NEVER book with Viking Cruises

[nana541]

You will see from my list of cruises that I haven't cruised with Viking.

 

I expressed empathy to OP, because I was appalled by the lack of customer service given, in this instance.

 

With regard to travel insurance, as has been stated already, not all insurance policies cover flight cancellation/mechanical problems. Most of those on offer in my country don't!

 

On the cruise critic app (tapa talk) we don't see the list of cruises in your signature.

 

And as far as travel insurance goes there are many many policies all with different terms. Just depends on what your needs are, and what you are willing to pay. And yes the insurance available in the States is likely different than is available in other countries. But then maybe "consumer protection" laws make up for that, I don't know. Only know what is available to US cruisers.

 

Very sad the OP did not get the vacation they expected and paid for. Maybe Viking is looking into what happened from their end, very hard to know as we only have the OP's description of the sequence of events. I do know the US was in the middle of huge winter storms while this was going on.... I'm thinking the awful weather and cancelled flights all over the US did not help in this situation.

 

MMDown have a great day and a Merry Christmas!

[MMDown Under]

On the cruise critic app (tapa talk) we don't see the list of cruises in your signature.

 

 

Sorry, I didn't know that.

[kenish]

Sorry to hear about OP's bad experience. However, if their contact with Viking has the same tone as the post here, I wouldn't expect Viking to be too responsive (if they respond at all). A tone of "I will never use you again" pretty much kills customer service. If a company isn't given a future chance to make good then there's no point in any further effort. Also, citing health problems suggests legal action and that moves the matter from Customer Service over to Legal. A very unfortunate reality of how companies react to complaints.

 

Trip Insurance in the US has all sorts of options and coverage, just like car insurance. Most cover missing the ship due to flight, train, or car problems. There are reasonable clauses such as allowing reasonable connection times and making a bona fide effort to catch up- you can't simply give up and go home at the first sign of trouble.

 

Last thing is to read the sticky at the top of the Cruise Air forum. (someone over there called attention to this thread). Tickets purchased though a cruiseline are usually *not* the same product as those bought directly from the airline...and the differences become apparent when something goes wrong. Good prices can be had, but like any consumer purchase you should make a decision based on full knowledge of what you're buying.

 

Hope OP comes back with a happy ending.

Edited December 17, 2013 by kenish

[jc foster]

Read your insurance policy carefully. After missing 3 days precruise hotel in Copenhagen and a 10 day Baltic cruise when a freak hail storm closed our connection airport (Newark) in July 2009 we filed for payment. We had immediately contacted our travel insurance company when this occurred and they tried unsuccessfully to get us to Copenhagen ,however, several thousand flights had been cancelled and they could not get to this ship until three days after it would sail which would have caused us to miss our precruise hotel and the cruise. We were flown back to DFW. Continential airlines refused to reimburse us since this was weather related and at first the insurance company (Travelguard)did not want to either since this was a flight cancellation and not a delay. Luckily, there was a congress woman on our flight and there was a news story on TV about how we had been diverted to Washington Dules where we had sat on the ground for seven hours without food or water before flying back to Newark and Continential decided to pay. We had a great insurance rep and finally recovered most of our cruise, air, and hotel monies. I now read my policies very carefully the problem is that the lower and middle of the road policies have many loop holes and the top policies are very expensive $1150.00 or more for our next trip, but I guess that's just the cost of traveling. I really feel sorry for the OP. I think Viking could have saved a future customer by simply assisting him in booking another flight to the ship. Viking may not have been under any legal obligation to help, but its just good business and its the right thing to do.

[huntersyaya]

Read your insurance policy carefully. After missing 3 days precruise hotel in Copenhagen and a 10 day Baltic cruise when a freak hail storm closed our connection airport (Newark) in July 2009 we filed for payment. We had immediately contacted our travel insurance company when this occurred and they tried unsuccessfully to get us to Copenhagen ,however, several thousand flights had been cancelled and they could not get to this ship until three days after it would sail which would have caused us to miss our precruise hotel and the cruise. We were flown back to DFW. Continential airlines refused to reimburse us since this was weather related and at first the insurance company (Travelguard)did not want to either since this was a flight cancellation and not a delay. Luckily, there was a congress woman on our flight and there was a news story on TV about how we had been diverted to Washington Dules where we had sat on the ground for seven hours without food or water before flying back to Newark and Continential decided to pay. We had a great insurance rep and finally recovered most of our cruise, air, and hotel monies. I now read my policies very carefully the problem is that the lower and middle of the road policies have many loop holes and the top policies are very expensive $1150.00 or more for our next trip, but I guess that's just the cost of traveling. I really feel sorry for the OP. I think Viking could have saved a future customer by simply assisting him in booking another flight to the ship. Viking may not have been under any legal obligation to help, but its just good business and its the right thing to do.

