Vantage River Cruises feedback

[lhall85917]

We booked a windmills and tulips tour with Vantage for May 2013 about a month and a half ago after reading reviews on CC and other places we felt it was the best value and itinerary for our money. Since then there have been a couple of small things that are causing us to second-guess our booking. First, our invoice kept showing up including their travel insurance cost although we had refused it, Vantage said that we weren't being charged for it but it was there to let us know in case we wanted it. That was fine, but our invoice never reflected our actual amount due. It took 3 phone calls to get a corrected invoice reflecting our correct pricing and amount due.

 

The next thing was that someone in Vantage booked our air travel for 2012 although we aren't traveling until next year! :eek: I made phone calls and told it would be taken care of, exchanged emails with a rep and was told not to worry it would be taken care of, made another phone call and was placed on hold while the rep talked to the travel dept., and was told it would be taken care of within 24 hours. As of today it is still there, although I know it is their problem and I have records of many conversations and emails discussing this, it is still annoying to know it hasn't been corrected.

 

This morning I noticed our cruise was advertised on their website for $100 less per person so made a phone call to get an adjusted price. I was told that unless I received a mailing with the new price they couldn't make the adjustment. WHAT???@!!! The rep told me that booking early allowed us to choose dates and cabins and that should be enough. I was slightly irate and just couldn't understand why I couldn't get an advertised price. There really wasn't an alternative, if I cancelled my booking it would cost $600 which really isn't fair either however I accepted that when booking the trip. After a little convincing, she did say I could get the adjusted price and it should show up on our invoice in a week - with all the errors so far I can't say I am very trusting that this will happen.

 

I would like to hear from others and your experiences with Vantage, I am especially interested in hearing about price adjustments and your experience. I am sure this will be a wonderful trip; however, it is not off to a great start and if problems continue we may eat the $600 and choose to do something else.

[JesterPlaying]

We booked a trip with them for this June. They did leave the travel insurance on for a long time, but when it came to final invoices they removed it with no problem. We ordered a cruise extension and it showed up at a higher price than what it was advertised for. A quick call and our invoice was adjusted with a credit to bring it to the sales price.

 

Their paperwork doesn't seem to catch up fast, but in the end they make things right. Didn't have an airline scheduling issue so can't talk about that department.

[jacksonnh]

They most likely will correct it but if you didn't order it at time of booking why did they put it on your invoice. Have not taken a tulip tour but isn't May late in the season?

[lhall85917]

They most likely will correct it but if you didn't order it at time of booking why did they put it on your invoice. Have not taken a tulip tour but isn't May late in the season?

It is one of the last ones of the season, leaves May 3. It may not be the high point of the tulips but should still be pretty and we are as interested in the itinerary as we ar the tulips.

[WhansaMi]

This morning I noticed our cruise was advertised on their website for $100 less per person so made a phone call to get an adjusted price. I was told that unless I received a mailing with the new price they couldn't make the adjustment. WHAT???@!!! The rep told me that booking early allowed us to choose dates and cabins and that should be enough. I was slightly irate and just couldn't understand why I couldn't get an advertised price. There really wasn't an alternative, if I cancelled my booking it would cost $600 which really isn't fair either however I accepted that when booking the trip. After a little convincing, she did say I could get the adjusted price and it should show up on our invoice in a week - with all the errors so far I can't say I am very trusting that this will happen.

 

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I agree that the other things are a nuisance, but I agree with the cruiseline on this point.

 

When a dress first comes to Macy's, I can agree to buy it at full price. I can wait, and gamble that the cost will drop, but I risk that dress will not be in the color I want, or at all, in the size I need.

 

By booking early, you ensure a cabin on the ship you want, doing the itinerary you want, in the cabin you want. Perhaps the cruise sells out, and if that is the case, you will be glad you booked when you did. However, if it doesn't sell out, as time for the cruise comes closer, the cruiseline must do whatever they can to fill the ship -- including dropping the price. This means that those of us who booked early still get the ship we want and the cabin we chose, at the price we considered fair.

 

The alternative is letting those cabins go empty, and, in the next fiscal year, the company would factor that loss into the cost of doing business, necessitating a raise in the price of future trips.

 

Better to let a few people pay $100 less now, than having the rest of us absorb the cost of several unfilled cabins.

[lhall85917]

I agree that the other things are a nuisance, but I agree with the cruiseline on this point.

 

When a dress first comes to Macy's, I can agree to buy it at full price. I can wait, and gamble that the cost will drop, but I risk that dress will not be in the color I want, or at all, in the size I need.

 

By booking early, you ensure a cabin on the ship you want, doing the itinerary you want, in the cabin you want. Perhaps the cruise sells out, and if that is the case, you will be glad you booked when you did. However, if it doesn't sell out, as time for the cruise comes closer, the cruiseline must do whatever they can to fill the ship -- including dropping the price. This means that those of us who booked early still get the ship we want and the cabin we chose, at the price we considered fair.

 

The alternative is letting those cabins go empty, and, in the next fiscal year, the company would factor that loss into the cost of doing business, necessitating a raise in the price of future trips.

