Experts are saying that the current drought in Europe could be the worst in 500 years, with water levels dropping, especially along the Rhine River. I paid my travel agent in full for my cruise well before the due date, but was unable to access online booking as Viking claim the payment wasn't made. The cruise lines plan their itineraries to mitigate this risk. These conditions include: Lately, Europe has seen temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Tauck says it deals with compensation on a case-by-case basis. Had a planned eastern European river cruise starting mid-October for over a year. For more than 15 years we have helped nearly 50000 customers resolve their issues and will never stop striving to ensure further improvements on our platform for a better communication between companies and customers. is a travel editor for TPG, with a focus on cruise travel. It will take of the expiring vouchers and the booking can be changed with no problem whatsoever once a schedule for 2024 becomes available. He replied "absolutely no way both medically and because ************ weakens her immune system!" Airfares vary on other gateways & departures. When I asked to speak with a supervisor the "customer service" representative said "I am not allowed to transfer you - the supervisor will give you the same answer." Each time I received a pro forma answer saying "it is company policy that future cruise credits have no cash value and cannot be refunded or exchanged once booked." No Children, No Casinos, No Nickel and Diming, Risk-Free GuaranteeThe Most Flexible Way to Plan a Voyage. If you are booked on a river cruise for later this year, do not make any snap decisions. On February 1, the shore excursion booking system opened up for the ocean segment of my trip. If you book a river cruise, you acknowledge that you might not get the exact itinerary you signed up for. For every day that is altered, AmaWaterways guests will get 50% of the daily rate they paid as a future cruise credit. It's also a classic cruise itinerary. A sales representative ******. Viking have done this every year since 2012, knowing they are unable to dock there but still taking Port Tax from every passenger. coach. We opted for the voucher. After 5 minutes she came back and said the manager said nothing they could do but charge a 50 percent fee for canceling. We used our voucher prior to the expiration of the voucher, to book a cruise for March of 2023. Just as with ocean sailings, theres always a risk that weather and river/sea conditions can impact that itinerary, and cruisers must accept that itineraries cannot be set in stone. We were told that since we used vouchers we were not eligible for a refund per policy. Business Section was crowded 8 units wide while first class just in front Posted September 18, 2021. Cruises beginning in 2009, this is not the first error and being loyal We booked Amsterdam to Belgium for August 19th 2023 with Viking agent Elena Munari. Enrollment required. As compensation we have been offered a derisory 200 voucher towards a future cruise. Desired outcome: We booked a cruise, paid the full booking amount. Simply make the simple changes to the hotel reservations so that one of the rooms includes two beds. Booking your first river cruise? Why all other passages under the same situation had no such problem were not explained by Viking. We are unable to meet their requirements and therefore want our funds returned to us. A longtime editor at Cruise Critic, Erica has also written for The Washington Post, Fodors and Lets Go travel guides, and numerous print and online cruise publications. All I want if a refund for our primary payment so we can sail on a ship that does not require the vaccine since we can not get it. When I called to cancel they said we did not purchase the insurance. 2022 is now cancelled and will be replaced with new roundtrip voyages from Southampton to the Caribbean via the Canary Islands and New York. For Further Assistance If you have any questions or need further information please contact Reservations at 1-877-523-0579 or email customerrelations@vikingcruises.com, Monday - Friday, 6:00 AM - 6:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM, PT. It was too windy and not safe so decided not to try to use their tender. An apology is not good enough. For the cabin on the cruise, we indicated separate beds for their cabin. By. We paid for trip insurance assuming that it would cover this situation but buying trip insurance through Viking seems to cover much less than most trip insurance policies. I'm now wondering what the cozy deal is between Viking and Trip Mate, considering the vast number of Trip Mate complaints from Viking Cruise customers. When Viking informed me that the alternative flight was booked, I was not told that I had to pay the tickets myself in order to obtain the boarding pass. Card Rating is based on the opinion of TPGs editors and is not influenced by the card issuer. In a statement issued to the Star Tribune, Viking confirmed that some of the ship's first scheduled departures were canceled this summer, and that the luxury vessel is temporarily operating. Ocean cruise ships usually have at least 25 feet or more or more of draft which would preclude them from river cruising. We appreciate you sharing your experience, Marie, although we regret to hear of your disappointment. We booked a river cruise (Danube) for March 2022. The couple shore excursions we went on were lame and horrible. Note that complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. In fact, we specifically asked their travel consultant if the vouchers would be reissued if we had to cancel again and we were told they would. The whole point of purchasing trip