CrusinSubMan

CruisinSubMan...just wondering whether my email got through... I'm a bit worried it might have gone into the junk folder....

Hi there,

I will also email you. Your reservation is taken care of and they know its your anniversary as well. When you get on board, check with Manfreddis for your exact reservation time.

Happy Anniversary!

Awesome, excellent and detailed review PopsA. It was a complete meeting you and your wife on the cruise. I hope we cross paths again. Your review was so good you reminded me of where I was and what i did (at least when i was with you).

A highlight for me, was the excellent Normandy/ D-Day trip you two organized. Much thanks! I agree completely with your endorsement of that company. They were so good I would (and may) book them again for round 2.

There are five primary bars, three of which are almost all about making drinks (Living Room, Aquavit Terrace, and Explorer's Lounge) In the evenings and night they have experienced bartenders at all three of those. They make most all drinks including odd non standard ones from memory.

The bar in The Restaurant is open just for dinner and it also has an experiences bartender at it. Pool Grill is 11ish to late and bartender skill and experience can vary a bit. Same with Explorer's Lounge outside of late afternoon to late night. When you get an inexperienced bartender they usually ask the guest and then get on the phone.

The Explorer's Lounge has a very expansive collection of bottles and I see typically two bartenders there. I feel they could handle any kind of drink order provided the components are there. I'm not sure how they would price ad hoc orders.

 

If any current passengers see CruisinSubMan around the ship ask him to respond as I saw him at that bar.

Algaes found me.

it pretty does not matter what drink you order, they charge $6. They have a limited selection of call and premium alcohol though (see my post in the Silver Spirits Package thread). Generally, the menus are not very accurate as to what they have.

They are supposed to have four red and four white wines by the glass for $6 each that are supposed to be a grade up from the house $4 wines. The are marginally better but usually what a bar has available for red and white is not the same as the list they have.

A few bars have some premium stuff that they charge more for but now its hidden in a cabinet or gone so that it does not confuse the issue about what is included in Silver Spirits and what is not. Torshavn is the big exception where they have many very expensive rare alcohols. You will pay the per shot price for all of that period.

But other than that. you can plan on $4 or $6 for almost any drink.

They have three champagnes and usually have two of them available. One is $4.50 and the other by the glass one is $9.50. The other one is only by the bottle $71.00.

We are booked for July in Bergen and have been following the many comments for weeks. We have been looking forward to this trip for the past year because the Viking River cruise we took last year was fantastic. It was our first cruise despite travelling the world for the past 35 years. Last week we debated trying to get out of the coming cruise due to the negatives we read on cruisecritic. We took some time this week to list the good and the bad and came to the conclusion that many of the negatives applied to very specific events that really don't apply to us or are minimal and will probably be worked out by July. After being on the fence we decided that Cruisin Subman seems to have the best handle on things and have decided to stay the course. Maybe because my wife and I were both were in the military we kind of feel that we can roll with the punches like cruisinsubman and still have a great vacation. Probably even more so than the cruisinsubman since we were Army instead of Navy. Plus on the low points we can rely on the Silver Spirits Package to get us through. Thanks CruisinSubman...Go Navy

Wow, your kind words are very nice and appreciated. I think you have demonstrated exactly what I think you have to do with information, positive or negative: filter it and balance it against your interests. Its even more awesome in your case since you had to overcome the bias and stereotypes that your Army orientation would have taught you to apply to anything a Sailor says.

But seriously, don't just thank me. All of us 50 dayers and also all the other commenters on other segments and even those who have boarded recently in Bergen have all helped contribute to the information available. We have also helped fix a lot of things. So I point you at all of us. It is a collective effort. I also think that one purpose we all have is to help others like you make their decisions and also to better ensure they have a great cruise. I am certain you will!

Fair winds and following seas!

