longterm

That's really disappointing to learn; I didn't realize how involved Viking actually is with the decision-making at TripMate. It sounds like Viking's insurance division is run like most insurance companies, where the knee-jerk stance is to deny coverage, then fight to prevent paying out on any claims. I understand that they all look at the bottom line, but bad customer service always leads to a bad public perception. Fortunately, we haven't had to cancel a cruise yet, but as we get older, the chances of that naturally increase. We have a huge trip to Africa planned for 2025, and this thread has prompted me to read the policy we bought for that trip. I would encourage the OP to stick with it, try to reach the upper echelons of Viking management regarding this situation, but since vouchers are a major sticking point with trip policies, I would doubt that they'll get anywhere with this situation.

Someone will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I can tell by searching the web, Trip Mate isn't owned by Viking, although they do offer it. So, I'm not clear on why Viking gets the blame for this unfortunate situation. We had a thorny problem with an upgraded cruise in 2021; we agreed to delay our cruise in lieu of some money, a suite, and a longer cruise. Then, Covid came along and our cruise was cancelled, and the Viking rep didn't want to give us a replacement cruise at the value of the upgraded cruise. I argued for almost an hour with successive reps, until a helpful person told me to contact the "move-over" department directly. They honored the upgrade and we were able to rebook a cruise with the value of the upgrade. The lesson I learned was to be persistent; it took me more than an hour on the phone, and then a plaintive email, but we managed to prevail. Should that have been necessary? No, probably not. I bought Trip Mate for my very first Viking cruise (the Grand European river cruise), but subsequently realized they weren't the company to use. We use Travel Guard now, and when arranging an Africa trip that we're taking, my TA told me that if you don't get Travel Guard within 14 days of paying the first payment for a trip, the "cancel for any reason" clause isn't in effect. I took him at his word, planning to get insurance anyway, and immediately got insurance for the trip. Regarding mobility scooters, my understanding is that they're not allowed on Viking ships, but again, if I'm wrong I have no doubt that someone will set the record straight. 🙂

Here's the NN excursion I hope we can get; our cruise isn't until next summer, so it's too early to get a reservation, but looking at the same date in 2023, there are several departure times that would probably work--9:30am or 10:30am being the ones we'd choose between. I'd be hesitant to try to make an 8:30am excursion that's not a Viking excursion...

Thanks; originally, we were going to add a couple of days and go to Oslo, but our plans changed; we're now going to do a 2-week Rick Steves tour of Scotland, then 4 days in London, then get on the BIE cruise. We decided that was long enough without adding more days in Bergen. I looked at the Flam railway tour, but now we just have a single day, and there's a 12-hour NN excursion that looks like it will be just perfect for us, although it means we won't see any of Bergen.

I selected a starboard cabin for our BIE cruise next summer; since we're departing from Greenwich and heading south around England, Dover will be on the starboard side.

From what I've read so far, it appears that excursions from the ship start as early as 8:30am, so we *may* try to do that tour, but I think a later one (10am I think) would be the thing. Tour returns around 8pm, so we'd be fine.

You had an interesting trip! It sounds like you were very fortunate to meet some nice people; just goes to show that there are good people everywhere.

We'll be on the British Isles Explorer cruise next summer; I just saw something about the Norway in a Nutshell tour, and am wondering what the general consensus is concerning this tour. We have only 1 day in Bergen, and then we fly home the next; from those who have done this same cruise ending in Bergen, would you recommend the Norway in a Nutshell tour, or do you have something you would recommend in its place?

I've just not seen enough compelling reason to use VPN on a ship; the only reason I've ever used it was to make it appear that I'm in the US even when I'm not, so that I could log into the local newspaper's site (it won't allow me to login if I'm overseas). I seriously doubt that anyone who is on a Viking cruise, either as a passenger or as an employee, is going to try to steal any of my data, especially since I just don't get much use out of at-sea wifi on cruises these days. Hopefully it'll be better on our next cruise in October, but we'll have to see.

I've never felt the need for VPN on a cruise, but I'm sure it would work, but it'll take an already-slow network and make it even more sluggish. . On the last cruise I used my phone hotspot anytime we were in port, because wifi was really awful. I remote to my servers every morning, but was never concerned about fellow passengers on a Viking cruise.

