Vantage River Cruise

I would like to know who has cruised (river) with Vantage. If you have please rate the ships, food and what route you took.

We are thinking of doing our 1st river cruise in 2015. We have taken 31 ocean cruises as you can see the areas in my signature.

Any info would be appreciated - thanks.

We've done 2 trips with Vantage - 1 river cruise (the Danube) and 1 small ship/land trip (Machu Picchu and the Galápagos Islands). Both trips were excellent. The river cruise was on the River Navigator, one of their older ships. The ship was in impeccable condition. Definitely did not show any wear and tear. The food was very good to excellent. The river cruise experience as far as dining goes is a little different from a big ship cruise. There are usually less choices for dinner, although I have never had a problem finding something that sounded appealing. Breakfast and lunch are normally served buffet style. The nice thing about a river cruise is that with so few passengers, you get to meet everyone cruising with you at some point during the trip. We really like Vantage trips. We cruised with Grand Circle on the Rhine/Mosel and the Seine, but we think that Vantage has an edge over GCT.

If you would like our customer # in order to get $100 off per person on a Vantage trip, let me know.

We did our first river cruise in May 2013. I put a great deal of thought into making our decision. I made a spreadsheet and compared about 8 different companies. We chose Vantage; this is why:

1--Itinerary - This was important. I wanted as much time on the ship as possible. Vantage provided a 14-night, on the riverboat, Rhine and Mosel itinerary. Some 10-night itineraries meant only 7-nights on the riverboat with the other 3 in a hotel.

2--Vantage cost less. For us it was not important to have beer and wine with every lunch and dinner. We don't drink beer with meals and I am picky with my wines. I prefer to choose my wine at the shops in the villages. I assumed that Vantage cost less due to not providing the expense of alcohol to all the passengers at meals twice a day.

Some people who cruise on other more expensive lines have equated Vantage with and I quote them; "steerage class". I have not been on any "luxury" riverboats...this was my first riverboat. But I do not think that that I was on a sub-par cruise. The ship was brand new and beautiful. The cabin was lovely and roomy. The shower was one of the most spacious we have experienced on any ship. The only amenities that appeared to be missing were: 1--a hot tub, and 2--a beauty salon. I have no need of a beauty salon. Admittedly, I would have enjoyed a hot tub; but not worth an extra $1000. The River Venture has a capacity of 134 passengers, so it was a smaller, more intimate riverboat.

The service on the River Venture ranked among the best we have experienced on any vacation: we arrived independently, 1-the person who carried my luggage onboard was the Captain; 2-after two days, the sous chef who cooked omelets remembered my special order; 3-the girl at the reception desk made a thoughtful and very perceptive inquiry, based upon just seeing me pass by; 4-while I was sitting in the lounge, the Executive Chef stopped to chat and to say that, if I ever had a question or concern about the food to ask for him, and he would personally take care of it.

We were on our trip when the 500-year flood in Europe started. The fiver rose 9 - 11 feet overnight. The bridge at Trier was low, so we were trapped upstream on the Mosel. Vantage worked hard to keep us on schedule. We did ever increasing loops by bus. After 3 nights, the river had not dropped any. So, we had to leave the River Venture and go to a 4-star Hilton hotel in Strasburg, France for 3 nights. Big expense for Vantage who had to pay for buses, meals and hotel rooms when we had a perfectly wonderful riverboat sitting empty on the Mosel. The food, the service, and the facilities at the hotel were no where near as good as on the riverboat. We were all thrilled to get to re-board the River Venture (our home) for the last 2-nights of our itinerary.

Last week, I submitted a long and detailed review to the Vantage website. Hopefully, Vantage will post it soon.

