Viking Cruises review: Viking failures on passenger service involving medical issues and flights home.

In December we were on Viking Star, Cities of Antiquity cruise which embarked from Rome. A medical issue occurred and the medical staff forced me to go to the emergency room in Sicily via ambulance which was unnecessary because the medical issue was resolved in the morning we were forced to leave the ship. My disabled husband was basically held hostage until they got a credit card to pay for the emergency room. Then they sent him via taxi to the hospital (outside) by the way which was cold and nowhere to sit. The doctor (Dr. Xenia Lo Giudice attending physician) in the Emergency Room at Relazione Sanitaria Di Pronto Soccorso ran 2 sets of blood panels and an EKG. All tests were normal and she asked me why I was sent to her Emergency Room. My response was that the medical staff on Viking Star either did not have the experience necessary to evaluate real medical issues or chose to dump us off the ship so they didn't want any responsibility. Dr. Xenia Lo Giudice was extremely helpful and she found out my disabled husband was outside and got him inside and helped us get a taxi. This should have been Viking's responsibility yet they chose to disregard caring for their passengers.

When we got to the hotel (old and rundown) and approximately 40 minutes from the hospital I was contacted by a Viking agent who was to assist us traveling home. He asked me if I had the clearance to fly form. My response was no we were not given any forms when I departed the ship (apparently this was another oversight since they were in such a hurry to get me off the ship). He said he would fax me the form but I would have to take it back to the emergency room to get it filled out before they would make travel arrangements for us. The emergency room as I noted was 40 minutes away and as I don't speak Italian how did he think I would be able to talk my way back in and find the doctor that saw me? Without this form he refused to help me and I had to make travel arrangements on my own. This took the rest of the day by the way due to Viking's error. We had to pay an additional 3500$ (transportation to nearest airport and airfare) to return home.
Claims were submitted to Tripmate travel insurance in December and additional documentation submitted 3 more times for the additional expenses (3500$) to return home that Viking should have covered and to date we have not been reimbursed. Viking has been contacted regarding Tripmte's failure to reimburse our expenses and their response was we will give you a credit on your next voyage. I asked the Customer Service representative if he thought we would ever get on another Viking ship given that we were marooned in a foreign country due to their errors and mishandling all the issues presented above.