sheetskn

Thanks so much!

OP here - I didn't ask for compensation of my lost time or my outside tours. I asked for the same compensation that everyone else on my cancelled cruise received. And I asked for an apology and a decent effort to re-book me on a cruise.

OP here - Formernuke, can I ask, are you retired? Most people do not have time to log into a website weekly to check on something that is happening in a year, especially because I would not have dreamed that my cruise could be cancelled with no notice. I have a family, work full-time and am busy with the here and now. If logging in 7 months in advance wasn't enough, I am not sure what to do about that. But I guess that "I am not prudent." Lesson learned...

Thanks for checking in. I was just coming back to ask how long I should wait before giving up and re-booking. So far, I haven't heard anything from Viking except an automated email that extended my vouchers to the end of 2023 (which they pretty much had to do.) No one reached out either by phone or email.

Thanks again, and I will report back. I really appreciate your help...

OP here - They kept my excursion money in 2020, when they cancelled the first time, but it just means that they had a large pot of my money for a long time. That's not really the problem...

Thanks so much - my booking number is 6062231. I really appreciate it.

Sorry for the long post. A week ago, I logged into myvikingjourney to begin looking at excursions, etc. for my July 2023 sailing. Much to my surprise, it told me that my booking had been cancelled. This is for a cruise that has been fully paid since 2019 (along with excursions); re-booked twice due to COVID and then re-routed because of Russia. I immediately called Viking and was told "Yes, your cruise was cancelled." It turns out that the cruise had been cancelled in early July 2022 and I had received no email or phone call to notify me. The agent offered no apology, and no solution, except to say that I could choose a refund or an extension of my vouchers "which just happen to be expiring tomorrow," I could not believe that this was Viking's response, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. That person was friendly; he verified that I had not received any emails about my cruise since last June, but still did not offer any solution. He did promise to research why I had not been contacted and promised to call me back in a couple of days. In the meantime, I searched this forum and located at least one other person who had their cruise cancelled for July 2023 (it turns out that it was the Neptune being moved). That poster was immediately offered a new booking in a comparable stateroom "and financial compensation." I have already spent several thousand dollars booking days in Europe before the cruise, and now (six months after the cancellation), there is extremely limited inventory. I then decided to email tellus@viking and laid out the entire situation, including the various financial details that show us continually losing promotions (including the value of past guest discounts) in each subsequent booking AND paying higher prices each time. The automated response said that it would take three business days and now it has been five. In that email, I said the following: "I would have expected from Viking: 1) an apology, both for the cancellation of the voyage and for the failure to communicate; 2) an immediate offer to search the dates of my voyage to see what inventory still remained; 3) an attempt to place me on a similar voyage, even if that meant you were upgrading our stateroom to a different category; 4) some financial compensation for the disruption of my plans; AND 5) a full restoration of my previous voucher credits and Past Guest discounts." Today I finally received the promised return call from the Reservation Supervisor. I am not sure whether he had seen my email, but he told me that I was not contacted after the voyage was cancelled "due to internal failures" and that he was working to have my expired vouchers reinstated. I told him that of course my vouchers would be valid; that is a non-issue. I told him my expectations above and he: 1) did not and would not give me any kind of apology (this goes against all customer service); 2) did not offer to help me find a new cruise (his quote was "that is up to the customer and available on the public website"), despite the fact that he has access to my dates and available inventory, (and in many cases it just says "limited availability" on the website; and 3) said that I was ineligible for any financial compensation because I had not paid for the cruise with cash, but with vouchers. Well, I guess I was the dumb one for letting Viking keep my money for four years. I then asked him who I could speak with next because my entire perception of Viking as a luxury, customer-service brand has been shattered. He said that there was no one beyond the Reservation Supervisors to discuss the issue with. When I pushed and pushed, he said that he would at least look up alternate cruises for me. Since only shorter cruises were now available, he then told me that I would lose the excess value of the voucher. At this point, I was almost stroking out, so I took his number to call back when I cooled down and after I had a chance to hear what all of you think. Will tellus actually still reach out, or do they route that through the Reservation Supervisors? Is there anyone else to discuss this with? Or, do I take my original cash payment in refund (now substantially degraded by inflation) and walk away soured on Viking forever. That would make me sad, as I planned at least annual trips for the next 20-25 years. In fact, we brought our kids (so six people) on our last river cruise. Am I being unreasonable to think that they owe me something, anything, for the hassle of cancelling my trip and not ever notifying me? Thanks for your feedback...