Vantage Deluxe World Travel - WARNING

[DonnaMW]

well we arrived today off Ocean Odyssey in Athens  at registration we were asked for cc and they plainly told us for the mini bar 

one of the single women arrived and she did not have a reservation for a room. but they gave her one. 

a few hours later the front desk contacted her and ask if it was ok to charge her cc for over $500 because they could not get ahold of Vantage 

well it’s the weekend and by monday morning we will be off to airport

 

i wish her luck getting this straightened out before leaving what a mess

[ural guy]

We stayed in Prague prior to our November sailing, as part of the Vantage pre-cruise package.  The hotel asked for a credit card for incidentals, we didn't eat there except the included breakfast, so no charges.

 

The hotel had the orange juice squeezing machine and the rest was pretty great also.  Made up for the ship food kinda being meh.

 

Very good news for those who are sailing.

[sfm629]

FYI- for those sailing on the Ocean Odyssey, it has a pool and 2 hot tubs. Neither are filled for this voyage but if you are sailing on a later trip when it’s warmer, you might want to bring a swimsuit.

The crew is young and nice as can be. It’s helping with the experience for sure.

[DaveinCharlotte]

15 hours ago, Billybob79 said:

I think the outage may well have been a ransomware attack and not a going out of business event.

You're correct.  We received an e-mail from Vantage late yesterday confirming that they had suffered a ransomware attack.

[MOssyLedge]

I'd love to know what you think of the room size (depending on what room you're in) and what you think of the breakfast and lunch buffet selection, quality and process for getting food.  How is dinner and "free" wine selection? Only 76 days  to go for us. 

[Billybob79]

MOssyLedge: I am not sure which ship you will be on, but we did the Boston to Montreal cruise on the Ocean Explorer for 10 days and every day there was a different breakfast and lunch special which were outstanding (unlike Viking Ocean where the lunch buffet was the same every day). Our food comparison is to Regent Seven Seas and Oceania and the Ocean Explorer was very close to those lines' quality at all meals. There is one small "hot rocks" separate restaurant which was good but not exceptional. 

The wine selection was fine and once you found something you liked you can ask for it any time.

People line up relatively early, even before the dining room opens (for dinner) so tables fill up. If you have more than 2 of you, you may either want to get there early or have one couple do so. Nothing wrong with sharing tables. We were 2 couples, but ultimately became 4 couples so we always had a table for 8 waiting fro us.

Anything else, please do not not hesitate to ask.

[MOssyLedge]

BillyBob,

Thank you so much for your food and wine review.   If it compares favorably to Oceania and Regent Seven Seas, my wife an dI will be happy. We are actually on the Ocean Odyssey going from Copenhagen to London. 

The best real hot rocks experience that we had was in Peru with the Quecha people cooking in the ground- called Pachamama. 

I also like the idea of finding a nice wine or two and requesting the same thing each night.

We enjoy sharing table san d meeting new people and learning fom their experiences as well.

it will take some really GREAT food and service for everyone to forgive the the corporate folks for all their misinformation, lack of customer service, trip cancellation attitude, etc. 

[sfm629]

MOssyLedge, I’m on the Odyssey now in a grand veranda stateroom on deck 6 (617). The cabin is very nice. It has lots of storage. It also has a small couch, a large vanity area and a fridge. The balcony is a good size. My traveling companions are on deck 7 (706) they got upgraded to PV (I don’t recall what that stands for). Their room is the same size as mine but instead of the couch, they have 2 chairs and their veranda is larger.

As for the food, the breakfast and lunch are buffet. I think that the lunch selection is better than the breakfast selection but both are fine. Dinners have been good but overall, I’m finding things to be bland. I think that the Viking Ocean food was much better but food is a personal preference. The wine selection at dinner is very nice so that’s a plus. The process for food is pretty easy since the ship isn’t crowded, the buffet is not a mob. Again, the ship is lovely, the staff is accommodating and the food is fine. I’m sure that you will enjoy your trip.

[Roadlamp]

3 hours ago, sfm629 said:

MOssyLedge, I’m on the Odyssey now in a grand veranda stateroom on deck 6 (617). The cabin is very nice. It has lots of storage. It also has a small couch, a large vanity area and a fridge. The balcony is a good size. My traveling companions are on deck 7 (706) they got upgraded to PV (I don’t recall what that stands for). Their room is the same size as mine but instead of the couch, they have 2 chairs and their veranda is larger.

As for the food, the breakfast and lunch are buffet. I think that the lunch selection is better than the breakfast selection but both are fine. Dinners have been good but overall, I’m finding things to be bland. I think that the Viking Ocean food was much better but food is a personal preference. The wine selection at dinner is very nice so that’s a plus. The process for food is pretty easy since the ship isn’t crowded, the buffet is not a mob. Again, the ship is lovely, the staff is accommodating and the food is fine. I’m sure that you will enjoy your trip.

