Viking River Cruises
reviews and complaints

Our flight arranged by Viking cruises was originally on July 26 from YVR to FRA and to BSL on July 27. Because of the Lufthansa staff on strike, our flight was cancelled. This unpredictable change, although unexpected and unpleasant, but understandable.

We (4 of us in our group of 8 people) then were arranged by the Viking Emergency Line to fly via Icelandair to Zurich in the last minute and we had to rush to the airport within the hour to catch the flight. The Viking Emergency Line agent, Kyan, told us that we will be transferred by a coach to Basel and will be received at the Zurich airport when we arrive. However, after the long and tired trip, all of us were starved (there were no meal provided on Icelandair and we didn't know), the coach driver did not show up! No one received us at the airport!

We phoned the 2 Viking Europe Emergency hotlines provided by the Viking Emergency Line agent, Kyan, but the phone numbers found out to be invalid. We were stuck at the Zurich airport exhausted, helpless and did not know what to do. After many attempts to call the emergency phone numbers and after more than an hour, we were forced to give up!

We then tried very hard to find the way to Basel. Finally, we took a train from Zurich to Basel. We arrived Basel after 9 pm, more than 4 hours later than planned! I can't imagine what could have happened if we had only 2 people instead of 4.

We are very disappointed about the services provided by Viking, even before our cruise trip.

After we sent a complaint email to Viking, they replied that the Customer Relations Department will contact us after we return home.

We received a phone call the day after we got home, but we were too busy doing the aftermath of our trip and missed the call. The Customer Relations Agent, Hilda, then sent us an email asking for the best time to call. I replied with a time slot, but she didn't call. I waited till almost the end of the time slot and called her instead. She answered the phone as surprised. She could not even remember our names and cases. I had to remind her of the whole thing. And she's not listening, she kept saying it's because our flight was delayed, therefore the driver... I had to repeat to her louder and louder (to stop her from talking) that our flight was not delayed. In fact, our flight arrived 15 min earlier than scheduled to Zurich. And I had to told her to listen to me in loud voice to make her stop talking. She then started to tell us the fine print in the "final notifications" emailed to us 2 weeks before departure, that if we didn't see the transfer in the airport, we shouldn't wait, but to find our own transport and keep receipts for reimbursement. When I told her that we never received the "final notifications" email, she said when they've sent to the correct email address, they assumed customers would have received the email...

I finally got so angry that I hung up. Does Viking hire these people to make their customers angry? Probably Viking is getting too many customers and doesn't care how customers feel anymore.

Recently sailed from Amsterdam to Basel. We booked this 2 years ago, but left our reservation in tact, and received some upgrade compensation from the company.

The ship was clean, the staff and food good. Very, very few people wore masks. We had to change ships on day 3 due to low water levels on the Rhine. No ones' fault..and they tried to make to switch as painless as possible.

My big concerns lie with balcony rooms, and Air plus.

We were encouraged to upgrade to a 3rd floor balcony room. Big mistake! Due to the ship change, we missed at least 40% of the time to use the balcony, and when we could, we were parked so close to another ship that they were useless. Very noisy as well...people using the upper deck..tough to sleep.

We paid for Airplus as we were told they would take care of us. Less than 24 hours before our return..flights were canceled. The ships crew basically said to deal with the airline. Spent about 6 hours with AIRPLUS using my cell phone..and they also said they would try..but I should be the one talking to the airline. We were booked originally with Lufthansa...they rebooked for a day later with British Air...which was also canceled the morning we were leaving the ship. I begged to have them book us with another airline...finally one agent said go to the airport..and she was able to get us on Air France. We paid for premium seats..but none were available. I called customer relations as I feel we are due at least the refund from premium to economy seats...we were offered vouchers. Never plan to sail again, so said no.

Lesson learned...booked the cheapest room..and make your own air arrangements.

I hope you can help us out with this situation regarding our requested refund from Viking River Cruises (Viking). Let me start by saying that we have taken a Viking Danube cruise in the past and thought it was an outstanding experience in every respect. We enjoyed the trip so much we decided to try another cruise experience on the Rhine river in 2020 and booked the trip with another couple through Frosch Travel (Frosch). On February 7, 2019, we received our cruise confirmation from Viking. Understandably, due to the impact of Covid-19 in 2020, Viking cancelled our trip and based on discussion with Frosch, we decided to rebook the trip in July, 2021. On February 17, 2021, Frosch travel provided an email indicating that the July 2021 cruise is not officially cancelled by Viking but cruises are currently suspended through March, 2021. Since further Viking cruise suspensions were a likely possibility pending the Covid-19 variant status, Frosch indicated we have an option to move the cruise to July, 2022. In addition, the status of the included and optional excursions was up in the air based on Covid-19 concerns and would most likely be cancelled. Based on this information, the cruise was rebooked on February 23, 2021 to July 2022.

