I have a story to share about Viking. About a month ago I received a call from Melvin at Viking River Cruises. He knew I had booked a "Tulips and Windmills" cruise for my clients, the Chars, with another agent. Melvin was following up with me to inquire whether they had been satisfied with their trip as he had record of Dr. and Mrs. Char having cruised "Waterways of the Czars" in the past. I told Melvin the Chars did enjoy their trip but had noticed the menu selection for their cruise offered less choices.
I shared with Melvin some bad experiences I had in booking Viking including not being able to book "Imperial Jewels of China" as Viking released their hotel space for that sailing. I also told him that I'd later received a phone call from my client telling me he was able to book the same sailing with Cruise.com and had to pay in full by 6 that night. This led me to call Viking to ask for the manager. The manager wouldn't take my call and I was informed that whomever paid for the cruise first would get the booking. I ended up with the family booking; the hotel assignments and air was assigned before their departure. Next, I told Melvin that later I received numerous fam offers from Viking for "Imperial Jewels of China." I had purchased air to Shanghai to visit family and made several calls, including some to the reps requesting to take the only a portion of the Yangtze River Cruise as I had already cruised the Yangtze River and visited both Shanghai and Beijing. I was told that regardless, I would have to pay for the entire trip and still arrange my own flights and transfers. I'd wanted the experience of taking Viking's new ship and seeing recent changes in the dams under construction. In light of being denied, I was disappointed to learn that the ship didn't sail full.
At this time, Melvin informed me that surprisingly, he takes reservations and that someone else had requested a partial booking. He was able to help them without their having to pay the full amount after taking the case to his supervisor. For 2010 sailings, Melvin stated that they are sold out into September and October but checked to offer openings that were canceled.
For future Viking bookings, I plan to call Melvin Chua at (877) 668 4546, ext 8297. He was most pleasant and helpful.
Viking had a large booth at Luxury Travel Expo. Not sure if I'd considert them luxury but certainly they've got a good product in China. I have a harder time selling them in Russia and Europe. One time teh Danube dried up and my clients had to be bussed around rather than cruise though they did return to the ship each night to sleep. You would have thought Viking would have called the agent but they didn't call me even though the previous 2 weeks it was the exact same scenario.
ReplyDeleteI had a spectacular experience with Viking River Cruise in China. Check out my radio show content at: www.AmazingChinaCruise.com
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