TRAVELER REVIEWS

There's no better way to learn what a trip is like than from the firsthand experiences of your fellow travelers, and our Traveler Reviews are the real deal—unbiased and unedited—giving you an honest appraisal of the experiences that await you on this trip.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

A wonderful cruise director and concierge were very helpful in keeping the whole enterprise moving and focused. They were present, helpful, directive but not pushy. The local tours were excellent as usual, transportation and guides excellent.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

An exciting and interesting trip with a clean, comfortable cabin (single cabin Odessey deck), exceptionally knowledgeable and personable local tour guides, great food, immaculately clean ship, terrific tour director and concierge, exceptionally polite and attentive wait and reception desk staff. excellent value for the price. Traveling with Vantage again!

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Martin and Steve made sure that I could communicate to my back to back trip on MS River Venture, without which we would not have been picked up at the airport. I was overjoyed to realize Martin was going to be my Cruise Director again.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

After this trip was cancelled in October, 2018, the company rescheduled us for October, 2019 (which was one of three options given to us). It was WORTH THE WAIT! So glad that Vantage did not try to bus us around due to low water levels. They took such good care of us with how this was handled.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Very pleasant cruise, with all people involved, from the crew, to the staff, as well as the most friendly fellow cruisers we could have imagined. Although our first river cruise, we have done ocean cruises and a land tour, and this cruise is simply not to be missed.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

An excellent trip with many interesting and informative tours which were well organized. The dining staff were always helpful particularly Zosanna, Bodgan and Wenni being outstanding. Veronica our tour director was excellent.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Great and enjoyable trip. Staff was excellent. Loved just cruising the Rhine in the morning and Moselle Rivers in the afternoon

Two suggestions I would change
1. After the tour of Colmar and the Alsace Wine Area I think most of us on the day tour would like to have ended the day by enjoying a wine tasting in the afternoon. Rather than going to the small town and walking up the village Main Street and back down and then getting on the bus. We were in a major wine area and a wine tasting would seem appropriate
2. The visit and guide to the Luxembourg American Cemetery was a wonderful opportunity to visit. Our Cemetery guide was excellent. But really nothing in Luxembourg town worth a guided tour.

Martin is an EXCELLENT tour director. Very well organized planned and personable. Also excellent presentation of the next day events.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This trip was super! We really enjoyed every aspect, but Strassbourg, Berncastle and Montreux were our favorites. I can't say enough about Montreux..you have to experience it. We are so glad we purchased the add on. Strassbourgh cathedral brought me to tears and Berncastle is just charming. My husbandnlike Trier, the colusium..loved the gladiator stuff. Everyone was wonderful from Kurt our cruise director and of course our favorite person Enio, the Hotel Director was fantastic, as usual. We just enjoyed the whole trip.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This trip is wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Our very favorite was Strassbourg, and Montreux, but all was great. This was our 10th and hope to book another soon. Kurt, our Cruise Director is a really great guy, and wonderful cruise director. Adrienn the consierge onboard is a sweetie, and Enio the Hotel Manager is hard to beat. Whole trip is great.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

I did the pre-extension to Montreux in addition to the river cruise. I had a great time. Our cruise director Irna, was awesome and super helpful whenever we had questions. The staff on the ship were exceptional. They were always super cheerful and did their best to make sure we were satisfied and happy with the service. I don't know how they do it, but by the 2nd day they knew and greeted us by our name which was very impressive. The food was incredible. I am so glad they had a gym as well as bikes otherwise I don't know that I would have happily gained a few pounds. The locations we traveled to were beautiful. Every town we visited was charming in its own way and we were given plenty of time to explore on our own, which was always nice. This was my first river cruise and based on my experience, I would do it again.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Ship and cabin were excellent. Having 2 smoking stations topside was not good and a lot of us were very upset about it. You should only allow smoking aft in the future. The food got better as the cruise continued. Cruise talks were excellent and bartender was excellent. Went to both cooking classes and was disappointed in both. You should have the entrance from outside chained during class as people coming in disrupted the presentation and microphone was needed.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

The river voyage standards bar has been raised one more time by Martin and Steve. Attention to detail by Vantage has always been excellent, however the touch of arranging boarding passes and checking luggage through to return destination was excellent. The assistance at the air terminal to run passports through recognition devices and aid to the correct airline clerks to receive our luggage was flawless, a touch reflecting their continued focus on the customer. Thank you! Looking forward to the Celtic Cruise.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This was an amazing eye opening
adventure; Our cruise Director Renita was very special in making it a completely enjoyable experience:
our meals we’re excellent... fun & exciting aided by Leenka
& Zuzanna...

