All Things Vantage

[Hydrokitty]

Ocean cruises are especially efficient when visiting a large number of ports that you otherwise would not be able to visit without a travel hassle. Example, a MED cruise allows you to visit many islands as well as mainland ports. Most of those ports you can see the main sites in one day. There are exceptions like Athens, Rome, Florence, etc. However, those can be done with a pre or post cruise visit.

 

 

Some of our cruises like Around the Horn of SA, the British Isles, North Sea and Iceland, Japan, Okinawa, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Singapore to Dubai have been amazing.

 

For going in depth, our Vantage China, Russia (with Kiev and the Baltics) we did a river cruise along with extensive land tour.

 

We did a Top End cruise from Perth to Sydney Australia and it had a lot of sea days. In retrospect, I thing we could have done better with a long trip. However, we want to do Sydney, NZ and on to Hawaii, which should be great.

 

Also, transatlantic are great (and cheap) to save flying in one direction. Have a land trip planned in Europe and save flying one way.

 

We had TA from Rome booked for November but changed it to next year when opportunity for Scandinavia & St. Petersburg (can't wait to go back there) and B2B with Norway arose. Found really good price for business class from JFK to Southampton on Aer Lingus and the Hilton Garden Inn has free local transportation that includes airport and cruise dock and free b-fast!! I was researching Southampton because apparently we have to get off the ship for 3 hours between the 2 cruises..have you ever heard of that? Anyway, Hilton will pick us up and bring us into town if we stay there again on our return trip home, which we just might do since only flight out is early morning.

[Mimosa09]

I see from another thread that the MS St. Laurent now known as Victory I is on the move. It isn't docked in Green Cove Springs, FL any more. It is cruising up to Montreal. Waiting to see if it does the first scheduled cruise on the Great Lakes - July 8th.

 

-Rose

[Gardyloo2]

Thanks for all the info on Vantage. I was wondering about them after I saw this morning that Untours is listing a Vantage Cuba trip using Sail Cruisers Panorama and Panorama II.

 

A CC'er named Lady Marion posted a 5 star review on the Panorama II last week, but I couldn't find her posts here to ask questions.

 

With all the bankruptcy uncertainties, would this be a trip to avoid? I'm researching traveling solo for the first time. My DH and I are fairly young, but he longer wants to travel. I'm not ready to park in the armchair for at least another 10 years, and I'm not husband hunting either :D

 

Advice and ANY comments are most welcome.

[4774Papa]

Thanks for all the info on Vantage. I was wondering about them after I saw this morning that Untours is listing a Vantage Cuba trip using Sail Cruisers Panorama and Panorama II.

 

A CC'er named Lady Marion posted a 5 star review on the Panorama II last week, but I couldn't find her posts here to ask questions.

 

With all the bankruptcy uncertainties, would this be a trip to avoid? I'm researching traveling solo for the first time. My DH and I are fairly young, but he longer wants to travel. I'm not ready to park in the armchair for at least another 10 years, and I'm not husband hunting either :D

 

Advice and ANY comments are most welcome.

 

What bankruptcy uncertainties?

[Gardyloo2]

I read several recent discussions on this Vantage thread about ship substitutions, canceled trips and other uncertainties because of a bankruptcy. Perhaps I misinterpreted?

 

4774Papa, your Portuguese trip sounded lovely

[pbnjrockette]

I read several recent discussions on this Vantage thread about ship substitutions, canceled trips and other uncertainties because of a bankruptcy. Perhaps I misinterpreted?

 

4774Papa, your Portuguese trip sounded lovely

 

The bankruptcy was with Haimark. No problem with Vantage... They cover any problem with any company they contract with... We got our refund immediately and in full.

[CPT Trips]

I think the bankruptcy was the ship owner's. Vantage leases/charters it for some cruises. Vantage isn't in bankruptcy.

[Hydrokitty]

I think the bankruptcy was the ship owner's. Vantage leases/charters it for some cruises. Vantage isn't in bankruptcy.

