We recently enjoyed a wonderful Viking river cruise - the Elegant Elbe. The luggage problem occurred when we checked into our hotel in Berlin - one of our bags didn't arrive with us. It turned out 4 bags were missing altogether. After a couple of weeks the bus company found the bags in a "never used" compartment. After nearly 2 more weeks we received our missing suitcase, all intact, but we were charged nearly $100 by UPS for the shipping. We have appealed to our Viking Customer service rep and let the bus company know about our unhappiness with having to pay. The costly lesson for us is that no one admitted any mistake or role in the mishap and, therefore, it is, by default, our fault. One of the wonderful things about these cruises is having the cruise line handle transfers for you. We will still enjoy that, I guess, but we will make every attempt to watch our luggage get loaded and unloaded on/off any bus or van - since we appear to be responsible, if not culpable.
Matt and Jimmy, I apologize for not getting your contact info. I you're reading this please contact Dave at lyrytsar@gmail.com