Voyages to Antiquity Pompeii etc. May31

[rugbypopsie]

"Lives to travel" we will be waiting with bated breath for an in depth review....I must say I am thinking it at least a little bit hopeful that the boards have not been full of more recent lousy reviews.

 

I would really like to do a trip with them....fingers crossed.

[Livestotravel]

I'll take copious notes - watch out! My big concern now is "dancing clouds" report that the AC wasn't working properly. Let's see, bake in a cabin or get soot rained on you on the deck....I think this trip, with this company, requires a very good sense of humor!

[Caroleh123]

You can't have been looking at the right forums Rugbypopsie. Plenty more poor reviews

on other forums.

[rugbypopsie]

Just finished reading them...oh dear...I think I have to cross them off my list.

 

Suggestions welcome for alternative...husband mad about Roman history...small ship OK in fact preferable...not too high end cost as we have to fly from Australia.:confused:

[patseacruiser]

With all due respect, Bullshed is Trencherman. While I read the other review from someone else on his site it was not as horrible as he'd like us to believe but rather a mixed review. I could also give you people who had comments on their organization and the soot and tenders but overall had a wonderful time and especially if they were solo because of the rates. According to VTA the tender situation as been changed and they have corrected or are working on the rest of it. I guess I am in the minority of people who have never been on a perfect cruise other than that I made it perfect for me.

[Ontariotrekker]

Patseacruiseer - although we know you do have a vested interest in the success of this cruise line, you are correct in one respect. Trencherman's posts are only using the negative stuff, mine included.

For example, he has issues with the wait staff. I found them efficient and they did in fact know my name, what I drank for each meal and even where I preferred to sit. The chief steward and I shared an elevator on the third day.. he knew which floor I was staying on and enquired if everything was okay. I introduced myself by name and after that he always smiled and called me Madame D...

 

Does the hierachy on the ship need to learn some manners..a big yes. Again, in the elevator with the top of the bridge staff, not a hello, a head nod - nothing. They just continued on with their converstaon like I was not there. I'm a big girl, kind of hard to miss.

[SwissMyst]

There has been grudging recognition by this major critic at large that this remains a bargain cruise at the lower cabin rates. The major disappointment appears to come from some one getting what appears to be a free trip in one of the deluxe rate cabins who felt it wasn't good enough for him and his inflated expectations.

 

All ship brochures unfortunately create a visual expectation that has very little to do with the actual onboard experience, and in fact is often counter productive. The trip reports sound a lot like what one could also report from the MV Discovery as to cabins and food. Basic and not much better from high to low except for more space. It also appears that the serious issues of tenders, staffing and soot are being dealt with.

 

But when reports still come back about good lectures, shore excursions and intriguing ports, this still looks like a good first try for this ship. And it remains a superb bargain as it gets its kinks worked out on this first and probably last loss-leader season.

[Livestotravel]

As one poster wrote to me in an email, by the second day she realized that if she kept looking for things that were wrong, she'd miss all the things that were right. Since I haven't paid for concierge level where a lot of the criticism seems to stem from, and since I am taking this cruise with my eyes wide open as to its (I hope) former problems, I'm still looking forward to it - the people - the lectures - the tours - cruising! I'll just have to watch for soot on the chairs, and stock up on purse-sized spot removers.

[London380sl]

SwisssMyst:

 

I think you've hit the issue on the head. i was talking to our Travel Agent a couple of days ago and she said basically the same thing. She's gotten generally good feedback from some her clients who have taken the cruise. They found the tours to be excellent but the ship was experiencing difficulties. Her spin was that the company was running into problems because of the way they marketed this ship as being a 5 star ship when its really a three star ship. If you're expecting a Crystal Line experience you are going to be disappointed.

.

I'll give Bullshead some slack in his comments as he seemed to have the incredous back luck of picking the cruise from hell when everything went to pot. I believe this was VTA's first voyage with a large passenger list. The first two sailings were less than half full from what I've read. It looks like VTA has been trying to address some of the bigger issues but I guess I'll find out in a couple weeks as I'm booked for for the same trip he took "Pompeii is something so wonderful".

[bullshead]

SwisssMyst:

...I'll give Bullshead some slack in his comments as he seemed to have the incredous back luck of picking the cruise from hell when everything went to pot. I believe this was VTA's first voyage with a large passenger list. The first two sailings were less than half full from what I've read...

