Vantage Discovery Impressions?

[orchestrapal]

Just booked Vantage's "Castles Along the Rhine and Danube" for October 2008.

We have never taken a river cruise before so we

would like to hear general impressions of the ship? Also from anyone who has had the suite on Discovery what that experience was like.:)

[Hydrokitty]

I'm planning on the same tour for end of August and would also love to know if anyone else has used Vantage and how they liked it. Ports, food, cabins, upgrade to balcony and how people dressed for dinner. this is our first river cruise.

[don_ken]

Just returned from a trip Vienna to Cologne on the rs River Discovery with Vantage. Ship, being quite new, was wonderful. Crew was very friendly and helpful. Food was better than expected. Dress was casual except for Captain's welcome and farewell dinners at which men wore jacket and tie or suits. Cabins have two 110 volt outlets (others 220 volt). One umbrella is provided in the closet. I'm sure you will enjoy the trip.

Don

[Hydrokitty]

Thank you Don Ken. We're going to be on the Odyssey, but I'm sure it will be good. did you have all american type food or was there a lot of local dishes?

 

Orchestrapal: I just purchased an excellent book with respect to our tour: Great River Cruises Europe & The Nile. It's a Discovery Channel Insight Guide that I got at Border's for $25. It mentions Vantage Lines a couple of times and has a list of all the ships rated by the independent Maritime Evaluations Group (as opposed to the cruise line) and the ships we're going on are all given 4 stars. This book also gives an idea of what to look for in the ports, how far away from the city center they are and lots of other little things I didn't know about river cruising since this is my first river cruise. We've done small ship cruising in the Meditteranean but I think that was quite different.

 

Hope this helps. Book is also loaded with pictures. Hydrokitty.:D :)

[don_ken]

There were always several choices with meals, usually at least one local dish. All others were familiar. Local dishes were obviously more interesting.

If "Wein" is on your tour consider two things; if you fly in on Austria Air, your boarding pass is eligible for discounts at museums; if your over 60 that qualifies you for discounts on the metro and museums.

Don

[fromday2]

Regarding the ship, it is immaculate, the crew very helpful, all cabins have a balcony (sliding door and an outside railing).

 

Do a search on Discovery and you will find more information about the boat and the trips.

 

Just for fun, here is some menu information about the Discovery. The first part was served at Passau and drew very strongly on the German menu. Most meals had only a couple of items that were so distinctly German.

 

LUNCH

 

German Potato Leek Soup with Bacon Bits and Spring Onions

 

Traditional Potato Salad, Sausage Salad, Radish Salad, Cabbage Salad

International Cheese and Cold Cuts

Selection of Rolls, Dark and White Breads

 

Roasted Whole Stuffed Suckling Pig

Whole roasted Rib Eye of Beef with Gravy

Grilled German Pork Leg, Veal and Lamb

Sauerkraut with Kasseler, Smoked Sausages, Bratwurst

Bavarian "Weisswurst" Bread Dumplings, Potato Dumplings

Green Beans, Roast Potato

 

Regensburger Biscuit with Cranberry Parfait and Plum Compote

Kase Schnitte grilled dark Bread with Pickles, melted Cheese and fresh Pear

 

DINNER

 

Appetizer

Stuffed Egg, smoked Sausage, Shienkenspeck, Obatzen

Pickled Cucumbers, white Radishes and Pastry Stick

Soup

Spinach Cream Soup with diced Tomatoes and chopped Eggs

Or

Stuffed Pasta wth Weal Meat topped

With Parmeasn and Tomato Sauce

Entrees

Rinderoulade

Traditional German Beef Roulade with mashed Potatoes, glazed Carrots

And Natural Gravy flavored with Mustard

Or

Pan-fried Fogas

Served on Vegatable Julienne, steamed Potato and light Caper Sauce

Or

Vegetarian

Stuffed Onion with Ratatouille Cream

Dessert

Crepe a la Chocolate

Schwedish Pancake filled with Chocolate Pastry Cream

Bananas and served with Strawberry Sauce

Or

Ice Coupe Advocate

Rum Raisin Ice Cream with Egg Liqueeur, Chocolate Flakes and whipped Cream

Or

Fresh Fruits in Season

Or

International Cheese Plate

 

Sorry about typing errors but I am sure you get the idea.

 

Entrees at other meals included Salmon, Rib Eye Steak, Trout, Pork Wellington, Pan Fried Fish, Stuffed Chicken Breast, Veal, Lamb, etc.

 

Whew

[Hydrokitty]

from Day2: Wow...that sounds marvelous. Now I can't wait to go! We were in Greece and Turkey last year on a small ship and the food was wonderful. We're both rather adventurous when it comes to eating, only thing I won't touch is fish, otherwise, I'll try anything.

 

Don: thanks for the info, unfortunately I think we're flying Lufthansa from JFK to Budapest (probably changing in Frankfort) and then back from Amsterdam. I checked out Vantage on line and got pictures of our cabin type and all but we always like to hear from people who have actually been on the tour/cruise too. If we enjoy this we're looking at Egypt/Nile for Jan/Feb 2009.

 

Thanks for the info.:)

[orchestrapal]

Thank you all for your answers.

You have made the trip even more exciting for

us with your positive feed-back.

Hydrokitty: thanks for the book recommendation.

We will buy it!.

