Vantage Deluxe World Travel - WARNING

[sanluisobispotraveler]

15 hours ago, nh6mile said:

I am currently on the Odyssey and posting on Live from Vantage Odyssey Mumbai to Singapore.

Hi, nh6mile.  Can you give us a review of  your experience so far?

[nh6mile]

See my posts on LIVE FROM VANTAGE ODYSSEY MUMBAI TO SINGAPORE 

[Tlafaa]

Don't know how to get your posts, please tell us how the cruise has gone.

[nh6mile]

It’s been fine. There is a forum, just like this one, titled LIVE FROM VANTAGE ODYSSEY MUMBAI TO SINGAPORE, that you should be able to easily find. Do a search using Vantage or Odyssey.

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 minutes ago, nh6mile said:

It’s been fine. There is a forum, just like this one, titled LIVE FROM VANTAGE ODYSSEY MUMBAI TO SINGAPORE, that you should be able to easily find. Do a search using Vantage or Odyssey.

It's not a forum, it's a thread on this forum.  At the moment it is two threads down from this thread:

 

[nh6mile]

How do you make it a separate roll call?

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, nh6mile said:

How do you make it a separate roll call?

 

I think we may need to get our terminology straight to avoid confusion.

 

Roll Calls are threads for cruises that haven't happened yet, for people booked on a cruise to chat and share about excursions and activities.  Roll Calls for Vantage ocean cruises would be located in the All Other Ocean Cruise Lines Roll Calls forum.  They should include 'Vantage', the name of the ship, and the sail date in the title.

 

Your thread is a 'Live From' because you are already on the cruise.  It is correctly in the Other Cruise Lines forum.

 

Threads about Vantage river cruises go in the River Cruising forum (or the All Other River Cruise Roll Calls forum).  Vantage is too small to have its own forums.

[Tlafaa]

Anyone on the trip current trip out of Singapore? 

[souschef]

We are booked on the Odyssey in March, Mumbai to Dubai. We have a question for anyone who has traveled on this ship to the UAE. Vantage website indicates that a UAE visa is available upon arrival at the airport, but no mention of availability at the sea port. Fujairah is the first UAE port stop on our cruise. Does anyone have experience with getting a visa at the port?

[Tlafaa]

21 hours ago, souschef said:

We are booked on the Odyssey in March, Mumbai to Dubai. We have a question for anyone who has traveled on this ship to the UAE. Vantage website indicates that a UAE visa is available upon arrival at the airport, but no mention of availability at the sea port. Fujairah is the first UAE port stop on our cruise. Does anyone have experience with getting a visa at the port?

We will be with you on this trip, so we are interested too.

[Teddybauer]

You can go to the websites of each individual country to see what their particular requirements are and where they provide visas. I am on this trip for the duration and have been getting the visas required before arriving at their ports. So far that includes Australia, Sri Lanka, and India with Oman being optional either beforehand or at the port.  The only issue I have is that Sri Lanka will not provide their visa this far in advance so I will have to wait to apply closer to the time I arrive in March. If I can’t get it before I leave the USA I will apply from Australia. 

[Tlafaa]

I don't understand.  This sh[p hasn't been in Australia. The India website will only let you apply for Jsn. and Feb., not March. Sri Lanka lets me get to the payment and then won"t work.

[Tlafaa]

Well now I've experienced it all. I booked my back to back cruise on the Ocean Odyssey oi October of 2021.  I have paid the full catalog price even though that has been significantly reduced since then and I have had to deal with the worry that the ship wasn't delivered until November 2022.  No one ever mentioned that the hotel connection between the 2 cruises would not be coordinated and that I would have to do that myself including the hotel reservation.  Now they say because I'm within 60 days of departure and there is no record of me requesting it, it's my problem.  I have spent hours on hold on the phone, first to get my flight itinerary and to get this connection made.  They now say because I'm within 60 days I must take care of my self.  Don't use this company!

[deec]

if it is back to back why is there is there time between cruises?  That does NOT seem to be right that you are having to arrange your own hotel and transportation.  Huge disconnect on the part of Vantage.

 

[DonnaMW]

Well I was transferred to a cruise in Oct to April 2024. Eastern Mediterranean. Well now it has disappeared on my portfolio and no listing now for this trip???   Phone call came up with no reason so where is my trip and more important how about my 10k they have had for years.  
has this happened to anyone else 

[souschef]

FYI, I started a “Roll Call Thread”   (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/45-all-other-ocean-cruise-lines-roll-calls/)  Vantage Ocean Odyssey Mar 22-Apr 6 Mumbai to Dubai cruise. Hope others on this cruise can connect there.

 

[Shmoo here]

On 2/18/2023 at 2:14 PM, DonnaMW said:

Well I was transferred to a cruise in Oct to April 2024. Eastern Mediterranean. Well now it has disappeared on my portfolio and no listing now for this trip???   Phone call came up with no reason so where is my trip and more important how about my 10k they have had for years.  
has this happened to anyone else 

Not to us.  We had an April tulips cruise paid for when the pandemic shut everything down.  At the time the only offer Vantage made was  "any other cruise in 2020".  So we switched it to an Ireland land trip in October.  As October got closer and it was evident that that trip was also not going to happen, I found that all those early 2020 trips were now being offered to switch to any trip in either 2020 or 2021.  So I called and asked if we could switch the Ireland trip back to a tulips river cruise in 2021.  They moved us with no issue.  Suffice it to say, the trip in 2021 also was "delayed", and moved to April 2022.  We were finally able to take the trip we booked 3 years prior (and fully paid for).