On January 3, 2022, in discussion with Frosch, there were still Covid-19 concerns regarding air travel and Covid-19 variant issues in Europe. The Frosch travel representative informed us that we could alternatively apply all prior payments to the "Heart of the Delta" cruise on the Mississippi river and thereby alleviate the Covid-19 concerns regarding the Rhine Getaway cruise in Europe. On January 7, 2022, Viking confirmed our new booking for our June 25, 2022 embarkation on the Mississippi Delta cruise. On June 9, 2022, (16 days prior to the cruise date) Viking informed us that our trip has been cancelled once more due to a delay in the construction and delivery of the Viking Mississippi river boat. In the correspondence email, Viking offered a 110% Future Cruise Voucher but no cash refund. Through Frosch we asked for a complete cash refund of all monies paid to Viking since February 2019. Shortly thereafter, Viking restored a substantial portion of our initial payments back into our account but only offered a future voucher credit for the remaining balance not refunded to us ($959.60 to each of the four travelers).

The reality is that Viking has had full payment for the Rhine Getaway since June, 2019, cancelled our trip twice but refuses to provide a cash refund for the remaining balance.

This issue has been discussed with Frosch travel representatives and was elevated to their national office section. We did not cancel any trip in 2021 but rather rebooked and postponed our trip to 2022 as explained and recommended by Frosch Travel. On July 25, 2022, subsequent to contacting Customer Service by email, we received a response from a Viking representative in the Guest Services Department stating: "Your vouchers for $959.60 per person don't have a cash value, so they cannot be refunded."

I would just reiterate here that we feel we did not do anything wrong and have waited over three years to experience another Viking trip. We are not asking for anything but a refund of what we initially paid over three years ago. Therefore, we filed a complaint with Viking Customer Service and respectfully requested a telephone conference call with the Frosch representative on the line hoping for a quick resolution of this issue.

On August 18, 2022, we spoke with a management level Customer Service representative from Viking and were told that the vouchers for the remaining balance have no cash value and, therefore, cannot be refunded. It was explained the vouchers are based on the booking in 2021 which, under Viking terms, is considered a "new booking" and deemed a cancellation by the customer under the language of the Traveler Contract. Based on the above information, Viking will not refund any of the $959.60 to any of the travelers.

Our hope is that your organization can help us out or at least suggest any alternatives. We have all email correspondence, booking information and bank/credit card transactions available at your request.

Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this issue.

Dietmar Kartali

[protected]

In consideration of the possible low water status of European rivers such as was the case in 2018, I sought to change my Danube River booking from July 2023 to October 2023. I have cruised with Viking on numerous occasions and up this point, considered them to be most responsive to customer needs and requests and too, the best in the river cruise industry. What transpired was an increase of $3670.00 more than the original booking. And, if I were to cancel the booking I would forfeit my original deposit in the amount of $758.00. No consideration was given to my numerous returning passenger status or the fact that I wanted only to change the date of the booking. I do realize that my requested change might have been to a more preferred travel season and too that the cost my original request for a veranda stateroom may have increased along with that of the more preferred travel season but to the extent of $3670.00 and to cancel at a cost of $758.00? No way to treat a returning who by the way has recommended several others to cruise Viking with me.

Booking Number: 6104811 Alaska and the Inside Passage, 7/22/22 to 8/1/22

Joanne MacLennan and Andrew Paul Marshie

This is what transpired:

1. First, Viking changes the air itinerary from Newark/Toronto/Vancouver to

Newark/Calgary/Vancouver on July 21st. See below

Air Schedule Change Notification

Booking Number: 6104811

Invoice Issue Date: 21-Jul-22

Contact: Ms Joanne Maclennan

Alaska & the Inside Passage

22-Jul-22 Vancouver, British Columbia

01-Aug-22 Seward, Alaska

4058

Passenger #1: Ms. Joanne MacLennan

Airline Ticket #: [protected] United Airlines

Viking Air #: HHAJKS

Friday, July 22, 2022

Newark, NJ (EWR) to Vancouver, Canada (YVR)

Flight 1 Economy Class

Air Canada

Flight 585

Travel Time: 4h 59m

Friday, July 22, 2022 9:55 AM

Newark, NJ (EWR)

Departs

Seat: 22A

Airline Booking #: 255CST

Friday, July 22, 2022 12:54 PM

Calgary, Canada (YYC)

Arrives

Equipment: Airbus A320 JET

2. Next, Flight from Calgary to Vancouver arrives at 3:24 pm.

OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF BEFORE VIKING ORION DEBARKATION AT 5:00 See below, according to FlightAware.com.

