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Viking River Cruises Complaints 618

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12:16 pm EDT
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Viking River Cruises Vouchers applied to room did not exist

My wife and I have just returned from the Rhine getaway. (5-12 April, Basal to Amsterdam on the Viking Hermod - rooms 110, 111, 112, 113). I booked as a party of eight for April 2021. Understandably this was cancelled. We rebooked for this April and we were informed we would have an extra 25% loyalty voucher applied to our rooms. This turned out not to be the case and no voucher was applied to any of the 4 staterooms we booked.

I spoke with the Hotel manager on the ship who advised me to contact you as there appeared to be a miscommunication.

I am disappointed to be misled as I travel each year with Viking and hoped to use the refund to purchase vouchers for future cruises. Please can you explain why this extra refund did not exist after being informed it would and what you plan to do to reimburse me. I already have a booking for next year, and hope to be a returning customer the following year too.

I have copied and pasted below, detail from your email to me on Dec 8, 2020

"A Future Cruise Voucher for 125%

We want to support you and protect your travel investment. Therefore, we are offering a 125% Future Cruise Voucher which you can use on any future Viking voyage.

This voucher includes 100% of the monies paid to Viking, plus an additional 25% value. The added value provides an opportunity to enhance your trip - by choosing a longer itinerary; adding a pre/post cruise extension; upgrading your stateroom category; or even upgrading to business class air. Additionally, any vouchers you may have applied to this booking have automatically been reinstated, are valid for 24 months and available for your immediate use.

To ensure you have the time and flexibility to plan for your next trip, the 125% Future Cruise Voucher has exclusive and enhanced terms. It is fully transferable, allowing you to gift it to someone with whom you would like to share the joys of travel. It can be applied within the next 24 months to any river, ocean or expedition cruise. If you are unable to use your voucher by the expiration date, simply return your expired voucher to Viking, and we will send you a refund equal to the original amount paid to Viking."

Desired outcome: I am hoping for the extra money we were promised to be applied to our next booking rather than forgetting about our loyalty to your company.

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5:44 pm EDT
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Viking River Cruises False and misleading information and failure to call-back as promised

Iconic Western Mediterranean cruise, booking #6358496. Notified by Viking specialty restaurant reservations available on April 5. Not so, I tried repeatedly. Called customer service Saturday, 4/9. Spoke with "Terrance" who promised to call back on Monday, April 11. He did not. I waited all day for his call. Tried again today and was told he was "unavailable." Not following up on a commitment made to the customer is a serious issue. Spoke with another supervisor, and was told I could make reservations once I was on the ship. Knew this already. We have bought pre-cruise stay; post-cruise stay; Silver Spirits beverage package; several excursions; and pre-paid gratuities. I was very surprised by all this. We have sailed with Celebrity, Holland-America, and Cunard, and never encountered such a problem. We had planned to do a European river cruise next year, but this experience has told us to look at other vendors. If you couldn't seat us, you shouldn't have told us we could reserve tables. Rule #1: you NEVER make a commitment to a customer you can't keep. I learned that my first week on the job many years ago, and it has never changed. You have done that twice now in one week. I feel like a second-class citizen with Viking. You now have an extremely irritated customer.

Desired outcome: Reservations at the Chef's Table and at the other specialty restaurant, Manfred's.

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10:09 am EDT
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Viking River Cruises Reservations/Future Credits

I am a AAA Travel Agent.

I had clients on a trip for 2023 that was recently cancelled on 3/24/22. The email they received stated they would get an additional 10% if they decided to do future credits in place of a refund.

My clients looked at another trip to replace the cancelled trip. On 3/28/22 - I called to book the Capitals of Eastern Europe and spoke with an agent regarding the cancelled cruise, he asked me if the client wanted the future credits or refund, I said they are ready to rebook and want to take the future credits. He told me that he would note that they were taking the Future Credits, we went over the figures of the Future Credits Amount, he told me that the previous FCC's would be available immediately but the additional 10% would have to be issued but that he could transfer me to a reservation as he wasn't in that department. He transferred me to a Mikhail Ekchenguer who I went over what I was told, Mikhail booked the new cruise and when I mentioned the credits, he said they werent available yet but that they should be available in a few days and he would get them applied and email me a confirmation as soon as they were applied.

I happened to be checking on a different client under the agent site on 4/1/22 -and noticed that my clients booking for the Capitals of Eastern Europe was missing. I immediately sent Mikhail a message that I was upset and I called Viking.

I spoke with agent Aurea Stichter who was able to rebook it for me, she went to apply future credits and they were issued for wrong amount. She was in process of checking when we were disconnected so I called back and got a Jeff who I went thru story again, he held the booking until Monday 4/4/22 so I could call back as it was a Friday after hours and I needed to leave work.

