Any feedback on Vantage Tulips, Windmills & Canals, or similar on other lines?

My spouse and I are experienced ocean cruisers, but have never taken a river cruise (except for the 5-night river cruise portion of Viking's fabulous land/river trip in China).

We are interested in a springtime river cruise in the Netherlands. Viking seems to have a great itinerary there (Tulips & Windmills), but I've read a lot of negative comments about their docking way outside the cities, and not handling customer issues all that well.

Having looked at other companies for river cruises that start or end in Amsterdam and include Belgium, I think that the Vantage Tulips, Windmills & Canals cruise (one-way Amsterdam to Antwerp or the reverse), billed as 11 days (really 9 nights aboard the boat), looks interesting.

Does anyone have any feedback on that Vantage river cruise, or other helpful advice to offer as we go about figuring out what would work for us?

I will note that the itineraries on Avalon and AMA seem a bit too short (Avalon is just 6 days of touring, and AMA is only 5 days of touring, and in 2017, it looks like that will be six days), but I would certainly love feedback from those who have taken those cruises.

Any advice would be much appreciated; thanks!

We did the AMA Tulip Time cruise a few years ago. We loved the itinerary and the extended times in port it offered.

We went in early April and were fortunate to experience Keukenhoff at about 85% in bloom. Stunning!

We would do this again in the future.

I took my first River cruise last month on AMA and it was fantastic:D

The flowers were definitely in bloom and I had such a good time I booked

another river cruise for next year as well:)...it was a 7 night cruise.

We just returned from the Uniworld version of this trip. Antwerp to Amsterdam. It was excellent! Great service. Wonderful food. Excellent( except for one) tour guides. I would compare Uniworld to a Seabourn Ocean cruise. All inclusive. Check out Uniworld.

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We had a wonderful trip on the Viking Longship Mimir. Service, food and excursions were all good. As we returned from Delft excursion, I was carrying a bouquet of 50 tulips I had bought for 6 euros at the flower market in Delft to have in our room. As we entered the ship, the concierge asked if I needed a vase. In five minutes the cabin steward was there with a vase filled with water. Staff was friendly and helpful. We enjoyed our lunches and several dinners on the Aquavit Terrace. It was chilly some days so there were lap blankets to use if eating on the Terrace.

Yes, you are not going to dock next to the Centraal Train Station all of the time. When we arrived we were docked about a 20 minute walk to the train station area near the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam and were docked next to another ship called rafting. With river cruising so popular now and lots more ships than when we first started doing river cruises, the docking locations are not always the best. When we returned at the end of the trip, we were docked by the train station. You can check the web site for the Port of Amsterdam to see docking locations on a given day.

We used their air and transfers which worked well for us as it did when we went to China with them.

We went late in April so the tulips would be in bloom. We timed it perfectly. However, there were a few days of wind, some icy rain, and even a little snow. Be sure to take gloves and winter hats. Some people had to buy items to wear.

I sailed on the Splendor the first two weeks of April 2016. I am a former repeat Vantage traveler who will never again use Vantage.:mad:

Perhaps my greatest joy is to step off the ship and walk into the heart of a venerable city, just as other river voyagers have done for centuries. It is the beginning of an intimate relationship with that city. Frequent cruising in the past 5 years has given me realistic expectations for this experience in Hoorn and Amsterdam.

Last April, my heart sank as the transfer bus pulled into the commercial docks of Amsterdam, near only to a Coffee Shop where I could buy legal ‘pot’. Certainly, Vantage has the right to dock the Splendor a 35 Euro cab ride away from the center of a stunning 17th century city. It fulfilled its promised visit to Amsterdam. On arrival we were offered no shuttle. We were scheduled to return to Amsterdam at the end of the cruise, and when the same degrading docking location was announced, general booing was heard among the passengers. This is the first time in 9 cruises when I have heard this. Vantage fulfilled its obligation for the tours in Amsterdam and provided a limited shuttle for the free time. But the magic was gone. Fortunately, I’ve had the joy of walking from a ship into that beautiful city on previous trips.

