Vantage River Explorer

[alcorjd]

We are considering a river trip (our first) from Vienna to Bucharest. The itinerary sounds terrific, but the River Explorer doesn't receive very good ratings on cruise critic...if it is the same riverboat. It may be two barges joined together and pushed/pulled. Stateroom descriptions do not sound the same as the Vantage descriptions..

 

Has anyone traveled on the Explorer??

 

Vantage seems to get mixed reviews, since it is associated with GCT, not everyone's favorite! Any thoughts or other recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

 

PS--we are early 60's, love independent travel and crusing, alhtough we usually book independent tours when we cruise. Is this type of river trip for us??

 

Thanks!

 

Joan

[trufflelady]

Hi Joan,

My husband, brother, sister in law and myself were just on the Vantage Riverboat Explorer. It was wonderful. The food was super, rooms were always clean and made up as soon as you left the room. We had a wonderful time with the cruise on the Danube - Holiday Markets. Our program manager was out of this world. She really out did herself and was always extremely helpful. Matter of fact, the entire crew was very helpful.

The only problems that we had was with Vantage in Boston. Several things went wrong, but once we got on the cruise it was great.

However, we were not pleased with the air - Lufthansa. Many problems there. They ran out of food, on our connecting flight, we never got served, and our return flight was extremely close. Matter of fact too close for comfort. Thank goodness my brother was on the pajama express(his bus left at 4 AM for a 6:30 flight) Ours did not leave until 6:45 for a 9:30 flight, which was delayed until 11:10. He was in Frankfurt well before we got there. He had them bring out the fast track to get us onto our connecting flight back to Philadelphia. We just made it.

Other than those problems, our trip went very smoothly.

I did talk to the passengers beside me and they were on GCT, and they did not get the royal service that Vantage gives. They had to pay for many extras on their trip. Ours were always included in our price. We had a wonderful concert in Kursalon in Vienna private for Vantage. Many other things that were just for our tour group. Even our meals were much better than theirs.

Hope this helps you, let me know if you have any questions. I will gladly help.

Sue

[susan33]

My husband and I have booked a Vantage river cruise that starts in Bucharest and ends in Vienna on the River Explorer in April-May 2008. We looked at the pictures in their catalog and the ship appears to be very similar to the ships owned by Grand Circle. We have taken several Grand Circle river cruises and have enjoyed those trips. This is our first Vantage river cruise trip so I'll know more in May after the trip.

 

If you do decide to take any river cruise with any company, be sure to book a room that is NOT near the thrusters. Those rooms are usually a little cheaper but there will be noise when the ship sails in the middle of the night. Also, while looking at the room locations, do not get a room below the kitchen as there will be noise when the staff starts to work early in the morning.

 

My husband and I enjoy the river cruises since we do not have to keep packing and unpacking every few days. We can usually walk right into the towns on our own, which is so much better than being "tendered" from an ocean ship. It is a leisurely way to travel, and we do not come home exhausted from long days on a bus.

 

Happy traveling--Susan :)

[alcorjd]

Thank you, Trufflelady and Susan! If we take this trip, we will do our own air--so hopefully will avoid problems.

 

Joan

[steamboats]

Joan,

 

The River Explorer reviewed on this site is the RiverBarge River Explorer cruising on the Mississippi river system. It´s not the Vantage River Explorer.

 

steamboats

[cruisemom123]

we ar currentlyplanning a cruise in holland in 2009 They do not have ther dates yet but we were just checking to see who has crused with Vantage and any hints with the booking

thanks

 

Linda and TIm

[cp556]

Hi --

 

We've just booked a 9-nt German Christmas Markets riverboat cruise from Nuremburg to Cologne. It's aboard Vantage's River Discovery in late November.

 

I'd appreciate any input, advice, tales, etc. from those who have experienced this cruise. We're veterans of ocean cruises, but the river cruise experience is a new one for us!

 

Thanks in advance ... we can use all the help we can get.

 

Carol in SC

[cruisemom123]

Let me know after you cruise what you thought of the boat.

I have only taken one river boat cruise in china.

