy passenger feedbacks which Viking hasn't acknowledged in any way.
We stayed in Passau. Heavy rains caused flooding, so the ship was docked about 5 km (3 miles) from the city center. My husband and I went on a morning shore excursion and returned soaked through, so we rested in the afternoon. Our son was slightly sick, so he slept though the morning and then took Viking's shuttle bus to the city center in the afternoon. He planned to return to the ship with the last shuttle bus at 5:30pm. He was at the bus stop explicitly suggested by the bus driver 10 mins earlier waiting for the bus that never showed up. At 5:30pm he sent me a message saying that there was no bus and he was the only person at the meeting point. I immediately went to see the cruise director, Marco, who said "If there is no bus, he should take a taxi. It is only 10-15 euros". To my surprise, the cruise director didn't even try to find out what happened to the shuttle bus or call our son. He left me to deal with this situation and returned only when I asked the receptionist to find him.
It was our son's first time in Europe. He didn't feel comfortable taking taxi in an unknow location at night. He also didn't have cash, his phone was not on an international plan, and his phone's battery was about to die. All he knew that his foot could eventually take him to the ship as long as his phone was on. And he started walking. However, Mark insisted on taking a taxi. Our son sent a text with his location and asked Mark to call the taxi company they normally work with. Marco tried to call the taxi once but they didn't answer his call. Our son was waiting... The second time the cruise director called for a taxi because I asked to try again, and it was unsuccessful again. By this point I was told that Viking would reimburse our taxi expenses... Hmm.. Then Marco started insisting that our son was in the pedestrian area where a taxi could not go to. It was untrue -- our son was on the road leading to a bridge and cars were passing by. Then Marco advised our son to go to a cafe or the Christmas market and ask anyone to call for a taxi if there were no taxis. There were no taxis. It was dark and raining. The cruise director was preoccupied with anything but trying to get our son back to the ship. I was exchanging messages and tried to call. Marco kept insisting on getting a taxi and not walking to the ship because it would be unsafe considering the weather conditions, darkness and the need to pass a bridge and a tunnel separating the ship from the city. The least I wanted to hear from Marco was a threat to file a report on us for not following his directions, so Viking would not be responsible for our son's safe return. He was completely unhelpful.
Anyhow, our son walked back to the ship. He returned at 6:55pm, wet, tired, upset but just on time for dinner. The rest of the night went uneventful -- really uneventful -- because no one, neither the cruise director not the receptionist, bothered to apologize for this ordeal or check if everything was alright. A simple apology would go a long way here...
2. About a return airport transfer from Passau to Munich (about 3 hours) provided by Viking.
My husband and I were returning to our home in Florida, and our son was returning to his home in Wisconsin. Our son's flight was only 15 min earlier than ours but Viking put our son on the bus leaving at 6:00am while our bus was leaving at 7:00am.
We asked Viking to move our son to our 7:00am bus twice, so we would go together. Besides, our bus was not full -- there were seats available. However, Viking refused to move him to the 7:00am bus explaining this by a limited luggage space. "What if someone would have four suite cases?" said the cruise director. Well, each of us had only one medium-size suite case. If in fact anyone would have four suite cases, I guess, it may be possible to take one smaller item inside the bus.
On the other hand, it was possible to move the two of us to the 6:00am bus if we wanted to go with our son. And we ended up taking this offer, even though I am not a morning person and early wake-ups don't serve me well.
Well, unfortunately, this added an hour to our wait time in the check-in queue at the Munich airport because we had our first connection in Amsterdam and a check-in for a Schengen zone flight can be done only two hours or less before the flight. I guess, that could be the reason we were originally placed on the 7:00am transfer...
3. What we liked the best:
- very comfortable beds and clean cabins
- well planned shore excursions
- a very professional and nice receptionist
- some very friendly and with a good sense of humor personal in the restaurant -- Andrei was the best
- durable huge umbrellas provided by Viking
4. The food was ok, but not great though (this would cost 1 star under normal circumstances).
- We would prefer quality over quantity -- fewer choices but tastier meals. Not every dish was tasty, and some of them were definitely a miss. On a positive side, it was never a problem with ordering something else as long as the kitchen was still open.
