I wish I could divide the review and give separate ratings for the ship experience and the home office customer service experience. We were on the cruise that was terminated 5 days after sailing due to a "engine malfunction."

Background: We are Oceania and Azamara customers not river cruisers. Viking Oceans marketing their ocean going operation to compete with this niche market and as a "5 star" experience. The ship size, casual dressing and itinerary to Norway fit our need and we booked close to two years in advance paying in full based on port times and schedules provided by the home office at the time of booking.

Pre Board Experience: We were told by Viking that we could avail ourselves of the custom air option stopping at Milan and choosing our own flights so we could come in early pre-cruise and stay in Europe post cruise. When the time came for booking the flights, Viking told us that the "Viking Homelands" cruise was NOT eligible and that Milan was not a stopover option nor could we chose our flights. The flights available to us would be available only 60 days prior to cruising. At this point in time, the cost of the flights booking on our own had risen $200 pp from when we had looked from the initial opening 333 days out. Viking had cost us $400 by providing wrong and inaccurate information. Read more