Beware of Viking

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

I remember posts that people were happy the way things were handled last year but those comments were quickly swept under the rug. Some were even questioned. People like to bash Viking so they fed off the unhappy people and forgot there were/are happy people.

 

I remember those posts too - I was looking for the positive ones! I do not understand why people who have never cruised Viking appear anxious to jump on to a negative Viking thread, happy to add their 2 cents about Viking shortcomings. They cite the history of negative Viking experiences - forgetting to (as someone else said) "do the math". They also forget the positive Viking posts that some of us remember.

 

I particularly liked post #11 on this thread. Thank you notamermaid for your comments. In part she said:

River cruising is more "adventurous" than the holiday brochures want to make you believe, but please do not give it a miss, anyone, just because of the potential for it to turn into a bus trip, even if it means missing most of your scheduled itinerary. You might end up seeing a different place you just love.

[wwinfl91]

We just talked with Viking's customer service department. We spent about an hour with a very nice lady explaining a lot of things that we have posted here as well as some other things that haven't made to the board yet. It was interesting that my wife's cell phone went off in the grocery store and it was Viking wanting to talk with her about our posts here. We had believed cruise critic was anonymous but there are other ways I guess of tracking someone down. We asked them to call back once we got home which they did.

 

She says Viking is still gathering information from passengers and crew members and will be deciding on what compensation will be offered later this week to the passengers. I doubt they will offer any to the crew who suffered almost as much as us. Most of them didn't have to spend hours on buses but the cruise director and concierge also made the bus trips with us and took most of the abuse from the passengers.

 

More to follow later include a full review of our Skadi/Lif Grand European cruise. By the way the ships are very nicely arranged and decorated. There is plenty of room in the dining room and the dining room staff from the maitre d' to the waiters were excellent.

 

Talk at you all later.

[homeschoolmama]

Thank you for being balanced and fair in relaying the positive efforts of Viking and not just the bad. I hope their efforts allay some of your negative experience.

 

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[nana541]

Best wishes with your future conversations with Viking....

 

 

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[Sapphire73]

Hope everyone else has a better cruise than the one I just finished.

 

Just want to thank you for taking the time to share your experiences - both the good and the bad. I am sorry that you ran into so many difficulties! I hope that your input helps Viking improve communication with passengers if and when there are problems in the future (with high water, low water, broken locks, etc).

 

Thanks again.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Sapphire73

[purduemom1]

We just talked with Viking's customer service department. We spent about an hour with a very nice lady explaining a lot of things that we have posted here as well as some other things that haven't made to the board yet. It was interesting that my wife's cell phone went off in the grocery store and it was Viking wanting to talk with her about our posts here. We had believed cruise critic was anonymous but there are other ways I guess of tracking someone down. We asked them to call back once we got home which they did.

 

She says Viking is still gathering information from passengers and crew members and will be deciding on what compensation will be offered later this week to the passengers. I doubt they will offer any to the crew who suffered almost as much as us. Most of them didn't have to spend hours on buses but the cruise director and concierge also made the bus trips with us and took most of the abuse from the passengers.

 

More to follow later include a full review of our Skadi/Lif Grand European cruise. By the way the ships are very nicely arranged and decorated. There is plenty of room in the dining room and the dining room staff from the maitre d' to the waiters were excellent.

 

Talk at you all later.

 

Wow, so Viking was able to track down your wife and her cell number. Did they have your wife's cell on file with your other info? I wish you good luck with further conversations and hope everything is resolved to your satisfaction.

[Mark_T]

We had believed cruise critic was anonymous but there are other ways I guess of tracking someone down.

 

Worry not, everything here is anonymous, but you posted more than enough information in this thread for Viking to work out who you were.

 

In this case, mention of a low salt diet and the time of your return flight was more than enough for them to identify you and there were other things they could have used as well.

 

In one of my previous jobs I used to monitor an independent forum as a back-stop to our corporate support team, I don't think I ever got the identity of the posters wrong as people always put enough details into their complaints to make them readily identifiable.

 

Not a bad thing btw as it does make resolution easier to achieve.

[wwinfl91]

Well Viking has made its first offer, a 25% voucher off a future cruise. Here is a copy of the email.

 

Welcome home from Europe.

 

We do hope that your overall experience was enjoyable.We sincerely regret that your Viking Lif sailing experienced itinerary changes. While the staff did what they could to make everyone comfortable, we understand that your expectations were likely not met. In consideration of this, we are offering a future cruise voucher for 25% off the paid cruise. The vouchers can be used toward any voyage with Viking Cruises—rivers or oceans—and will be emailed to you separately.