 

I'm the one who started posting about the cancelled cruise on the Great Lakes, which also turned out to include cruises to Cuba and possibly some in Asia. IN NO WAY was Vantage responsible for any of this. Vantage leased the St. Laurent from Haimark to do Great Lakes and Cuba cruises. When Haimark was declared bankrupt and all cruises on its ships cancelled, people who had booked cruises on the St. Laurent, like me and 4774 Papa, received full refunds without any argument. Vantage is a very good company and offers excellent value for the money....after 8 cruises I recommend them without reservation. :D

Edited June 27, 2016 by Hydrokitty

[Gardyloo2]

Thanks for all the clarification. Hydrokitty, your recommendation is really helpful. They have some reasonable single rates for Cuba; I'm going to seriously consider them.

[notamermaid]

Here is an article on the River Voyager:

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Vantage-vessel-brings-Big-Easy-vibe-to-Rhine

 

Very attractive decor in my opinion.

 

notamermaid

[FuelScience]

Here is an article on the River Voyager:

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Vantage-vessel-brings-Big-Easy-vibe-to-Rhine

 

Very attractive decor in my opinion.

 

notamermaid

 

notamermaid,

 

One thing I noted was the jukebox in the lounge. We did a Vantage cruise last year, and that ship also had a jukebox. I think that Vantage has done away with the normal keyboard player in the lounge that most lines have and replaced her/him with the jukebox.

 

FuelScience

[Hydrokitty]

notamermaid,

 

One thing I noted was the jukebox in the lounge. We did a Vantage cruise last year, and that ship also had a jukebox. I think that Vantage has done away with the normal keyboard player in the lounge that most lines have and replaced her/him with the jukebox.

 

FuelScience

 

We found that too...and the jukebox played every Sinatra song ever recorded!!! I can understand why they did away with the keyboard player...but I still missed it. It was nice to sit there with a glass of wine and listen to his music.

[CPT Trips]

We found that too...and the jukebox played every Sinatra song ever recorded!!! I can understand why they did away with the keyboard player...but I still missed it. It was nice to sit there with a glass of wine and listen to his music.

 

Any P-Funk, Joplin(Janis, not Scott) or John (Dr., not Elton although the later is preferable to the playlist I imagine based on the quoted). ;)

[ural guy]

Here is an article on the River Voyager:

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Vantage-vessel-brings-Big-Easy-vibe-to-Rhine

 

Very attractive decor in my opinion.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks for posting this, we'll be boarding in September. I'll share my thoughts when I return.

 

I'll be happy if the juke box has plenty of Billy Holiday, Coltrane, Modern Jazz Quartet, Charles Mingus...we've only been on one cruise, with Viking, and the piano player was quite bad.

 

The article stated the Voyager cost $27 million, does anyone know what a Longship goes for? The shipyard must have that assembly process down to a T.

[pbnjrockette]

We found that too...and the jukebox played every Sinatra song ever recorded!!! I can understand why they did away with the keyboard player...but I still missed it. It was nice to sit there with a glass of wine and listen to his music.

 

 

One of my favorite memories from our cruise through the rivers in Germany on a rainy afternoon was just sitting in the lounge drinking wine and just slowly sailing downstream along with the wonderful keyboard player....

[Hydrokitty]

One of my favorite memories from our cruise through the rivers in Germany on a rainy afternoon was just sitting in the lounge drinking wine and just slowly sailing downstream along with the wonderful keyboard player....

 

Yes, indeedy...it really was relaxing and every once in awhile a couple would get up and dance or a group would start to sing along. It was really quite nice.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Hydrokitty

[kwbts124]

Has anyone done the Hurtigruten Norwegian coast line cruise with Vantage? Or actually, any other cruise ship to share helpful hints. We're booked on the Nordkapp Nov. 1 2016. Would enjoy any info on this trip.

 

Please let us know how your trip goes. I'm also interested in the Hurtigruten Norway cruises either through Hurtigruten or through Vantage. This has been on my bucket list for a while...

