sfm629

Hi, coming off of the Odyssey last week, I can’t speak for the EZ bikes but for reservations in the spa, it shouldn’t be a problem. I think that there was only 1 woman working there but it wasn’t overly crowded on our trip. I do know that 2 ladies who got their hair done had to go to the spa with freshly washed hair because the hair basins didn’t work. As I previously mentioned, the pool and hot tubs on deck 8 were empty but maybe they will be filled by the time that you sail.

Ok, I will try to answer your questions as best and as honestly as I can. 1. How were the temperature controls- whether it be heating or cooling? There was an individual thermostat in the room that controlled heating and cooling. We kept it on the lowest setting the entire trip since we like it colder and some of our ports were warm. The AC worked pretty well. It was chillier at night but not as cold in the daytime when the sun was shining on the ship. There was also a knob with numbers on the dial under the thermostat but I never learned what it was for. 2. How good were the housekeeping services? Things like cleaning the room daily, making the bed and cleaning the bathroom. Our housekeeper was brand new so she did an average job with cleaning the cabin. She seemed nervous when I interacted with her initially but she warmed up by the end of the trip. She didn’t introduce herself on the first day, which was a first for me as this was my 17th cruise. The steward always comes by to say hello. I think she was just nervous. She switched the towels and made the bed. We got 1 towel animal on day 6 of 10. The service was perfunctory. Other cruisers raved about their stewards so hopefully you get a more seasoned one. 3. How comfortable did you find the bed and pillows? How hard were the pillows? Did they have a pillow menu like many 5* boats? I thought that the bed and pillows were comfortable. There was no top sheet on the bed until Day 3. I know that happens in European hotels sometimes but again, I never saw that before on a cruise ship. There was definitely no pillow menu but the bed had 4 pillows so you can choose from 1 of them. 4. How informative and accurate were the port talks that are supposed to occur daily? The pre-tour briefings given by the cruise director to let us know what we were doing the next day were pretty good, although she kept saying “I have bad news” that things were rescheduled or postponed, which is never fun to hear on your trip. The port talks were not that great. The lecturer was a German man who could be found in the library, researching the port the day before we got there so he could do his slide show, which 1/3rd of the time the IT guy could not get to work. The cruise Director made the excuse that this was a new itinerary for Vantage so we were supposed to be understanding that we didn’t get everything we were supposed to get or go to places we were scheduled to go. The lack of a good port talk didn’t help much. Vantage’s lack of preparation was not our fault as passengers. 5. Was the Odyssey able to dock alongside piers or how often, if ever, did you have to take a zodiac or other smaller boat to shore? Yes! We were able to dock along the piers most of the time and only tendered once. It was a highlight to be able to get off of the ship and walk directly into the city for 4 of the ports. The other ports had a shuttle bus. This was one of the advantages of this cruise, being near the ports. 6. What was the quality of the group tours in town? It depended on your local guide but I thought that the tours in town were mostly good. The guides were knowledgeable and friendly. I would give them an average letter grade of B to B+. 7. What was the quality of the guides and their overall knowledge and personality? See above. 8. Now that you’ve completed your cruise, how would you rate the overall food selection and preparation- especially compared to your past experiences. I know that I may get flak here from other Ocean Odyssey cruisers but I found the dinners on the ship to be poor. The food selection was limited and overall very bland. I don’t like spicy food and it seemed bland to me! I got the NY strip steak on the Always Available menu twice and both times, it was like shoe leather. If I didn’t eat the bread, I would have left the dining room hungry after dinner. The breakfast buffet was very good though. Lots of options and eggs and omelettes made to order. Lunch buffet was not too good to us either so after Day 2, we ate lunch off the ship in the ports and that was fantastic. I am comparing the food quality to Viking Ocean and Celebrity, for reference. Now, I will say that many cruisers thought that the food was good and had no complaints. This was especially true for repeat Vantage travelers so perhaps they knew what they were in for and I didn’t since this was my first Vantage cruise. Food is very subjective though so hopefully you will be one of the people who enjoys it. I can not recommend the dinners at all but the breakfast buffet was very good. For curiosity, how many passengers were actually on board? 121 passengers on board for our sailing. Again, even if mediocre, I was lucky to get the trip. The bar and waitstaff were fantastic. The ship was easily manageable. The loyal Vantage cruisers said that they would cruise with Vantage again, when I asked them about it. I think that they are gambling with their money but to each their own. I will never cruise with Vantage again, and I’m actually happy to put this trip behind me because it was very nerve-racking on if we would even get to go. That did not make for a positive experience even before we left. I do hope that everyone on this board gets their trips and that you have a great time. Traveling opens the world to everyone and I’m not going let this experience stop me from traveling. I just will not use Vantage again.

