Communication of issues onboard and what happens after

[uktog]

I saw comments on another thread about communication of issues onboard but I cannot find it so I would like to add my perspective and experience.

 

When we were onboard Viking Venus last week a decision was taken to cancel two ports and effectively end the cruise with four sea days and head straight back to Tilbury London.  I am not going to debate the rationale for this decision and the fact no alternatives were looked at given that we moved at snails pace in a millpond for the last 24+ hours so maybe something else could have been done (My experience to date on Azamara is they do everything they can to stop somewhere else to avoid losing too much port time).  The Captain verbally communicated this cancellation decision in an announcement when a large percentage of guests including ourselves were ashore on Viking excursions and there was no follow up communication in writing.  Only by chance talking to another guest late that evening did we discover the change by which time we could not go back ashore and therefore had none of the little gifts we wanted to buy for the grandchildren.

 

I have some missed port insurance so I went and asked for the letter confirming the cancellation on the grounds of bad weather I knew my insurers would need (again I have experience of the process with Azamara so knew exactly what I needed).  My request for a written communication was refused by a senior officer.  I was however comforted to be told not to worry as Viking UK would be contacting every guest who was on the cruise from the UK within 48 hours to discuss the position in relation to the missing ports.  Maybe some UK regulations on significant changes to itineraries were going to play in our favour I thought.

 

Today as it is 96+ hours from disembarkation and I had heard nothing I contacted Viking UK.  My call was dealt with very professionally again it was escalated up so I was not talking to a first level call handler.  Bottom line, they had had no notification from the ship of the cancellations or the commitment to call all UK guests.  They have now agreed to email me a letter about the cancellation and also investigate why I was charged $24 for what looks like the bottle of wine sent as a gift by an officer on another ship.....

 

Oh and whilst they are very quick to whack extra charges to my credit card, my refunds of paid for excursions cancelled by viking due to these weather conditions and paid for pre cruise with the same card will not be coming to my credit card where my bank would do the currency conversion but will be converted at a rate of Vikings choosing and sent to me by CHEQUE within 14 working days........  (again my Azamara experience all refunds due from onboard accounts including pre cruise purchased excursions go straight back to the card used at embarkation).

 

This is not a random call handler going rogue, these are senior people promising things and not following up and very unusual approaches to delay refunds.

[KBs mum]

Viking UK are definitely not as good as they have been, we don't usually book excursions, so can't speak for refunds on them. We have had a refund straight onto the card from Viking River a few years back. 

We pay GBP for everything in advance, basically cruise, flight upgrade, drinks package, so haven't encountered the currency conversion problem from on board spend. Aggravating them not putting it back on the card or BACS. Is the conversion realistic? 

[uktog]

I’ve no idea yet. The purchase was made pre cruise in sterling but now it’s appearing as a dollar amount to be converted. 

[KBs mum]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

I’ve no idea yet. The purchase was made pre cruise in sterling but now it’s appearing as a dollar amount to be converted. 

We had a conversation with Viking after phoning the UK number that was far more similar to US Viking ways of doing things (going on reports on these boards) than in past conversations with them. The person KBs dad spoke to seemed to not know basic info about getting flights from Heathrow and Birmingham Airport. When asked they said they were in London but we aren't convinced. 

Being charged in dollars suggests that Viking USA is somehow influencing Viking UK. 

[uktog]

30 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

We had a conversation with Viking after phoning the UK number that was far more similar to US Viking ways of doing things (going on reports on these boards) than in past conversations with them. The person KBs dad spoke to seemed to not know basic info about getting flights from Heathrow and Birmingham Airport. When asked they said they were in London but we aren't convinced. 

Being charged in dollars suggests that Viking USA is somehow influencing Viking UK. 

To be clear the pre cruise purchase was charged in sterling, the refund that was applied onboard is in dollars and the credit balance outstanding to be paid to me is therefore in dollars and will be converted at their rate back to sterling  

[KBs mum]

17 minutes ago, uktog said:

To be clear the pre cruise purchase was charged in sterling, the refund that was applied onboard is in dollars and the credit balance outstanding to be paid to me is therefore in dollars and will be converted at their rate back to sterling  

I understand what you are saying. Seems odd that payments not charged on board should be refunded on board and not directly in £ 'offboard', but anything is possible

I didn't know that cheques even exist anymore. 

