Viking River cruises-refund?

Hi, I assume that it’s written in their fineprint that high or low water conditions allow for alternate bus options. Just doing a quick search, look at this one on TripAdvisor, “ AMAZING TRIP...Too much bus!”. They were able to recoup some of their cost and additional options. Good luck!

You may not have the most current information on water levels. There is a website called CruiseCritic.com. It is free to join. There are message boards for all the cruise lines and roll calls for specific cruise dates.

For Viking, since it sounds like you are on a Rhine river cruise, I'd suggest you read the posts on the board titled "Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics". The most recent postings to it are saying the river levels are back up and that there are no longer bus transfers to a second ship to complete the cruise. If you still decide to cancel, you can search the Viking board and there's probably contact information. If you're on a different river cruise, there are boards for all the Viking cruises.

However, if it is a Rhine cruise and the water levels permit travel on one ship, I'd recommend that you take it. We did the Viking Rhine river cruise in June and we really enjoyed it. The service was excellent and the cruise very interesting.

Low water levels in Europe in the summer months (July and August) have been a problem for years and this happens every summer. I'd recommend European river cruises in spring/early summer or late summer/fall.

While floating up the Danube on a Viking River Cruise (Passage to Eastern Europe) in 2017, we spoke with a few fellow travelers who encountered a (somewhat) similar situation on their previous Viking tour. They were bussed along several stretches of the upper Danube - somewhere between Slovakia and Germany. One fellow traveler explained their entire roster of travelers switched boats with a southbound Viking boat. Imagine what a nightmare that would be for the crew!
But, apparently Viking seems to believe that is "an acceptable solution". However, as I understand your fears - your Viking River Cruise may be entirely via bus. An odd interpretation of " separate but equal".

Low water levels in Europe in the summer months (July and August) have been a problem for years and this happens every summer

High water levels in the spring cause similar passage problems on Europe's waterways, for example making it impossible for boats to make it under bridges. One April we witnessed Viking cruise ships that got stuck in Avignon, saw the passengers offloading from the ships onto buses.

As for the OP, "caveat emptor" applies, especially given the news reports of low water levels in European rivers all summer.

When are you traveling?

A couple of years ago we were Amsterdam to Budapest in Sep and hit a low water spot. It went very smooth. The only pain was that we had to completely pack all of our stuff and leave the suitcases in the room. We left the ship, boarded buses and did some extra sightseeing that was not on the schedule, had a great lunch at a small countryside restaurants, and by later afternoon was back to the ship --- only the name had changed, picked up our key and went to our same room number, and it look exactly as we had left it including our suitcases. Freshen up, unpacked a little, and went to the bar as we shoved off and headed down river. Nothing change -- the crew was the same, the food, etc., only name on the front of the boat was different. Other than the inconvenience of having to pack and unpack, it went very smooth.

Ya, we had couple of cruisemates that were very critical and vocal of the whole process but in our many years of travel we have had great inconveniences. Viking was experienced at handling that type of problem and it not unexpected on rivers.

Perhaps the OP would care to tell us just what media they've been looking at. And tell us what their cruise dates are. What exactly makes the Viking call center "slimey", compared to other cruise line call centers?

It would appear the OP adheres to the "act in haste, repent at leisure" and then complain method of travel planning. Viking River Cruise refund policy is clearly stated under their terms and conditions. Any advance research before actually purchasing the cruise would have accurately informed the OP of the pros and cons of these cruises; and adverse water levels similarly affect all cruise lines, although each deals with the situation in different ways at different times in different rivers. The interwebs abound with articles and forums, vlogs and videos about river cruises. A bit more research would not go amiss.

As for travel insurance, unless the cruise line cancels your sailing, or you purchased cancel for any reason insurance, I wouldn't expect them to pay out because you don't like what you think the sailing conditions might be.

Well, it has been raining an awful lot in Germany the past 2-3 days and more is expected this week. This should help the river levels. I see the river boats docked in Frankfurt every day, so they must be picking up guests before heading to the Rhein or while the guests take a bus tour to Heidelberg.

Thank you to all the helpful (vs. the nasty shaming) folks. Just fyi: I am attempting to help my younger brother, with objective information and ideas. He made an error. Aren't we all capable of errors sometimes?

