Vantage Deluxe World Travel Reviews

Vantage never notified me and the rude man lied to me. Vantage refused to give me a refund. Vantage said that the trip had been delayed only, for over a year, and they could do that because that was a “reasonable modification” of the trip. My health declined during the next year, and I realized that I would not be able to fully participate in the trip activities. I then asked for a partial refund to lower my cost to the deeply discounted price new passengers were paying. That would make up, in part, for my new health limitations. They refused. I finally had to cancel the trip for health reasons. I was approved for a full cash refund almost 5 months ago. They’ve had my money for two years!! THEY HAVEN’T PAID A PENNY TO ME.!!! They can’t even give me an estimate of when I can expect the money. I just hope I get it before they file bankruptcy!!

Original Review: Nov. 14, 2022

This is the most frustrating company I've ever worked with. I will say that we had a cruise with them in 2016 to Croatia that went wonderfully. I should also say that it was a replacement for a Greece trip that didn't sail because 'the ship wasn't ready.' Since then, I've had nothing but trouble. Two additional Greece trips were 'postponed' - I use that word because if they'd been 'canceled,' I'd have my money back. ('Cancel' is a word that Vantage sedulously avoids.) In the second of these Greece cruises, we weren't even notified it wouldn't happen. I had checked on our flight with the airline only to find I no longer had a reservation. The air department of Vantage confirmed that the cruise had been aborted.

Vantage denied that no notice had been given, saying there were e-mails sent, but, oddly, no one in our group of six got the alleged e-mail. I've since tried to use the money they've locked up by setting up another trip, but getting it arranged according to the specifics I requested (including not going over the amount we had on the books with them) only to have it come back with a bill for an additional $4,800. I might be able to work around this if I could get someone on the phone, but they insist you use the Chat. I did. I was told that the representative didn't work with the flight department and couldn't help me. This wasn't the first run-around I've had with them - an earlier attempt to schedule a trip by phone directed me to use e-mail. I did and that's when I got the bill for additional $4,800.

Were I unaccustomed to dealing with travel companies, I might think this is typical - it is NOT. We have our eighth trip with Viking coming up soon and 1) can always talk to a representative, 2) have always been treated fairly and recompensed when an experience wasn't a good one (due to a Covid outbreak and an interrupted trip), 3) treated respectfully and above board, and 4) constantly kept informed about our upcoming trip and any requirements we should note. If you're considering using Vantage, I suggest you look for alternative companies to serve you. "Serve" is not a term with which Vantage is familiar.

The "pick up" shuttle we paid a lot extra for was very late as well. Then several times there were no buses at the locations we had planned to stop at. They didn't even know the causeway between Nova Scotia and Cape Bretton was closed so we missed a visit to two places we would have seen because we had to go ALL the way around the island to continue our trip in rough seas! There were so many changes and substitutes made without our consent it got to be a joke amongst the passengers when we were told with actual booing to the coordinators! NEVER again for these gangsters!!

The builder of the vessel, Sunstone Ships, of Miami, Florida was in dire financial trouble. In the summer of 2021, Mr. Niels-Erik Lund, Chairman of Sunstone stated, "2020 became the worst financial year in the combined Sunstone/ISP's 31-year history..." Mr. Lund further remarked, "We expect that 2021 will be as bad as 2020..." Yes, Vantage Travel "charters" its expeditionary ships (M/S Ocean Explorer & M/S Ocean Odyssey) from Sunstone Ships.

In order to get the best price on the expected voyage, on April 15, 2021, my wife and I paid Vantage $17,398.00 for the October 2022 cruise. That was a HUGE mistake. The Ocean Odyssey was being built for Sunstone Ships by China Merchants Heavy Industry of Jiangsu, China. On May 12, 2022, China Merchants Heavy Industry "walked out of the contract" to build the Ocean Odyssey according to Mr. Lund. Calls and emails to Sunstone Ships regarding the status of the Ocean Odyssey are referred to Vantage Travel.

On September 7, 2022, a senior representative for the designers of the Ocean Odyssey in Norway stated that the ship was not yet completed, but that the "latest rumors from China is that the ship will be delivered by end of September." If the "rumor" is true, that would leave 16 days for the ship to transit the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, transit the Suez Canal, reach Athens, undergo "sea trials," staff, and provision the vessel before departure on October 18th. THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE. Yet, we hear NOTHING from Vantage. Vantage Travel knew or should have known that the ship would NEVER make its scheduled cruises in August and October of 2022.

We have learned that on August 18, 2022, THE DAY OF DEPARTURE for the scheduled August cruise on the Ocean Odyssey, Vantage Deluxe World Travel announced to its customers without prior warning that, "Despite our very best efforts, the m/s Ocean Odyssey will need more time to come into service" and the cruise was cancelled while people were driving to the airport! Vantage went on to say, "Passengers affected by this delay will be automatically moved to the next available itinerary. Please visit "My Portfolio" for the latest trip updates."