I called back on Monday 4/4/22 and spoke with a Carol Craig who said the credits were still not corrected but the clients would NOT be getting the additional 10% that I was advised of because they only get the additional 10% if they paid additional money on the booking over the other future credits and to check back in a few days but she made sure to protect the pricing and made sure they booking would not cancel again. Clients are extremely upset that they are not getting any additional money. This is the 3rd time their cruise was cancelled, Viking has had their money for 3 yrs now. My clients have 2 additional cruises booked and are thinking of cancelling them all because of how this reservation is being handled.

I called again today 4/12 - and future credits are still not correct, was advised again today that I need to call back.

I do a lot of business with Viking and its extremely frustrating that you get agents that tell you one thing, and then you find out it is completely different that what was advised and Viking wont honor what was told.

If I make a mistake I am held to it, but if this company does they take no accountability what so ever for it. Even when there are notes listed on the bookings.

Desired outcome: Would like the additional 10% that was told they would be receiving since they were taking Future Credits and not a refund.

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7:09 pm EDT
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Viking River Cruises Pricing and vouchers quoted but not honored

I am a travel agent with AAA and have done a large amount of business with Viking over my 10+ years. I dont know what is going on over there but agents are giving out incorrect information and then not honoring what is being told.

On March 24 2022, my clients (Ronald Reed) and I got an email stating that their cruise to Kiev had been cancelled for a 3rd time. We started booking this trip for 2020, 2021 and 2023. They were not traveling till 2023 this last time. We did figure it would be cancelled due to the Russian war going on but were hopeful that they may be able to travel.

After 3 times of being cancelled due to covid/war, they decided to book a completely different trip for 2023 to the Capitals of Eastern Europe and use the funds from the Kiev booking to be applied to the new booking to the Capitals of Eastern Europe.

I spoke with a "Ricky" who was not in the reservation department (not sure what department he was in honestly) who I advised that the Reed's had decided to rebook for the Eastern Europe trip, he confirmed that they wanted the vouchers with the additional 10% and even went over how much the vouchers would be since my clients were taking the vouchers vs the refund.

Ricky told me that the current future credits would be available immediately to apply to the new booking and the 10% overage that they were to receive was going to be issued within a day or two and could be added on at that time.

He told me that he would have to transfer me to a reservation agent that would get the new booking set up and could get the vouchers applied.

He then transferred me to a Mikhail Ekchenguer who set up the new booking, once the booking was set up, Mikhail told me that the vouchers werent ready and he would get them applied as soon as they were available and send me a confirmation. Not once did he ever tell me I needed to check back in with him to see if they had to be applied by a certain date or that it would cancel.

I never heard from Mikhail and just happened to be logged in under the agent site and noticed the booking was no longer showing.

I immediately called Viking and was advised that it had cancelled due to lack of payment, the vouchers had been issued but they were the wrong amount. They were supposed to be $6951.31 pp plus an additional $695.13 pp for the 10% overage. The vouchers were only issued for $6751 pp. I had been working with a lady named Aurea Stichter.

The pricing of course had gone up also, when I held the booking back on March 28th the pricing for the cruise was $8099 pp with his past guest/early booking discounts. When they had to rebook my clients the pricing was about $400 more.

I went thru everything with Aurea and she was working on getting it set up again. While on hold we got disconnected so I had to call back and spoke with another agent Jeff, who was at least able to get it on hold and I told him would call back on Monday to get it straightened out.

I called today 4/4/22 and spoke with another agent Carol, she informed me that I was given the wrong amounts on the vouchers and at first she said they would not price protect, after telling her that was unacceptable, she got a supervisor who did approve the pricing protection.

However they would not honor the 10% overage on the voucher that both the client and myself were told (my clients were at my desk and heard the conversation with Ricky).

I find it extremely frustrating that I can be told something and then it will not be honored. The agent I spoke with even said there were notes on the booking and she is the one who gave me the name Ricky.

If I make a mistake quoting someone, I have to honor that, how is it that companies now wont honor it even when there are notes and they are able to pull phone calls.

Viking needs to do better.

Client expects for Viking to do what is right and honor the 10% that they were told they were getting. For 3 yrs Viking has had alot of my clients money being held and in addition to this cruise he has two more bookings with them. He is reconsidering keeping those bookings and taking his business elsewhere if this is how they are willing to treat their loyal cruisers.

Desired outcome: Would like the additional 10% that we were told he would be getting which was $695.13 per person

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11:25 pm EDT

Viking River Cruises Physical Catalogs via USPS

I never subscribed to your catalog. Nowhere on your website do you list a way to be removed from your physical mailings. Unwanted paper mail is terrible for the environment, you should stop sending these out unsolicited and make it easier for people that do get them by mistake to opt out.

I will never take a cruise with your company because of this deceitful and wasteful marketing policy.

Desired outcome: List a way to be removed from paper mailings on your website, other companies provide such a service.