Regarding water levels, Weather Notices/Articles in reputable sources from Germany/USA, conclude that there is not enough rainfall in fall/winter to get anywhere near water levels adequate to Viking boats. I read posts on cruisecritic yesterday and people are confused and frantic about their trip. My brother decided to cancel the trip and I am supporting him based on the fact that Viking made no mention of the risks to the "river cruise" at the point of purchase or anywhere on their website. Depending on who one speaks to at Viking, I was told "all boats are sailing, everyone's having a fantastic time" and "...there are no risks to sailing at this time".
A pure falsehood. Hmmm: what exactly does Viking not understand about selling a "river cruise"?

In this case, travel insurance is irrelevant: these companies do not offer coverage for false claims, bankruptcy, or any other corporate misdeed. Travel insurance covers issues of the customer, not the company.

His trip was purchased on 9/11/22, his departure date is 10/24/22. He isn't interested in waiting to see what happens. Instead he's taking action and I am supporting him.

I am fortunate to have found a human being at Viking who is helpful and dedicated to the ideals he believes about Viking. So right now I am proceeding with hope. Corporations are no more than a collection of human beings and sometimes you find one.

Thank you for your support!

I

The story changes -- so take it for face value ---- Bought my tickets for 4 last Sunday (9/10/22) realize now it was unwise. ..... I am attempting to help my younger brother, with objective information and ideas. He made an error. His trip was purchased on 9/11/22, Which is it? Your tickets or your brother's tickets? or both??

I guess both of you made an error. I am sure the boats are running as the rivers are not dry but they are working around low spots. Pretty standard for river cruising. Probably should stick to ocean cruising.

Quick change from slimy to Corporations are just people.

Please do not pay attention to media rather than on site information. This cruise is a month away! Water levels in a month are not the same as what they were a week ago.

To “Ms Jo”—my my so much judgement. Reputable and balanced reporting from media sources are highly preferable IMHO than a corporate travel site desperate to sell and recoup their massive losses to covid. The CEO who grew up in the “little red house and built a business on integrity” (so his image advertising claims) has lost 1/6 of his own fortune. Clearly he is unconcerned about making false claims to the mostly elderly who favor these cruises.
We prefer to act now rather than a “wish in’, & a-hopin” that the drought magically disappears in a month-in a continent beseeched by catastrophic weather for the past 4 years.
Caveat emptor.

In future, I suggest you avoid any cruise on any ship or cruise line or any group land tour. In none of these cases will there be a guarantee that the trip will proceed without alterations.

I noticed in some newspaper articles that some cruise lines were offering 10% of the cruise cost for every night impacted - but I don't recall if that was "off the boat to sleep" or "every room change".

It's a very expensive product, but I think both Viking and commercial providers offer Cancel for Any Reason option. Now, I can see that a very short-term purchase might cause one to omit Cancellation insurance. But wasn't it a discounted price??? But in today's post-Pandemic market, there are a lot more cancellation options for some cruise companies, like Full Credit (not cash) for one year re-scheduling. Just how flexible is your brother willing to be? The product he bought is a Wasting Asset (Economics term, and the (actual, if hard to quantify) value of what he wants full price for is declining every day.

I'm sorry he's disappointed, but it's not as if they are cancelling the visit to Europe. The attractions will still be seen, and he is asking for special consideration, although he could have thought more about his decision to buy. This is a life lesson, not a cruel corporation. The terms were in the contract.

In my line of work, there are people who bring a theater ticket to the box office the week after they missed a show, and ask for a refund! To them, the price printed on the ticket describes its' eternal value. That belief is unsophisticated and mistaken. With today's focus on discounting, it's especially wrong.

Appreciate your thoughtful reply. See we booked a "river cruise" not a bus tour. Neither the salesperson nor the written tour description on the world-wide-web, mentioned anything about even a distinct possibility that the "river cruise" would become a bus tour, my brother asked many questions and reviewed the website tour thoroughly. The attraction is the floating down the river, not sitting on a bus. Although apparently there are people who enjoy sitting on buses-they are the perfect target for Viking.

Be assured, we are not coming in after the event, we are addressing this a month in advance and immediately 5 days after being misled. We have no experience with "cruises" nor have we ever chosen a giant consolidator like Viking (definitely learned our lesson). And hopefully those here on the forum will gain something from our experience.