 

Better to let a few people pay $100 less now, than having the rest of us absorb the cost of several unfilled cabins.

 

I completely understand and appreciate your point; however, my perspective is different. If I buy a dress from Macy's but haven't worn it, I can return it at anytime as long as the tags are on it for a complete refund and purchase another dress or get the price difference if it is lower. With a cruise, I can cancel at any time and rebook elsewhere if that's what I want, it is in the cruise line's best interest to keep a customer that is already in place vs. losing them to somewhere else. If they want to keep cabins filled there are definitely other options - offer fantastic prices that are non-refundable or different refundable rates as choices.

Until final payment, I just have a reservation, not a 100% commitment and it is my best interests to get the best price that I can. Vantage takes advantage of this by requiring a $1000 deposit for the two of us and if I cancel they keep $600 which is a much different policy than the large cruise lines that will refund a deposit completely.

[JesterPlaying]

I don't think Vantage's refund policy differs significantly from other river cruise lines. The deposits do differ and in some cases full payment can be required up front. I do know that on Norwegian Cruise Lines I had to give up a deposit.

 

I reserved a cabin in advance and was given a on board credit. When I went to upgrade to a suite they removed my credit. The price for the suite was the same as when I had originally booked. I decided on another line and it was substantially less so forgoing my deposit factored into the decision.

 

Talk about biting off your nose to spite your face. They had a customer that wanted to buy more of their product and they effectively upped the price a couple hundred of dollars and lost thousands.

 

Pricing for occupancy is a tricky thing. The amount of your deposit really can't make up for the fact if your reserved cabin goes empty. The deposit amount they retain is just a minor offset for all canceled and then unoccupied cabins.

 

Its the way the business is run and I don't think Vantage is unfair in their approach. They are still intending to deliver what you ordered and paid for.

[lhall85917]

Thanks again for the thoughts, one more comment and I'll move on (maybe 2) - when I booked this cruise I asked many questions of the agent since this is our first river cruise and first cruise with Vantage. One of the things I asked was specifically about the pricing, I asked what would happen if there were a price decrease and was specifically told that if we saw a lower price to just call and it would be reduced, that is one reason I was surprised that they didn't want to do this.

I truly am looking forward to this trip and know that these are minor points; however, it has been a consistent theme with Vantage so far that things are not taken care of quickly and have required several phone calls or emails to get them taken care of. As of now, I am still booked to leave on April 30, 2012 for my April 2013 trip!!

[Talisker92]

We booked a cruise about a year in advance,and they put in a dummy booking for the air,until they actually got the booking confirmed. They were very helpful,and their price for business class air is very reasonable

[Palmetto Lady]

We have had a couple of trips with Vantage. While the trips themselves have been very good, I have not always been happy with customer service.

Last year we book a trip which was to include a week in Ireland and a week sailing back to the US on the Queen Mary 2. At some point the itinerary vanished from their website. The airline schedule was to be posted within a short time after booking. It did not appear. The website said it was under maintenance and to check back in X number of days. A month came and went and no itinerary or air schedule. They revised the itinerary so that we were only spending three days in Dublin, not a week in Ireland, but had our flight to JFK leaving on the original departure day, but flying to Dublin on the revised schedule. There were multiple phone calls, but I could get no explanation as to what was going on. The customer reps agreed that this made no sense, but could not give an explanation. My husband wanted to cancel, but I wanted to hang in there. I made the final payment. A week after, a representative called and said that the Ireland part of the trip had been shortened to the three days in Dublin. The air schedule was corrected. We had a great trip. We were a group of only seven. Several of the group told us that the trip was readvertised with the shorter schedule. Obviously that was the problem. Nevertheless was a great trip with a wonderful guide.

My complaint was that I felt like a mushroom "kept in the dark and fed manure"

[Palmetto Lady]

While what I just posted was not about a river cruise, my problem with Vantage was with their lack of communication. You are dealing with the same people and company whether it is a river cruise, ocean cruise or land tour.:eek:

[PCruzer]

I first have to say that the 2 Vantage trips that we have taken (Danube river cruise and Machu Picchu & the Galapagos land/cruise) were both excellent. It is unfortunate that their customer service department is not of the same caliber. On the Danube river cruise, we had no problems, so had no need to contact customer service. On the Machu Picchu/Galapagos trip, they did away with our last hotel night in Quito, Ecuador. When I questioned how they could just eliminate a night of the trip, I was told that they were including an overnight in Miami instead. We were supposed to fly from the Galapagos Islands to Quito, spend the night there, then fly from Quito to Miami the next morning. Instead, we had to fly from the Galapagos to Quito, then Quito to Miami on the same day. We arrived in Miami close to midnight. It was a VERY long day and not what was advertised in the trip itinerary.

