Viking River Cruises is probably the best known European river cruising company, and has a wide range of river cruise options in Europe. Why? I am truly an "out-of-the-box" traveler which has enriched my travel experiences. passengers asked if ports on the new itinerary may close and if there's a chance the cruise could be canceled while underway. As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business. Cost includes $12.95 plus applicable local sales tax. In times of high water, river boats can reduce their height by: Another aspect of river cruising is how much water does the ship draft? Well guide you through the process. Viking Mississippi is one of Viking's largest river ships, measuring 450 feet (137 meters) long and weighing approximately 5,000 gross tons. She and her husband Ed recently took an 8-day cruise on the Viking Venus off the . Published on May 21, 2021. This made it impossible to catch the next flight from ***** to buenos Aries. They refuse to accept the fact that they changed the terms of the contract. It is February 1st today and I went online to book excursions for a trip almost 3 months from now. 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 am out the $3500 no matter what) and a friend who will take my place must pay her full share of the room as well! In addition to requiring all guests and crew be fully vaccinated before setting foot on board the 930-passenger Viking Sky, the cruise line implemented a robust contact tracing system, daily PCR. In this case, you will receive a full refund of your cruise fare. View all of our Luxury Cruise sailings and offers. 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. Verification can help ensure real people write reviews about real companies. The first thing that I noticed when I boarded is that all river ships are built to similar dimensions. We hope that the flexibility provided by this guarantee truly puts your mind at ease when it comes to the decision of whether or not to travel. Oceania officials said Russian and Ukrainian ports would be removed from 2022 itineraries, while Viking River Cruises canceled . The cruise line said it was evaluating 2022 itineraries that visit Russia with the view to modifying them where necessary. January 27, 2018. We will never try Viking again! Pharaohs & Pyramids. By Alyssa Lukpat and Ceylan Yeginsu. 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. I checked with many countries and all their restrictions have been dropped. The line said it was also evaluating 2022 itineraries that call in Russia with the view to modifying them where necessary. With this terrible Viking changed our flight schedule at very short notice. "The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our top priority," a Viking representative told Travel Market Report. coach. After contacting viking to inform the situation, Viking booked another flight for us. It's been three years now that Viking has held my family's money hostage because we don't wish to take the jab. NEW! Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises have canceled several trips as the Omicron variant continues to wreak havoc with the cruise . Not for the voucher amount. You could tear down the house and build a dam there, but that is not what is going to happen.. My bag is still missing and I will request (!) If, however, we forfeit the ******* spent in anticipation of this vacation, Viking would loose us as customers, but as a sophisticated internet user, my wife will use her homebound time posting this saga on as many travel sites as possible. Not impressed and wi never book another trip with this company. But all was not lost. 2023-2025 OCEAN CRUISE AND AIR SAVINGS: Offer applies to bookings made from March 1-31, 2023. At the other end of the Po, ocean water has flooded the last 12 miles of the river damaging crops and contaminating drinking water. Since the ships are nearly identical, if you do transfer to another ship, you should be in a similar stateroom as the original ship. The cruise line announced the return of select itineraries in Portugal, France and . Plus, your own feed of TPG content. Sometimes it's worth a large investment to reap the benefits of a great credit card. My experience with Viking River Cruises is that if they cancel, they will either refund your money or . Only Viking can make the appropriate reservation. I was never informed that the vaccine would be required to sail and that our money would not be eligible for a refund. The Rhine River is the main artery for German and Swiss transportation and also French, said Schreiner. It was our first river cruise it was 23 days Bucharest to Amsterdam with Viking . This was told to me by two separate employees. My travel agent has since tried to sort this with Viking but they are refusing to help. We booked a river cruise with Viking which we cancelled due to Covid and received travel vouchers from Viking for the amount of the trip. Booking # XXXXXXX This is insulting and is clearly bait and switch type behavior. Why all other passages under the same situation had no such problem were not explained by Viking. Look at the Mekong you dont cruise in May, June, July and August because its too hot. My husband and I booked with Viking in December 2019 for the Rhine Getaway Cruise for December 2020. Withholding of monies and shore excursion booking system failure. Viking already runs a number of river cruises. Ocean cruise ships usually have at least 25 feet or more or more of draft which would preclude them from river cruising. 