Vantage Travel

[DonnaMW]

Keep us posted we are on for October 18.  Just can’t find ms nebu on cruisemapper. Makes me nervous.  
I see a few sold out. Just hope it does not mean cancelled

[Jbeam151]

As a follow-up to the above post.  We did indeed go on the Scotland-Boston cruise.  We've been on over 30 cruises and this was the worst by far. We were previously booked on an October 2020 Douro River cruise. When that was cancelled in May 2020, and Vantage  wouldn't give us a refund and only offered future credit.  We chose this cruise because we wanted to go to Greenland, the Labrador sea and the St Lawrence River (original itinerary).  They cancelled Canada and Greenland, adding 4 more stops in Iceland.  We tried to cancel this when Greenland was canceled but Vantage refused.   We received $500 in shipboard credit for our inconvenience.  Only useable at the bar and a poorly stocked shop.  Couldn't use it for gratuities. The ship was a shakedown cruise and the punch list got longer every day.  The coffee machine broke in the library and couldn't be fixed.  Water poured into our cabin thought the unsealed threshold on our balcony door.  So much water came into the dining room that the carpet started to mold and smelled terrible.  The ship had a swimming pool and two hot tubs.  They were never opened.  Reasons given:  1.  The chlorinator was broken. 2. water sloshing in the pool effected the stability of the ship (the pool was really small). and 3.  The ph was wrong in the water. The bar by the swimming pool had some sort of explosion and was pretty much destroyed.  The TV system only had a BBC channel and Al Jazeera.  This, on a cruise that had 100% American passengers.  We had a 6 day North Atlantic crossing with no TV because two days in to the cruise there was no TV at all.  Once in Boston, there was still no TV for the 3 days we sat in port waiting to disembark.

 

Perhaps the most egregious part of this cruise is we paid $11,000 each for a mid level cabin.  We then found out that at least 9 passengers had been on the previous week's cruise around the British Isles and they were offered the same cruise for $2500 each.   

 

Before posting this, I wrote to Henry Lewis, Vantage founder, as well as other executives. I have received no response.  There were at least 79 the passengers on this cruise who were angry as well.  I will never book another trip with Vantage and I'm sure most of them feel the same.  

[Roadlamp]

This is very upsetting to hear.  Were you on the new Vantage ship, the Explorer?  We are scheduled for a trip onboard that vessel next year.  Has anyone else heard more about these trips and would be willing to post more experiences?

[gofish]

We are on the NEBU right now going up the Nile. The past week has been excellent. Only 3rd group on this boat, every thing is new. Crew is very good and friendly.

[qanda12]

CAVEAT EMPTOR!   Below are my comments from another review and a couple of quotes from a consumer advocacy group to add to the comments relaying poor experiences from Vantage by others here.  I hope this will help others see through all the propaganda Vantage is writing here on this board.  Who will you trust for your travel dollars -- fellow travelers who have unselfishly taken their time to write here, or a company trying to fool others into thinking they provide a good product or any level of service from their office?.

 

They have the worst customer service possible and have started re-sailing their river cruises understaffed (just returned). Before your trip you'll spend countless hours waiting on hold to get answers to any questions/issues, and then get unsatisfactory answers or they will not follow through with what they said they would do -- very frustrating. We are experienced ocean and river cruisers (35+) and know what service could/should be. In addition, they flatly refused any refunds for cancelled trips, instead playing with words and saying they only 'postponed' them to a new date (18 months later) of their choosing. Other river cruises (e.g., Viking) were giving refunds. Elliot Advocacy (consumer advocate agency) said in an article this year, " "Why? We’ve just seen so many Vantage cases, and although we have no access to the company’s finances, my advocacy team has a bad feeling about this. Something tells me that time may be running out to get a refund." " And, "Vantage is one of the most complained-about companies, according to our records. Last year, we counted 132 grievances against the company. And that number is rising. In the first 11 weeks of 2021, we’ve already received 64 new complaints,..." So, please do your homework and choose more wisely than we did.  Personally, we will never do business with Vantage again.  

[GerryL13]

Returned last month from the "rescheduled" Vantage cruise on the Seine. Vantage will never get another $ from me. This is not because of the trip itself, but because of the way they treated (read: ignored) me during the ~18 months after the original trip was CANCELLED.

 

Six months in, well after they said the cruise would be rescheduled and unable to get any response from them, I filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau. They did respond to the BBB, not me, and said the trip had indeed been rescheduled. After further efforts to contact them, I was finally able to locate the hidden posting on their website only to find that one of the two cruises was already fully booked, and my only option was a late October date in the lowest class cabin. The "luxury" 10-day Seine cruise in a balcony cabin had morphed into a 5-day cruise (with 5-nights in a Paris hotel) on a "value" ship (leased from CroisiEurope) with no balcony cabins.