insurance, especially in this time of Covid, was to protect ourselves in the event of a last minute emergency. It's been three years now that Viking has held my family's money hostage because we don't wish to take the jab. Because these problem spots are well known, river cruise lines can find ways to mitigate the issues with savvy itinerary planning. The difference between what they gave us as a credit for a 2023 cruise (which we booked so we didn't lose all of our money) and what we originally paid is $3,494 dollars. Expected weather conditions during the cruise. Not enough for the money hungry cruise line. The typical characteristics of river boats regardless of cruise line are about the same. It is a basic human right to be able to have access to flushing toilets and handwasting facilities. Thanks for reaching out, Itom, although we regret to learn of your experience with booking excursions. 4. Guests will have 24 months to select their new date and use their Risk-Free Guarantee Future Cruise Voucher to make a new reservation on any river, ocean or expedition cruise. We are older and don't want to keep rescheduling this with the hopes of one day being permitted to board their ship. At the other end of the Po, ocean water has flooded the last 12 miles of the river damaging crops and contaminating drinking water. Articles are of a general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances. While we may have to make changes to some of our itineraries and have had to cancel a few voyages, impacted guests and travel partners have and will receive transparent updates and the opportunity to re-book onto another sailing, shared Ellen Bettridge, president and CEO of Uniworld, in an email to TPG. He made the commissions, we will not sail and lose 14,000 dollars. However, the same problems do not affect river cruise ships. Here are 8 tips for writing great reviews. In May, Viking canceled that cruise. "Given recent developments and the developing conflict in Ukraine,. Only Viking can make the appropriate reservation. It was not a condition of completing this trip. If you voluntarily cancel your cruise you may only get a partial or no refund depending on how close to departure you cancel your cruise. Weve canceled one cruise on the Danube and have made a few mostly minor alterations to a small handful of cruises on the Rhine, a Tauck spokesman told TPG when asked about this years cruises. Cost includes $12.95 plus applicable local sales tax. The next indicator of river flow problems is the Thames River in England. The guest services lady said well you can complain at the Share your photos and videos with others to prove the truth of your words. I complained initially that I was not given a direct flight. We feel we should get the $3,494 dollars refunded to us. We are not asking for anything other than our money back. When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints. Learn more. Ive asked that one room in the hotels have two separate beds for our two adult children who do not want to share a bed. Companies will need more ships to carry the same amount of cargo, increasing transportation costs all of which have a negative impact on the European economy. Many passengers were distressed by the lack of fresh water. Viking Mississippi - As of January 23, 2023 Due to damage from substantial river debris to the Viking Mississippi 's propulsion system, the ship will undergo repairs requiring the cancellation of upcoming departures. Premium Air. The trip was for 2021 but was also cancelled and moved to September 22, 2022.On September 16,2022 *********************** and shattered his knee-cap and needed surgery. On the other end, river boats are built with a shallow draft of about six feet deep to avoid hitting the river bottom. Schreiner says that the last time Europe experienced extremely low water levels, in 2018, the economic impact was around 5.4 million euros ($5.4 million). My husband and I were excited about our long awaited cruise next May. We asked to transfer the trip to my son and grandson, but transferring the tickets is not allowed. Subscribe to RSS Companies can ask for reviews via automatic invitations. For information about your specific voyage, please log onto MyVikingJourney.com. Trip value now ********** On 12 November 2020 we booked another cruise and added an additional ******** to bring our out of pocket total to ********** All transactions took place before before the rollout of a "vaccine", vaccine cards, a Presidential and CDC mandates. Only in very rare circumstances are the sailings canceled outright. If you want to cancel a cruise right now in October because of low water, I will tell you, Sorry, we dont know if theres low water in October, said Schreiner. Viking Ocean Ships Currently Sailing: Viking Jupiter Viking Orion Viking Mars Viking Neptune Viking Saturn Viking Sea Viking Sky Viking Star Viking Venus return trip Munich to EWR . . The sailings. They may run multiple ships back-to-back where you would transfer to another ship where the river is having navigational issues. This is why most lines are not offering flexible cancellation policies or waiving penalties for canceling a river cruise because theyre worried their itinerary will get disrupted due to low water levels. In order to catch the next flight from ************ to ******* to get to the cruise on time we had to pay the tickets ourselves. Bookings with more than 30 persons Conference bookings made by Customers Service and Sales Department Bookings paid by invoice by companies Companies with annual agreements Bookings with more than 5 hotel rooms The specific conditions that apply to your booking can be found in your . To date we have sent a certified *** ****** ***** letter to VRC and had no