Viking goes Above and Beyond during the Europe floods!!

I work for a tour company in Canada; we recently had a group of 24 passengers scheduled to cruise on the Grand European itinerary departing June 8th aboard the Viking Embla. They were nervous about travelling but now that they have returned I wanted to share with you what a great experience they had, thanks to an OUTSTANDING job by Viking River Cruises. On top of all the hard work by Viking to make their trip enjoyable, and all the “extras” the passengers received during the trip, they also came home to a future cruise.

Here is a sampling of comments we received:

“Due to the flooding, the Viking staff, especially Lucia the program director, did an excellent job of making the best of the situation”

“Viking staff did their best to accommodate us during the flooding along the way. Viking staff kept us well informed at all times”

“During the flood, the program director exceeded expectations”

Viking staff did a super job meeting our needs in the flooded areas, they kept us informed and busy!”

“The one memory that will be upmost in my mind is the Danube flooding, the other is Lucia, our program director, and what a wonderful job she did of looking after the entire cruise. Was a fun and exciting tour, Viking is a great line”

“In light of the modified itinerary due to the flooding and the increased bussing, Viking did a wonderful job to provide a most memorable trip.

“Viking bent over backwards to accommodate, great food, and exceptional staff. Circumstances of this tour regarding the flooding changed schedules but this was a wonderful way to see these parts of Europe”

“Viking surpassed our expectations under the circumstances of the flooding. We are happy we did not cancel, we had a wonderful trip”

“We can’t say enough about our Viking crew, they went “overboard” to make up for the flooding crisis, especially Lucia. Talk about grace under pressure! We basically saw most of what we were supposed to see.”

“Great experience – spoiled for any other type of cruising!”

We even received a call last week from one of the passengers who asked us to book her on a cruise during flood season next year as she had such a great time on her “disrupted” cruise this year.

Our close relationship with Viking River Cruises allowed us to be in frequent contact with our passengers before, during and after the cruise to ensure they were kept as up-to-date as possible and were still able to enjoy the cruise during this difficult time.

Based on our experience with Viking’s handling of the crisis, we won’t hesitate to recommend them to all our clients.

Glad to hear. Now I'm sitting back with my bowl of popcorn, :)

Glad to hear. Now I'm sitting back with my bowl of popcorn, :)

Move over, fellow Kentuckian....this might get good!:D

Make mine no butter.

First time post for Jabarr, and it gushes forth. Almost reads like a press release.

I like popcorn but it's so expensive down here - costs more than the price of admission to the movies. I don't think this will be a thriller thread until Viking post their thank you note.

Wonder what his customers have to really say? Anyone else on board with this very "happy" bunch of cruisers??

Aha ya waiting!

Very interesting promotional material Jabarr!

We were also caught up in the floods also and the Viking ship tired up next to us packed up there passengers and sent them all home (and they were not happy, I can tell you) while we (different line) just moved to to another ship just past the flooded area - not ideal but at least we could finish our cruise.

Glad to hear. Now I'm sitting back with my bowl of popcorn, :)

First, Jabarr, welcome to Cruise Critic!

Yes chef! Gourmet popcorn with truffle oil? Here goes.

All river cruise lines suffered hardship and challenges during the recent high waters in Europe. Some, reportedly, handled the situation better than others. I wasn't there. I can only rely on the reports from the people who were there.

Viking, yes Viking, suffered more of a public relations -- not disaster (Tylenol suffered a public relations "disaster" some years ago) -- shall we say, "mess." When a company, any company, experiences a public relations "mess" they go into damage control. My expectation is that Viking, like any other corporation who finds themselves in a "mess" is now into Cruise Critic "damage control". No surprise there.

Shall we just agree that there are varying experiences regarding how Viking handled the "mess" in Europe? Your experience Jabarr (welcome to Cruise Critic!) was significantly different from those of others.

So happy for you Jabarr that everything was copacetic!

2 posts from the OP 1 @ 0631 & the second at 0636 today, Ozzy time pass the Popcorn & licorice allsorts please.

First, Jabarr, welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

 

Shall we just agree that there are varying experiences regarding how Viking handled the "mess" in Europe? Your experience Jabarr (welcome to Cruise Critic!) was significantly different from those of others.

