Viking Transfers Issue

I realize this is what my daughter would call a first world problem, but nevertheless.

My wife and I have booked a November Avignon to Lyon cruise with Viking and purchased our air through them as well.

We opted to arrive a couple of days before the cruise for obvious reasons; to enjoy a bit of the South of France before the cruise and, most important, to follow our rule of never arriving at the cruise departure city the exact day of the cruise, particularly in winter. We knew of, and accepted, their deviation fee for arriving early.

We asked to purchase transfers from Viking and they said "no" for the arrival day Marseille Airport to the Viking ship at Avignon.

Their reasoning was that we were arriving early, although we told them we understood that getting back to the Marseille Airport would be our responsibility.

Our thinking is that (a) we had purchased their cruise, (b) purchased their air, and © accepted we needed to be at the Marseille airport at the designated time.

This policy makes no sense to us and seems a bit inflexible and arbitrary as I'm almost certain (and will certainly stand corrected) that other cruise lines allow this.

Thanks for hearing me out.

I realize this is what my daughter would call a first world problem, but nevertheless.

My wife and I have booked a November Avignon to Lyon cruise with Viking and purchased our air through them as well.

We opted to arrive a couple of days before the cruise for obvious reasons; to enjoy a bit of the South of France before the cruise and, most important, to follow our rule of never arriving at the cruise departure city the exact day of the cruise, particularly in winter. We knew of, and accepted, their deviation fee for arriving early.

We asked to purchase transfers from Viking and they said "no" for the arrival day Marseille Airport to the Viking ship at Avignon.

Their reasoning was that we were arriving early, although we told them we understood that getting back to the Marseille Airport would be our responsibility.

Our thinking is that (a) we had purchased their cruise, (b) purchased their air, and © accepted we needed to be at the Marseille airport at the designated time.

This policy makes no sense to us and seems a bit inflexible and arbitrary as I'm almost certain (and will certainly stand corrected) that other cruise lines allow this.

Thanks for hearing me out.

We're doing the same thing with our Amsterdam to Basel trip. We purchased the Lucerne extension through them, but they didn't have any openings for Amsterdam - which was okay with us, because I wanted to do it on our own anyway. I asked about transfers for Amsterdam and was also told no.

Would have been nice, but we can handle getting from Shiphol to our hotel, so it's not really a big deal.

We're doing the same thing with our Amsterdam to Basel trip. We purchased the Lucerne extension through them, but they didn't have any openings for Amsterdam - which was okay with us, because I wanted to do it on our own anyway. I asked about transfers for Amsterdam and was also told no.

 

Would have been nice, but we can handle getting from Shiphol to our hotel, so it's not really a big deal.

Small world. We just completed that exact tour with Viking in December and you're right that the Schiphol to Amsterdam City transportation is a snap. Enjoy, enjoy...we loved it.

Well, we all received the same response from Viking. In our case we arranged an air deviation to Madrid prior to our Paris/Normandy cruise, through Viking, and will be landing in Paris about the same time as their direct (non-deviation) flight. We had to arrange our own transport to Paris, which was not a problem, and thought we could at least purchase the transfer from the airport, but were told that option is not available.

The good news is that there is a direct train from Marseille to Avignon about every hour for 14 euro each. Takes a little over an hour. Add in a small taxi fare on each end.

So not too much of an issue getting between the two cities.

Issues like this is one of the reasons I don't book air and transfers with Viking. Find it much better to do my own. Last year after a Rhine River cruise i found that the hotel I had booked in Amsterdam was the same one Viking was using for its extensions (Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel - Marriott). Cost me considerably less to do it on my own, including any out of pocket costs I paid for my own tours.

We went on 2 Viking River cruises and flew in a day early on both of them, last August we flew into Bordeaux, took 2 busses to our hotel and we were able to walk to the ship on Saturday afternoon on the departure date, we did the Rhine Getaway 2 years ago and flew into Basel a day early, we were able to take a bus to our hotel which was a block from the train station, we woke up early Saturday , took the train to Lucerne , spent half a day there, took the train back to Basel, walked to the hotel, picked up our luggage and took a cab to the ship, it was @ 20 euros with the tip.

We used Viking air for both our trips and knew ahead of time we would be responsible for transportation getting to the ship for departure. It could be a logistical problem for Viking meeting people at hotels, rail stations or whatever and bringing them to the ship for departure when arrival times are varied. I would look into taking a train to Avignon and meeting up with the ship.

Well, we all received the same response from Viking. In our case we arranged an air deviation to Madrid prior to our Paris/Normandy cruise, through Viking, and will be landing in Paris about the same time as their direct (non-deviation) flight. We had to arrange our own transport to Paris, which was not a problem, and thought we could at least purchase the transfer from the airport, but were told that option is not available.

Just wanted to suggest you check exactly where on the Seine your ship docks. Many reports here are that it is not in Paris . . . sorry I don't recall exactly where.