 

We understand that you may have an individual concern you would like to discuss with us. If so, please call the Customer Relations team at 1.877.668.4546, extension 4525, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., PDT.

 

All of us at Viking want you to travel with us again, under less exceptional circumstances, and experience a Viking journey as it was designed. We hope to welcome you aboard in the near future.

 

 

I believe this was sent out to everyone who was on the cruise. As far as I am concerned it is far short of the kind of compensation I want to see for what we went through.

 

Some undoubtedly will leap at this and think Viking has done them a favor, which is what Viking is hoping.

 

Hope everyone has a great NEXT cruise.

 

 

 

Kind regards,

Edited August 12, 2014 by wwinfl91

[CPT Trips]

How many other folks from your hometown were on the cruise? Is your screen name your email? Along with info noted by a pp, more info for Viking to use to ID you . . .

Edited August 12, 2014 by CPT Trips

[nana541]

How many other folks from your hometown were on the cruise? Is your screen name your email? Along with info noted by a pp, more info for Viking to use to ID you . . .

 

 

Confused by the above posting ???

 

 

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[joeandaimeesmom]

Hello.. Been reading things on here and am curious.. What Longship are you on?? We have a cruise next August.. :)

[nana541]

They sailed on the brand new longship Viking Skadi and Viking Lif

 

Quote here:

More to follow later include a full review of our Skadi/Lif Grand European cruise. By the way the ships are very nicely arranged and decorated. There is plenty of room in the dining room and the dining room staff from the maitre d' to the waiters were excellent.

 

Talk at you all later.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited August 12, 2014 by nana541

[wwinfl91]

We started the cruise on the Skadi in Budapest although we had been originally scheduled for the Lif. Then at 9:30 PM on the 8th day of the cruise we were notified by the cruise director that we would need to pack our luggage and have it out by the door of the cabin by 7:30 AM. We ended up packing until 1:30 AM and then had to get up at 6:15 so we would have time for breakfast before leaving the ship for buses to take us to Nuremberg which was at least a 2 1/2 hour drive on the autobahn.

 

To add to our misery we had just made the trip back and forth to Nuremberg that day. If Viking had just told us early in the morning and allowed a local tour from where ever we were docked in the morning and then given us the afternoon to pack the whole episode would have been more acceptable.

 

Of course when we arrived in Nuremberg at around Noon the ship sailed almost immediately after the luggage got loaded. Then we ended up spending the afternoon unpacking and getting settled back into a cabin on the Lif.

 

I will be posting a full review of the cruise on cruise critic soon. It was the worse cruise we have ever been on and this was our 33rd but our first river cruise.

 

Some of the comments above deal with the fact that Viking called my wife's cell phone to talk about our comments on this board and people are responding about how they tracked us down.

 

See my signature below for our cruise history.

Edited August 12, 2014 by wwinfl91

[wwinfl91]

One thing that has surprised since we got home is that no one else from the cruise has posted out on CC. I know I talked with a couple of people who are members and who said they would be posting. Hope they join in soon.

Edited August 13, 2014 by wwinfl91

[wwinfl91]

No more contact from Viking although via email with others who were on the cruise the general consensus is that Viking's offer is way too little to consider. I have been doing some searches on the web and it is amazing how many negative posts about Viking are out there. That doesn't seem to be the case here on CC why I'm not sure?

 

Talk at you all later.

 

 

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[Hoyaheel]

That doesn't seem to be the case here on CC why I'm not sure?

 

While I've seen quite a few negative posts on Viking- esp last summer - this board (ALL of cruise critic) tends to really pile on anyone who posts anything remotely negative. Very many cruiseline fans. Which is great - we all have things we love and love to advocate for our favorites. Doesn't mean bad things don't happen;) Any longtime CC reader thinks long & hard before posting a negative review/post because we don't all have thick skin to deal with the instantaneous feedback when we do.

[rjscott]

As for how Viking "tracked down" the OP, I would surmise that it was from the information on their PIF form that each passenger must complete prior to sailing.

 

Becki

[wwinfl91]

While I've seen quite a few negative posts on Viking- esp last summer - this board (ALL of cruise critic) tends to really pile on anyone who posts anything remotely negative. Very many cruiseline fans. Which is great - we all have things we love and love to advocate for our favorites. Doesn't mean bad things don't happen;) Any longtime CC reader thinks long & hard before posting a negative review/post because we don't all have thick skin to deal with the instantaneous feedback when we do.