response. Here is a message that appears on the Viking River Cruise webpage: The cruise line may elect to cancel your cruise. Due to my cancellations, Viking held onto $8,000 of my Funds for about two years. Desired outcome: We used these to book on cruise OJUXXXXXX Booking Number XXXXXXX. We would never do a river cruise again, Paid for a cruise in Nov 2021 for an Oct 2022 cruise, 2 days before departure I broke both wrists, contacted Viking about a credit for for a future cruise - a very rude man said Viking would do nothing- they had my money for almost a year and basically told me "to bad". Jan. 17, 2022. We are told now that change is not possible at all because vouchers have expired. #VikingVictims. But there is nothing we can do, your vouchers have expired'. Should you have any lingering questions ahead of your voyage, we welcome you to call our Service Specialists at [protected] where we would be happy to assist where possible. Part refund, at least 25%. The current welcome offer on this card is quite lucrative. They refuse to accept the fact that they changed the terms of the contract. Wouldnt that booking choice make it clear to Viking that pre and post excursion bookings would also require separate beds? Taking over the Hilton in Taupo NZ, they were obnoxious. Read full review of Viking River Cruises Please DO NOT add attachments that contain your or other peoples personal information, if you dont want it to be visible to the public. ST PAUL, Minn. There's been a lot of fanfare surrounding America's Great River cruise operated by Viking Cruises. This allowed Viking to retain the majority of our payment since We booked a cruise in 2019 to sail early in 2020. Look at the Mekong you dont cruise in May, June, July and August because its too hot. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only. Seldom travelers may not get enough value to warrant the cost. 12/21- 12/28/2022 It is obvious to the casual observer that VRC is not in financial distress as they have added ships to their fleet and the CEO is listed a a billionaire. The Rhine River is the main artery for German and Swiss transportation and also French, said Schreiner. My husband and I booked with Viking in December 2019 for the Rhine Getaway Cruise for December 2020. Published on May 21, 2021. This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. The confirmation email said cancellation for any reason loss of deposit. January 27, 2018. Also lost out on the cruise vouchers. Viking Ocean Cruises. Karin Price Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. Contact your Sales Agent or our Customer Service department online, via email, or by phone at 1-800-427-8473 and ask about potential opportunities for flexible cancellation policies, rebooking opportunities and other options. Withholding of monies and shore excursion booking system failure. . This guarantee is combinable with all other Viking offers available. SA. We will not be booking with Viking again. This happened 52 days before sailing. Disembark on May 1 2023 they required us to pay us in full in August 2022 which we did. Schreiner does not hold with that assertion because river cruise lines simply adjust their schedules year after year for optimal weather conditions. Just realized that the cruise booked was from Antwerp to Amsterdam. These hotels are Marriott and hilton properties that have such rooms. My bag is still missing and I will request (!) Passengers from across the country say they've. Published: Aug. 08, 2022, 9:30 a.m. Richard Andersen booked a fully-paid Viking cruise with his partner but it was canceled because of COVID. Share. This is known as ship swapping. Cailey Rizzo. Thank you. We use dedicated people and clever technology to safeguard our platform. Very disappointing. They will charge you a lot of money but would not care for you at the end of the day.The places I saw needed much to be desiredI was told that at the airport someone will help us until we boarded our plane. Our trip was canceled and a voucher was issued. The river cruise lines will tell you that low water levels are rare, and that few sailings are altered due to water levels but the truth is the risk is always present. I asked to speak to a manager and was told by the person I talked to I could not but she would speak with one. Princess Cruises | Travel Requirements & Safety Protocols. I was never informed that the vaccine would be required to sail and that our money would not be eligible for a refund. NEVER BUY A VIKING CRUISE VOUCHERWe will be sailing with a different cruise line and will not be back to Viking. Please view our privacy policy for details about the information we share with our partners. Weve taken note of your feedback and while we understand you have already been in contact with our team, if you'd like discuss this matter further we welcome you to email TellUs@vikingcruises.com with your booking information. I am writing about booking number 7045921 sailed Jan.12 2023. It is getting harder and harder to book excursions on Viking cruises, so I would advise anyone planning a cruise with them to think twice, if excursions are important to them. We will never try Viking again! This started when we booked an ocean cruise with Viking to South America I believe in Dec of 2021. A recent CNN article proclaimed that summer droughts like the current one, plus global warming, could signal a death knell for river cruises in the near future. Heres what you need to know. I even requested they review the phone call and they refused. It's a human right to have access to fresh water and clean sanitation. We were issued the vouchers that had an expiration date October 2022. I was aware that cruise lines' cash flow issues and accepted the voucher. "We are