The Vantage sailing from Enkhuizen to Hoorn did not take place. We were told that it was cancelled because there was NO dock space in Hoorn. We did get the scheduled bus trip to a bulb farm and drove through the Hoorn city limits so we did go to Hoorn on the scheduled day. The afternoon was the scheduled free time, but in Enkhuizen where we had spent the previous day. I see Vantage no longer offers Hoorn so you would be spared this disappointment.

I refuse to accept a tefflon 'I didn't do it' excuse for ship docking away from central Amsterdam. The cruise companies have a role in docking locations.

A week before sailing I email the concierge on the ships with a few simple requests about room and diet. In all cases except this one (including the same Splendor in December 2015) there were no problems. On this trip the concierge acknowledged me but the ship staff ignored my requests. Eventually they complied with 'attitude'.

I had great experiences on this trip. But some were in spite of rather than because of Vantage. Yes, I know how to make lemonade.

Vantage has received my evaluation with no response.

I suggest you continue shopping.

Comparing customer service of Uniworld to the experience of Vantage as written by Xmaser:

My wife and I took the Uniworld Tulips and Windmills trip in April of this year. My daughter is working outside of Brussels and we had arranged to meet her on the 7th day of our trip in Amsterdam. She had a hotel reserved in Amsterdam for the two nights. We were to meet her the morning of day 8 and the three of us would go to Kukenhoff and also spend day nine with her seeing Amsterdam.

About a week before we left, we heard that our ship would be staying in Haarlem the evening of the seventh day and not get into Amsterdam until the evening of the 8th day.

I contacted the cruise director on the ship. She suggested that our daughter could take a 15 minute train ride from Amsterdam to Haalem on the morning of the 8th day to meet our ship, take the Uniworld bus and join in the ship's tour to Kukenhoff. After the tour, she could return with us on the bus to the ship, have dinner on the ship and travel with the ship in the evening from Haarlem to Amsterdam.

We did exactly that, A wonderful day, a great dinner and cruise up the river. In Amsterdam, we docked by central station and I walked her to her hotel at 10 PM.

Needless to say, I whole heartedly recommend Uniworld.

In April I enjoyed my first and second riverboat cruises.

April 21/16...Tulip Time ...on AmaViola (brand new boat...their first cruise). 7 Days. Excellent experience! I was invited to the Captain's Table for Dinner...same type of experience I've enjoyed on different ocean cruises.

April 28/16...Tulips of Northern Holland...on Avalon Artistry II...7 Days. Another excellent cruise experience. Different itinerary to my first riverboat cruise.

On Both riverboat cruises...there were planned excursions everyday...sometimes 2 different tours...am/pm tours were included. Optional tours were also available for separate purchase in some of the ports...on both cruise lines. Avalon offered ...pre-cruise optional tour purchases which I used to book my Anne Frank skip the line tour...a tour that is very hard to get tickets online yourself or causing you to wait in a line up to 3 hours! Excellent tour...no hassle...directly inside no waiting...perfect! AMA Waterways didn't offer precruise tour purchases but I booked a couple extra tours to get to locations I had on my to do list. Raul ...Cruise Manager on the AmaViola also helped me book a taxi to get me to another location I wished to visit that wasn't offered on any of the tours. No Problem...He called a taxi and off I went...excellent passenger relations! :)

On Both AMA Waterways and Avalon Waterways we were docked in prime downtown ports.

On Both riverboat cruises they waived the extra single supplement (I'm now a widow) on my April cruises. If you are a solo cruiser you usually have to pay for 2 people unless you manage to find a waived single supplement offer. On the popular cruises this option is hard to find on both ocean and riverboat cruises!

I totally enjoyed my riverboat experiences on Both...AMA Waterways and Avalon Waterways!

I'm booked for a 2017 riverboat cruise on Avalon from Amsterdam to Budapest! :)

Pat

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I want to thank everyone who has responded so far for all the helpful information and candor. It's a really tough decision.... It's great to have a number of good options. :)

I hope others will continue to weigh in.

Thank you!

I sailed on the Splendor the first two weeks of April 2016. I am a former repeat Vantage traveler who will never again use Vantage.:mad:

 

snip

 

I had great experiences on this trip. But some were in spite of rather than because of Vantage. Yes, I know how to make lemonade.