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4:48 am EDT
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Viking River Cruises Viking Air: Buyer Beware

Our 2 groups, including an elderly handicapped woman, her able-bodied son, myself, and a nurse, booked a Mediterranean Sojourn cruise with Viking.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to move our cruise date. When this change was made, we were forced to pay an extra $4k, only to be told we no longer had the tier of suites we originally paid for, and had instead been moved across the boat into suites with no view. Sleezy to charge more for less.

Later we find out that Viking Air failed to book the 2 parties on the same flight, as originally agreed upon, leaving the disabled woman in our party separate from her son and the nurse in our party. Especially egregious on such a long and taxing international flight. After asking to switch flights, and after a 30 minute phone call, Viking told the woman in our party there was nothing we could do, unless we shell out an additional $350 per ticket. Why pay them to fix their own mistake.

So I called them. After a nearly hour long, heated, extremely condescending phone call with a Viking Air Supervisor (during which she blamed their customer service department, claimed Viking had done nothing wrong, and hung up on me) they finally relented and “absorbed the cost to change flights,” only to tell me that I owed them $234 to cover the fare difference. Which they then covertly charged me twice (probably hoping I wouldn’t notice.)

Unprofessional, condescending customer service, sleezy business practices, and preying upon customers with disabilities is not a business I want anything to do with. And you bet we will be warning others against such an oily, predatory company.

It is a shame that this will be our first and last Viking cruise. On a trip costing us more than $44,000 they have lost any future business with us over this $234 (or rather, attempted $468). This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Another swindled customer put it perfectly: they are stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.

Let the buyer beware.

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2:47 pm EDT
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Viking River Cruises April 2022 canadian discovery cruise

My husband and I booked a cruise on the Viking Octantis called Canadian Discovery. We booked the cruise in November 2020 because of the many varied and interesting included excursions. We have been waiting anxiously to book these excursions but were told there was a delay in scheduling the excursions. We were told we would receive an email when excursions were available for booking. On March 24 I logged into our account and not only were there excursions available for booking but almost all of them were at additional cost. Most of the excursions we were excited about are no longer “included” but considered optional now. This is very disappointing and a case of false advertising. After several chats with customer service we were told Viking only guarantees one included excursion per port. However the Viking website was misleading and false. I have been an avid Viking cruiser for several years and am extremely disappointed in this type of scam.

Desired outcome: Cruise voucher for a different cruise or partial refund for excursion changes

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8:39 pm EDT
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Viking River Cruises Expedition Cruise - Canadian Discovery April 2022

We booked this expedition cruise a long time ago based on information provided by Viking at the time. I quote " Viking offers a variety of excursions, virtually all included in your cruise fare, from RIB sailings and zodiac landings to tranquil kayak outings and underwater submarine dives. Hike through magnificent landscapes and access remote areas, all led by an experienced team of experts skilled in operating in rugged and polar environments. Or try a unique experience with one of our exclusive, limited-capacity optional excursions."

I have pictures of all the pages pf the shore excursions that were included when we booked the cruise and up to today. I notice that today your website has been changed. All of the tours were "included" in our fare and we expect what we contracted for. Now they want money for most of the tours. This is false advertising.

I have photos of the original tours on your website on another device if you want them.

Desired outcome: We want tours to be included in our cruise fare as you sold it to us. I can be contacted at [protected]@shaw.ca

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Cece79
Hickory, GB
Mar 29, 2022 2:21 pm EDT
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My husband and I have the same issues with Viking’s Canadian Discovery criuise in April 2022. We booked the cruise because of the numerous included excursions. Those excursions disappeared a few days ago and were replaced with excursions with price tags. After frustrating customer service chats we were told Viking actually only guarantees one included excursion per port. It is disappointing to be part of this scam.

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Paterd
US
Mar 29, 2022 2:51 pm EDT
Replying to comment of Cece79

We pay more for an expedition cruise and shore excursions are expected to be included. Now they seem to be doing zodiac tours for only 45 minutes per day. Ridiculous! We will definitely be bringing this up on the ship. Totally false advertising.

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7:19 pm EDT
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Viking River Cruises Risk Free Guarantee isn't Risk Free!

My wife and I booked a Viking river cruise for June 2022. In January of this year we decided to postpone it to 2023 due to Covid. We contacted Viking and told them we wanted to use our Risk Free Guarantee, so they gave us vouchers, which we then used to book the June 2023 cruise. I subsequently discovered that this means we don't have any trip cancellation insurance because the new cruise was paid for with vouchers. This was never explained to us when we cancelled the 2022 cruise or when we booked the 2023 cruise or when they sold us trip insurance.

My concern is that if we have to cancel the 2023 cruise for any covered reason we will get $0 back and we paid $11,517 for the cruise. I've spoken with 2 customer service reps and 2 supervisors and none of them seem to care, and their only answer is "this is how vouchers work", like we're supposed to know that. When I questioned why I was sold trip insurance they say that "trip insurance covers other things besides cancellation", which is true but cancellation is a big part of what the trip insurance documents state they cover. They also say they cover 100% of the cost of the trip, with no mention of how it was paid for.

