firefightermom007

2 minutes ago, firefightermom007 said:

Thank you so much.  Do you know how much the Chef's Table cost would be pp?

I just saw the post above...95.00 pp.  Are these all USD or do they use EU on board if you book on board.

10 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Thanks for your post - a reminder to me to have a check through it. I’ve amended it in a few places, including the entry about reciprocal benefits, so that it shows that you retain benefits accumulated before Azamara left RCCL so long as you had sailed with Azamara before then.

The price for the speciality restaurants in the spreadsheet of $35 was accurate in October/November.

 

Thank you so much.  Do you know how much the Chef's Table cost would be pp?

We have just booked a cruise, after a hiatus from Azamara because of the sale.  2 questions- what is the current price of dinner in the speciality restaurants.  2) how up to date is the spreadsheet- as it still show reciprocity with CEL and the loyalty program.  TIA

Have just read thru your whole thread, and we have experienced terrible customer service from Hurtigruten around Antartica sailings.  They have not been consistent with post cruise offers due to missed ports (they never refunded the port charges).  Even though several sailings had exactly the same issues - 1 sailing got 30% FCC and a partial refund -another sailing only got 20% FCC.  To make matters worse, not everyone got offered the FCC...only those who filed complaints.

When making final payment, went to give our jacket and boot sizes, and was told they do not take that information pre cruise.  Do they run out of certain sizes?  What happens if they do not have your size on board?  We are 6 in our group, and we are all about the same sizes.  Other expedition line ask ahead of time for at least the jacket size...and they have it waiting in your cabin.

We are booked on the Feb 12, 2022 from Santiago, boarding in Punta Arenas.  We also have our flights and pre cruise hotels booked as we planned on spending a week in Chile pre cruise.   Hopefully, we will get some answers soon, as the Antartica cruising season starts in October.  Thankfully our final payment is not due until November.

Kinda hard to organize trivia from a roll call when you have less than 20 people on a roll call.

Enjoy 15 espresso-based hot or cold specialty coffee drinks with complimentary brewed coffee and premium tea for the duration of your cruise. Item #2403 $35.65†

 

For Australia based cruises only. Enjoy 15 espresso-based hot or cold specialty coffee drinks with complimentary brewed coffee and premium tea for the duration of your cruise.

Purchase price may vary due to currency exchange rates. Item #2418 $36.00 AUD†

 

†Unlimited brewed coffee and teas included with the Premium Coffee Card are only available on the voyage on which the Premium Coffee Card was purchased. Unused card punches for New Grounds specialty drinks will be honored on future voyages. Terms and conditions may apply.

This is the price from the website. It is my understanding the price on board is different. I am looking for the price to purchase the card once on board. Thanks

For those just off a PCL cruise, how much does the card cost to purchase on board? TY

We just were there August 2016. We were suppose to have tenders all night. But, at the last minute, they said last tender would be at 1a.m. We had done the tickets on our own, with a private transfer back to the pier. We rushed it to the train station to catch our transfer. Also, some people booked hotel rooms in Edinburgh so they did not have to worry about the tenders. We were not on HAL, but I would plan for not all night tenders.LOL

I was asking about leaving the ship at 6:30am on the day of disembarkation. I called PCL and the ship clears customs on the day it arrives. This would be the 31st. We want to get off early on the 1st. PCL said no problem, just let them know when we board. They said if we wanted to get off the ship on the 31st, then reservations needed to send info to the ship and arrangements would need to be made ahead of time.

We want to catch a 920am flight to Iguazu. We will be in port the day before, spending the night on the ship. We were able to disembark in the wee hours of the morning last year in Istanbul with a different cruise line. Will Princess allow this also? Thanks

Hi! My husband and I are trying to decide about taking the Tauck River Cruise, A Taste of France next June. It is on the Ship Swiss Emerald. I would appreciate any input from those who have done this cruise.Specifically we are wondering about the ports, if there is enough to see and do at each one. We have never been on a river cruise and my husband is also a little concerned about night time activities on the ship. Thanks

We did the French Waterways cruise a couple of years ago. It was INCREDIBLE!!! As everyone has said, it is the "little" things that Tauck does that just are over the top. The ranch visit at La Camargue is something you cannot get anywhere on another river cruise. And there is so much variety in this area of France - wine, Roman ruins, great food etc. Our cruise was not focused on cooking, but we did visit the market in Lyon..and got a lot of samples. Either cruise...would be wonderful. Go for it!