 

Please keep in mind that we have only heard one side to this story. My gut tells me the original poster was as mad at himself (for not having travel insurance if in fact, he did not) and at the situation as he was at Viking....he obviously needed to vent.

[nana541]

Please keep in mind that we have only heard one side to this story. My gut tells me the original poster was as mad at himself (for not having travel insurance if in fact, he did not) and at the situation as he was at Viking....he obviously needed to vent.

 

Perfectly said! And the OP has never been back after making that post so we are all talking to ourselves :)

[Cary Cruiser]

Please keep in mind that we have only heard one side to this story. My gut tells me the original poster was as mad at himself (for not having travel insurance if in fact, he did not) and at the situation as he was at Viking....he obviously needed to vent.

 

There are ALWAYS 3 sides to every story. There is the OP's side. There is Viking's side, and there is the truth which is somewhere in between. We have only heard one side of the story.

 

The OP has not made another post since the original, but I am sure he/she is monitoring the responses, and yes I am sure Viking is seeing all of this too and has made a good faith effort to contact the OP and try and make them happy.

 

I'll stick my neck out on this one, and I'll bet Viking and the OP come to an amicable resolution to this saga. Unfortunately, we way never know what the ultimate outcome is.

[rjscott]

Never say never...cruise lines ,in general , and viking in particular oFTEN have killer air fare prices when you buy thru them. Some in our group flew for $100 last dec for a danube Waltz.

 

But to minimize your risks, no matter who you arrange flights with, fly in early, or limit your connections or being able to quickly think on your feet and know how to make alternative arrangements in a flash are all good " insurance" plans.

 

I think Viking has chosen NOT to post on this thread because the OP has disappeared and is likely a one post wonder.

 

IF they should persevere both here and with customer service, the OP and CC may hear from Viking here on CC ( in my experience this happens)

I think we are unlikely to hear from Viking unless the OP does come back and post again. Viking does not seem to address their responses to anyone but the OP, although I am always glad to see when they do respond here on CC.

[nana541]

There are ALWAYS 3 sides to every story. There is the OP's side. There is Viking's side, and there is the truth which is somewhere in between. We have only heard one side of the story.

 

The OP has not made another post since the original, but I am sure he/she is monitoring the responses, and yes I am sure Viking is seeing all of this too and has made a good faith effort to contact the OP and try and make them happy.

 

I'll stick my neck out on this one, and I'll bet Viking and the OP come to an amicable resolution to this saga. Unfortunately, we way never know what the ultimate outcome is.

 

Thinking this about sums up this entire saga! I went back and re-read this thread as I had such strong opinions, one thing someone else posted that caught my eye and in spite of however else I feel about travel insurance and other issues I raised...

 

The OP did as some one else stated have a "REASONABLE EXPECTATION" of some kind of assistance or even sympathetic treatment from Viking who booked their vacation and apparently all their air travel arrangements. Even if weather and other things were outside the control of Viking. And who knows we only know what happened from the perspective of the OP.

 

I hope Viking really looks into this entire situation and asks themselves if those travelers (Viking customers) had a "REASONABLE EXPECTATION" of assistance and did they get it!

[Host Jazzbeau]

From the Viking Website:

All-Inclusive Air Travel

If you purchase air travel from Viking, all taxes, fees, surcharges and airport transfers are included and

we handle all the details

. Our airline connections enable us to offer competitive prices and we can often arrange for upgrades. See the

Air Services

section of our website for detailed information.

I know that you shouldn't rely on the puffery on websites, but I think this reenforces Nana's point that OP had a Reasonable Expectation that Viking would "handle all the details" of their Viking-booked travel arrangements, including problems.

Edited December 17, 2013 by jazzbeau

[nana541]

Hummm - also discusses "Viking's All Inclusive Travel Protection" and how you are protected if purchasing that protection.....

We can only wonder what the entire story is?

 

From the Viking Website:

 

Standard Air

 

For your convenience, you can purchase roundtrip transoceanic air travel directly from Viking in conjunction with your river cruise or cruisetour. Viking’s air packages are a great value because they include your transfers between airport and ship or hotel. And when you reserve your air with Viking and purchase Viking’s all-inclusive travel protection coverage, your air travel is covered by the policy as part of your Viking itinerary. Select from more than 165 different gateways (additional gateways available); once a reservation has been made, we will confirm your flight schedules 75 days before departure.

