Report on Eastern Europe cruise with Vantage

[halbfl2]

We have just returned from an 11 night river cruise on the River Discovery operated by Vantage. Yes, this is the ship everyone is talking about. Vantage has sold it and the rumor on the ship was that their other ships were also sold, but leased back on a 10-yr lease. The ship was everything we expected with most of the rooms having the French balcony.They could use more shade on the sun deck and a passenger laundry, but the staff was accommodating and very friendly, so no real complaints.

 

For those that are on these boards asking about medical care on the river ships, I will tell you that Vantage had a Dr. on board for the Budapest to Bucharest portion of the itinerary. The ship had started in Amsterdam, and there was no Dr. until they reached Budapest. He came to your room as he had no infirmary. The visit was $50 cash including medication.

 

We were very surprised at the demographics of the passengers. I think there was one woman under 60, and the rest of the passengers had to have an average age of 80. We are young 60's so found the pace extremely slow with not nearly enough to do. The dress during the day was very casual. Also, the dinner dress was a little too casual--with shorts and jeans at dinner. On the two dressier evenings, we were surprised at the number of jackets on the men (could have been the age factor) as these boards had led us to believe that they would be in the minority.

 

The food, as has been discussed previously here, was plentiful, but definitely more of a European menu than American (even thought the passengers were exclusively American and Canadian.) The breakfasts were buffets with a chef doing eggs and omelets. At lunch there was usually one soup and 2 or 3 menu choices plus a salad bar and numerous additions a la buffet. Hamburgers were always available. At dinner, there were only one or two entree choices + a vegetarian choice and dessert choices. The rest of the dinner menu had no options. There way always the option of steak, chicken or salmon. Wine was served on the formal nights and there were at least 3 cocktail parties (free drinks and appetizers) during the 11 nights. On the days that the ship sailed during the afternoon, they had food on the sun deck. Ice cream cones one day and hamburgers and hot dogs (go figure) another day.

 

As to the itinerary, were were surprised at how little development there is along the Danube. After talking with several of the passengers who were on the ship for the entire voyage from Amsterdam to Bucharest, we determined that the passengers were in general younger on the first half and that there was much more to see and do on that part of the trip, also.

 

In general, I'd have to say that we won't be rushing to do another river cruise. We did an extension in Romania when the cruise was over, and went with a private guide to Brasov for two days. If any one wants references to set up your own as such, contact me at jchalbach@yahoo.com and I will send you the information. We covered in 2 days what the Vantage tour extension was covering in four. The one complaint that we heard more than once was the docking situation with river vessels. Apparently it's a common complaint because the program mgrs. mentioned that it's a "rule of the river" and they have no control over it.

[orchestrapal]

Thank you for your comprehensive report on your voyage. We are booked on Scenic's 23 day Amsterdam to Bucharest and are worried about lack of space an boring scenery from BudaPest to the Black Sea.

Canceling has been on our minds as we think we are not river cruise types. You have made the choice easy. We cancel tomorrow. Thank you.:)

[SuJaDon]

What a pity that you are cancelling - you are missing out on a wonderful experience. We have just returned from a 21 day river cruise from Amsterdam to Rousse and we found everyday fascinating. We probably found the part from Budapest to Rousse to be more interesting than the first part of the trip. Why???? Because we visited places like Vukovar in Croatia, we saw the war damage that occurred here just 10 years ago, (the buildings with bullet holes in them everywhere), we listened to a young tour guide tell us what it was like living in Vukovar back then and how his parents took him away to Germany for 6 years until it had finished. Then we visited Novi Sad in Serbia. We saw where NATO bombed the fuel tanks there and also the bridges. That night a Serbian came on board and talked to us on Serbia and the Balkans. Once again fascinating to listen to and it really made you thankful that you lived in a peaceful part of the world. The next day we visited Belgrade and once again did a city tour where we saw the buildings that NATO bombed in 1999. Fascinating. The day we sailed through the "Iron Gates" was spectacular scenery and everyone (except the sickies) sat up on the top deck and watched "the world pass by". We are both 60 and found that some of the other passengers were younger, some were a few years older and some were quite a few years older. Who cares on the age.....most people who go on holidays are fit, interesting to chat with and fun loving....and hopefully one day I will be still fit enough to go on holidays and may be the oldest on board. :rolleyes: There were bikes on board and I know that at least on one day on this part of the river people rode them around the town.

Sue

[halbfl2]

Sorry, I did not mean to present the idea that the cruise wasn't interesting as far as the cities and talks we rec'd. The only place we felt that wasn't worth the stop was Ruse. We had onboard talks from locals and entertainment, etc., and learned a great deal about how they are trying to move forward w/tourism and their entrance into the EU, etc. I'm just giving our feelings which were that the pace was a bit slow for us.

[orchestrapal]

Sue, for us it is not the stops and the history that bother us. It is however the short time in ports,small cabins, limited food choices and set meal times and all too close environment with 120 people. The ships of Oceania and Azamara and Regent seem to be the perfect choices for us so we'll stick with them as far as cruising is concerned. As for the land portions we always enjoy driving and putting down roots for a week somewhere and exploring the area in depth. We do this for a month each year and it works for us. However, thanks for your comments.:)

[halbfl2]

Thank you for your comprehensive report on your voyage. We are booked on Scenic's 23 day Amsterdam to Bucharest and are worried about lack of space an boring scenery from BudaPest to the Black Sea.

Canceling has been on our minds as we think we are not river cruise types. You have made the choice easy. We cancel tomorrow. Thank you.:)

I'm glad to know that you had misgivings prior to my report as long as you want to cancel. We know now that we just aren't cut out for that kind of group travel. Getting on a coach everyday and watching the time for everything you do. When we do a large ship cruise, we rarely sign up for any of the ship's excursions and just get off the ship and do our own thing, or make arrangements ahead of time for a private tour. We learned a lot about eastern Europe and their history and did enjoy that. However, these cruises are rather expensive and because of the smallness you're forced to be around the same people (that you may not care for) all the time. The excursion groups were divided into four, so that was always the same group of 40-45 people every day. It was a good way to see that part of Europe, however.

[orchestrapal]

Thanks again. We totally agree with you concerning all the negative aspects of your trip. The on and off the bus and the limited people contact or over contact are most unappealing. We will stick to doing our own thing on land or taking sea voyages.:D