- The Austrian dinner was kind of a disaster -- a never-ending long line to get any meat and not enough fruits. When I was ready for a desert and went to get fruits, the fruit plate literary had one slice of orange, 6-7 single grapes, and 5-6 small pieces of cantaloupe. When I ask if we could get more fruits, I was told "No, we already served two plates.". Hmmm... Btw, these plates were not big by any standards.
- It would be good to be able order a medium-done (not only well-done) burger. It would be good to get a medium-rare ribeye steak when it is ordered "medium-rare" and not "rare".
- It would be good to be able to order an espresso for no charge after a meal in the restaurant. Only regular coffee is served in the restaurant with no change. Btw, coffee machines in the hall by the lounge make much better regular coffee than the one served in the restaurant.
- There were no fancy meats (like lamb, filet mignon, etc.) or seafood on the menu, even once. These items could enhance the overall experience.
5. About shuttle buses provided by Viking.
It would be best to have Viking's representatives at the shuttle bus drop-off /pick-up locations, so no one gets "lost" and everyone can see where to go. We were on several cruises (ocean and river), and this is a very common practice.
I sent my review to Viking Cruises at https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/contact/cruise-review.html three weeks ago, and then I posted it as "Being left behind on the last day of a cruise" at TripAdvisor.com and CruiseCritic.com. I also contacted our travel agent and forwarded my review to her. So far, Viking River Cruises has been ignoring us. At this point, we don't have high expectations for Viking. However, I would say at least an apology would be more than suitable here.
We are receiving many promotional emails from Viking and have been asked to vote for Viking as the best river cruise company (https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-river-cruise-line-2024/viking-river-cruises/). I wish they are more concerned about how to become the best one.
Recommendation: Look for another river cruises company. You can pay less and have a better overall experience.
630 Viking Cruises Complaints
Disappointed
Cruise should’ve been canceled because the water level was too low to go through the Rhine River had to take an eight bus trip to get to another ship, then that I get got sick this was not a pleasant trip plus we paid for a balcony to enjoy seeing the castles along the Rhine, which we never got to see because we were on the bus. Should’ve been offered a different way of transportation and asked if we could handle a bus ride that home.
Then we were told that we would get a credit towards another cruise and no money back from this one. I personally cannot afford another cruise or can I offer this discount to another person because of the price of it already. Very disappointed would not recommend viking to anybody.
Desired outcome: Cash enough to pay for our balcony rooms, which we did not get to enjoy because we had to take an eight hour bus ride and this different things
Confidential Information Hidden: This section contains confidential information visible to verified Viking Cruises representatives only. If you are affiliated with Viking Cruises, please claim your business to access these details.
River cruise was a total failure, we spent more time on a bus then on the water
our misadventure started on 7/24/2026 after two days in Prague, we spent the better part of the day on a bus going to a different boat than what we booked. For the next thee days we had very limited access to the sun deck because of bridges and locks. Had to repack our luggage to switch boats again. We were privileged to open our cabin curtain and find...
Read full complaintLeft at the port
On May 6,2026 we were docked at Germersheim (Viking Hild) and according to our daily schedule, we were to be back on the boat 6:15pm. Imagine our shock when we saw our boat had left AT 6:07! I was unable to get any calls to go through because I didn’t know to dial the “+” first. I learned this eventually from a very helpful German ( one of many) and wa...
Read full complaintShipboard credit
We booked an ocean cruise with your cruise line on 27 Mar 2026. The entire process was completed online. The brochure (March 2026) described many cruise packages and we decided on the Mediterranean Antiquities ocean cruise. There was a special on the airfare price and the option of receiving either a $1000 shipboard credit or free beverage package. There...
