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Changes to the Viking Star Maiden Voyage itinerary


PopsA
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I have been following along the past few days to the mess the Viking Ocean is creating with the Viking Star's maiden voyage itinerary. My wife, Wendy, and I are on the Passage Through Western Europe leg, and like everyone else, were sold on two days each in France and England. Beyond that changes to the entire cruise are troubling to most cruisers, to say the least.

 

In reading the terms and conditions under "Itineraries, Prices/Increases Omissions" this particular statement sticks out to me: "In the event amendments or modifications of any nature are required, they may be added by the carrier or operator, by written notification to the passenger signed by a director of the particular operator of the vessel described in Viking Advertising."

 

Has anyone received this written notification signed by a director?

 

Also, given Viking isn't communicating effectively, and their contract is only one way with "Prices/Increases" we should not overlook that global fuel prices have dropped substantially since we all signed up, and payed for this cruise. Why no price decrease to reflect the lower price for their savings on fuel cost? At least put the savings into Customer Support to answer the questions being raised on this message board.

 

Coincidentally, I wouldn't even have seen this message traffic if Viking River hadn't sent me a request to complete a review for the cruise we were on last year. One side is exposing the lack of organization on the other. And we had a wonderful experience with Viking River, hence our leap of faith with Viking Ocean.

 

I can only hope our experience on the ship will be equal to the river boat since it seams we will be onboard more than we anticipated.

 

Brian.

 

 

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Edited by PopsA
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In reading the terms and conditions under "Itineraries, Prices/Increases Omissions" this particular statement sticks out to me: "In the event amendments or modifications of any nature are required, they may be added by the carrier or operator, by written notification to the passenger signed by a director of the particular operator of the vessel described in Viking Advertising."

 

Has anyone received this written notification signed by a director?

 

Also, given Viking isn't communicating effectively, and their contract is only

 

 

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When I inquired why I no longer had "free" wifi this is the response I was given by Viking. No one notified us.

 

When the preliminary brochures offering this cruise tour were printed the restrictions were not all known, we reserve the right to update and change the written materials describing the amenities and or the itinerary at any time. We still are offering what we promised which is complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the entire vessel, but this amenity is only complimentary for higher booked staterooms. The lower staterooms will have the same amenities available, but at an additional cost, like an optional tour, or other optional items not included in the cost of the cruise tour. We can advise that while in port all staterooms will offer free Wi-Fi and the speed should be reasonable to cruise the internet in ease whereas on the river it was often an issue as the connection was unstable.

 

If there are other questions in this regard, we encourage you to discuss them with your personal travel agent managing your reservation for July onboard the Viking Star.

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A minor correction. For $5 you get free unlimited without video streaming. The no video streaming is not specified so does that mean no YouTube (static video files) or does that mean no Facetime (real time video). If no real time video, how will that be enforced. If that means no prolonged data streaming, does that mean uploads of any sort such as posting photo collections to photo share sites or backup sites would be out of bounds.

 

This is one where I wouldn't bother calling customer service expecting they could tell you a laundry list of what can and cannot be done on the ship's wifi connection. Perhaps Viking techies or consultants will have meaningful content to contribute to the upcoming relaunch of Viking Oceans website. More likely, those sailing Apr 11 on Star will find out on the 12th when the ship gets under way.

Edited by algaes
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I am not as concerned with the wifi issue as much as the itinerary changes. I would imagine with displeasure expressed over the changes to itinerary Viking would be happy to wave the $5 per day charge for wifi. And that would not be fair compensation for increasing the number of days at sea from 3 to 5 for those of us on the Passage Through Western Europe leg only.

 

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I think that we need to raise our voices daily to Viking....directly. We have nothing to loose in doing so....London, Paris = 2 deleted port days. Further on, we are not even going into Flam....which by the way, is the fiord advertised on all of the Viking Oceans marketing materials.....I believe it is all screwed up due to their focus on the damn christening of the ship! Which is not in their customers' best interests because of the changes as a result.....JMHO

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I have been writing and calling since discovering what is going on. Still no definitive answer from Viking even with the 90 and 80 cruisers already booking according to the 'updated' itinerary. This is the heart of the issue, the lack of communication and honesty even when presented with what others are already dealing with in making their excursion reservations. It's as if they don't understand we are communicating.

 

I have no doubt they will offer us a future cruise credit for our disappointment after our trip. But will we take the leap of faith again?

