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Viking Prestige Cruise Review to Europe

SherileeP

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 92

Overall rating:

1 out of 5

Sail date: June 01, 2012

Ship: Viking Prestige

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 12 years ago

Review summary

Viking has just pulled the biggest gaffe of any cruise line we have ever used. We booked a river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam 10 months ago. We also booked our airline through them (and paid a $300 premium to arrive one day early with preferred selection for our air travel). Our airline seat assignments were arranged. Five months ago, the airline switched to a larger plane. Viking did not tell us or our travel agent of the plane and seat changes....and we did not find out about them until after we received our final packet of information from Viking. The package showed the seat assignments we had selected for the return flight, but no seat assignments shown for the departing flight, probably because they were embarrassed about how miserable they were. We have been given the WORST POSSIBLE seat assignments. For our long flight to Europe, the four members of our party have been given the MIDDLE SEAT in FOUR DIFFERENT ROWS. We are now told it is too late to change our seat assignments. Why were we and our travel agent not informed of this change? Who in the world decided to split up a party of four who had originally been sitting together? Shouldn't some effort have been made to keep a party, who booked 10 months in advance and had originally been assigned adjoining seats, together again on the second, larger plane which has many more desirable seats? We are VERY UNHAPPY...both with our seat assignments and with Viking's unwillingness to deal with THEIR mistake. This was supposed to be such a special trip for us, one we had looked forward to for several years. Our first (and last) Viking trip has not even begun and we are already disappointed.

Pros: Great itinerary

Cons: They refuse to rectify their plane reservation error

Recommends Viking Prestige? No.

7 Comments

patrickdennis 8 years ago

You didn't even review the cruise and you gave a one star? I've met people like you and do all I can to avoid them as they tend to bitch about everything and ruin it for others.

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WeCruiseToo 10 years ago

Hi mustangmaddi. I think Suds was commenting on this review: http://cruiseline.com/ship/viking-prestige/review/359828 It’s the one you commented on yourself six months ago that created this discussion. It looks like your original review detailing your dining issues is still readily available here: http://cruiseline.com/ship/viking-forseti/review/383738 (And I do feel for you on this. Any chef in the world should be able to generate better vegetarian dishes than what you were given.) Hope your next cruise is better!

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mustangmaddi 10 years ago

By the way, my original comment was conveniently removed from this site, so I understand your confusion. I suspect this one will be also.

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mustangmaddi 10 years ago

Suds, that wasn't MY complaint at all. My complaint was with the lies Viking perpetrated to get our money. I was very specific about the fact that I had some serious dietary considerations and if they couldn't accommodate me, I understood and would try other places. They assured me for almost ten months that they could do exactly what I requested. I brought up ALMOST EVERY MONTH my concerns, and every month they assured me that it would be NO problem. However, when my husband and I sat down for our first meal, they had no clue as to what we were talking about. We went over specifics as if it was the first time they heard it, and they said that while they would try, there were little options they could offer due to the lack of shopping availability. They were sketchy on what a vegetarian was and were totally clueless as to what gluten -free meant. For the whole cruise, I was forced to eat a totally protein deprived diet, and was so sick and weak when I returned that I was bedridden for weeks. We were furious. The crew did try. I'll give them that. But we booked directly with Viking, so there was absolutely no excuse for what happened. And when we called upon our return to voice our dismay, we were offered two $100 vouchers for our NEXT TRIP!!!! Are they nuts??!! So...you see, I never complain about any service unless it it warranted, and this time, it was warranted. I met several other travelers on the trip who had similar complaints. One couple had a shower that leaked so badly, the water rushed into their living quarters but it took the crew two days to show up. Our shower was missing the bottom molding so we had to stand in water when we were brushing our teeth. They never showed up to repair it. I still stand by my original rating. One star for the nice people who apologized. But for the expensive waste of our money and the negative effect on my health and our nerves, I would give minus stars if it was available.

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suds 10 years ago

So, let me get this straight. You give the Cruise Line the worst possible rating because the seat assignment on the flight was not to your liking? Ridiculous.

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Seaglass 10 years ago

Your complaint should be with your travel agent not Viking. My agent was the one that selected my seating for the flight not Viking, and she followed up to make sure nothing had been changed by the airline.

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mustangmaddi 10 years ago

They are little fish attempting to play in a big pond and it's showing, isn't it. Believe me, I feel your pain. We will never book with them again either.

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