We also discovered that we could have just changed our cruise dates instead of using the Risk Free Guarantee, which would have avoided this whole problem. We had no idea we had that option since it doesn't seem to be documented anywhere. If we had known that we would have definitely done that.

Viking clearly is being very deceptive with these vouchers.

Please help!

Desired outcome: I would like Trip Insurance that covers my original payment of $11,517.

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8:37 pm EDT
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Viking River Cruises Customer Service Representative

On March 21, 2022, I called to inquire about an excursion on my extension. I have booked an extension three days prior to arriving on the river boat in Paris. The representative, was rude and insisted with a smirk that there are no excursions with extensions. I informed her that I’ve been traveling with Viking for five years and there have always been excursions offered with the extensions, to check. I was trying to inquire about an excursion I saw on the website, but was no longer posted. I wanted to know if it was offered, no longer available and/or sold out. This representative told me not to be rude. I informed her she was being rude and not helpful. I asked if there was to be a customer survey after our call or could I have her name, she laughed and hung up!

Viking has always had the most helpful and professional representatives, this was a shock! I have never encountered anyone as rude, unhelpful, almost willing to try to be arrogant and obnoxious with the smirking and laughing. I never got my question answered. Where is Viking getting these rude people! I pay way too much to be treated with so much disrespect.

* On a positive note, I did call back and spoke to a really nice and extremely helpful representative, who was able to answer my question and offered his email, should I have any other questions in the future. This is exactly how Viking is and should be! The rude representative should be dismissed because Viking should not want them representing their outstanding company. I am booked on my third river cruise with them and had the pleasure of my first Viking Ocean Cruise last year.

To reiterate, I have never dealt with a rude representative for Viking. Shame on Viking for having someone like her answer calls, when she had no knowledge about Vikings excursions for pre extensions and how to be polite and resourceful.

Desired outcome: An apology, to know Viking stands by their reputation of being helpful and customer service oriented.

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2:40 pm EDT
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Viking River Cruises Viking Future Cruise Voucher

On January 23, 2021 my wife and I paid Viking Cruises $21,072.86 for a Mekong River cruise, with a cruise date of February, 2022 with Vikings Risk-Free Guarantee. Due to Covid concerns in SE Asia we cancelled the cruise in October 2021 and we each received a voucher for $10,536.43. In November, 2021 we booked a Viking cruise through the Panama Canal using the vouchers. The problem is that the cost of the Panama Canal cruise was around $5,000 each and Vikings policy is the unused portion of their vouchers is lost. So my wife and I each paid for a $5,000 cruise with a $10,000 future cruise voucher and Viking is keeping the remaining "unused" $5,000. The Viking representative that I talked with in November to apply our vouchers to the Panama cruise did not inform me about losing the unused balance of the vouchers.

I called Viking customer relations on February 25, 2022 to inquire about the unused balance of our vouchers and spoke with an agent who stated "Vikings mistake and the the $10,536.43 vouchers should have been spilt in half and my wife and I each should have been issued two vouchers of about $5,500 ." The customer relations agent stated Viking needed time to review my request and he would contact in a few days. On Monday, February 28, the agent called and said Viking was willing to issue vouchers of one half of the amount of "overage". Viking trying to keep more than $5,000 of our money. The agent also said that I could have asked for the $10,536.43 vouchers to be split in half. How was I supposed to know that?

Viking Cruises used their advertised Risk-Free Guarantee to entice us to pay a very large amount of money in advance. In the information for the Risk-Free Guarantee there was no mention that vouchers could only be used for one trip.

Also, the Booking Terms and Conditions and the Passenger Ticket Contract did not have any statement on travel vouchers.

My wife and I feel we should be issued vouchers for the full unused balance. We paid for the Mekong River cruise cruise in advance in good faith and believed Vikings Risk-Free Guarantee.

All we are asking is for Viking to let us use the money we gave them for a future cruise. We paid Viking in advance when they were having to cancel cruises and needed the cash flow, now we are asking that Viking return the favor and let us use the money we gave them. We are senior citizens and feel Viking Cruises is trying to take advantage of us. It is very shortsighted for Viking to steal our money when they could make a lot more from us in profit if we were happy loyal customers.

Desired outcome: Our desired outcome is for Viking Cruises, in the principle of fairness and customer service, to issue us Future Cruise Vouchers for the full unused amount.

