Any past VANTAGE cruisers?

[Shmoo here]

We are past Vantage cruisers (and loved all 4 we took).We're (obviously) going to have to find a new cruise line for our river cruising.  Are there any past Vantage cruisers who've done other lines who can give me a little comparison as to which cruise line(s) are similar in procedures/itineraries?

[RobInMN]

We did Vantage with my parents back in 2005.

I've only done Grand Circle and AmaWaterways since.

Not a fan of Vantage or Grand Circle, but a fan of Ama.

The president or owner of Vantage is/was the brother of the president or owner of GC. Pretty sure GC is nearly identical to Vantage, down to the ship floor plans.

 

For comparisons with other lines, search/peruse this forum for threads asking for comparisons

Here's a few recent ones:

 

[Shmoo here]

9 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

Pretty sure GC is nearly identical to Vantage, down to the ship floor plans.

 

I don't know about that.  However, the only thing I do know about GC was the rooms were small and only had twin beds in them. I do know they are brothers. 

 

We did 4 Vantage trips, the last one was our delayed 2020 tulip cruise in 2022.  The first 3 trips were fantastic experiences.  The last one was just OK but still good.  

[ural guy]

Shmoo-  3 Vantage cruises, experience matches yours.  Still had a great time on the Nov 22 cruise, but could see the writing on the wall, between having 3 river ships and now down to 1, keeping the oldest one, chicken nuggets for welcome aboard event.

 

We were on Viking in 2014 and 2023.  Nice, but not the Vantage replacement for us.  

Bicycles, reward program, no agents, longer tours, larger staterooms for less $, older passengers (some of the most amazing travel stories), grill guy and buffet diners in secondary dining area were the Vantage highlights for us.  Viking, the CD we had really acted as a cheerleader, very polished guy; Americans seem to love a British accent, and he briefed well.  Vantage, we had guys from Romania, very nice, great local advice, but a bit of a shambles at times during briefings.  These impressions carried over to both companies.

 

Our experience with Viking, recently booked ocean cruise.  Niece is back in Travel Agent game, switch booking to her.  Now we have OBC that will pay tips. Plus the returning cruise discount of $100 or $200 pp, depending on the month. I just dislike the notion that I can 'negotiate' a deal, and then find out there is roughly 5% that Viking can bend on, kinda by saying the magic words.  Even after the OBC award, my niece still makes a profit.  Vantage, dealing direct did seem to save money.  Until it didn't.

 

Trying Riviera in October, Budapest to Black Sea, 14N.  I'll post my thoughts afterwards.

Grand Circle, the Pullman beds are a no.

[Shmoo here]

10 hours ago, ural guy said:

Trying Riviera in October, Budapest to Black Sea, 14N.  I'll post my thoughts afterwards.

That would be great.  I appreciate your response.