Margie S.

I just took my first cruise ever. I chose Viking based on reviews and advertising about the extremely high level/quality of service. I unfortunately did not experience that on my trip. Many things occurred, including with dining and servicing of the cabin, but the two biggest were that I was injured during dinner when the boat hit the side of the river/canal with the force of an automobile crash. When I went to the front desk to ask if there was a heating pad, I was told no, but did I want ice? When I said that I would try it, I was asked if I was going to get it myself or did I want someone to bring it? The person at the desk didn't ask if I was okay. They didn't say they were sorry that it had happened. There was no level of concern at all. No one from the boat followed up to see if I was okay. I had to miss the next day's excursion since I was having difficulty walking and therefore had to stay on the boat all day.

I was locked out on my balcony; I discovered it at 12:30 am. It took four people to get my cabin door open and when the person opened the sliding door, she asked if I needed anything. I asked if she could tell me why the door would automatically lock? She replied, as all four people were backing out of the room, that it happens sometimes and that is why they tell people not to close the door all of the way. (Excuse me? No one shared anything like that previously and that is not something that is okay on any level.) Why would someone think that they needed to leave the sliding door ajar when they are out on the balcony? I was taken aback when no one from the crew followed-up with me the next day to see if I was okay or to check the sliding door, so I mentioned my experience to the Program Director. I told him that I did not want to bother telling the people at the front desk after the way they reacted when I told them about when I was hurt. He apologized to me and said that he would share the information with the Hotel Manager if I wanted and I said yes please do share it. After inquiring a second time, I was able talk with the Hotel Manager. He listened, thanked me for telling him everything, said that is "how we learn", and said that he was going to send an engineer to my cabin to look at the sliding door.

The engineer came to my cabin the last night on the boat and determined that there was a problem with the door. He mentioned that many of the screws and other parts were loose and that is what caused the lock to engage. He said that it would not lock anyone out anymore. (Which is great for the next guests, but I did not use the balcony after being locked out since I was afraid that something would happen again.) So I was previously told that I should have left the door ajar so it didn't lock, but the real issue was that Viking did not ensure that the door was in proper working order so that a guest would have to endure what I went through.

While on the boat I also discovered that Viking Air was free with my cabin class. I was charged $100 for it by the Viking representative who booked my cruise. (My air was booked AFTER the cabin was booked so there should have been no confusion.) I had to fight with Viking to have the charge reversed when I returned from my trip, but they eventually refunded the money to me.

I called Customer Relations on two occasions after my cruise to share my concerns, both initial representatives took the time to listen to my concerns. Both shared that they were sorry that I had the experiences that I had. Both offered me a voucher for a future cruise of $2,000. I thanked them for that, but shared that did not help me in any way with the experiences that I had with this cruise. I spent close to $20,000 for this cruise. I shared that if I take a voucher from Viking, it doesn't affect Viking in any way since I still have to spend money, approximately $18,000 more to go on another cruise. In essence, Viking is offering me an incentive to spend more money to try another cruise and see if it is better than the first cruise that I took with Viking. That is a big ask which requires a great amount of faith on my end and nothing on Viking's end. The representatives shared that they understood but they did not want to "insult me" after all that I went through by offering me a cash refund that was well below what I deserved. After the first phone call, I received an email saying that my request for a refund was denied. No additional information was provided. During the second phone call, I was offered a $200 cash refund.

During the second phone call, I was told that the representative was talking with management while I was on hold and that the management team was able to listen to my concerns on the recorded call. I asked for an email to send my concerns directly to management since I was not able to talk with anyone directly. I was provided with an email address and I sent an email. After two days, I received a call from another Customer Relations representative. When I asked if he was a member of the management team, he shared that Viking does not have a management team and that you deal with one member of Customer Relations until a resolution is found. He offered to increase the voucher to $2,500. I reiterated my concerns with that. He shared that I would not get any more with either a cash refund or voucher since Viking has a rubric system to make these decisions and that was what it come out to. I was told that if I chose to take the $200 cash refund, I would need to sign a non-disclosure agreement first before Viking would send me the $200.00. If I signed the NDA then I would not be allowed to tell anyone about what happened to me on my river cruise with Viking. I shared that it now made more sense as to why Viking seems to have such a high level of service when that is no where near what I experienced in my time on the boat or when dealing with Customer Relations. I shared that I did not want any money and I would rather truthfully share what happened to me with others who might be considering a Viking cruise so that had a first-hand account to consider before making up their own minds.

I would stay as far away from Viking as possible!