Vantage Deluxe World Travel Reviews
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About Vantage Deluxe World Travel
Vantage Deluxe World Travel provides European river cruises and travel adventures in more than 80 countries across all seven continents. The company offers solo and group trips that take travelers to a variety of worldwide destinations. It also handles meals, itineraries and airline and hotel bookings.
- Operates all over the world
- Solo and group adventures available
- Website offers ways to save money
- Can be expensive
- Reports of long waits for refunds
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Reviews
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Reviewed March 14, 2016
We’ve had quite a number of great trips with Vantage. The President’s Trip one year was fantastic. We’ve done two African trips, the Best of Africa and the Heart of Africa. The tour guides and directors were fantastic and the customer service reps were helpful. Everyone we’ve had has been great and I’m sure we will use them again for our next trip.
Reviewed March 13, 2016
We had a great time on our trip through Vantage Deluxe World Travel. I liked the venue. It was smaller than what I’m used to. I’ve been up to a lot of cruises but never on a river cruise, so I appreciated that. The tour guides and the tour directors were both very good and a lot of personnel have been knowledgeable, helping us understand a lot more than we thought we knew. I had no issues with their team. I would plan on using Vantage at some point in the future.
Reviewed March 13, 2016
I went to Vietnam with Vantage and we had two guys from Vietnam and they have been good to me and were careful. Then I had a call yesterday from a sales rep about a trip and he was pushy and wanted my down payment. I told him I still have to check with another person I'm going with. I go into different companies and it depends what time of the year it is and where I'm planning on going. And I look at all the options and I make a decision.
Reviewed March 12, 2016
I wrote in about our experience and I got an initial response which I didn't really find very helpful, and I got no secondary response. My complaint was that we ended up going to Egypt and the Greek islands back in November. We were staying over afterward at someone's place, and we were not given travel back to the airport; $50 charge is what it was. So, we were on our own to get back to the airport. Fortunately, I had traveled with the fella who works with our tour guide in Athens, so I had somebody I could call and get there. They said it's because we did not leave when the extended group left, and we left the day after that. I said that was correct, but there were others in our party who arrived before the trip and they were not part of an extension at all, and that's the reason for my request.
I was told by the person who was handling this in Egypt that I should make a request, so I did. I found that a very interesting advertisement for Vantage Deluxe. We've done six trips with them, and for $50 that's what they do. Vantage has to stand behind their various cruises and their people. They don't care because I've done the trip and they have my money. I won't give them a very high ranking in terms of a response. I was dissatisfied with that part of the experience, but the trip itself was wonderful.
Reviewed March 12, 2016
We travel with a group and our leader recommended Vantage Deluxe. Our experience with them has been good. The tour guides and directors were top notch and we've never had a problem with the customer service reps who have always been extremely helpful. If we travel again, we will probably go with them.
Reviewed March 11, 2016
We've done a lot of travels with Vantage Deluxe including the French River Cruise and last fall, we did the Mekong Delta in Southeast Asia. We had an exceptional guide in Cambodia. My husband has a little trouble walking, and he made sure that my husband got to do everything regardless of whether he thought he could or couldn't. The only hang-up we had with the Southeast Asia trip was the air scheduling.
We flew from here to L.A. and had a six-hour wait in L.A. We were to fly to Hong Kong and then on to Hanoi. We saw planes leaving for Hong Kong earlier than ours did and ours went so late that we missed the flight to Hanoi, and then they couldn't get us on the next one. So in the end, we spent all day in the airport, finally flew to Bangkok and then over to Hanoi. We were 52 hours without getting anywhere and it was not good. We've been using Vantage Deluxefor years and we're getting older so we have to look for future trips with them that we can handle. We would recommend them. Their sales and customer service team have been fine. Everything has gone smoothly.
Reviewed March 11, 2016
We've traveled with Vantage Deluxe quite a bit and we've enjoyed every trip. The directors and tour guides generally have been extremely excellent people. They were easy to get along with, informative, knowledgeable and great personalities. Also, my interactions with their customer service teams all went very smooth. I’ve done most of it person-to-person by phone, some online, and that's an easy thing to do. We’re again looking to go somewhere with them and have recommended them to a number of people.
Reviewed March 10, 2016
We have been traveling with Vantage since 2007. In 2014, they started making ridiculous budget cuts and bonehead decisions on how they were putting their trips together, and we’re very dissatisfied with the way they’re running that operation. We just came back from Myanmar and Thailand. The people there that are hired to be program managers do an outstanding job, but they’re doing it with one hand tied behind their backs because of budget cuts, and whatever they’re doing in Boston makes absolutely no sense. We’re probably going to change to a different company.
Reviewed March 9, 2016
My neighbor mentioned Vantage Deluxe to me several years ago, and so far, my travel experience with them has been very good. From the two trips that I had, they have met my expectations. I thought the people I interacted with were very professional, knowledgeable, and I would give them quite high remarks. I find the sales and customer service teams are adequate but a little bit too pushy, although I know they just wanted to make a deal. I'm looking at a few trips to book in the future but I don't know if I'm gonna push through. But if I do, I would certainly consider Vantage.
Reviewed March 8, 2016
We've done 20 trips with Vantage, and have a trip scheduled this March and in June. Two of my biggest beefs with them in recent years have been them cutting out a lot of entertainment on the ship. They brought two jukeboxes instead of a piano player. Also, I did not like the cruise director concierge concept at all because there was more interaction when they had an actual program manager. The tour directors and guides have been very good and are some of the best.
Reviewed March 7, 2016
Vantage Deluxe is very good and I chose them because the timing and the length of the tour were longer than the others. However, the only issue I have is that it’s a little hard to get through to them. There’s a lot of times that I had to sit on hold a lot and the calls were backed up. Other than that, the people I interacted with were very nice. We were there during the Paris terrorism incident and they took very good care of us. It was a great experience in light of the terrible tragedy.
Reviewed March 6, 2016
A friend of mine was looking for a roommate for her trip with Vantage Deluxe. So I got in on her and we shared a cabin. She got in on it from another friend, a couple, who happened to have been an acquaintance of me too. It was really a neat thing. All four of us was able to have a wonderful time. The tour guides and directors were fabulous. My favorite part of the trip was the ship and the experience on the ship because that allowed me to enjoy everything else. The trip was worth every penny. I love Vantage. I talk it up all the time. In fact, I just came from the dentist and I recommended it to them there.
Reviewed March 5, 2016
I went with Vantage Deluxe twice. The first time, I went to Patagonia, and last November I went to Vietnam and Cambodia. Except for some minor hitches, everything was fine. The customer service in the head office is probably the weakest link. In both trips, getting to talk to somebody took some effort in the sense that they sometimes didn't answer when I called and left messages or sent emails. Also, the language of some of the local guides wasn't good enough to understand sometimes. But on the whole, we were very happy. The tour directors in both cases were absolutely wonderful. They dealt with problems and were caring and knowledgeable. I would very much like to use them again in my future trips.
Reviewed March 3, 2016
We’ve been dealing with Vantage for many years. Generally, our travel experiences with them has been fine, but this past trip to Cuba got cancelled because the ship was either in Chapter 11 or bankrupt. They had informed us about the cancellation and subsequently refunded all our money. So I’m okay with that.
Reviewed Feb. 27, 2016
Our overall experience with Vantage Deluxe World Travel has been pretty good. During the first time we took a trip, we had very knowledgeable people who were showing us around. We've been pretty impressed. We've taken several trips with them and we're satisfied.
Reviewed Feb. 24, 2016
My friend has been on a trip with Vantage and liked it very much. I then used Vantage as well and went to Peru. The trip was awesome. Everybody made every effort to make our stay and the excursions as wonderful as possible. The only thing I was not enamored of was the food. I'm sure they'll figure that out. I would recommend Vantage and told my friend that they were great. I will be using them in the future.
Reviewed Feb. 21, 2016
Vantage Deluxe World Travel were going where I wanted to go. My travel experience with them was better than I could have expected. Everything was taken care of before I even knew I needed it and everyone involved were very well trained, capable and kind. Everything was wonderful. The tour directors and tour guides exceeded expectations. The customer service teams were most helpful in getting me on to the trip. I will use them again.
Reviewed Feb. 19, 2016
A friend of mine invited me and another friend to go with her to a Mekong, Cambodia and Vietnam tour. She suggested Vantage and we've enjoyed it. The tour guides were absolutely wonderful and the sales and customer service team were good. The only problem was it was flooding that time in Bangkok and they said that we're supposed to go somewhere but it didn't happen. So they said they will make it up and that also never happened.
We also went to Kenya and Tanzania, the African Safari, and experienced a glitch in getting the visas. We didn't know until the week before that we had to do it ourselves and I thought it was very difficult to do and so did another couple that was going with me. But other than that, the tour director on that one, David, was the best tour director I've ever had on any tour I've ever taken.
We left October 4th, and the tour started on the 10th. He was absolutely wonderful and there were difficult people on that tour - people who came late and didn't have the luggage that was sent to them. They demanded to go on with like 12 huge suitcases and he put up with these people and they were so demanding during the whole tour. At the end, we had to give up one jeep to get out of there because they had a flight to catch and they took one jeep. They were nasty people and it was just ridiculous. And it's too bad because the four adults, the parents and son and daughter, were so demanding, but David just did his best all the time. But I would've shut these people.
Overall, Vantage has been excellent. I plan on using them for my next trip and I'll go back to Africa in a heartbeat. I just wish I had more money to do more tours. The only problem I find is the emails that keep telling me I should go to Africa or take that Mekong tour. I've already done that but I still receive those emails daily. There's no follow-up on what people have done. They just keep inviting you to redo tours that I've already gone to. That should not be at all. They should have a list of who's done it once. One probably doesn't want to do it again. And then the number of catalogues we get is like 50 pounds a year.
Reviewed Feb. 18, 2016
We tried Vantage based from some friends' recommendation and we have used them again last October-November. We went to the Amazon and we had Patricia, the president's wife, with us so that made the tour a little nicer. We also had a good tour director. I would definitely recommend Vantage. My only complaint is that it would be nicer if the tips were incorporated on the front end rather than figuring it out every time I turn around.
Reviewed Feb. 17, 2016
I went to South Africa recently. The tour guide was incredibly helpful, interesting, pleasant, bent over backwards to make everybody feel comfortable and got everybody get along together well. A friend of mine got ill one evening and the tour guide was the only one who was aware of it before anybody else was because she was conscious with it and so she helped him back to his room.
I will be using Vantage again, but more likely with land tours like the South African one as opposed to river cruises like the Rhine-Danube trip I took with them because they changed their policy, which I found was not a good idea. Instead of having three or four program managers for the entire ship, they're using one and have local guides to take up the slack. It didn't work out well and I wasn't happy with it. Vantage uses excellent guides but if they give them 600 people to work with, they're not as effective.
