Roadlamp

I purchased my travel insurance through Allianz this year for a trip with Vantage that was supposed to occur in August, 2023.  I understand that Vantage has not declared bankruptcy, but as I read over my policy, Allianz has a link to a list of companies that would be covered in the case of bankruptcy.  Vantage is not on the list!  So obviously, Allianz saw this situation coming. They are not covering Vantage for insolvency. I was not informed of this when I purchased the policy either.  Just found this interesting.

Florida AG is opening investigation.

12 hours ago, Lexie31 said:

THAT is the burning question, the major question…when is the MA AG going to DO something. Enough is enough.

Has anyone filed with the Florida AG?

Do you need to be a Pennsylvania resident to join this suit?

Thanks for the update.

I was unable to be on the Zoom call last night.  If anyone was on it, can you please provide a recap of the meeting and what was the final conclusion?  Thanks

Thank you for sharing this information.  Has Vantage offered you a refund?  

7 minutes ago, Billybob79 said:

Go to CruiseMapper.com and enter the ship name for the current position.

I did that but I'm not sure if that matches with current cruises.  I'm hoping that someone who might be onboard or having had a trip recently scheduled/cancelled might be able to figure out if there is any correlation or if the ship is off route.  Thanks though

I looked at Cruise Mapper this morning.  I saw that both the Ocean Explorer and Ocean Odyssey are moving.  Does anyone know how the new positions match with cruises that might currently be existing or are they off route?

I wrote directly to Vantage and received the following email regarding my August cruise to the British Isles.  I noticed that they state that they do not anticipate  any changes...

Thank you for your email.  Please disregard the rumors that you are hearing.  Our passengers have not been stranded without flights home and the ms Ocean Odyssey has delayed only one departure.  We do not anticipate any changes to the British Isles cruise.

Kind regards,

Customer Service

I think my daughter got it straightened out.  Thanks!

I must be the worst FB member in the world. I just joined a few days ago.   I have typed in Vantage Deluxe World Travel Complaints Page" numerous times and I cannot find the page.  It doesn't appear, so I cannot ask to join the group.  My daughter got right in there, but not me!

If anyone gets the ZOOM meeting link, please post it here.

Yes.  I did that.  I also copied the information about the extension we booked.  Thanks.

OMG. Thanks for the update. I will look for the ZOOM meeting link.  This is going to be quite messy, no doubt.  I'll start assembling my documentation for filing with my credit card and insurance.

I keep getting this message on FB.  I must be doing something wrong on FB.  Is the group closed?

2 hours ago, goatee350 said:

I’m following both.

 

I just joined FB.  I am trying to figure out how to get in this group.  I know nothing about Facebook.  Can someone help me join this group?  The message I get when I search for the page is that the information is not available.  If I can't get access, perhaps someone can send me the zoom link for Monday's meeting.  Many thanks

It appears that Vantage has been cancelling river cruises and land vacations.  Does this seem accurate to anyone else?  Has anyone had their cruise on Ocean Odyssey or Ocean Explorer cancelled?  

2 hours ago, Stayce's_Mom said:

I just returned from Greece and Dalmatia on the Ocean Odyssey which replaced the sail through the Greek Islands trip that I booked (and paid up front for) in 2019. I truly believe that Vantage will be in bankruptcy or out of business by the end of the year. They have cancelled so many trips post Covid and continue to do so yet I continually receive bright and shiny catalogs, brochures and emails. Our trip was a nail biter right up to the last moment. Our air was unpaid, we had no cabin assignments and Vantage was cancelling trips all around us. Right now I am just feeling lucky that I will no longer be waiting 90 minutes on hold, I will not be lied to up down and sideways by each and every Vantage employee and I can put this horrible experience behind me. DO NOT BOOK VANTAGE DELUXE WORLD TRAVEL. 

 

I totally understand your frustration.  We have a trip booked and paid for slated for August of this year.  How was your experience on this trip?  Thanks for sharing.

I just tried to find the "complaints page" and didn't find it.  Perhaps Vantage has removed it.😨

1 hour ago, sfm629 said:

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.

Thanks for your honest assessment.  I hope Vantage is monitoring this page and can address these issues.

I have been on Viking, Avalon, Oceania, Royal Caribbean and Princess.  I have found that my experiences with Vantage were very different than the other lines.  Vantage offered experiences that allowed passengers to interact with locals in a meaningful way.  I continue to hope that may cruise this summer will be a go.  I, for one, had money invested since pre-COVID, so bowing out and losing the money was not an attractive option.  

3 minutes ago, Cobbie48 said:

When pressed Vantage person said they cancelled their Portugal and Germany cruises for the season. 
 

crossing our fingers for a complete refund but not expecting it.

 

so disappointed. My cousin and I are driving to Savannah next week for 5 nights instead 😫😫

The cruises in Germany and Portugal are river cruises.  Are the ocean going voyages still on?  Anyone out there on the Ocean Odyssey or Ocean Explorer following this?

I looked up the Douro Serenity online.  It is not owned by Vantage.  I wonder what that means in light of the cancellation.  Could it be that Vantage has been cancelled by the company that owns the boat or is there actually a problem with the boat?  I hope Vantage clarifies this.

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.

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?