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. Maybe 10 years from now we cruise the Danube and Rhine in January/February/March and we stop in the summertime because August is too hot and there are low water areas., We dont know what the future will bring, he continued. Viking Plans A Robust 2021 2022 Cruise Season Despite the canceled 2020 cruise season, Viking has high hopes for 2021 and beyond. Desired outcome: Learn more. The cruise line offered her future cruise vouchers worth 125 percent of her fare. scott@travelcodex.com, For updates: The flight from Amman Jordan to The two most popular are the Rhine and the Danube. 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. At 104 days out before final payment was due, we had to either lose our entire deposit of $2K+ or get a voucher. Desired outcome: She really needs this positive experience to look forward to. Do not book with Viking Cruises ,they turned my cancelled trip into vouchers with expiration dates that I never knew about. River flows are never static and are subject to fluctuations that are unpredictable. AAA travel called Viking many times to rectify this and in December we were finally told that they would give us a $10,000 dollar credit toward another cruise and a $1,500 dollar shipboard credit. If the whole itinerary is changed, youll get to sail the new itinerary and receive a 100% future cruise credit to book another cruise. To go on the cruise people do not have to supply a negative covid test so you still go on the cruise in theory even if you have covid. They are just taking the thousands of dollars we gave them from us and we are getting nothing in return. . We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. ), We booked a cruise in 2019 to sail early in 2020. Find the right card for you. On the last day, all running water was turned off until we left the ship. Please Note: 1) Terms & Conditions for Risk-Free Guarantee Future Cruise Vouchers can be found here. Related: Booking your first river cruise? We paid for the trip and had trip insurance. Information provided by various external sources. Heres what you need to know. The Viking Ocean Cruises 2022 Grand Polynesia Voyage has come to a triumphant completion in Los Angeles. During our Antarctica cruise, as suggested by the on board customer services, we submitted our request for the reimbursement with receipts. If you are concerned about the water level on your upcoming river cruise, do your due diligence before you take any action. Multiple tests were run, including a Covid test, which came back positive. AMA Waterways | Travel Requirements & Safety Protocols. Not every river cruise line takes the same stance. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Viking refused to admit to us that we were misinformed, and did not apologize, but their policy will not change. The typical characteristics of river boats regardless of cruise line are about the same. Europe is now seeing the same kind of climate change conditions that are affecting the Western United States. We called Viking and there is nothing that they will do to be able to use the over $7,000 paid for the trip. Viking collects 3 fares for a 2 person room. 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 . I never come across a big bunch of ignorant, geriatric, moronic a$$holes as this group I had came across today! International Association of Better Business Bureaus. On December 9, 2019 we booked********************************* and paid ********* March 11, 2020 that cruise canceled by Viking due to COVID. The 766-mile Rhine is one of Europe's most important trade routes, with container ships plying their way around its looping bends. Instead, in the most extreme cases, AmaWaterways will create a new itinerary. The pandemic has not ended, and some sailings have been cancelled due to too many Covid-19 cases onboard. 2023 Trustpilot, Inc. All rights reserved. Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the authors alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. We were running between the airlines at ***** to find out what was going on, very frustrating. Viking river cruises have posted an advisory from Danube River cruises that ship swapping may occur. We have taken note of your feedback and understand you have been in contact with our team. Viking will not honor this request. Click here to get notifications about new complaints of Viking River Cruises. This years summer drought in Europe could affect your upcoming river cruise, but its highly unlikely your cruise will be canceled outright. Had a planned eastern European river cruise starting mid-October for over a year. Steve is a life-long avgeek and a points and miles player. On the other end, river boats are built with a shallow draft of about six feet deep to avoid hitting the river bottom. On 10/12 as our plane was taxiing for departure, my husband suffered a medical emergency. This river begins in the Alps near the Italy-French border and is fed by snowmelt.