Reviewed Feb. 16, 2016
We've had friends travel with Vantage and we've taken several trips with the company as well and had a great experience. The guides were wonderful and the hotels were nice. We plan to go on another trip with Vantage next month.
Reviewed Feb. 15, 2016
It's been some years that I've traveled with Vantage and it's an awesome experience. I traveled to South Africa first and second time with them and it was wonderful. The tour director and tour guides were excellent both times.
Reviewed Feb. 14, 2016
I have traveled with Vantage Deluxe for over 15 years and they're the only travel company I choose to go with. They're always wonderful. They have fantastic tour guides and I've had wonderful experiences. I get the most for my money and I've always been very satisfied. I went to Peru in November and I'm going on another river cruise in March.
Reviewed Feb. 13, 2016
We recently went on a cruise with Vantage that started in Paris and went up to the Seine River to Normandy. We had very good experiences with all the tourists and we were very happy. In fact, we're planning on doing another cruise.
Reviewed Feb. 12, 2016
I had a great trip. I went with the Veterans of Massachusetts and it was really generous of the owner to give us that trip and that experience. If I hadn't gotten sick, I would've enjoyed it more. I still enjoyed the trip somehow -- the sightseeing, seeing all the architecture, the castles and everything else. Since I had to back out from a couple of stuff I stayed on board with Rick, one of the tour guides. We did a lot of talking and a lot of going over the sites and where we were. So it was a great experience. I got closer to him more than I did to the director and the assistant. The actual tour guides at the site were very good and knowledgeable and they were willing and ready to answer my questions and to stay and talk to me about it afterwards.
I would book my next trip with Vantage. I would also recommend them. As a matter of fact, I have a nephew who's getting married in Cuba, and I saw that Vantage added Cuba to the itinerary, but they're already making plans to get married there. I wish I had known about it previously because I could've told them about it. But I didn't know Vantage was starting sightseeing in Cuba.
Reviewed Feb. 11, 2016
My friends recommended Vantage Deluxe and I happened to see a good offer from them in the mail. I called them when I first started. I asked them a few questions and what I wanted to do, and they took care of it. Everything went smoothly. I even changed my trip a bit. I live near Boston, so when we flew to Paris, I wanted them to arrange a flight back from London, which had nothing to do with the trip they were doing, but they arranged it and it worked fine. They went out of their way to fix it. It was in October or November when we went to France on the Seine to Normandy and back. The concierge and the tour directors were good. They did their job and we appreciated everything they did. The whole staff, from the captain down to the people that cleaned the rooms, was superb.
Reviewed Feb. 11, 2016
The most latest trip we had with Vantage was great. The tour guide was absolutely excellent. We've been on many tours over the last 30 years and our Vantage tour guide was probably one of the one or two best we've ever had. One of the issues that my wife noticed with their sales team though was that some of the information we were getting from the them was not accurate because the people that she talked to had obviously never been to the destination and didn't know what they were talking about in some respects. However, we would probably use Vantage again.
Reviewed Feb. 10, 2016
At the beginning it was my sister-in-law that told me about Vantage cause they went on some cruise. My latest travel experience was on the Seine River from Paris to Normandy and back. Everything was really very nice on that tour and now we've got two of trips already scheduled. One on the Elbe River and the other was down the Danube. We're always very happy with Vantage.
Reviewed Feb. 10, 2016
I had a very nice experience with Vantage and they did a good job. Their cruise director was excellent and the logistics that they had in place were very good. Things were well-planned. However, Vantage could improve on the trip that I took, which happened to be the Antarctic trip, by giving a little more clarity in the clothing required and the relationship between the ship activities and Vantage activities.
Reviewed Feb. 9, 2016
Vantage offers longer trips for the same amount of money. We went up to Normandy and up the Seine in Paris, and we had a great time. I wish they would adopt a procedure for paying through gratuities included in the price, though. After traveling and spending all that money, I had to come up with 200 or 300 euros to tip the crew. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
Reviewed Feb. 9, 2016
I travel with Vantage a lot. My most recent travel was three and a half weeks in Africa, but I also used them for China and both were awesome trips. The tour guide in Africa was fabulous while the one in China was even more fabulous. Their tour directors really do a great job so the whole thing's just seamless. And their customer service team knows their product most times. When I talk to them about a particular trip, they have somebody who's been there and can answer specifics. They're pretty well-trained.
Reviewed Feb. 8, 2016
We've been with Vantage on 15 trips now. We took a trip to Alaska that was part Vantage and part a cruise line but other than this, all of our trips have been with Vantage and I'm not about ready to change either. Recently we were in Africa on a safari. The tour guide was fantastic and I couldn't ask for a better one. We've already booked another trip for April and this time we're going to fly into Berlin, taking a river cruise and then finally up in Salzburg, Austria.
Reviewed Feb. 8, 2016
I went to France last year and find our tour guide interesting and informative. Vantage Deluxe World Travel's sales and the customer service team were very nice and helpful. I enjoyed the trip tremendously so I'm considering on using Vantage again to book my next trip.
Reviewed Feb. 7, 2016
Last year we went to travel through Vantage on the La Perla to Croatia and Venice. The director was wonderful. He went out of his way to make sure everything was just perfect. And whenever Mike from Vantage team called for anything, they took care of it right away. We're very, very pleased with Vantage and we will once again go somewhere through them this year.
Reviewed Feb. 7, 2016
We've traveled with Vantage for so many years. We've taken 11 trips with them. The most recent one was our trip to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Deirdre was our tour guide and she was fantastic, one of the best we've had. Their staff were all very helpful. Originally they had scheduled us with another airline but they were able to switch us to Delta since I have on file that I prefer Delta because we have frequent flyer miles with them. I would recommend them. In fact, we have already book our next trip with them to the Douro River Valley in Portugal in Spain in April.
Reviewed Feb. 6, 2016
Vantage Deluxe World Travel was recommended by another traveler. We recently did the Croatian Coast in a small yacht, and it was wonderful. It was one of the best experiences I've had with Vantage. The tour directors have always been good and helpful, and the interactions are positive. One example is I got pick-pocketed and lost $140. The tour guide handled it really well and did whatever he could. It was overall a positive experience. We have a trip booked for April for the Tulip Tour. It's the boat on the river in April when they have the tulip show in Holland. It's basically a tour in Holland and Belgium.
Reviewed Feb. 6, 2016
We've been going with Vantage for five years and our recent travel with them was in New Zealand and Australia. They were great. We also had good communication with our Australian travel guide. We haven't encountered any problems with their sales and customer service teams and we will book again with them in the future.
Reviewed Feb. 5, 2016
This is the second trip we’ve made with Vantage, and it was absolutely a wonderful experience. We recommend them and we’re looking to go again later in the year. We went on the Tulip Trip in Holland and we enjoyed that. The fact is, a friend of ours was taking their Grand European Tour about the same time we were taking it and taking the one night from Paris to Normandy. It was a great trip all the way around. We’ve been on three river cruises, two of which with Vantage and we’ve enjoyed it. We like river cruises so we’ll be back with them.
We had one gal that was our tour guide and she was an absolutely wonderful joy. She was from the United States and was one of three people who take tours in France from America. We got on the bus when we left Normandy and she was good friends with the bus driver, and she had him take and head right down to the other four landing air zones. It was just an add-on but it was a marvelous thing that she did, and we met some nice people.
We did have one little concern. We were in Paris and the boat was docked down and we thought we’d walk down to the Eiffel Tower, which wasn’t all that far. We got down and left in the evening, and there’s a big park right there. We walked through the gate and there were rows of people running down and out of the park. We went down to see the Eiffel Tower late at night, then came back and got up, but the gates were closed to the park. We saw a Frenchman who guided us back around and there was another way. So this might be something that should be mentioned by Vantage to people in the future. But we didn’t feel any fears while we were there.
Reviewed Feb. 5, 2016
I had an incredible experience on my recent travel through Vantage. My guide was absolutely superb, very informative, took the time to make sure that everyone was taken care of and made happy. I had constant interaction with the tour guide and their sales and customer service team were excellent. I'm thinking of going to Central African next and I plan on using Vantage to book in the future.
Reviewed Feb. 4, 2016
Our most recent travel experience with Vantage was to France. It was the first river cruise we've ever been on and we loved it. Most of the tour guides were excellent or better. The highlight of our trip was the beaches at Normandy. It was very impressive the way they got us there. Even though the weather was bad, they made it a very good tour. I would probably use them to book my next trip.
Reviewed Feb. 3, 2016
We enjoyed our recent travel experience with Vantage Deluxe. My husband made all the arrangements over the phone and we were amazed because it was last minute and they were very helpful and got him flights that were quite good. We went from Paris up to the other north and then back on a boat. The tour guides were natives in the various places then we had the head tour person on board who told us what the tours were about. We only had one miscommunication at one particular place. There were more of us who were mixed up about something, but most part of the trip was good. It was nice to have local people. It was a great experience and I'd recommend Vantage Deluxe.
Reviewed Feb. 2, 2016
We went to New Zealand and Australia and had a wonderful time. However, the one thing that I find with Vantage is sometimes they are older people - not that I'm getting up there - but this trip to New Zealand and Australia was really good. We had a wonderful tour guide and younger and older people. It was one of the nicer trips that we've taken. We've gone to China and Vietnam with them too and our tour guide was fabulous. We had a problem with one of our credit cards and she solved it for us. She was really very accommodating. Vantage was nice to us and very reasonable.
Reviewed Feb. 1, 2016
Our first time with Vantage was very nice and we enjoyed it. The only bad thing was coming home took longer than we had anticipated, but we figured that that's what happens. When we got home, there was a charge for an optional tour. I thought, “What?” and so I called them up and we said, “No, no, no, we didn’t do it.” After a while my husband looked into it and yes, we had done it, so we left everything alone. Their customer service was very good and we got charged everything that we’re supposed to, so there were no extra problems.
I would like to book another trip with Vantage but my husband claims he’s not gonna take any more long-distance trips because he doesn’t care for the flights. It was a brutal experience coming home because we had to wait 5 hours in the Paris airport. We got there at 8:00 in the morning and we didn’t leave till 10:30 that night. We didn’t know why we had to go through Seattle. But other than that, I'd still recommend Vantage. Everything was perfect and we truly, truly enjoyed it. It was on my husband's bucket list and so I’m the one that said, “Okay, we’re gonna do it. We ought to do it.”