Air Canada 217

Gate C45

YYC: Calgary Canada

YVR Vancouver, Canada

left GATE C56Calgary Int'l - YYC

arrived at GATE C45Vancouver Int'l - YVR

FRIDAY 22-JUL-202202:55PM MDT

(on time)

FRIDAY 22-JUL-202203:24PM PDT

(26 minutes late)

3. According to Viking protocol (and from previous experience with Viking) there should have been Viking representatives waiting at the designated area outside of baggage claim. We were provided red circular stick on Viking badges so that the reps could easily see us and get us to the ship.

4. NO ONE SHOWED UP. We wasted an hour trying to find the reps, call Viking's emergency number (58 minutes wait time!) and then finally find a cab to the ship. THE SHIP WAS GONE.

5. With no help from Viking we finally got a support person from Viking to get us to a hotel and a flight on Sunday, July 24 to Ketchican to catch up with the ship.

We traveled on Rolf on 7/11 till 7/17 the low river conditions caused us to move to older ship had serious AC problems for 4 days .

Our stateroom was 84 degrees being on 3rd floor ship could not get below 79.

This caused my wife to become ill and she had trouble walking due to visculightes

the 2nd morning the toilet overflowed flooding the bathroom and the stateroom.

They took far to long to fix this problem. We went off ship to get cool and went to Strasburg. When we came back wet towels where still on the floor. Last day on ship my room temp was still 78degrees .Putting us on a ship with broken air is poor management. We expect

We began our 11th Viking Cruise in Budapest on August 1,2022on a ship know AC mechanical failures and notwithstanding the lack of AC the cruise began and has continued in sweltering interior temperatures, unhealthy and dangerous for many passengers.

My wife, 6 of our good friends, and I are on the Grand European from Budapest to Amsterdam starting August 1. When we booked this cruise, we were prepared for the worst (ie, lost luggage, ship swap(s), etc.).

Never did we ever imagine or prepare for what we have encountered. Since day one, we have had dangerously inadequate air conditioning. It is hot onboard. We were told that the ship has a big and a smaller compressor. The big compressor is not working at all and has not worked from the beginning of the cruise.The smaller compressor is only working at 30% capacity. The first night we were told that it would be fixed when we arrived in Vienna. Last night, we were told that it would not be fixed as they could not acquire the compressor, plus they would need everybody off the ship. Viking knew this when we began the cruise.

The outside temperatures have been around the mid-90s each day. Tomorrow’s temperature in Melk will be 98.

With river levels continuing to decline, we are so looking forward to the ship swap so that we will have air conditioning. I feel real sorry for the people that are swapping ships and coming on board ours, the Viking Skirnir. I wonder if they’ve been told.

As uncomfortable as we are, we feel so sorry for the staff. We have spoken to a couple of officers asking them because of the heat to possibly relax their dress code. We were told that they will not as Viking has certain standards to uphold.

We certainly are not “Traveling the world in comfort”. 🥵🥵🥵

Each traveler should be reimbursed fully for the cost of the cruise and provided trips home.

Johnny and Hannah Warren

We were not able to complete or Viking River Cruise that included a couple of land tours and 2 day extension in Munich, June 16-29, 2022.

I have to voice my complete dissatisfaction with the way the remainder of our trip ended after we disembarked the vessel, Viking Hervor, in Basel Switzerland on June 23, 2022.

We boarded a coach and headed for Innsbruck, Austria. Upon arrival, my husband was feeling rather poorly, and rested in our room quite a bit and then tested positive to Covid on June 24th. With the concern of spreading the virus, we told our tour guide, Peter Konya. Peter told me there was no reason why I couldn’t continue on, but Loren would have to leave the group. Peter had told us he would contact Viking and get back to me. My husband and I agreed, while waiting for an answer, that I would continue on without him so I could see the Passion Play and then go on to Munich. Peter came back and told us that neither one of us was able to continue with the group and would have to leave the tour.

