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The Viking transfer from Valhalla


Francis M
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#1 wife and I are just back from the Viking Kvasir / Basel to Amsterdam cruise. I'll do a review later but had to share this funny story,

Because of a big Sail event in Amsterdam harbor Viking had to port the last night in Rotterdam. Those doing the extension with Viking were notified weeks before the cruise. For us this just meant that we would bus from Rotterdam to the hotel in Amsterdam and get on with our day.

Those of you familiar with Viking know the disembarkation drill. Different colored bag tags denote departure times and destination. The first sign of trouble was when two buses brand named "YO YO Bus" pulled up to take the red taggers to the Marriott Renaissance. Our driver, a burly round faced gentleman I'll call Nikita because he reminded me of that other famous one, seemed affable and competent. The drive was uneventful. The couple next to us were gushing in their praise for how seamless and perfect Vikings execution of every detail of the cruise had been. And we did not disagree.

So now we're in Amsterdam, a place that large buses ought not to be. We're enjoying our first look at the scenery when we pull into an area with other large buses. The doors open and Nikita announces that we are here - welcome to Amsterdam.

Now I can't tell you at exactly what point it occurred to someone that this was not the Marriott, but I soon heard a rising chorus of "where's the hotel?", "where are we?" Nikita was not overly conversant in English but could see trouble brewing. " Hotel over there" he said, pointing generally off in the distance. "This drop off point." One enterprising traveler enabled his Google maps and approached Nikita. "Look - we're here and the hotel is way over here." Nikita looked as if the man were holding a fistful of spiders. "I must go now" "Have orders" "This is drop off point - here - not hotel"

About now it occurred to me to call the hotel and try to reach the Viking rep before Nikita pulled away. I had to move away from the crowd to hear. At this point the pitchforks were out and the torches were lit. My last view of Nikita was of him making his last stand in the doorway of his YoYo Bus- arms crossed and defiant. And then, he was gone.

I did manage to reach the Viking rep. After a few unbelieving questions (He left you where?) she said she was on the way. About 10 minutes later a pretty Dutch girl in a red Viking shirt rolled up on her bicycle, stood up in front of the grumbling crowd of unhappy seniors and did what every company that ever encounters a service problem should do. She took complete ownership of the screw up. After a few minutes she had us all laughing. Just another travel adventure to talk about when we get home. Her most memorable line. "This week with transfers from Rotterdam has been organized chaos until today. Today - total chaos."

So go with flow fellow travelers; load important phone numbers into the smart phone before you leave and never, never get on a Yo Yo Bus.

Frank

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We disembarked a Uniworld Budapest to Amsterdam cruise on the first day (August 19) of SAIL Amsterdam. On the first day of our cruise, we were told that we would be disembarking at Utrecht instead of Amsterdam and that Uniworld would make sure everyone got to their final destinations (airport transfers, hotel transfers, and on your own transfers). We were on the one bus (not quite filled and with the bus driver that had been with us at every stop on the cruise) of on your own transfers that left Utrecht at 8:50 and arrived at the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium (just outside central Amsterdam) around 9:30. Cars for each couple had been arranged and told to arrive for pickup at 9:45 (in case we ran into traffic on the drive). By the time the bus driver had unloaded the luggage and given everyone a bottle of cold water, the first car pulled up. Each driver knew the cabin number and destination of their passengers. The Uniworld staffer accompanying us crossed our names off their list and away we went in a lovely, new Mercedes. We paid the driver just as we would had we disembarked in Amsterdam. It worked like a charm.

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I'm glad your Viking Rep took ownership and got you on your way. Ours did not!

We had the same type of transfer on the 22nd from Rotterdam after our Grand European Cruise.

Our bus left late because our Driver was angry that he had to load all of our luggage. Once on our way, we asked him if he could turn on the Air Conditioning as it was getting very stuffy. He spoke little English but said it was on, when it was clearly not.

After an hour and a half ride in a sweltering bus, we were stopped by a barrricade set up for the Sail Event. We were within blocks of the hotel. He proceeded to turn around and we headed back the way we came. He made some turns and after about 20 minutes we arrived at the very same barricade. It was clear that he didn't know where he was going.

He then turned around again and started to head back the way we had come twice already. We figured he was taking us back to Rotterdam.