Reviewed Jan. 31, 2016
We had a fabulous experience in South America. Our tour guide Nadia was fantastic as far as accommodating my husband's needs. He was having some leg issues when we were at Iguazu Falls and she was able to acquire a golf cart for him to ride around partially as far as it could go so that he could see a lot of the things at the tour. We've had good tour guides but she was outstanding. Our experience with Vantage's customer service team has been very good. The worst experience we had was acquiring a visa for Brazil and the company that they used was very uncooperative and wanted to charge us more even though we already paid an expediting fee. I must have called them five times. The visa was sitting on their desk but they didn't get it to us until the day before we left.
So far, we have been very happy with Vantage. We've taken four trips already with them. Two river cruises, the South America trip and the trip to Ireland and it exceeded our expectations each time. In fact, we just returned from the Normandy Trip from Paris and it was excellent in every way. I've recommended many friends to Vantage. A couple who we last went on a trip with said they have traveled a lot and they thought it was a fantastic trip. The food was exceptional on the River Splendor which is the same boat that we went for on the Rhine and the Moselle. We knew what the boat was like and it was very nice and the entertainment was good. The tours were good.
Reviewed Jan. 30, 2016
I had a fabulous travel experience with Vantage. I had a fairly brief talk with their customer service but it was helpful. The tour directors were very good and we're even thinking of using Vantage to book our next trip, but we're having difficulty with the Canadian Dollar right now.
Reviewed Jan. 24, 2016
The tour that we were going on with our friends was going with Vantage. I was concerned about my physical ability to handle the trip. When I called to talk to people about it, they were very clear and very good with explaining what the demands of the trip would be like. We were told that it would be a life-changing experience, and it was. It was marvelous. The tour director was very well-organized, caring, and engaging. One of the things that is always impressive is when something was done, it was done specially and well. We knew we were going to have a speaker one night and it turned out to be Nelson Mandela's person. It seemed like everything that was planned was planned with something special in mind. We're very pleased with Vantage.
Reviewed Jan. 23, 2016
My brother had been on a cruise with Vantage Deluxe before, and he recommended it. We had never done cruising before, but when my wife and I traveled last year, we enjoyed our experience with them very much. Part of it was that we sailed at night, and during the day, we would have a tour around the different towns. I can’t say that it was perfect, but we were very happy. We’re booked on a cruise again this year and we’re looking forward to it.
Reviewed Jan. 22, 2016
My sister-in-law sets up the trips like the Vantage trip in Africa that I did. She researches different tour companies, finds what she thinks is the best value and most interesting, and lines it up and emails her family and friends. It was the best trip I've had in my whole life. I went on my own because my husband did not go, but it was easy to go by myself because there were people that I already knew in the group.
Everything was just 4, 5-star type accommodations. Our guide handled everything. He was very personable, easy to talk to and related well with all of us. We could talk to him about future trips if we were interested and he was always available if we wanted to visit with him about anything. If we had any glitch, he took care of it and we hardly even knew about it. We saw all the animals we wanted to see, and if we didn't see something one day, he would go "Okay, now. Tomorrow, we have to see the leopard". The next day, we did see leopards and it was great.
I only skipped one thing and that's because I have chronic fatigue. We have had a long day getting to Victoria Falls. We were gonna check-in and walk down to the falls about half a mile, but I knew I couldn't do any more than that. I went to bed after we checked in and almost slept through dinner, but my brother-in-law had noticed I wasn't there so he came to my room and woke me up. The guide had said that if they find some time, he'll send me down there with somebody else, but there wasn't enough time.
I know how to travel and know that I have to skip some things, like the falls in particular, but I appreciated being there. I kept looking around and saying "Look around. You're really in South Africa. You are in-country, hear the local people speaking, hear their music, see the sights and eat the food. You don't have to see every single tourist stop." That's how I handled it and it was epic. I've already recommended Vantage to my dentist and other people, and we're already scheduled to go on a trip with Vantage to the Rhine and Moselle river trip this fall.
Reviewed Jan. 21, 2016
I had a wonderful experience with Vantage. Everything went very smoothly when I went to Australia and New Zealand. Our tour director was an Australian woman -- very engaging, stayed with us for the whole duration that we were there and I had nothing but accolades for her. I will absolutely use Vantage again on my next trip.
Reviewed Jan. 20, 2016
My ski club booked a trip with Vantage and we had an exceptional experience with them. The service and accommodations were wonderful. The service on the boat, in particular, was absolutely wonderful and incredible. If you had something for lunch one day, like coffee after lunch, they remembered and brought it the next day. The tour guides were also very informative and helpful. I lost the cover to my camera lens and they stopped the bus and looked for it but didnt find it. One lady offered to go back to the temple to find it, and I said "No, that's not necessary." But she did it anyway on her own time. It wasn’t that big of a deal to me but she took it upon herself to go and look for it. I'm getting the catalogs and I hope I can book another trip with Vantage Deluxe.
Reviewed Jan. 19, 2016
I did a search online for the places that I wanted to visit and Vantage Deluxe popped up. Since it was my first experience with Vantage, at first I wasn't entirely sure upfront how everything worked. It was a complicated tour so it took me a while to understand where and when the tour part ended. Therefore, figuring out the flights took a little thinking but with their help, we got it done. I booked through them and had a perfect travel experience. All of the tours were wonderful, but my favorite was the Pangolin Photo Safaris tour. I do hope to use Vantage again on some future trip as it was beyond expectations.
Reviewed Jan. 18, 2016
I had several trips with Vantage, the most recent being the one to New Zealand and Australia. I had some idea of what I wanted to do and I checked various other tours but Vantage offered a good price and low cost airfare. They also seem to go to places that I really wanted to see so I picked them. When I could not get a friend to go with me on this tour, they made an arrangement so that I could go as a single for a single price that was the same as the others. I appreciated that very much. Our tour director was also very helpful all of the time. In several instances, she would make sure to take us to her favorite restaurants and they were very good and reasonable. She was available all hours with good suggestions. I've gone to around 30 tours with various companies and she is one of the best tour directors.
So I would recommend Vantage to a friend. Sometimes they're a little on the high end for prices, but for the sale, Vantage fits right in. In fact, I'm signed up for another Vantage trip in July for France, Burgundy to Provence. They have excellent trip, accommodations, and tour guides.
Reviewed Jan. 17, 2016
Vantage seemed to offer a good tour at a reasonable price so we went with them. The tour guide on the last tour we took was excellent and it was a very good trip overall. It's possible that I'd book through them again for my next trip but I'd recommend them.
Reviewed Jan. 16, 2016
We heard about Vantage through a friend who had called us. He had taken a trip with them and said he was planning on taking another one. He mentioned he was going with family and asked if we thought about taking one, I said that we had as it sounds great. So we all got together and decided when and where we were going. We saw a lot. It was the first time we took a river cruise. The staff on board the riverboat were wonderful. They couldn’t do enough for us. The food was absolutely delicious. We’ve traveled before on tours and it seemed like they covered quite a bit. We were on the less active tour only because my husband has Parkinson’s and is walking with a cane. But even with that, we saw quite a bit.
The tour guides were accommodating. When we first started, as they always do, they did a little survey to find out what activity level we feel we’re at. We expressed our concerns, and they were very nice about it. They would also go out of their way to tell us exactly what we would be doing and where we would be going for the day, whether there were steep hills, inclines and more walking. They really guided us on which bus we needed to be on for our tour, so that if it were possible to be with our friends, that was fine. And even during the day, when we’d have inquiries, they were there to answer. They were always very pleasant, professional, and friendly. Everything was taken cared of. If we took another river cruise, we would definitely book with Vantage Deluxe again.
Reviewed Jan. 15, 2016
Vantage Deluxe had the program we were looking for at the time that we were looking for it. Their price was reasonable as well. But when it comes to dealing with the Boston office, the main problem is just getting to talk to somebody. The difficulty is it’s hard to get through them as you are put on hold for a very long time. They have to improve on that. However, when you get to talk to somebody at the Vantage office, the interaction is always good. When you’re put on hold and you hang up, they eventually call you back.
As for the trips, we did the trip from St. Petersburg to Moscow. We also did South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, China, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. In our most recent trip, that was to Australia and New Zealand, our tour guide was very knowledgeable, very efficient, and had lots of things to do for us and we enjoyed it very much. We’re very satisfied and we actually have another trip booked with them already, and that’s to Portugal.
Reviewed Jan. 15, 2016
We had a small group having a trip in Portugal. It was nice and the tour guides were fabulous. We did the Douro River tour in the Wine Country, the itinerary was wonderful. The guides were very informative, helpful, and courteous. We had a lot of seniors on the trip and Vantage pays attention to things like that. I would rate them an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.
The experience was very enjoyable except for the air transportation. I used to work for the airlines, and I know I'm able to get airfare a lot cheaper than what they charged me but, first, they locked me in because if I don’t buy tickets from them and when the flights are delayed then I won't be covered. I even researched getting an upgrade into business class, and I was able to find it for $400 lower than what they were offering.
But we had at one point a severe problem with Vantage. We had told our group something and then Vantage mailed them another piece in the mail. And all my groups started calling me saying, "this isn't what you gave us. What's going on here?" When we checked it out, what Vantage had sent back to our clients was incorrect. So my wife just figured out how to get to the CEO by email and she wrote directly to him and he fixed it.
Reviewed Jan. 14, 2016
It was my brother who heard about Vantage Deluxe World Travel and made all the arrangements. Everything was better than I expected. It was a good itinerary and the people were great. We had a wonderful time and right now, we're looking into going to Paris.
Reviewed Jan. 14, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed all excursions on our various stops, seeing all the many different penguins and seals. The expedition team was fantastic and very helpful with various hikes and especially kayaking for me as had very little previous experience. Was disappointed that we didn't get to stop at Deception Island as we went right by it. Our leader Ignacio ** was the best tour leader I have had, so helpful and kind to all.
Reviewed Jan. 13, 2016
Vantage Deluxe is excellent. They gave us a lot of information, answered our questions and took care of our problems. We went to Portugal and did the River Cruise and we had an informative, relaxing, and enjoyable trip. My husband has one little complaint, though. He’s a coffee addict, and when we were at the Douro River, he said that the coffee there wasn’t very good. And inside the dining room, they had instant coffee. For coffee lovers like him, it was very disappointing. But we plan on using them again to book our next trip.
Reviewed Jan. 12, 2016
The travel experience with Vantage itself was good. This was a 50th-anniversary thing for us. We booked with them expecting to be on a brand new ship that was to be available in September, but then got a call that said their ship would not be ready. They said that they would put us on another ship and also upgrade our room. We said that we would think about it. We looked up the other ship and it was supposed to be a really good one. It was in fairly good shape, but was really old, and it turned out this was the last cruise that it was gonna take. But then, they called us back and said they needed to change the date. They said we could wait until 2015, but we're not that young and we didn't wanna wait another year to book a 50th-anniversary cruise. We went ahead and booked it.
