Bad Experience with Portugal's River Of Gold with Viking Cruise
 

My wife and I booked the Portugal's River Of Gold with Viking Cruise, Booking Number: 6721657 starting on May 23 2022. This was our third booking with Viking after attending the Viking Stockholm to Bergen Cruise in 2018 and the Yangtze/Tibet review cruise in 2017, both to our full satisfaction.

Regretfully on Day 2, Tuesday, of the Portugal tour, I tested positive for Covid-19 and I was asked to isolate in my hotel room and we could get on the cruise. We asked to meet the Viking response team the next day, but despite many promises, the Viking representative, Gonçalo Costa, only showed up to meet me on Friday, 3 days later. Gonçalo claimed that both of us are required to do on day 6 (Monday May 30th) an antigen test. If negative, we can check out on Day 7. If positive, I have to isolate for 10 days. I called Portugal Health Ministry and they told me that Portugal does not require second Covid test on Day 6 and that I am free to leave at the end of the 7 days isolation period. We communicated that to Viking Covid Rep, but instead of checking it with Portugal Health Department, he insisted on me taking a second test. As I refused, he declined to provide me with documentation that I fulfilled my 7 days isolation requirements when we left on Day 7 w/o doing the test as he requested which I had to test and pay for privately.

I filed a complaint with Viking Customer Relations on June 13th and they dragged the response until I get my expenses paid by my insurance 5 months later. Viking declined to provide me any monetary compensation besides a $2,500 per person discount if I book a trip with them within a year. We felt that this compensation was not compatible emotional stress inflicted on us in Portugal and is locking us to book our next tour with Viking, and decided to decline. We received a very rude response from Samantha Grigg, who replaced the two Viking Customer Relations agents that followed our case before.

Given this outcome, my wife and I decided not to go on Cruises with Viking in the future.

You have made a good decision.

Would never use Viking. Any business that advertises on TV and with mailed brochures as much as they do, is taking that advertising money from you, the traveler. Think they catch people who do see/hear their ads, dont do much research or have sources from other friends, and just go with it. Not yet taken a river cruise, planning one in December, will report back on that afterwards. Only other cruises were via Royal Caribbean (almost 20 years ago) on the Baltic Sea, and two subsequent via Azamara, which we loved. We prefer to travel on our own, doing one country at a time for some weeks.

Thanks.

Hi Aliced.

Although we told Viking we won't use them any longer, they keep bombarding us with mailed brochures. Don't know if there is a way to stop that..

Mark "Return to sender" and put it in the outgoing mail.