Edited December 17, 2013 by nana541

[Cary Cruiser]

From the Viking Website:

All-Inclusive Air Travel

If you purchase air travel from Viking, all taxes, fees, surcharges and airport transfers are included and

we handle all the details

. Our airline connections enable us to offer competitive prices and we can often arrange for upgrades. See the

Air Services

section of our website for detailed information.

I know that you shouldn't rely on the puffery on websites, but I think this reenforces Nana's point that OP had a Reasonable Expectation that Viking would "handle all the details" of their Viking-booked travel arrangements, including problems.

 

I think they are referring to handing all of the details of the booking and the transfers - not literally ALL the details.

[beverlyjack]

The reason that we have heard only one side of the story is that Viking has chosen not to give theirs. There are times that they are quite active on this site, when they have a good excuse for their shortcomings, such as when they can blame weather or river levels, and others that they are totally silent and without a good argument, because there isn't one.

Edited December 17, 2013 by beverlyjack

[kenish]

The reason that we have heard only one side of the story is that Viking has chosen not to give theirs. There are times that they are quite active on this site, when they have a good excuse for their shortcomings, such as when they can blame weather or river levels, and others that they are totally silent and without a good argument, because there isn't one.

 

The OP stated that the problem created stress which affected their physical health. Almost every company will consider it a potential legal issue and will not publicly comment on the matter (regardless of whether fault is 100/0, 0/100, or somewhere in between).

Edited December 17, 2013 by kenish

[PoofCat99]

As I stated before, what happened to the OP was unfortunate, but there are 3 players here. Although I think most Cruise Air arrangements state that the cruiseline is only acting as a booking agent, I still feel like Viking could have given a bit more assistance. With that said, a customer service rep in an office is not able to fully get the picture on the ground with the cruiser. I also believe most cruise air arrangements (ocean or river) state that they will attempt to get you to the home port but if not they will attempt (note the word here) to the first available port on the itinerary. Since the OP had already started traveling that is what was offered. Perhaps once they joined the ship Viking would have reviewed their case and given them a partial refund to make up for the hassle.

 

Regardless, if Air Canada canceled the flights, they are the ones that need to refund for the amount of the flight or get them to the destination. The OP keeps saying that they could only go where Air Canada flew which tells me that the tickets were not endorsable to another airline which is common with low cost flights. I'm not even sure Air Canada has a teaming arrangement with other carriers, but if you have an endorsable ticket on say United, they can, and will (been there, done that) try to find you a flight on another carrier (in my case it was Delta).

 

I'm not sure what more some posters wanted Viking to do at the time of travel other than help them get to the ship at some port. It seems like they tried and probably more than some might recieve from Carnival or one of the mass-market cruiselines.

[cruiseryyc]

Air Canada is part of Star Alliance group so they do have arrangements with other airlines which makes one wonder why the OP wasn't put onto a different airline to get them where they needed to go. Again three sides to every story.

[PoofCat99]

Good to know about Air Canada. My point is that the rules underlying the ticket that was purchased dictate whether it is endorsable. A super cheap fare may come with restrictions like being non-reroutable and non-endorsable. Many of them are also the last to get dealt with when a flight is delayed or cancelled as there is a hierarchy of how an airline will reassign flights starting with their High-mileage frequent flyers and working down. That is why it is important to know the "rules" governing your ticket. If everything goes fine, great, but it is when things go pear-shaped that fare rules come into play.

[remydiva]

http://www.staralliance.com/en/about/airlines/swiss_airlines/

 

28 airlines including Swiss, Lufthansa, United and US Airways so lots of partners.

 

when OP said he was flying 'Air Canada ' and it was cancelled, it could well have been a code share so who knows what logo would have been on the plane and so what airline did the actual cancelling.

 

I have flown in Europe on flights with as many as 5 code shares which makes trying to find your flight difficult at times when looking at the huge reader boards.

 

Dont you just love how we are all here kicking this around now on page 4, and the OP hasnt shown back up! If they are sitting back and monitoring it as one poster said, at least they could pop in and give an update if there is one OR if not, then a simple " good ideas and now i know".:)

Edited December 18, 2013 by remydiva

[kenish]

Regardless, if Air Canada canceled the flights, they are the ones that need to refund for the amount of the flight or get them to the destination. The OP keeps saying that they could only go where Air Canada flew which tells me that the tickets were not endorsable to another airline which is common with low cost flights. I'm not even sure Air Canada has a teaming arrangement with other carriers, but if you have an endorsable ticket on say United, they can, and will (been there, done that) try to find you a flight on another carrier (in my case it was Delta).