My biggest problem with them was that their website was terrible. They would give you a notice, tell you to go this website and you'd get a message saying that "oops, this seems broken". We decided to call them. When they first made all these changes, they assured us that there would be no problems if we called Nick. I had his personal extension number, but we couldn't even get ahold of him. When we finally did, he didn't know who we were and just sent us to someone else. Also, when calling customer service, they would say that we need an extension. We didn't have one, so they took us back to the main menu. It was very disorganized. The website was a mess. We got literature that told us about all of the optional tours, but 50% of them were not available. It was The Comedy of Errors.
We left with great trepidation and it turned out okay. We had a great tour director. The accommodation, food and the service on the ship were excellent. The ship was very clean. We loved all of the ports that we went through and for the most part, had good city tour guides. We used what they called quiet boxes, where each of us had our own little thing with our earphones and you didn't have to stay close to the guide. You could hear well without being near. The tours that they selected were very good. They had one optional tour that was the $100 a piece that was terrible, but we let them know that it was not a good tour to book in the future.
I would consider using Vantage again, but I'd say many 50/50. We've done tons of cruises, which were all Caribbean. We've traveled with Holland America and Carnival, and there were never any problems with the website or talking to someone. That was my biggest problem with Vantage-- the communication and the lack of organization. It turned out to be a good cruise, but I would have great reservations going with them again just because of all of that.
Reviewed Jan. 12, 2016
My most recent travel experience with Vantage was in Antarctica. The tour director was the best we've ever had, and the tour guides were great and very engaged. We’ve done eight trips with them already and we're more than likely going to book our next trip with them again.
Reviewed Jan. 11, 2016
A friend of mine had a Vantage Deluxe World Travel brochure in their office, I picked it up and flipped through it and it was the destination that made me choose them. Our first trip was the Norway Cruise and then we wanted to go to Scandinavia and thought that would be an easy and comfortable way to do it. The last trip was when we went to Antarctica and that was fantastic.
Nacho, our tour director, is one of the best tour directors we've ever encountered because we've traveled with some other groups and he was just fantastic. The people on the tour were all knowledgeable and pleasant travelers and the ship, the Hurtigruten, had a good crew. It was a great trip. The best thing was that we were one of the first to go to The Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctica this season. The landscapes were unspoiled and we didn't have anybody else's footsteps to step in.
Reviewed Jan. 10, 2016
I've been very pleased with Vantage over the years that's why I keep going on trips through them. I'm very happy with them and I plan on using them again.
Reviewed Jan. 10, 2016
We take trips with other people and they had talked to some of their friends in Colorado about this Best of Africa trip, which is what we did. It was very good. First time I'd done a safari and we got a lot of good pictures of animals. The safari, Cape Town and the different types of activities at Victoria Falls sort of balanced out. It wasn't all of one type of tour. The tour guide was knowledgeable and helpful. He did a good job. When we had changes in air arrangements, Vantage handled them for us and were helpful when we had questions.
Reviewed Jan. 10, 2016
We went to South Africa through Vantage. It was very good, I have no complaints whatsoever. It's a good company, and regarding booking our next trip, I'll most definitely look at what they offer. I did recommend them to someone possibly taking the South Africa tour.
Reviewed Jan. 9, 2016
The tour was excellent as was the tour guide. The only problem was with airline connections especially when we had to use a subsidiary airline in lieu of the scheduled airline.
Reviewed Jan. 9, 2016
We took a Vantage journey in the American West about five years ago with a number of friends. We had such a good experience on that trip that when it came time to plan a journey for Africa, we looked at Vantage as one of the possible providers. The dates, schedule, and the entire journey worked fine. Vantage provided a very thorough itinerary.
When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by the Vantage in-country tour director. She was with us every minute - from the time that we landed on the airplane until she finally saw us off at the airport. On that first day, she gave us a very comprehensive outline of what was going to happen day-by-day. So we had no reason to question anything. It turned out that it was a very thought-out program that obviously had been run before – in which other people had made comments on, and that really was adjusted so everyone had the breathing time they needed yet had the enjoyment and saw as much as they could during the period we were there.
The tour director was a German lady who has lived in South Africa for 25 years. She knew every twist and turn in the road. She knew all the people that we encountered along the way. And that helped whenever there would have potentially been any problem. We saw no problems because anything that would’ve happened was taken care of without us getting involved. We liked the comfort of having all that done for us rather than trying to organize and schedule something on our own in a place that we had never been to before.
However, the customer service is the most difficult part of Vantage. They are very hard to get a hold of. When you call their office, sometimes you’re on the phone holding for 30 minutes to get to a representative. Secondly, it’s never the same representative that you’re talking to so you’d end up having to talk about your own story again and again. This needs to be fixed.
The second thing that needs to be fixed with Vantage is that they do not know how to stop when it comes to advertising. We were still on our journey and even before we arrived home, we were being deluged by email wanting us to sign up for the next Vantage trip. I have gotten an email from Vantage every single day since our journey. I’ve gone on to the Vantage website where it says “Unsubscribe” and it gives you choices. It says, “I’m getting too much mail, check one of the ones below. Get me down to one per week, please. One message per month, please. Give me a pause of 30 days, please. Or take me off entirely, please.” I’ve tried checking those various blocks and increasing frequency of “Please stop this.” but it still comes.
I happen to mention to a Vantage rep when they called and inquired about an interest that I had shown for a trip to China that we knew about back in September and we were considering for 2017. The program had included a pre-trip of seven days in Japan which fits us perfectly. By the time we were back here and the Christmas holidays were calming down, I looked in the travel brochures that come from Vantage, and suddenly they had taken out the Japan pre-trip which was a necessary thing to have. I told the people about that on the phone before the first of the year. I’m still getting deluged with messages saying, “Take our China trip.” I told them on the phone that I will not take the China trip unless I can find a way to incorporate Japan, and I wasn’t focusing on that now. But they keep coming at you.
Plus, they’re sending me advertisements to go on their trip in the American West and Africa – both trips I’ve already been on. It’s very frustrating when it comes to sales and marketing with Vantage. I love the product and the journeys they offer are wonderful and I would recommend that, but until I get my feet on the ground, it is a struggle with sales and especially with marketing. They just won’t stop and I don’t know who to talk to.
Reviewed Jan. 9, 2016
Our recent trip to South Africa was over the top. Every bit of it was wonderful. Our tour guide was the best one we've ever had and we traveled a fair amount.
Reviewed Jan. 8, 2016
The Portugal trip was interesting. I had a good time but it's not a place I would go back to again. Vantage did what they needed to do, but it's not something that is going to appeal to a lot of people. It's not the best trip I've ever taken but it was fun and not a trip I would recommend to anybody. There were parts of it that were very nice but three days in Lisbon is absurd. The river cruise was a lot of fun and I enjoyed visiting the wineries. Also, our tour guide was excellent and very knowledgeable about Portugal. Overall, the food was acceptable but not outstanding.
Reviewed Jan. 8, 2016
Our experience with Vantage Deluxe World Travel has always been good. The last trip we had with them was in China. We had more people than we usually do on one of their trips, but our accommodations were nicer than any of the travel accommodations I've ever been yet, they were wonderful, and our guide was the best guide that I've had on a Vantage trip. The itinerary was as promised, so we knew what we were seeing. I would use them again however some international travel is getting to be such a hassle, so I really don't have any plans at the moment.
Reviewed Jan. 8, 2016
Our tour director from New Zealand was so sweet, informative and really, really good. We had a very good experience with Vantage.
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2016
Upon retirement from the international community, we wanted to continue our travel with a company that offered a range of cultural experiences that discussed diversity, ecology, education, and social issues while also offering adventures that were beyond our ordinary daily life! This trip was the absolute best ever trip! The Director, Mavis ** is superb! She outdid herself in showing hospitality, the cultures, the ecology, and the graciousness of Vantage! Vantage is a must see and must do experience especially with Mavis ** along!
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2016
It was from my sister that I heard about Vantage. The sales team are good but sometimes they call too often. I finally asked them to quit calling me, that I would call them when I wanted to talk to them, otherwise, they call every other day especially when you're hardly even back from the trip and they start asking you about the next trip. It's all fine but you're tired, you don't want to talk about it right then. But I had a nice travel experience. The tour directors have all been great.
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2016
All across the board, it has been hands down awesome with Vantage. We had somebody that recommended them to us. We did Africa last year and did Australia and New Zealand this year. The group was nice, and the tour director and tour guide were fantastic people. Elizabeth, who was our guide in Australia and New Zealand, was in Boston recently and if it wasn't for bad weather, we would have hooked up and taken her out to dinner.
We went a day early to Australia and New Zealand and when we got into the place, the Vantage team was very accommodating and started getting us flights. Everything as far as sales and service is good. It's always been a great relationship. Africa was a 10 in terms of the trip. Australia was great to see. The Sydney Opera House was great and I enjoyed snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. I also enjoyed Uluru and Ayers Rock. I'd give Australia a 9. Next year, we'll sign up to go to Chile. I would recommend Vantage to anybody.
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2016
New Zealand and Australia - Not as good as other Vantage trips I've taken. Too much free time and meals on own. Rotorua and Hobbiton village should have been included, both near Aukland, New Zealand.
Thank you for taking the time to review us. I am sorry to hear that this trip was not a good as the others you have taken with us. The Australia trip typically scores well so am sorry to hear that was not the case for you. I will pass your feedback on to the product development team for consideration. Thank you very much for your feedback and we hope to see you again soon
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2016
I've been with Vantage for years and my travel experiences with them have all been good. I usually call their office and they’re very knowledgeable. I've already booked my next trip with them and in fact, I have recommended them to friends.
Reviewed Jan. 6, 2016
Some friends of ours were going on a trip arranged by Vantage Deluxe World Travel. I was interested in going along and went with them. They had gone on Vantage trips before and were happy with them, so that's why they went again with Vantage as their tour operator. I knew exactly what I wanted and didn't have to be sold on what I was going to go on, so I merely called and signed up. It was a good travel experience. I had no complaints at all. The tour director and tour guides were very informative. They volunteered a lot of information and answered all of my questions, and that was good. But the sales reps were very aggressive and I wasn't very happy with that. There were some charges that I had taken off that they had charged me and it was difficult to get the charges taken off. I finally got it accomplished, but it wasn't easy.
Reviewed Jan. 6, 2016
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law told me about Vantage. When I first started working with Vantage, I did not have a good impression at all. When I called them to inquire about another trip prior to the one in October, it just was not good. It was like a Tijuana Special. I felt like I was walking through Tijuana and these people on the street were trying to sell me something and they say one price and then all of a sudden it goes down and then further down and back and forth. It came across like a used car salesman. I didn’t like them.
