Vantage Travel

[twototravel]

@Austinite by birth When are you booked on the Odyssey? Are you saying it's not operational yet? I'm booked on it for Feb 2023 and have given Vantage a lot of money!

[Austinite by birth]

6 hours ago, twototravel said:

@Austinite by birth When are you booked on the Odyssey? Are you saying it's not operational yet? I'm booked for Feb 2023 and have given Vantage a lot of money!

I am SURE  it will be ready by February!  We are booked to travel on August 22, 2022!  I have been looking at a website: cruisemapper.com.  and for months it said that the ship was in the dockyard and the location was reported "45 minutes ago" , "6 minutes ago",  " 1 hour ago".....etc.  NOW it says that the location (same dockyard outside of Shanghai) was reported "5 days ago".  I am hoping (🤞) that means that it is on it's way to Copenhagen.  When I speak to Vantage they say the cruise is on!!!!!  Again- fingers crossed!  Have you traveled with Vantage before??  I know they have had a lot of difficulties since the pandemic, but we LOVE Vantage and have had nothing but good trips with them.  Ever think of going to Egypt???  If you do, go with Vantage, they do an excellent job with that trip!!

[twototravel]

@Austinite by birth I was able to chat with Vantage earlier today and they did tell me, although slightly delayed, the Odyssey was currently on its way to Europe! I also confirmed that our cruise in Feb is still a go but as of now, has low numbers booked. The route is Singapore to Bali and then reverse. Hopefully if one doesn't fill up, they can consolidate us all on the other route. We have signed up for the Pre trip to Ubud, then Bali to Singapore on the ship. This will be our third Vantage trip. First was a cruise/tour to Burma about 6 years ago, then South Africa just last month. I hope you have found under the Ways to Save menu the cruise deals that they offer if you can travel at short notice. Some of them have been amazing! 

[deec]

We did the Irrawaddy River with Vantage and it was an amazing adventure.  We know how lucky we were to be able to experience the wonderful country and its people before it became unsafe for tourism.

 

[Austinite by birth]

On 7/11/2022 at 12:18 PM, twototravel said:

@Austinite by birth I was able to chat with Vantage earlier today and they did tell me, although slightly delayed, the Odyssey was currently on its way to Europe! I also confirmed that our cruise in Feb is still a go but as of now, has low numbers booked. The route is Singapore to Bali and then reverse. Hopefully if one doesn't fill up, they can consolidate us all on the other route. We have signed up for the Pre trip to Ubud, then Bali to Singapore on the ship. This will be our third Vantage trip. First was a cruise/tour to Burma about 6 years ago, then South Africa just last month. I hope you have found under the Ways to Save menu the cruise deals that they offer if you can travel at short notice. Some of them have been amazing! 

Well all looks good on our trip 8/22!  yea!!!  The Ocean Odyssey is moving toward Copenhagen!  We have our travel documents in our Portfolio!  We booked our own flights and so far they haven't changed.  Glad to be flying into LHR directly from AUS (British airways), then into Copenhagen.  No flights thru Amsterdam which looks like sh*tshow!  I am aware that since this is the first sailing, there will likely be problems, but we will face that when it comes.  So, looking forward to going!!  Wish us luck!

[Billybob79]

We are booked on the October 7, 2022 cruise from Boston to Montreal and expect to be a go as the Ocean Odyssey is doing its scheduled itineraries. The issue is how well the ship, crew and leaders are doing. A review on Cruise Critic (not this thread) about the Montreal to Boston cruise in April 2022 was devastating bad. Excursions were skipped, the tour leaders were clueless, etc. The ship itself seems to be very good. I certainly hope that between April and October, Vantage will have its act together. This will be our 13th Vantage trip and all the others have been either very good or outstanding.We are also booked on the Egypt trip in December on the Nebu and would like feedback from anyone who has taken that trip on the Nebu.