The only disapointmetn was the escort we had let the folks that were late at every stop get away with being late and then we had less time at every stop because one couple shopped was always late while the rest of us sat on the bus waiting.

This really spoiled it for a lot of us who were being on time. If this happen on yur tour make sure it is addressed the first day and every one wil be happy. not let it go the the whole trip.

Since the next tour weare planning will haev some free time I am hoping this will not be a problem.

[halbfl2]

We are booked on the Discovery for late August going from Budapest to Bucharest. I will be anxious to read your review of your cruise. Very little written on these boards about Vantage. My guess is that most must be booking through a TA and I don't think Vantage does that. You work directly with them leaving out the middleman. I compared the itinerary and the price with Viking which does a similar trip, and found Vantage to be a better value. Some things were hard to compare as we are doing our own air and not using their transfers as we will do some travel on our own both pre and post cruise.

Our biggest concern is the falling $. That, to us, is way more important than the ship we're on.

[susan33]

I will let you know what I think of the Explorer when we return. I have also noticed that very few people that travel with Vantage and Grand Circle post about their trips. We have taken several Grand Circle river trips and find that most of the passengers are repeat customers and are very happy with Grand Circle. I think when we get home, we just don't get around to posting. I'm guilty of that, too.

 

This is our first river trip with Vantage, and we did take a land trip with them a couple of years ago. On the land tour, we didn't think that Vantages guides and organization were as good as Grand Circle. But this upcoming trip with Vantage does stops at more places than Grand Circle so we decided to try one of Vantage's river cruises. We have had better service dealing with Grand Circle than with Vantage, but maybe we just picked a busy time to try to communicate with them. Vantage booked the wrong dates for our air travel in April :mad: and the rep finally agreed the dates were wrong and it was their mistake and did the necessary changes. I'm glad that I checked the air dates with the trip dates.

 

You mention that your concern is the falling $ rather than the ship. But to me the ship is very important. For example, when we did the Russian River trip with Grand Circle, their ships have been remodeled and the room and bathrooms are up to American standards. We docked next to other ships and got to see the ones that had extremely small room and bathrooms, so we were happy with our choice.

 

I have never used Viking because their prices seem higher, but in Europe their docking spots are in the best places closes to town. After spending several hours walking on cobblestones having your ship in the closes position could be a consideration in selecting a trip.

 

After all of the above, I'm really looking forward to our river cruise. :) :) :)

[fromday2]

We were on the Discovery last year and the boat was new in 2007 so it would be different than the older boats. I would not know how they compare but the Discovery was very nice, very clean and constantly maintained. It is hard to think of anything to complain about. I can't think of any thing to complain about regarding the crew, the boat or the tour guides. Or for that matter the Boston home office.

 

On second though, the coffee in the morning is european style and quite strong. (The little automatic coffee makers in the lounge and library make very good coffee). The weather could have been better one morning when there was some fog?

 

Al

[cp556]

We were on the Discovery last year and the boat was new in 2007 so it would be different than the older boats. I would not know how they compare but the Discovery was very nice, very clean and constantly maintained. It is hard to think of anything to complain about. I can't think of any thing to complain about regarding the crew, the boat or the tour guides. Or for that matter the Boston home office.

 

On second though, the coffee in the morning is european style and quite strong. (The little automatic coffee makers in the lounge and library make very good coffee). The weather could have been better one morning when there was some fog?

 

Al

 

 

That is great to hear! It's our first riverboat cruise and we're unsure of all the details.

 

Re dining: They tell me it's one seating. Do you sit with the same people, or can you vary with whom you dine?

 

Does Discovery have hairdryers in the cabins? (I'm watching that $25 cost to check a second bag....lol).

 

Any other insiders advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[fromday2]

It is one seating, you can sit with who ever you wish. They provide hair dryers in the cabins.

 

Al

[Valdosta traveler]

My wife and I are booked on the Vantage "River Expolrer" on April 5th 2008, from Vienna to Bucharest. We have been on several ocean Cruises: However this will be our first river cruise, any helpful tips (guidance) would be appreicated.

 

Thanks, Ed:)