Then after that, I started getting five zillion e-mails and mail. And so I sent them an e-mail and I called and asked them to quit sending the stuff. I did not want to get any e-mails especially at my work e-mail. And it didn’t happen for a month so I called again, said the same thing, and it still didn’t happen. So finally, on one of the letters I got was from a vice president in Boston at the world headquarters and it had her name and her number. I called her and she was very helpful as she got the e-mails and the mails stopped right away and so that was good. After that, for the most part and with the second trip, the communication over the phone and whatnots went much better. The tour guide was fantastic in my China tour in October 2015 and I will use Vantage again.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
My experience with Vantage Deluxe World Travel was great overall. The guides were wonderful, accommodations were great and the food was fantastic.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
We thoroughly enjoyed everything about our Oct-Nov trip. The food was to die for! Can't think of anything now that I would change. However, I'm still waiting for reimbursement for our trip interruption claim due to the Lufthansa strike at time of our return. Claim filed late Nov. and no check as yet. So we shall see how that plays out.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
We would recommend this optional tour be taken off your tour. This $89.00 per person was one of the worst tours we have ever taken. The performers stood behind our table most of the evening and were too loud. The food was not good. They do not have access to restrooms for handicapped, as a lady using a walker sat at our table and had to be assisted down steps to a restroom. My wife needed to see a physician and the concierge was great at arranging an appt. & going with us in a taxi to the appt. which we will be forever grateful.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
A pleasant journey. A fabulous series of history lessons from Borut.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
I am not a wine or champagne drinker so, at the Captain's COCKTAIL party, I asked for a cocktail and was charged for it. Seriously? And, at the Captain's dinner table, I asked for a beer instead of the offered wine/champagne and was charged for that also. Very nitpicky. But the rest of the trip was fantastic.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
We've had nothing but good to say about Vantage Deluxe World Travel. The first time that we did a Vantage cruise was in 1999 for a cruise to Alaska. Lately, we've used them for the river cruise in Europe and should we take a river cruise in Europe again, we certainly would consider them. We have recommended them to friends and they have taken up our suggestion. They've been very happy with Vantage, too.
Reviewed Jan. 4, 2016
We have traveled a lot with Vantage, a friend of ours who we met on a different tour told us about them. We’re very happy with Vantage. The itineraries we follow and everything else was well done. Their tour directors were very good. Recently, we were in Greece and the lady tour guide was knowledgeable and quite good at taking care of the whole group of people over there. We will probably use Vantage on our next trip.
Reviewed Jan. 4, 2016
My trip through Vantage was once-in-a-lifetime. It exceeded my expectations. Chris, our tour guide, was fantastic. Everything was wonderful except for dealing with Patrick who's in the main office. I found that his communication skills totally lacked. I joined a group that was going to four countries in the Southern part of Africa six weeks before departure so everything was rushed and the problem was getting all of the airfare arranged, and Patrick did not update me. He'd say, "Well, I'm going to call you on Wednesday" and I would have to put in a call to him on Friday. I could never get him on the phone. I had to email him. I just found he was extremely difficult to work with and I almost cancelled the trip because of having to deal with him.
All he had to do was say, "We're having trouble booking you on the flight with the rest of the group. But here are the alternatives. This is what we will be doing." But none of that was ever conveyed to me until I complained to the organizer of our group and then she in turn, called someone in the central office. I have other friends that are thinking about the African trip and I told them to just don't deal with him. It was a terrible experience. But other than that, the trip itself was absolutely wonderful. Once I was there, it was fine. The only problem was getting everything up to speed and knowing what was going on.
Reviewed Jan. 3, 2016
Vantage has been good. We enjoyed very much the more free time that we had from our guide. We did not feel that we were under the guides continuously. We could go any place and that was the best thing - a little bit different than some of the other companies.
Reviewed Jan. 3, 2016
We enjoyed travelling with Vantage. We recently went on the Douro River voyage with them and it was really beautiful. The vineyards were lovely and the boat was nice. We visited four cities all in all and we liked Porto the best. We had a travel guide named Riley who was excellent and resourceful. Overall, it's been very good. We've even brought along other people with us during two of our trips with Vantage. It's been reliable, a good value for money (fair-priced) and enriching. We plan on using Vantage again too when we go to Eastern Europe, from Budapest to the Back Sea. I wanna go on a Dutch tulip trip and visit the Norwegian fjords.
Reviewed Jan. 2, 2016
We've had a wonderful time with Vantage Deluxe World Travel. We've been to several places and love it. Their tour directors have been very good and have taken care of everything that we've needed. I had an allergic reaction when we were in China and our tour director, Kelly, went out of her way to find me a doctor that could try to help with my problem. She was very nice. We went to Africa in September and had a great guide too. David was so nice and knowledgeable of the area and he told us all about the animals. Also the sales/customer service team have helped us with everything we've needed especially when we had to change some of our flights. I plan on using Vantage to book our next trip. They're amazing and we've never been disappointed.
Reviewed Jan. 2, 2016
Several years ago, my mother-in-law took us on a riverboat cruise through Vantage and that was the first time that we had been affiliated with them. We loved our recent travel experience through them. It was great. We enjoyed our guides, and we especially loved Jill. She was perfect. She knew everything and was very accommodating. Everything with the customer service team went fine. I got in touch with them only for the booking and I didn't have any problems. I had an awesome time with Vantage and I hope to be able to book a trip with them again.
Reviewed Jan. 1, 2016
We like Vantage! On our trips, we've been several times to South America and everything was wonderful. We also did a trip to Antarctica and more recently this year on a safari in Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. Tomorrow we're going on a Seine River Christmas Cruise and we also have already booked this April for Greek Islands. For our trip tomorrow though, the marketing and advertising was not what it should've been because they sent out inaccurate information and a different itinerary. To add insult to the injury, they posted again on Saturday that it was going to be the itinerary that we thought we were going to get. I then contacted Vantage and they said they sent out the wrong info. So, there's lack of communication between marketing and sales and I've addressed this with Vantage.
Reviewed Jan. 1, 2016
Vantage was recommended to me by a previous guest of theirs. I was on a trip to China this past October to November through them. It was both on a cruise and land tour over 21 days. The whole tour cruise experience was exceptional and fantastic because of the tour director, their itinerary, and the service. However, there were only four days spent on a river which is what they're known for. So it was more of a tour on land.
With regards to their sales/customer service, I never get the same person and whoever answers the phone does it. They have not been on any of these tours so they cannot answer these things. They have no intimate knowledge. They’re just seeding out what I can read online. When I had questions, either they had to go to customer service, put me on hold or have to get back to me which they're good at. But the biggest problem was that they quoted how many people should be on the tour. I asked, “How many people would be on there, the specific one?” because I really wanted to go a tour before the one I went on and they said it was full. So when it came to mine, I said, “Great. How many people are?” They quoted me and we had six more than what they quoted.
It was just me and I paid the single supplement and for the cabin that I wanted, paid the single supplement. And upon going on this tour, everybody was given a different figure. They were given more thing for their buck. In other words, some were not charged for supplement. They traveled as two but they didn’t stay as two. They stayed in individual cabins. This is why I won't travel with them again. Once they hear one's single, everything changes. Even though they say they have singles and single supplements, they want to stick them in a place where they have four walls and not even a window. That’s their gimmick to put on their brochures.
I used the extension on the tour. Online it said that they will help us with travel arrangements. If I wanted to stay above and beyond their extension, like coming a day early, they wouldn’t help at all. I had to do my own booking in China for the extra day. The communication just wasn’t there, and they wouldn’t help. Now, I understand this is more of a tour versus their ships, which they’re known for. But the biggest thing was they tell you, especially online, how many people were supposed to be there and they didn’t make an exception for that tour. It was because it’s the last one they were doing in China for the year. Well, they made an exception there, why can’t they make an exception for the two before when I wanted to go as one single person? So they gave me a credit of $150 towards another trip and I felt that it was insulting.
When I came back, I was looking at doing another trip for the spring so I called up before the Thanksgiving holidays. I called up three times and got three different rates for a cab. They don’t want to talk to anybody directly. They want everything on an e-mail, to a person I’ve never dealt with, and they only deal with me that way. I saved the e-mail that they sent me. I’m very put off by how they wrote it and I will never travel with them again though the actual tour itself was fantastic.
Thank you for taking the time to write your review. I will have a member of the senior management team reach out over the next day or two.
Reviewed Jan. 1, 2016
My trip to South America with Vantage was a very good experience. I think back often on it and it was great. The tour guides were all very good especially Sylvina who was excellent. But, the only negative thing is that pickpocket who took my wallet although we ran after him and recovered the wallet and lost the $300 cash. We were continually warned about pickpockets and I was probably a little bit careless on my part because I had the wallet in a very loose pocket.
It could've been worse if I lost the wallet and the credit card which would have been a hassle but of course, I was carrying most of my funds back in the hotel safe so it was not a big deal. Overall, we had a very enjoyable trip and my wife and I had a nice time. It was a lot of moving around here and there, but I expected that. I'd probably use Vantage again to book our next trip and I've been recommending them to a friend that's thinking about it.
Reviewed Dec. 31, 2015
My sister traveled extensively and she suggested Vantage Deluxe World Travel to me. We really enjoyed the trip with Vantage. It would not be something I would probably repeat but we did learn a lot about the country. The tour guide was a lot like the lady in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and she was great. She was an archeologist to boot so she knew all of the tales that went with everything that we saw. It was very impressive, and we got a lot more out of the trip because of her. Everything about the trip was pretty explanatory, so we didn't have to call customer service or adjust anything.
I'd definitely recommend Vantage especially to a person who likes traveling where they learn a ton about every place that they would go to and have very little time on their own. But I don’t think we would do it again now that we know what the trip is like. There were six of us that went as a party and we really enjoyed it. The package with Vantage and the information that was given to us were very complete. Overall, it was very easy to travel with Vantage.
Reviewed Dec. 30, 2015
Vantage has been great. We had several options that friends were pushing for Viking, but we went ahead with Vantage and their plan and we're happier we did. We had a fantastic captain and we cruised right through while the Viking ships were sitting at the docks and busing people. There was this one point, though, when we all had to get off and take the bus to the next town because we only had about a foot of water between the ship and the bottom. There were some issues with the elevator as well, but things happen. Some people were grousing about it, but I'm going "Hey, guys, you're safe. You're secure." But other than that, it was great and the service was fantastic.
Everybody was wonderful, the waiters were a riot, the guides were great and I've never heard a bad word about it. I can't come up with one either. Overall, the people and the selected tours were better than we expected. The weather and the ship were perfect. The only disadvantage was we didn't have enough time. We'd still stay with Vantage going up to Danube and Rhine.
Reviewed Dec. 30, 2015
I’d recommend Vantage Deluxe World Travel. I had a very nice experience with them.