[twototravel]

@Austinite by birth I know your trip will be fantastic! Please post a review upon your return. Good luck with your flights. LHR is one of the airports that is having all the issues. Hopefully the issues will improve by your travel date. We are on a trip to Copenhagen and other countries a few days after you. We have a direct flight from NYC to Copenhagen with no stops in European hubs, thank goodness.

 

P.S. We are booked in cabin 417 for our Odyssey trip in Feb. 

[Austinite by birth]

21 hours ago, Billybob79 said:

We are booked on the October 7, 2022 cruise from Boston to Montreal and expect to be a go as the Ocean Odyssey is doing its scheduled itineraries. The issue is how well the ship, crew and leaders are doing. A review on Cruise Critic (not this thread) about the Montreal to Boston cruise in April 2022 was devastating bad. Excursions were skipped, the tour leaders were clueless, etc. The ship itself seems to be very good. I certainly hope that between April and October, Vantage will have its act together. This will be our 13th Vantage trip and all the others have been either very good or outstanding.We are also booked on the Egypt trip in December on the Nebu and would like feedback from anyone who has taken that trip on the Nebu.

Did this November 2021.  It was WONDERFUL!!  We were in there 21 years ago... lots have changed, but a LOT is the same--since most interesting things are 4000 years ago!!  We went 1 day early, hired a private guide because we wanted to see more of Islamic Cairo and the bazaar-- which are NOT included on your Vantage tour.  Our guide was Mohamed Anwar Eissa.... he was FANTASTIC!!  Hopefully the Grand Egyptian Museum will be complete and open when you go.  You will be amazed by EVERYTHING you see.  We also had the ship make us reservations at the Old Cataract Hotel (where Death on the Nile was written) for high tea.  You might be interested in doing that.  If you want to contact me about directly, feel free: kitmrandall@gmail.com.

[Austinite by birth]

7 hours ago, twototravel said:

@Austinite by birth I know your trip will be fantastic! Please post a review upon your return. Good luck with your flights. LHR is one of the airports that is having all the issues. Hopefully the issues will improve by your travel date. We are on a trip to Copenhagen and other countries a few days after you. We have a direct flight from NYC to Copenhagen with no stops in European hubs, thank goodness.

 

P.S. We are booked in cabin 417 for our Odyssey trip in Feb. 

We are in cabin 624... will let you know how it goes

[twototravel]

@Austinite by birth I hope all your details are made as your trip should start in just a few days. Hoping you have a wonderful time and all is well with the new ship. 

@Billybob79 I hope your trip as well in Oct goes well. 

Looking forward to hearing from both of you about your travels on this new ship.

[Austinite by birth]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:12 AM, twototravel said:

@Austinite by birth I hope all your details are made as your trip should start in just a few days. Hoping you have a wonderful time and all is well with the new ship. 

@Billybob79 I hope your trip as well in Oct goes well. 

Looking forward to hearing from both of you about your travels on this new ship.

I guess you missed it!  Our cruise was cancelled/postponed.  We were suppose to be going Copenhagen-Edinburgh Aug 23-Sept 6..... the rebooked us for Copenhagen to London June ? 2023.... but we declined that trip.  We have been to all of those places and were looking for more adventure.  They moved us to "Passage to the Amazon:Nassau to Manaus"  Sept 18 2023-Oct 12 2023.  Looks great and it should be lots of adventure.  I feel for Vantage.... covid has been awful for them, between cancelled sailings to dealing with trying to get a new ship built in China.... what a nightmare!!  

So instead of just staying at home and crying, we kept our flights to and from Europe, found another cruise (MSC for a week, Copenhagen to Copenhagen), and will fill the rest of our trip on our own in Copenhagen and Edinburgh.  Not what I had planned, but it will still be an adventure!!  Good luck to everyone on all their future voyages!!

[deec]

Great attitude!

 

[onespots]

To Billybob 79

We are leaving Monday October 17 2022 on this trip. Doing the regular trip with Vantage that includes 7 days on the Nebu. We will do the post excursion to Jordan for 5 days. Will give you a full report upon our return. Perhaps you could me your email address.