Happy River Cruising to all!:)

[letsgo39]

Thank you Don Ken. We're going to be on the Odyssey, but I'm sure it will be good. did you have all american type food or was there a lot of local dishes?

 

Orchestrapal: I just purchased an excellent book with respect to our tour: Great River Cruises Europe & The Nile. It's a Discovery Channel Insight Guide that I got at Border's for $25. It mentions Vantage Lines a couple of times and has a list of all the ships rated by the independent Maritime Evaluations Group (as opposed to the cruise line) and the ships we're going on are all given 4 stars. This book also gives an idea of what to look for in the ports, how far away from the city center they are and lots of other little things I didn't know about river cruising since this is my first river cruise. We've done small ship cruising in the Meditteranean but I think that was quite different.

 

I was able to purchase the same book on Amazon for about $14.00 used in perfect condition.

[orchestrapal]

letsgo39 thank you.

We ordered the book and are looking forward to reading it.

Enjoy your cruise on the Odyssey!:)

[Ocala]

We were on the Vantage River Discovery cruise with Don_Ken and have to agree with their assessment! Absolutely wonderful! Fromday2 did a great job of giving you a "taste" of what to expect. The meals were beyond wonderful and the crew couldn't have been nicer. :) Re the ship, balconies? Nah, no such thing. The french doors on 2nd & 3rd deck open directly to a railing. Put your hand out and you can touch the wall of a lock as we transit it... not recommended! One thing we just loved were the coffee machines in the lounge and reading room. On demand it made expresso, cappuccino, hot water for tea, regular coffee, and hot chocolate. I want one at home! There's also a one-day late daily news/sports flyer in the reading/internet/game room for those poor souls that want to keep in touch with reality. ;) We peeked into the junior suites and they look great! Lots of room! We also checked out the owner's suite and it had twice the space of a regular "A" room, some of it a larger bathroom. One thing we enjoyed was to watch the "ship cam" on the bow on our room flat-screen tv of where we were going especially entering the locks after hours. Oh, re rooms, lots of storage and your baggage will fit nicely under the beds. Any other questions? Just post them. You are going to love this trip! Cheers

[gt1234]

We're booked on a 23 day cruise next year and would like info on laundry. Hotel type service, self service laundry or on your own?

Also, price range of wine/champagne?

[Ocala]

Hi GT1234! 23 days! You are going to love it! Laundry? The ship does it. My wife only had one piece - a blouse - done and she remembers it being $5. She got it back in only a few hours. Hopefully others on this board will provide you more information. Wine at the bar was $4.50. Since we were on the wine/culinary cruise the wine at dinner was included and they poured & poured & poured! :D We never saw anyone order champagne so I don't know what it would have cost. Champagne was served gratis Sundays at breakfast and for the Captain's reception, Farewell reception, and if I remember correctly on Thanksgiving. You can bring anything back from town if you want to have something in your room but no one drank any of that stuff in public. The crew were superb! Any other questions on Discovery, let me know! Cheers

[cruisemom123]

we are thinking about waterways of holland and belgium in march or april of 2009

 

We haev cruised viking inchina but this time we are thinking of fdoing Vantge thanks for all the nice comments

 

let us know any suggestions

thanks

Tim and Linda

[gillianrose]

One thing we just loved were the coffee machines in the lounge and reading room. On demand it made expresso, cappuccino, hot water for tea, regular coffee, and hot chocolate.

 

Normally I dislike self-serve coffee, but we've been looking at some new cars lately and we notice that some of the dealerships have very high quality machines which brew (slowly) one cup at a time. You can select the brew you want, but I don't recall that tea or hot chocolate was part of the offerings (and wouldn't care, since we enjoyed the very good quality coffee).

 

Were the machines of this type? Do you by any chance have any photos online or know of any that might show these machines?

 

By the way, on the river cruise you were on, did you still get served coffee to you in your stateroom by your room steward as you would on an ocean cruise? In general, I much prefer service to self-serve, and for sure in the morning. (Yawn.....) :)

[Ocala]

Gillianrose: Sorry for delay in response. :rolleyes: I haven't been on the boards lately. Yes, I have a photo of the machine and a bunch of the ship itself. I tried to "attach" it to this post but it just timed out. No, there was no "room service" however my wife was under the weather for a couple of days and they brought soup by for her and I brought fruit, etc by too. The coffee machine is very much like you described and the coffee was good and very popular. I can send you a photo of the machine and others if you like or perhaps post it on 4shared. Let me know. Cheers //Mark//

[gillianrose]

Gillianrose: Sorry for delay in response. :rolleyes: I haven't been on the boards lately. Yes, I have a photo of the machine and a bunch of the ship itself. I tried to "attach" it to this post but it just timed out. No, there was no "room service" however my wife was under the weather for a couple of days and they brought soup by for her and I brought fruit, etc by too. The coffee machine is very much like you described and the coffee was good and very popular. I can send you a photo of the machine and others if you like or perhaps post it on 4shared. Let me know. Cheers //Mark//

 

 

I don't know 4shared, but it would be great if you could post it there and provide a link here.

[Ocala]

gillianrose: Here's a link to the photo of the Discovery coffee machine. This one is located in the aft library/computer/reading room. You can either just look at it or download it by hitting the "download original size".

 

http://www.4shared.com/file/37996655/1c36ab05/07_Vantage_348.html

 

Let me know if you have a problem with the link. I'll leave the link up until I see your download.

 

Cheers!