In Vikings defense your statement is only true for one of their Paris based boats.... The other 3 do dock at a port walking distance to the Eiffel Tower.

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/about-my-ship/docking-locations-ports.html

 

The Viking Rinda has not been docking in Downtown, but in the distant outskirts of Paris.

It should be noted in the daily itinerary of the difference. Why would someone shopping for a cruise, look under the "My Trip" tab when they have not even booked. You should not need to go to a whole different tab-page to find the information, when you are just shopping for a cruise. Most people probably do not find out about this "other" port until they have paid the nonrefundable money.

According to their website, as long as you have purchased your cruise from them, you may also purchase your transfers:

 

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/travel-information/transfer-request-form.html

As of 10 June 2015...Viking will not let you use their transfers unless you buy their air, even if you are willing to pay extra. And just because it is on their website does not mean they follow that. For example, copied from their web page....

DAY 1 | PARIS, FRANCE

Arrive in Paris, romance capital of the world. Transfer from the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris to your ship.* After boarding, take free time to explore Paris, or join our “welcome walk” to stretch your legs and get oriented. (D)

Makes it sound like you are right in Paris....WRONG..the boat is 45 minutes away in a town called Le Pecq.

Buyer beware when booking Viking.

Very disappointed in Viking's handling of the recent Portraits of Southern France Cruise. We were traveling on the Viking Hermod which was damaged during the first night of cruising (backing into an object per crew on the boat). The boat cruised for 1 1/2 days and then was docked in Lyon for the remainder of our time on the boat. Guests were offered the opportunity to be bused to tours and then we were bused to Avignon to spend 2 nights in a hotel (quality on par with a Holiday Inn). The food at the hotel was awful (numerous previous posts have also reported poor food quality so Viking is well aware). Viking appointed a very junior crew member to handle all arrangements, he certainly tried but this was much more than he could handle.

Lost the majority of our scheduled river cruising. Very expensive trip turned into bus tour. Viking has now offered us a 25% credit on a future cruise, completely unacceptable.

My truthful negative post on Viking Facebook page has been deleted, several people have commented that their posts have also been deleted.

Very concerned about what is going on with Viking:mad:

I have friends who were scheduled on the sailing this Sunday. They just got notified this Tuesday, the cruise was cancelled. The Viking Customer Service leaves a lot to be desired.

My friends did not know about the link, so I will pass that along.

I never saw this part of stmt??? To my knowledge he never said this... Where did you get it.

 

This was the cruise prior to the OP of this cruise. We are talking about the cruise where the boat was damaged, while the OP was in the next cruise that was cancelled completely.

Here is the gentlemen's response to todays post.

my wife and her parents were on this cruise as well. I've posted info here yesterday. Viking responded by deleting the post. they'll delete yours as well. What a shame this is how a company treats its passengers or handles their mistakes.

This was copied from the Viking FB page

Viking Hermond, and there is now a different passenger reporting what happened and how it was handled in Vikings FB wall :(

Here is the gentlemen's response to todays post.

my wife and her parents were on this cruise as well. I've posted info here yesterday. Viking responded by deleting the post. they'll delete yours as well. What a shame this is how a company treats its passengers or handles their mistakes.

Yes, they did offer to refund the cruise or book another Viking Cruise. Yes-did not do their air through Viking because they were returning from a different city in Europe as they extended their stay in Europe and Viking would not do the air that way. BUT, they did not want their air refunded...they wanted to go on a vacation to Europe.

BUT Viking would not even be flexible on providing them with transfers from CDG to the new port...they were even willing to pay for them. If a company cancels a trip, good customer service would be to reimburse expenses incurred (within a reasonable amount) to rearrange their vacation plans.

Is this the one?:

 

Today at 4:03pm

My wife, her parents and step sister just returned on Monday, June 8th, 2015 from a Viking River Cruise in France.

Unfortunately, it wasn't what they had hoped for. The boat they were on developed mechanical problems on Day 2 of their 8 day cruise. They got no further than the second port before they were told the cruise was over. The entire ship was bussed to various excursion destinations, sometime taking as long as 2 1/2 hours each way.

The whole trip was ruined. And, to add insult to injury, we just got an email from Viking letting us know that their idea of fair compensation is 25% off the next cruise we book with them! Unbelievable!! There were people on this cruise who had saved for years to make this trip. Can you imagine being told that "fair compensation" for a ruined 8 day trip is to get a voucher for 25% off the next one? Incredible!!