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Ken Katz
Lancaster, US
Mar 23, 2022 7:00 pm EDT
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We have a similar issue related to the Risk Free Guarantee. We had a cruise booked for June 2022, but decided to postpone it to June 2023. We used the Risk Free Guarantee to cancel the June 2022 booking and then rebooked for June 2023 using our vouchers. The new cruise was only $800 less than the old one so they gave us $800 in cruise credits that we can use to book shore excursions. Our issue/concern is that the new cruise is not eligible for Trip Cancellation insurance because it was paid for with vouchers. This concerns me because if we now need to cancel due to a medical emergency, or any other covered reason, we would get nothing back (not even reinstated vouchers). Therefore we risk losing our $11,000 payment for our cruise if we need to cancel. None of this was explained to us when we use the risk free guarantee or when we rebooked. They even sold us the trip insurance without explaining this. I've spoken to 2 supervisors so far, with no satisfaction. I'm trying to find an corporate contact email so I can send a complaint to Viking. Good luck with your situation.

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Scott Grace
LONE TREE, US
Mar 25, 2022 4:04 pm EDT
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Replying to comment of Ken Katz

Elliott Advocacy has contact emails of executives

https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/

Also you can contact the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles

If your cruise embarked from the US, you can contact The Federal Maritime Commission https://www.fmc.gov/resources-services/cruise-passenger-assistance/

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Elvira Alger
US
Dec 26, 2022 9:06 am EST
Replying to comment of Ken Katz

We are in a similar situation, We even hired an attorney to get our money back (over $11,000)

Viking is breaching contracts and breaking laws. I have read so many customers being scammed of their hard earn money

I wonder if all can we fill a group lawsuit

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5:05 pm EST
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Viking River Cruises Viking says take the vaccine or lose your money booking 6331302

In June of 2020 we, along with friends(two couples) booked and paid for the Grand European River Cruise to sail in June of 2021. In April of 2021 we were notified by Viking that our cruise was cancelled due to Covid. We were offered vouchers for 125% of the value to rebook for 2022 which we did.

In late 2021 we learned of your Covid restrictions requiring vaccines, testing and masks. I was vaccinated and had an adverse reaction and chose not to take a booster. My husband refuses to be vaccinated. We contacted Igor Solodukha at Viking and requested a refund. Igor told us we had “Redeemed” our voucher when we rebooked and we would NEVER be eligible for a cash refund. And all 2022 sailings would require vaccines, boosters, testing, and masks. We spoke with our friends and decided to rebook for 2023, hoping the restrictions would be lifted. On February 24, 2022, I contacted Viking and Keanu Meacham rescheduled our cruise for 2023. Our friends also contacted Viking and one couple was able to reschedule and the other couple was told our vouchers expired in December of 2022, at which time we would all receive refunds. They could not reschedule. We all decided to request refunds then Igor reversed himself saying we could not get refunds and we had to sail in 2022 or lose all our funds. Our friends, fearful of losing $14000, decided to go in 2022. We received nothing from Viking about the 2023 cruise, which we don’t want to go on because our friends are going in 2022 and we cannot go in 2022 UNLESS we get vaccines and boosters which we refuse. We also have other friends who booked the same time we did for the same cruise, different sail date. They too accepted the 125% voucher and rescheduled. Dave and Lou Whitemarsh also had issues with the vaccine and they, with the help of their travel agent were able to secure 50% of their cash returned and the difference issued in new Unexpired vouchers. When we accepted the voucher it was NEVER disclosed that we could never get a refund or that we would be forced to get vaccines that we believe are dangerous. Had we been armed with that knowledge in 2021, we would never have accepted the voucher. I I wrote Viking an email on March 3, 2022, sharing all this information and have still not heard from them.

Desired outcome: Refund

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MDGriffith
St. Johns, US
Apr 24, 2023 12:13 pm EDT

There are so many of us in the same situation. My advice to anybody considering Viking Cruises would be to walk away. I would never recommend them. There are many cruise company’s out there who appreciate their customer base and want to build loyalty. Instead, Viking’s customer service is atrocious and all they seemingly care about is keeping your cash regardless of circumstances.

Debra Griffith

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Viking River Cruises Unsatisfactory viking ocean cruise refund

In 2019 my husband and I booked the Viking Homelands Cruise and it was cancelled by Viking in 2020 due to the Pandemic. No complaints. We received a cash refund. We immediately booked a 2020 cruise but we cancelled in plenty of time and also received a full refund. In 2021, I booked a Viking Homelands cruise from 7/24/22 to 8/13/22, including the Iceland pre-cruise excursion, for six (6) people leaving in July, 2022 and I paid for it from my personal funds as a gift to my siblings. One of my siblings could not go on the cruise after a month passed, and so Viking arranged for a refund to me but charged unexpected penalties even though I had booked all three bookings under the no-risk policy. I understood that when one person in a cabin must cancel then the other person must pay as a single-person traveler which is expensive but accepted by me. In any event and fast forward to 2022, and the Russian outbreak occurred plus one other sibling has undergone various surgeries and was required to cancel. on March 9, 2022, I cancelled all three bookings because I had paid for the cruises which total amounted to $99,000. This cancellation was done more than the required 120 days and so, as in the past, I expected a full cash, less the $100 cancellation fee per person, refund as we truly intended to try to rebook again next year (2023). To my great surprise and dissatisfaction, various penalties were charged to the total amount of almost $9,000. I am so shocked as once again I was not told about this when I booked these bookings under the no risk policy and after repeated phone calls and emails to Viking, I have been ignored. I understand the $100 charge per person/cabin and I also understand a no refund to the travel insurance which is very expensive to begin with but the other penalties on my siblings bookings (not my booking) for excursion penalties are so unfair on the part of Viking. I am asking for Viking to respond to me and give me a refund which is fair and reasonable under the circumstances. I do not appreciate being ignored. Barbara Sloan. Booking numbers 6376177; 6399917 and 6399938. [protected]@aol.com

Desired outcome: Further refund of unfair penalties.