Thank you CrusinSubMan for your comprehensive answer, and, yes I agree for most people the value is debatable. However, we purchased over a year ago with the Viking office assuring us that premium wines, including bottles, and all spirits and liqueurs were part of the package. The price at that time was $30 per person, per day with mandatory inclusion of all persons on the same booking.

Well, at $30 per day and for both of you the numbers are better. Really its then $60 per day between the two of you and that means you are more in the range of 8 total drinks between you both. And really that is an average. Having the package allows you to order all you want whenever you want and to get much better wine at all times including meals. So that does not seem like that bad of a deal. Again though I think the key is the correction they made in the second segment two actually start offering a selection of better wines. Now that they are doing that, SSP folks are able to get, for the most part, what they were promised. There is not much really fine (Premium) hard alcohol on board. I am a bit of a scotch snob and really there was nothing available, even after they hid the "premium" like that Macallan that I really would get excited about sipping neat.

In Oslo yesterday, I found a whiskey bar I remembered (it is actually called "The Whiskey Bar" and has a particularly good rare Speyside selection):) and had a Cardhu 21. It was great. So I got my Scotch fix.

I used the first machine on the 3rd floor and was able to choose cold water. Cold water is now available.

That is great news. I had gone through all the laundry rooms a while ago and they all had the same problem. Since, I have only been in and using the 4th Deck LR. As of three days ago it was still all hot. I will ask in there later today. Do you know if all three machines on Deck 3 now have cold water cycles that work, or just the first machine?

 

I would love to receive feedback from passengers on board with the "Silver Spirits Package" as to what is really included. Of course, before you plunk down your money "Everthing is included"; then after you have paid, not so much. If it is a "premium beverage package", shouldn't it include premium items? We would just like to know what to expect berfore we board.

 

Any feedback from you helpful cruisers would be greatly appreciated.

SSP has improved since the issues I reported about a month ago. Now they have four red wines and four white wines available by the glass that SSP owners get for free but other guests can pay $6 each for.

Right now the wines available by the glass and free for SSP people are:

White

Chardonnay, Valdivieso Reserva, Chile

Riesling, Domaine Loberger, Organic, France

Colombard-Ugni Blanc, Domaine UBY, France

Chardonnay, Louis Latour, Saint_Veran, France

Red

Pinot Noir, Domaine Loberger, Organic, France

Pinot Noir, Chapel Peaks, New Zealand

Bordeaux, Chateau Cone-Taillasson, France

Grenache Syrah Mourvedre, Papa Luna, Spain

The gins are Saphite, Beefeaters, Tanqueray, Gordons

The whiskeys include Walker (Red and Black), J&B, Chivas, Jameson, Bushmills, Wild turkey, Makers, Seagrams VO and Crown

They also have moved the premium alcohol to less visible locations so that the specific gins, vodkas, rums and whiskeys you can see and ask for all included free. For instance the Macallan is no longer sitting on the shelf in the Explorer's lounge bar.

I am not a SSP person. I get free wine with lunch and dinner a lot. That means I do not get a choice, but just the house wine. It is usually not great, but it is drinkable. If I want something better I either bring a bottle to the meal or order one of the wines but the glass. I sometimes buy a glass of wine, a beer or a drink in a bar. Most drinks are $6-8. House wine is $4 a glass and the others are usually $6 and beers are mostly $4. All drinks have a 15% gratuity added to them as well. The Macallan they have (forget which one now but it is either the 12 or a 10 year brand served only here in Europe) is $10 and is not included in the SSP.

As I noted earlier, because drinks are very cheap on board, you really should do the math to figure out whether you are going to order enough drinks on board to justify the cost of the plan. You really have to drink a lot to make the plan pay for itself.

So as an example, if you would be ordering better wine with meals and had 2 glasses at lunch and 2 at dinner and then also had 4 drinks at other times (all every day) then you would reach about $55 a day in drinks (8 drinks x $6 x 0.15). I cannot remember what the per day SSP fee is (a few people told me what they paid but it was a while ago) but that is what you need measure against it to decide if you would be ordering enough alcohol to justify it.