 

So happy for you Jabarr that everything was copacetic!

Uhm.....welcome to cruise critic?

did you happen to note that Jabarr joined Cruise critic 11 YEARS ago? Note the heading info on the first post of both the threads:

Today, 01:31 PM

Jabarr

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Nov 2002

Posts: 2

In any case, while we really want to hear good things about river cruise trips, THIS post looks unduly complimentary. As another poster mentioned,it would be good to hear from others.

Move over., eh and make room on the couch for a Canadian! :D

Maybe he did have passengers that were genuinely satisfied with the way Viking handled the problems...

We don't question the people (much) who said they had a rotten experience... So why would we doubt someone who said that his clients rolled with the punches and felt their concerns were addressed appropriately??

Lots of Viking-bashing here based on people's posted experiences. Perhaps this person wanted to offer a different perspective.

I don't pay much attention to the double post. Anyone can make a mistake and post twice if they aren't familiar with these boards...(or hit the "enter" twice by accident....). It isn't uncommon for there to be 2 similar threads posted by the same person.

If this post is a "plant", the OP won't be back on. Even if he is, he can't post anything about his company, or CC will yank it. Perhaps he joined to be able to learn about river cruising for his clients. Just because people jointed a number of years ago doesn't mean they are very active.... You have to join to be able to read the roll calls.

Just my 2 cents worth here....

Fran

I wasn't bashing Viking, just remarked the post seemed like a press release. All that positive stuff sets off my spin detector. Color me cynical.

I do wonder about "they also came home to a future cruise." I haven't read about that being given as Viking compensation from posters here on CC. Did I miss those posts?

I wasn't bashing Viking, just remarked the post seemed like a press release. All that positive stuff sets off my spin detector. Color me cynical.

 

I do wonder about "they also came home to a future cruise." I haven't read about that being given as Viking compensation from posters here on CC. Did I miss those posts?

The OP's "Rosey Outlook" just does not pass the smell factor, IMHO.

Is there room on the couch for an Oregonian, I love buttered popcorn :)

I wasn't bashing Viking, just remarked the post seemed like a press release. All that positive stuff sets off my spin detector. Color me cynical.

 

I do wonder about "they also came home to a future cruise." I haven't read about that being given as Viking compensation from posters here on CC. Did I miss those posts?

No one on this thread was doing any bashing - but lots of other threads....

I read the "future cruise" as meaning money (ie: credit) towards the next one.

Maybe I put my Pollyanna glasses on my mistake.... If this is a thinly veiled press release, he won't be back.

But - if it is true - and there are people who "made lemonade" along the way, I doubt we will ever find out. The response to the original post - across the board - has been so skeptical that I doubt he would post again. So - just the popcorn eaters left.

Fran

Given the greater number of Viking ships affected by the recent flood disaster than those of the other companies, it is likely that many more people were affected than just those who posted. It seems reasonable to assume that either:

1) they are not CC users

2) they felt it was sufficiently OK for them not to post negatively

Its only human nature to dwell on the bad as opposed to the good. Sometimes credit should be given where its due? Surely anyone who reads this board regularly would know the likelihood of any spin being posted being sniffed out?

Agree nippy! BTW, I have a large sectional sofa, :)

Back to work this morning and found it interesting to read the comments about my post on Friday. It seems that the negative thinkers on this forum believe my post is too positive and therefore staged. I could send you pdf copies of the original comment forms but of course, you’ll probably accuse me of forging all the different handwriting.

While it may seem impossible to some of you that passengers can have a good experience in a bad situation, we are fortunate to have nice clients and are thankful we live where this is possible.

Just to appease those of you who thrive on negative thinking, you will be happy to know that my boss is not thrilled with the Viking response. He thinks Viking gave back way too much in future cruise credits and is upset because our commission is going to be miniscule on the next Viking cruise booked by all these people.

P.S. Go heavy on the butter as I would hate for you to choke on a dry kernel.

Touche JaBarr! Excellent riposte!

Agree, touché ! :) I, for one, was glad to hear that your clients were happy. I did know though, that this would be one of those posts that would attract naysayers. Sorry for your loss, :( in future revenue.