We hope to enjoy many more cruises with Vantage and bring our friends with us... All our dealing with Vantage were Top Notch... The airport transfers
we’re very smooth... Thank you all for making this vacation memorable .
Ron, Donna Scelza

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Outstanding visit to Switzerland. This was due to the amazing organizational and people skills of our cruise director. His commentary was interesting, appropriate and well timed! We laughed and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

We loved it. We will probably do it again.


Thanks.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

There are not enough superb words to rate Bogdan, Svetlyo and the rest of the staff. Everyone treated us with the highest regard of respect, concern, excitement and joy to make our trip one to always remember. They bent over backwards to try and make up for the disappointment of losing 5 days of the cruise which was certainly out of their control. The wait staff was excellent. Kuntay was the gentleman we dealt with the most and he along with the others, made meal time a wonderful experience. I want to thank the entire crew of the MS Voyager!!!!!

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Great trip as always. Staff and accommodations were wonderful. We had to leave early due to a death in the family and our cruise director was so helpful and compassionate. She helped us get our flights changed and get the train to the airport ect. We love traveling with Vantage.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Beautiful cruise the ship was lovely staff very good but the night life did not exist at all Very few attempts were made to gather people on the boat to have some fun in the bar area after dinner. The captain made every attempt to keep the boat moving on the rivers as the water was so low and we appreciated the fact that we could stay on the boat and not have to go to a hotel

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Overall my best cruise in many years. I LOVED cruising the rivers, and applaud the Captain and staff for making the necessary changes in itinerary to keep us on the ship. Busing and hotels would NOT have made for a good vacation. Of course the dry and warm weather was a big plus too!!!
The ship was beautiful and very clean, more than adequate storage in cabins and well stocked. My only negative is the VERY slick tile in the bathroom and showers! There should be a rubber mat provided in all cabins for the shower, as not to have to ask for one for safety!! Also I question why there is no public restrooms on the restaurant level? Going up and down stairs if needed during a meal is pretty inconvenient.

Tours were excellent and well organized, applaud and praise to Veronika the Cruise Director. She went above and beyond to make everyone happy, safe and well informed. My favorite day was helping with the harvest, picking grapes and then a tour and wonderful lunch at the vineyard. Perfect day.

My friend and I biked at every opportunity, and of course the perfect weather was part of that enjoyment. The equipment provided is of excellent quality and easy to operate. We found the concierge not at all helpful in suggesting bike routes in the port stops or providing maps or suggestions when asked!

The lite dining option for lunch and dinner was excellent, smaller room, great grill and buffet choices. However the 9AM available "Grab and Go" was often AFTER the tours left at 8:30AM, maybe alter the time on that???

I look forward to my next Vantage River cruise, hopefully in 2020...........

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

The Switzerland the Heart of the Rhine was an excellent journey. The staff was excellent to work with of any questions or concerns. Housekeeping was maintained professionally. The food was excellent prepared and the Dining Staff was accommodating and fun and entertaining. Captain and Crew were very professional on this sailing adventure.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This was our first Vantage Tour. We loved it! From the very beginning in Lucerne to the very end we felt very well cared for. The tours are very educational and gives just enough of a taste of the area that you just want to go back and explore more. The boat was wonderful, we had a suite and loved everything about it. The staff was exceptional, and worked very hard to meet our every need. Our Cruise Director KURT was delightful, he is so skilled in his job he never missed a beat. We got to know several of the staff and loved them all. The food was amazing, we liked the more casual option of dinner in the informal dining lounge as well as the formal dinners. We met some amazing fellow passengers on the ship, most of them veteran Vantage travelers, which speaks well for this company. We liked the blend of activity and yet enough quiet time to feel truly relaxed and rejuvenated when finished. The variety of beautiful scenery, historical aspects, luxury of the surroundings, the comfortable pace, the accommodating staff, professional leaders and directors all combine to assure that we will return and do many more travel adventures. My friend and I already are planning our next one.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Our cruise exceeded our expectations in almost every way! The staff was all excellent; from the cabin steward, laundry service, food preparation, tour director, captain - all excellent. The captain in particular was outgoing, always friendly and helpful. Even with bicycles!! Our cruise director, Martin has a difficult job keeping people happy, but he accomplished that job with patience and professionalism. As for suggestions: wish there would have been more choices for dinner. I thought we were very limited. I would also recommend docking closer to city centers so you could easily walk to and from the ship to shop or explore. Some of our ports were isolated. BUT, with that said, I would choose Vantage again for the value, comfort and destination.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Outstanding adventure. Thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the trip. Well worth the money. River Voyager has an excellent Captain and crew. The food is absolutely delicious with many options. Service throughout the ship was second to none.