 

Well thanks for that. It is with some trepidation that I'm posting, since I'm getting some serious flak, merely for trying to post some of the experiences we had, for the benefit of others. To paraphrase and add to what you wrote: they've a six-star brochure, with four-star prices (three if you can get a really good deal) but a one or two-star shipboard experience.

 

To travel agent Patseacruiser, I know that you're planning to go with them next month, but I see that someone else has spotted that you are putting a positive spin on things, even though you've never been on the ship. No idea what you mean by "bullshead is trencherman" since my handle on this website is bullshead, while my website is trencherman.org - so what?

 

cruisemom42 asks if I have an axe to grind? Apart from paying thousands of pounds and not getting what I paid for, No. I was NOT expecting Seabourn or Silversea, I just wanted a nice relaxing cruise with good food and wine, a comfortable cabin etc, and I didn't get it.

 

Yes, we've cruised extensively over the past few years, thus I feel qualified to comment on things like basic levels of service, comfort and safety - which should all be a given. Never have we been so glad to get off a ship.

 

But just to redress the balance, let me tell everyone some good things about the cruise:

 

1. the itinerary was truly excellent, which is one of the reasons we booked. Say 9/10

2. the overnights in several ports were good, if only because it meant that you could eat ashore and drink local wine, and get a proper cup of coffee and a grappa. We seem to be in a minority of two here but we thought the time spent in Palermo was a high spot of the cruise. 8/10

3. the excursions were mostly not bad, but they could have been so much better if they'd thought things through. Two hours at Pompeii was ludicrous, given that they built the cruise around it. And having to be back on the tender in Dubrovnik before 12:00, even though we were sailing to Spilt where we were docked overnight is a good example of a wasted opportunity. The QuietVox systems worked well, and dishing out water was good. Say 6/10 overall.

 

The more astute readers will have spotted that all the good points were once one left the ship, and that says it all really.

[SwissMyst]

......

The more astute readers will have spotted that all the good points were once one left the ship, and that says it all really.

 

Bullshead, I guess you mean anyone who has not been hit on the side of their head with your battering 2x4 complaints about this ship are those you consider less "astute"? Yeah, we got it.

 

Ship excursions will always fault a port stop with brevity due to the sheer nature of using a ship instead of a land tour and all that entails. Ship travels do provide more survey experiences than in-depth experiences and astute cruise passengers already understand this.

 

However, what is appealing about VTA, and particularly the one we were briefly signed up for was the combination of land and sea segments. I am still regreting our overly cautious pull-out on the Cairo to Athens segment because it is a wonderful mix of land and sea as well as a full Suez transit.

 

To me, it is criminal to be all the way over to Jordan and only see Petra on a short, rushed day trip from an Aqaba port excursion. But if this is all one gets, at least they get that. But if there is a trip that included at least an over-night in Petra then that would be a lot better but for some places like Petra (and Jordan) the only real way to enjoy it is with a far more leisurely land tour.

[Livestotravel]

It looks like VTA has been trying to address some of the bigger issues but I guess I'll find out in a couple weeks as I'm booked for for the same trip he took "Pompeii is something so wonderful".

 

London380sl - Glad you are still on this trip!

 

I copied this from another board - hope that is okay to do:

 

A quote from an email from VP Mitch Schlessinger:

"Please circle 7/27 on your calendar and presume with me that this is the date that virtually everything about the VTA cruise experience changes. In VERY brief:

 

* New Hotel Director who used to work for us at previous lines starts 7/27

* Air fixed (the 6/29 situation was not mechanical, but semi-accidental)

* Soot rerouted

* Tenders with new, more powerful & quieter engines 7/27

* 24 hour tea, coffee etc.

* Linda Reyes, the new Cruise Concierge (on since 6/15) and is doing an excellent job of organizing everything onboard....communication to guests much improved."

[patseacruiser]

I have no 'vested interest' in seeing this line succeed. My interest is that they have good itineraries with single supplements waived and it makes for good business for me then I guess you could say I have a vested interest. Other than that I can only say they have given refunds when asked for them, gone above and beyond IMHO when they canceled one of my clients because the ship was chartered and she was able to actually get the cruise she really wanted but was too expensive for less than the one she 'settled' on. All I am saying is that people are posting that there are some very good positives but Bullshead or Trencherman is hellbent on only discussing the negative. Wish I could say I've never been on a trip where there was not one negative thing that happened but alas I can not. So can we try to stop beating up on them and focus on what is really positive and what is a really important negative. Yes no air is a problem but it just recently happened on HAL. Ship happens people so tell the cruiseline, ask for a refund if that's what you think you deserve, ask for a partial credit or a next cruise credit. And you know they have been so easy to deal with - at least for me anyway - that I think you would be surprised at their good customer service from their land based operations.