Reviewed Dec. 29, 2015
We had a great time with Vantage Deluxe. Great flight going over and great accommodations. We had two extra days at the beginning of the trip and had a nice hotel. Everybody took care of us so well. We haven't thought of where to go next but we will possibly book our next trip with them again.
Reviewed Dec. 28, 2015
Our friends took a trip on a European cruise a long time ago, and we heard about Vantage Deluxe World Travel through them. We’ve traveled three times with Vantage, and we plan to do it more in the future. Their price is very competitive with the Vikings and the other cruise lines that we’ve looked at. Their staff on all three occasions were very attentive to the needs of their customers. The service was fantastic from greeting at the desk to maintaining the rooms to their food services. The tour directors were great. They were very engaging, charismatic, and organized. We had a positive interaction with the sales and customer service teams on our first experience with Vantage; Ryan was really good and helpful.
I like the tours that they have lined up. They have very knowledgeable people and we’re not in a rush every minute. We get the highlights, the spots, then we have time to be on our own. Last year, we also went to Rome with this other travel group, and it was great but there wasn’t any free time for us. It was just going from one spot to another every minute. Whereas, Vantage has the highlights and it’s a real relaxing vacation.
One of the things that happened, which was surprising and makes us feel even stronger about Vantage is when we signed up for a Christmas holiday tour that would be in December of 2016. We paid for the trip insurance because it’s that far out ahead and we don’t know what’s going to happen. The trip insurance allows us to get back the money that we paid for. We are not going to be able to make that December trip. When my wife called Vantage, they said, “Well, we’ll give it to you for another trip.” They have us on the books for December of 2017.
They not only allowed us to change, we also don’t have to pay more insurance money. They’re carrying the insurance money we paid for 2016 in December over to 2017. I don’t know too many companies that would do that. Usually, when you pay an insurance company and you don’t make that trip, you’ve lost that money you paid for the insurance.
We’ve looked at other cruise lines, the river cruises, vacations, but we’re going to stick with Vantage. I’d recommend them to a friend. This last trip to France, we introduced a few other friends to Vantage and they went along with us. They’re all sold on Vantage, too, and they’re talking about it, “When’s the next cruise, Tom?” It was a fantastic experience!
Reviewed Dec. 27, 2015
I had a great time with Vantage. We went on the South American tour - Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. I love Chile and Argentina. I was very glad because our tour director, Savannah, was so well informed and she really narrated the whole city for us. Brazil is a whole other story, not all countries are the same. Uruguay was absolutely beautiful. The highlight was going to the native people. The first one we went to in Chile was Coda's farm house and we had a luncheon. That was incredible. And then in Argentina, we went to a farm. They had everything there - horses, sheep and a winery. They're also trying to breed emus. A young French couple had a little boy and a little girl and they were energetic and very smart people, living in a beautiful place.
Reviewed Dec. 27, 2015
I loved every minute of my Vantage experience. The ship was wonderful and every employee on the ship was fantastic. I love the Filipinos. The kitchen help and the waiters all had smiles and nobody had a sour puss. When you ask somebody for help, they would. I've traveled all over the world many times and the only reason I went to Antarctica was my girlfriend wanted to go there. I really didn't want to go but I'm glad I did.
But the only complaint I had is their rate was astronomically expensive. Their tours as well. I would've gone on of their little expeditions (ie: kayaking adventures) more but I just can't afford them anymore. Furthermore, the tipping was very high at $8 to $12 a day - we were there for 20 days and it would be $250 a piece - considering that we're paying $11,000 for the trip. Furthermore, I pay everybody $12 a day but then some employees, like the bird man (who was also just as helpful) gets the whole of the tip for himself, and I didn't think that was fair. Moreover I had called them to tell take me off the mailing list because I don't plan on going anywhere for a while. They're not sending me emails but I keep getting all these books from them once a week and it's very expensive to mail books. Still, I'd probably go somewhere next year and when I do, I'll use Vantage again.
Reviewed Dec. 26, 2015
It was all wonderful and outstanding with Vantage. The food was fabulous and the accommodations were great. The customer service was exceptional. I would never want to go on another cruise line other than them because how could you beat their service. They took care of everything.
Reviewed Dec. 25, 2015
I had a very positive experience with Vantage and I would definitely recommend them.
Reviewed Dec. 24, 2015
This was our first river cruise and we were very pleased with the trip. From the city host in Paris to the excellent host on board the ship, everything ran smoothly. Trip was beyond our expectations and will be remembered as one of the best. Our tour guides in each city were very informative and accommodating.
Reviewed Dec. 23, 2015
Vantage Deluxe World Travel has been excellent. My trip to Africa was absolutely a fantastic one. It has lots of interesting things and we had a great tour director. The only drawback of that trip was the long ride back to the airport.
Reviewed Dec. 22, 2015
We're very much pleased with everything Vantage has done and their tour guides have all been very good. We hope to use them again to book our next trip, we’re very satisfied and have recommended them to friends.
Reviewed Dec. 21, 2015
My wife and I were on a trip to Greece together and we had a great time with Vantage. We get information constantly from half a dozen different travel groups, and we like Vantage's idea of that trip because it was a small boat and a small number of people going to Greek islands. It was pretty cool and we were really happy with the guide for she was very informative.
We only had an issue with the deposit for Vantage because they wanted us to transfer funds from our bank to a bank in Greece and we had to do it at a particular deadline. At that time, Greece looked liked their banks were going default so we couldn't make a transfer for quite a long time. I kept trying to find out what was going on and I emailed Vantage, called numbers but never got any response. I guess they were just waiting to see whether Greece was gonna be bailed out by the EU. As soon as the Greece was bailed out by the EU, the money was transferred and then everything went as planned. We still plan on using Vantage for our next trips, probably around United States. We've had some experiences with other travel groups and we thought Vantage was fine so we have recommended them.
Reviewed Dec. 20, 2015
I had a very good experience with Vantage. Their tour guide was outstanding and he made the whole trip.
Reviewed Dec. 19, 2015
Excellent travel experience! We went to China and had a wonderful guide. Everything ran very smoothly and we were very pleased with our experience with Vantage Deluxe World Travel.
Reviewed Dec. 18, 2015
Our Vantage travel experience was beyond excellent, beyond our wildest dreams and it was the best trip we've ever taken. Furthermore, our tour guide and driver were excellent and the people were wonderful. The scenery on that trip was out of this world - the Italian lakes and Switzerland Swiss Alps. Save your money. If you go to Italy, don't waste your time on all the other places and go to Northern Italy. That was our third trip to Italy and it was the best. We wanted scenery, relaxation and a very good pacing and everything about the trip was wonderful.
Also, we did get a credit for the next trip but it has to be booked or taken before a year is up however, I think we'll lose that because my husband needs heart surgery and 2016 is gone. Is there a way we can carry that over to 2017? Finally, it was very easy to book a trip. We saw the ad, called them the same day and a guy helped us book it, then we sent the money and it was over. I did ask some questions and I got very good customer service back. There is a lot of competition out there, but it would only bring us to using Vantage again in our next trip depending on whether we get our credit or not.
Reviewed Dec. 17, 2015
We liked Vantage's coverage and price. They went for a longer period of time and included Kenya, whereas National Geographic only addressed Tanzania. Our travel was wonderful and everyday was a day that we looked forward to. Our accommodations were in the middle of nowhere, but that's what added a little magic to it all. It was well put together and well done. I can't give them anything other than an A to an A+. On the other hand, our tour guide David, was a wonderful man and an entertainer. He was knowledgeable and very personable, and always had a smile on his face. With that type of personality, it made me look forward to running into him.
Moreover, the Vantage people addressed all issues that I had. We had a couple of last-minute things, but in helping me, they stepped up to the plate. We had flight cancellations by the airlines the morning of the flight, and their service department just did a bang up job getting myself, as well as my sister, back into the air and to our destination in time to enjoy a very wonderful trip.
Reviewed Dec. 17, 2015
We've done tours with other companies but we do enjoy the tours we've taken with Vantage. We've been pleased with them. Our interactions with their tour guides have been generally good and some of them are exceptional.
Reviewed Dec. 15, 2015
We've done four Vantage trips. The Machu Picchu-Galapagos Islands trip was probably the most fascinating and we thought very well-done because they acclimated us to the heights and the elevation so we didn't get sick.
Reviewed Dec. 14, 2015
I traveled with a group of people who were the ones who picked Vantage because they liked a particular trip that we took. We had a very nice trip. I really enjoyed going into Switzerland and seeing the skiing town where we looked at the Matterhorn, Zermatt - that was very interesting and unique. Our tour guide was very nice and we have no problems with him or with the rest of Vantage's team of people.
Reviewed Dec. 13, 2015
My trip with Vantage was fantastic and it was an excellent experience. I saw everything and the accommodations were wonderful. Their Boston customer service center needs some upgrading, though. Other than that, I have the book and I'm getting ready to talk to somebody about them.
Reviewed Dec. 12, 2015
We went on a trip to Italy with Vantage Deluxe this year and I was not happy with Palermo in particular. The rest of the trip was very well done. We were accommodated in a historical hotel which was lovely, but it had not been redone and was filthy. The sheets were clean but there was mildew on the hallways. The carpeting was literally frayed and dirty. I called Vantage directly, and they all acted like they did nothing about this. I sent them photos and I had a lady who responded "Yes. We're on it." I talked to someone else that said "We're talking to your tour director. She'll see you tomorrow." Their answer to this terrible place was a bottle of wine which does not fix the fact that the hotel is filthy. I was dissatisfied with this experience. All the other locations were nice. I've noticed that they've taken Sicily and Palermo off their itinerary for this year.
Reviewed Dec. 11, 2015
All of my tours with Vantage except the last one exceeded our expectations. My main problem was that they listed it as low activity and we didn't think it was. There was more leisure time but when they had programs, they were as active. With many hills and stairs with no railings and long walks as any that we've taken in the past, if not more so obviously part of our problem is we're older and we have mobility problems. It wasn't what we expected.
We were also left hungry and other people complained about the same thing. Moreover, at least one of the hotels was very shabby that while the public areas were very nice, upstairs the carpets were stained. We had one chair in our room that was so shredded that it looked like a bear had clawed at it. The tour director became aware of it and had the hotel replace it. The tour director was wonderful.
Reviewed Dec. 9, 2015
We had a fantastic experience with Vantage. Our cruise director was absolutely outstanding and I would recommend her to anybody going to Greece. She was very enthused, knowledgeable, and good. Additionally, the ship and all its crew were excellent. We have recommended Vantage. In fact, we had some friends with us on the cruise and we're working with them again for another cruise.