In February 2020 were scheduled to take a 5-day Viking Caribbean cruise, as a test to see if we enjoyed crusing. Two days before departure, I got an email asking if we would consider delaying our trip, and in exchange, was offered a longer cruise--a choice of 3, the longest being 11 days--$1500 in cash, and an upgrade to a Penthouse Junior suite. What's not to love? I grabbed the offer, which meant that we would be going in December instead. Then Covid hit. Our cruise was cancelled, and when I called to reschedule, was told that we would only get a credit for the amount we'd been paid. No, I said, we agreed to delay our trip for an upgrade, and we want that upgrade. After arguing for 45 minutes with 3 different agents, I was finally advised by a knowledgeable agent to contact the "move-over department," which handles these upgrade offers. I did so, and got a commitment from them to honor the upgrade. We were finally able to take the cruise in December 2021, and did get the upgrade promised. So yes, it's a great deal, if you're willing to delay your trip.

We always get trip insurance these days; after reading countless negative reviews of TripMate, I found AIG Travel Guard and use them for all of our trips. We just secured a trip to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 2025, and I was advised to get trip insurance within the first 2 weeks of paying the deposit, so that we would get covered by "cancel for any reason." I was going to get insurance anyway so went ahead and bought the policy right away, even though the trip is 2 years away. Viking makes it easy to add TripMate, but before you consider buying it, do a Google search and you'll find lots of negative reviews.

We booked 2 days with Marisa at toursByLocals.com; she's an archaeologist-turned-guide, had worked in the Roman Forum, was extremely knowledgeable about the sites in Rome. She's a walking tour guide--no car--so you have to be prepared to walk. I would estimate that we walked at least 5 miles a day, probably more, but it was worth every step, because her wealth of knowledge was vast. She's a very nice person, punctual (arrived before our meeting time on both days) and a pleasure to be with. When we return to Rome, we'll use her again without hesitation.

We did this extension in May of 2022, and everything was included--tickets into the Acropolis, the Museum (the finest archaeological museum I've ever visited), as well as the other sites. We were also treated to a meal on the way back from Delphi, at a nice Greek restaurant; I don't recall whether there were any other provided meals (other than breakfasts each morning and a travel box of breakfast for the day we flew out of Athens). The extension was well worth the price, although we weren't crazy about the Intercontinental Hotel where we stayed (restaurant was mediocre at best, and overpriced). Delphi is one of my favorite sites that I've visited in many years, and Mycenae was also a great place to visit. I don't know where the Viking rep got his or her information, but we've never had to buy tickets to enter a site when on a Viking excursion, whether it was Rothenburg in Germany, Pompeii, the walled city in Dubrovnik, or the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.

I get that--I've been flying since I was a teenager--but since the days of paper tickets, they're not as readily visible. I assume that I'll be able to see them once I check in and download my tickets to my phone though. I looked just now at my reservation just now on United, and there are no ticket numbers--and we fly Saturday morning; I'm assuming we've already been ticketed though. As I mentioned, I did get 3 callbacks from United yesterday, which was a good thing; even though the issue was probably not of their making, they did their best to resolve it. Enough said on this.

I respectfully disagree, for these reasons: In these days of social media, where unhappy customers post their experiences on review sites and sites like this, companies try to avoid negative social publicity--which is why most companies monitor social media and respond to complaints and bad reviews. When I was still on the bird site, I regularly sought resolution to issues with companies, and often got direct contact with company reps. Companies do care about their reputations, even if we're just a couple of vacation travelers; it's not so much the revenue we might bring, as the word of mouth that reviewers like us spread on the Internet. This is why Viking monitors this forum; they care about what we travelers say about their service, and we've routinely seen replies from them. Customers talk about their experiences with companies, which is why we chose the homebuilders we chose, why we often choose restaurants we choose, why we select hotels that we do, why we chose the landscaper who just did a project for us. It matters to companies about their reputations, which is why I saw giant United Airlines banners at an MLB game just yesterday--otherwise, why would they bother to advertise? Contrary to what someone said, we do have brand loyalty when it comes to flying; despite Southwest's dismal computer meltdown last winter, we've always had great service from them, and choose Southwest whenever possible. Yes, we do have brand loyalty when it comes to flying; I never chose an airline just based on price--for example, I *never* flew Jet Blue because it was such an awful airline. In the future, my flight booking choices will be a bit narrower. Having flown every week for almost 20 years in the music business, with a group whose logistical requirements were thorny and fairly complex, I saw firsthand which airlines treated us better than others. I know that people have their favorites, as do we. It's unfortunate that some large companies fail to consider customer satisfaction as much as they should--but some companies do. When a package failed to arrive from Amazon, it took me 3 minutes to report it on their site, and a replacement was on our doorstep 2 days later. Now THAT'S good service. In restaurants, I've had managers offer free dessert if something wasn't up to snuff--that's a small gesture but always leaves a good impression. Finally, I would add that when I get great service or a notable meal, I always go on Yelp and praise them, just as I go on and voice my displeasure when I get bad service. It was apparent that United wasn't the cause of the issue with the one leg of our flight; the problem was clearly with Air Dolomiti, but I'm glad it was rectified. I should also add that I got 3 calls from United yesterday, so they did their best to make sure that we were taken care of and our issue resolved. In fact, I'll probably cut them a little slack in this situation, because someone cared enough to make sure that we were contacted and satisfied that our issue was resolved.