With this said, the whole trip revolved around the Passion Play and was truly disappointed that both of us had to miss it. But the most disappointing part was the lack of communication from Viking to us. Peter Konya, told us Viking transportation would pick us up at noon, on June 25th and take us to a hotel near the airport so we could fly home. Peter had a hard time getting ahold of us, to relay this information, because our phone in the hotel room was not working and left a note on my door that told me to call Viking, which I received the day of departure. I could not get ahold of anyone at the office since it was night time in the US.

The transportation came (June 25th) and took us to Bad Fussing, Germany, which was not next to the airport (more like 1 1/2 hours from the airport). We were taken up the emergency exit to enter our room, and the lady of the hotel, told us we would be quarantining for 5 days. She asked if we had travel insurance and I told her no. We made the trip fine, and it was because of the trip that my husband contracted covid. As I found out yesterday (June 29) I have heard of 4 other people on our cruise that got covid upon leaving the vessel.

We expressed our concern to the lady of the hotel, that we wanted to go home as soon as possible as there was no reason for us to stay in Europe. She came to check in with us in the morning of June 26th, and said she had not heard from Viking yet. We carried on our day by watching TV and waiting to hear. We were not allowed to exit our room. All meals were brought to us and other hotel personnel could not answer our concerns. We kept trying to get a hold of the lady of the house, but she never came.

About 6-7 pm on Sunday night, June 26, my husband was looking at his email and saw that we had a flight notification for an early morning flight on June 27th 6:45 am. Again, we tried to get a hold of the lady of the hotel via text, and no answer. We did finally try to call Viking Air and within an hour, Treva Young called me back to confirm that we indeed did have a morning flight. She was trying to call the hotel to find the lady of the hotel, without any success. While Treva, had me on hold, the lady of the hotel knocked at my door and told me she was sorry about not getting back to us. She was swimming at a social event for the town. The time she came was about 8pmto notify us that a transportation van would pick us up at 2amin the morning to get us to Munich to catch our flight. In the meantime, Treva, finally came back on the phone, after having me on hold, to tell us she still couldn’t get a hold of the lady of the house and had to leave a message. I did tell Treva that she had just come to the door to verify the transportation and our flight.

I would have to say that Treva was the only person that was willing to go the extra mile to hear our concerns and help us. Thank you so much Treva! (I have since tried to reach out to Treva for help with this matter, and she has not responded back to me. I am very unhappy with her not getting back to me.)

With 3 hours of sleep that night, we were picked up at 2am for our morning flight and made it home.

Thank you for taking the time to read my initial email to Viking. All that Viking wants to do is give us a voucher to use on our next trip. Well, this was a trip of our lifetime and we certainly cannot afford to take another cruise with Viking. We spent almost 20k on this trip and they want to give us is a voucher for $4600 approximately.

All I am asking Viking for, is to get me back (my husband has no desire to go back at this point) to Germany to see the Passion Play, which only happens once every 10 years, at Vikings expense, since I will not accept a voucher to apply to another expensive trip. We also missed out on our 2 day extension in Munich.

We did not have any travel insurance, and were well when we boarded the vessel. We found out that 4 other people that we were with on the ship also contracted covid. My husband was well, but because of the guests, he got sick.

Viking has been unwilling to help me out other than giving me a credited voucher to apply to the next cruise.

Thank you for your time.

Jo Gullekson

[protected]@gmaill.com

My husband and I are about to go on our 2nd river cruise with Viking. We paid $5,088 each for upgraded airfare for Business Class. When we received our flight information I was shocked to see that we were in economy class for our flight from Austin to Washington DC. We were also almost in the back of the plane in row 27, middle seat and aisle seat. I called the air dept. and told the person I spoke with that we were suppose to be in business class. On our guest statement it says business class out of Austin to Washington DC. The person I spoke with repeated not once but 4 times that they can not guarantee business class on domestic flights. Every time I asked a question or made a statement he would repeat We can not guarantee business class on domestic flights. After the fourth time of him repeating his statement I was so furious I just hung up.

We were planning another cruise through Viking for 2024 but we go with another cruise line. Viking has lost another customer. I would like to see in their paperwork where it states We can not guarantee business class on domestic flights because all of our paperwork does not state that.