.....

Something happened since Gibraltar that I thought future passengers (as in early June not 2016) should be aware of. If nothing is done to restore service levels, I would not drag a load of electronics to Europe unless you are willing to go ashore for connectivity.

 

.....

Yes, I have been lugging laptops into port the last few ports so I can work quickly and then lugging them back the ship. Overall that has been much better than trying to use the ship's WIFI.

Something changed in Gibralter, and so far, they have not been able to fix it. In talking with one exec who was pretty knowledgable, he said they think it is the satellite service company they are contracted with but they are having a very hard time getting a straight story from that company.

I also do not think the problem is just speed, but something else because certain email servers are not able to be connected to and some are. Between my wife and I we have four different email servers that we use Outlook to connect to. By London, we could not get any of them to work. Now, all but one is working. I have been playing with the configuration on that one but still cannot get it work.

Yesterday, when we got into Oslo, I trotted off to a bar with the laptop that has that account and got it done in a few minutes. Annoying but necessary for us. My main one also goes through a VPN and the VPN is now able to connect again but it drops about every 10 minutes. So I mostly do it in bursts now, (write up emails and then link up for a send/receive).

So things have gotten better since their low point, but are not back to what they were pre-Gibralter. And now, for most guests, they are back to being satisfactory. But not for me. But I think I am in the minority now.

TERRIER1 - Around 11 AM an announcement was made saying we would be delayed 30 minutes due to the rough seas during the night and we were told that any shore excursions leaving before 1:45 would be delayed and to wait for a further announcement. (We were supposed to dock at 12:30 originally but I'm not sure when we really did.) I fully understand that weather delays happen.

 

I was at lunch in the World Cafe on Deck 7 when the next announcement was made. Unfortunately the speakers above the tables weren't on but the speakers above the people in line for food were on. The Captain was in line and I decided to ask him to get them to re-announce it using all the speakers since no one eating heard it. He tried calling Explorers' Desk and the Cruise Director but neither phone call was answered. This doesn't have anything to do with the delay but it made me feel better (I guess??) to know that it's just not my calls that don't get answered, it's also the Captain's.

 

We ultimately learned that that announcement was only supposed to be made to Deck A. However, the next announcement was that if you were on tour X, you could go to the gangway. I would have preferred an announcement letting us know the new tour departure time, not just "go now" which gave people no prep time and was basically the same as having to sit around and wait. It's the Viking way.

It was a medical evac that further delayed clearance after we had docked.

I was in the crowded queue on Deck A at the gangway. We were all waiting for an ambulance crew to remove a guest in a stretcher. What was comical about the announcements is that the Cruise Director was telling us to leave Deck A and go back up to deck 1 but the VP of Ops (who was tending a bunch of VIPS who were in a rush to get off) gestured to us to just stay. So we just stayed and ignored the two announcements by the Cruise Director to leave Deck A.

Once the stretcher crew came on and then later left with the guest, they allowed us to start leaving.

The VP of Ops announced by speaking loudly that the ship could not get clearance until the medical evac was completed and that is why we were all waiting. He had made the announcement because a lot of the VIPs were saying things in Norwegian that sounded like angry frustration at why they could not leave. The VP also spoke in Norwegian and I am assuming he said the same thing as he had said in English.

On one of the threads the washing machines were mentioned. My understanding is that you can only wash in hot water. Has this changed? Would appreciate an update if possible.

Thanks

No it is still hot water on all cycles. I have reported this to so many people and so many times it is almost ridiculous. I have mostly given up on this one.

I used to repair washing machines and appliances and have examined this as much as I can without and tools. Each machine has a hot and cold water connection and I loosened the connections on the machine I can reach and could tell that the hot and cold both have pressure. I tried turning off the hot water to that same machine and ran it through a cycle. The machine essentially froze up and it had to be reset by a technician. That might suggest that the machines are just connected backwards, but I cannot quite reach far enough back to unscrew and reconnect them to test that. If it is not that then the machines themselves are the problem which is not very likely.