 

 

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I'm not so sure we'll get any future cruise credit…

 

Given their invite to the Christening, they seem to think they're doing US a favor by staying in Bergen till midnight, so WE can enjoy the celebrations of their Christening. I don't know about you, but we're in bed by 9:00. It's more of a chance for the Viking big wigs to party with the locals I think. So they're going to treat us to a free excursion in Oslo. Our optional tour their is a whopping $89. I'd rather have gone to Flam!

 

So I'm sure they'll come up with some great reason they are doing us a favor by adding sea days instead of extra days in shoddy ol' Paris and London.

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Once they get three ships on line, Viking Oceans should be operating as predictably as other major cruise lines.

 

If a credit is forthcoming, I hope it would usable with either Viking Oceans or River but probably not for accounting and tax reasons.

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In reading the terms and conditions under "Itineraries, Prices/Increases Omissions" this particular statement sticks out to me: "In the event amendments or modifications of any nature are required, they may be added by the carrier or operator, by written notification to the passenger signed by a director of the particular operator of the vessel described in Viking Advertising."

You need to read the really fine print:

From the Viking Oceans Web site

ADVANCED, CANCELLED OR DELAYED

Viking Cruises reserves the right to withdraw and/or cancel a tour or to make changes in the itinerary and hotel accommodations whenever, in its sole judgment, or in the judgment of the vessel owner or operator, conditions warrant it. In the event of charters of the vessels, truces, lockouts, riots or stoppage of labor from whatever cause or for any other reason whatsoever, the Owner or Operator of the vessels identified herein may, at any time, cancel, advance or postpone any scheduled tour and may, but is not obliged to, substitute another vessel or itinerary and shall not be liable for any loss whatsoever to guests by reason of any such cancellation, advancement or postponement.

Every cruise line has this wording and you agree to it when you buy your cruise fare from them

also in regards to them dropping the price due to lowering of fuel costs ....have you ever heard of any cruise line or airline doing that?

Kathy

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also in regards to them dropping the price due to lowering of fuel costs ....have you ever heard of any cruise line or airline doing that?

Kathy

 

Hi Kathy: It actually did happen to us on a Viking River Cruise about 10 years ago. We paid a fuel surcharge when we booked, then the price of fuel dropped and we got the surcharge back as sbc. Marsha

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I'm not disputing their right to change the itinerary for any reason they deem necessary. We are completely at their mercy in that respect. Hopefully they will perform like Viking River with respect to customer satisfaction post cruise. We had an issue on our pre and post excursions and were given a decent credit for a future cruise.

 

Given the loss of a day each in France and England I will be expressing our disappointment and expecting some form of compensation. I don't expect it will be a refund, it would never be that. But a voucher toward s future cruise, that's well within their control.

 

As for fuel, I know they won't give any of us a credit for it, but we all know that when they set the prices for these cruises fuel was nearly double what it is now. This gives Viking even more room to make us satisfied.

 

 

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It would be very nice if Viking Oceans compensates all affected by the changes to the internary on this voyage .... But looking at that invitation it seems they are looking at it as they are inviting you all to a once in a life time event!

 

Marsha that is great you got the fuel surcharge refunded but I don't think we paid a fuel surcharge as part of this fare.

 

I really don't like the way that Viking Oceans does not communicate wth guests so therefore our cruise on the Star will be our first Viking cruise and last.

I have communicated this to Viking and they don't seem to care.....c'est la vie

Back to Azamara!

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It would be very nice if Viking Oceans compensates all affected by the changes to the internary on this voyage .... But looking at that invitation it seems they are looking at it as they are inviting you all to a once in a life time event!

 

Marsha that is great you got the fuel surcharge refunded but I don't think we paid a fuel surcharge as part of this fare.

 

I really don't like the way that Viking Oceans does not communicate wth guests so therefore our cruise on the Star will be our first Viking cruise and last.

I have communicated this to Viking and they don't seem to care.....c'est la vie

Back to Azamara!

 

Azamara is worse about this sort of thing. We were booked on Azamara due to their itinerary and 50% discount for early booking of tours. A few months before we left, Azamara eliminated the 50% discount and refused to grandfather us in. This would have resulted in a few thousand dollars additional expense for us. The response to my objection by the president of As, on CC, was "things change". I canceled and got a refund including the cancelation charge they tried to stick me with.

 

What some of you are overlooking with respect to the right of Viking to make interary changes is that up until last Friday they were still advertising an itinerary that included 2 days in London and Paris. Isn't fraud roughly defined as offering something with no intention of providing it?

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What some of you are overlooking with respect to the right of Viking to make interary changes is that up until last Friday they were still advertising an itinerary that included 2 days in London and Paris. Isn't fraud roughly defined as offering something with no intention of providing it?

