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More Cruises Cancelled by Voyages To Antiquity !


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Hello, I am booked on the Grand Voyages to Ancient Wonders April 2013. This will be my first sailing with VTA and would certainly appreciate hearing your experiences, etc.

 

Oh what a shame -- you will be getting off the ship as I will be boarding her in Athens!

 

If you look up the section on member reviews for Aegean Odyssey, I have posted detailed reviews of both my previous cruises there. However, I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

 

By the way, I just returned a couple of days ago from a cruise on Swan Hellenic's Minerva, which is in many ways similar to Voyages to Antiquity (ship size, dining arrangements, lecturers, etc. all very similar). I have to say that V2A remains my favorite....:)

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Oh what a shame -- you will be getting off the ship as I will be boarding her in Athens!

 

If you look up the section on member reviews for Aegean Odyssey, I have posted detailed reviews of both my previous cruises there. However, I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

 

By the way, I just returned a couple of days ago from a cruise on Swan Hellenic's Minerva, which is in many ways similar to Voyages to Antiquity (ship size, dining arrangements, lecturers, etc. all very similar). I have to say that V2A remains my favorite....:)

Thank you so much for your detailed reviews of your previous V2A cruises. You have a way of pulling the reader into each experience with you. For a soon-to-be first time guest on this line, that is certainly appreciated.

 

I have not been able to determine the location of the ship engine and have read this is an important factor in cabin noise and vibration. My cabin is Outside Premier Single (HH -Belvedere). What has been your experience with the Aegean Oddesy engine noise level in general and your previous cabin experiences, specifically?

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Thank you so much for your detailed reviews of your previous V2A cruises. You have a way of pulling the reader into each experience with you. For a soon-to-be first time guest on this line, that is certainly appreciated.

 

I have not been able to determine the location of the ship engine and have read this is an important factor in cabin noise and vibration. My cabin is Outside Premier Single (HH -Belvedere). What has been your experience with the Aegean Oddesy engine noise level in general and your previous cabin experiences, specifically?

 

I have to admit that I'm not particularly sensitive to noise, so I'm not sure if my experiences will help....but for what it's worth, I was on the lowest deck (Columbus) in an inside cabin on my first cruise and did not experience any issues with noise or vibration. On the second cruise, I was on Lido in cabin 810; again, no issues I noticed.

 

I looked at the deck plans online but it looks like HH cabins are on Bridge deck (??). If that's the case and you are more or less mid-ship, I'd think it's unlikely you would experience any problems with engine noise or vibrations.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise!

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I have to admit that I'm not particularly sensitive to noise, so I'm not sure if my experiences will help....but for what it's worth, I was on the lowest deck (Columbus) in an inside cabin on my first cruise and did not experience any issues with noise or vibration. On the second cruise, I was on Lido in cabin 810; again, no issues I noticed.

 

I looked at the deck plans online but it looks like HH cabins are on Bridge deck (??). If that's the case and you are more or less mid-ship, I'd think it's unlikely you would experience any problems with engine noise or vibrations.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise!

At the time of my booking last summer, no Bridge outside singles were available so, fortunately, there are two HH (outside singles) on Belvedere, 552 & 559. This is going to be an awesome adventure and am so looking forward to it as I’m certain you are for your late April cruise.

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  • 5 months later...

We are booked on a cruise with Voyages to Antiquity for Nov/Dec 2013 from Sri Lanka via Burma to Singapore and have just heard that they have cancelled ALL of their Far East Winter cruises from November 2013 to April 2014. They say the reason is due to poor weather in the region the previous year.

How can they afford to lay off all their staff and mothball the ship for 6 months? OR MAYBE THAT IS NOT THE CASE? Having read the postings on this forum about the many cancellations, it may appear there are other reasons !

 

Have we got some news for you about Voyages to Antiquity and its treatment of customers like us who have had cruises booked with VtoA for over 3 months for cruises scheduled for July 22, August 3 & August 13 2012.

 

We have been left high and dry by David Yellow's company who suddenly yesterday advised all customers on these 3 cruises next year that according to their undated letter received yesterday..........

Read as per letter received below:

 

"Important Information Aegean Odyssey sailing August 03rd 2012

 

Dear Valued Guest

 

This letter is to advise the recent chartering of Aegean Odyssey's "...To See The Shores of the Mediterranean" August 03rd 2012 cruise program. We apologise for the disruption to your holiday plans and appreciate the inconvenience this change may cause."

 

How cold and unprofessional is that for a company in the tourism cruise industry?

 

We were then offered 2 alternatives:

Choice 1: Either choose an alternate summer 2012 or winter 2012/13 departures offering a discount of 25% per person off the published price.

From our discussion today with the Customer Services Director even if we booked one of these cruises or one on the summer 2013 sailings she is unable to guarantee that this company will not privately charter over the top of the very many bookings they already may hold such as happened in our case.

Choice 2: Cancel the booking and receive a full refund PLUS receive a 20% discount off the published price of a summer cruise in 2013.