We were on our trip when the 500-year flood in Europe started. The fiver rose 9 - 11 feet overnight. The bridge at Trier was low, so we were trapped upstream on the Mosel. Vantage worked hard to keep us on schedule. We did ever increasing loops by bus. After 3 nights, the river had not dropped any. So, we had to leave the River Venture and go to a 4-star Hilton hotel in Strasburg, France for 3 nights. Big expense for Vantage who had to pay for buses, meals and hotel rooms when we had a perfectly wonderful riverboat sitting empty on the Mosel. The food, the service, and the facilities at the hotel were no where near as good as on the riverboat. We were all thrilled to get to re-board the River Venture (our home) for the last 2-nights of our itinerary.

Thank you for this unusual appreciation of the line's attempts to deal with an unprecedented crisis. Of course some other lines seem to have dropped the ball, but some of the complaints didn't sound like they suffered any worse than you ("didn't pay for a bus trip" type of thing). You made the best of the situation and still enjoyed your trip, and you had the perspective to see that the line and the crew were all doing the best they could.

Thank you for your input/review. Vantage is our top pick so far. We will have to wait until Dec. when they come out with their 2015 itinerary.

Well jazzbeau, it has taken me a couple of months to get over my deep disappointment at not getting to live my 42-year fantasy of "sitting on the top deck in the sun while cruising past the towns, castles and ruins".

Vantage did charter a Rhine "day boat" so we could experience cruising from the Lorelei to Rudesheim. But it was pouring rain, and ugly. I have read some real horror stories of other travelers' experiences. I am so sorry for them. Vantage, the crew, the program managers did what they could for us...my beef was with THE WEATHER. We are prepared for most every kind of weather. We have just never had a trip so negatively impacted by the weather.

I am thinking of taking a Europen river cruise next year on Vantage. One of the posts by PC Cruzer (earlietr in this thread) stated he has a Vantage customer no that he can give out so we can get $100 per person off a future Vantage cruise. How can I get that number?

How can I contact you?

Thanks, Rick

I am thinking of taking a Europen river cruise next year on Vantage. One of the posts by PC Cruzer (earlietr in this thread) stated he has a Vantage customer no that he can give out so we can get $100 per person off a future Vantage cruise. How can I get that number?

How can I contact you?

Thanks, Rick

We've done 2 trips with Vantage - 1 river cruise (the Danube) and 1 small ship/land trip (Machu Picchu and the Galápagos Islands). Both trips were excellent. The river cruise was on the River Navigator, one of their older ships. The ship was in impeccable condition. Definitely did not show any wear and tear. The food was very good to excellent. The river cruise experience as far as dining goes is a little different from a big ship cruise. There are usually less choices for dinner, although I have never had a problem finding something that sounded appealing. Breakfast and lunch are normally served buffet style. The nice thing about a river cruise is that with so few passengers, you get to meet everyone cruising with you at some point during the trip. We really like Vantage trips. We cruised with Grand Circle on the Rhine/Mosel and the Seine, but we think that Vantage has an edge over GCT..

 

If you would like our customer # in order to get $100 off per person on a Vantage trip, let me know.

PCruzer: This is why I just booked my 6th river cruise with Vantage! I know who you mean about some who categorize Vantage as "steerage" and "low end" and I disagree with them. I would categorize Vantage as high end. So my question for you is: Where in Suffolk County? I'm on the South Shore about 1/2 way between MacArthur Airport and the GSB...

PCruzer: This is why I just booked my 6th river cruise with Vantage! I know who you mean about some who categorize Vantage as "steerage" and "low end" and I disagree with them. I would categorize Vantage as high end. So my question for you is: Where in Suffolk County? I'm on the South Shore about 1/2 way between MacArthur Airport and the GSB...

Sorry I didn't respond sooner...didn't see this till today. We are on the North Shore near Port Jeff.

Sorry I didn't respond sooner...didn't see this till today. We are on the North Shore near Port Jeff.

South Shore near Sayville. Let me know when you've booked something. I'm booked on Gateway to the Black Sea for June, 2014 on the Navigator with the pre-trip to Prague and Bratislava.