 

I really hadn't thought about it that way but you are right in a number of the posts on this thread were defending Viking and if not "attacking" me were at least critical of me for not being more forgiving.

 

If it had only been the high water then I would have understood because Viking can't do anything about the weather. But the decision to put the Skadi in dry dock in the middle of a cruise and not telling the customers and how that decision affected the rest of the cruise is where I have a real problem with Viking.

 

One thing I'm also upset about is I believe Viking intended to have us to switch ships from the start. Several things point to this. One the CD and the concierge when we boarded the Skadi were both from the Lif. Also the headsets we were asked to wear on the shore excursions were all from Lif not the Skadi.

 

I think the ships got out of position during the earlier water level problems and Viking made a decision to get them back into their correct places for future cruises at the expense of the people on the cruise I was on.

 

All of this makes me very distrustful of anything Viking says. By the way here are a couple of links to other places on the Net where people have posted complaints about Viking.

 

http://www.fodors.com/community/cruises/viking-river-cruise-disappoints.cfm

 

http://viking-cruise-lines.pissedconsumer.com/

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187323-d1545128-Reviews-River_Cruises-Berlin.html#REVIEWS

 

http://www.complaintsboard.com/?search=Viking+cruises

 

Had I done my homework rather than depend almost solely on CC I would have followed my wife's advice and cancelled this cruise before we went.

 

Talk at you all later.

[joanne2]

While I've seen quite a few negative posts on Viking- esp last summer - this board (ALL of cruise critic) tends to really pile on anyone who posts anything remotely negative. Very many cruiseline fans. Which is great - we all have things we love and love to advocate for our favorites. Doesn't mean bad things don't happen;) Any longtime CC reader thinks long & hard before posting a negative review/post because we don't all have thick skin to deal with the instantaneous feedback when we do.

 

The same thing happens when anyone posts something positive about Viking e.g. the cc award, the Travel Leisure ranking, etc. All the Viking bashers who have never cruised with Viking pile on with their insults.

[1SGCruiser]

The same thing happens when anyone posts something positive about Viking e.g. the cc award, the Travel Leisure ranking, etc. All the Viking bashers who have never cruised with Viking pile on with their insults.

 

 

Absolutely agree. Glad you pointed it out. Each of our experiences and expectations are different, but to always and immediately jump on anything Viking-positive without ever having been on one seems less than useful.

[Hoyaheel]

Great, so piling on happens in all directions. Proving the point I was trying to make.

 

I have no horse in this race. Other than to point out that posters shouldn't have to be wary of reporting their own circumstances, whatever they might be. My post isn't about Viking. I could not care less if you want to book Viking or don't want to book Viking. But people shouldn't be afraid to post their experiences or their questions here, and all CC posters should, you know, be nice about it either way....

[joanne2]

I really hadn't thought about it that way but you are right in a number of the posts on this thread were defending Viking and if not "attacking" me were at least critical of me for not being more forgiving.

 

If it had only been the high water then I would have understood because Viking can't do anything about the weather. But the decision to put the Skadi in dry dock in the middle of a cruise and not telling the customers and how that decision affected the rest of the cruise is where I have a real problem with Viking.

 

One thing I'm also upset about is I believe Viking intended to have us to switch ships from the start. Several things point to this. One the CD and the concierge when we boarded the Skadi were both from the Lif. Also the headsets we were asked to wear on the shore excursions were all from Lif not the Skadi.

 

I think the ships got out of position during the earlier water level problems and Viking made a decision to get them back into their correct places for future cruises at the expense of the people on the cruise I was on.

 

All of this makes me very distrustful of anything Viking says. By the way here are a couple of links to other places on the Net where people have posted complaints about Viking.

 

http://www.fodors.com/community/cruises/viking-river-cruise-disappoints.cfm

 

http://viking-cruise-lines.pissedconsumer.com/

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187323-d1545128-Reviews-River_Cruises-Berlin.html#REVIEWS

 

http://www.complaintsboard.com/?search=Viking+cruises

 

Had I done my homework rather than depend almost solely on CC I would have followed my wife's advice and cancelled this cruise before we went.

 

Talk at you all later.