Why would anyone book a cruise with this company ever again after this has happened to them. They must be kidding to think anyone can now ever trust this company again.

 

The private chartering of the Aegean Odyssey occured only recently this year also when again a number of cruises were not officially cancelled but were chartered by the very same company that has re chartered the vessel next year with complete disregard for loyal past passengers such as us and new passengers who paid their deposits in good faith to have our cruises stripped from us with scant regard to these passengers such as us.

 

VtoA has agreed to refund any items already paid for but is not offering any further compensation for all the hours that these customers have spent arranging other land and air itineraries around Europe before or after their cruises.

 

This company does have a great & unique product but if they throw paid up passengers off cruises they have had booked for months when they were all the time negotiating with this private charter company but still taking deposits right up until the 3 cruises that have been pulled on 19 October 2011.Voyages to Antiquities preference to grab the cash from a private charter is appauling and anyone considering booking a cruise books at their own risk.

 

This company did not have the courtesy to even contact these affected passengers until a day later after we had noticed they had withdrawn the 3 cruises from the VtoA's 4 different countries websites.

 

As you can imagine we are outraged in the manner in which we have been treated by Voyages to Antiquity and have advised David Yellow and their cruise agent here in Australia a company called Cruise Traveller who to say the least have been less than sympathetic and even aggressive in now refusing to deal with our bookings in the future. This decision was emailed to us from the Cruise Traveller Managing Director. Frankly we would never deal with that company ever again either even if we could.

 

We are now looking to book our next cruise in 2012 with a reputable company and believe we will have a much better experience than what has happened with Voyages to Antiquity.We are positive we will.

 

We would like to hear any posts from other passengers that also have been affected by the withdrawl of cruises for this 2011 season and for the cruises in 2012 that have been withdrawn as stated above by Voyages to Antiquity.

 

:mad:

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I got my letter today too...very disappointing..I loved my V to A cruise and I was really looking forward to my India/Egypt trip next March. At least they have given a lot of notice and compensation off our next trip if booked by December next year... They have a good product I hope they can continue...but that little ship was not made for big seas I guess they had to consider passenger comfort and safety first...I wonder what they will do to fill in the gap? It would not put me off booking with them again.

 

Sue

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In previous years they had a gap between their yearly Med offerings; it was only this past year when they tried adding the Asia sailings in the Med "off season".

 

From the reports I've heard and read, V2A is smart to re-think this. It seems the ship couldn't take the rough seas well, the weather wasn't great, and although one assumes a first season is difficult at times, there apparently were some mis-cues on arrangements.

 

Personally I wish V2A would extend their Med sailings more into the off season. It's getting so crowded with ships; I'd gladly trade cooler weather for fewer crowds.

 

On another note, just returned from my April/May sailing (actually, I'm still in Rome for another few days) and I have to say the weather and ports were absolutely fantastic. With the departure of their seasoned Shore Excursions leader recently (now appearing on the stage in London, apparently!), there was a bit of a gap with experience in that area, although the team tried really hard. The ship overall was run well. The Terrace has continued to improve their offerings to the point where I ate most of my meals there rather than in the MDR. (Perhaps the gorgeous weather did contribute something to that as well...:)).

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After returning from the India to Istanbul cruise mid April, I contacted the company giving them a plan for a start in Barcelona and doing the very small ports along Spain, France, Italy continuing to Sorrento and then ending in Rome. I would like to see them do 2 days at some of these ports so you could enjoy the interior. This could easily be a 15-18 day cruise.

I did get a response that they would consider the request.

Alison, the cruise director, did her swan song on our cruise. We found the new cruise director more business like but still good. The person in charge of the shore excursions was getting off in Istanbul and returning to Ireland. The person who does the commentary on the shore excurions we found to be very good. We especially enjoyed both Carlos in the dining rooms.

I just hope the ship does not go bankrupt. We had only 155 passengers on the first portion of our 31 day. I am not complaining as we received the royal treatment but it would be difficult to make a profit at that.

We had only one day of rough sea and that was enough for me.

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Well, Voyages to Antiquity's name is mud in our house this evening. We enjoyed our cruise this time last year so much we booked for this year while still on the ship. We chose the last cruise of the Mediterranean/Red Sea season 'Time Fears the Pyramids' embarking in October this year, mainly because the structure of the cruise worked so well for us, including trips to Petra and Luxor. Sadly, my husband has a life shortening illness, and Petra is way up high on the bucket list as was sailing the Suez Canal.

 

We've just had a letter to say that they have changed the itinerary and will miss out Aqaba and Sharm el Sheik so we will not see Petra. The cruise will finish at Alexandria and the land portion in Egypt will carry on from there.

 

This is because as previously mentioned, they are cancelling the winter 2013/14 season. OK, I can understand a change to cope with civil unrest or poor conditions in a country but since they are cancelling all the cruises over the winter I cannot understand why they needed to change this itinerary. I can only assume it is because of convenience for the company.