Switzerland, the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This trip was superb! Vantage has done well with complimentary beer and wine with dinner and other changes! Vantage is definitely my choice for future river cruises!!!!! The quality of the ship and crew was wonderful.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Great Cruise for our small group. Everything was great for us except for how the Cruise Directors are setup - only one per cruise as opposed to three per cruise as in 2012. Jessica was great and would rate her the best female Cruise Director we have had a pleasure to be with. She was very knowledgeable and got things done. Joseph, our third cruise with him, was great as usual.
The only complaint was the Concierge, Renalto, who I trust will never be on a cruise with us again. We tried to book a future cruise with him and he was totally confused in his broken English and therefore was unable to communicate with members of our group. He also could not handle in port requests, and in fact, advised us incorrectly where the boat was docked in Koln - this 1/2 mile error, cost us in making our lunch at the Chocolate Museum.
Our group is now looking forward to traveling with Vantage again in 2019

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This was a very good trip for our seventh Vantage cruise. The ship was impeccable with both the hotel manager and the dining room manager setting the standards with their own excellent wok to provide a good example for their young staffs.
Our room seemed better designed than other vantage cabins
The one negative on the trip was the remote docking spots assigned Vantage and the odd fact that at one point we were within about a mile of the Maginot Line Museum that many would have visited had we been told.
The day trips were interesting and the Vantage norm. Many younger travelers would have like a fast walkers group to avoid a few hours of shuffling half steps in each locale.
Jessica Csonka the tour director was outstanding, fully in control and projecting a carefree attitude at the same time.
Out food was very good as is the norm. I learned several things on this trip, for me the mark of a good cruise.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

We were very pleased with the shipboard staff, the city guides, the cruise director, and the captains. Everyone worked as a team. We watched everyone remove garbage from the ship, the captain was on hand to help reboarding the ship and especially when the steps were less than stable, the hotel manager greeted us each time we returned to the ship and the consierge saw off each day. The tours, daily activities, programs and entertainment were excellent. You thought of our pleasure, safety and comfort each day. We especially enjoy the home visit. What a wonderful couple we had coffee with. The local people treated us very well also and the people in Lucerne who when they found out many of us wanted to travel to Mt. Pilates because of the beautiful weather, put together a tour guide and a bus plus boat to accommodate us. All Jutta did was call to ask if there was room for 6 of us and they took it from there. I especially enjoyed the cooking demos. The chef was great and his new assistant did a great job. I’ve probably forgotten other things I wanted to mention, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Thank you.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This cruise was timed and planned in sync with the crush in the German wineries. This meant stops at key wine towns, particularly along the Mosel river. The River Voyager is a very smooth and quiet ship, and the ports of call and their related programs were very well planned. The most outstanding feature of this Vantage tour was the attitude of the ship's crew and the cruise staff. I cannot recall a cruise where everyone was so appreciative of the passengers. At the top of my list is the Cruise Director, Jessi Csonka. Jessi is personable, genuine and extremely competent. Next time you need some cats herded, think about contacting Jessi.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Thank you for a wonderful cruise with delightful weather. We had an excellent cruise director, George. I have a disability of walking very much. At first, I had trouble interpreting how much walking would be involved each day from George's description. Once I mentioned this to him, and he saw how difficult it was for me, he was more specific about what was involved. Most days I did the trips, but three days of the 15 day tour I chose to stay on the ship. The friends I went with confirmed upon their return that I made the correct choice. Thank you George for everything you did to make this a glorious trip.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This is my second cruise of this specific area-culinary focus the first time. This was just as beautiful, enjoyable, and surprising as the first time. That really sums it up. Very good quality, dependability and interest the second time around. It is hard to top that sort of experience.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Our Cruise Director Jessica went out of her way to accommodate a member of our German family find a way to meet up with us. She also shepherded all 150 members of our cruise professionally, calmly and with her brilliant personality! The chef prepared the most amazing soups and our servers were so efficient and warm.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Wonderful trip with great staff. Our concierge was leaving after this trip to have a baby. She was great as was the cruise director. I need gluten-free, dairy-free meals and I had a fabulous server most of the time named Gayla. She is so kind and helpful and works very hard!

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Very well executed trip. Our first river cruise and we loved it. We did get tired because you really keep us going. Wish we would have had more free time but didn't want to miss any of the sights, either. The wait staff made the trip when they would joke around with us. Thomas was exceptional, warm, entertaining and also very efficient!! Moni and Thomas make a great team. We appreciated the organization of the bus tours and the mic system to hear the guides. There was very little waiting and the length of the tours was just right. A recommendation might be to have a guided shopping excursion with someone taking us to popular clothing stores with time to purchase. Americans want European styles!! Good job Vantage! We may do this again sometime!!