In any case our cotton clothes really are shrinking and delicates are getting cooked. The clothes are not just warm, but hot when the cycle ends.

I just can't believe they have screwed things up so poorly. I am on the May 31st Viking Homelands, and am very discouraged by what I'm reading on here.

Please note that all is not bad on the ship. As I noted in the post that started this thread there are many great things about the ship. But, yes there are problems as well. I think its worth balancing your interests and priorities against those plusses and minuses.

Food, environment and crew attitude are excellent in my opinion and that has made this cruise awesome.

Management's cohesion and intercommunication has been poor, but also making slow progress forward.

Excursions, so far, have often been of poor quality and often, the management of excursions (assembling, etc) has been poor. But just now, for the first time, Viking just made an announcement that we are getting into Oslo 30 minutes late (pretty rough weather last night) and so guests should not start assembling in their excursion locations as scheduled. That is not only a first, but another sign that they are slowly but surely working their way through their weaknesses and problems. They have communicated something in advance in a way that shows better coordination of excursions.

Again, my bottom line is that we are having an incredible cruise and and incredible time and would do it all over again.

There truly is, though, an attitude effect on your pleasure and happiness. Keeping a positive attitude allows you to stay happier when, inevitably, things are not quite what you thought or hoped they might be.

One reason I have tried to post about good and bad is to avoid creating an impression that we are all suffering on board. I think even the most pessimistic person on board has been generally enjoying him or herself.

Thanks for the update CrusinSubMan.

 

It would appear that things will improve before I get on board next year.

 

Looking forward to now reading your great feedback on the ship and destinations visited.

 

Enjoy your time in Oslo.

 

You still get my vote re: the position of Director, Customer Advocacy :)

You are most kind! Fortunately, I like the day job I have now :)

I assume you have seen my blog "Travelinsubman" at Wordpress right?

Here is what I have figured out/ learned about EU tax refunds.

Sweden is a member of the EU and so you can do all your EU tax refunds when you exit the EU at Sweden.

The three primary countries that are not EU members are Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. So for those three you have to do it when leaving those countries.

While I am pleased that we can do them in Sweden, this also means you need to plan for this in terms of time at the airport on the 30th. We made our own travel arrangements so, for us, this is easy to control. But if you had Viking provide your air then you need to ensure they get you on an early enough of a bus before your flights.

Here is a link to a map of Terminal 5 at Arlanda showing both the location of the custom's agent and also Global Blue's two refund desks locations in Terminal 5. It also lists the hours for the two Global Blue desks (which is different then the hours for the custom's desk.). I was not able to find hours for the Custom's desk (yet).

http://www.globalblue.com/customer-services/tax-free-shopping/refund-points/sweden/stockholm-arlanda-terminal-52/

Hi Everyone,

Here is my report on the resolution of the May 17th incident and my final thoughts on it.

Yesterday, the 18th, Star management steadily worked on several offerings as a means of apologizing and making up for the humiliation and offense they subjected some of their guests to. Primarily this consisted of a $500 credit and special session in the Theatre last night at 8:30 PM where Tors stood up in front of a crowd of people and talked about the ship and the incident and took comments and feedback (both positive and negative). We then enjoyed a personal performance by a Norwegian violin virtuoso that was very moving.

Overall, I feel satisfied that the Star has done most of what they can do to apologize and make amends. Tors himself said "I am sorry" three times. Offending and insulting people is like ringing a bell. Once done you really cannot undo it. So, for the most part, this incident is behind me and I probably won't post on it any further, but will instead go back to the other threads to talk about good and and things on the Star. But I will make a few comments about this now:

1) There are still a few kinks being worked out on the $500 credit because, as I noted in an earlier post, the group that was invited and dis-invited is not exactly the same as the 50-dayer group. Invites went to many premium cabins also, for example, regardless of how many segments those persons were doing. But they appear to be adding those persons that come forward and identify themselves.