MR. Hagen;

I am almost 70 years old and have not done a lot of travel domestically and never abroad. I felt that I could not afford it and did not have the time to take off from work. In August 2019 my partner passed away. That fall a very good friend, Max Holmes, suggested we take a river cruise. He had been on several Viking cruises, including a river cruise. I never had a desire to take a cruise on a large cruise ship. The river cruise was very appealing to me. This cruise was to be a once in a lifetime experience for me. Max booked our cruise for May 2020. Well we all know what happened. Covid hit and our cruise was canceled. Last fall we were contacted by Viking and we rescheduled for May 2022.

On May 9th we arrived at the airport in Paris and was met by the Viking representative. There was a total of six of us being escorted by your representative, she was off and running. My friend Max has some mobility issues and we were left behind, we tried to keep up as long as we could see her Viking paddle. Then we could not see her or her paddle! Thank goodness, she did return to find us. This was not a good start to our trip.

We also took advantage of the Panoramic Bus Tour of Paris offered by Viking. It was very enjoyable until we reached Notre Dame. We were told we had to get off the bus and walk four blocks to the cathedral. I told the tour guide that Max could not walk the four blocks to the cathedral and we would wait on the bus. She told us that we needed to find a cafe to sit and wait for them to pick us up. We were told we could not wait on the bus because the driver needed a break? This made us feel like we were being put out on the street like yesterday's garbage. We opted to take a taxi back to the hotel .

Friday May 13th we finally made it to our boat, the IDI. We were able to enjoy two very blissful days cruising on the Mosel river. I found the excursions in Trier and Cochem very enjoyable. I saw things that I had never seen and never will again see. In Cochem our tour guide told our group that the Mosel river would be closing down for yearly lock maintenance. When I arrived back to the boat I asked activities director Jane about the closure. She said; "Don't worry we will get through". That afternoon we departed to Winningen and arrived there at about 7pm. This was Sunday evening.

Your Captain Lambertus made a fatal mistake. He decided to stay in Winningen, keep in mind the last remaining lock was to close down 12:01 am Monday May 16. Also keep in mind that Koblenz is only 7.2 miles from Winningen. We could have easily cleared the last lock if Captain Lambertus had continued to cruise that evening. Viking and Captain Lambertus should have known of the lock closing. The lock closing is published well in advance by the Mosel Commission. If you go to their web site, www.moselcomission.com, you will see the lock closing schedule from 2021 to 2035. On Monday the 16th the passengers were told that the boat was stuck in Winningen. There was a scrambling of Jane the activity director to get bus tours set up. I signed up for a river cruise, not a long boring bus tour!

My two days cruising were more that wonderful, they were fantastic. Sitting on our balcony watching the German countryside passing by. The mountains covered in lush green forest were awe inspiring. Then mountain side vineyards, were equally impressive. Further down the river quaint villages would appear then slowly disappear in the wake of our boat as we progressed down the river Mosel. Water fowls would fly and swim undisturbed by the IDI. A massive castle up high was something I only saw in books, what a site to see! But most of all I enjoyed the peace and tranquility of lazily cruising down the river. This was taken away from me by your Viking mistake!

I feel very strongly that myself and Mr. Holmes need to be compensated. No, a voucher will not suffice, this was a once in a lifetime trip for me and Max does have mobility issues. It is doubtful we will be doing anymore international travel. Please do not offer a token refund, you gave me a taste of river cruising and the took it away by ineptness on the part of Viking!

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sinerely,

James "Richard" Pickering

[protected]@aol.com

[protected]

Viking has been very unresponsive and has only offered token compensation for the poor decision made by the boat's captain.

The Viking customer service group refuses allow me to speak to anyone in their management

We booked a family cruise in May 2020 for a family of four for the Italian Sojourn cruise. It was canceled by Viking twice due to Covid. When we asked for a refund, Viking refused and said they would only issue vouchers. They also added some incentives by giving us extra vouchers for ground excursions. We were okay with that and had no choice but to let them keep our $25K for two years. The cruise was re-scheduled for August 2022, which we were ready to take. The flight to Europe was due to depart Washington DC on the night of August 2. Unfortunately, two days ago, Sunday, July 31, our adult son was diagnosed with Covid 19 while visiting Seattle. We immediately notified Viking, who told us that since our son and daughter were sharing a suite and on a separate account from my wife and me, the likelihood of their being issued a voucher covering the full cost of the cruise was quite good, but we would have to submit proof of Covid testing, which was no problem. Upon submission of the details and proof of Covid testing, we were told that no vouchers would be issued for any of our bookings. The manager, Audrey Childs, at vcmailvikingcruises.com showed no interest in our situation and would only cite the policies which state that if Viking denies embarkation, the passenger(s) is entitled to a voucher. I pointed out to Ms. Childs that because we came forward in good faith to immediately advise Viking of a positive Covid test, we are being penalized in not being eligible for vouchers. On the other hand, if we had said nothing about our son's Covid and let Viking discover his Covid and deny embarkation, he and our daughter would have been entitled to vouchers. In addition, Ms. Childs told us we should seek compensation from a third-party insurance provider. Whether we have insurance coverage or not should not absolve Viking from moral and ethical responsibility to their customers. This posture contradicts Chairman Thorstein's TV commercials about Viking Corporation's values of honesty and integrity learned from his childhood in Norway. Viking has had our $25,000 for two years and is keeping it because we honestly told them about our son's diagnosis with Covid instead of keeping quiet and letting them discover the COVID and deny him embarkation, we would have received at least two vouchers. By doing so, Viking is encouraging passengers not to be forthright about COVID and possibly putting other passengers at risk. This seems wrong to us and we are extremely disappointed in Viking's attitude and decision.

