Viking river cruise - rough start

Viking spends so much on advertising, but not so much on customer service.

They know they were offering a $1K shipboard credit when you made the booking. But thank goodness you didn't enter the proper code. Viking sounds more like third world grifters than a first world cruise line.

This situation is precisely why I always use a travel agent who is very familiar with cruises, whenever I book a cruise. You HAVE to pay close attention to every detail when booking a cruise with any line, not just Viking. And you need to scrupulously check every detail immediately on receiving confirmation of the booking. Had the OP caught the missing OBC at the time of booking, odds are she could have corrected the omission. Any decently competent travel agent certainly would have.

As for Viking's response to the OPs complaints, she is more than lucky to get anything from them. They are a business and are responding according to the terms and conditions of the cruise contract, which the OP agreed to when she paid the deposit. They are not a charity, and none of this was their fault. They wouldn't be in business long if they acceded to every story asking for special treatment.

I hope this trip doesn’t cause you any more stress during your trip, and I wish you a good outcome fighting the cancer. Hugs!

I started doing photo screenshots of every transaction, reservation, etc. It seems like duplicate effort, but it has been helpful - especially during the COVID travel reservations but even now, too.

Your cruise is right around the corner and I will be looking forward to a trip report.

Wishing you both a wonderful cruise and a good heath recovery.

In doing a lot of cruise research, I only heard and read the best things about Viking. Your post and the responses are an eye opener for me.

To be honest, I am a bit surprised that you would need a $1000 credit to spend. excursions are supposedly included daily, the boats do not have "cruise ship" amenities (Casino, spa, optional entertainment, premium dining venues) that require an "upcharge". I do understand there are various costs related to alcohol, but $1000 seems high for a 7 or so day cruise (or even the longer ones).

But I hope all works well for you.

I took a Viking Cruise about ten years ago. I found the cruise & optional excursions good, they then had rooms for solos which I really appreciated. The food was good, boat well designed. However, I found Customer Service was not their forte. I won't give all the details, but the head housekeeper was very rude to me on more than one occasion (one was when the grey water tanks backed up & my room smelled like a sewer.) She also literally yelled at me because I had told the room attendant I didn't need cleaning twice a day. How messy can one person be during the day when they are most of the time not in their cabin? I couldn't complain to the Captain as he was her husband. They only responded to my complaint when I wrote a review on Cruise Critic. Surprisingly there was no apology, just an offer of a credit on a future trip. When I assured them there would be no further trip, the issue was closed. I have friends who have had similar experiences with Viking. I loved river cruising and would recommend it. I just wouldn't choose Viking again.
I hope you enjoy your cruise and am sending good thoughts while you struggle with your disease.

The odd thing about my situation is that I was aware of the code to use and thought that I had put in into the online program when I booked the cruise. I did ask for a copy or proof of what I had done since I could not remember 4 months later. Viking gave me nothing written, but the supervisor who comped me a portion of the credit did seem to be looking up something when I talked to him. He said over the phone he was looking for "code entered" and "code removed". He did not find anything so he reached the conclusion that I had not entered a code. He may be right. I thought it was a bit weird when they said they could not fix it now, that they could not override the system. He got a bit perturbed when I suggested we just split the difference. Then I asked him how much the Viking corporation was worth and considering how much they spend on advertising, wouldn't it be worthwhile to be a little flexible. He did not like that and said that he was offering a credit as a good will gesture. Then he basically said to take it or leave it.

Thanks to all those who sent good wishes for the trip. I will report back after with my experiences. This forum has tons of good information for travelers.

OP, I hope you enjoy your cruise and not let this customer service bummer ruin your trip. I did a Viking cruise this time last year and I really enjoyed it. I had never cruised before and now I don't think I could do anything but a river cruise. I'm pretty easy to please and I thought the food was great, the cabin and amenities comfortable, the excursions good to great. The crew was wonderful and really made us feel spoiled. I am an independent traveler and created my own mix of excursions on my own and ship excursions (both included and paid).

As far as shipboard credit, your $300 will cover a paid excursion or two, and/or drinks at the bar outside of the included beer and wine. I'm not even sure how I would have spent $1000 shipboard credit.

My one and only experience with Viking was sufficiently long ago (2017) that details and experiences are diluted by time. The suggestion to book a Viking adventure thru a travel agent is, from my experience, a good one. "Passage to Eastern Europe" included round trip airfare (PDX to Bucharest and Budapest to PDX). Using AAA, I discovered (at the time) - for a fee of $100, return airfare could be changed to a departure home from Amsterdam. I would not have known this without the help of a travel agent....and, as stated, this opportunity is, most likely, in the rear view mirror, now.
I had no complaints with Viking and it compared well with my other river cruise experience (also on the Danube) with Avalon.

A $1000 on board credit would certainly have been a nice addition. Frankly, back in 2017, I would have been hard pressed to make use of it as almost every land excursion was included.

I have taken several Viking River and Ocean Cruises. Each were fabulous and the staff were attentive in making our vacation the best it could be. I’m sorry to hear of your customer service experience. I must say the one thing I don’t like about Viking is the need to pay in full well in advance of the travel date. On my last Viking Ocean cruise in April, they offered a 6-month before travel PIF perk. I wasn’t ready to commit at that time and they said that promotion was only available for on ship bookings.
Things you can use shipboard credits include:
Gratuities, Beverage Package, Optional Shore Excursions and Viking logo wear (hat, shirt, jacket, books, etc. ) I hope you chalk this up as a learning experience, put it behind you and have the best trip ever!