 

Yes, we haven't had our cruise cancelled, and yes they have given us $150 credit to spend on the ship. We also get to visit Lebanon. But that won't bring back my husband's chance to see Petra as we can't afford another holiday there separately and by next year he won't be well enough to cope with the walk. According to their terms and conditions, this isn't a significant change, so we'll lose a lot of money if we cancel. So there is nothing we can do, and to say we are disappointed is an understatement.

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Well, Voyages to Antiquity's name is mud in our house this evening. We enjoyed our cruise this time last year so much we booked for this year while still on the ship. We chose the last cruise of the Mediterranean/Red Sea season 'Time Fears the Pyramids' embarking in October this year, mainly because the structure of the cruise worked so well for us, including trips to Petra and Luxor. Sadly, my husband has a life shortening illness, and Petra is way up high on the bucket list as was sailing the Suez Canal.

 

We've just had a letter to say that they have changed the itinerary and will miss out Aqaba and Sharm el Sheik so we will not see Petra. The cruise will finish at Alexandria and the land portion in Egypt will carry on from there.

 

This is because as previously mentioned, they are cancelling the winter 2013/14 season. OK, I can understand a change to cope with civil unrest or poor conditions in a country but since they are cancelling all the cruises over the winter I cannot understand why they needed to change this itinerary. I can only assume it is because of convenience for the company.

 

Yes, we haven't had our cruise cancelled, and yes they have given us $150 credit to spend on the ship. We also get to visit Lebanon. But that won't bring back my husband's chance to see Petra as we can't afford another holiday there separately and by next year he won't be well enough to cope with the walk. According to their terms and conditions, this isn't a significant change, so we'll lose a lot of money if we cancel. So there is nothing we can do, and to say we are disappointed is an understatement.

 

I'd like to believe that the cruise line is not completely heartless...for you have compelling reasons for wanting the itinerary you booked...have you tried writing to them setting out your reasons for needing to cancel? I am sorry to hear of your situation I hope your husband gets to experience Petra.

 

Sue

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Thanks Sue. Well, feeling rather better disposed towards Voyages to Antiquity this morning. I sent them a fairly strong email last night, and they responded more or less first thing this morning. They have offered to cancel our booking and refund the deposit free of charge, which I think is really fair. Now looking at land based tours which will allow us to see Petra and Luxor (also on the bucket list!). It's a shame, because we did like the Aegean Odyssey but perhaps in the future we can try again on one of their other cruises!

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I am pleased that V to A responded to your request. I had to find a replacement cruise when my V to A cruise and the itinerary would have suited you but its not until 15th April next year and you cant wait that long. Good luck with your searches but remember a cruise would be easier on your husband in that he could rest whenever he needed to without being hemmed in by a schedule..is there nothing cruise wise before then..maybe some of the posters here could help you look?

 

Sue

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Well, Voyages to Antiquity's name is mud in our house this evening. We enjoyed our cruise this time last year so much we booked for this year while still on the ship. We chose the last cruise of the Mediterranean/Red Sea season 'Time Fears the Pyramids' embarking in October this year, mainly because the structure of the cruise worked so well for us, including trips to Petra and Luxor. Sadly, my husband has a life shortening illness, and Petra is way up high on the bucket list as was sailing the Suez Canal.

 

We've just had a letter to say that they have changed the itinerary and will miss out Aqaba and Sharm el Sheik so we will not see Petra. The cruise will finish at Alexandria and the land portion in Egypt will carry on from there.

 

This is because as previously mentioned, they are cancelling the winter 2013/14 season. OK, I can understand a change to cope with civil unrest or poor conditions in a country but since they are cancelling all the cruises over the winter I cannot understand why they needed to change this itinerary. I can only assume it is because of convenience for the company.

 

Yes, we haven't had our cruise cancelled, and yes they have given us $150 credit to spend on the ship. We also get to visit Lebanon. But that won't bring back my husband's chance to see Petra as we can't afford another holiday there separately and by next year he won't be well enough to cope with the walk. According to their terms and conditions, this isn't a significant change, so we'll lose a lot of money if we cancel. So there is nothing we can do, and to say we are disappointed is an understatement.

 

 

I don't know if you've already decided to cancel, or where your land portion in Egypt ends up, but have you considered the possibility of taking the cruise, then arranging a separate 3-4 day trip to Jordan from Egypt after the cruise portion ends? Many agencies offer just this sort of thing, and I'm sure a good travel agency could help you to arrange something. That way you could enjoy your cruise and still see Petra.

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Thanks so much to both of you for your supportive and helpful posts! We have decided to cancel and I'm exploring a tailor made land based tour which will allow us to take things at our own pace. It would have been lovely if we could have extended our holiday to take in Petra but I was already struggling to fit the 19 day cruise into my holiday entitlement! My husband is retired, but is unable to fly long haul from the UK, so afraid the Singapore cruise is out as well. Not given up the idea of another cruise in the future though, God willing!

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  • 3 months later...

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