We have done 3 river cruises with Vantage, plus a land South American trip. We would highly recommend them. We were stuck in Deggendorf for 2 days, and they made arrangements to take us to Straubing, where we saw the Durer stained glass of Moses, plus took us to an outdoor museum.

Our last cruise with them was a Burgundy cruise, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We leave in 2 weeks for a Russian river cruise, and have already booked an Elbe cruise for next year.

The pictures and stories are on our website. We are happy to answer any questions.

Per a previous post, I am thinking of the 15 day Cologne to Budapest trip in 2014. To all who have been on Vantage - have you ridden the bikes that are available on board?

How many bikes are there and are there both mens and womens bikes and are there locks available?

What is the traffic like when riding in the larger cities and smaller cities?

Were the bikes readily available or are they in high demand?

Can you reserve them for the whole day or only for a few hours?

Thanks, Rick

Per a previous post, I am thinking of the 15 day Cologne to Budapest trip in 2014. To all who have been on Vantage - have you ridden the bikes that are available on board?

How many bikes are there and are there both mens and womens bikes and are there locks available?

What is the traffic like when riding in the larger cities and smaller cities?

Were the bikes readily available or are they in high demand?

Can you reserve them for the whole day or only for a few hours?

 

 

Thanks, Rick

I wonder how many people would actually ride bikes on a Vantage trip...based on the average age ( 65+..myself included) I'm thinking 4-6 bikes might be plenty! Europe seems to be more "Biker friendly" than US but I would make sure I understood rules of the road for bikers as I've seen them get quite nasty to bikers who don't follow them! I would also check that your trip insurance covers you if you're injured riding a bike.

I wonder how many people would actually ride bikes on a Vantage trip...based on the average age ( 65+..myself included) I'm thinking 4-6 bikes might be plenty! Europe seems to be more "Biker friendly" than US but I would make sure I understood rules of the road for bikers as I've seen them get quite nasty to bikers who don't follow them! I would also check that your trip insurance covers you if you're injured riding a bike.

South Shore near Sayville. Let me know when you've booked something. I'm booked on Gateway to the Black Sea for June, 2014 on the Navigator with the pre-trip to Prague and Bratislava.

We are scheduled for the French Waterways river cruise next month.

Ahh...we have friends who are on that one right now. We did France in depth and haven't reached point where we're repeating countries!! I'm sure you will LOVE it. Giverney is exquisite!! If you have Mt. St. MIchael as a pre or post trip I can recommend it. Also the Bayeux tapestry is magnificent. France is fabulous!!!

Ahh...we have friends who are on that one right now. We did France in depth and haven't reached point where we're repeating countries!! I'm sure you will LOVE it. Giverney is exquisite!! If you have Mt. St. MIchael as a pre or post trip I can recommend it. Also the Bayeux tapestry is magnificent. France is fabulous!!!

The trip we will be on in France is on the Rhone. Starting around Arles going on to Avignon, Lyon, etc., and ending in Dijon, then on to Paris for 4 nights. Sounds like your friends are on the Seine trip? We did that one in 2008 with Grand Circle and fell in love with France. We went to Giverney on that trip. You are right...it WAS exquisite! Also, the Normandy beaches was quite a sobering experience. And we loved all the small towns along the way.

We did 2 river cruises with Grand Circle...the Seine and then the Rhine and Mosel. We had heard from different people that Vantage was better than GCT, so we tried them in 2011 on a Danube river cruise and again in 2012 on a Machu Picchu/Galapagos Islands land/small ship trip. We came to the conclusion that we like Vantage better than Grand Circle! We found that many of the extra charge tours through GCT are included on Vantage. And we just liked the atmosphere and fellow travelers better on Vantage. So we are sticking with them!

Yes our friends are on the Seine. We did France for three weeks on a bus tour with Trafalgar. It was fantastic, but never again! When we booked our first Vantage cruise it was castles on the rhine and we had such a good time, we booked Egypt on board! I know what you mean about being the youngest...we're in our early 70's and usually among the younger crowd!