Booking reference 6144974

Rhine and Moselle Discovery

25th July - 1st August

Viking Herja

We flew from Manchester to Frankfurt and planned to connect with a flight to Luxembourg. The plane arrived late in Frankfurt and we missed the connection. There was nobody from Viking to advise us. We considered this disappointing. When we have travelled with other companies they always have a rep on hand to advise and assist. We talked to a Lufthansa representative who made the silly suggestion that we catch the train to Trier(without our luggage)

Common sense prevailed and we stayed overnight in Frankfurt and caught a taxi the following day to Trier.

In effect we missed one day of the cruise. The cost of the 7 day cruise was approximately £5000 ( £5790 minus £790 for flights ( approx). One seventh of that would be £714:28.

We feel that Viking should refund us that amount.

We talked to a Viking rep today called Lily who advised to send an email to Guest [protected]@viking.com but we were unable to locate this site.

Best wishes

David Ramsey '

Our flight from Minneapolis to Budapest for our September 22 Romantic Danube River Cruise including transfers in over 17 hours. Minneapolis to Dallas to Hellinki to Budapest. This is totally unacceptable. For the amount these tours cost we should fly direct to Europe with no more that one lay over. Viking is trying to save money on the backs of people who schedluled this trip in good faith.. Here is the itinerary:

Leave Minneapolis 11:34 am, arrive Dallas 2:08 pm (2hr 34 mn)

(Layover of 2:47 Minutes)

Leave Dallas 4:55 pm arrive Helsinki 11:10 am (10 hr 15 mn)

Layover of 1 hr 40 mn)

Leave Helsinki 12:55 pm arrive Budapest 4:45 pm (2 hr 25 mn...but this is best case since these tickets have not been scheduled yet it could be qas much as 3hrs and 50mn)!

Several of you have asked why we haven’t posted pictures of our Viking Cruise from Basal Switzerland to Amsterdam. We needed some time to comprehend and emotionally figure out how to deal with this horrific event that happened to us.

As you all know, we were so excited to take our first Viking River Cruise and travel thoroughout Europe. Unfortunately, it was the trip from hell. On the second night of the cruise, Matt and I were taking a “selfie” with the Maître D’. As we were taking the pic, the Maître D’, inappropriately and painfully grabbed me twice (sexual assault). We tried to make a formal complaint to the Captain and the Hotel Manager, who blatantly did not care and refused to give us a formal complaint. Instead, basically gave us the attitude that I was lying and responded, “we will be monitoring you for the rest of the trip and we have the ability to cut you off at the bar”. They then asked, “if we wanted help getting off the boat, different arrangements would be made to get us home! The way they treated us while on that boat and the lack of empathy was disgusting! So Unbelievable!

Well, Viking Cruises - I have proof. 🙏🏼 Thank the lord, during this “selfie pic” that we took, IS THE EVIDENCE. 🙏🏼 …. In the reflection of the boat’s glass you can clearly see exactly what happened.

Thanks to Stock Legal Law Firm and an amazing team, THIS will be reconciled. I am pressing charges. We will make sure new laws/policies are put into place to Never allow this to happen to another human being. Just because we are on another country’s soil/ water does not give the right to assault. We are so deeply disappointed in Viking River Cruises and would not recommend for anyone.

Please feel free to share! Would love to get the word out.