Just wanted to suggest you check exactly where on the Seine your ship docks. Many reports here are that it is not in Paris . . . sorry I don't recall exactly where.

Valid point - our ship is one that will dock at "Paris/Le Pecq" (i.e., Le Pecq, not in Paris itself).

It could be a logistical problem for Viking meeting people at hotels, rail stations or whatever and bringing them to the ship for departure when arrival times are varied.

I would email them at tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them why their website has Transfer Request Forms (http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/travel-information/transfer-request-form.html).

If this is no longer available, then they should remove it from their website.

Small world. We just completed that exact tour with Viking in December and you're right that the Schiphol to Amsterdam City transportation is a snap. Enjoy, enjoy...we loved it.

Glad to hear it! Thanks! We are so looking forward to it!

I would email them at tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them why their website has Transfer Request Forms (http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/travel-information/transfer-request-form.html).

 

If this is no longer available, then they should remove it from their website.

That is a good point! I thought I saw that somewhere before I asked, but I couldn't remember where! It would be convenient, but it's not really a big issue for us.

I would email them at tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them why their website has Transfer Request Forms (http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/travel-information/transfer-request-form.html).

 

If this is no longer available, then they should remove it from their website.

I think perhaps just contacting them on that link and mentioning how helpful they have been on Cruise Critic, and then explaining exactly how was explained here. You would like to meet the transfer bus at the airport. You are willing to travel to the airport. And since you purchased the Viking air you feel you are entitled. I really don't see the problem. You are not requesting anything extra.

Don't forget to report back here on Cruise Critic to let us all know how it worked out.

We were able to purchase Avignon to Marseille airport transfer without purchasing Viking Air. The transfer is not cheap, but a taxi or private transfer would have been about the same price. When I booked the cruise, I also books the transfer. They had the info that we had traveled with Viking previously.....don't know if that made a difference.

I booked a pre package with Viking in Nice. Will I need to arrange my own transfers to the ship? Is this only an issue with people who arrive early and make their own arrangements? :confused:

If you are taking the pre-cruise package from Viking then, no, you will not have to make your own arrangements.

Valid point - our ship is one that will dock at "Paris/Le Pecq" (i.e., Le Pecq, not in Paris itself).

Hello Mort and Fran,

We are scheduled to sail on the Viking Rinda May 18 with 2 other couples (part of the France's Finest). I understand that the Rinda boat still may be docked in LePecq by the time we sail. We also paid Viking to do a airfare deviation as we are flying into Paris 4 days early to actually see the sights on our own. I asked Viking if they are giving us transfers to the dock and they said no! I also don't understand why we can't get to the hotel that Viking has for folks who do the pre-trip and hook up with them on a shuttle to get to the ship. It seems that we are being penalized even though we are using their airfare.

Does anyone know exactly where LePecq is located and how we are supposed to get there? Is taking a can the only option? We booked this trip back in February 2015 and at the time, the itinerary was advertised as having the ship be docked right in Paris near the Eiffel Tower! Viking told us the issue was temporary and that by the time we sail, the French authorities would more than likely allow them to dock the boat in Paris (not LePecq). So now I hear that we are not only going to have to pay for our transfer to get to the boat, but worse, the port is about 1 hr - 1.5 hr by cab if there is traffic. So that means we don't have much time to see Paris with Viking on day 2.

The other issue we are having is to try and book the optional shore excursions using MyVikingJourney website. What a joke! The website says that NO included or optional shore excursions are loaded at this time. I spoke to our agent and I wrote to Viking customer service and both said that it is a website issue they "working to fix". It's been over a week and still no fixes. I am reading that some folks are saying the tours are "sold out"! How can that be when you cant even book them?

I have sailed with Viking twice before and I thought they were very customer focused. But so far, with this trip, I am experiencing a lot of disappointments. I sure hope Viking gets their act together fast else they will be hearing from several disappointed loyal customers if they don't.

Try reaching out to Viking on their Facebook page. They may answer you there ! You may want to look into a Train Transfer to get to the boat.

I would email them at tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them why their website has Transfer Request Forms (http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/travel-information/transfer-request-form.html).

 

 

 

If this is no longer available, then they should remove it from their website.

Great answer!!!

Hi, SWKRUPA.

We also booked an air deviation through Viking, going to Madrid prior to our April 3 Rinda cruise. We had to book our own flight from Madrid to Paris (no big deal) and we're arriving at about the same time as direct flights booked by Viking that include airport transfers. On prior (non-river) cruises we had no problem arranging to join the cruise lines' transfers, but the consistent answer from Viking was the same 'no' that you got.

If you will be in Paris, a while back there was a thread where someone said the docking location in Le Pecq is a 3-minute taxi ride from the Saint-Germain-en-Laye stop on RER line A1. (Your French friends should be able to confirm or provide the correct info.)

You can also try calling Viking's Existing Reservations office: 877-668-4546. They could not violate any of Viking's no-no's, but they did have some info that I had not found on Viking's sites. I was able to book an optional trip that was not yet shown on the web site.