This is a sham! If you go to the Vantage website, you will see that all the cruises for the Ocean Odyssey are "SOLD OUT" through 2024! For those of us scheduled to depart on the October 16, 2022, "Pearls of Greece..." cruise, the lack of communications from Vantage is staggering. No one answers the phone. When you finally reach someone, they indicate they will "send a message to management" and you never hear another word. Vantage is not refunding fairs as promised (read other Consumer Affairs reviews), but they are still pushing "room upgrades" for a cruise they KNOW isn't going to occur.

FINAL STRAW: On Monday, September 12, 2022, all of my travel companions who booked airfare through Vantage were notified by the airlines that their bookings had been cancelled by VANTAGE, and the funds were returned to VANTAGE, yet, still no word from Vantage Travel itself. FYI, as of the date of this review, 13 SEP 2022, the ship's AIS "Automated Identification System" still shows the vessel parked dockside at the builder's yard in China. It is reasonable to presume that Vantage collects close to $1,440,000 per sailing in cruise charges and airfare. Where is the money going? When the trips are cancelled, it's not going back to the travelers. This is a fraud.

I cancelled. They sent me vouchers for $3777.to be used within 15 months from the date the trip was cancelled. This amount does not include insurance or my voucher from the previous cancelled trip. I am 83 years old and travel is more difficult than it was two years ago. I cannot use the vouchers so am out $7389. I would even be happy with a portion of this amount but Vantage doesn't seem to care. I was booked during that time with two other travel companies and was refunded promptly. If anyone does decide to travel with Vantage, my advice to them would be to never pay the full amount until the last day. They are not very nice people in the customer care department and have long holds, and cut offs when you attempt to call them. There are more reputable Travel Companies. Try them first.

Several advertised (and included) land excursions were canceled. For example, in Gaspe, we didn’t drive along the coast, see the GeoPark, enjoy the multimedia adventure, or explore Percé. We didn’t go to the Havre St. Pancrace lookout, Glacier Center, or Glacier Garden. Others weren't canceled, but they were closed. So, we were told to "look through the windows!" One venue had been closed for two years! Two days we had land tours in school buses, because they forgot to book the tour buses in time. The heater in our school bus couldn't operate at the same time as microphone, so the windows fogged over! While Vantage materials advertised that there would be 226 or fewer people on any tour, every tour we took had 35 or more people on it. Plus, while there were QuietVox receivers in our cabin, the tours never used them. So, we could seldom hear the guides.

One port stop (Halifax) was shortened by more than an hour because they couldn't get the disembarkation stairs lined up. Another (Lunenberg) was shortened by 2 hours when they ordered the wrong size tender boats. Another stop (Pictou) was eliminated entirely. The trip advertised the pool, but it was empty. The hot tubs were usually closed and sometimes stone cold. (Someone forgot to turn on the heater.) Internet was understandably spotty, but there was also no TV reception, and no daily news.

The single entertainer was mediocre, at best. The one local group was good…but the tour director announced the wrong time, and most passengers were still in port during the entertainment. All in all, we spent more than $14,000 on a trip that was a total disaster. When asked about the best part of the trip, we both said, “when it was over!” We wrote Vantage a detailed 5-page letter explaining all the issues and asking for a partial refund. After seven weeks, we got the following email:

“Thank you for taking the time to write to us regarding your recent Canada’s Spring Awakening Journey. We appreciate the time you spent to share your thoughts and feedback with us. It is feedback such as yours that provides the building blocks towards successful tour programs and exceptional customer experiences.

We sincerely apologize for the aspects of your tour that did not meet your expectations. Vantage prides ourselves on providing an excellent customer touring experience. We appreciate you providing your detailed feedback which has been shared with our Operations Team so that we may improve these areas that fell below your level of expectation. Again, thank you for contacting Vantage Deluxe World Travel.” Don't book this trip through Vantage!

Original Review: We booked a cruise in January 2021 and paid in cash upfront. The cruise was for May 2022. Unfortunately we had to cancel due to family matters, and we did so well within the guidelines of our contract. Now, six months after cancellation, they refuse to refund that large sum of money, although they have acknowledged in writing that they owe it to us. Further, they refuse to tell us when they will pay us back. A shoddy organization with no intention of living up to their promises.

On 12/05/21, I paid you in full for my tour, by giving you access to my account for a direct withdrawal. Big mistake! In addition, I did pay for Travel Protection…. Which reads ”with the Vantage 100%Travel Protection Plan, you can cancel your trip for any reason right up until you depart and still retain full value. After you pay, you receive this notice, Travel Protection fees are not refundable.” I have not seen one review which was above 1 star. I personally would give them less.