I just got home from my Ocean Odyssey Pearls of Greece and the Dalmatian Coast trip yesterday. The gratuities were $20 per person per day, added to your shipboard account. Although many passengers tipped extra in cash to individuals who provided excellent service. Drinks were only included at dinner, this was for wine, beer and soda. We did have 1 night of a 2 hour open bar to make up for 2 of 3 bus groups missing an included excursion on a 30 min scenic cruise of a river in Croatia as well as all of us missing the included lunch with locals excursion, that I mentioned in a previous post. Based on my experience, which I know I was lucky to get at all, if Vantage is still in business by the end of the year, I will be surprised. I would never book with them again. I’m sorry for the people getting canceled at the last minute. I can only hope that Vantage will make it right. If anyone has any Ocean Odyssey specific questions, I can try my best to answer them.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

Hi, I’m on the Pearls of Greece and the Dalmatian coast trip that started 4/26. We checked out of Athens and embarked the Ocean Odyssey today. At the port talk, the cruise director acknowledged Vantage’s issues with the security breach and the customer service being understaffed in Boston. She said that they are trying their best to fix everything and hire more staff. We were supposed to go to Delphi tomorrow but we can’t because of mudslides in/near the Corinth canal so we are docking in Kalamata and going to the Messene archeological site. There are 121 passengers on the ship. Several had their cabin #’s changed, some were happy because they were upgraded and some were not because they wanted the specific cabins that they selected, which is understandable. I’m just happy that the cruise is taking place at all because I was afraid it would be canceled. I will try to keep you posted. Internet is spotty so we’ll see how it goes. Good luck to everyone!

I arrived in Athens yesterday for the Pearls of Greece & Dalmatian Coast tour. There was a Vantage travel representative at the airport when we exited baggage claim, which we were happy to see with everything going on. We got to the hotel in Athens and the Vantage host there acknowledged the security breach a few times and said that Vantage in the US is working on it. At check in, we all had to swipe credit cards as a “security” but we allegedly won’t be charged (we’ll see how that goes). @DonnaMW, they mentioned that the next group disembarking was coming in on Saturday so you should be good with a hotel (Caravel). Just be prepared for the security credit card swipe. We are scheduled for our Athens tour today and we embark on Ocean Odyssey tomorrow. I will let you all know how that goes.

I'm flying on Wednesday to Athens (my flight tickets were only paid by Vantage a week ago on 4/17/23 after many calls and having original flights changed). I'm supposed to embark the Ocean Odyssey on Saturday. If anything is amiss with Vantage on the actual travelling end, I will post to let people know. (FYI-this was booked in Nov 2019 and was rescheduled 2x already so I'm like the rest of you, disgruntled and anxious)

@DonnaMW Thank you for the reassurance about your flights not being paid until the last week of March. I was able to get a customer service person on the Vantage chat today and she told me that TBD cabins are assigned 5-10 days out. I’m traveling with another couple and they got their cabin assessment today so I’m hoping that mine will be soon. I asked about the flights on the chat but they didn’t have information and said that I have to call the Flight department #. I’m not a Presidents member as this is my first trip with Vantage. I plan to call on Monday. I hope that you have a wonderful cruise and get to visit all of the ports.🤞🏻🙂

We were not assigned a cabin when they rescheduled us from a departure last May to this April. We were told by customer service that the cabin assignment would be done "close to" the sailing date. From what I read on these boards, the Ocean Odyssey was not even built last May and didn't start sailing until November 2022. I check my Vantage online account daily as I know that they will not email me any information. Last year, I saw my rescheduled trip on My Portfolio Page a full week before Vantage emailed me to notify me that the trip was postponed. I will call them this weekend to ask about the cabin and air fare being paid. It's pretty discouraging to see "The payment for this booking is incomplete, please complete the payment for this booking" on the airline websites. Vantage has had our money enough time to pay for the tickets. I'm just tired of the hassle of calling them and waiting on hold forever but I will try again. Thanks for your advice!

Hi, after booking a trip in 2019 to Greece in 2020 and being rescheduled by Vantage 3x to an itinerary that is not as good, we are supposed to sail on the Ocean Explorer to Greece and the Dalmatian Coast on April 26th 2023. I'm 19 days out and my Cabin # is TBD. My flights through Vantage on Austrian Air (departure) and Lufthansa (return) are currently showing as unpaid. I know that it is nearly impossible to get anyone from Vantage on the phone but based on your experiences, do I need to call them to address the air and cabin or do I wait it out? I am skeptical that this trip will even happen but I'm hoping that it will, if only because I'm tired of them having our money for that long. It has been such an ordeal that I will never use Vantage again and I just want this trip, which was for a milestone event, to be over and done with. Advice on calling them now or wait is appreciated. Thank you!!