Read full complaintTravel protection refund
We booked a cruise on 02/19/26 to depart on 10/21/26. We paid a $100 deposit and purchased Trip Mate Travel Protection for $1498 ( for 2) at that time. I inquired about cancellation fees and was told I could cancel 120 days or more prior to departure and have to pay $100 per person. What was not explained clearly was that the trip protection has different...
Read full complaintRhine river cruise $500 advertised shipboard credit
11/29/25 Booked Rhine Getaway with agent based on information from booklet received in mail which said offer expired 11/30/25. I did not immediately set up a login and profile. When I did login on 11/8 I noticed the $500 shipboard credit had not been posted. When I called reservations, I was told it was expired even though my booking was completed prior to...
Read full complaintTech support virtually nonexistent
This company has virtually no real time technical support. I have been locked out of MyViking login since 12/8 and get nothing but lame excuses from Customer Rep (not tech support). They don't seem to have a mechanism for promptly escalating to technical support. Was supposed to be fixed in a week. Plus they make you do all the work to try to fix the...
Read full complaintMissed excursion
Lake Como pre cruise extension for Rhine River Cruise sailing on 24 Sept 2025. Rain storm in Lake Como prevented scheduled tours on 22 and 23 Sept. Not good planning for alternate excursions. Lake Como extension was booked to take advantage of the boat cruise and a visit to Bellagio on our 40th wedding anniversary. This did not happen for those of us on...
Read full complaintViking error is costing us more money
We have a back to back cruise to Iceland booked for June 2026. On Tuesday, May 13, we called customer support to inquire about the new specials available on our cruises - free drink package and prepaid gratuities. In the process of adding these to our bookings, the agent, Violet Adams somehow changed our cabin number on the second voyage. Immediately upon...
Read full complaintPromised refund and lack of response
Below is our latest email to Viking Cruises escalation team. It is has been two months, and again, no response. Thank you for your help. Email to Stephanie.[protected]@vikingcruises.com, dated 1/9/25: I am writing to you in hopes that you can resolve an issue we are having in getting refunds for our Viking 2020 prepaid fares. Based on numerous issue...
Viking elba river cruise
After multiple telephone conversations with a viking agent (last call was to confirm that their travel insurance was for “all reasons”, which she confirmed) we booked an elba river cruise with business class airfare, including the viking “trip mate travel protection plan” for $849 ea., which is confirmed on our “guest statement” dated 6/18/2024. We gave the...
Read full complaintcancelled cruise charges
We booked a cruise and paid a deposit which I understand is non refundable. We were also charged $1498.00 for insurance. We cancelled the cruise three weeks later and were told that we still had to pay $1498.00 for something that we never used.This makes no sense and very unfair to do this.We received no service for this insurance and we should not have to pay for nothing.My recommendation will be to stay as far away from Viking cruise lines as possible .
Claimed loss: $1498.00
Desired outcome: A refund would be nice
Confidential Information Hidden: This section contains confidential information visible to verified Viking Cruises representatives only. If you are affiliated with Viking Cruises, please claim your business to access these details.
Sold out excursions, viking invoice: 7830399
This is our first time booking a Viking River Cruise, or any River Cruise at all. Viking's website explicitly says... When can I book shore excursions? "Your My Viking Journey account gives you all the tools necessary to tailor and personalize your complete cruise experience. This includes full access to your shore excursions. Guests will be notified via...
Read full complaintRiver cruise
Joseph & Elham Cicippio 2732 34th street, NW Washington, DC 20008 E-mail: [protected]@gmail.com Tel: [protected] Ref. Booking# 8135694 Trip Complaint Dear Customer services team: On May 29, 2024, we started what supposed to be an eleven days luxury river cruise, cities of light, on the Viking Alsvin ship. We were looking forward to an enjoyable and relaxing...