 

Vantage has received my evaluation with no response.

 

I suggest you continue shopping.

I would suggest that you repost this on the All Things Vantage thread. That's where most of the Vantage cruisers "hang out." They would be interested in this post and some might be able to commiserate.

I took Vantage's Rhine and Moselle cruise last summer leaving from Amsterdam, and we were docked very close to Centraal Station. There have been multiple complaints about Viking docking in the industrial area that have appeared on CC, but this is the first I've seen about Vantage.

From my unscientific observations, this seems to only be a problem in April and May when all the cruise lines are doing tulip cruises which often begin AND end in Amsterdam. I don't remember any complaints about Amsterdam dockings once the main river cruising season has begun.

FuelScience

First let me say how sorry I am to hear that Xmaser had such a bad experience. I can only say that I've done 8 trips with Vantage and NEVER been disappointed. We did Tulips and Windmills on the now retired Navigator and it was wonderful. We were picked up at Schipol and taken directly to a hotel where a full breakfast buffet was waiting as the ship wasn't ready for us (it was 7:30 a.m.) After a leisurely b'fast and plenty of coffee we were taken on a short bus tour of the city and then transferred to the ship. Apparently there is a serious traffic problem in Amsterdam with the docking for river cruisers....our bus driver got lost saying the "ship isn't where its supposed to be". I do know that the cruise companies actually have very little input as to where the ships dock since that is up to the port master. The entire trip was absolutely marvelous....we stopped at Kinderdijk on a gray and gloomy day but the windmills were amazing to see...on to Rotterdam with a bus tour of the city and an wonderful afternoon in Delft...of course we toured the Delft factory and had time to buy things! We also went to Gouda and Brugges, which was one of my favorite stops, Antwerp, Franeker, where they had the most delicious pastries, Lier for its interesting planetarium and then to North Holland where we visited a tulip farm. Our guide was the owner of the farm and after feeding us home baked cookies, tea and coffee took us on a tour of his farm. On our way back to the ship we went through a town where they were having a tulip festival. It wasn't a scheduled stop but he insisted the bus pull over and let us off and he gave us 1/2 hour to walk through the most magnificent park that was planted with tulips from all the growers in that area. Another wonderful stop was Zuider Zee, which is a recreated Dutch village, complete with costumed guides. We also stopped in Hoorn but it was pouring rain so I stayed on board. We ended in Amsterdam and had another tour of the city, a boat ride through the canals, choice of Rijks or Van Gogh museums and the indescribable Keukenhof gardens. We also took the optional tour to Aalsmeer for the flower auction, which IMHO, is not to be missed.

Nobody gets it 100% right all of the time and it's unfortunate when you're on one of the trips that doesn't go right....but I have to say Vantage gives you more for your money than some others and having done a cost comparison of the same trip, cabin accommodation and dates between Vantage and Viking...Vantage was cheaper and gave you more.

We were on the Vantage River Splendor Springtime in Holland and Belgium Tulips and Windmills Cruise April 14-26, 2016.

We arranged our own airfare. After hearing about other's experiences, I was very glad I did this. I realize that not everyone can afford to spend the money or use miles, but the convenience of doing this was wonderful. Other passengers complained about very indirect flights, inconvenient times, and getting picked up at 4am at the airport, being taken to a hotel lobby to wait for 4-5 hours in a lobby before being bused to a ship.

We also arrived several days earlier which allowed us to unjetlag before the cruise. Other older travelers looked exhausted for several days.

In Amsterdam, the Splendor was docked 30 minutes away in an industrial port with nothing near it.

The first day was Kinderdijk where we spent a few hours seeing windmills. Very nice.

The second day was Bruges. We docked an hour away. The guide for our group was quite good but we did not have enough time in town to really enjoy it and we felt pressure to return to the bus, our only transportation.

The third day was Antwerp. Again, not enough time in town.

The next day was Arnhem where we had the choice of the Liberation Museum or the Kroeller-Muller Museum, both an hour away.

The fifth day was Enkhuizen where we walked from the ship to the Zuiderzee Museum, an open air village. We would have liked to spend more time there than alloted, because after lunch was the visit to a local home with very interesting gentleman.