We are simply pointing out that if a giant corp like Viking is making false claims or omitting important exclusions when they sell a $25K ticket, that is not acceptable. If you booked a ticket for your family on United Airlines for a non-stop to Europe and found out 5 days later that they hadn't told you that you really bought a 2-stop ticket (lengthening the trip by 5-6 hours), how would you see that? Airlines can't get away with that type of obfuscation in the EU or USA, but Viking apparently feels they can.

Anyway, it's a bit disappointing that while many of my fellow responders are criticizing the consumer (us) rather than the corporate strong-arm that hides behind illegible fine print (Viking), we do appreciate those of you who are offering constructive information. We hope that our experience may be helpful to others.

Tim: also let me add that the "cancel for any reason" clause requires that you if you cancel 42 days before the departure, you only
pay 75% of the total cost. 30 days before the departure, one is responsible for 100% of the cost.

Viking has a different spin on "cancel for any reason" than conventional policies dictate.

Actually the CFAR limit of 75% is pretty standard for any cruise.

We have never cruised with Viking on river cruises, their prices are reasonable, but we always found better prices.
We have done four river cruises in the past 12 years and loved them all. We never had a serious issue with one turning into a bus trip.

There is a huge difference between a river cruise and a bus trip and I would be upset if I paid for a cruise and got a bus trip.

I know in some areas, when the river waters are a problem, river cruise companies sometimes will move you to another cruise ship. That wouldn't be nearly as bad as busses.

Still, if you contract with Viking gives you no recourse, you can still request a refund and if it doesn't work out, write a negative review on TripAdvisor.
I know several years ago this happened in central Europe and many river cruise companies stiffed their passengers. Look for a company that doesn't do that.

I am with you. Given the amount of "Alternate transport" that river cruises have had to do this year (A month or so ago, reports were that Viking was basically doing from Frankfurt to Amsterdam by bus, with a day excursion on a tourist boat for the "scenic" section of the Rhine) they should make it more apparent that river levels can, and likely will, affect parts of the trip. Their position traditionally has been to be "very optimistic" that there will be no disruptions.

However... If you booked a ticket for your family on United Airlines for a non-stop to Europe and found out 5 days later that they hadn't told you that you really bought a 2-stop ticket (lengthening the trip by 5-6 hours), how would you see that? Airlines can't get away with that type of obfuscation I am afraid to tell you that the rules of carriage for airlines does allow them to make schedule changes, their only obligation is to get you from point A to B. They may have more liberal refund policies than pre-pandemic, but it is still take it or leave it. But I get your point.

This has been going on for several years . We met several travelers in 2018 who were stuck on buses in Strasbourg, due to low water levels . Same old story .

That may be where some of the hostility is coming from: many of us have known about this for years. In fact, I remember that Viking ships have more difficulties than the other companies due to their depth .

So what's done is done. You can try to fight them, but they have not been known for their generosity. Or you can go with the flow and squeeze as much positive as possible out of an unfortunate situation. If you do go, stay away from the complainers as that stuff is contagious and brings everyone down.

BTW, not all rivers are affected. The Seine is fine

Thank you. We get that. Our time is valuable and trying to make vacation s...t into roses, just ain't our bag (if you don't mind the slang).
We have no experience with cruises, except for smaller boats with reputable companies, when we had a wonderful time: promises were kept. May have been disappointments with some details but nothing like this.

But now we have something called the 'internet' and 'social media' where consumers get to share their experience...and hopefully help others so they don't get exploited and robbed. Companies even large corporations don't last for long with today's technology and earn their just desserts for immoral behavior and false claims, especially when they are targeting elderly, more vulnerable customers--which is Viking's bread & butter.

C'est la vie! I'm signing off now, but thank you for the robust discussion!

I am hoping that the OP will return and let us know what kind of resolution the eligible party received. That would add value to the thread for future travelers. We’ve been aware since our first tour with Viking in 2011 that low river water levels could influence an itinerary. In the past, Viking would cancel tours when the water levels were too low, but I’m not sure of their present policy. It sounds like the reservation may have been made, as a previous poster suggested, on a suddenly reduced price. I am curious as to what the stipulations (fine print) may have been attached to that purchase.