letscruise29

Hello. Someone on FB posted this. Perhaps benefits increased but I don’t have the same info to compare from current program or when this change takes place.

This was my husband’s bucket list trip. We researched clothes to pack, got tips from FB group, bought required evacuation coverage and off we went. After sailing two days through the drake passage, the first afternoon did not allow for any excursions due to weather. Next morning we were ready for excursions and they set out starting at 7 AM by 8:30 AM there was an incident on the zodiac with a malfunction that broke a woman’s leg. All excursions were canceled for the rest of the day, and we eventually were told we had to return to Ushuaia. Here we go again with a rough trip through two days of the Drake passage, but it gets worse now we are hit by a rogue, wave, and windows break and a passenger dies. Water is filling the hallway. People are bleeding. Some are wearing robes or just jeans. Panic abounds. But yet people interviewed are talking positively about Viking. Personally, I don’t get it. Is Viking really going to set out for Antarctica and put someone in a cabin where someone died a few weeks earlier. This was only the 4th sailing on this ship and it experienced a malfunctioning zodiac and windows that broke enough to kill someone. Sounds to me like that needs to be an investigation not just a repair of windows. But literally during our sailing an email went out 11/29 discounting price from $9995 to $7995. So basically someone who planned in advance just lost $4000. We are offered a voucher and 50% cash back. Sure 150% is better than what they offered during Covid but can you put a price on five days of hell on a ship. Basically four days of which were sailing through the extreme conditions of the Drake passage and having all excursions canceled and a person dying. Money can’t replace a life or the trauma the rest of us experienced. Prices increase. People may have purchased when there was free airfare or free silver spirits, and now they have to pay for those items. And isn’t the trauma worth something. There were a lot of people on the ship concerned about our safety. Yet No one from Viking has even called us. I don’t know what the right answer is but I feel like all Viking cares about is filling their ships. During our emergency, Viking employees were wonderful and calm and caring but that does not change the fact that we went through a traumatic experience and four days out of our 5 1/2 were spent in a very rough situation in the Drake passage. Sure you can give us our money back, but what about the money we spent on flights, pre hotel, evacuation insurance, transportation, pet care, child care at home, etc Money doesn’t change the fact that this was a traumatic experience for me and obviously we could not evacuate the passenger who broke their leg so we were all negatively impacted. But the biggest question is how does a ship on its 4th sailing experience broken windows so severe that someone dies. Yes it was a rogue wave but they are not uncommon in the Drake passage, so how can Viking be sailing a ship that is not capable of withstanding a rogue wave. Money isn’t everything, but the way Viking is constantly discounting things seems to make it all about filling ships, but yet they can’t provide us the extra expenses that we spent besides what we paid them. I can’t believe an accident that was covered in every news station in the world and all the Viking does this offer their passengers 50% extra for what they paid. Personally you couldn’t have paid me if someone had said oh you can go through the Drake passage back and forth, but never get off the ship but you can have broken windows and a person who breaks their legs and you can do that for free and eat our food. Would you do that? Heck no. Can’t believe that passengers aren’t somehow getting together and planning a class action lawsuit or someway of Demanding Viking provides further compensation. This is our 3rd trip with Viking and it has really left a bad taste in my mouth. PS. This is the email that went out the day we had the rogue wave basically discounting what we just paid thousands of dollars more for. Viking appears to be turning into a discount cruise company.