[Mich3554]

I can tell you what happened with us when we lost a lot of ports and had a screwed up schedule.  We DID get a letter from Viking telling us they were going to compensate us while we were on board, but not how.  We later found out that one cruise gave us 50% cruise credit, the other 25%….but this was within a month of getting home.

In our experience, when you have a shore excursion canceled BEFORE you sail, the charge goes back to your credit card.  The 5 we had canceled while sailing went into an account as a refundable cruise credit where we received at check at the end of the cruise for the balance.  
Looking back, we got off our cruise 12/22.  One cruise credit hit on 1/7 (for the cruise that ended 12/5) and the second hit 1/21.  We received a check for the refundable cruise credit on 1/19 (or that was when I deposited it).  
Since we paid in US $$ and were refunded likewise, I can’t tell yo7 of an6 exchang3 differences.  Sorry.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Mich3554

[uktog]

Thanks the excursions were cancelled once we were on board - both were cancelled by Viking due to weather conditions.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Thanks the excursions were cancelled once we were on board - both were cancelled by Viking due to weather conditions.

We had one canceled due to weather, the rest because we were blocked out by the country. They were treated the same way.  The only one that was treated differently was our excursion into Turkey, which was canceled a few weeks before the ship sailed.  That was refunded directly back to the card.

[Heidi13]

7 hours ago, uktog said:

Thanks the excursions were cancelled once we were on board - both were cancelled by Viking due to weather conditions.

 

When most of the ports were cancelled on our last cruise, Viking refunded all missed shore-ex to our onboard account, which was in US $. When we eventually disembarked, they advised the refundable balance on our shipboard account would be refunded within 6 weeks.

 

Had the credit card we used for shore-ex not expired, Viking would have refunded to the credit card. We received a cheque for the entire amount in US $, which I exchanged at our local bank. We did OK on the exchange rate, during the 9 months between purchasing and receiving the cheque.

[Kitekat]

We have had refunds at the end of a cruise (due to cancelled excursions) on other lines. These generally take some three weeks to come through back to whatever credit card is registered for on board charging. So a few days after three weeks, we called Viking UK to find out about our refund, to be told it would be sent by cheque, which took another week...

 

[uktog]

I’ve also now had charges debited to my card for items they allege I “took from the room on disembarking”. As I took absolutely zero I’m not that impressed. Put in a dispute call, wonder how long that refund will take ????

 

(didn’t like the accusatory tone of the agent - are you sure you didn’t take an item…..yes I am……)

[takemewithyou]

11 hours ago, uktog said:

I’ve also now had charges debited to my card for items they allege I “took from the room on disembarking”. As I took absolutely zero I’m not that impressed. Put in a dispute call, wonder how long that refund will take ????

 

(didn’t like the accusatory tone of the agent - are you sure you didn’t take an item…..yes I am……)

What did they try to charge you for?  Items from mini bar?  Or some other items?  
That is concerning!

[uktog]

1 hour ago, takemewithyou said:

What did they try to charge you for?  Items from mini bar?  Or some other items?  
That is concerning!

They said they would have to contact the ship to find out, certainly weren't prepared to reverse the $24 charge immediately.  We were in a PV so the few little bottles in the minibar we had were included (only had a few as we had the package and preferred drinking in the Explorers lounge.  

[Peregrina651]

15 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

Items from mini bar?

 

Probably not.

 

What's in the mini-bar is ours to consume. If the cabin comes with complimentary replenishment (i.e. all cabins except V cabins), it happens automatically. If you want to purchase something in addition to what is supplied gratis, you have to fill out an order form. So, it is unlikely that it is a charge for the mini-bar -- and if it is the mini-bar, there should be paperwork to back up the charge.

 

 

 

[KBs mum]

Something from the desk compartments? Clothes brush or something? Can't think of anything else that might be that amount, the room items that are on the list as being purchasable are extortionate. 

 

I accidentally packed an out of print book we'd borrowed onboard Sky, when I sent an email asking how to return it we were allowed to keep it. Didn't want it so next cruise took it with us and left it on Orion. Seems odd Viking are making a fuss over such a small amount. It'll cost more in wages to investigate than the item would cost to replace. 

[Clay Clayton]

$24 sounds like what we paid for binoculars when we had non-refundable shipboard credit left on the last evening of our cruise. They and a triple amaretto took the balance down to 23 cents which I was willing to leave on the table 😉

[downsmead]

Sounds like us on our last cruise, left with 43 cents in the kitty after enjoying a lovely Tattinger rose champagne on the last evening.