Before Booking with Viking Ocean

We recently received our air information for our Cruise on the Sea in June.

Very disappointed. We had such high expectations for this cruise line. We do not

get in to Bergen until 7:50pm. So we will miss being on the ship for half a day or so. Never got any straight answers as to why we could not fly on Delta which gets

in to Bergen at 10:00am or 1:30pm, both flights had plenty of seats available.

So, be prepared for a flight that you may not be happy with.

That is not uncommon with any cruise line. They look for the lowest cost air they can get. All they promise you is that they will get you there in time to board before the ship leaves.

If you want some say on your air with Viking, purchase Air Plus for $50 per person. Then they will give you options and you can book the air you want. You do have to also pay the difference if the air you want costs them more than the air they would otherwise book.

we booked thru viking air plus & was well worth the$100 for both of us.

we even picked out our seats.we really got good flights.both were

non stops.should give it a try.

We recently received our air information for our Cruise on the Sea in June.

Very disappointed. We had such high expectations for this cruise line. We do not

get in to Bergen until 7:50pm. So we will miss being on the ship for half a day or so. Never got any straight answers as to why we could not fly on Delta which gets

in to Bergen at 10:00am or 1:30pm, both flights had plenty of seats available.

So, be prepared for a flight that you may not be happy with.

All the information about air deviations is there on Viking's website. You chose not to pay the minimal fee to upgrade and arrive when you wanted, on the airline you wanted, and now you are disappointed. It's really not their fault. I do hope you don't let it color your anticipation of the actual cruise, however. We had a wonderful time on the Star this past January and I would not hesitate to sail with Viking again!

I guess I did not make my self clear. My wife and myself both have talked with Viking more than once, was willing to pay whatever, they could do nothing for us. Even though I could clearly find good flights on Delta. They did not have any clear answers, nothing made sense to us with what they were saying., we gave up. And yes, I have a very bad taste in mouth regarding how Viking operates.

I guess I did not make my self clear. My wife and myself both have talked with Viking more than once, was willing to pay whatever, they could do nothing for us. Even though I could clearly find good flights on Delta. They did not have any clear answers, nothing made sense to us with what they were saying., we gave up. And yes, I have a very bad taste in mouth regarding how Viking operates.

If you are sailing June 5, Into the Midnight Sun, I hope you will join the Roll Call for that itinerary. We have one Roll Call going for both sailings.

And if you are on that itinerary, our TA (travel agent) was told back in December that there was no Custom Air available for that itinerary because there are so few flights in and out of Bergen. That may be the reason that they will not make any changes for you; because if they do it for you, then they will have to do it for everyone else who asks. We still haven't even been assigned flights; I don't expect to have them until we are 75 days out and it looks like we are going to have to bite the bullet and take what we get--even it means no direct flight from Boston to London and even if it means 24 hours of travel time and multiple hops to get us home from Bergen. However, the price on our airfare was very good and it includes transfers between airports and ship. So, we will grin and bear it.

Dealing with Viking Custom Air is usually easier than what you describe. We have used it on three prior cruises and we just used Viking Air Plus to book our flights for a NYE cruise. After I looked at flights online, it took our TA two phone calls to get us booked. One call to gather some information about pricing for us and then the second to book the flights and choose our seats.

We recently received our air information for our Cruise on the Sea in June.

Very disappointed. We had such high expectations for this cruise line. We do not

get in to Bergen until 7:50pm. So we will miss being on the ship for half a day or so. Never got any straight answers as to why we could not fly on Delta which gets

in to Bergen at 10:00am or 1:30pm, both flights had plenty of seats available.

So, be prepared for a flight that you may not be happy with.

I can't comment on Bergen flights. Ours (booked through Viking Air), were fine, though included a tight connection at Heathrow. We chose to fly a day early to avoid any potential issues. e arrived late morning. The "transfer" from our one night in a Bergen hotel (booked by us) was a very short cab ride. We actually could have walked. We did pay for a cab from the airport, but the $25 or so was well worth it. Our driver gave an excellent orientation to the city!