This material fact was not disclosed to us at the time of booking. The company has declared the trip "postponed" and under their terms and conditions, they do not issue refunds for "postponements". (There seems to be some discussion on the www that denying refunds under these circumstances is not legal in Massachusetts, their home state.)

Regardless, this failure to disclose is fraud in the inducement as we booked the tour at the last minute deal based the price and time frame. The company cannot hide behind the terms of their "contract" when they knew at the time of the booking that they could not fulfill their terms of the bargain. We never had a legal, binding agreement. I pointed out the fallacy of their ways, but their staff cling to the notion that our money is now their money. This is a corrupt business and should be put out of business. Others will continue to be defrauded out of millions of dollars until they are stopped. I have written complaints to the Massachusetts attorney general's office and my home state's. I hope they do something sooner rather than later.

Vantage was of no help in every step along the way in the preparation for this trip. There were forms to fill out, covid testing to be done 72 hours before the trip and no one could help facilitate any of this. They NEVER answer their phone. Their "chat" line on the customer website site goes unanswered. We heard that this MUST be done to go and that MUST be done 72 hours before the flight to board. But no one from Vantage was helpful in facilitating and of the MUSTS.

To send a group of most elderly people to countries where covid is at a level 4 with no option for a cancelation is unscrupulous. From the reviews we have read, this company is in a dire financial situation and because of this has no regard for the customers they have duped. We made the decision to not go on the trip. We will try to recoup some of our money or take a voucher for another trip but don't hold out hope for either. However, we felt our money was wasted if we went or if we didn't so we opted to not go and save ourselves the agony of traveling in lock downed countries, not seeing the sites we had planned to see and generally being masked up at every turn. Not our idea of a fun time.

On February 5, 2020, Henry ** sent a letter “keeping you in our thoughts and wishes you a full and speedy recovery”. March 11, 2020, WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic, which we are sure Vantage knew about months before and we know the pandemic has been devastating for the travel industry. That being acknowledged, we still awaited our refund. May 8, 2020, I spoke with Patrick, Concierge, who confirmed the amount of our refund, said “refunds are processed by the date submitted… Haven’t yet processed cancellations dated February 4, 2020… No estimate of when it would be processed”.

On August 14, 2020, Vantage Customer Care replied to my email inquiry, “I see that your refund was initiated on 2/4/20.” Then stated, “staff limited... vendors backed up… working diligently…just going to take longer than normal.” On June 15, 2021, I emailed Vantage at Customercare@vantagetravel.com providing our Account #, Invoice/Reservation #, PO Code, requesting an update on when our refund could be expected. We did not receive a response by email, phone or mail which is exceedingly disappointing and very poor customer service!

Almost daily we receive a large volume of mailings and emails with travel itinerary information and continue today. Regrettably, serious ongoing medical problems prevent us from traveling now and making plans far out in the future. Now, over two (2) years after paying in full for our reservation and 19 months after cancelling, we have certainly not forgotten the Vantage promise of our confirmed refund and would appreciate the courtesy of communication informing us when we can expect our refund.

We have emailed Vantage several times to cancel the 10/12/2021 trip. We did not ask for it or sign up for it. Vantage booked a cabin (our original trip had a suite). The trip does not have the events or tours offered for the original trip, nor does it have the free after-trip extension to Versailles. The ship (which Vantage does not own) does not have the features of the original ship (e.g. free laundry services, complimentary mini bar, etc.). The value of this trip is much less than what we paid for the 2020 trip. We have emailed Vantage at least 6 times asking them to cancel. Their response is that we have to talk to customer service. Several emails said that we would be contacted by customer service (we have not!!). Multiple attempts by us to call all end up with our being on hold, without getting through.

Today, their email said, in part; "Thank you for your email. You currently have an active reservation. Please understand that we are unable to begin any cancellation procedures via our email or chat portals. We require our guests to call us directly to initiate." Vantage will not address that we did not initiate the reservation. Per MA consumer law, Vantage is required to issue a refund for the 9/2020 trip they cancelled. Vantage refuses to do so. Today, I would give Vantage 0 stars, but the lowest rating I can give is 1 star. Shame on Vantage!!!

Original Review: After 5 (mostly) good trips with Vantage, I had a trip booked in spring 2020. Vantage canceled and rescheduled for a date I could not use due to previous obligations. I called and asked for a refund (which was promised in writing (in a letter from the President and CEO). The rep said refunds "were not an option". This was repeated on further calls. Their explanation was that, in the small print, they reserved to change terms when and however they want, the letter notwithstanding. With no other options, I rescheduled the trip for 2022, hoping they would still be in business. Then, they forgot to include the almost $1000 I had prepaid for excursions in the rebooking - another needless wrinkle I now have to fight... Try Viking, etc for more reliable trips and better policies.