Hiking In Heels
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Posts posted by Hiking In Heels
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On 2/20/2019 at 3:22 PM, Cienfuegos said:
Cuba is a place of enigma and contradictions. Things that are permitted become not permitted. But Viking could have done a better job. A much better job for the price they charged.
That's ultimately how we felt - we selected the pricier Viking cruise rather than a cheapie one because, with some of the travel issues still being ironed out with Cuba, we figured they would be on top of it, or have a reasonable back up plan. We asked a lot of questions on our end about Visas and permits to ensure we were doing our part, too.
With the constant issues this cruise has, and continues to have, I'm shocked that there's not a plan B or a better approach to handling this. Our Cruise Director made a lot of jokes about how it just meant we got to spend more time with him, which is what we were really there for, right!? It was a very odd approach - continuing to bring attention to a missed port and laughing about it. It just felt like salt in the wound, and the whole experience really colored my opinion of Viking.
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On 2/21/2019 at 4:07 AM, Captain_Morgan said:
Weather aside, which we all know is something which can't be controlled by even the most seasoned companies, it seems the issue at large is a combination of poor planning, poor design and perhaps even a little arrogance on behalf of an upstart bunch in the sector of ocean cruising. Let me explain...
We were on the Canada/New England cruise last year where we had our original itinerary changed which we later found out was due to the fact that there is a speed restriction in the Gulf of St Lawrence in order to avoid collisions with whales, etc. which i completely accept; however, it seems this was never factored in to the itinerary planning as the speed required to get from Montreal to Charlottetown (original schedule) was too high and as a result we went to Gaspe instead, which was alright but it's not what was advertised or planned for! Of course in this case we also had the currents of the St Lawrence working against us, which cannot be helped but these are things which i would expect someone responsible for planning itineraries to consider??
I always make a point as well of speaking with the senior marine and technical officers during the meet & greets as well as asking a lot of questions on occasions when I've managed to visit the Bridge as its amazing what kind of detail you can find out, which is not otherwise known or considered. Case in point is the fact that as nice as the ships are, they are vastly under-powered in the stern and although they have a stern thruster, one officer said it was the equivalent in power to a ceiling fan. Sure that's an exaggeration but it was used to illustrate the point that even with all engines working (which it seems they seldom are) they still have issues when the wind is blowing more than 20kts...
As for the arrogance, its not meant to be taken as an insult but more of an astute criticism in that it seems on more than one occasion, Viking have seemed to think they can show up late to the party and still get a seat at the table. In the case of Cuba, i think we can all agree that the likes of NCL, Royal, HAL etc. have had their finger on the button just waiting for Cuba to open up for ships long before VOC was even thinking about putting a ship in the ocean, so when the time came they of course were ready to go and got first dibs on preferred berth allocation. The fact that the original Viking itineraries from what i understand said the ships would dock in Havana only to then be left at anchor for nearly 3 days is a testament to this poor planning and over estimation of their place in the system, which of course sounds as well like its not been disseminated well to the passengers.
After the first 2 years you can call these 'growing pains' but i would think if a company has such an ambitious plan to flood the market with its product they would be better served working to perfect what they have instead of repeating the same mistakes only separated by 12-18 short months before they do it all again with a new ship
We just got a voucher for a discount on a future Viking Cruise, but I'm concerned, like you pointed out, that Viking seems to be having a lot more 'growing pains' four years out that you'd expect from a company of Viking's caliber.
I'm not as experienced of a cruiser as most folks - do you know if switched ports and unfeasible itineraries (like not taking into account speed restrictions, as you mentioned) are as common on other lines? Viking is the only one we've run into these issues with.
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We just got our email - are you inclined to use your credit? One of our fears is that cycle of throwing money down in hopes of things improving. I'm not sure we'll be able to afford another Viking cruise and get enough Paid Time Off from work before our discount expires, since we're in our 30s and work full-time.
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17 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:
Regardless of who you have already contacted at Viking, shoot off an e-mail to the folks at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. Include your booking number and if you wish your phone number --and explain your problem.
Thank you!! I will let you know how it goes.
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We learned an hour before tours were set to meet that the Feb. 19 port in Santiago de Cuba was cancelled due to wind. We were very disappointed, especially when Viking felt a game of cornhole was an equitable substitute for the cancelled port. I’ve reached out twice to customer relations with no reply, so perhaps there is something else aside from a bean bag toss they are working out to compensate cruisers, although an acknowledgment of receipt of my messages would be appreciated.
Reading through the Cruise Critic forum, it looks like more often than not that not all ports are reached, or there is some last minute change on this Cultural Cuba Cruise. We knew they hadn’t been permitted for a Havana port even though it was on the original itinerary (a major issue for previous cruisers who didn’t know that when they booked), and they had it sorted to Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba.
I just read the previous sailing’s Santiago port was cancelled for illness. We are (were?) big fans of Viking, and did the Paris river cruise with few issues in 2015 (other than not being permitted to dock in central Paris, despite the itinerary, which seems to be a Viking pattern, to release an unpermitted itinerary), and no cancelled ports. In fact, we were on the boat when the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks happened and Viking went out of their way to arrange alternative excursions at no cost when we couldn’t enter the locked down city.
Has anyone made it to all the ports with an unchanged itinerary on this Cultural Cuba cruise? I’m hesitant to book again with Viking if there are itineraries with routine problems that are only fixed short term rather than with a long term, stable solution. We thought we got a screaming deal (if you can call $2800pp that), but now I’m concerned this is Viking’s ‘problem child’ Cruise and any other offers will be rooted in low customer satisfaction and high dropout due to port changes, resulting in the need to drum up customers.
Are Viking Ocean cruises fun?
in Viking Ocean
Posted · Edited by Hiking In Heels
One caution - while Viking can get into smaller ports, if they cancel a port you are left to your own devices to entertain yourself on the ship. We love the Viking destinations, but we were definitely looking for things to do when they cancelled one of our two Cuba ports and we were at sea for the entire second half of our cruise. They don’t really increase activities or lectures if they cancel a port (and at least for Cuba, it seemed to be a recurring issue to get folks to Santiago de Cuba - I think we were the second or third Viking cruise just in 2019 to skip the port), so make sure you bring an extra book! Beautiful boat, but you realize how small it is when you’re stuck on it.