MikieF

Generally how far before sailing might we expect to receive our medallions? thanks

Thanks much, Barbara...

Barbara B...thanks for your commentary...We will be on this cruise 8/24 leaving Southampton. We also have a Princess transfer from LHR to Southampton the morning of 8/24. You said it was a bit difficult finding the Princess rep...I assumed you meant for the location for pick up of the transfer bus..? PLEASE tell us where we will find the Princess bus and rep. to Southampton. We've been told we will need to 'sign in' with the Princess rep before boarding the bus, but uncertain as to location! We will be at Terminal 3, which may be different from your arrival terminal, so info might not be the same as ours. Thanks much!

We have a partial Panama Canal/Caribbean booked on the Ruby beginning February 18, 2024

We had an issue with the room thermostat, but our cabin stewardess (Man) had engineering six it. Much better! The other temp control knob mentioned in #1 ws for heating the bathroom floor. It really did do a good job drying clothes we hung over the string at hight!

We just got off the Ocean Odyssey last Saturday in Athens. Our experience onboard was good. I found the staff to be helpful and very friendly. Our cabin was #434...by the Zodiac storage area. Since none of our ports used the Zodiacs we were never bothered by any noise. This cabin was fine, and I wouldn't hesitate to choose it again. We, too, were victims of our flight reservations being cancelled due to non-payment in a timely manner by Vantage. We had prem. economy...lost the seats we wanted...but just kept watching the United website to see if seats we liked better opened up. They did. All in all, it was a great trip!! I am not sure I would ever book Vantage again due to their HORRIBLE (or lack of) customer service. Sad..They are their own worst enemies!

Yes, we are...Coming in on UA from TPA. Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow, MR Ward! 🙂 Sure hope Res has that 'heal'ed! No, we are not Pres. club members...This is only our second Vantage vacay

Yes m'am!! I have been around Israel a bit in the late 70's...but my husband hans't. We are praying we can safely go to Jerusalem!! Donna, are you traveling alone?

That's exactly what happened on us...though the travel department didn't take the blame at all...said it was UA's fault our flights were cancelled. Meanwhile...the great seats we had were taken by someone else (don't blame UA or the pax)...We're not exactly happy with our seats, but at least we THINK we have seats! 🙂

Hi...You have a TICKET number or a confirmation number? Just curious bc all we have is a confirmation number. Fingers crossed for smoothness!!

I need to read this more often!!! YES, we are on the Austrian Flight out of IAD (14th). I'd tell you our seat numbers, but we don't have them yet...:( Somewhere in Premium Economy Look forward to seeing y'all then!!!

Congrats, Donna! We got assurance from Austrian that we, too, are confirmed. When I put my confirmation number into their "my flights' part of their website it just gives me a blank page. I do wonder about checking in for their portion of the flights...

I'm sorry this is happening to you I just don't understand their rationale! Unfortunately, I DOUBT that you will ever get a penny back!

WOW!! Thanks for that, Donna! I have a different confirmation number through Austrian also, but when I enter that and our last name I get a blank screen! I will also call Austrian soon and hear what they have to say! I typed a (long, venting) message to Vantage on Thursday. We'll see if they respond at all!

Donna, are you on the same trip 4/14 to the Eastern Med that we are?

I totally agree! We did do Best of S. Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia with them in 2017. EVERYTHING was perfect!!! They charge way too much money to have to go through the BS and Hassles we've received this go around. I am sure you all get brochures and e-mails from them almost daily. I wish they cared about their customer service even a tiny bit as much as grabbing our money.

Donna MW...I am not at all doubting you about Austrian being paid for...But, how do you know? I have been told (by a Vantage rep, of course) that Austrian gives priority seat assignments to THEIR Austrian preferred customers...then they get to us (the other people)! PLEASE let me know what steps to follow to find out if we are also not paid for on Austrian Airlines!

We are booked on the Eastern Mediterranean (Ocean Odyssey) for April 14, 2023. We Had twice been cancelled ("postponed") off the Passage to Eastern Europe due to COVID. Last summer we got cancelled again because there wasn't enough water in the Danube. We decided to change our trip over to this upcoming Eastern Med. one. For each of these we had paid for Vantage Travel. We are very travel savvy, but had not gone to Poland, Romania, or Jordan so thought this choice made sense. Last Friday (the 17th of Mar) I (being excited about the upcoming trip) looked at our United Booking number. We are on UAL and Austrian Airlines on their routing. When I entered our confirmation number the response from UAL was that this number didn't exist. Probably a typo...so I tried again...4-5 more times (definition of insanity, right!) I then called UAL and the agent there told me that our reservation had been made by a third party (Vantage), but they had neglected to pay for our flight (They've had our $$$$$ for a very long time!). I called Vantage and was told they'd call me back. One of the flight department agents told me that the director (name withheld by me) had JUST paid the bill, and things should be fine now. I did speak with the Director who told me that it had all been taken care of...and that UAL had changed our return flight out of EWR to TPA...thus dropping the ATH-EWR flight...and causing us to lose our seat assignments. We booked Prem. Economy, and HAD 2 seats on the side (2-3-2 sweating). JUST THE SEATS WE WANTED!! Because of Vantage's screw up we now are 2 of the 3 in the center 3-across section. She wouldn't even apologize and say on behalf of Vantage she was sorry...no acceptance of blame at all. yes, we are on the flight as scheduled...and in the same class as sked...BUT WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WE GOT TO OUR DEPARTURE AIRPORT ON 4/14 AND FOUND OUT we had no conformation code they recognized (because Vantage still hadn't paid)?? Thanks for letting me vent! PLEASE check your flight itinerary (if using Vantage Air) to ensure all of your ducks are in a row. We thought ours were. Yes...we are very excited to be going on this trip...Nope, won't let this dampen our spirits. No...we are not entitled, spoiled brats. Just travel savvy, and wanted to pass this message along! 🙂

If your cruise or tour company doesn't secure a visa to Egypt for you we used the website visa2egypt.gov.eg for an online visa. It's pretty easy, comes in a couple of days, and is $25.00 USD per person.

We'd love to know suggestions to that question too! Thx!