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vantage river cruises

debbie ann

By debbie ann,
in River Cruising

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GiannaD

GiannaD

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We have sailed on 2 Vantage river cruises, and have a 3rd to Burgundy booked for next year. The stories and pictures are on our website www,stevekathytravels.com

 

I checked your site and enjoyed your posting. We have been to many of the places you wrote about and on three previous Vantage trips. It was great to read about the locations we have visited and places we still want to visit.

 

Thank you,

 

Gianna

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Gangway

Gangway

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Gangway, we are considering the "Springtime in Eastern Europe & the Black Sea" cruise for next year on Vantage, going from Budapest to Bucharest. If this was the cruise you were on, I would be interested in hearing more about it. How was the weather in May?Was the boat the MS River Odyssey? If so, what was it like? If you get a chance, please post or contact me by email at pdcldco@hotmail.com.Many thanks.

 

Sorry I took so long to reply. We stayed in Budapest for three days with Vantage prior to the cruise. I highly recommend this since it was a top rated Hotel according to Trip Adviser. We purchased a two day transportation pass and traveled by subway, metro train and bus. It is a great scenic city and the prices are reasonable since Hungary has not adopted the Euro yet.

We went in April since the price was lower. The weather was cool but not cold at night and in the 70s during most days. We had a couple days of rain, but would not hesitate to go back this time of year. We had one cold day going through the scenic iron bridge of the Danube.

We were on the River Navigator, but I'm sure your ship would be comparable. We had pull down beds which we had them leave down during the day so I could relax or nap. The couches are so narrow that in my opinion are not very comfortable. If you want hotel beds they were available in the French Balcony rooms on the top deck.

The ships stops in Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. All of ports you are bused to the excursions. I don't enjoy bus tours but this is the only way to get to most interesting cities since the lower Danube doesn't have many interesting cities where you dock. We enjoyed the local entertainment that was brought on the ship in several cities. Once you get on the ship most everything is included and planned. All meals while on tour are included and you are served a glass of wine or soft drink.

I'll be glad to answer any other questions if I can. We just booked a Grand Circle cruise for the end of next March since it was three to four thousand less than Vantage or GCT prices for May or June.

Edited by Gangway
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npphotog

npphotog

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The farewell dinner is when we gave the crew's tip - in an envelope placed in a box in the reception area. Amount is your choice. The tip for you tour manager is given directly to that person, usually after the farewell dinner. We have always given our crew tip in euros we have left along with US dollars.

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GiannaD

GiannaD

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We will be on our first Vantage trip from Amsterdam to Budapest this fall. Could you tell me how the tips are handled? Can they be put on a credit card? Thanks

 

The tips for the crew and staff can be charged to your onboard account which can be settled by cash or credit card. The tips for the program manager should be paid in cash. Tips for local guides should also be in cash. You can find this information in the Vantage travel guide for your cruise.

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  • 1 month later...
LindaRH

LindaRH

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Hi,

 

I booked my first River cruise with Vantage River Odyssey Waterways of Holland/Belgium, Tulips...... 4/1/12. I also booked a pre-cruise extension in Brussels. I've been searching high and low on CC for any information about this kind of itininary. Not finding anything. Can anyone give me any information about the ship and the itininary? Any suggestions on what to do in Brussels? Apparently Vantage will keep me busy on and off ship :).

 

I am a cruiser..done over 20 cruises. This will be my first river and I'm very much looking forward to it. I always wanted to do one.

 

Thanks!

Linda

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GiannaD

GiannaD

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Hi,

 

I booked my first River cruise with Vantage River Odyssey Waterways of Holland/Belgium, Tulips...... 4/1/12. I also booked a pre-cruise extension in Brussels. I've been searching high and low on CC for any information about this kind of itininary. Not finding anything. Can anyone give me any information about the ship and the itininary? Any suggestions on what to do in Brussels? Apparently Vantage will keep me busy on and off ship :).

 

I am a cruiser..done over 20 cruises. This will be my first river and I'm very much looking forward to it. I always wanted to do one.

 

Thanks!

Linda

 

We were on the Vantage Explorer in 2009 for their "Tulip" cruise and it was great. We have been on the River Navigator and will be on the Odyssey in September.

 

You can get information about the ships on the VantageTravel.com website along with a detailed itinerary for your trip. You can find some information by entering Vantage Holland & Belgium under search this thread on Cruise Critic in the River and Canal Cruises section.

 

We really loved Vantage and their ships which are "sisters" and have only minor differences. The crews are fantastic. We are looking forward to our next cruise with Vantage.

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Gail & Marty sailing away Holiday Sharing Rare

Gail & Marty sailing away

Posted
Posted
Hi,

 

I booked my first River cruise with Vantage River Odyssey Waterways of Holland/Belgium, Tulips...... 4/1/12. I also booked a pre-cruise extension in Brussels. I've been searching high and low on CC for any information about this kind of itininary. Not finding anything. Can anyone give me any information about the ship and the itininary? Any suggestions on what to do in Brussels? Apparently Vantage will keep me busy on and off ship :).

 

I am a cruiser..done over 20 cruises. This will be my first river and I'm very much looking forward to it. I always wanted to do one.

 

Thanks!

Linda

We are doing the same one on 4/15/12

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LindaRH

LindaRH

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We were on the Vantage Explorer in 2009 for their "Tulip" cruise and it was great. We have been on the River Navigator and will be on the Odyssey in September.