I too agree - touche JaBarr - and thank you for your original post. I am glad to know that not everyone on every Viking cruise had a terrible time. It's also good to know that when we take our first river cruise there are bound to be others on board with us who will make lemonade and see the glass half full if we have some water level problems. I would not like to travel with anyone who prefers to rabble-rouse and send folks to Cruise Critic so they can Viking bash.

The number of first time posters who had negatives to report about Viking was not questioned by those on this board who think Viking is a low end line and welcome the opportunity to cheer when a Viking post is negative. MANY of the people reporting negative Viking experiences during the recent floods in Europe were brand new to Cruise Critic. Clearly, someone who knew about CC passed the word for others to join in and jump on.

Thank you Nippy Sweetie and franski for your completely reasonable posts on this thread.

I don't care much for popcorn.

JaBarr, I suggest that some of your clients post their own responses. Encourage them to Join CC so they can participate in all the discussions on this and other forums, and be more apt to cruise in the future. And that, of course, would lay to rest, any doubt about your authenticity...

And that, of course, would lay to rest, any doubt about your authenticity...

What doubts?

Are we supposed to only take negative comments at face value?

I think posts from involved TA's is a great way to get some feedback from the people who are never likely to visit a forum just to say that they are happy.

I can't imagine the affects of the flooding and how that impacted all those on various lines.

Our recent experience with a "problem" with Viking does show how some deal with things differently than others.

On the day of embarkation for our Douro River cruise, we travelled from Lisbon to Porto via coach. As our 3 buses approached the dock in Porto the 1st bus broke down, thus blocking all traffic.

It was only a short 10 minute walk to the ship where we were greeted by the smiling staff and escorted to the Lounge. We were shortly informed that the afternoon itinerary and dinner would be slightly delayed as all staff were deployed to the buses to retrieve all the luggage from the 3 buses.

We would (and could) easily have wheeled our own luggage, but the offer was declined. Shortly all the staff were wheeling the luggage down the street. They also somehow commissioned the cute tourist train and loaded it with luggage. Eventually the 1st bus got moved and the remaining 2 buses were able to make it to the ship and our luggage was off loaded.

We were only temporarily delayed and due to restrictions in time between receiving our luggage and dinner, did not have time to change into a new outfit - which actually turned out well as we were on deck most of the evening for fireworks and my dinner outfit would have been too cool

99.9% of the passengers handled the situation without a blink of an eye. .1% were those that probably complain about everything at home and while away.

Back to work this morning and found it interesting to read the comments about my post on Friday. It seems that the negative thinkers on this forum believe my post is too positive and therefore staged. I could send you pdf copies of the original comment forms but of course, you’ll probably accuse me of forging all the different handwriting.

 

While it may seem impossible to some of you that passengers can have a good experience in a bad situation, we are fortunate to have nice clients and are thankful we live where this is possible.

 

Just to appease those of you who thrive on negative thinking, you will be happy to know that my boss is not thrilled with the Viking response. He thinks Viking gave back way too much in future cruise credits and is upset because our commission is going to be miniscule on the next Viking cruise booked by all these people.

 

P.S. Go heavy on the butter as I would hate for you to choke on a dry kernel.

I, for one, thank you for your posting. I am getting tired of all the Viking bashing....our good friends were on the early June sailing from Amsterdam to Budapest on their first river cruise with our recommendation, having done this trip several years ago. Of course they were disappointed that they did not get the cruising experience that they expected, but thought Viking did an excellent job, despite the circumstances. They are definitely the "glass is half full" type people so they made the best out of a difficult situation and had a enjoyable trip. They did say that out of about 150 people, there were 8 that chose to not proceed with the altered itinerary. They are satisfied with their 75% towards a future trip and have already booked their next adventure and as for myself and my husband, will be cruising with Viking in October. Cruise Critic, is such a valuable source of information, it just seems to be a shame that positive feedback needs to be questioned....and as for the popcorn, let's not forget about the salt, lots of salt on that buttery popcorn, yum.......

wonderful for people to report good experiences. most of us come here to give and/or receive current travel info, the good, the bad and the ugly.

people are free to give their opinions. we enjoy the threads and the pictures. many go to a lot of trouble. it would be unbelievable to read only good reports. it would offend our intelligence, it would not be real.

we value 1st hand info rather than 2nd hand reports. live and let live and keep the forum informative. most of us can read between the lines.

happy cruising.