Yes, it IS managed by United; they're the ones that straightened out the mess. I don't know if I am ticketed, but I've gotten confirmations both from United and Air Dolomiti that I am actually confirmed on the flight that was the problem. Even though I bought the reservation through Travelocity, the flights are managed by United, which is where Air Dolomiti told me to turn for resolution. When I wanted to change flights in the past, on a flight that was also purchased through Travelocity, they told me to go to the airline to have the flights changed, and that's what I did then as well. I've flown hundreds of times; I don't recall EVER having ticket numbers.

But comment you did. Not being in the airline business, I of course never claimed to know how they manage (or mismanage) their business, but at least the issue was resolved. What I do understand, having run a computer consulting company for 26 years now, is that good customer service invariably rewards the company with customer loyalty.

OK, spoke to United this morning, and Air Dolomiti reinstated our reservation. I said "One Way," but that was incorrect, I guess it's Star Alliance, or whatever the group is that United is part of. At any rate, it was resolved and we're back on the flight we were originally booked into. What was really odd was that throughout, Air Dolomiti had our names listed, but somehow had dropped us from the list of passengers for the flight. Concerning comments about who was responsible (United or the subsidiary carriers), everything was originally managed by United, even though none of the 5 flights will actually be on United airplanes. When I chose our flights, it listed United but then said that the legs were operated by Lufthansa, Brussels Air, and Air Dolomiti. Someone suggested booking my own flights; that's exactly what I'd done. In the future, whenever I'm able to book our flights (the Viking Grand European being the exception since flights are included), I'll do what I can to stick with other carriers. I know experiences are anecdotal and others can cite examples of bad service from other carriers as well. I'll be double-checking our flights for the next 3 weeks, that's for sure.

I forgot the name; I think it's Star Alliance (whatever that huge conglomerate is that United's part of). In the past, I've always gone back to United to change things, and got some things modified.

Actually, not true, even though I did go through Travelocity. The flights were all booked, I had confirmation numbers for everything; in the past, when I've needed to adjust flights, I've always been able to go directly to the airlines. The problem came to light when I saw that I still didn't have seat assignments for the Air Dolomiti flight from Florence to Frankfurt, and in one particular view, the flight wasn't even listed--although in another screen on United's site, it *was* listed. So I called Air Dolomiti this morning early, and that's when I was told that yes, they had us on that flight, but now they didn't. I asked why, and he didn't really have an answer, except for me to contact United. Which I did, and now they're *supposed* to call me tomorrow morning. I'll be waiting with bated breath.

Good point! Speaking clear English would be a bonus; I'm very forgiving when people speak English with strong accents, but when I had to ask 3 times what the guy was saying, it led to a less-than-satisfying interaction. I'll say this though: when I've called AT&T or T-Mobile (who we just switched to), I've always gotten someone on the line fairly quickly. Same with Southwest, although it's rare that I've ever had to call them.

That's good to know; we actually have a couple of legs on Lufthansa--going out to Brussels, then on the way back from Frankfurt to Dallas. I like to use Travelocity because I find some good deals there, but when I selected these flights, it actually gave the airline as United, but because they're part of the One Way consortium, that includes all sorts of airlines--including, for this trip, Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, and Air Dolomiti (who I suspect is the culprit in this situation).

Fortunately, our flight over seems to be intact, and if we do end up having to fly home a day later, we'll just make the best of it and enjoy Florence for an extra day. Doesn't seem so bad when I think about it... 🙂 But not liking United before this incident, I've now resolved never to fly with them if I can help it. Of course, on our upcoming Viking river cruise in October, I have no doubt that we'll be put on... United.

Our favorite is Southwest; while I'm sure we'll eventually have a snafu with them, we've not experienced it yet. This is the first time I've ever had a reservation on a flight, and then it just simply disappeared. I even had the confirmation numbers, and the Air Dolomiti (the airline that United booked us on) rep told me that he could see our reservation, but that we were no longer on the flight. Not sure who to blame for this, but since United is who we booked with, and since they are the only ones who can resolve this, I place the blame squarely on them. At the very least they should give us a seat upgrade, but I don't see that happening.