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Viking River Cruises Viking river cruise voucher

A group of 4 couples booked the Danube Waltz cruise in March, 2019 for a late May 2020 departure. Due to COVID, it was cancelled by Viking. Did we want to reschedule? Sure, we did, and we picked the same cruise for the same week in 2021. Viking again cancelled the cruise due to COVID, which was understandable. We were contacted shortly thereafter about rebooking a third time. Some of us were uncertain at that point; we are all almost 70 years old, and several of us have developed health concerns in the past few years. We were told that if we wanted our money back, we could do that, or, behind the other door, we could receive a voucher for 125% of what we had originally paid, and we had 24 months to rebook. We understood that if we wanted a refund, it was not the 125% We were told this was a "risk-free guarantee" and that we could cancel this trip up to 24 hours in advance of the cruise departure. We are 8 intelligent people with some travelling experience. In fact, this sounded perfect for our group, due to age, health and world situations, right? So, we rescheduled for May 2022. Fast forward to Feb. 2022, and the Russians have just invaded Ukraine. We do not feel comfortable being that close to what is now a war zone, and the frequent COVID testing, although perhaps understandable is, off-putting. I understand that COVID has wreaked havoc on Viking's business, but clearly many of us have been victims of the classic bait and switch tactic. The wording and meaning of "voucher" has been tossed around by Viking representatives to now imply that those of us who agreed to let Viking "keep" our thousands of dollars for 3 years were informed up front that by doing such, we'd lose the opportunity to ever be refunded. In fact, that is not what we were told. That is why it was a risk-free guarantee.

Viking cruisers are primarily an older population, and I believe the company is counting on them to remain afloat. That is simply bad business.

Booking numbers #[protected]), #[protected]) and #[protected]).

Desired outcome: Refund of funds we paid early in 2019 due to the understanding that was explained in 2020 and 2021.

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Lindalee13
Bel Air, US
Mar 08, 2022 11:08 am EST
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I am in the same situation. I originally booked my cruise to Eastern Europe in May 2019 for travel in March 2020. Along comes Covid, the cruise is cancelled. Did we want to rebook? Yes, of course, we ( a party of 10 people) scheduled the same cruise for the same time. Cancelled again by Viking, we rebooked again. Along come the Russians AND I break my ankle. Will we get refunds minus the travel insurance the Viking representative urged us to take? No, because my money is no longer money, it is a travel voucher and that isn't reimbursable under insurance. Not explained by anyone in the MANY calls we had with Viking (because of the numerous booking errors Viking made). Either we travel in countries flooded with refugees running for their lives on a broken foot, or we throw away the $10,000+ we paid for this trip in 2019 and then more this year as the price of the trip has risen since originally booked, or I get another useless "travel voucher" for a trip sometime in the future.

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Viking River Cruises Scheduled air flight change cost $350 each to change our final destination because of health issue

I have been a repeat, loyal Viking customer over several years. On this upcoming trip to Greece in April, I was flying from orlando fl to greece, but returning to VT. Because I am under drs care for surgery on my leg and need to return to FL after trip to see the Dr again before I go to VT for summer, I requested a change to my last connection from VT to FL. Because of some contractual problem, Viking would charge us $350 each extra for this change. The actual price for this American Airlines is $156 each! Very disappointed in Viking. It will be cheaper for me to make our own change! I think Viking should be more flexible and customer friendly. So disappointed in them. Hope something better is done for us.

Desired outcome: change our last connecting flight to Orlando FL without a charge.

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Viking River Cruises viking refund

several of my friends all booked a cruise for Paris and several other places and then covid hit the world, Viking cancelled this cruise in 2020 we were issued travel vouchers because we were looking to go on this trip, next trip was scheduled for August [protected] , my husband suddenly passed away with a massive heart attack on August 5th 2021 I advised Viking of this and also that i was not able to travel, again, Viking told me that they would issue travel vouchers , I tried again to tell them my husband was deceased and i would not be able to travel, they told me to contact TripMate , which i did they said that they were not going to issue a refund because i took the travel vouchers, Viking has been very underhanded about the whole situation, I can't afford to just hand them over $11,000.00 , bottom line, Viking does not explain their underhanded business practices when they want all their money upfront, it is not only a heartbreaking situation that i lost my husband but now i have to deal with this please help me get this resolved,