Reviewed Dec. 8, 2015
We had a good time with Vantage Deluxe World Travel. The accommodations were good. Also, Laura, our tour guide on the Greek Islands tour was very good.
Reviewed Dec. 7, 2015
It was through a friend that we knew of Vantage Deluxe World Travel. Our friend had a happy experience with them so we went with them too. However, our first travel experience with them was poor. We had a problem travelling because the water was too high to get under the bridges. They bused us everywhere and that was very disheartening. But we gave them another shot and it was good - we had a decent experience. The director on this last cruise was fabulous too. She was absolutely terrific, very helpful, and really went out of her way. We plan on using Vantage again in the future.
Reviewed Dec. 6, 2015
I would describe Vantage in two words - fantastic and great.
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2015
The Holland trip was very nice. The Italian Lakes trips and the Swiss Alps were extremely beautiful. The Germany trip was very educational. Their tour directors, tour guides, sales and customer teams were excellent. We would use Vantage again to book our next trip. They're an outstanding company to travel with. We’ve recommended them to friends. In fact, friends have come along with us on the last two trips.
Reviewed Dec. 3, 2015
We find Vantage Deluxe World very good to travel with. We have made several trips with them. We had a thorough itinerary, very good accommodations, and excellent tour guides. We just came back from touring with them to Greece. There was a weather problem in Greece and they were able to make some very quick, good arrangement so that we could go someplace. That worked very well. It was a fantastic experience.
Reviewed Dec. 2, 2015
I would recommend Vantage. The boat we were on to France and all the people were very nice. The tour guides were wonderful in every way. It was wonderful to see the city of Paris and to go down the river through the wine country. Everything about the tour was great except walking through those medieval towns. It was raining so everybody’s got an umbrella, and there were so many old people with pains slowing the group down.
Reviewed Nov. 27, 2015
My experience with Vantage Deluxe World Travel was very good. I book with them a trip on the upper part of the Seine in France and it was fine. We went to Giverny which I had always intended to go and I had always missed it then. Everything went well. Our tour guide was very capable. He spoke French very well even though he was American-born. He spoke loudly and made instructions clear. He did a very satisfactory service. In fact, he gave us a tour which had been cancelled because of lack of interest but there were some of us who still wanted it, and he went out of his way for it. I have already booked with them on my next trip to Portugal.
Reviewed Nov. 26, 2015
One of my friends went on one of Vantage Deluxe's trips and had a catalog. Since there was a tour to Nepal and Bhutan which where I wanted to go to, I went with them. The most recent trip I had with Vantage was a safari trip in Kenya and Tanzania. I got to spend a lot of time with the animals there. Their tour directors and guides were great. They know what they're doing, know about the country, what the people want to do, and were very attentive to details to make sure that everyone is having a good experience. As for their sales and customer service, they're helpful when I call to set something up, however, they could be more responsive. I have experienced having a couple of calls unanswered so I had to chase them a bit. But I heard from the tour guide when it got closer to the trip.
Reviewed Nov. 24, 2015
We’ve taken five trips with Vantage Deluxe World Travel. We liked the way they set up their trips and we’ve never been disappointed with any one of them. Recently, we went to South Africa and we had very good tour guides and accommodations. Weather was very good, too. We got to see schools and villages which we have done with Vantage before in other countries. We also went to Mandela’s cell on Robben Island, Cape Town. We saw many elephants in Botswana and Chobe. It was a very good experience all the way around. They gave us the information we needed before we took off.
Reviewed Nov. 21, 2015
I heard about Vantage Deluxe through another traveler on a different trip. They are more upscale than some and they stay in nicer hotels, better located than many others. I've been on several travels with them and I've never yet been disappointed. The hotels and meals are wonderful and the tour guides are exquisite. And I can never even have a slight complaint about them as they have been absolutely perfect.
My most recent trip with Vantage Deluxe was the Serengeti, Tanzania and Kenya. The guide was phenomenal and the hotels are gorgeous – all-wood balconies overlooking the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro crater, Amboseli National Park, on and on. Seeing the animals in their natural habitat was phenomenal. The meals were all wonderful and the itinerary was slow. They don't skimp.
I'm a well-travelled person and I'm very picky but I can say that the tour directors and the tour guides have all been to perfection. Their customer service team is good and I personally have never had a problem with them. They've always assisted me properly on any reservations and any questions. I plan to go to China and Tibet next time and I will absolutely book Vantage Deluxe World Travel again.
Reviewed Nov. 18, 2015
We've travelled with Vantage Deluxe for years and we've had very good experiences with them. Their sales and customer service teams have always been very helpful. And for our last trip, we went to France along the Seine River from Paris out to the North Sea, English Channel. We've always gotten what we were after when we've dealt with them. And most likely, we'll book a trip through them again.
Reviewed Nov. 16, 2015
My wife has taken 15 trips. I think the Danube trip was the first one that we took. And then, she decided to try Vantage and she has gone with Vantage ever since. We went to Latin America and we took the prequel to Peru and we enjoyed it very much. We enjoyed the immersion in Inca culture on the prequel, and so we went to Machu Picchu. We went to Cusco and stayed at a very nice mountain-type resort where we looked at the tops of the mountains from so high up. We went on to Chile and then to Montevideo and then Buenos Aires and Rio. We enjoyed every stop. We did not have any complaints. We thought the guides did a very good job as they usually always do and I think that other than watery omelets in the morning which they were always offering, everything was great. I did try them and that was the only thing that we would do a little better. The hotels were very nice. The bathrooms and beds were wonderful.
The tour director was a girl by the name of Lucilia who picked us up in Chile. In Peru, we had a young man that was from Cusco, and they both were very considerate, worried about everybody, went out of their way to show us little extra things that were very important to them. And both of them were very big on getting to know the local people and the local cultures and so forth, which we like doing instead of just finding pizza places to eat in or hang out in the hotel all the time.
We were only with one other couple in Peru and they got sick in Chile. He had had a car accident and his back started to hurt and she got terrible coughing issues. I know that Lucilia had a horrible time getting them flown out, but she spent a great deal of time mothering them and taking care of them and taking care of the rest of us at the same time. So I think they were very caring and very interested that we have a successful time.
My wife is definitely planning to use Vantage to book our next trip. She gets the upgrades and the extra considerations, so she is kind of hooked on it. She's talking about going to the Peruvian Amazon. She usually has time staring at this huge scrapbook that she made which we've already shown several people with her pictures and her souvenirs. So we're very pleased with Vantage.
Thank you for taking the time to write a review on our behalf. I am glad that your wife and yourself have enjoyed all of your trips with us. I see she is traveling with us to Patagonia next year. Hopefully we will see you again soon as well. Happy Holidays.
Reviewed Nov. 15, 2015
A friend that had gone on a Vantage trip told us about them. We like their price, itinerary and the fact that almost all of the extra trips are included. There’s very few that are extras when you’re on your trip. We recently went on the Seine from Paris up to Honfleur and to the beaches of Normandy, and then back to Paris. Omaha beach and the beaches of Normandy were the highlight and the reason we chose that trip. We wanted to go there. This was our fourth trip with Vantage and we will probably use them for our next one. We haven't decided what we're going to do yet, but of course we get enough catalogs.
Everybody at Vantage has always been nice, very knowledgeable, friendly and organized. The food's also good and everything went very smoothly. The only thing is, we're getting older and that trip to Europe is getting to be cumbersome. We're hoping for some things in the United States. We did go on the tour of the national parks a couple of summers ago, and that was great. So we're looking at things closer to home.
Reviewed Nov. 14, 2015
We've traveled with Vantage Deluxe World Travel so many times now. Since I travel with them, I get better prices. My most recent trip was to Norway on the ferry boat which I don't think anybody else even does. We went to all the fjords and it was just absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect, the water was calm, and the people were nice. It was wonderful and we had a very good time. The tour director for Vantage was super. We loved her. And the tour director for the ship itself was wonderful too. We had no problems with them.
The only problem I had was with the airline because I had asked them when I made the reservation a long time ago that I wanted to upgrade my seat to a Comfort seat. I called Delta to do that and they said, "We don't have your reservations yet from Vantage." So I called Vantage and they said, "Oh yes, we'll take care of that." So a couple of days later, I called again and they had not taken care of it. I think it was two weeks later because I kind of forgot it. When I first tried to make the reservation, the upgrade seats would've been $80. By the time Vantage finished paying up what they owed to Delta, my seats went up to $102, so I was a little ticked. Vantage made good, though. They gave me a refund or a credit. It worked out. But if the airline department had been on the ball, we wouldn't have to go through all the hassle to get through. We still plan to use Vantage to book our next trip. I've recommended them to many people.
Reviewed Nov. 12, 2015
We’ve been travelers for many, many years. There are few places we haven’t been, and we are very satisfied with the services of Vantage Deluxe World Travel. Everything went just as it’s supposed to and we have booked a total of seven trips with them. We are using them again on our next travel, to Portugal.
Reviewed Nov. 11, 2015
We've been with Vantage two previous times. We did Eastern Europe and the National Parks Tour. It was wonderful. Our tour director was probably the best we've ever had, Leylys **, but we did have a bit of a problem with the tour the first day in the Galapagos, but that was the guides there. They spoke to our tour director and he got it straightened around, and everything else was lovely. He did a great job and took care of everybody. We had one lady on the tour that needed a better room every time and he was a saint to deal with her.
We went to the upper Amazon, saw the pink dolphins up there and did the night hike with the tarantulas. We met the indigenous people, shot the blow dart gun and danced with them. The Machu Picchu was amazing and the other towns where they had other Incan ruins or even places where people are still living in Incan houses. The construction was just amazing. The rose plantation was beautiful. The food was always wonderful. The home-hosted lunch was really nice as usual.
The "middle of the world" deal right on the equator was fun. They let you balance an egg on a nail head and it works if you got the right technique. Doing the water swirling on the north side, south side and on the equator doesn't work at all. It just goes straight down. And it's funny they let you walk the line of the equator with your eyes closed and arms out. You can't walk a straight line with your eyes closed because the forces on your arms make you walk like you're drunk. It was fun.
The tour directors were all great. Reynaldo was great and wonderful. He was the one that we had on the Machu Picchu. Ari in the Amazon was fantastic. He knew all the little animals, lizards, snakes, birds, you name it. We got to go fish and eat piranha and it was really good. It has a nutty flavor to it. We got to eat guinea pig and the delicacy of Ecuador and Peru. We also got the Indian beer, Chicha and an Ecuadorian potato soup which is wonderful.
So obviously I enjoyed myself very much. Everything was fine with them. But the one thing I think they need to put in their instructions is to indicate what can be charged and which ones you have to pay cash for. That makes a big difference in how much money you take with you. We found we didn't have to pay the ship, we could charge it. That was almost $259, but we brought cash because we didn't know we could charge it. It's nice to not carry quite as much cash with you. It would simplify things for people. That aside, we've recommended Vantage to all our friends and we plan to use them for another trip.