 

The cost of the original trip was already more than I would generally have paid for a similar experience, but I was eager to take it in the final year it would be offered. The value of the replacement was nowhere near what I paid. (Last week I paid less to get a spot on a 16-day Viking ocean cruise, for crying out loud.) The company reps on the ground (and the CroisiEurope crew) did their best to make our trip memorable, but I'm afraid Corporate had already done all they could to make dealing with Vantage more memorable -- not in a good way. Many people I talked to on the trip -- both first-timers with Vantage and returnees -- were very dissatisfied and said they were unlikely ever to travel with them again.

 

It has been a tough year+ for the travel industry, but that is no justification for the way Vantage chose to deal with its customers.

[CPT Trips]

Vantage has a history of over promising and under delivering.
I never say that I’ll never cruise with a line again.
But I only cruised once with Vantage and had a series of unsatisfactory experiences with the Boston office as well as changes made to special offerings that led us to book the “wine and culinary” river cruise in the first place. The result of my complaints about the changes was an offer of $150 future cruise credit pp accompanied by an NDA.

Didn’t sign the NDA. Didn’t get the FCCs. Haven’t spent a cent with them since this one cruise.

[GerryL13]

48 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

Vantage has a history of over promising and under delivering.
I never say that I’ll never cruise with a line again.

Haven't said I would never cruise with Vantage again. Said I would never give them another $. Subtle difference.

[rljan]

I can honestly say that we will NEVER travel with Vantage again.  After taking multiple trips with them ( Presidents Club),  our trip was cancelled but Vantage called it a "postponement".  They refused a refund for the cancellation.  The "rescheduled" trip was set, we purchased airfare, then Vantage changed the direction of the trip without notifying us.  This caused us to lose money on airfare.  There are too many other travel companies available for us to use.  There is no reason to give any more money to a company that treats its customers this way.

[GerryL13]

6 hours ago, rljan said:

I can honestly say that we will NEVER travel with Vantage again.  After taking multiple trips with them ( Presidents Club),  our trip was cancelled but Vantage called it a "postponement".  They refused a refund for the cancellation.  The "rescheduled" trip was set, we purchased airfare, then Vantage changed the direction of the trip without notifying us.  This caused us to lose money on airfare.  There are too many other travel companies available for us to use.  There is no reason to give any more money to a company that treats its customers this way.

Yes. The changes were discouraging enough. (The original trip was already a bit overpriced, but the replacement trip was way too expensive.) And the wordplay, "postponed not canceled," was ridiculous. But the worst was the almost total lack of communication. 

[DonnaMW]

Well yes we have been disappointed over the last 2 years but finally our patience was rewarded

we left oct 18 for our Egypt trip and could not have been more impressed. Only 40 out of a possible 80. Fabulous treatment and the knowledge of the tour director amazing   Marriott Renaissance four seasons hotels. Fabulous accommodations 

 

returned and then flew to Budapest for the Christmas market River cruise. We had a great time again well taken care of   We left Vienna on Friday. Then they closed down. Lucky us because the next cruise was cancelled. 
but had a fabulous trip. 
looking forward to the next

[Relaxationspecialist]

We know a dozen people who have had their trip cancelled for various reasons by Viking and were offered a choice between a full refund and a sizable incentive to accept a credit. Vantage has offered us a credit only, and their prices appear to have gone way up. Their “cancel for any reason” insurance is a joke. We enjoyed our first Vantage trip but are feeling very burned, especially since they didn’t even bother to notify us that our April trip had been cancelled. Do they seriously think I visit their portal daily?

[Relaxationspecialist]

If Vantage had treated us with basic human respect — sending us at least an email rather than expecting us to discover somehow that they have bumped our trip back a full year, not scheduling our new trip during a religious holiday, and not refusing to give us anything else but a credit when all of their other trips seem to have doubled in price — this would be a very different experience. As it is, it’s hard to trust Vantage at all now. Just no way to run a business, and at least the communication problem could have been easily avoided. 

[deec]

any recent experiences on the new ship?  Some of the segments look very interesting but certainly do not want to be on a unreliable poorly built ship.  Pre-covid we have done some great Vantage River trips (Mekong, Amazon, Irrawaddy  each of these small ships were leased and lovely) but want to feel comfortable with the product before  purchasing an Ocean experience.

[twototravel]

Would love to take the Bali to Singapore cruise on their new Ocean Odessey ship, but the price is just too darn high for both of us since we'd need to add business class air flights (we don't do economy anymore). For those that don't know, on their website under Ways To Save, there is a section with last minute cruise deals and some are unbelievable. If you can travel this summer, check them out.