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This is an excellent cruise with a very nice itinerary. Everyone on the ship from Captain to crew would go out of their way to make things enjoyable. The sightseeing from the ship was excellent and the tours were all very good. The wine was flowing and meals were first rate.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

This is our second trip with your company. All exceeded our expection.
Jessi, the Cruise Director is excellent, she is diplomatic, well organized and an effective communicator. We will travel with your company in the future.

Wine Discovery on Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Tessa is a super star. We would travel with her anytime.
Keep her happy !

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Excellent itinerary with a fantastic host and staff.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Lovely trip with excellent trip leader and support staff.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Nice ports; however, dining service is a little lacking. Still waiting for 2 days now to receive the sprite I ordered for dinner! Would like to have more daylight sailing time.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

The whole experience was just Excellent! Have already recommended Friends and Family to this company exclusively.It is very true and part of the title .

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise. The staff, the home stay for dinner, the tours were all excellent. We found Jessica, the cruise director, and Agnes, the concierge particularly friendly and helpful. The accommodations were clean and comfortable. We look forward to the next cruise in the Spring.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

The trip was excellent in terms of the views, the staff and the experiences we had at each port of call. The Mosel river part of the trip was especially enjoyable. The only exception was the trip to Trier. The pacing was a disaster. We would up with 40 minutes of time to "explore" on our own when we needed 4 hours. Should have had lunch on our own and visited the winery later.

Major problem with Vantage travel. They continue to cause us problems. They called us several weeks prior to the trip and assured us we had 2 seats together for trip back from Switzerland to Chicago. When we arrived at the airport that could not be further from the truth. I had to spend a great deal of time with Swiss Airlines to straighten out the problems caused by Vantage travel. This is not the first time they caused us trouble...it is the third time. I have no confidence in them. This travel experience will certainly influence whether we travel with Vantage again.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

We had a wonderful experience and the staff were most accommadating and made this first trip outstanding. The diner in a local home was a treat. The city tours were interesting to a point until the guide became monotonous and talked about things that were not interesting to us. The bikes on board ship that were available for our use was a nice added feature and we used them several times. Thank you for a great experience.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

A fantastic journey. From meeting new friends to the friendly crew to venturing into old,but new, Europe this is an adventure we will savor for a long time.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

What a wonderful trip. I enjoyed every aspect so much. I never thought that traveling could be such a relaxing experience, but Vantage took care of every detail. All I did was sit back and enjoy it. Oh, and did I mention the food, how wonderful, everything was like a slice of heaven.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

My husband and I just returned from our first river cruise. We did the pre trip to Brugges and then spent 14 nights on the River Navigator from Amsterdam to Basel. The crew was fabulous, the itinerary was fabulous, the variety of tours was fabulous, the food was fabulous and I can honestly say that we have absolutely no complaints or recommendations for improvement. The entire "family" that ran this wonderful vacation were wonderful and we can't wait to book another trip with Vantage. We talked with many fellow passengers and the majority were repeat travelers with Vantage and that spoke volumes to us. There were very few that this was their first trip with this company. When you spend 14 days and get to know your fellow travelers, we would have heard complaints if there were any and the only ones I heard was how much everyone would have to diet when they got home after eating three huge wonderful meals every day!!

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Beautiful trip it was well organized & efficiently run by staff & crew. Our program manager Renee was very knowledgeable & personable he made the trip educational & entertaining .I had birthday while on the trip & they made it special.We were always well informed with our daily programs of itineraries & menus.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

We've already given a detailed review of this wonderful cruise. Just wanted to add that the only negative comment was the wine tasting and dinner at the winery outside of Trier. Cute place. However, the same winery was used on the President's cruise in 2011, and the smoked, barbecue pork wasn't any better then than it was on the cruise this year. Tough and rather dry. Maybe the group should order something different the next time, something like wiener schnitzel and french fries. I know the barbecue pork was a specialty of the place, but it was less than delicious.

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Again another great trip with Vantage Travel... This trip was especially pleasant because our Vantage Manager, Barbara S., She was "peppy", well informed and a joy to be around... She also accompanied sixteen of our group on the post trip to Lucerne,Switzerland !!! We will do more Vantage travels !!! Fondly, Chrisey (Shirley), and David DeCamp

Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle

Awesome - the entire trip. Our program manager Nico is remarkable, professional, knowledgeable & is available for questions. The chef Igor comes out to greet the passengers almost nightly - very enthusiastic and pleasant. A fantastic trip, is everything I expected for. I will travel with Vantage again.