Read full complaint
Replied
Failure of Viking River Cruises to provide satisfactory access to our flight
On Sunday, March 3, 2024, we were denied access to our flight from SFO and Viking was unable to satisfactorily resolve. Re: Booking no. 7917202 The following is a timeline of events: Saturday March 2, 2024 1) We received a text from Viking indicating our original flight from SFO to Frankfort had been cancelled and that we were rebooked on flight LH7996...
Air upgrade fee
I'll try to be as brief as I can about this absolutely frustrating situation. I do want to say, everyone I have spoken to at Viking has been professional and patient, although, in the end, not helpful in the least. In January, I, along with my sister-in-law booked the Cities of Light trip for us and our husbands on a 3 way call with Hunter, from Viking. I...
Read full complaint
Replied
Travel
Viking charges an additional $100 pre person to be able to have “control” of your airline, seats etc. This is sold by the person who books your cruise and must be paid at the time of the booking. AND THEN there is the the travel department who has no communication with the agent who booked your cruise. In fact, several agents admitted that they are in...
Read full complaint
Replied
Viking Air "Upgrade Fee"
Booking Number: 7457903 dated 02-May-23
Short version: Booked trip with Agent Coaster Coe who no longer works for Viking and specifically informed him that our air travel preferences are Business class due to health issues. Apparently, he booked the trip indicating "Economy" despite our instructions and booking an AA-Veranda Suite with Viking Air Plus service. Today I called Viking Air to make flight arrangements and was charged a $2,100 per passenger "Upgrade Fee" for moving from economy to business class! I have spent hours on the phone with Viking Air and River Cruises with no resolution but have been well versed in their "policy"! This is our second similar trip with Viking and I feel I/we have been the victim of the front end agents failure. Please make this right Viking.
Desired outcome: Remove $2,100 Upgrade Fee for both passengers.
Confidential Information Hidden: This section contains confidential information visible to verified Viking Cruises representatives only. If you are affiliated with Viking Cruises, please claim your business to access these details.
RESOLVED. Just spoke to Viking and everything has been totally resolved. Thank you Complaint Board and Viking!
Viking Christmas on the Rhine and Moselle
My wife and I booked the Viking Christmas on the Rhine and Moselle cruise (booking number 7310910) from December 20th to the 31st (with the actual cruise dates of the 22nd to the 29th). Vikking advertised it as a scenic river cruise with stops to visit traditional Christmas markets, historic sites, and medevial cathedrals. It sounded like a great...
Read full complaintRiver cruise 7819432
I booked a river cruise and then brought four new customers to viking with the promise of a $400 referral discount. Prior to the credit being applied I cancelled and rebooked a cruise to take advantage of lower airfare being offered to the very customer I referred - then later the referral discounts were denied. Note that the discounts had not been credited at that point which the salesperson confirmed, and the salesperson assured me they would be applied when the four entered their information. Today I was informed this had been reviewed and denied. In other words - I brought you $15000+ worth of additional business with the promise I would receive a $400 referral credit - and You never actually gave me the credit. I was lied to and misled. This needs to be corrected immediately.
Claimed loss: $400
Desired outcome: Credit the referrals.
Confidential Information Hidden: This section contains confidential information visible to verified Viking Cruises representatives only. If you are affiliated with Viking Cruises, please claim your business to access these details.
Viking Cruises complaints: history and resolution overview
Out of all reported cases, 327 complaints (51%) have been marked as resolved, while 303 complaints (49%) remain unresolved. The most recent resolved complaint, Failure of Viking River Cruises to provide satisfactory access to our flight, provides additional insight into how customer issues have been handled.
Customer feedback spans multiple years and reflects a range of user experiences. Reviewing complaint history and resolution outcomes may help users better understand the company’s track record and make more informed decisions.
Most discussed Viking Cruises complaints
Left at the portRecent comments about Viking Cruises company
Viking is keeping ours and others' monies hostage for three years!
Carnival Cruise Lines
1297 reviews
Prestige Cruises
10 reviews
Brittany Ferries
26 reviews
Uniworld
13 reviews
Celebrity Cruises
162 reviews
We have received your comment. Thank you!