Vantage Travel: Majestic Rivers of Europe July 7, 2013

[Two from Virginia]

My husband and I are booked on this river cruise. Anyone else?

[Two from Virginia]

anyone joining us on this cruise?

[mcconh]

Yes, two from Ontario Canada.

[Two from Virginia]

Welcom mcconh. Have you ever cruised with Vantage? before?

[mcconh]

Originally Posted by Two from Virginia

Welcom mcconh. Have you ever cruised with Vantage? before?

No we have not, this is our first river cruise. We have found that the customer reviews we have read have been generally positive.

[4774Papa]

We did Vantage Russia, which was excellent. Next, we are doing China with Vantage in September. They take good care of you on these trips.
Check out the Roll Calls threads under River Cruising.

[Two from Virginia]

I can't believe there are only 4 of us going on this river cruise? Anyone else?

Thanks 4774Papa for your input.

[Talisker92]

We cruised Vantage in 2010 on the Castles along the Rhine and Danube from Budapest to Amsterdam and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would suggest buying a book on the Castles along the Rhine so you can read the history of each one.
We wrote a review of our cruise on our website as it was too long to post here.
www.stevekathytravels.com
we will be happy to answer any questions

[nana541]

Please explain for a River Cruise newby .... Is Vantage and French Waterways one and the same company???

[atlasali]

Hello,
I am not on your cruise, but we will go on our first river cruise May 15th 2013 on the new Vantage boat River Venture cruising on the Rhine and Moselle from Amsterdam to Basel.

No one else has appeared to join us and my roll call is embedded in the thread "Vantage River Cruises 2011 and 2012". Maybe we need to start a "Vantage River Cruises 2013 and 2014" thread. What do you think?

I would love to hear from someone who has been on the new Vantage boat River DiscoveryII this year. Are the mattresses comfortable? Do the hair dryers really dry your hair? Is there a place in the cabin to hang clothes to dry--I do not have over 2 weeks of underwear. Please post those reviews!

[Talisker92]

Originally Posted by nana541

Please explain for a River Cruise newby .... Is Vantage and French Waterways one and the same company???

No, they are separate companies, but the cruise we took with Vantage was called "French Waterways"
Sorry for the confusion.

[nana541]

Originally Posted by SJGOCH

No, they are separate companies, but the cruise we took with Vantage was called "French Waterways"
Sorry for the confusion.

Oh what I relief....thought I was even crazier than normal as I tried to sort the ins and outs of what I am hoping is our next big adventure! Loved seeing your pictures and reading of your travels!

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

My DW and I just booked the July 7th cruise last week. We are experienced ocean cruisers, but this will be our first river cruise. We did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that for us, Vantage offered the best value and itinerary.

[mginfl]

There are four women friends going on this cruise from Cincinnati. We have never been on a river cruise, but we have friends who took this cruise this year. They are having us to dinner next week to show us their photos and discuss the trip.

[SLO Dancers]

Originally Posted by atlasali

I would love to hear from someone who has been on the new Vantage boat River DiscoveryII this year. Are the mattresses comfortable? Do the hair dryers really dry your hair? Is there a place in the cabin to hang clothes to dry--I do not have over 2 weeks of underwear. Please post those reviews!

I was on the River Discovery II this August and am happy to answer any questions. The mattresses were comfortable, but the pillows could have been better. I don't usually use a hair dryer, but when I needed it, it seemed fine. It's located by the desk, not in the bathroom. There is a clothes line in the shower, which we used almost every day. Since the walls are made of metal, we brought along some supermagnets with hooks on them, and stretched an elastic clothesline across the hooks. This worked great after the clothes had stopped dripping and needed to dry faster (the shower is damp). It was a great trip! The ship is new and everything works. Have a wonderful time.

I would suggest you start a new thread with the date of your cruise on it. You may not have a lot of people on it, but it's much easier to navigate.

Kersti

[atlasali]

Kersti - Thank you for the follow-up to my questions. Good tip about drying clothes using a second line and magnets. I was looking at a travel clothes line, now I will order one.

Was it crowded in the lounge for the port talks?

Where did you dock in Amsterdam?

I did start a Roll Call for all Vantage 2013 & 2014 cruises thread. I will start one for our cruise soon. I am not expecting anyone, but it would be delightful to chat with fellow cruisers.

[SLO Dancers]

Originally Posted by atlasali

Kersti - Thank you for the follow-up to my questions. Good tip about drying clothes using a second line and magnets. I was looking at a travel clothes line, now I will order one.

Was it crowded in the lounge for the port talks?

Where did you dock in Amsterdam?

I did start a Roll Call for all Vantage 2013 & 2014 cruises thread. I will start one for our cruise soon. I am not expecting anyone, but it would be delightful to chat with fellow cruisers.

Make sure the magnets are strong ones. I also used magnets to keep maps and schedules on the wall to keep the horizontal surfaces less cluttered (great tip I learned on CC). The travel clothes line can also be stretched from the soap containers and shower handles in a "V" formation if you need more room in the shower. They are great to have.

The port talks are given every night about 15 minutes before dinner and it was usually full when we got there. A lot of people like to congregate and relax there during happy hour. We could always find seats, but for such a short talk we preferred to sit at the back tables or at the bar. It didn't take long to figure out that the people closest to the exits were the first ones down the stairs and into the dining room.

In Amsterdam the ship was docked at the Ruyterkade Oost. Since we did our own air, we were advised to call Vantage before we left to find out where the River Discovery II would be. I think it varies depends on the port authority.

We only had 3 people on our roll call, but it was fun to finally meet each other. We had no meet & greet, but it wasn't hard to figure out who was who...especially since we all wore name tags. We even met a few "lurkers." Have fun.

Kersti

[atlasali]

Kersti - Thank you again. You have been most helpful. It would be nice to chat with a fellow cruiser before we go. I know the amount of cabins is drastically smaller on the boat vs. a ship: but the cruise we are going on a year from tomorrow, already has about a 100 people on the meet and greet list, and they have been chatting for months now.

[SLO Dancers]

Originally Posted by atlasali

Kersti - Thank you again. You have been most helpful. It would be nice to chat with a fellow cruiser before we go. I know the amount of cabins is drastically smaller on the boat vs. a ship: but the cruise we are going on a year from tomorrow, already has about a 100 people on the meet and greet list, and they have been chatting for months now.

You're very welcome! If you have any other questions, you can ask them at this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1615546. Have a wonderful trip.

Kersti

[mginfl]

Has everyone checked their account at Vantage recently? If you scheduled your air with Vantage, it may now be posted on your account. Mine is, and I am pleased with it.

Also, did you notice that there has been a change in the towns that we visit? Wertheim is out and Marktheidenfeld is in. Does anybody know the reason for the change?