 

If the tickets were not endorsable, they were quite likely bulk/ consolidator/ "specially negotiated" tickets that were not a published fare. If so, OP was *not* Air Canada's customer, they were Viking's. AC sold the excess inventory early on to end any further spending on marketing, booking, and customer service.

 

AC has alliance partners, but assuming the fare was not a published fare, the sole option was on AC on the next available flight using the same city routing(s).

 

OTOH if OP's tickets were a published fare, OP was the airline's customer and AC should have provided transport via alternate routings and/or other airlines.

Edited December 18, 2013 by kenish

[nana541]

Based on the OP's post we don't really know what catagory tickets the OP had?

[BlueHerons]

Based on the OPs thread, I think it is safe to say that these people were worldly travelers. They booked everything with Viking because they thought that would be the safe way to go. Obviously they got screwed by Viking. Viking was not there for them when they needed help.

 

Any seasoned traveler knows not to book air with the cruise line.

 

Any seasoned traveler probably would not start international travel with Air Canada out of Tennessee.

[CaroleSS]

ok, I guess I'm a bit worried now.

 

We are in North Carolina and will be taking a Germany cruise next year. Our outbound flight is with Air Canada. We fly to Toronto then on to Munich.

 

Why is Air Canada bad? Our TA suggested them as she said they were a good airline.

[rogerdawhip]

Any seasoned traveler knows not to book air with the cruise line.

I am very seasoned traveler (80+ countries, 15 river cruises, 25 large ship cruises) and I book air with the cruise line the majority of the time. I find it convenient and the costs for me are usually less.

Edited December 18, 2013 by rogerdawhip

[steamboats]

CaroleSS,

 

Don´t worry, Air Canada has a pretty good reputation. We´ve only heard one side of the story.

 

I´ve flown with AC to Toronto (out of Munich) once. Our flight was delayed. On the plane we were told that some of us might not reach their connection (which was Vancouver for us). But we shouldn´t worry. There´s an information desk right after immigration and we will be automatically rebooked on the next flight and get our new boarding passes there. Even our bags arrived with us (just one hour later as originally scheduled).

 

I´ve flown to the US and back quite a few times with things happening you can´t even imagine they might happen. I´ve never had that kind of service by an US airline. Once our connection to Cincinnati had been cancelled. No one even cared to tell us. The agent told us there´s no other flight we will get our money back and should rent a car (from Chicago). I´ve never asked how our luggage will make it to Cincy as of course we had already dropped it right after customs. We decided to leave the check-in counter and get in line again. The next agent was a newbie and accompanied by a supervisor. They´ve checked all available flights (even those of non alliance airlines) but weren´t able to find a seat for us. But they still had one flight going out and put us on stand-by. There were 4 seats on stand-by - we got 3 of them (after waiting more than 5 hours on the airport). But we were happy as we had a one day river cruise the next morning at 8 am.

 

My experiences are that you have to prepare yourself for any kind of troubles:

 

1) Have a set of clothing plus all necessary cosmetics (and meds) in your hand luggage so you can survive for at least one night.

 

2) Have a list with all possible connections on hand in case there´s a cancellation.

 

3) If you get a negative reply try your luck again with another agent!! (also valid for phone calls) And insist on your rights as a customer!!

 

steamboats

[kenish]

ok, I guess I'm a bit worried now.

 

We are in North Carolina and will be taking a Germany cruise next year. Our outbound flight is with Air Canada. We fly to Toronto then on to Munich.

 

Why is Air Canada bad? Our TA suggested them as she said they were a good airline.

 

As Steamboats commented, AC is a good airline. Like any airline, they have the inevitable delays, cancellations, etc. for any number of reasons. As explained above in this thread and in the "sticky" on the cruise air forum, the level of customer service you receive and your place in the queue is only an issue if something goes amok. Know what you're buying, understand you're not the airline's customer in many cases (you're the cruiseline's customer), and make an informed choice based on your risk tolerance.

 

The biggest disadvantage of AC out of many US cities is their low daily flight frequency. Usually the only recourse with a restricted ticket is a later AC flight from North Carolina-Toronto. In other words, they are non-endorseable (you can't be put on UA, AA, etc) and non-reroutable (you won't be sent on AC through Montreal instead). The next available flight under these fare rules might be a few days later. If the cruiseline airfare savings is just too large to ignore, I'd pay a bit extra to fly a few days early or to choose an airline and a hub with the largest number of flights.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited December 18, 2013 by kenish