[Roadlamp]

Dear Shmoo Here,

 

Please be sure to post your experiences with Vantage on the April river cruise.  So many of us are waiting for more information.  We are currently booked on Beauty of the British Isles in August, 2023.  My final payment is coming up soon!

 

[Shmoo here]

On 3/5/2023 at 1:15 PM, Roadlamp said:

Dear Shmoo Here,

 

Please be sure to post your experiences with Vantage on the April river cruise.  So many of us are waiting for more information.  We are currently booked on Beauty of the British Isles in August, 2023.  My final payment is coming up soon!

 

Not sure what sort of information you're looking for.  But, like all our Vantage trips, I was quite happy with it.  Lots of interesting excursions, and local speakers brought onboard for lectures.  

 

The weather was VERY cold (certainly not anything Vantage can help), and, while the tulips were very pretty, you could see a lot of damage from the inclement weather.

 

Only thing that I wish Vantage would NOT do is schedule us for return flights so early that we have to get up at 4:00 in the morning.  My stomach just isn't ready to eat the box "breakfast" they provide and it sets up for a not fun (long) air flight home.  

[Roadlamp]

Our final payment for a Vantage cruise is due in early April.  I went online to see if I could put in our credit card information.  It only allows for bank withdrawals.  Does anyone know if you can still use a credit card to make payments?  I was counting on this option for additional protection.

[Shmoo here]

9 hours ago, Roadlamp said:

Our final payment for a Vantage cruise is due in early April.  I went online to see if I could put in our credit card information.  It only allows for bank withdrawals.  Does anyone know if you can still use a credit card to make payments?  I was counting on this option for additional protection.

We've used a credit card in the past, but it was on the phone.  Usually we do the early pay (electronic check) so as to get a reduced price.

[Tlafaa]

I was able to use a credit card in January by calling them. Don't know if you still can. They tend to change rules at will.

[NightFlight]

Hi All, I am on the Ocean Odyessy for the Lisbon to London trip June 2023.  I booked the Owners Suite for the 2020 cruise in May 2019.  It has been re-scheduled twice.   I was checking to see if flights have posted (they havae not) and noticed that my cabin had been downgraded.  I was never notified or given any options.  I contacted Vantage last week and today and was told that I couldn't speak to a manager and that my only option was a $4k credit for a future  trip with them.  Last thing I want to do is book with them again after being treated like this.  I have sent an email to the address the customer service team suggested a week ago and haven't even had the courtesy of telling me that they received it an are working on it.  NOTHING.  They refuse to give refund me the difference.  I have travel with them many times but they have gone down hill.  I wonder if they are financially on the edge.

[MikieF]

We are booked on the Eastern Mediterranean (Ocean Odyssey) for April 14, 2023.  We Had twice been cancelled ("postponed") off the Passage to Eastern Europe due to COVID.  Last summer we got cancelled again because there wasn't enough water in the Danube.  We decided to change our trip over to this upcoming Eastern Med. one.  For each of these we had paid for Vantage Travel.  We are very travel savvy, but had not gone to Poland, Romania, or Jordan so thought this choice made sense.  Last Friday (the 17th of Mar) I (being excited about the upcoming trip) looked at our United Booking number.  We are on UAL and Austrian Airlines on their routing.  When I entered our confirmation number the response from UAL was that this number didn't exist.  Probably a typo...so I tried again...4-5 more times (definition of insanity, right!)  I then called UAL and the agent there told me that our reservation had been made by a third party (Vantage), but they had neglected to pay for our flight (They've had our $$$$$ for a very long time!).  I called Vantage and was told they'd call me back.  One of the flight department agents told me that the director (name withheld by me) had JUST paid the bill, and things should be fine now.  I did speak with the Director who told me that it had all been taken care of...and that UAL had changed our return flight out of EWR to TPA...thus dropping the ATH-EWR flight...and causing us to lose our seat assignments.  We booked Prem. Economy, and HAD 2 seats on the side (2-3-2 sweating). JUST THE SEATS WE WANTED!!  Because of Vantage's screw up we now are 2 of the 3 in the center 3-across section.  She wouldn't even apologize and say on behalf of Vantage she was sorry...no acceptance of blame at all.  yes, we are on the flight as scheduled...and in the same class as sked...BUT WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WE GOT TO OUR DEPARTURE AIRPORT ON 4/14 AND FOUND OUT we had no conformation code they recognized (because Vantage still hadn't paid)??  Thanks for letting me vent!  PLEASE check your flight itinerary (if using Vantage Air) to ensure all of your ducks are in a row.  We thought ours were.  Yes...we are very excited to be going on this trip...Nope, won't let this dampen our spirits.  No...we are not entitled, spoiled brats.  Just travel savvy, and wanted to pass this message along! 🙂

[Host Jazzbeau]

56 minutes ago, MikieF said:

Yes...we are very excited to be going on this trip...Nope, won't let this dampen our spirits.  No...we are not entitled, spoiled brats.  Just travel savvy, and wanted to pass this message along!

Frankly I don't think you are acting entitled at all.  If it were me, I would be writing Vantage off after this treatment.  No matter how good the onboard experience is, this level of shoreside incompetence would send me packing elsewhere.  There are too many better-run cruise lines to risk having this happen again.