2) The audience and nature of comments last night was interesting. There were a mixture of both praise and complaints. Also interesting was that there was a bit of a division in the theatre with some guests really wanting to keep a positive message and some guests really wanting to express their frustration. It never got out of hand, but there was certainly some tension between factions of the crowd itself. It is clear there are plenty of 50 day guests that are having a great cruise (we are in that category) and some of them really do not like the negativity that comes with complaining. They wanted a positive session last night.

3) While this was not a "complaining" session per se, it included a chance for feedback and Tors got to hear the primary complaints that guests had or have. I think that was a very good thing.

4) Tors himself worked the audience pretty hard to keep a positive theme and a majority of those in the room expressed their overall pleasure and enjoyment of the cruise. I say that based on the clapping mainly and my sense of the tone in the room.

5) Mostly, Tors and management acknowledged issues last night and that was nice to hear, finally.

As I have noted, one of my biggest criticisms has been the nature of communication, both to the guests, and within the management itself. One guest that has been struggling to get their bill fixed for more than a month now makes a great example of that. Last night they got a chance to tell Tors about it and he connected them with a senior manager who I suspect will fix it promptly. But that should not take a theatre session with the owner to resolve.

In a good management system, issues and complaints are dealt with in a very accountable manner with reporting and accountability going up and back down the chain of command. That has not happened yet but I am still hopeful that they are gradually implementing procedures such as that. Last night was really not just a product of the May 17th incident, but a product of a new management team having to develop its communication and interaction culture on the fly. Having the owner have to stand in front of all of his 50 dayers and hear about their experiences, both positive and negative, probably has created the best chance for the whole team to go through a good learning experience about how they can do things better. And that, for me, was the best aspect of the theatre session last night.

About the spa, pool and gym equipment: What are the hours? Somehow I missed that. It seems like the outdoor deck equipment would be open at all times but what about the other? The pool hours? The hours for the spa that are not appointment related? Are the hours separate for men and women? Are showering facilities co ed? This doesn't seem logical but I've never taken a cruise so I don't know.

 

Thanks for the feedback

I have a review of the spa and exercise facility coming. Your questions are complicated a bit. But a quick simple answer

;

1 Spa is usually 8 to 8 and fitness is usually 7-10. The female and male dressing rooms (separate) are usually locked when Spa is closed.

Top deck is always open along with its exercise equipment. Same with 2nd deck track.

Upper pools seems to be open 24/7 whenever they are open (wave action or some ports result in some closures). Lower pools would be those in the spa which go with spa hours.

I am pressing the ship to expand hours of spa and fitness center. but one issue with expanding fitness center is that crew get to use it at 10 PM when it closes to guests. So expanding past those hours for fitness center entangles two groups that the ship probably wants to keep separate.

Can you post the names of the execs you spoke with?

It was actually just one (though I confronted a group of several of them as noted). I would rather not post his name as I have been avoiding listing people by name overall to avoid making it personal and this person showed some great courage and leadership in sitting down with us.

I will tell you though when I see you and all about it. But it won't be at 10 AM trying to get on that farm tour :D. You gluttons can pursue that one. I need to get off the ship and find a WIFI that will let me use Outlook so I can catch up on work email before the workweek starts up in the States.

I have a similar tax issue/ question I need to solve. We accumulated several EU tax refunds in the earlier segments. Our last port call in the EU is Tallinn, Estonia I think. The rules say that

1) you have to get the custom's agent stamp at your point of departure from the EU

2) You have to seek the refund in 60 days from purchase

3) You have the haver goods available for inspection in new unused conditions

Of course many of us with EU purchases may also fly through an EU airport from Stockholm Sweeden, but many of may not have time to to the custom's agent in that EU airport and others of us may not be flying through an EU airport.