 

For the Passage a Through Western Europe they are still offering the 2 days in London and Paris. I haven't seen a change yet. And I've not been able to get Customer Service to even verify there is a change. Although we clearly see one with the documents provided to the 50 day cruisers.

 

I'm still at a loss for what the ship will do with over a full day between France and England. I hate, well not really, to be sarcastic but I'm sure some of the better swimmers on the ship could cross the channel faster than 24 hours.

 

If we drop anchor in the channel let's hope they throw one hell of a party!

 

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Half seriously - Or, we could get off the ship in Rouen, somehow get over to the bullet train to London and be there in 17 minutes. Then we could take a cab/Metro/train and get back on the ship in Greenwich. Or we could rent a car/van in Rouen and drive through the channel tunnel. I think that takes about a half hour or so. Turn in the car/van in Greenwich.

 

Bear_Music - stay safe. I'm hearing that you're in the bulls-eye of a great big storm.

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For the Passage a Through Western Europe they are still offering the 2 days in London and Paris. I haven't seen a change yet. And I've not been able to get Customer Service to even verify there is a change. Although we clearly see one with the documents provided to the 50 day cruisers.

 

I'm still at a loss for what the ship will do with over a full day between France and England. I hate, well not really, to be sarcastic but I'm sure some of the better swimmers on the ship could cross the channel faster than 24 hours.

 

If we drop anchor in the channel let's hope they throw one hell of a party!

 

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Day 2 in Rouen ends at 9:00 AM....Viking's ad-intinerary suggests we dine at the Eiffel Tower that eve...perhaps they'll fly us all back from our sea day? Day 2 in Greenwich ends at 8:45 AM....the same day their intinerary-ad tells us we'll visit the Tower of London and drive by notable places of significance...when will we do that...before breakfast?

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Marsha, Lou, Bear_Music and everyone else in the path of the upcoming Northeaster stay safe! This is when you hope the weather people are wrong as usual....

Kathy

 

Kathy: Thanks for the good wishes. We have a light dusting right now but tonight???

 

Are you still in Fla. or back home in NJ? Marsha

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I spoke with a nice young man at Viking Customer Service this morning and it seems the messaging about the itinerary changes has now been communicated down to the folks on the phone.

 

He confirmed without any doubt that there will be no second day in France or England. When I asked him when we would here about this he said there is a communication in the works. I also asked what we would be doing with so much time between France and England, he said "sailing the ocean". I thought that was a bit funny. He did say, unofficially, there could still be changes as it didn't make sense what they were going to do with the sea time.

 

He also said he received this info from his manager. So all those other CS reps that claim there is no managers must be really confused. I asked him about compensation for these changes also and he said something was being worked out for that too. And that he personally would contact me via email and phone when they know what it is.

 

It seems they are at least training the front line reps to handle the situation better. What, if anything, happens remains to be seen. I will keep my fingers crossed and try to focus on the good times to be had on the ship given all the extra time we will have on her now.

 

 

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Hi All, Barry and Renee here. We’re booked on the Passage to Western Europe leg (B2B). First, I’ve been on cruise critic for some time, but mainly as a “peeper”. I never really added anything but reviews. I’ve seen recent dialogue in many places about Vikings itinerary changes, but in a vacuum of information I had nothing to add but angst. So pardon me, but I can’t figure out my data entry point is for this ship’s roll call. I’m posting here because of the recent comments on the itinerary changes. If someone could tell me the most appropriate place for my comments, I’d appreciate it.

 

The point of my posting today is that we heard from our TA about Viking’s rationale for the extra sea days, or the tides, and Vikings remedy for our fellow passengers. I was wondering if we are the last to know.

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Logistigr8r, don't feel you've been left out. Viking has been very uncommunicative with its Star passengers. The email you are referencing is the first outreach they've done as far as I know. For much of January, those of us actively posting were wondering if they were just going to let those sailing on the affected itinerary find out when they showed up in Europe.

 

You mention being on a B2B itinerary. If yours as booked include Flam, be advised that port stop is out and Oslo is in as a replacement with some juggling of days after Bergen.

 

You should start getting familiar with the the booking website Viking opened this week.

https://www.myvikingjourney.com/home/welcome/

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Logistigr8, also check out the roll call message boards for your trip posted under Roll Calls->All Other Cruise Lines. Messages are helter-skelter as there are 10 combinations that can be made from the 50 day maiden voyage cruise and its four legs.

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