 

I also had an encounter with Vantage just today. I received an e-mail with a link to a "special" brochure listing huge savings on many of their trips. I was interested in the Holland & Belgium and the Floriade for this coming August. There are only 3 dates for this trip - all in August. The promotional code listed would give you up to $2600 off per couple. The e-mail brochure listing the savings per couple said to go to the trip page, find the pricing grid, and minus the savings from the price. It sounded good to me, so I called to get some pricing. The reservationist gave me the price, which was no different than what was in a previous brochure I had received months ago! When I asked about the savings, I was told that was only if I paid the trip in full right away and also that it had something to do with taking their insurance. Hmmmm. This sounded like deceptive advertising to me. I decided to go to the Vantage Facebook page and posted what had happened. Within 1 hour I had received a phone call from Vantage wanting to know how they could help me! The rep (a different one) had no clue about the e-mail I had received from Vantage. I had to actually send her the the e-mail. Then she proceeded to tell me that the $2600 off per couple depended on where I was traveling from. (I would be traveling from JFK, which was included.) She said that if I was traveling from, say Denver, it would be $2600 per couple savings because they were giving free air add-ons to JFK. In our case, we didn't need air to JFK, so the savings would not be $2600, as listed in the e-mail, but $1800 per couple. There was no indication in the e-mail I received about savings being dependent on your home city air. I find this to be deceptive advertising!

 

You might want to try posting your complaints to Vantage on their Facebook page if you have a FB account. I can't guarantee that they will address the problems you are having, but they will probably contact you.

 

Again, the trips we have done with Vantage have both been excellent. If only their customer service was as good! It's very exhausting to go round and round with the Vantage reps. I think I'm going to look at some other river cruise lines.

 

Good luck!

[lhall85917]

Poor customer service seems to an ongoing concern. We are keeping our booking for now, but are watching closely - right now I am not getting warm fuzzies for this trip. Right now we are still booked for an April 30, 2012 flight to Brussels for our April 30, 2013 trip! :eek::eek::eek:

[Wormy53]

We are taking our first river cruise with Vantage in October. I have had good feedback from them using their website. We filled in the Passenger Immigration info, but the website continued to say "to be completed". They sent me an automated e-mail that told me to be sure and complete it. I just e-mailed them and they returned with the problem fixed within the day. Try them at customercare@vantagetravel.com.

 

I know that they recently updated their website. Maybe this could be part of the issue. Hope this helps.

[RockyMountainMoma]

I think that Vantage does not use travel agents so they are really appealing to more experienced travelers that don't need alot of questions answered and help deciding on a tour. We pick out a trip, select the price and that's what it is. I was very impressed with Vantage when we were in China and were supposed to go home via Tokyo after the tsunami and everyone was worried about radiation. Halfway through our trip, Vantage changed our flights to avoid Tokyo which was no easy task because every travel group was doing the same thing. I sat next to a lady that had to wait 3 days for a seat.

[GiannaD]

We booked a windmills and tulips tour with Vantage for May 2013 about a month and a half ago after reading reviews on CC and other places we felt it was the best value and itinerary for our money. Since then there have been a couple of small things that are causing us to second-guess our booking. First, our invoice kept showing up including their travel insurance cost although we had refused it, Vantage said that we weren't being charged for it but it was there to let us know in case we wanted it. That was fine, but our invoice never reflected our actual amount due. It took 3 phone calls to get a corrected invoice reflecting our correct pricing and amount due.

 

The next thing was that someone in Vantage booked our air travel for 2012 although we aren't traveling until next year! :eek: I made phone calls and told it would be taken care of, exchanged emails with a rep and was told not to worry it would be taken care of, made another phone call and was placed on hold while the rep talked to the travel dept., and was told it would be taken care of within 24 hours. As of today it is still there, although I know it is their problem and I have records of many conversations and emails discussing this, it is still annoying to know it hasn't been corrected.

 

This morning I noticed our cruise was advertised on their website for $100 less per person so made a phone call to get an adjusted price. I was told that unless I received a mailing with the new price they couldn't make the adjustment. WHAT???@!!! The rep told me that booking early allowed us to choose dates and cabins and that should be enough. I was slightly irate and just couldn't understand why I couldn't get an advertised price. There really wasn't an alternative, if I cancelled my booking it would cost $600 which really isn't fair either however I accepted that when booking the trip. After a little convincing, she did say I could get the adjusted price and it should show up on our invoice in a week - with all the errors so far I can't say I am very trusting that this will happen.

 

I would like to hear from others and your experiences with Vantage, I am especially interested in hearing about price adjustments and your experience. I am sure this will be a wonderful trip; however, it is not off to a great start and if problems continue we may eat the $600 and choose to do something else.

 

We've been on three Vantage River Cruises and one land tour and all were excellent. Their customer service in Boston can be a bit of a problem. The accounts are slow to update but they eventually reflect the correct fees. They do leave the travel insurance fees on the booking information for a long time but they do not show up in your final balance unless you purchase the insurance. Since the trip is a year away I would just wait for Vantage to get your account straightened out and not cancel.

 

My main concern would be that the tulips will be gone in May. We were in Keukenhof Gardens April 16 and the tulips were marvelous. The daffodils were mostly gone and the azaleas were starting to bloom. Check the opening and closing dates on Keukenhof's website to get an idea of the peak bloom period.