All Things Vantage

[4774Papa]

Better prices than you find on Ocean cruises.

[CPT Trips]

Better prices than you find on Ocean cruises.

 

And, byob is an option. :) No naughty room.

[rayandjean]

It has been a while since we were on a river cruise with Vantage. I know we get free wine with dinner.

 

What do after dinner drinks cost? We are on Douro River cruise.

 

We did the Douro cruise in October of 2013 and the wine seemed to flow all day, every day. I would re-name it "Wine Cruise on the Douro". Portugal was so enjoyable and we had a great time traveling with Vantage friends.

 

Valerie

[4774Papa]

We did the Douro cruise in October of 2013 and the wine seemed to flow all day, every day. I would re-name it "Wine Cruise on the Douro". Portugal was so enjoyable and we had a great time traveling with Vantage friends.

 

Valerie

 

Valerie,

Thanks, that is good news, since wine is our drink of choice. We leave day after tomorrow.

[4774Papa]

TravelerThom,

 

There is a thread on the river cruise section stating that the Uniworld cruise of the Douro did not cruise. It was set for mid to late April.

 

When was your cruise?

[FuelScience]

We did the Douro cruise in October of 2013 and the wine seemed to flow all day, every day. I would re-name it "Wine Cruise on the Douro". Portugal was so enjoyable and we had a great time traveling with Vantage friends.

 

Valerie

 

Valerie, did you get to sample a lot of port?

 

FuelScience

[4774Papa]

I emailed our Cruise Manager in Portugal about cancelled cruises last month on the Douro.

 

This was her response:

Mr. George, early in April there were problems with high waters on the

Douro river but since May all ships habe been absolutly okey. Regards. Manuela

[TravelerThom]

Our Vantage Douro cruise of 5-13 April 2016 went on schedule. The water was flowing somewhat on the high side, but we had no problems. In 12+ river cruises I have had only one (1) day of disrupted sailing, and that was April 2015 on the Rhone when the water flow restricted Cruise boats from sailing (commercial freight barges were still running). I could say that I choose my sailings with skill, but we all know that I'm just lucky:p To confirm, the Vantage French trips (both Seine and Rhone) used CD, Concierge and local guides in 2015; CD, Concierge and boat crew in France could be tipped in cash or by credit card.

 

Valerie, did you get to sample a lot of port?

On our Vantage Douro trip we had a choice of red or white port with every cocktail party (3?) and at the conclusion of every dinner (in addition to the wine with dinner). And of course at the two port lodges that were included tours.

 

Thom

[pbnjrockette]

Thom,

 

Have you written a review of your Vantage Duoro cruise? We are looking forward to our cruise in October and would love to hear the details! Did you do the pre-trip to Madeira? Pat

 

White port? I've enjoyed many reds... will be interested in the whites!!

Edited May 11, 2016 by pbnjrockette

[TravelerThom]

Thom,

Have you written a review of your Vantage Duoro cruise? We are looking forward to our cruise in October and would love to hear the details! Did you do the pre-trip to Madeira? Pat

White port? I've enjoyed many reds... will be interested in the whites!!

An informal review at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2345539 . I specifically wrote this for 4774Papa who is traveling this week I think. It sounds like the tip situation may be changing; I assume that 4774Papa will report on the May 2016 tip status.

 

We have stopped in Madeira on TransAtlantic cruises, so did NOT do the Vantage pre-trip. Those on our main trip who took it seemed well pleased with the Madeira portion.

 

If you do Advanced Search on the River Cruising board, and enter user name "TravelerThom" and key word "Douro" that should pop all my comments. If you have further questions, I'll be glad to answer as best I can.

 

White port comes in a variety of shades, depending on the casks it is aged in, and is most commonly an apéritif. Almost all the port served after dinner was red. I often have port as a digestif, so I certainly enjoyed it on the boat:).

 

Thom

[seven1113]

Have been reading my cruise documents and Vantage says NO JEANS at night in the dining room. Do they follow this rule strictly? Just curious.

Cannot wait to go!!

[seven1113]

Is anyone on the June 12th trip on the Splendor? Bonn to Bucharest?

[Rorygirl4528]

Yes that's right. No blue jeans. We were on the amsterdam/tulip cruise last year. Some poor guys luggage was lost and he showed up the first night in jeans. They weren't going to let him in until they understood the problem. Turned out he had to wear them practically the whole trip....his luggage finally got there the last day.

I wore jeans ( tan and a black pair just not blue) and nothing was said. You can wear them for other meals. If you are going with husband have him leave the sport jacket at hone. They recommend it for the captains dinner but at least 75% of the men had on a nice shirt and dockers.

[seven1113]

Yes that's right. No blue jeans. We were on the amsterdam/tulip cruise last year. Some poor guys luggage was lost and he showed up the first night in jeans. They weren't going to let him in until they understood the problem. Turned out he had to wear them practically the whole trip....his luggage finally got there the last day.

I wore jeans ( tan and a black pair just not blue) and nothing was said. You can wear them for other meals. If you are going with husband have him leave the sport jacket at hone. They recommend it for the captains dinner but at least 75% of the men had on a nice shirt and dockers.

 

Very glad you responded. Thank you for all the info.

Carolyn

[Mimosa09]

that's too bad..one of the best meals we had in France was in Lyon.