He stopped beside a garbage truck and was clearly asking for directions.

Finally after three hours on the bus, we arrived at the hotel. The Viking Rep came on and asked which ship we were from. She didn't really apologize, but ordered some taxis for a few people then disappeared.

We were walking to our hotel, so left. That was our last impression of Viking!

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Dear DanWin53,

 

Welcome home from your recent Grand European Tour! We regret to hear of your troubling transfer experience from Rotterdam to Amsterdam following disembarkation and are truly sorry your trip ended on such a disappointing note. We do hope your experience prior to this event was enjoyable. Should you have any questions or wish to discuss your experience further, please contact us at tellus@vikingcruises.com.

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

 

I'm glad your Viking Rep took ownership and got you on your way. Ours did not!

We had the same type of transfer on the 22nd from Rotterdam after our Grand European Cruise.

Our bus left late because our Driver was angry that he had to load all of our luggage. Once on our way, we asked him if he could turn on the Air Conditioning as it was getting very stuffy. He spoke little English but said it was on, when it was clearly not.

After an hour and a half ride in a sweltering bus, we were stopped by a barrricade set up for the Sail Event. We were within blocks of the hotel. He proceeded to turn around and we headed back the way we came. He made some turns and after about 20 minutes we arrived at the very same barricade. It was clear that he didn't know where he was going.

He then turned around again and started to head back the way we had come twice already. We figured he was taking us back to Rotterdam.

He stopped beside a garbage truck and was clearly asking for directions.

Finally after three hours on the bus, we arrived at the hotel. The Viking Rep came on and asked which ship we were from. She didn't really apologize, but ordered some taxis for a few people then disappeared.

We were walking to our hotel, so left. That was our last impression of Viking!

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#1 wife and I are just back from the Viking Kvasir / Basel to Amsterdam cruise. I'll do a review later but had to share this funny story,

Because of a big Sail event in Amsterdam harbor Viking had to port the last night in Rotterdam. Those doing the extension with Viking were notified weeks before the cruise. For us this just meant that we would bus from Rotterdam to the hotel in Amsterdam and get on with our day.

Those of you familiar with Viking know the disembarkation drill. Different colored bag tags denote departure times and destination. The first sign of trouble was when two buses brand named "YO YO Bus" pulled up to take the red taggers to the Marriott Renaissance. Our driver, a burly round faced gentleman I'll call Nikita because he reminded me of that other famous one, seemed affable and competent. The drive was uneventful. The couple next to us were gushing in their praise for how seamless and perfect Vikings execution of every detail of the cruise had been. And we did not disagree.

So now we're in Amsterdam, a place that large buses ought not to be. We're enjoying our first look at the scenery when we pull into an area with other large buses. The doors open and Nikita announces that we are here - welcome to Amsterdam.

Now I can't tell you at exactly what point it occurred to someone that this was not the Marriott, but I soon heard a rising chorus of "where's the hotel?", "where are we?" Nikita was not overly conversant in English but could see trouble brewing. " Hotel over there" he said, pointing generally off in the distance. "This drop off point." One enterprising traveler enabled his Google maps and approached Nikita. "Look - we're here and the hotel is way over here." Nikita looked as if the man were holding a fistful of spiders. "I must go now" "Have orders" "This is drop off point - here - not hotel"

About now it occurred to me to call the hotel and try to reach the Viking rep before Nikita pulled away. I had to move away from the crowd to hear. At this point the pitchforks were out and the torches were lit. My last view of Nikita was of him making his last stand in the doorway of his YoYo Bus- arms crossed and defiant. And then, he was gone.

I did manage to reach the Viking rep. After a few unbelieving questions (He left you where?) she said she was on the way. About 10 minutes later a pretty Dutch girl in a red Viking shirt rolled up on her bicycle, stood up in front of the grumbling crowd of unhappy seniors and did what every company that ever encounters a service problem should do. She took complete ownership of the screw up. After a few minutes she had us all laughing. Just another travel adventure to talk about when we get home. Her most memorable line. "This week with transfers from Rotterdam has been organized chaos until today. Today - total chaos."

So go with flow fellow travelers; load important phone numbers into the smart phone before you leave and never, never get on a Yo Yo Bus.

Frank

 

Great story, Frank....thanks for sharing.

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