The next day we did get to Hoorn, but traveled an hour to a tulip farm for a rather short visit.

Finally we arrived back in Amsterdam where we docked in town at Central Station for one night, We had a too short visit to the Rijksmuseum, and a terrible optional expensive tour of the old Jewish neighborhood. Our Anne Frank tour was cancelled several weeks before we left home as Vantage said they could no longer get tickets. (Before the cruise, we went about 5:30 pm, stood in line about an hour, and saw it on our own.)

The last day we were bused to the Keukenhof Gardens to see the tulips. Again, not enough time there. We could have managed to return on our own, by taking a bus to the airport, and the train back to Central Station, or just getting a cab, but the weather was rainy and cold so we just went back on the ships bus.

We did an excellent walking tour of the Red Light District which opened our eyes to the horrors of sex trafficking.

Most of the Vantage guides were very good. They had to operate under tight time constraints.

The weather was cold and windy most of the time, with rain at the end. Dress warm with hats and gloves.

I did not realize that I would only see tulips in the Amsterdam region. I thought there would be fields all over the entire country.

The food was appetizing with out being overly gourmet. On a tour of the kitchen I learned that most of what they serve is purchased precooked and finished off on the ship. They make their own sauces, some soups, but not much else. They cook for an American taste.

Our room was fine, the service was fine. I don't have many complaints except about not being in town long enough. When we were close to some towns, it was really too cold or wet to want to stay out longer. The ship traveled at night, so there was nothing to see as it moved about.

Would I do another river cruise? Maybe, as a means of seeing some places easily. I am a very independent traveler and enjoy traveling by train and spending more time in town.

I guess I would do Vantage again. I am looking for cruise for 2017 that does the wine region of Alsace and ends up in Basel so I can continue onto seeing Switzerland.

Hi Judy, thanks for your review......sounds like many folks didn't have a

very good experiences with their travel times:eek: 4 to 5 hours to wait

for a bus to the ship? WOW....that doesn't sound fun at all:confused:

I wrote a long review about my Tulip Time Cruise last month with AMA and

it was absolutely fabulous:D I used AMA for my flights...the times

were all excellent!

We went to many of the same places.....I took an all day tour to

Brugge.....it was wonderful. Maybe I got lucky but we had sunshine

every day...it was cold but the sun was always out....our Capt even

commented about the good weather:D....I sailed the week before you,

April 7th.....loved it all:)

We were on the Vantage River Splendor Springtime in Holland and Belgium Tulips and Windmills Cruise April 14-26, 2016.

We arranged our own airfare. After hearing about other's experiences, I was very glad I did this. I realize that not everyone can afford to spend the money or use miles, but the convenience of doing this was wonderful. Other passengers complained about very indirect flights, inconvenient times, and getting picked up at 4am at the airport, being taken to a hotel lobby to wait for 4-5 hours in a lobby before being bused to a ship.

We also arrived several days earlier which allowed us to unjetlag before the cruise. Other older travelers looked exhausted for several days.

In Amsterdam, the Splendor was docked 30 minutes away in an industrial port with nothing near it.

The first day was Kinderdijk where we spent a few hours seeing windmills. Very nice.

The second day was Bruges. We docked an hour away. The guide for our group was quite good but we did not have enough time in town to really enjoy it and we felt pressure to return to the bus, our only transportation.

The third day was Antwerp. Again, not enough time in town.

The next day was Arnhem where we had the choice of the Liberation Museum or the Kroeller-Muller Museum, both an hour away.

The fifth day was Enkhuizen where we walked from the ship to the Zuiderzee Museum, an open air village. We would have liked to spend more time there than alloted, because after lunch was the visit to a local home with very interesting gentleman.

The next day we did get to Hoorn, but traveled an hour to a tulip farm for a rather short visit.

Finally we arrived back in Amsterdam where we docked in town at Central Station for one night, We had a too short visit to the Rijksmuseum, and a terrible optional expensive tour of the old Jewish neighborhood. Our Anne Frank tour was cancelled several weeks before we left home as Vantage said they could no longer get tickets. (Before the cruise, we went about 5:30 pm, stood in line about an hour, and saw it on our own.)