Viking canceled our cruise due to covid and rebooked us with a risk free voucher. What a joke that is! Now they have changed their cruise requirements and we can’t travel on the rebooked cruise due to Vikings changes. So they just sent us another risk free voucher to book any 2021 or 2022 cruise that expires Dec 31, 2022. You read that right we are to book a cruise for 2021 which ended over 6 months ago or for 2022 which ends in 5 months! We have asked for a full refund numerous times due to their cancellation of the cruise and now the changes in travel requirements which won’t allow us to travel on there cruise line! You have got to be kidding me?! They have had over $12,000 of our money since 2019 and refuse to refund it stating it is no longer worth anything! Well it’s worth $12,000 plus interest to them! They have stolen our money for a cruise they canceled and a cruise we can’t sail on due to the changes they have made to their travel requirements since we booked. Viking is supposed to be the best in the business?! They are criminals!

Last Friday at 12:00 pacific time excursion choices for our ocean cruise were available. At 12:01 I made my choices and then proceeded to the payment page and put in my credit card info that had been used to make the purchase for the trip and it was denied. The chat person tried to help me and my excursion list went from 8 to 4. I called a live person and told her what happened she said she was sorry but the excursions were fair game after the first denial and there was nothing she could or would do. These were the favorite excursions and they were sold out.

Trip was originally booked in June 2019 for a cruise in July 2020 which was cancelled by Viking due to Covid. We were offered to book another cruise with a $500 booking discount at 125% value of the original cruise so we rebooked (booking number 6159243). We also purchased the travel protection plan. We started calling Viking in May (thinking the 120 day cancellation applied) but were told that the that doesn't apply in this case and that we could cancel up to 1 day before the cruise. In May, both travelers have developed medical conditions (and meet the requirements for "specified reasons") that would prevent them from going on the cruise but were told that eventhough we qualify under the term of the protection plan the refundable amount is zero because a voucher has no value and is non-refundable. So we called twice and were told there was no way we could get our money back, the best we could do is call to cancel and get another travel voucher which we will *never* be able to use based on our age and diagnosis. All we want is the money back that we originally paid back in 2019. I don't understand why we paid for the travel protection plan if Viking won't refund at least the monies they have been paid (may be less than cruise value). Numerous calls to Viking have not provided any solution to this problem - all we can do is cancel and get another non-transferrable voucher. We can't help that our health has changed so dramatically over the past 3 years but I thought that's why we purchased the insurance. Please help.

First for all I have MULTIPLE complaints on our recent July Viking River cruise. We started the 18 day event on July 5th from Paris and traveled to Normandy and back to Paris for the first leg of two cruises. This was our third Viking River cruise and it was fantastic like that others we traveled on. We traveled to our second leg that would depart from Lyon France. We ere booked on the France Bullet train from Paris to Lyon, in coach and not first class.

FIRST Issue: When we boarded the Viking River Boat, we found the air-conditioning was lacking the dinning and bar area could not maintain a comfortable setting. They blamed the hot weather and a larger compressor was ordered. The air-condition problem was never fixed and the heat in both areas was totally unsatisfactory. They continued to blame the high heat, but many of us had said with Viking before in similar high heat conditions and the boat air-conditioning was able to handle the heat.

SECOND Issue: The support staff for dinner and bar area were noticeably understaffed and cased along delays in service. They tried to compensate for the understaffing by increasing buffets, which very uncommon in Viking. A couple people told me they waited 20 minutes for deserts.

THIRD Issue: We were offered a free beverage upgrade when we signed up for the new France's Finest cruise. I had no problem with the Viking system recognizing my complimentary beverage on the first leg, but they Viking cruise from Lyon had no account of the complimentary beverage package. I was told to check with the Service Desk to resolve the problem, Upon explaining the issue with the Service Desk, I was informed that shoe could do nothing to help my without me proving to her that I paid for the service. She asked for a copy of my paid invoice, without that she could not help. One thing I noticed on this particular cruise was some of the staff started to use the word NO, which I never heard on previous Viking Crusies. In order to resolve the payment issue, I was required to call Viking in California on my dime and they immediately pulled up my record and emailed me the invoice to clearly noted the beverage package was complimentary. I should this to the lady at the service desk and she said she needed a hard copy so could see it to her management for approval. It was like I was trying to cheat Viking for the drink package. So I emailed it to her and she sent it off to her management and it was immediately approved. What a waste my my vacation time and I had to pay for the call to Viking! I still have no idea why she could not handle this issue herself with a few internal emails to verify my records. Clearly she needed training on how to resolve customer issues.

