VIKING MAILINGS

[Aslangold]

Has anyone had any luck getting Viking to stop sending their ad mails.   Took a Viking Cruise and will NEVER do another.   Asked them months ago to stop the mailings.   They told me to allow 6-8 weeks.   That deadline (6/3) has passed and I have gotten 7 mailings since them.   Today was the last straw.  I've emailed them several times but they keep telling me I have to wait weeks longer and thanking me for my patience.   Well, my patience ran out a long time ago.   This is bordering on harassment.   Apparently once you are on their mailing list, you are on forever regardless of whether you want to or not.

[jklc123]

A few years ago I was able to stop their incessant mailing with one email. Apparently this is no longer true. I wasn't successful in getting Oceania to stop their frequent mailings, after one cruise with Regent. These mailings are such an ecological waste. I appreciate Uniworld's one catalog mailing a year.

[Roz]

8 hours ago, jklc123 said:

A few years ago I was able to stop their incessant mailing with one email. Apparently this is no longer true. I wasn't successful in getting Oceania to stop their frequent mailings, after one cruise with Regent. These mailings are such an ecological waste. I appreciate Uniworld's one catalog mailing a year.

 

I also have the same problem with Regent and Oceania, and I've never sailed with either and probably never will.  Yes, the endless emails and mailings from Viking are majorly annoying.  Maybe if they wouldn't send so many mailings, they wouldn't have to ask for full payment over a year in advance. 😉

 

Roz

[philw1776]

Cruised with Viking numerous times including a river cruise next months. No mailings for about 2 years.  You must be getting mine!

[purduemom1]

We used to get a “boatload” of brochures from Viking but lately only received a few a month-maybe one a week. Used to get 3 or 4 a week. Not sure how they determine the frequency but am glad it has become less frequent since it appears that asking them to stop does not work. We have never sailed on Viking and never requested to be put on their mailing list.  Would be interesting to know how much of their operating budget is spent on advertising. Must be significant🤔

[Coral]

I am getting 3-4 per week. I wish they would stop.

[TMLAalum]

Receive near daily brochures from either Viking, Vantage, Oceania & Regent. I just stop at my recycling can after picking up the mail and toss 'em in.

 

Funny, but the ocean cruise line we are loyal to- Celebrity- and the upcoming river cruise line we're booked with- Avalon- never send nuttin'!

[Roz]

46 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

Receive near daily brochures from either Viking, Vantage, Oceania & Regent. I just stop at my recycling can after picking up the mail and toss 'em in.

 

I do exactly the same thing.  Mailbox to recycling dumpster without passing GO.

 

Roz

[dogs4fun]

14 hours ago, Roz said:

 

I do exactly the same thing.  Mailbox to recycling dumpster without passing GO.

 

Roz

Yep - same here.

[Peregrina651]

Of all the things to get stressed out about in my life junk mail, spam and robo-calls are at the bottom of the list. There is nothing I can do to stop them and I refuse to let them raise my blood pressure or make me unhappy/sad/angry/annoyed. Life is just too short to let things I can't control control me.

[OnTheJourney]

On 6/28/2019 at 8:24 PM, Aslangold said:

Has anyone had any luck getting Viking to stop sending their ad mails.   Took a Viking Cruise and will NEVER do another.   Asked them months ago to stop the mailings.   They told me to allow 6-8 weeks.   That deadline (6/3) has passed and I have gotten 7 mailings since them.   Today was the last straw.  I've emailed them several times but they keep telling me I have to wait weeks longer and thanking me for my patience.   Well, my patience ran out a long time ago.   This is bordering on harassment.   Apparently once you are on their mailing list, you are on forever regardless of whether you want to or not.

 

Might I ask, at the risk of being overly inquisitve, why you feel the way you do about never wanting to cruise with Viking again?  I have somewhat of a vested interest in this being that, as passengers of the March 23 Sky incident, we have vouchers to use towards future travel, and were strongly considering one of their river itineraries. 

 

As to the frequent mailings, yeah..I get what you mean. Ever since our first cruise with Viking (the Sky), we must get a brochure from them every week. Doesn't really bother me - just goes into recycling along with the multitude of other unwanted stuff that arrives daily. 