Thank you for sharing this information.  Have all of your excursions been as advertised?

[MOssyLedge]

sfm629

Thanks so very much for that encouraging news. Most of the rooms are the same square footage except for the 12 larger units spread out over various decks. For the standard size room they are all 270 sq ft as I recall. I had been bumped  several times and at one point while traveling, I got a call that there was only one room left  for any cruise so that i didn't have to pay more money, so i took it.  My room (414) is called a Deluxe Veranda Suite (with balcony and a couch). In going to My Portfolio just now, I discover that for a  completely sold out cruise, like all of them supposedly are, there are 10 available upgrade rooms, ranging in price from $3500 additional per person to $708 per person.  

As long as the ship gets to the various ports like it is supposed to, I'll have a good time. Because of a cancelled Odyssey trip last summer, I've been to Copenhagen and Oslo for 4 days each. 

I made all of my own 2 person guided tours in Copenhagen, Oslo and Amsterdam with guides or companies that I know well. 

This is the cruise that we're on.

[sfm629]

We have been on 2 excursions so far and neither were the ones advertised. Yesterday, we were supposed to go to Delphi but we went to Kalamata and the ancient site of Messene because the Corinth canal was closed due to mudslides. Today, we were supposed to go to Olympia but it was closed due to it being Labor Day in Greece. They took us on the planned lunch excursion to the agritourism farm, which was quite good, and then gave us free time in the port of Katakolon but most things were closed. Tomorrow, we’re supposed to go to Corfu so we’ll find out in a little while if we’re going or not.

I would not pay extra to upgrade my cabin because this trip already cost enough. I haven’t seen the inside of any of the cabins on deck 4 but I haven’t heard many complaints about the cabins, except for the first day when there were cabin mix-ups.

I’ll post how Corfu goes!

[sfm629]

Hi again, so Vantage is 0/3 on the scheduled excursions so far for this trip. We went to the port talk and although we’re going to Corfu tomorrow, the excursion to the Achilleion Palace is being replaced by a visit to Mon Repos villa, which I’ve never heard of and is known for its Asian art collection. Not for nothing, but I didn’t travel to Greece to look at Asian art. I’m trying to be grateful and stay positive that I’m getting a trip at all but it’s difficult not to be disappointed with 3 rescheduled port excursions in a row. While the crew is the standout, none of the TV channels work in the cabin and the dinner tonight was disappointing. My husband’s fish entree was full of bones and I ordered a steak that was like shoe leather. Vantage is skimping on quality.
Hopefully we will eventually get to an excursion that matches My Portfolio itinerary. So I will stick with my original assessment that the ship is lovely and the staff is great but the food leaves much to be desired, but again that’s subjective.

Happy travels to everyone. I that you all get your trips.

[Host Jazzbeau]

The Achillion Museum from 1st October 2022, until further updates, will remain totally closed to the public due to the execution of the restoration works.

https://achillion-corfu.gr/?lang=en

 

Surprised Vantage didn't know about this.  We were unable to visit it on our Azamara cruise last October, so we took the HOHO bus to Mon Repos instead.  It is actually very interesting – Prince Phillip was born there and it has a beautiful view (if you have better weather than the rainy day we had!).  The museum collection is fairly interesting too.

[MOssyLedge]

One would certainly hope that the tour director-or whatever they might call it, would know what's open and what's not. Each of the ports, even small ones have lots of interesting things to do and see.  For $1500 (at least) per day for two, there is NO excuse for poor travel knowledge.  For most of my, now old life, I have planned  detailed itineraries for each day with Google research and I have never missed. 

I seriously wonder how unhappy, I'll be if these things continue to happen.   My wife will have to calm me down. 

 

[Roadlamp]

Dear Vantage flights department,

 

If you are monitoring this website, please contact me. I tried sending information via your website and it doesn't work.  Thank you.

[Rrehfe4969@aol.com]

3 hours ago, Roadlamp said:

Dear Vantage flights department,

 

If you are monitoring this website, please contact me. I tried sending information via your website and it doesn't work.  Thank you.

You may have better luck e mailing them with the e mail address they sent everyone a week ago as they answered me within 2 hours each time. 
richard

[Roadlamp]

5 minutes ago, Rrehfe4969@aol.com said:

You may have better luck e mailing them with the e mail address they sent everyone a week ago as they answered me within 2 hours each time. 
richard

Thanks.  I sent an email yesterday, but haven't heard yet.  I need to talk to someone in the flights department.  I bet they are swamped.