Very familiar with PJ....have family in St.James, Setauket, PJ Village and Stony Brook. I come from Sag Harbor but we chose south shore because we like sand beaches.:D

Yes our friends are on the Seine. We did France for three weeks on a bus tour with Trafalgar. It was fantastic, but never again! When we booked our first Vantage cruise it was castles on the rhine and we had such a good time, we booked Egypt on board! I know what you mean about being the youngest...we're in our early 70's and usually among the younger crowd!

 

Very familiar with PJ....have family in St.James, Setauket, PJ Village and Stony Brook. I come from Sag Harbor but we chose south shore because we like sand beaches.:D

We've found that most of the passengers are upper 70's and above. There have even been some very spry 90+ passengers! On our last Vantage river cruise, we were surprised to see more people in their 60's & 70's than 80's & above. There was a pretty large affinity group from Richmond, VA onboard, so that might be why.

We lived in Blue Point for a year when we were first married. We moved back to the North Shore because that was what we were most familiar with, I guess. Always liked the town of Sayville...very quaint. Haven't been there in a number of years. Crazy since it's not far! I guess when you're a LI'er, if you don't have to go out in the traffic, you don't. So I suppose we just haven't had a reason to go down to Sayville. We have relatives/friends in Bayport, Middle Island, Centereach, Southold.

We've found that most of the passengers are upper 70's and above. There have even been some very spry 90+ passengers! On our last Vantage river cruise, we were surprised to see more people in their 60's & 70's than 80's & above. There was a pretty large affinity group from Richmond, VA onboard, so that might be why.

 

We lived in Blue Point for a year when we were first married. We moved back to the North Shore because that was what we were most familiar with, I guess. Always liked the town of Sayville...very quaint. Haven't been there in a number of years. Crazy since it's not far! I guess when you're a LI'er, if you don't have to go out in the traffic, you don't. So I suppose we just haven't had a reason to go down to Sayville. We have relatives/friends in Bayport, Middle Island, Centereach, Southold.

This has nothing to do with cruising but I can't help but wonder how many times we've been in Target or the Mall at the same time!!:D

This has nothing to do with cruising but I can't help but wonder how many times we've been in Target or the Mall at the same time!!:D

We are booked on the Gateway to the Black Sea leaving June 12 on the River Splendor. A few years ago we did the Russia cruise with Vantage and, although the ship was not the greatest, we enjoyed it. We have not traveled with Vantage on any other trip; however, we frequently travel with Overseas Adventure Travel (owned by the brother of the Vantage owner).

Anyone else on this board on the cruise with us?

We are not using Vantage air arrangements because we are staying in Europe after the cruise and could make our own air reservations quite a lot cheaper than Vantage offered. Since we aren't using their air we will have to find our own way from the Budapest airport to the ship. Anyone have a suggestion for this (Vantage's transfer cost is exorbitant)?

I'd appreciate any feedback from someone who has taken this trip.

We are booked on the Gateway to the Black Sea leaving June 12 on the River Splendor. A few years ago we did the Russia cruise with Vantage and, although the ship was not the greatest, we enjoyed it. We have not traveled with Vantage on any other trip; however, we frequently travel with Overseas Adventure Travel (owned by the brother of the Vantage owner).

 

Anyone else on this board on the cruise with us?

 

We are not using Vantage air arrangements because we are staying in Europe after the cruise and could make our own air reservations quite a lot cheaper than Vantage offered. Since we aren't using their air we will have to find our own way from the Budapest airport to the ship. Anyone have a suggestion for this (Vantage's transfer cost is exorbitant)?

 

I'd appreciate any feedback from someone who has taken this trip.

As you get off the ship, we'll be boarding! We board June 24th in Budapest after the Prague pre-trip. This will be our 6th trip with Vantage and we're really looking forward to it. We did Russia two years ago on the Tolstoy. Like you said trip was great, ship was good but not great.