Desired outcome: please refund

Read full review of Viking River Cruises and 1 comment
Update by Treasha Ellington
Nov 01, 2023 9:12 am EDT

i have been informed by Viking that my vouchers have expired and there is nothing else for me to do Viking is stealing peoples money plain and simple i do not accept this decision

Update by Treasha Ellington
May 28, 2023 10:37 pm EDT

if anyone knows of an attorney that will take on Viking cruise please let me know i would rather give the attorney the money than let Viking keep my money this has been going on for almost 2 years and they still have my money

Update by Treasha Ellington
May 28, 2023 10:30 pm EDT

i am still not satisifed with the treatment from Viking and i am sorry for your loss there has got to be something that we can do to get our money,

Update by Treasha Ellington
Sep 19, 2022 7:28 am EDT

i just want my money back

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83Warrior
Camp Hill, US
Apr 08, 2023 10:34 am EDT

You are so right. We had a trip scheduled for Oct 2023 and my husband passed away Nov 12, 2022 and there is no compassion. I didn't know when I took the vouchers that my husband would die.

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Viking River Cruises River cruise refund

In January of this year I booked a river cruise for September 2023 with Viking. Earlier this week, a personal matter arose and I had to cancel. I sent my rep at Viking an email explaining the situation and asking for a refund under their published terms , full price less $100 per passenger , as stated in the terms. She replied that I would be receiving approximately $300 instead of the approximately $1,800 I expected.

My Viking rep explained that the trip protection insurance, $1,600, was paid for in full from the deposit and the refund , less a $300 cancellation fee, would be sent within 30 days. When I saw this, I emailed my Viking rep in an attempt to reschedule but she said the cruise had already been cancelled when she saw my email and management would not consider reinstating it.

No where in the 19 pages of ticketing documentation is it clearly spelled out that the insurance is treated as a separate item. The cancellation fee schedule makes no mention of charges or costs that are not eligible for refund upon request. The only invoice I received from Viking had all of the charges detailed , including insurance, which I feel should be refunded as well. My reasoning is that it is not clearly excluded from being refunded and is listed on the invoice as part of the total cost to the customer. As of today, we're 20 months from the planned cruise date so this isn't a matter of a last minute change.

Be extremely careful in dealing with these folks . They will wave the agreement in your face and are not flexible at all nor do they understand customer service. Just an oily bunch, they don't understand customer relationships, just transactions. They are stepping over dollars to pick up nickels.

Desired outcome: Refund of the full deposit paid, less the posted cancellation fee of $100 per passenger.

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DTurk
US
Aug 13, 2022 2:43 pm EDT

That’s why I would not buy the travel insurance directly from Viking. We get our travel insurance through USAA, which uses the same company, except the coverage is often better but costs less. And it’s fully refundable if the trip is canceled.

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Viking River Cruises Viking Ocean Cruise changed COVID vaccination policy; Booking #6594614

My husband and I are scheduled for a Mediterranean cruise departing Athens April 30, 2022. We were informed via email on Jan 25, 2022 that we must now have the booster vaccination in order to sail. At the time we booked and paid for the cruise, there was no booster requirement. If there had been, we would not have booked the cruise. We booked the cruise while we were on a thoroughly enjoyable Panama Canal cruise in Nov 2021. We took 2 Viking cruises in 2021 and were anticipating our third.

We were informed of the COVID vaccination change less than 120 days prior to departure so could not give written notice of cancellation to accrue the least stringent cancellation fee. Both my husband and I have called Viking reservations and have both been told that our options are 1) to cancel now with a 50% cancellation fee and file a reimbursement claim with travel insurance or 2) get a voucher which will be good for 24 months.

Viking changed the requirements after we had paid our money in good faith and will not consider our suggested solutions 1) grandfathering us for the cruise since we booked pre-booster requirement, 2) accepting natural immunity since we have both had COVID or 3) giving us a full refund.

Desired outcome: 1) grandfather us for the cruise since we booked pre-booster requirement 2) accept natural immunity since we have both had COVID 3) give us a full refund

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Elvira Alger
US
Dec 26, 2022 9:11 am EST

My husband and I are in the same situation. We booked a cruise before the covid requirement and Viking refuses to refund us (over $11,000)

We hired an attorney and he told us that there is nothing signed about the vaccines

The customer service agent is extremely rude and refuses to allow our attorney to talk to the legal department

The only two options that we have is sail before August 2023 or transfer the vouchers!