 

You can get information about the ships on the VantageTravel.com website along with a detailed itinerary for your trip. You can find some information by entering Vantage Holland & Belgium under search this thread on Cruise Critic in the River and Canal Cruises section.

 

We really loved Vantage and their ships which are "sisters" and have only minor differences. The crews are fantastic. We are looking forward to our next cruise with Vantage.

 

Thanks! I've already set up account on vantage website and have seen my reservations. On my cruise and yours is the once every 10 years Floriade Hort. expo which I heard is a must see. You also might get slightly warmer weather...lol...not by much though.

 

They do have a roll call for all the vantage river cruises. Have you signed up for it? I'm there already.

 

Linda

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pbnjrockette

pbnjrockette

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We are about to travel for the 8th time with Vantage and have never had a bad trip. They have excellent and knowledgeable tour directors that have made all our trips memorable! The river cruise from Amsterdam is wonderful...Vantage owns it's owns boats and has more control of what/where/how things are done. We enjoyed our cruise in Russia from Moscow to St.Petersburg but the older Russia ship was a bit "different" (but never-the-less a delightful experience!)

 

We have travelled mostly with 50-70 year olds---occasionally 80 year olds (in Iceland they did slow the trip down...) Seldom have we seen families or younger couples.

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kgladysg

kgladysg

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My cousin and I have just booked a river cruise with Vantage. I also liked the itinerary and the price which included flight. We are going on the Holland and Belgium trip in April. My question references the 'pay early offer' they talk about to get a 10% discount. Yes, I'd save $250 or thereabouts but I'm concerned about paying half of my invoice by echeck rather than having the protection of paying with a charge card. Should this be a concern for me? I am really looking forward to this trip. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Edited by kgladysg
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kgladysg

kgladysg

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We have sailed on 2 Vantage river cruises, and have a 3rd to Burgundy booked for next year. The stories and pictures are on our website www,stevekathytravels.com

**********************************************************************************************************

Just read and enjoyed your pictures of your Ireland trip. It really sounded like you had a great trip. I will look at some of your others too to include your river cruises. Thanks for sharing.

Edited by kgladysg
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Hydrokitty

Hydrokitty

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Hi,

 

I booked my first River cruise with Vantage River Odyssey Waterways of Holland/Belgium, Tulips...... 4/1/12. I also booked a pre-cruise extension in Brussels. I've been searching high and low on CC for any information about this kind of itininary. Not finding anything. Can anyone give me any information about the ship and the itininary? Any suggestions on what to do in Brussels? Apparently Vantage will keep me busy on and off ship :).

 

I am a cruiser..done over 20 cruises. This will be my first river and I'm very much looking forward to it. I always wanted to do one.

 

Thanks!

Linda

Hi Linda: We did our Holland/Belgium tulips in 4/10 and loved every minute of it, even when it was raining at the Zuider Zee open air museum! We also did the Brussels extension and I believe Vantage has added a day to it since we only stayed 2 nights and I believe you will have 3. Brussels is amazing! We had an included morning tour of the city and then an afternoon optional tour of Ghent. As a result we didn't get much free time in Brussels and we all complained about that, which I think is why they added an extra day. There is a huge indoor mall across the street from the hotel (Intercontinental I think) but behind the mall is a street with one restaurant after the other and all of them were fantastic. Be sure to try Krick, which is only available in Belgium and is cherry flavored beer. It was amazing and we had it every time we stopped in Belgium! Museums are closed on Mondays. Ghent optional was worth it, and you should get to spend more time there than we did. Bus to Amsterdam was very comfortable ride with a delightful lunch stop.Hope this helps.:D

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LindaRH

LindaRH

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Hi Linda: We did our Holland/Belgium tulips in 4/10 and loved every minute of it, even when it was raining at the Zuider Zee open air museum! We also did the Brussels extension and I believe Vantage has added a day to it since we only stayed 2 nights and I believe you will have 3. Brussels is amazing! We had an included morning tour of the city and then an afternoon optional tour of Ghent. As a result we didn't get much free time in Brussels and we all complained about that, which I think is why they added an extra day. There is a huge indoor mall across the street from the hotel (Intercontinental I think) but behind the mall is a street with one restaurant after the other and all of them were fantastic. Be sure to try Krick, which is only available in Belgium and is cherry flavored beer. It was amazing and we had it every time we stopped in Belgium! Museums are closed on Mondays. Ghent optional was worth it, and you should get to spend more time there than we did. Bus to Amsterdam was very comfortable ride with a delightful lunch stop.Hope this helps.:D

 

This helped quite a bit. Thank you so much for the information. I am now more excited about going on my river cruise, if that was possible, then I was before. Thanks for the restaurant suggestion...cherry flavored beer? Sounds good even though I'm not a beer drinker. I love wine though.:D. I will definitely make a note about Ghent. I will be doing that for sure. I will be traveling alone so hopefully I will meet someone that I can eat with at least...:)

 

Are you sure you don't want to join me?..;)

 

Thanks again,

Linda

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Gail & Marty sailing away Holiday Sharing Rare

Gail & Marty sailing away

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Thanks! I've already set up account on vantage website and have seen my reservations. On my cruise and yours is the once every 10 years Floriade Hort. expo which I heard is a must see. You also might get slightly warmer weather...lol...not by much though.

 

They do have a roll call for all the vantage river cruises. Have you signed up for it? I'm there already.

 

Linda

We are the week after you

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