Reviewed Nov. 10, 2015
I've traveled with Vantage before and we traveled with them again because they had the location and the trip that we're interested in. It was The Provence River Cruise in the south of France. It was very well organized. Great people run the boat especially George, who was fabulous. He gave us our talks at night, told us what we were going to be doing. Everybody couldn't have been nicer. The food was great. The trip is very relaxing and the side tours they took us on were very nice. Maya was the concierge who was also wonderful.
The tour guides were all wonderful, in every city there was someone who specialized in that particular area. I wouldn't have any complaints about them, they were easy to understand and that's a plus. A number of them actually were Brits - they weren't even who lived in the area but even if they weren't, they were terrific. The number of people in the group was good too. They broke us up into different groups and the use of the earphones was very good, so you didn't have to be next to the guy the whole time to hear what was being said. If Vantage is doing what we want to do next, I would absolutely consider Vantage again.
Reviewed Nov. 9, 2015
I incurred a back problem during our trip in Ireland. We left on September 19 from the United States, arrived in Ireland on the 20th, and we departed on the 2nd of October. The difficulty occurred while we were staying in Galway. Upon arrival, we were given a rather teensy looking little bus for three days to accommodate us for the trip. The next to the last day coming back home to the hotel, the entire shock system of the bus went kaput and we were tossed around quite a bit. I was sitting at the back end of the bus and I was really jolted to the point where I even hit my head at the rack above. I'm seeing a doctor because of the back problem I have now and lost quite a few days of full benefit of my trip. I thought Vantage can accord us some compensation on our next trip.
Gemma was a phenomenal and fantastic tour director. During our travel they could see that I was completely handicapped in terms of my mobility. She said, "I am also documenting the matter." She also suggested that I write a letter to the chairman, which I did. I've been around the world and traveled quite a bit and I would say Gemma was the top notch tour director I've ever encountered. Capability-wise, she was more than outstanding. I'm very much satisfied with Vantage and prefer them over the other two companies that I've traveled with. In fact we are looking at Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula as our next destination and I intend to use Vantage for that next trip.
Reviewed Nov. 9, 2015
I have dealt with Vantage Deluxe World Travel for so long now that I can't even remember when we took our first trip with them. Our most recent one we just returned from was down the Croatian Coast on a La Perla, little boat and it was excellent. Everything was excellent. The food, the weather, well, we did have one day of rain, but one day out of fifteen, that's not bad. We were quite happy with the passengers and the accommodation. Our tour director was absolutely great. Darko was our tour director on that particular one and he knew everything about the region. He told us all kinds of things and took us on all kinds of little hidden places. It was a wonderful thing.
Everything went smoothly with the sales and customer service teams. As far as getting information and that type of stuff, they're all very courteous and responsive. Very seldom have I found one that was not particularly helpful. I was not overly happy with the airline but I don't know how much control Vantage has with that. We flew Lufthansa which I was not overly happy with and they would not give me a seat until I just kept insisting. Finally, I called Vantage again and they did issue me seats.
When we got to the airport, we found out that the seats that they had issued us going over didn't take into the system, which sounds odd to me but the ones she gave me coming home was valid. So part of it they took and I just don't understand things like that and why they can't. In fact, I called the first time and I think they said I called Lufthansa directly and they said, I think it was like $30 apiece. They wanted to just reserve the seat for us. I thought that was ridiculous. That's why I called Vantage and they say they did issue seats but it just turned out that the trip over didn't work out. Still I'm very satisfied. In fact, I recommended several of my friends. I received bonuses from Vantage a couple of times because I recommended passengers. I've recommended friends and they've booked seats.
Reviewed Nov. 7, 2015
I was so impressed with the trip to Norway that I did with Vantage back in 2009 that I repeated it, and this time I took my wife. It was a cruise up the coast of Norway on what they call a "Hurtigruten Ships" and it takes about 14 days. It stops at 34 little ports along the way, and it's very scenic. The service is good, the food is excellent, and I'm very happy with the tour leader that Vantage supplied. She was very good, confident, capable and a great communicator. She looked after 40 of us people very well. She worked long hours and as we expected, was very knowledgeable about Norway. She spoke it and several other languages, like Spanish, German and French. There were some people who spoke those and she could handle them. I would definitely use them again and I would recommend them.
Reviewed Nov. 5, 2015
Our travel with Vantage Deluxe was fantastic! Everything in Paris was wonderful. However, a week prior to our original trip, we ran into a problem. They called us, told they had overbooked and we’re going to have to change our departure date for ten days later. We are both retired so it doesn’t matter to us. As it turned out, it worked out much better leaving ten days later. The week prior, it rained every day. The week we went, the weather was gorgeous every day.
Another problem was that the tour left on a different day, so we weren’t able to go see the Louvre. So we booked a tour on our own on the day that we arrived in France and we ended up we did see the Louvre. It was wonderful. Nevertheless, everything about the cruise is wonderful. We had a great time with everyone. The food was great and the service was wonderful. The staff was fantastic. The cruise director was phenomenal. I mean he couldn’t do enough for anybody. We plan on using Vantage Deluxe World Travel again on our next trip.
Reviewed Nov. 4, 2015
One of the Vantage's advertisements was on the Norway trip, and the photos and video they had sold me on it. So I joined their Norway trip back in September and it was wonderful. I love the small ship and they had done very well with accommodations and the food. Also, our tour leader was superb. However, I realized that it ended up costing a lot to get all the things I needed. The insurance was expensive and there were add-ons here and there. But the main reason I would not go with Vantage again is some of the many people on the trip never even knew they had a credit, others knew they had the credit and used it, and I didn’t get a credit. I booked early and I didn’t pay all at once, and if it was a sales thing, I don’t think that should matter. So I wouldn't go with them again.
Reviewed Nov. 2, 2015
We went to South Africa on our first trip with Vantage and we loved it. The company was referred to us. Recently, we travelled to Ireland and we enjoyed the trip in every way. The wonderful thing that happened to us was that we were welcomed, hugged and kissed by the Prime Minister of Ireland. Our guide and drivers were excellent. The place that they took us was number one. What makes the difference in these tours is the quality, the people and the attitude of each individual in the groups. We had a great, great trip with these people. Gemma, the director, was excellent. She had a good sense of humor and guidance. She talked about wonderful places and brought people to the hotels that she knew, to entertain the group. We have booked another trip with Vantage. We are going to Burma this January 26th. I'd recommend this company!
Reviewed Oct. 29, 2015
I've been with Vantage Deluxe World Tour 16 times. The best they provide was travel with you. They're always very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. It's the same thing with the local guys they pick up although we did have a problem once, but it was not Vantage's fault because they had no choice in the matter. That's because, in Galapagos, we're assigned guides. Any native of the place can be assigned as one. There was this one kid who was a pain in the tail and he tried to irritate us. We're old and we were going up on a fairly steep path to the top of one of the craters of the islands. We complained that he was going too fast. He did end up two-stepping and half-stepping it the rest of the way. But I've done a bunch of recommending for Vantage. I've also got another one lined up with them already. It'll be in Spain in September.
Reviewed Oct. 27, 2015
A friend had recommended Vantage Deluxe to us a number of years ago. On our 5th trip with them, we went to South America and the tour guide was very good. However, when we’ve just booked a trip to Africa one of the prices went down and because we booked it a year in advance, we’re paying more than if we booked it now. But the salespeople are very responsive and polite when they said that's their policy. But overall, we're very happy with Vantage. In fact, we have recommended them to friends.
Reviewed Oct. 25, 2015
We've been traveling with Vantage Deluxe for seven years and had seven trips with them. They've all been wonderful that's why we keep going back. We really like the way they handle everything and we like the excursions they offer. I don't have any complaints at all. I don't know where they get their people from but they're absolutely incredible. The program directors were so efficient. I'm always totally amazed. The program directors did everything the first few years and then in recent years, they've gone to city guides. No complaints with the city guides either. They're so knowledgeable. I can't think of any negative.
Reviewed Oct. 24, 2015
We were very pleased with the friendly and helpful attitude of the entire staff throughout the cruise, in spite of the inclement weather. The food was excellently prepared each day and very delicious. The ship, although not the newest, was well appointed and the state room very adequate. We were especially pleased with Teddy, our cabin steward.
Reviewed Oct. 23, 2015
Vantage Deluxe's accommodations are wonderful. The guides are excellent and that's why I've traveled with them eight times now. I am already booked for another trip with them to Eastern Europe. They are always available if you have a question. They are on top of things all the way around and I have recommended them numerous times.
Reviewed Oct. 23, 2015
Extraordinary trip - well thought out to provide excitement, important sites, historical information, meet and greet local people including knowledgeable guides. A good balance between fast paced exciting safari drives and more leisure time to shop and explore areas for local crafts. The perfectly balanced trip. The Mabula experience was tremendous and should be highly encouraged. It is a fabulous intro to what lies ahead.
Reviewed Oct. 22, 2015
River cruise - Excellent company in every aspect. Will travel with Vantage anytime anywhere.
Reviewed Oct. 22, 2015
This was our second Vantage trip. The first was in Peru/Ecuador/Galapagos. Based on the excellent experience in South America, we booked our first river cruise with Vantage. It was more than we expected. The MS River Venture had 134 guests, very professional and friendly staff, and awesome food. The guides were all very knowledgeable. Our next European river cruise will definitely be a Vantage cruise!
Reviewed Oct. 19, 2015
I learned about Vantage Deluxe from a friend and I've been with them on two river cruises - both have been quite nice. When we were in Germany, our tour guide Jessie was super. She was knowledgeable and engaging - she was everywhere. In a couple years, we'll use Vantage again.
Reviewed Oct. 16, 2015
We've been to Danube and we just got back from the Rhine and we will more than likely use Vantage again on another vacation. The tour guides were awesome. They've always been, though they did a little different this time. In the first trip we took we had a guide that came on our bus because we had a tour guide for each group and I noticed this time they just had a tour guide for the whole bunch. But she would switch from buses to buses and make sure she's with different people all the time.
The food is excellent and the people on the ship are good. Why anybody would complain is beyond me because the the first trip was only seven days and this one was almost three weeks and I have no complaint whatsoever. The whole crew knows how to treat people, even the captain this time was very personal. The only thing I would complain about is that when we first went, they had a fast-walking group and we missed that because this time they had a slow-walking group.
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Company Information
- Company Name:
- Vantage Deluxe World Travel
- Year Founded:
- 1983
- Address:
- 90 Canal Street #100
- City:
- Boston
- State/Province:
- MA
- Postal Code:
- 02114
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.vantagetravel.com