[London380sl]

Livestotravel- I'm sure I should be able to figure out who you are - you'll be the person furiously scribbling notes in notepad. We're looking forward to this trip. I'm suspecting that most of the kinks that the earlier voyages had will be smoothed out and I agree with Pat there are bumps in any trip - you just have to focus on the positive and minimize the negative. Then again I'm the enternal optimist :).

[patseacruiser]

SwissMyst - VTA does in fact overnight for 2 nights in Petra. The Cairo to Amman cruise is 8 days with 2 nights Pre Cairo, 2 nights Luxor, 2 Nights Petra and 2 nights Amman.

The 2 night Petra does the full day in Petra and then also visit Wadi Rum (Lawrence of Arabia, blah blah).

 

[SwissMyst]

SwissMyst - VTA does in fact overnight for 2 nights in Petra. The Cairo to Amman cruise is 8 days with 2 nights Pre Cairo, 2 nights Luxor, 2 Nights Petra and 2 nights Amman.

The 2 night Petra does the full day in Petra and then also visit Wadi Rum (Lawrence of Arabia, blah blah).

 

 

I realized I was not making my point very well when I mentioned Petra in an unrelated example of the all too quick port stops that offer only a survey of an area that cries out for more time and depth that a land tour could offer.

 

I should have said most cruises offer only a one day rushed trip to Petra. The two nights offered by VTA is what made us realize VTA is a cruise line that knew its business and one reason we were so eager to sign up for the Cairo-Athens leg. Anything less than at least one overnight in Petra when arriving at the Aquba port in Jordan is the equivalent of a travel crime against nature. (IMHO) But even one day is better than no days.

[Caroleh123]

Pat, on another forum, I came across an American passenger saying that

she had been told by VtA's Andrea Corman (?) that the smoke from the funnels had been fixed.

 

This was palpable nonsense as on the same day as I read this post I was watching the ship arrive in Valetta with some pouring out of its funnel.

 

It is in the interests of VtA to be economical with the truth so that deposits

are turned into firm bookings. To be frank the same goes for you as a travel agent.

 

They have over promised and have under delivered. 2hrs in Pompeii, wine

with which you could strip paint, no aircon, faulty lifts, rude staff, awful food etc etc

 

The fact that they allegedly now have cruise directors, hotel directors etc etc makes me wonder where they were in the first place.

 

VtA set sail in May knowing after the Paris MOU inspection that there were 27 major things wrong with the ship. Until they have another inspection and those 27 deficiencies don't appear on a list, how do any of us know that they have been fixed?

 

I find it very interesting that there are no posts anywhere from VtA either refuting these complaints or advising people of progress in sorting out the problems that I saw with my own eyes for 14 days.

(Just in case you're wondering, I have complained in writing to them and I also complained to their UK head office whilst on the cruise.)

 

This ship was not trialled by VtA before they started taking money off the public. Had it been, maybe some of these issues would have been fixed. I did not pay a great deal of money and take 14 days off work to underwrite their very steep learning curve.

 

By the way what is this ship up to at the moment? Cruising round the Med having been chartered by Russians (the official story) or trying to repair some of the 27 things on the Paris MOU list?

 

Finally the problems with this ship are not kinks, they are serious issues

and you are insulting the intelligence of those of us who have spent the money and done the time if you think that we can't tell the difference.

[cruisemom42]

Lynn, I don't think any of us are discounting your experience, nor bullshead's. However, your opinions have been expressed, several times. Reiterating them does not give them additional weight.

 

I have not seen many other seriously negative reviews besides those you and bullshead have provided (on various other boards as well). As someone pointed out, most other reviews have been mixed; some good things and some bad ones.

 

I just question whether it is necessary to keep repeating your experiences on the same thread unless you have some new information to add. Or are you hoping that being a squeaky wheel will result in some grease from VtoA?

[SwissMyst]

Claiming VTA wine "could strip paint" is the type of exaggeration that undermines the credibility of the rest of the complaints. Forces one to ratchet down all other dissenting comments made by posters who indulge in such verbal hyperbole. Wine tastes are subjective; not verifiable absolutes. So any poster who resorts to exaggeration even as an attempt to be cute or a faux stab at appearing discerning automatically loses points with me.