[OnTheJourney]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Of all the things to get stressed out about in my life junk mail, spam and robo-calls are at the bottom of the list. There is nothing I can do to stop them and I refuse to let them raise my blood pressure or make me unhappy/sad/angry/annoyed. Life is just too short to let things I can't control control me.

 

Well put!!  Great attitude regarding it.....

[Roz]

The mailings don't control me, but they're a waste of paper and trees.  So many cruise lines extol the virtues of everything they're doing to protect the environment.  I'm not sure how wasted paper fits into this policy.

 

Roz

[Aslangold]

In response to the email as to why I would never cruise with Viking again there are many reasons but here are the top few:

 

Even though they advertise a cruise from Paris, they dock in LaPecq which is an hour outside of Paris.  Granted they list it as Paris (Le Pecq) France.   Le Pecq is not a part or district of Paris.    It took us over an hour to get into Paris by bus and over an hour back.   When we inquired how many buses ran to Paris per day from LePecq, we were told they ran every half hour.   That was false information - the bus ran once in the morning and once at night and that was it.    

 

We booked our airfare through them and were told that if we wanted to choose our airline, we would have to pay an additional $50 per person (which we did) only to be told that the airline we requested was not one they worked with.   We were given the option of Air France which we did not want because it was a time when the airline was unsettled due to numerous strike days (I work in the travel field so I had this information).  When I asked for another option, I was told it would cost us an additional $100 each.   I said, "Let me get this straight, we paid $50 per person to choose our airline and there is only one choice?"   With that, he said he could book us on our choice airline.    When we boarded the plane, the seats assigned to us were in front of the bathrooms and they did not recline.    We ended up calling the airline and paying for our seat selections on the way back.    

 

At dinner one evening, the gentlemen sitting next to us did not care for his meal and was about to order steak when the waiter told him, the steak was not good and he should choose something else.   My friend and I ordered hamburgers at lunch one day and we both had to ask for something else (we are not fussy eaters.)    The food most times was average for the most part.

 

We were asked prior to sailing if anyone had any food allergies and my friend said she was allergic to shellfish.   We were very fortunate that she noticed one of the salads put out for lunch had shrimp in it. or she would have had a hospital trip.  

 

Our cruise director seemed very personable until you tried to speak to him away from the group.  

 

Prior to paying for our tour,  a particular optional tour was advertised and this was one of the reasons we chose Viking.   After paying for the tour, we did not have the option of that tour and when we asked Viking agents if it was going to be offered, we could not get a straight answer.  

 

We paid $90 each for an illuminations tour to see Paris lit at night.   It was not until we were on the bus and it was pulling away, that we were advised it was too early for Paris to be lit so that the only building we would actually see lit was the Eiffel Tower.   We should have been told this prior to getting on the bus and given the option to cancel - either that or the tour should have been scheduled for later.  Paris by night is beautiful but we did not see it on the Viking tour.  

 

After going on that cruise, I never planned to do it again = however, I promised to do a Christmas Market cruise with a friend and had to keep that promise.   We booked Avalon and it was one of the best vacations I've been on - so much so that I booked another one.    Avalon is a first-class operation and I have not been bombarded with their mailings.    I hope that answers your question regarding my issues with Viking,

 

Before booking your next cruise with Viking, you may want to take a look at the article that appeared in one of my travel agent newsletters.

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Viking-River-Cruises-mum-on-most-recent-accident?utm_source=eNewsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=eltrdb&oly_enc_id=5901D4427978G0Z

Edited July 1, 2019 by Aslangold

[sharkster77]

TBH, there are lots of things about Viking that I like, but because of their insistence on using their 135 m longships on the Seine (which cannot dock there, 110 m ships can), I would NOT look to Viking for a Seine cruise.

[Peregrina651]

19 minutes ago, sharkster77 said:

TBH, there are lots of things about Viking that I like, but because of their insistence on using their 135 m longships on the Seine (which cannot dock there, 110 m ships can), I would NOT look to Viking for a Seine cruise.

 

Viking has built three smaller ships just so they can dock in the center of Paris. They will start operation in 2020. Two other ships will continue to dock in LePecq.

 

Viking Kari, Viking Radgrid and Viking Skaga will dock at Port de Grenelle in central Paris.