 

So I tried one of the links you cited (the trip advisor one) and there was a review of a Grand European that used the Skadi and Lif. It was very positive but cited the disgruntled passengers as a real negative. Perhaps those disgruntled passengers contributed to the communications problems.

[wwinfl91]

I will give you an example of Viking's poor communication skills. The first night the CD told us we were going to be on buses the next day he also said he wouldn't take questions but if we had "individual" concerns we could meet with after the briefing. Since he works for me as well as for Viking, I raised my hand and spoke saying I had a question everyone in the room wanted answered. He proceeded to rudely tell me to be quiet and let him continue his briefing. I again asked him the question "how long would the bus trip be?" which everyone in the room wanted to know. He then even more rudely told me to be quiet and talk with him after the briefing.

 

I was talked to by over 20 passengers after the briefing all saying they also wanted to answer the same question but were intimidated by the CD's attitude.

 

I proceeded to talk with the hotel manager who apologized for the way it was handled and later the CD came over and asked for my pardon as he felt he had been too hard on me. They then proceeded to deliver a bottle of wine to my room later that evening like that was going to help.

 

After that the CD included an "estimated" bus ride time although he consistently under estimated the time.

 

That was the level of communication skills we were dealing with. I believe the CD was telling us whatever Viking told him to tell us. No more and no less but then that is Viking's fault for not being honest with its customers, who had paid a lot of money, for what turned out to be a bus trip with a floating hotel.

 

Try one of those some time and see how you feel afterwards.

[Mark_T]

Perception is reality in cases like this, I have no doubt that you had a miserable time on board and that you feel entirely justified in demanding significant compensation and there will be others who feel the same.

 

Equally there will be many from your cruise who were surprised and delighted at the unexpected 25% discount offer and are busily planning their next cruise as a result.

 

In a similar vein, there were around 20 people who were grateful that you tried to clarify the length of the bus trip in the middle of the briefing even though the CD had asked to deal with questions after the briefing.

 

There may have been others, including the CD, who wished you had not interrupted the briefing twice, even after being asked to wait until it was over before raising questions.

 

His 'rude' denial of your question was quite likely viewed by some others as a firm reassertion of his request to wait until the briefing was over.

 

I used to have to review tapes of CS interactions when dealing with complaints and a very large percentage of the time, what was reported as 'rude' was simply someone saying 'no' or 'please let me finish'. Clearly I wasn't there and I don't know how it was handled in your case.

 

Same goes for the question of Viking being 'honest' in what they were saying.

 

Things change rapidly on the rivers, right at the start of your cruise Viking most probably knew the ship was going to have to make a maintenance stop and they may even have planned to do a ship swap at some point to rectify problems caused by disruptions on a previous cruise.

 

Maintenance interruptions are a routine part of cruising, irritating, but necessary and not something that advance notice really helps with as it is not a justification for cancellation, just something to be worked around.

 

They most likely did not know when the ship swap would happen and they did not anticipate high water problems at that time either.

 

Now they could have said to everyone on boarding, 'You are going to have to move to another ship at some point, we don't know where or when or how long it will take or which excursions may or may not be affected'

 

Would that have been better communication than waiting until they knew exactly where when and how long?

 

Ideally they would have predicted the ship swap first thing in the morning, not during the afternoon when it was first communicated to some (most?) of the guests, but this is how it is on the rivers, a few hours makes some things possible that were not before and makes some things impossible that were before, so decision cycles are short and that can cause problems as you experienced.

 

So again, I'm not saying that you are 'wrong' to feel as you do, how you feel is 100% reality for you and you are entitled to react accordingly, but there is always a counter-point and everyone else on the cruise is not rushing to post here because everyone else does not feel as aggrieved as you clearly do, some however will, I highly doubt you are alone in feeling as you do.

 

What matters from here is you getting the best resolution you can, and my advice, for what it is worth, is that you'll get that achieved most quickly and expeditiously by direct contact with Viking rather than posting every part of your communication with them on here.

 

You will limit their ability to deal with you and your complaints in a unique manner if you keep the process in the public domain.

 

Posting here is not really putting any pressure on them either as there are so many alternative views on the degree on 'suffering' and the nature of compensation.

 

Right now, I'd be reaching out to them, not waiting to be contacted and getting all this resolved so you can get on with planning your next vacation, wherever that may be ...

[lady girl]

Well said Mart T and joanne2.

This discussion has grown old and depressing. Hopefully the "Host" can put an end to this on going soap opera. It should be between the two parties only.