currently evaluating itineraries that call. The problem with river cruises is that they are affected by both high and low water levels. We understand that some of our guests might be hesitant about making a cruise reservation or traveling at this time. 2023 Trustpilot, Inc. All rights reserved. Viking, which operates both ocean and river cruises, has canceled all 2022 departures from its Kyiv, Black Sea and Bucharest itinerary . Get up to $300 back per calendar year on the Equinox+ digital fitness app, or eligible Equinox club memberships when you pay with your Platinum Card. We booked the *********** cruise with Viking prior to COVID *****************. However, the most important part of any cruise, for me is the excursion choice. Check with your cruise line on current cruising conditions and what you can expect from them. ComplaintsBoard.com is a leading complaint resolution website on the Internet. People who write reviews have ownership to edit or delete them at any time, and theyll be displayed as long as an account is active. When we got this schedule yesterday, we asked her ********** if she could rearrange things to take this cruise. We only wanted our money to be applied to another cruise in 2023. I also booked this trip years ago when there was . Royal Caribbean Group's Celebrity Cruises has canceled four sailings from March 26 through April 16 aboard the Celebrity Eclipse, which has yet to return to service, a spokesperson for the. The annual airline fee statement credit can be complicated to take advantage of compared to the broader travel credits offered by competing premium cards. The cruise line announced the return of select itineraries in Portugal, France and . How could we?? I was told Viking doesnt own the hotel and the hotel will not let me make a change since Viking handled the booking. At the time we did we also asked that trip insurance be added. We have spent $25,000.00 including air far which we are also going to lose if not used by 12/31/2023. Call a Viking Expert at 0800 319 66 60 or see your Travel Advisor. They are just taking the thousands of dollars we gave them from us and we are getting nothing in return. Review for Viking Osiris to Middle East Swirling Kilt 2-5 Cruises Age 60s Read More Sail Date: December 2022 Cabin Type: Suite with Veranda Helpful Christmas on the Mississippi Review for. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). They have a working relationship with Lufthansa but insist the flight has nothing to do with them, That is a strong cop out. Viking Ocean Ships Currently Sailing: Viking Jupiter Viking Orion Viking Mars Viking Neptune Viking Saturn Viking Sea Viking Sky Viking Star Viking Venus Vikings entire river fleet of over 75 ships is also actively sailing. We will not cancel any cruises, said Shreiner. Earn 5X Membership Rewards Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. If water levels fall, riverboats can have trouble sailing all the way to Budapest. Viking suggested that I should talk to my travel insurance company to reimburse the cost of additional airfare cost. Really, what is a big deal here? After 5 Viking Europe has many rivers where cruise lines operate. When you are covered by the Risk-Free Guarantee you may change your cruise reservation with notification to Viking. They refuse to let us rebook with the voucher and actually suggested if we want to rebook we would have to pay them all over again. We would appreciate any help you can provide in helping us to get the rest of our money back. I ask if I could have the number to her managers boss she said no. TPG values it at $1,600. All I got was 'you must pay in full for your trip before booking extras'. If you search Viking the risk free still pops up you have to read the fine print to realise its all over so be aware. - Refusal to honor its cancellation policy, Viking trip shortened due to weather, no refund. RHINE GETAWAY. For that reason, the Rhine River is feeling greater effects of river flow and sooner than compared with the Danube. On the last day, all running water was turned off until we left the ship. Expires March 31, 2023. Booking 6819824. By doing investigation on this subject and timeline of events revealed that we are not alone in this situation. It is February 1st today and I went online to book excursions for a trip almost 3 months from now. BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes. This site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. I had insurance and filed a claim. Viking River Cruises is probably the best known European river cruising company, and has a wide range of river cruise options in Europe. Think 3 times before booking with Viking!!! Viking Ocean and River is currently operating all upcoming scheduled itineraries. Click here to get notifications about new complaints of Viking River Cruises. We were routed to resolution manager who was extremely obnoxious, rude, disrespectful, wasn't listening to the issue, saying 'yes, ok, sales rep make a mistake, mistakes do happen. The drought category in England has reached the most severe designation of severe drought. The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customers satisfaction. Related: Booking your first river cruise? However, as everyone knows, predicting the weather is not an exact science. As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business. US. This meant I was unable to book any excursions or drinks package, despite trying as soon as they were released. I won't be booking any future cruise with them. Plus, your own feed of TPG content. On the next British Airways flight from London to Philadelphia, The black helicopter with yellow stripe, leyf nursery term dates,
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