 

Oh and BTW, it's a good thing you didn't book Great Lakes....like I did. :mad:

 

Well..... to Hydrokitty and pbnjrockette - we finally got the call re: our booking on the MS St. Laurent for the Great Lakes cruise. It seems they have finally settled with Haimark and are going to start cruising on the Great Lakes in August. We had booked the July 26 sailing which they cancelled. So they offered us a space on one of the August sailings. Unfortunately, we have too much going on with family events in August so we opted to go next July. :(

 

 

-Rose

[pbnjrockette]

Rose, sorry your cruise is cancelled. Glad to hear that the St. Laurent is sailing again and that the Haimark bankruptcy is settled! If Vantage puts their Cuba cruise back together perhaps we'll go with them next year. But I'll wait to see if Haimark really gets it's act together!! Pat

Edited May 19, 2016 by pbnjrockette

[Mimosa09]

Rose, sorry your cruise is cancelled. Glad to hear that the St. Laurent is sailing again and that the Haimark bankruptcy is settled! If Vantage puts their Cuba cruise back together perhaps we'll go with them next year. But I'll wait to see if Haimark really gets it's act together!! Pat

 

I don't blame you for waiting to see if it really happens. We are going to keep watch on a website to see if the MS St. Laurent makes it up to the Great Lakes in August. It's still docked in Florida :rolleyes:

 

But looking at the Vantage website, they seem to have a lot of "sold out" on the Cuba circumnavigation for next year. I hope it works out for you.

 

From what they told me at Vantage, someone else owns the ship now and the name is going to be changed to Victory. That name change isn't reflected on the Vantage website yet.

 

-Rose

[rayandjean]

Valerie, did you get to sample a lot of port?

 

FuelScience

Yes, we sampled great port!

[rayandjean]

Thom,

 

Have you written a review of your Vantage Duoro cruise? We are looking forward to our cruise in October and would love to hear the details! Did you do the pre-trip to Madeira? Pat

 

White port? I've enjoyed many reds... will be interested in the whites!!

We did the Madeira pre-cruise with Vantage and Manuela in 2013. It was a superb extension and she was a gracious and memorable program manager. Europeans frequently vacation on the island of Madeira and to enjoy its beauty was definitely a highlight of our trip. Since Vantage has revamped how they utilize program managers, I'm not sure if it stacks up the same but it was definitely one of our favorite cruises.

 

Valerie

[Hydrokitty]

I don't blame you for waiting to see if it really happens. We are going to keep watch on a website to see if the MS St. Laurent makes it up to the Great Lakes in August. It's still docked in Florida :rolleyes:

 

But looking at the Vantage website, they seem to have a lot of "sold out" on the Cuba circumnavigation for next year. I hope it works out for you.

 

From what they told me at Vantage, someone else owns the ship now and the name is going to be changed to Victory. That name change isn't reflected on the Vantage website yet.

 

-Rose

Hi rose, I've been "off the grid" for past week..."sold out" for all datesand l levels was what made me suspicious and sent me into research mode. IMHO "sold out" is euphemism for "we can't book this trip" . I'm glad it worked out but Great Lakes cruise is just ridiculously expensive....$14,000 for 2 people for 14 days at the lowest cabin level is outrageous.

[JRJarr]

Booked on June 22 Vantage. My first river cruise, husbands second. Looking forward to a great trip. Thanks for all the great info on the Vantage trips.

[DaveinCharlotte]

Well..... to Hydrokitty and pbnjrockette - we finally got the call re: our booking on the MS St. Laurent for the Great Lakes cruise. It seems they have finally settled with Haimark and are going to start cruising on the Great Lakes in August...

 

-Rose

 

I've been tracking the St. Laurent saga for the past eight months. The Road Scholar and Vantage web sites always seem to show that although their near-term cruises have been cancelled, not to worry, the cruises a little farther out will be just fine! As the months go by, the story keeps shifting. Road Scholar is currently still selling July cruises on the ship, but I expect they will pull the plug on those soon. The bottom line: Until just one scheduled cruise actually happens, I am taking news of a Haimark settlement with a grain of salt.

[Hydrokitty]

I've been tracking the St. Laurent saga for the past eight months. The Road Scholar and Vantage web sites always seem to show that although their near-term cruises have been cancelled, not to worry, the cruises a little farther out will be just fine! As the months go by, the story keeps shifting. Road Scholar is currently still selling July cruises on the ship, but I expect they will pull the plug on those soon. The bottom line: Until just one scheduled cruise actually happens, I am taking news of a Haimark settlement with a grain of salt.

 

Hi DaveinCharlotte (I flew out of Charlotte yesterday!) I agree with you 100%....having tried to book the Great Lakes trip for past 2 years...I will believe it when I see the ship listed as being in Montreal or Chicago and not in Jacksonville, FL!! In the meantime, I'm waiting for someone else to do this trip for less money, it just doesn't seem to be worth what St. Laurent or Pearl Mist are charging for it.

[jamscckmc]

JRJarr, are you on the French Waterways cruise?

 

There's lots of info on what men should wear but what do most women wear? Are capris and a blouse OK for the regular dinners? Dresses for captain's dinner?

[TravelerThom]

...There's lots of info on what men should wear but what do most women wear? Are capris and a blouse OK for the regular dinners? Dresses for captain's dinner?

Lyn & I have done Vantage Seine Mar 2015, Rhone Apr 2015 and Douro Apr 2016. I confirmed with her that capris (or slacks) and blouse are the most worn female attire at regular dinners. She wore slacks and a nice blouse to our Captain's dinners, but we were in cooler weather; that or a dress would be fine.

 

Thom