twototravel

Now on the Ocean Odyssey sailing from Bali to Singapore. Hubby and I are in cabin 612, category BS, Royal Verandah. Embarkation went smoothly, greeted with cold drinks and snacks. Bags were already in cabins. Getting the Wi-Fi password was like pulling teeth, kept getting excuses. Turned out each cabin had to register themselves online. Ship collected passports and covid cards when we arrived and will return them when we disembark. Food has been excellent, staff very friendly and helpful. We did our first zodiac tender today. There is a mandatory training session you must attend. If not, you can’t go on excursions that require tenders. Here’s some bits of info: - they want you to wear closed toed shoes on tenders but will not turn you away if you don’t have them. - if you are going to a port with snorkeling, be sure to bring your gear from home if you can. They don’t have enough for everyone onboard. - as expected, satellite Wi-Fi is iffy. Drops in and out. - due to bad weather we have already had one planned day’s activities modified. Flexibility no is key. - there are water bottle filling stations on each deck. We were supposed to be given Vantage logo water bottles but they don’t have them. Best to bring one from home just in case. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will try to answer them.

@souschef Why not just contact Vantage with your question?

@Teddybauer Are you booked on multiple trips? We embark on 26 Feb in Bali heading to Singapore.

@nh6mile Before embarking did you have to take a covid test? Any covid issues during the trip?

@nh6mile Looking forward to your comments. Our cruise is in Feb starting in Bali going to Singapore. We booked cabin 612. Would love to see a picture if you meet anyone staying in that cabin.

@TlafaaRef flights arranged by Vantage. We have preliminary flights booked (you can view them in your account) with seats for our trip in Feb. All info is showing up on the airline's website when using the record locator, even the requested seats. Vantage told me they won't finalize (purchase) the flights until 30-45 days out due to all the changes airlines are making. If you don't have preliminary flights scheduled, you should call their air choice department. I can definitely attest to that as an upcoming flight for a different trip has changed many times. Original flight cancelled, and another booked on a different day and some changes by just a few minutes.

We have 3 cruises booked on this ship in 2023. The first is in May on the Rhine, and the other two are back to back Xmas market cruises first one is Vienna to Regensburg and the second is Regensburg to Frankfurt. We booked the same cabin for all three, 311. Anyone else an early planner and booked on these as well? Would love feedback and tips for those recently on this ship and any info on how the b2b cruise logistics might work.

For those that have been following this ship's voyage after leaving China, it made it to Aqaba, Jordan today! I believe it's first trip with passengers boarding in the next few days will be from Jordan to Dubai. Congrats and Bon Voyage. Can't wait to hear about the ship and your experiences.

@sanluisobispotraveler GPS has been corrected and the ship is in the Red Sea with an ETA for Aqaba on 19 Nov. I'm so excited for @cruise-a-lotto embark on this new ship in just a few days. They should be in Amman now.

@sanluisobispotraveler It looks like the destination port has been changed from Aqaba to ABC, whatever that is. Maybe an error....

@cruise-a-lot I see that the ship is due to arrive in Aqaba on 19 Nov! So excited for you. Please start a new thread with your info about the ship once you board. I know people have been really upset with Vantage, but let's give this new ship the publicity it deserves as it finally sets sail with passengers. Bon voyage cruisers!

@souschefYour cruise is probably the next one after ours. We disembark in Singapore on 9 March. We are booked in cabin 612. What's yours? Getting excited.

@cruise-a-lot Did you mean Nov 17 2022? That very well could be their first official cruise. Not sure how long it will take them to get there from their current position. I've been following the ship on cruisemapper since it left China. Our cruise is in Feb 2023 out of Bali.

@deec I'm assuming they may have crew aboard, but probably still doing sea trials and heading toward the first port to pick up passengers.

We are on the Empress for a Rhine cruise in early May.

Ocean Odyssey has made it to Manila! Hoping they are picking up crew and will make their way to wherever the inaugural cruise will be. Ours is in Feb so we feel confident all will be well. Sorry to read all these horror stories. While Vantage does control their communications with customers, publicity and news releases (which all have been sorely lacking regarding this ship), getting it released from China was out of their control and I'm positive Chinese COVID restrictions didn't help, on top of all the supply issues. I'm looking forward to seeing some good news from travelers on the Ocean Explorer and the Odyssey.