[Pizzasteve]

I do hope they make a comeback and can offer a fair service to existing and future customers.  Our family lived throught the customer service hell of the pandemic, but did finally get the required refunds paid after about 12 months.  It took some effort and my family were repeat customers who did not cancel, Vantage did.

 

What I learned about their office culture concerned me, though I understand their field staff were quite good in the past and their itineraries good, when all went well.  I wish them success with the ambitious new ships and would enjoy posts describing any customer experiences.

[RD64]

I have to say -  never having heard of Vantage before...I had the extreme good fortune today to see the Ocean Explorer (or was it the Islander) docked in Sault Ste. Marie , Ontario today. What an elegant ship - I would much rather spend what I have to spend to sail on a SHIP like this, than any of The Monsters of the Seas currently out there.

[twototravel]

We just got back from a Vantage land trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We had a wonderful time. We also did go ahead and book the Bali to Singapore cruise on their new MS Ocean Odyssey ship for Feb 2023. I agree their customer service out of the Boston office needs work, but the destination guides, itineraries, and accommodations are great. 

[deec]

Great to heat.  Waiting to hear experiences on the new ocean ship.  We are Viking Ocean past passengers and would like to see how they compare? Is Vantage still NO Travel Agents?

 

[linda47]

On 11/17/2021 at 4:47 PM, GerryL13 said:

Yes. The changes were discouraging enough. (The original trip was already a bit overpriced, but the replacement trip was way too expensive.) And the wordplay, "postponed not canceled," was ridiculous. But the worst was the almost total lack of communication. 

I have had the same experience. I was scheduled to be on the "Jewels of Scandinavia +" in July, 2021. That was postponed to August of this year on the newer ship. Two weeks ago, I was notified that this cruise was "postponed" until June, 2024!! I asked for a refund, knowing it was unlikely to happen, and was told no refund because the trip was 'postponed, not cancelled." I disagreed about the terminology, and then was told I could schedule another trip. I accepted that, and am going to do the Great Lakes in September, I hope. But I certainly didn't get a bargain! I am highly unlikely to travel with them in the future. Their lure for me was the fact that they had 'solo' cabins. I hope they are nice! (And, yes, I have been on over 40 cruises.)

[Host Jazzbeau]

You should complain to the Attorney General of your state.  I have gotten actual cash refunds because NYS takes a very firm attitude toward these kinds of shenanigans.  Delaware, 'the mother of corporations,' should have equal clout.

[deec]

I am so disappointed to hear this about Vantage.  Really want to take the trip to Croatia but I certainly would probably only book a few weeks out to be sure it was a GO!  I wonder if the new ship is sailing at all?  Anyone been onboard. Linda 47 please report back after you do the Great Lakes.  Is it scheduled on the new ship?

 

[twototravel]

What new ship are you talking about? From my understanding the Odessey has already started sailing.

[deec]

I was wondering about the Odessey.  I will look for some reviews from passengers.  I know it is a small ship but prices seem to be high.

[Austinite by birth]

On 6/30/2022 at 1:41 PM, linda47 said:

I have had the same experience. I was scheduled to be on the "Jewels of Scandinavia +" in July, 2021. That was postponed to August of this year on the newer ship. Two weeks ago, I was notified that this cruise was "postponed" until June, 2024!! I asked for a refund, knowing it was unlikely to happen, and was told no refund because the trip was 'postponed, not cancelled." I disagreed about the terminology, and then was told I could schedule another trip. I accepted that, and am going to do the Great Lakes in September, I hope. But I certainly didn't get a bargain! I am highly unlikely to travel with them in the future. Their lure for me was the fact that they had 'solo' cabins. I hope they are nice! (And, yes, I have been on over 40 cruises.)

We were also scheduled to be on Jewels of Scandinavia in August... and it was cancelled.. and our cruise moved to 2024.  We phoned Vantage and had it moved to a larger cabin on the 2023 ( it was moved to 2024 because our original cabin was unavailable 2023).  To complicate the issue, we were on back-to-back cruises.  The 1st cruise "Jewels of Scandinavia"-- cancelled, but the 2nd cruise "British Isles and Scandinavian Jewels"  is still on!  I have been in a bit of a panic, since the reason for the cancellation was the ship wasn't ready.....BUT it will be ready 2 weeks later??  Not so sure, but I have looked at www.Cruisemapper and it looks like the Ocean Odyssey has left the ship dockyard in Shanghai....FINGERS CROSSED!  They tell me that we will be on the "inaugural voyage".  Hope it makes it and that everything works.  I have been on 6 Vantage Cruises and 4 Viking... Vantage offers better excursions at no additional cost, where Viking excursions seem a bit expensive... but sometimes you get what you pay for!  Lets be patient with the tourist industry, they have been hit extremely hard by covid.