Vantage Deluxe World Travel - WARNING

[MOssyLedge]

I always use ToursbyLocals  and Context Tours (TBL).  Both have cancel for any reason options and so I've never lost money with them- even in 2020 when we had so many trips planned- more than I'll ever do in one year again. 

www.contexttravel.com

www.toursbylocals.com

When we stop in Oslo, my TBL guide is meeting us at the dock. 

[sfm629]

Hello from the Ocean Odyssey. We are still cruising. Corfu wasn’t the best day because it rained and the Mon Repos palace was crowded since Achilleon was closed. However, Vantage was able to deliver the advertised excursions in both Kotor and Dubrovnik so we enjoyed those ports of call. Again, the Ocean Odyssey is a lovely ship that is easy to navigate and the staff are wonderful. There has been no more mention of the security breach and there are specials if you want to book your next trip so I guess Vantage is moving forward. I won’t be booking with them again but other passengers are saying they will. 
Happy Travels!

[Roadlamp]

I heard from Fontene with Vantage yesterday.  She was very professional and booked our airfare including our specific requests right while I was on the phone with her.  I checked everything with the airlines immediately after ending the call and everything was perfect. 
I am hopeful that our Beauty of the British Isles will go as scheduled in August. 
 

is there anyone else out there booked on that cruise?
 

 

[sfm629]

Hello from Ocean Odyssey. Today we are in Sibenik Croatia. Per the itinerary, after visiting Krka falls, “Your next stop is Jurlinovi Dvori, a Dalmatian estate with an ethnographic gallery. Enjoy a homemade lunch, prepared with centuries-old local recipes from homemade products, including Babi wine — a vintage derived from Primosten vineyards, which is strong and dry to represent the harsh land it grew on.” Well, apparently the restaurant/estate heard “rumors about Vantage” and canceled the lunch, which we found out while we were on the morning part of the tour! We could hear the discussion between the cruise director and the restaurant on our audiovox headsets. It was embarrassing. They had to bring us back to the ship for lunch that was thrown together by the poor crew. I also found out that the reason that the TV channels don’t work in the cabins is because Vantage didn’t pay for the satellite service. 
I’m grateful to get this vacation because I was worried that it would be canceled during the “security breach” but at least 1/2 of the trip was not as advertised. If you are sailing soon, know that what was promised is not what you actually get and prepare to be flexible. 

[Roadlamp]

Thank you for the update.  We all continue to look for all information. 

[MOssyLedge]

My wife keeps telling me  that I have to be flexible. Being flexible is going to a different attraction or venue because they are closed, not because Vantage has used our hard earned money for other purposes and not paid their bills. 

I too am happy that I still get to experience the boat and the crew and our fellow travelers. I am also glad that we have made our own tours in Copenhagen, Oslo, Amsterdam and London.  When went there last August because we had our airfare (credit-left over from the pandemic) to those cities for 4 days each. Pour cruise to the Baltic region was "postponed" to August 2024.  That's right- 2024.  So we thought it best to expand our horizons with our own tours. At least I know that they will happen. 

Maybe by mid-July Vantage will get to pay their bills. 

Thank you so much for being a sleuth and figuring that out. 

[Billybob79]

We had problems on our Boston to Montreal cruise last October when Bar Harbor, Maine and Lunenburg NS were skipped and Portland, Maine was substituted. We were never given any explanation aqs to why the ports were skipped nor did Vantage offer any compensation to make up for the loss. 

On the other hand, on a Regent Seven cruise in the Baltic last august, a port was skipped, we were told why and each cabin received a $500 shipboard credit.

While the Vantage ships are great, the company continues to fail to deliver. It could be because this is their first venture in Europe and it will take a few more trips to get matters right. We found that to be the case on Viking Ocean in Southeast Asia, where Viking stumbled more than once making it a less than satisfying cruise. 

It is too bad as Vantage has a great product with these 2 ships, but, they need to get their act together if they expect their customers to come back, and, of course bad reviews do Vantage no good for future cruisers. 

In the meantime enjoy what you can of the cruises you are on or will be on.

[Roadlamp]

I am scheduled to be on the Odyssey in August.  While on another cruise line I was able to make “Wi-Fi” phone calls. Can this be done on the Odyssey?

[Rrehfe4969@aol.com]

On 4/29/2023 at 1:26 PM, vwtlat7 said:

We are scheduled to leave on the 5th for the Douro River Trip. Ours journey goes from Lisbon to Madrid. After sending multiple emails to the Vantage gmail address (Vantagetravel.customercare@gmail.com), we received a call from "Fotene" (Vantage Air), this past Wednesday, 4/26. We had upgraded to Premium Economy so we have connecting flights. Fotene gave us new flights on United outbound and Lufthansa returning. I called each airline and we have been ticketed and was told the flights were paid for. I hope that helps.

