First time out of the USA since Covid and we picked to go to Bali and Australia--Big Mistake. We paid Viking extra to book our airline tickets (business class) and were only given 40 minutes to change planes at DFW from the domestic terminal to the international travel. Anyone who travels through DFW knows it's one of the most congested airports in the US.

We arrived at Qatar airlines 15 minutes prior to flight time and the doors were closed on us. Rebooking was a nightmare--we lost our business class tickets and had to fly economy. The trip in total was 43 hours from the beginning in Nashville, TN before we arrived in Bali. This was the start. As yet we have not received a refund for our business class tickets. Told this was not possible. Bribed with 2 $400 vouchers for another Viking ocean cruise. I said to keep the vouchers and fix the problem. Do you really believe we will use Viking again? Don't think so.

As I said, this was the beginning. We also paid for the pre-trip in Bali. Saw nothing. Boarded the ship and expected the excursions would be exciting--not true--why anyone would travel to the northeastern part of Australia is beyond me. Signed my husband up for golf in Darwin at the Palmerston Golf Course. Advertised as a premier course. I have no idea what lens Viking was looking through. The chauffeured-driven vehicle was a van; the clubhouse was a trailer; the bunkers were full of water; the course greens were brown, and the rental clubs were wiggly and unmanageable. My husband has played golf at many elite courses all over the world (from St. Andrews to Vallderama to Lahinch to name a few) and believe Greg Normand would not step foot on Palmerston. Viking should be more careful in its advertising. The Great Barrier Reef was a joke. Overbooked by Viking who obtained another boat for the overage. Compared to the posted write up it did not measure up and we were charged the same price. The post-trip was a success and salvation for the worst two+ weeks on board the ship. We have traveled with Seabourn, Silver Seas, and Regent and have never experienced the daily "what next!" on board a ship. I'll add that after complaints about the golf and GB reef we did receive a partial refund. The only positive on board was the Spa and of course, this is not owned by Viking. Believe we will stay with what we know and that is definitely not Viking.