We were so excited about this, our first cruise that we had booked a Christmas cruise for 2017 and paid for that before we left. We wouldn't have done that, though, if the phone staff hadn't promised me that the price advertised in the mailing was the very lowest price we would be offered. In fact, on the boat, they offer a standard $500 per person discount for a future cruise. They specifically told me that there would be no such offer.

Our cruise started in Venice, but in reality, we had to be bussed to Trieste to embark. Over and over we were told, "we can't do anything about the weather." But the reality is that they disembark over 900 people and fill the boat back up in the very same day. So there is no room at all for any problems. Fog in December in Vienna is not some incredibly rare event. So, rather than our day in Venice, we weren't on the boat until after dark while literally a boat's worth of people went through one person checking passports to get into the terminal. Then there were hours of waiting once inside the terminal. What was awful was that they had taken people's baggage, so lots of folks stood in the wind for many hours waiting to get in with no coat. Then, inside, we were told to drop out of the line and sit and wait, which we didn't. But the people who did didn't get on the boat until 8 or 9 pm. They were cleaning the boat, but they could have created a space for people to come on board and at least sit down and be warm.

When I called Viking to cancel our 2017 cruise after a long list of disappointments, which I don't have space to go into here, they absolutely refused to give me a full refund, even though they had had for months the actual cash from my checking account for a cruise which was basically a year in the future. They had offered us a $200 per person discount on a future cruise because of what happened the first day, but refused to apply it to giving me a full refund, in spite of the fact that I only did that based on misinformation I was given. I did eventually get all my money back, but it was a horrible and painful experience which took us from thinking perhaps we'd try a river cruise in the future some time(which the other passengers said were much better) to just never being willing to consider Viking again. Read more