Vantage River cruising

[Roadlamp]

There has been a lot of discussion in regards to Vantage ocean voyages.  Has anyone recently been onboard a river cruise with them?  If so, what was your experience?  I've traveled with them before and have been very happy, but most recent postings are negative.  Is Vantage canceling their river cruises frequently?  They appear to have drastically reduced the amount of cruises they are offering.  Thanks for your input.

[ural guy]

We sailed with them in November.  Enjoyed the cruise.  We've sailed with them 3 times, this was a similar experience.  A lower tier line for amenities and food quality, at a lower cost (especially during specials.  We're not foodies, and eat mostly in the second dining room, where the food is more basic, so not a big deal to us.  Typical tours in port, just not a lot of choices.  I go on bike rides frequently, they have quite a few on board.  We like that the cost increase to go from aquarium class to french balcony is about half that of Viking, and the cabins are larger.  

 

Not as many cruises:  they are down to one ship on the Danube/Rhine, and one on Douro.  I believe they are starting on the Seine in 2024.

 

Front office: you've read the front office stories.  Not good.  Our personal experience has been OK, and they were pretty fair with Covid cancellations and low water credits.  If I had asked for my $ back, my story might be different.  During low water issues, it was maddening to hear the office staff read the script stating our cruise was departing on time, on schedule.  It was impossible unless it grew wheels.

 

I hope they are able to rebound.  They have longer cruises that we enjoy; 8 nights on upper Danube route, 14 nights on AMS-BAS sailing (more time on Mosel than most lines), the Portugal one has 3 nights in Madrid and 3 nights in Lisbon with 7 nights on the river.  

 

Good luck with whoever you sail with.

 

[Shmoo here]

On 1/10/2023 at 1:22 PM, Roadlamp said:

There has been a lot of discussion in regards to Vantage ocean voyages.  Has anyone recently been onboard a river cruise with them?  If so, what was your experience?  I've traveled with them before and have been very happy, but most recent postings are negative.  Is Vantage canceling their river cruises frequently?  They appear to have drastically reduced the amount of cruises they are offering.  Thanks for your input.

We've done 4 river cruises with Vantage and a trip to China (that had a short river trip included).  We currently have a Norway trip booked.

 

Yes, we like Vantage.  

[ural guy]

I'd like to add that the Presidents club is a nice perk, after three sailings (we got the perks as our one cruise was Covid canceled).  20E laundry credit per person, cabin upgrade if available (it was, from aquarium to French Balcony), and free airfare deviation fee if you get included airfare , you just pay the fare difference.

 

I'm sure other lines offer similar perks for repeat business, this was just a nice surprise as we weren't expecting it.

 

[lynncarol]

My husband and I have done 3 cruises with Vantage (Black Sea, Holland, and the Seine River). I have to say, that on our first cruise with Vantage, a 36 cabin yacht on the Black Sea in 2014, occurred just 3 months after Russia annexed the Crimea. Vantage was the ONLY cruiseline that didn't cancel during that period of unrest and we were welcomed everywhere, including our time at Sochi Russia and 3 days in Odessa.  One of the most interesting cruises ever.  The only problem was the ship's air-conditioning was dependent on the water temp and as a heat spell was going on, our cabin was really warm until we got to the more northern parts of the Black Sea. Because of this, Vantage, UNASKED, sent us a $1000 credit for our next cruise. For that alone, they have our loyalty and we are now booked on a Duoro (sp?) River cruise with them this spring. 

[Cobbie48]

We are booked on a May 2023 Douro cruise with them. Family members had done it and loved it. I thought it was very expensive compared to Avalon which we usually cruise. We paid the full fare upfront for a slight discount. Later my cousin and I decided to get separate rooms as there was no single supplement. There was a $3,000 price difference and we only got a Vantage credit. 

[GerryL13]

In March 2020, I booked a September 2020 Seine River cruise with Vantage. Paid in full. Covid was just taking off, and I was assured that if they had to cancel the cruise, I would get a full refund. Ha.

 

The cruise was, of course, cancelled, but they refused to admit that it was cancelled -- even though they had already planned to move the ship from the Seine and would not be offering any Seine cruises past 2020. They kept insisting that the cruise was "postponed." (One agent said that is what the lawyer told them they could do to get around the refund assurance in the contract.)

 

I'll skip past the many months of frustration trying to communicate with Vantage. (Once they have your money, they have little need to respond to your email. I couldn't get a word out of them until I filed an official complaint with the BBB.) If I wanted anything for the money I had given them, I could take a late October 2021 cruise on a vessel leased from CroisiEurope. A good company, but one specializing in value cruises, not deluxe. And a significantly different itinerary, which I never would have chosen in the first place. (In fact, I had looked into taking a similar trip with CroisiEurope before settling on Vantage.) The trip was adequate, but not worth the money -- or aggravation -- that it cost.

 

Verdict: I will never give Vantage another dollar of my money. There were many long-time Vantage customers on the cruise who were saying the same thing.