Looks like the Ocean Odyssey is finally leaving port!! Got this update from cruisemapper.com: Ocean Odyssey current location is at China Coast (coordinates 31.14090 N / 121.89671 E) cruising at speed of 14 kn (26 kph/ 16 mph) en route to MANILA.

Well, the ship is still moored in China. I'll give it a week and then contact Vantage again.

I received this update in an email yesterday from Vantage's VP of Sales & Concierge. "Thank you for reaching out to us. The ship has been delayed due to Covid based work stoppages in China. Last week we were informed the Odyssey will be turned over to Vantage and will set sail from the shipyard on October 19th.

Okay. I sent an email to Delgado, Palmira <PDelgado-Brito@vantagetravel.com>; Rosen, David <DRosen@vantagetravel.com>; Lewis, Henry <HLewis@vantagetravel.com. Here's the text of my email: "If your executive team is not following social media regarding your newest, not ready for passengers, ship, The Ocean Odyssey, they should. I am booked in February 2023 for the Bali to Singapore sailing. I am amazed that you are still asking if I want to pay you more money to upgrade my cabin, and have even added this trip to your Ways To Save section. I paid full price for my trip months ago and you have over $30,000 of my money. What all your future passengers see is that this ship is still in China and that you have "postponed" their cruises in the last several months, refusing to offer refunds. I think you owe everyone that has, or is currently booked on the Odyssey an email explaining the situation and what is being done to expedite the readiness of this ship. Is there a plan to temporarily lease another ship to fulfill your obligations to passengers that have given you thousands of dollars for their trip of a lifetime? I would so appreciate a response from someone in management. Please don't refer me to one of your customer reps; I know more than they do." Within an hour I received a response back from David Rosen. Here is his response: "Thank you for reaching out to us. The ship has been delayed due to Covid based work stoppages in China. Last week we were informed the Odyssey will be turned over to Vantage and will set sail from the shipyard on October 19th. We plan to put her into active service in November so your Bali to Singapore dream journey will proceed as planned. Until then we wish you good health and look forward to welcoming you onboard in February. Kind regards, David David Rosen VP – Sales & Concierge Services"

Here's what I hope is going to happen, and hope is all we have :). The Odyssey will be finished in the next month or so. Sea trials will occur, etc. etc. The ship will stay in Asia and commence the Asian cruises scheduled for 2023. As someone else mentioned, my cruise Bali-Singapore is also still being advertised; even made the Ways to Save reduced list (that make me mad when I paid full price). Vantage is even pushing me to give them more money to upgrade my cabin. NO way! Another option would be that Vantage leases another ship to keep to their current trips. This would be a big financial hit for them, but their reputation may survive.

I think we had Rick and Christopher on our Puget Sound cruise earlier this year. Rick is kind of a short fella that loves to dance and Christopher is tall and skinny and loves musicals, right?

I just checked, and these are the only reasons you can cancel your trip using Vantage's policy and get a refund: Sickness, injury, or death of traveler, travel companion, or family member Quarantine, jury duty, court order to appear as witness for traveler or travel companion Traveler or traveling companion’s place of employment damaged due to natural disaster, requiring traveler or travel companion to remain at work Documented theft or loss of passport or visa Job transfer Documented traffic accident causing missed trip departure Organized labor strike, bad weather, or mechanical breakdown of aircraft for 24 hours or more Shutdown of airport or air traffic control system for 6 hours or more, preventing trip departure Emergency military duty resulting from natural disaster for traveler or travel companion Previously granted military leave revoked for traveler or travel companion Job termination or layoff with employer

Really regretting giving them 30k of our money for the Bali to Singapore cruise in Feb 2023 on the Odyssey. Since we've had issues on every other Vantage trip should have known better. Other travel companies we use, Gate 1 and OAT have kept in contact via email with their clients about their struggles this year and always give an option to either get a refund (especially if you bought their insurance), or reschedule at a future date if they have to cancel a trip. To get around their no refunds because they say the trip is postponed, could we cancel now if we have the CFAR policy and get most of our money back?

Can someone please copy and paste the NYTimes article? I can't access it. Thanks.