So for us (we are not flying through an EU airport), I see two options:

1) Get custom's agent stamp in our last EU port of call (Tallinn Estonia I think)

or

2) Get it done in Stockholm is the Sweedish custom's agent stamp will qualify as an EU custom's stamp.

It is this latter option that I am the most uncertain about.

Woke up this morning to a beautiful dawn with Stavanger and the coast approaching.

Three of us had a nice (albeit long) experience last night that signals that Viking management is now well aware of the feelings of many of the 50 dayers and how offended we are.

We were sitting in the Explorer Lounge late last night (everyone got back late from the Christening so the ship left well after midnight from Bergen) when a group of executives started discussing the issue right behind me. They used some wording and tone that I thought was inappropriate to be using in public so I confronted them by turning around and saying something close to " I don't think you should be discussing this in a public place, especially since one of the "angry people" is right behind you."

Boy that probably really shocked them, especially when they realized I had been hearing every word they were saying and how they were saying it!

At that point a very senior executive came over and spoke candidly with myself, my wife and one other gentlemen at length. Great eye opener about many things and overall it was a great conversation. But we were up until 3:30 in the morning discussing things.

I expect some effort by Viking today to make amends but a few things they (since they are reading this) probably still do not fully understand:

1) It is not the mistake of mis-inviting us to the event we were not supposed to be invited to that is so upsetting. Most of us understand and expect that mistakes will be made.

2) The original mistake was made into a humiliating experience by how we were treated by them in the Theatre and overall in how they sought to resolve it.

3) They do not really know who got the invite letter, nor who was upset and offended.

4) I think (based on the conversation that I overheard before I stopped them) that they may still not all understand how offended we were (and are).

An open and public apology for that latter, "uninvite' incident is probably what will most heal the wounds as much as they can be. I am hopeful they pursue that today.

But so far the effort to resolve it has also not been managed ideally. The apology letter did not go to everyone that was offended nor did the ship credit appear on everyone's screen. Since I actually think they do not know who the invite went to nor who was offended this should not come as a surprise. But at this point I think nearly every single 50 dayer has heard about everything and feels offended even if they were not in the theatre when things went so badly awry. There may be some non-50 dayers that also got the invite letter and suffered through the embarrassment.

My advice to them is:

1) Treat us with respect in public spaces (I should not need to say this but need to given their public discussion of it)

2) Communicate with us in an open manner

3) Tell us the truth when they make a mistake including this one (I.e.: tell us what happened)

4) Apologize deeply and from the heart (focus on the theatre un-invite experience for the apology, not for the mistaken invite in the first place.)

5) Offer something as an amenity.

The challenge they have in executing on my advice is how to communicate to "us", since short of a ship's announcement, they have little other means of doing it. I guess we could spread the word to register ones room with the explorer's desk about being offended so they could accumulate a list of "us" but that is about the only other option I see besides a public announcement and will add delay to their efforts. They could send a letter to all 50 day cabins as an act that might come close to a surrogate for "us." But since they think they already did that and did not, they probably really need to do it much more carefully.

We should all keep in mind that this is going to fold out while all these friends of Tors, media and industry folks and other VIP's ride us for another day and enjoy the other event that I think we were also not supposed to be invited to: the special farm tour that was also in that letter.

We would all do well not to focus too much time and energy on this. Either they fix it up as best they can and minimize the damage or they don't. In either case, we will do best to focus on having as much fun as we can on the remaining wonderful itinerary we have!

I'm sorry this happened and by all means they owe a public apology. I have been a little upset by all the petty complaints by some but I have to admit this one was by far not petty. Don't let it affect the rest of your trip.

Most of us won't. We have had and are having a great trip. My blog shows that well. But this has arisen to a level that I am determined to make them suffer equally or make proper amends.