[MikieF]

On 5/1/2023 at 10:20 AM, sfm629 said:

We have been on 2 excursions so far and neither were the ones advertised. Yesterday, we were supposed to go to Delphi but we went to Kalamata and the ancient site of Messene because the Corinth canal was closed due to mudslides. Today, we were supposed to go to Olympia but it was closed due to it being Labor Day in Greece. They took us on the planned lunch excursion to the agritourism farm, which was quite good, and then gave us free time in the port of Katakolon but most things were closed. Tomorrow, we’re supposed to go to Corfu so we’ll find out in a little while if we’re going or not.

I would not pay extra to upgrade my cabin because this trip already cost enough. I haven’t seen the inside of any of the cabins on deck 4 but I haven’t heard many complaints about the cabins, except for the first day when there were cabin mix-ups.

I’ll post how Corfu goes!

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!

 

[Shmoo here]

7 hours ago, Roadlamp said:

Thanks.  I sent an email yesterday, but haven't heard yet.  I need to talk to someone in the flights department.  I bet they are swamped.

Have you tried calling the Call Center?

 

According to Vantage website the call center is up and  running again:

 

As of 5.30pm on May 1st, the Vantage Travel call center has been restored. We have extended our call center hours to 9am – 7pm in anticipation of high call volume.

We deeply appreciate your continued patience as we work to restore our systems. Please be advised you may temporarily experience longer than normal wait times for service. When contacting us, please have your reservation number ready.

To reach the Contact center, dial 1-800-322-6677.

[Billybob79]

MikieF: You are so right about Vantage' lack of communication. This has been an ongoing issue with them for probably 40 years. They have a great product and our upcoming trip to South Africa will be our 15th with Vantage, but we will think long and hard about another after the fiasco with our flights being cancelled last week and then reinstated 3 days later. We were convinced for those 3 days that the trip had been cancelled. 

I have emailed everyone I know at Vantage over the years about their lack of communication, most of which has fallen on deaf ears. Again. it will take some sort of unbelievable deal to somewhere we are desperate to get to for us to book Vantage in the future. 

[MOssyLedge]

You are certainly braver than I am. I booked my one and only Vantage trip with them some time at the end of 2021which they of course "postponed" on me.   I tried to get money back from Allianz Insurance and you all know that doesn't work. So since I could get no money back from Vantage or Allianz, I was forced to book some other trip that I didn't really want but I didn't want to lose all my money.  I agreed to lose about $2000+ so I could move forward, The next time I didn't take Vantage travel insurance for obvious reasons, nor their airfare.  Then they managed to cancel that trip on me for no reason. Hard to remember their excuse.  To rebook, I had to spend some more money because fares went up. So far my current trip seems to be "holding."  I would say that based on the regular moving of the Ocean Odyssey, my current trip will probably "stick."

From the moment I booked with them, my experience was as bad as any I've  ever experienced.   I feel bad for you and everyone else that has to go through bad service for year after year. It is at least good to know that the ship is good and the onboard staff is mostly exemplary. At least, I didn't get conned into using their travel insurance or airfare. 

We're excited to go on this technologically advanced ship.   I've only taken two other ocean cruises- one with a max of 170 people and one with 212 people.  That's sorta my limit. I certainly hope to report that the ship is great, the food is great, the wine is great the excursions are great, etc. Otherwise, who knows what happens afterward......

[Billybob79]

Just to be clear, with the exception of our Boston to Montreal cruise on the Ocean Explorer last October, where Vantage skipped 2 ports w/o explanation ever, the trips we have taken have been very good to excellent. We have been wanting to visit South Africa, especially Victoria Falls and Capetown so we were willing to do so with Vantage because of our past favorable experiences. We did not antciipate the flight fiasco of last week, but the the flights are paid for and Delta is expecting us. 

As for the Ocean Odyssey, we can only say that the Ocean Explorer (an identical ship) was great as a small ship, with the best crew and excellent food. I sincerely hope you find the same. When and where do you go?

[MOssyLedge]

I was in business for myself for about 40 years and the one thing that I know  for sure is that customer service that Vantage has displayed over the last couple of years will take them forever to live down if they survive in business.   Of course, this is a big country with 335 million people and you don't need too many people to not know of your history and pattens to continue in business.  I certainly hope to be able to change my tune. I know that we will meet lots of other like minded folks on the trip who we will enjoy as wella s the cities that we stop at.

 

We were supposed to be in suite #434 as Mikie F just finished her cruise. For unknown reasons, Vantage cancelled our reservation and we started over and now are in room #414 - potentially cooer to noise centers. 

 

We're going on the: 

[MOssyLedge]

In many of the ports, we do our own itinerary, rather than go with Vantage.   As an example, when we stop in Amsterdam, one day we do this tour.   This is only 1 page of the itinerary. We get into greater depth than any of the cruise ship experiences. 

[deec]

We often do "Tours by Locals" and have never been disappointed.