 

There have been sufficient adequate reports that are encouraging and even still enticing. Yes, 2 hours in Pompeii can be adequate fro a cruise experience stop. This entire Naples Bay is so rich in experiences it would be hard to parcel them out adequately, as any real traveller would understand. Get thee back on a land tour if you want more than two hours, and then have to forgo all the other pleasures offered by Naples Bay and environs.

 

The few increasingly vicious reports by VYA detractors have served their purpose and have done their damage. Not be gone. The later reports are far more important that those of this disgruntled pack who have some undisclosed agenda that is no longer selling or even has shock value.

 

I regret these early reports led to my own cancellation, but if this spurred VTA to take a very serious and immediate look at the necessary remediations it was worth it for the good of their future passengers. I think we passed up a trip of a lifetime and look forward to the more sober reports that are starting to come in now after this early work in progress, progresses.

[Caroleh123]

Girls - calm down dears. FYI My post was primarily for Pat who seems to be believing that everything that VtA are saying/have said.

Experience has made me somewhat sceptical and I shall continue to

voice that opinion when I choose to do so.

 

There was no need for the tour of Pompeii to be reduced to two hours apart from mismanagement and the fact that a very average lunch was booked

at 1215.

 

Re the wine - wait until you've tasted it before you pass comment. I trust my palate which has been quite well trained for winetasting.

 

SwissMyst if you want rebook there's plenty of space and you will probably still get a very good deal.

 

Finally, as far as I know this ship hasn't been into dry dock in the last couple of weeks in order to get the repairs done and is currently chugging across the Black Sea.

[SwissMyst]

Re the wine - wait until you've tasted it before you pass comment. I trust my palate which has been quite well trained for winetasting.

.

 

If the wine can strip paint off walls, I doubt if you have much of a discerning palate left after your one and final one sip. That would be pretty rough on the oral epithelium. Poor baby.

[rugbypopsie]

I really really hope this ship goes on to fulfill its potential. If the earlier cruisers had a disappointing experience, and there is no doubt whatsoever that they did, in the end those who come after will benefit. It is very unfair that they spent their hard earned dollars being guinea pigs for things that one could reasonably expect could have been forseen by the cruise line.

 

If V to A are reading these posts and I hope they are...keep us informed...keep your lead in prices...show us that the brochure which was so enticing is backed up by a cruise experience we will be happy to write about.

[Caroleh123]

Thanks Bullshead and RugbyPospie for your comments.

 

I agree that we are trying to give a heads up to those who follow. Like all pioneers we are getting arrows in our backs.

 

Just in case you didn't know, apparently VtA is writing to passengers apologising for their experience and offering them 25% discount on their next booking. An offer that I will not be accepting if that offer is made to me but it's good evidence of admission of guilt.

 

Also a senior US VtA employee is apparently emailing US travel agents letting them know that 27th July is a new dawn for VtA when "virtually everything about VTA cruise experience changes."

Providing, things change for the better (he doesn't say!) this again confirms an admission of guilt. However note the catch all "virtually all" so not everything....wonder what won't have changed....

[patseacruiser]

Lynn - Can you please tell me which sailing you were on that you have reported your experience on? Also, what cruise were you on when you saw VTA come into Valletta?

[cruisemom42]

Thanks Bullshead and RugbyPospie for your comments.

 

I agree that we are trying to give a heads up to those who follow. Like all pioneers we are getting arrows in our backs.

 

Just in case you didn't know, apparently VtA is writing to passengers apologising for their experience and offering them 25% discount on their next booking. An offer that I will not be accepting if that offer is made to me but it's good evidence of admission of guilt.

 

Also a senior US VtA employee is apparently emailing US travel agents letting them know that 27th July is a new dawn for VtA when "virtually everything about VTA cruise experience changes."

Providing, things change for the better (he doesn't say!) this again confirms an admission of guilt. However note the catch all "virtually all" so not everything....wonder what won't have changed....

 

Again, no one is claiming that your complaints aren't valid. But insisting five times over on the same thread doesn't give your experience five times the weight.

 

It is not unusual for other new mass market line ships to have made similar "admissions" and offers when everything doesn't come off on the first few sailings of a new vessel.

 

Lynn, perhaps a little research here at Cruise Critic before your cruise might have helped avoid your situation. I have heard and read for at least 10 years (here and in other travel publications before there was even a Cruise Critic) not to book on a new ship for the first 3-4 months of service and expect things to run smoothly.

 

Again, I have said before (and I will repeat, lest I get shot down for being a "Pollyanna") that I agree there are issues and that I am most concerned with any safety issues, e.g., food safety, lifeboat/tender safety, etc.