FYI Tip: We have learned from TWO sets of flights booked by Viking Air that even though they SAY you cannot change seat assignments, you CAN do so by working directly with the airline either online (if available) or phone call. Once you have an actual confirmation code for the reservation, go online and try it. We have successfully changed seats on British Air (by phone), KLM (online), and Iceland Air (online). Seat availability depends on how full the flight is, of course. Note: we made the changes IMMEDIATELY after we got our flight info from Viking - about 90 days out. Some airlines don't show seat assignments until 60 days out... so keep trying. And of course you can only switch to the same type of seat you paid for (economy). We did not try upgrading. We simply changed to two nearby aisle seats and/or moved a couple of rows further from the bathroom line.

Dear jimmcs16,

We are sincerely sorry to learn of your disappointment and apologize if our previous explanations have been unclear.

Viking contracts with individual airlines in an effort to provide competitive airfare to our guests. With these contracts, however, Viking is provided with a set of schedules to book from. Unfortunately, not all flights advertised to the public are available to Viking.

Additionally, as Peregrina651 so kindly suggested, the Bergen Airport is different from the other airports we frequent in that it is quite small in size. Its size directly limits the number of flights it accommodates and, consequently, the flight options for Viking guests. For this reason, we do not offer Viking Air Plus for itineraries requiring flights in or out of Bergen, Norway.

Your disappointment in a late arrival into Bergen is understandable but, unfortunately, our limited options simply do not allow an earlier arrival – at any price.

Jimmcs16, despite your disappointment, we are confident you will find your onboard experience to be enjoyable. Of course, should you wish to address your concerns once more, we would be happy to hear from you at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

Thank you for understanding our position. We look forward to welcoming you aboard Viking Star!

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

We recently received our air information for our Cruise on the Sea in June.

Very disappointed. We had such high expectations for this cruise line. We do not

get in to Bergen until 7:50pm. So we will miss being on the ship for half a day or so. Never got any straight answers as to why we could not fly on Delta which gets

in to Bergen at 10:00am or 1:30pm, both flights had plenty of seats available.

So, be prepared for a flight that you may not be happy with.

I guess I did not make my self clear. My wife and myself both have talked with Viking more than once, was willing to pay whatever, they could do nothing for us. Even though I could clearly find good flights on Delta. They did not have any clear answers, nothing made sense to us with what they were saying., we gave up. And yes, I have a very bad taste in mouth regarding how Viking operates.

we booked thru viking air plus & was well worth the$100 for both of us.

we even picked out our seats.we really got good flights.both were

non stops.should give it a try.

We did the same for our river cruise in August. I was able to log into Delta's site and see our booking and seats. I was also not happy with the seats on one flight and was able to move 2 rows back. And as I said - we're not going until August.

I have used Viking Air custom for all my Viking trips. What I do is look at the airlines website (Delta) first and select the flights I want and then call Viking and give them the flights. Usually they can book these right away. This way i get the flights that best fit my time schedule.

I have used Viking Air custom for all my Viking trips. What I do is look at the airlines website (Delta) first and select the flights I want and then call Viking and give them the flights. Usually they can book these right away. This way i get the flights that best fit my time schedule.

We are on one of these cruises as well, and would be willing to pay for Custom Air. However, it simply is not offerred for some itineraries. True, once you have your tickets you can change seats through the airline, but changing flights is not an option unless you pay $250pp to get out of the Viking Air deal and then purchase your own tickets (which at that point will be limited and much more pricey).

I have used Viking Air custom for all my Viking trips. What I do is look at the airlines website (Delta) first and select the flights I want and then call Viking and give them the flights. Usually they can book these right away. This way i get the flights that best fit my time schedule.

This is exactly what we did and we got exactly the flights we wanted. We could not be happier!