Tensions were high at time because the ship was so hot. First timers said they would never travel on Viking again. All Viking needed to do, was tell the passengers there was a serious Air Conditioning issue that could not be resolved during the cruise. Unfortunately the Captain could not speak to understand English so there was no need to express dissatisfaction to him.There were a few other issues, but they related to the tour guides.

We were excited to book another Viking cruise, but like many of the passengers, we too are having second thoughts. I assume they have grown too fast and lack the staff and finances to handle the growth.

There are many European river cruise companies to choose from...so don't choose Viking. Go with any other company! I had my first Viking River cruise several years ago during the Christmas markets. I felt the experience with Viking was ho-hum for many reasons. BUT, I thought maybe it was the time of year. When Viking had their 25th Anniversary Sale with air included, my cousin wanted to go and I thought...give Viking another chance. Other people have wonderful experiences with them. So we decided to book a 14 day Rhine/Danube trip. I figured this would be a second opportunity to prove they are the superior river cruise company. (I've gone on Gate1 and liked them a lot.)

Well, everything was seamless in the booking/pre-cruise process till the last week when Delta changed our air significantly, i.e. 3 hours later. I called the air department to explain that this meant we were arriving closer to noon than at 8 a.m. and would have no time to explore the city. Was it possible to change to a day earlier since the airline made a significant change? Esmerelda said that their policy is to change to a flight earlier in the day but since there were none, a day earlier would work. I understood we would be responsible for our hotel and transfers since we were no longer arriving as originally scheduled--and was happy to do so. No complaints there. I confirmed there would be no fees or price increases since this was Delta's change and Esmeralda agreed and said the ticket would be reissued shortly. In the meantime, I was sent a revised flight schedule by Viking which was actually the original schedule. So I called Viking back again and was told not to worry, it takes a bit for the ticket to be reissued.

When I looked on my Delta app, it appeared the ticket had been reissued for a day earlier. But all the previous tickets also showed up so I called Delta and they removed all but the new itinerary.

After a week of dreaming of spending a full day in Amsterdam, hurriedly taking care of all the loose ends at home, today, as I was checking in on the Delta site, I kept getting an error message. It said the tickets were not issued. I called Delta. They confirmed Viking never reissued the tickets (they were still for the original date--although nothing on the Delta site showed we had any other flights except tomorrows.)

I called Viking and I was on with them for over two hours. Kitty (supervisor) just repeated over and over that they could do nothing. We were on our original flight booked because the delay wasn't long enough. (This is not true in the real world where this amount of time allows a passenger to rebook). I explained that I spent hours this last week confirming our hotel and transfer reservations and finalizing items in my household so I could leave a day early because Esmeralda, a Viking Representative confirmed our day earlier flight. Kitty confirmed that the notes in the Viking file stated that we did talk to Esmerelda and that we'd requested a flight one day earlier. She didn't ever say, Viking screwed up. She said that this change was not possible at this late point. I said it wasn't late when I requested as it was one week earlier. It was as if we were the bad guests for requesting an air deviation when Delta made the change. Under normal circumstances, 3 hours is enough to change your flight without any penalties or increases in fare.

I asked to speak to Kitty's supervisor or someone higher in the air department as I had been assured that we were going a day earlier by Esmerelda. If this turned out not to be possible, why didn't someone call as soon as they knew so we would not be working on lodging in Amsterdam. We have lost a day in Amsterdam. I have lost over 60 hours of planning with Delta, Viking, and lodging accommodations. I asked Kitty to check out my phone conversation with Esmerelda. She said it would take 36-72 hours to do this which would be after the new scheduled flight date. We'd be back to our original itinerary.

Viking should be ashamed of themselves. They say they offer a wonderful, seamless experience with air and cruise. They say their employees are top notch. However, it is only wonderful if the employees do their jobs and someone dropped the ball on our reservation. But no one will admit it. Now we've made airport arrangements, everything is packed...and we're delayed a day.

Please use Gate1 or any of the other river cruise options. Viking doesn't care about customer service and they won't admit when they are wrong. I had so wanted to be a satisfied Viking customer. I travel a great deal and give shout outs to all the great companies...but unless Viking corrects this situation, I won't be shouting positives about them.

Desired outcome: Viking reviews conversation between Esmerelda & myself. I'd like an apology, with Viking accepting full responsibility. Viking could upgrade our room & include gratuities on this voyage, But unfortunately, Viking won't read this until we are well on our way. If no upgrade or gratuities, a partial refund for this error.