Have you had any problems and was the hotel okay and how is the ship and excursions so far. Please update if you can as we depart for Madrid Friday 

thanks

richard rehfeldt

[NightFlight]

On 4/29/2023 at 11:37 AM, Rrehfe4969@aol.com said:

I believe there is someone on this thread who is scheduled to leave for Lisbon on the 5th. Have you received airline tickets that have been ticketed yet?  We are scheduled to leave on 12th to Madrid and still no tickets. 
richard

I got my flights last Monday and they are horrible.  JFK to Amsterdam to Lisbon and then Dublin to Amsterdam to NY.  I have emailed and been on hold for days trying to get these flights improved.  I am disgusted that this is what they put me on when there are non-stops out of JFK or EWR.  This is my 14th trip with them and probably my last. 

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, NightFlight said:

I got my flights last Monday and they are horrible.  JFK to Amsterdam to Lisbon and then Dublin to Amsterdam to NY.  I have emailed and been on hold for days trying to get these flights improved.  I am disgusted that this is what they put me on when there are non-stops out of JFK or EWR.  This is my 14th trip with them and probably my last. 

I'm going to hazard a guess - it's because Vantage uses KLM (not my favorite) for flights mostly.  They're based in Amsterdam.  And you can fly anywhere in Europe (practically) from Amsterdam.  

Edited May 8, 2023 by Shmoo here

[Roadlamp]

3 hours ago, NightFlight said:

I got my flights last Monday and they are horrible.  JFK to Amsterdam to Lisbon and then Dublin to Amsterdam to NY.  I have emailed and been on hold for days trying to get these flights improved.  I am disgusted that this is what they put me on when there are non-stops out of JFK or EWR.  This is my 14th trip with them and probably my last. 

I hope you are able to get this resolved.  Since you have been on numerous cruises with Vantage you should have access to "Flight Choice," without paying the $100 fee for this service.  Send an email and see if they can adjust your flights.  We have only one stop going from Miami to London and then to Edinburgh for our August cruise.  Coming home we are direct from London to Miami. Fontene in the flights department was great.

[goatee350]

I was on Odyssey last November & was able to make Skype audio calls to australia without any problems. I’m sure will work with other types of calls like Snapchat etc. 

[goatee350]

I think the Vantage ships are great also but way overpriced unless you pay about half the list price. I find the food & experience & crew better on the European river cruises. For the price Vantage wants I can go elsewhere & get a 6 star experience with gourmet food & free liquor all day for e.g. Ponant.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Tip for quoting posts:  click on the 'Quote' link, then type your response in the white area below the quote box [in the same post].  When you make two posts, it isn't clear why you are quoting without commenting and it isn't clear that the second post is a comment on the quote.

[Billybob79]

I totally agree that the Vantage ocean cruises are very overpriced. For example, their 11 day circumnavigation of Iceland in 2024 (with 2 days each pre and post cruise in Reykjavik), with at least 3 optional excursions and coach airfare is listed starting at $15000. There are 11 stops, which may be overkill.

Regent Seven Seas, which provides business class air and includes all excursions, as well as all drinks, has a 10 night circumnavigation of Iceland (with 6 stops as well as 2 days in the Faroe Islands) for $16000 at the concierge level. There is also a one night pre cruise stay in Reykjavik.

[GerryL13]

8 hours ago, goatee350 said:

I think the Vantage ships are great also but way overpriced unless you pay about half the list price. I find the food & experience & crew better on the European river cruises. For the price Vantage wants I can go elsewhere & get a 6 star experience with gourmet food & free liquor all day for e.g. Ponant.

Yes. Overpriced for what they deliver. Before Covid, I expressly booked with Vantage because I wanted a balcony cabin on the Seine River cruise. I had looked at CroisiEurope, a value cruise company with a lower price, but they have no balconies and their Seine cruises are fewer days. 

   So, when they cancelled (the real word, not postponed), they ultimately replaced the trip with ... wait for it ... the CroisiEurope trip that I had decided against -- but at Vantage Deluxe prices. More hotel days, the lowest level cabin on the ship, and a less desirable time of year.  And the agent tried to get me to pay MORE, saying that it was a DIFFERENT cruise than what I had paid for. (I responded that if it was a different cruise, that meant they had cancelled my original cruise and they owed me a refund. She backed off.)

   Note that CroisiEurope is a fine company, but it offers a value experience. If I had wanted to travel with CE, I would have booked with them -- and paid their lower price.

[goatee350]

3 hours ago, GerryL13 said:

Yes. Overpriced for what they deliver. Before Covid, I expressly booked with Vantage because I wanted a balcony cabin on the Seine River cruise. I had looked at CroisiEurope, a value cruise company with a lower price, but they have no balconies and their Seine cruises are fewer days. 