 

Happy Travels, John (onespots )

sfaigle@aol.com

[Austinite by birth]

On 10/13/2022 at 4:52 PM, onespots said:

To Billybob 79

We are leaving Monday October 17 2022 on this trip. Doing the regular trip with Vantage that includes 7 days on the Nebu. We will do the post excursion to Jordan for 5 days. Will give you a full report upon our return. Perhaps you could me your email address.

 

Happy Travels, John (onespots )

sfaigle@aol.com

kitmrandall@gmail.com...... would love to tell you what a wonderful trip you will have.

[Splinter]

I am so angry with Vantage! Was supposed to take the Vantage Ocean Explorer "Passage to the Amazon" cruise from Nassau to Manaus, Brazil on November 7 this year. Just 2 days ago I went to the website and saw the alert that the itinerary was changed. Never got an e-mail or call from them. I signed up for this expensive cruise specifically to see the Amazon, and now they are ending the cruise in Belem (mouth of the Amazon), and also skipping Devil's Island. Those were the two places that attracted me to the cruise a year ago. I managed to get on the on-line chat (you can never get anyone by phone at Vantage) and found that the post-cruise extension in Manaus I had paid for also was cancelled. No notice by e-mail or phone of this either, although the extension still shows up on my itinerary. Cannot access my fully paid invoice at all. If they try to give me a credit I will fight them...I want a refund for at least the extension in cash as I never plan to travel with Vantage again. 

[deec]

Thanks for confirming that this is NOT the time to think about taking a Vantage cruise on their Expediation ships if you want to go on the itinerary you choose no some random choice of theirs.  However, IMO if you really want to experience the Amazon find a cruise in Peru not from Brazil.

 

[LAFUNCruiser]

Update: They moved us to the end of Nov. Dubai cruise and tried to get us to give them more money. This is not exactly what we signed up for- Athens in November to dodging pirates in the Arabian Sea in Dec? Not to mention the impossible changes to my work schedule. But none of that matters because it is all a scam anyway. They  might as well have told us we are sailing to the moon.
They know it is not sailing. It is still in China and cannot make it to Dubai on time. It is interesting how the boat is now the “MS” Ocean Odyssey with no reviews on this site. My yelp review was reported and removed. They are -once again-still selling upgrades and tickets for a cruise that does not exist. They took my senior mother’s 26k including $3200 for a bogus insurance policy for a Nov5 cruise that did not exist and they knew it.
We just booked this a few weeks ago. This was not a credit or a rollover. It was a brand new booking. We only found out it didn’t exist through blind luck when we called the airline to change our seat. The airline did not know what we were talking about. Then my Mom waited on hold for four hours just to be lied to by Vantage.  They tried to sell her a more expensive trip in 2024. I called and waited on hold for two hours and let Mom talk. Same story- send more money. When they heard me on the line- they changed their tune. There was no cruise, they will not refund, get a lawyer.  I asked about any other cruise in 2022 and she said there was nothing. She also said the April 2023 Athens cruise was booked. (she had previously told me there was no April cruise but she had mentioned it to my Mom so now it was booked?) Two days later we were shifted to the 2022 Dubai cruise that miraculously appeared in our MYVantage site and on their website.  They knowingly stole her money and will not give it back. They are still saying the Nov 30th  Dubai will sail but  you can check berths in the ports and they are not reserved so they will have nowhere to dock. No airline tickets have been issued and the boat is 6627 NM away from Dubai and there is no way it will make it. Total scam- we do have two policies- Allianz and Vantage. Allianz ($400) is basically medical so we can’t get our money back but The Vantage policy ($2800) is another scam. They lie when you call them . Despicable. I attached the screenshot of their website advertising the cruise AFTER they told us it was cancelled. SCAM! Takes screenshots of their site- they change it often to match their lies. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

SunStone Takes Delivery of Ocean Odyssey

[Austinite by birth]

On 10/26/2022 at 12:29 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

SunStone Takes Delivery of Ocean Odyssey

HALLELUJAH!!!  Finally!!  Hope it all goes well for the Ocean Odyssey and Vantage!!