 

...in the meantime, we just returned from a Greek Islands Cruise on the Harmony G (a Variety ship but our week was leased by Vantage). Here is my review. :)

[macsails]

:)

Please let us know how your trip goes. I'm also interested in the Hurtigruten Norway cruises either through Hurtigruten or through Vantage. This has been on my bucket list for a while...

 

...in the meantime, we just returned from a Greek Islands Cruise on the Harmony G (a Variety ship but our week was leased by Vantage). Here is my review. :)

I'll be happy to post our review when we return from the Norwegian coast cruise on Hurtigruten. We also did a tour of the Greek Islands. Think it was with a different tour company and the cruise portion was on the world Renaissance - Royal Olympia. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. Lots of of history and beautiful sights too. Happy travels.

[4774Papa]

On our Russian River cruise, our Program Managers gave us lessons in Russian and we learned three famous Russian songs. We had fun singing those songs. In STP when we went to the wonderful Russian Army Show, the soldiers sang those three songs and we sang along with them.

[travellovers2]

Very long thread to read so forgive me if this question has been asked.

 

Is Vantage no longer offering river cruises to China? I checked their website and the Asia page comes up blank and the destinations drop down does not have Asia listed on it.

 

Thank you for your replies. :D

Edited July 12, 2016 by travellovers2

[CPT Trips]

You might want to check their land tours. Several companies incorporate river cruising into their "regular" China tours.

[RDC1]

Very long thread to read so forgive me if this question has been asked.

 

Is Vantage no longer offering river cruises to China? I checked their website and the Asia page comes up blank and the destinations drop down does not have Asia listed on it.

 

Thank you for your replies. :D

 

I ran into the same thing with an South African trip I am looking at. Apparently they have moved some of the trips from vantagetravel.com onto VantageAdventures.com. The Chinese trip is there as well.

[TravelerThom]

...I'm also interested in the Hurtigruten Norway cruises either through Hurtigruten or through Vantage. This has been on my bucket list for a while...

It had been on my list for years, and finally signed up to go with Hurtigruten through Vantage in 2011. We had done a Hurtigruten/Vantage Antarctic trip in 2009, so being members of the Hurtigruten 1893 Club were eligible for a 5% discount if we booked directly with Hurtigruten. We looked at what Vantage included, and discovered it was still cheaper to go through Vantage and forgo the 5% discount. We went, the ship didn't (it had hit a rock and was in emergency drydock "for a few days") and we got a week bus tour of Southern Norway before our flight to catch the southbound leg out of Kirchens. Well it turned into more than a few days, and Vantage flew us home after one week with ALL monies refunded (even parking at the airport). Other than tips, an absolutely free week in Norway. Over half the group returned at the same time in 2012 to take the trip with the same guide (pre-arranged). Needless to say we were more than satisfied.:) And the Norway coast was everything I had hoped for.:):)

 

Thom

[macsails]

It had been on my list for years, and finally signed up to go with Hurtigruten through Vantage in 2011. We had done a Hurtigruten/Vantage Antarctic trip in 2009, so being members of the Hurtigruten 1893 Club were eligible for a 5% discount if we booked directly with Hurtigruten. We looked at what Vantage included, and discovered it was still cheaper to go through Vantage and forgo the 5% discount. We went, the ship didn't (it had hit a rock and was in emergency drydock "for a few days") and we got a week bus tour of Southern Norway before our flight to catch the southbound leg out of Kirchens. Well it turned into more than a few days, and Vantage flew us home after one week with ALL monies refunded (even parking at the airport). Other than tips, an absolutely free week in Norway. Over half the group returned at the same time in 2012 to take the trip with the same guide (pre-arranged). Needless to say we were more than satisfied.:) And the Norway coast was everything I had hoped for.:):)

 

Thom

What a happy ending to your Norway experience. I'm sure we will be equally pleased with both Hurtigruten and Vantage. Hopefully, without the mis-hap with the ship.

[RDC1]

This is a Vantage, but not a river cruise question.

 

Have any of you taken the Vantage South African trip? We are currently looking at the trip in late may of 2017 and would appreciate any feedback anyone might have on the trip.