   So, when they cancelled (the real word, not postponed), they ultimately replaced the trip with ... wait for it ... the CroisiEurope trip that I had decided against -- but at Vantage Deluxe prices. More hotel days, the lowest level cabin on the ship, and a less desirable time of year.  And the agent tried to get me to pay MORE, saying that it was a DIFFERENT cruise than what I had paid for. (I responded that if it was a different cruise, that meant they had cancelled my original cruise and they owed me a refund. She backed off.)

   Note that CroisiEurope is a fine company, but it offers a value experience. If I had wanted to travel with CE, I would have booked with them -- and paid their lower price.

I did 3 Croisi river cruises & 1 barge cruise last year & is definitely a value option but is a very different cruise experience to Vantage. Firstly in our experience we were only part of a very small group of English speakers onboard,the majority are French & the language barrier is very evident.

The food is ok being what the French eat & not what I would call gourmet.

The cruise staff look after the English speakers & we mostly had English translations on the shore excursions but at times wasn’t as much as the French received. The entertainment is focused on the french so not easy to relate to. They do have free drinks,coffee all day & night. I’m booked on a river cruise in November & will continue to cruise with them. So just be aware is a very different cruise experience to Vantage which is tailored to the American market whereas Croisi is for the French market.

[GerryL13]

1 hour ago, goatee350 said:

I did 3 Croisi river cruises & 1 barge cruise last year & is definitely a value option but is a very different cruise experience to Vantage. Firstly in our experience we were only part of a very small group of English speakers onboard,the majority are French & the language barrier is very evident.

I have traveled on CE ships several times since 2015 -- river and barge. Only on the first was there a mix of nationalities, which I enjoyed. On subsequent trips, the company I was sailing with had the whole ship. Of course, that includes the 2021 Vantage trip, so I have no idea what a Vantage experience would be like. I just know that I paid more than I would have paid for a CroisiEurope cruise.

On some CE cruises, there was no menu selection. It was a fixed menu. (Exceptions made for people with special dietary needs.) On others, including the so-called Vantage cruise, we were given 2 or 3 options to be selected ahead of time. Even though the selection was limited, I have always found the food on CE to be very good, as one would expect from a French company.

[goatee350]

That’s interesting reading your response. On my 4 Croisi cruises we had a set menu on all the cruises. I found the food to be rich compared to American food. Though you probaly had a select menu more to American tastes on your charter cruises. We had a guy who was on one of my cruises checking out the ship,talking to the chef about meals for a charter this year. 

[NightFlight]

After many hours on hold, messages left, and emails sent I got a call Monday.  Fontane told me that there was a problem with flight availability.  I had done my homework and knew there were nonstop  flights on United out of Newark.  They were quickly found and I was re-booked on United.  Thank goodness.  This morning they were in My Portfolio and showed up in United.  I realize COVID really hurt the travel industry but Vantage has taken this to a new low.  Last summer I had almost non-existent customer service on Scenic before my Obergammergau/river cruise.   The president of Scenic had the class to send us an apology letter telling us what happened and what has been done to remedy.  I doubt Mr Lewis will do the same.  Anyway, I am optimistic that we will have a great time. 

 

On another subject....I had taken the Kenya/Tanzania trip with Vantage 8 years ago.  I would love to do it again.  It was excellent but after this mess, I am reluctant.  Any suggestions for other good companies that do African safaris?

[Billybob79]

Just as a heads up for anybody who books their flights with Vantage, if you are a Presidents Club member (3 or more prior trips) you can work with the flight department (by far the best in Vantage) to arranage your flights once you have paid in full. I have had great experiences with the flight department, including having them hold seats on non-preferable itinerary until seats on Delta flights opened up to them. (We are from Atlanta). 

However, as someone pointed out Vantage does not always have the contracts for the most direct flights to your destination. The time to work out the flights is as early as possible and not to wait for Vantage to assign your flights close to the trip.

[Rrehfe4969@aol.com]

We used go to Africa dot com and had a terrific safari in Kenya and Tanzania but they go everywhere in Africa. They were half the price of a and k and included internal air everywhere 
richard 

[Billybob79]

NightFlight: My wife and I are on the South Africa trip leaving May 22. I will let you how it went when we get back. We did the Kenya/Tanzania tour 10 years ago and loved it. Assuming this upcoming trip goes well (our tour director has already sent 3 emails with a wealth of information and has responded within 1 day to a personal request). 

I researched all the "upscale" companies doing South Africa and Vantage is still the best bang for the buck if this tour is as good as the Kenya one 10 years ago.
I know it hard to gravitate back to Vantage after so many snafus, but we did Egypt with them last December and it was one of the best trips we have ever taken (six star all the way).

[NightFlight]

BillyBob79, We did South Africa with Vantage about 5 years ago and it was really great.  We had an excellent tour director whose name escaped me.  I agree that Vantage still gives the best bang for the buck.   Africa keeps calling me back.

Rv6flyer, thank you. I have heard good things about OAT.  I will look into them as well.