Cruiser Left Frustrated After Two Excursions Unknowingly Cancelled
Cruisers are no strangers to cancellations, they are bound to happen every now and then.
A port might be too windy to dock at, there might be a change to itineraries, and excursions could get cancelled for many reasons.
Cruise lines do their best to notify passengers of these changes, but sometimes, things fall through the cracks.
This was the reality for one soon-to-be cruiser who booked a Viking River Cruise for later this year, who was failed to be notified about two excursion cancellations.
Not only was this guest not notified about the change, but they were also not refunded their money.
This individual took to Reddit to share their frustration, saying, “I booked the e-bike tour through the Black Forest. Weeks later, when looking at other excursions, I noticed that the e-bike tour had been removed.”
The passenger went on to share that upon checking, they had assumed it could have been sold out, but ultimately decided to call Viking Cruises to see if that was the case.
Viking Cruises’ cancellation policy states, “Shore excursions can be added or canceled on My Viking Journey up to seven days prior to departure. Cancellations at that time can still receive a full refund.”
Upon contacting the cruise line, the guest learned that the excursion had been removed entirely without notification, and that they only received a refund after explicitly asking for one.
“I also booked a cruise in Amsterdam to see the city before departing on the river cruise. When I logged into my account, I saw that the cruise had disappeared,” the post continues, outlining the second time an excursion got cancelled.
Again, the guest was not notified directly about the cancellation and had not been refunded, causing more frustration.
In contacting Viking a second time, the Redditor learned that the Amsterdam cruise was scheduled for the night before they arrived, making it impossible.
When asking why it was even available to be booked, the cruise line said there had been a glitch in their system that made it possible.
While this cruiser has been on 14 cruises on different cruise lines, this was their very first experience with Viking — so far, it has been anything less than impressive.
The request is simple from this poster, who said, “I understand that things happen however, I do feel like I should have been notified and should not have had to ask for my refund.”
Mixed Feedback & Similar Experiences
Others quickly took to the comments to share their experiences, some even agreeing that Viking Cruises’ style of communication is quite slow.
“Took Viking for a Caribbean cruise last year, loved it except every one of our shore excursions was cancelled,” one person responded, noting that the cruise line was awful about notifying them when the cancellations happened.
“I’ve done three cruises with Viking and never had issues like this,” commented another, adding, “We had the money back for the excursions before they even told us the port was cancelled.”
Read Also: 10 Worst Cruise Fails You Can Prepare For
One person pointed out that it was a good idea to double-check that the email attached to their account was correct and to check their spam folder.
This commenter also asked if the individual had booked with a travel agent, as sometimes they get the correspondence from the cruise line rather than it going directly to the passenger.
While many were quick to share their positive experiences with Viking Cruises, they all agreed that the failure to notify the passenger of the changes was not acceptable.
The moral of the story is that cruise lines are responsible for making sure that guests are aware of cancellations at all times, but it never hurts to double-check.
Cruiser Left Frustrated After Two Excursions Unknowingly Cancelled