If you agree that their idea of fair compensation is ridiculous, you can comment under my post on their FB site.

Viking River Cruises Travel/Leisure · 491,345 Likes Viking River Cruises's photo.

Viking River Cruises Like Page Jeff Leser Kathy Donovan Like · Comment · Share Mark Parenteau, Carol Losch Horne and 2 others like this.

View 1 more comment Alan Christensen Probably why I don't see it. Like · Reply · 5 hrs

Chip Oswalt But...apparently Viking has a reputation for doing this. Like · 5 hrs View more replies

Lahle Ehrlich It is not fair and this is why people sue. I am so sorry a planned for trip that was both anticipated and expensive turned out to be a lesson in bad customer service for them. Good for you for speaking out.

Now, from a marketing standpoint, make som...See More Like · Reply · 4 hrs Lahle Ehrlich ‪#‎VikingRiverCruises‬ rip off. ‪#‎VikingCruises‬ sucks.

There, just got ya started. (The first hashtag is being used already, I added the second to get people going!) Like · Reply · 4 hrs

Chip Oswalt so...I need to message you separately. Need to ask a few questions. I'll ping you in private message later today. Like · 4 hrs View more replies

Karen Parenteau I will definitely be boycotting Viking! Like · Reply · 1 hr

Must be the same river/ship. Not good if it is a different one. Thanks for posting. They just do not get the meaning of customer service. All I hear is...thanks for your money, we do not care about how we screwed up your plans...buh-bye.

I'm betting the story on Vikings FB page right now is why this cruise was cancelled.... Go read! Before its gone :(

Looks like it might be the same one. He does not say which ship and/or which river in France.

Viking "insurance" does not cover this, but if your friends had purchased insurance independent of Viking, many of these change expenses would have been covered.

 

Viking "insurance" is not insurance (except in NY which has very strict insurance laws); it is a reimbursement from Viking, many times via voucher, not cash.

 

The tripinsurancestore.com is a good source of information about the differences between cruise line reimbursements and third party insurance.

They did have independent insurance, with Alliance. The reason it is not covered - because it is not a "covered" reason. Fixing a broken ship is not a covered reason. And why buy "cancel for any reason" when it does not give 100% back.

Was air booked by Viking or independently? Transfers are generally from the airport to the boat or pre-stay hotel. Were the transfers part of Viking air or purchased along with independent air? If it was independent air was it the cheapest economy fare with many restrictions? Was there cancel for any reason insurance?

 

To blatantly say that Viking is not taking care of their guests without giving the necessary details is throwing mud. Viking may well be screwing up but how much is in the details.

 

I will not defend Viking but I am irritated when the full picture is not disclosed.

This not a normal situation. Viking cancelled their cruise departing from Lyon. Viking does not provide air from Lyon to Paris, so they booked a train. The train station is right at CDG. Since Viking is not providing any sort of assistance, the people were even willing to pay for the transfer from CDG to the pier. Viking declined. To stick to what is "black and white" is not good customer service. There needs to be some flexibility in helping out the customer..it was Viking's fault they have to reschedule their whole trip.

We have friends booked on the 14 June 2015 departure. Just got word on 9 June cruise is cancelled. Insurance does not cover change fees or cancellation fees because Viking cancelled due to "repairs". Viking offered to rebook on the Paris and Heart of Normandy. Would cost over 4K to change airline tickets to Paris instead of Lyon..so opted to take train from Lyon to Paris. Viking will not let us use their transfers from CDG to Le Pecq because they are arriving by train. Make an exception...for gosh sakes. And from other reviews on CC this is quite a distance, and a change, from what their website which reads "Paris". Between transfers, new airline tickets and added hotel stays they are now upwards of 1000.00 out of pocket extra expenses. And Viking is not helping them out at all.

I thought it was only International travel where the 6 month rule applied.

The 6 month rule depends on the country you are entering.

Don't know how things work north of the border but State department employee's can find someone in the computer with information the traveler already knows so having a copy really doesn't speed anything up (and the same thing could be achieved by noting the passport number in an accessible place).

Having a copy of the passport DOES speed things up. It is a replacement passport instead of a brand new one. Can get a replacement in less than 24 hours at the consulate. All you need is a new photo. Spoken from experience.