We are so disappointed that Viking a world class company can make this to loyal customers

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Viking River Cruises Viking cruise lines

We booked a cruise in 2019, paid in full by June 2019, for a 2020 river cruise. The cruise was cancelled due to Covid. I called to see what the status was and was told that I missed the cut off date, a email was sent to me about the cancellation. I NEVER RECEIVED AN EMAIL! We were told that we could rebook and would receive 25 percent more in "Vouchers". We were not told that our original money was rolled into "Vouchers" and would become worthless. And we were not told that the Tripmate insurance we purchased did not work with "Vouchers". We rebooked for this July 2022. I had a bad knee injury in June 2021 and was told I needed both knees replaced. So after a lot of consideration my husband and I decided to cancel and get our money back. So to my shock I was told the "Vouchers" had no cash value and the insurance would not work. My only choice was to cancel and they would renew the vouchers for 24 months. I have been emailing back and forth for a month now! I can not understand why our initial cash investment was not just rolled over along with the insurance since we had no decision in the cancellation of the first trip. Viking is very deceitful and misleading. After reading a lot of the same issues I am surprised that there is not a class action law suit about this. Viking seems to have plenty of money for commercials but unwilling to take care of the customers. I wonder how long they will stay in business when treating people like this!

Desired outcome: I would like to have my original monies back. $21,792.00 and the $1838.00 we paid for insurance.

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Susan Toolis
US
Mar 02, 2022 5:47 pm EST
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The exact thing has happened to my husband and I. The so called risk-free guarantee apparently stipulates that once we rolled the trip into another, we had "redeemed" it and it was no longer available for a cash refund. We were told at the time of our 3rd booking (cancelled in 2020 and 2021 by Viking) that we would receive 125% of our original deposit (in 2019-they've had our money for 3 years) to spend on ship related expenses if we rebooked within a couple days and that we could always receive our money back if we cancelled within 3 days of the actual cruise. That is, a risk free guarantee, so we opted for that and rebooked for 2022. Due to the COVID test restrictions and Russians at war, we would like to cancel entirely. Imagine my surprise when I was told we could only get new vouchers. I am feeling beyond duped by Viking; it's the classic bait and switch. We were 3 years younger and healthier in 2019 and not willing to push this out further into the future.

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Viking River Cruises viking refund

we had a cruise booked for 2020 and Viking cancelled the cruise because of covid, they issued travel vouchers, i also purchased the travel plan protection , we booked another cruise for August 14 thru the 24 and even paid for extra days in Paris, my husband passed away on August 5th 2021 and i sent Viking documentation to that effect, they sent me a e-mail that my vouchers had no monetary value, i then contacted the tripmate plan , got a e-mail from them 02-18-2022 after several months and calls , they informed me that they were closing the case and there was NO refund due, if death is not a reason for refund please let me know what is and also the plan plainly states that a refune will be paid in the event of death, this is already an emotional issue and Viking and Tripmate are making it worse, Tripmate is the protection plan company .

Read full review of Viking River Cruises and 2 comments
Update by Treasha Ellington
Sep 19, 2022 7:30 am EDT

very dishonest company and after several letters i have heard nothing from Viking

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Furious!58
Loganville, US
Feb 23, 2022 4:18 pm EST
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I am so sorry about the loss of your husband. We did the same thing in 2020. Had a trip booked and they cancelled it because of Covid. They said they sent out an email letting us know that you could get your money back or rebook. I never got the email! So, by the time I called to see what was happening, I was told sorry you missed the deadline. So, no big deal at that time we booked another trip for this year. And we had purchased the Tripmate travel protection. We were never told our money was rolled into "Vouchers", we were told that they would add 25 percent onto the trip with "Vouchers". Now, with me needing knee replacements, I can't physically walk without pain, so we tried to use the insurance to get our money back and we were told the insurance does not over "Vouchers". Why didn't we get that insurance money back if it was useless? Seems like Viking has done everything in their power to keep our money. I tried calling Tripmate twice and was hung up on both times. Just got off the phone with Viking and again we were told that if we cancelled this trip then they would roll over the vouchers for another 24 months. They will not refund our money. I have written letters to the home office of Viking. This treatment is horrible. After, all this back and forth with them I have a very bad taste for them and really don't want to travel with them even after my knee are taken care of . They sure have enough money for commercials. I thought about hiring a lawyer but how much would that cost and would it even help! I am so furious with them! They have over $21,000 of our money! Plus insurance $1838.00. Horrible Company!

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Elvira Alger
US
Dec 26, 2022 9:16 am EST
Replying to comment of Furious!58

We hired an attorney to recover our money but there’s no way that he can get in touch with the legal department just with a stubborn and uneducated customer care agent

Maybe we can fill a class action against the company if several of us join forces

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Overview of Viking River Cruises complaint handling

Viking River Cruises reviews first appeared on Complaints Board on Jun 12, 2009. The latest review cancelled cruise charges was posted on Sep 28, 2024. The latest complaint Failure of Viking River Cruises to provide satisfactory access to our flight was resolved on Apr 02, 2024. Viking River Cruises has an average consumer rating of 3 stars from 619 reviews. Viking River Cruises has resolved 327 complaints.
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    5700 Canoga Ave, Woodland Hills, California, 91367-6569, United States
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