The last day we were bused to the Keukenhof Gardens to see the tulips. Again, not enough time there. We could have managed to return on our own, by taking a bus to the airport, and the train back to Central Station, or just getting a cab, but the weather was rainy and cold so we just went back on the ships bus.

We did an excellent walking tour of the Red Light District which opened our eyes to the horrors of sex trafficking.

 

Most of the Vantage guides were very good. They had to operate under tight time constraints.

The weather was cold and windy most of the time, with rain at the end. Dress warm with hats and gloves.

I did not realize that I would only see tulips in the Amsterdam region. I thought there would be fields all over the entire country.

The food was appetizing with out being overly gourmet. On a tour of the kitchen I learned that most of what they serve is purchased precooked and finished off on the ship. They make their own sauces, some soups, but not much else. They cook for an American taste.

Our room was fine, the service was fine. I don't have many complaints except about not being in town long enough. When we were close to some towns, it was really too cold or wet to want to stay out longer. The ship traveled at night, so there was nothing to see as it moved about.

 

Would I do another river cruise? Maybe, as a means of seeing some places easily. I am a very independent traveler and enjoy traveling by train and spending more time in town.

 

I guess I would do Vantage again. I am looking for cruise for 2017 that does the wine region of Alsace and ends up in Basel so I can continue onto seeing Switzerland.

Hi Judy....WOW, things have certainly changed between my tulip cruise and yours. We spent nearly full days in zuider zee, Brugges and full half days touring the Rijks and Van Gogh, which is obviously never long enough to spend in any museum of that size. We didn't stop in Arnhem, but the liberation museum was available in Nijmegen, as was the Kroller museum. Because it was the Queen's birthday when we were there several of us women dressed in orange boas and went ashore for the National Yard Sale in her honor.

We did Amsterdam to Basel last year with Vantage and thought it was wonderful. We toured the Alsace as well as the Black Forest before ending in Basel. Ordinarily I would recommend Vantage for this trip, but since you were not satisfied with last time, I suspect you'll be looking for another company. If I were looking for someone else, I would probably go with AMA.

Comparing customer service of Uniworld to the experience of Vantage as written by Xmaser:

 

My wife and I took the Uniworld Tulips and Windmills trip in April of this year. My daughter is working outside of Brussels and we had arranged to meet her on the 7th day of our trip in Amsterdam. She had a hotel reserved in Amsterdam for the two nights. We were to meet her the morning of day 8 and the three of us would go to Kukenhoff and also spend day nine with her seeing Amsterdam.

 

About a week before we left, we heard that our ship would be staying in Haarlem the evening of the seventh day and not get into Amsterdam until the evening of the 8th day.

 

I contacted the cruise director on the ship. She suggested that our daughter could take a 15 minute train ride from Amsterdam to Haalem on the morning of the 8th day to meet our ship, take the Uniworld bus and join in the ship's tour to Kukenhoff. After the tour, she could return with us on the bus to the ship, have dinner on the ship and travel with the ship in the evening from Haarlem to Amsterdam.

 

We did exactly that, A wonderful day, a great dinner and cruise up the river. In Amsterdam, we docked by central station and I walked her to her hotel at 10 PM.

 

Needless to say, I whole heartedly recommend Uniworld.

JPH814, I'm glad to hear how well these arrangements worked out for you. Having taken the same cruise a week or so before, I'm not surprised at what the cruise director was able to do for you. She and the rest of the ship's staff and crew were first class in all respects, and the cruise was one of the best I have taken. We were much reduced in numbers because of the Brussels bombings shortly before the cruise, but Uniworld didn't stint in providing excellent service both on board and ashore. The warm, sunny weather in what could well have been a cold and rainy week didn't hurt either.

This was my fourth cruise with Uniworld, and I have booked another this fall. I'm sold on Uniworld and unless there is an itinerary that they don't have, such as the Irrawaddy, I'm not inclined to try another river cruise line.

I've cruised with Viking before (St. Petersburg--Moscow and Mekong) and had no complaints with the service, but I do think that Uniworld is that much better.