In the end, even this is "petty": it is just our humiliation about something we did not know we wanted to do until they offered it. Pride and self worth are a big part of the human's positive psyche but it does heal better than physical or economic injuries do. I got over not being picked for flag football in the 3rd grade by the time I was in high school. :D

Jeff T has favourited my tweet regarding your humiliating experience and is getting Viking's take on it - keep posted!

 

*************** would like to hear about it on their forum http://***************/forum

 

my twitter is @pukekolive if you want to see the tweets

Thanks to all.

As I suspected, it appears some people got a letter on their bed and some people did not. Some people also got a $500 credit already posted and some people did not. We, for example, have neither a letter nor a credit. Another couple have a credit had no idea what it was for until they came up and mentioned it. Others had the sorry letter on their bed. So generally, they are not even handling the pathetic attempt to buy off our humiliation well either.

But this will get worked out over the next two days (for good or bad).

The ceremony was pretty fantastic seeming. Too bad they marred it so badly for some of us.

...

....If this owner had any sense, he would meet with all of you , personally apologize and listen to all your suggestions for improvements.

A group of about 20 guests around me right now agree with this opinion, but not me. Tors is pretty accessible on the ship (or at least he has been the last two days) and may get confronted in the Explorers Lounge about it tomorrow if he dares to show his face. But the issue is that the anger is pretty high. It might get out of hand and not really accomplish anything. I think the best course would be an open apology from him for his and his company's failings and a commitment to change things up.

But I doubt any of that will happen. Sadly though, I am also convinced that if things do not change, then the company will fail to achieve what they want to achieve: being a high-end, smaller-size ocean cruising company offering a smooth and luxurious cruising experience. They will instead, peak and then decline with lower occupancy rates and greater and greater discounts.

So it really does need to happen. Really today's event is just another example of how badly they manage excursions. Just a real deep and offensive example.

I think the root problem lies in that the Viking Ocean management structure is about having no one in charge and accountable to customers and a culture of suppression of open communication. That is what needs to be fixed. There should be a clear person in charge and responsible for all experiences and a clear chain below that person. Then, when, say a lousy manager fails to deal with a problem or failing, his or her boss finds out about it and fixes it. Right now, issues just into the black holes between various managers and get poorly acknowledged and usually not responded to. Endemic to this is that really is no one in charge. There are a few big wigs but they each have certain limited roles. And there is no one above them offering himself or herself up as the person to go to when everything else fails. And again, Tors and corporate management have no one to blame but themselves for creating such a culture and management system on board.

In my post that started this thread I listed technology issues and communications high on the list (# 1 and 3 respectively) of things wrong. As others have noted, since leaving London, Wifi went from being tolerable and free to being nearly useless and still free. The explanation you can get when you pin managers down is that they switched service providers in London and the new one is not working right. But its been several days now and you still have to get past blustering by them before they admit it is problem. I can no longer upload any images. Nor can I use Outlook to received or send email. This is a problem for everyone. I spent hours going to Starbucks on Friday and Saturday to get email and work done and post my blog posts. I guess I will have to do the same in Stavanger and on until they fix this.

So I would say that my list remains accurate.

I am appalled at what Viking did. I am also surprised that the group did not say anything while be asking to leave. Requesting to speak to senior management at this time would have been appropriate. It would have been a great forum to express displeasure. ....

They were so embarrassed and humiliated. It was like being told you were a lower class citizen and not worthy of participating with these more important people. Or, like being a kid again and being told you were not cool enough to hang out with everyone else.

The Cruise Director himself seemed like he was reading a script because no one else, such as the Owner Tors, had the courage to confront the situation. Senior management was there and are probably furious. But they have no one to blame but themselves.

So the latest is a letter that has apparently arrived on some (but not all) beds saying oops we are sorry and please accept a $500 credit. And this is before the ceremony has even gotten going.

But its not throwing money at the problem that people want. They have been doing that over and over again. What people want is for them to acknowledge their problems and commit to fixing them instead of not talking openly about it and continuing to just do business the same way.