Has anyone had experience with Vantage Tours? Are considering a cruise to England, but have trouble calling (on hold over 20 minutes) and have friends whose air arrangements with Vantage have not been good. Has anyone else had good or bad experience?

We have travelled with Vantage twice. We are booked for our third. Their Customer service is seriously lacking. I believe they need to hire more people to tend to their cutomers. What we have found is that once underway (on cruises) things go very well. However, we are very dissatisfied with trying to unsuccessfuly communicate with them about ongoing concerns with our booking. If things to do not improve we will book elsewhere next time.

Aren`t they kin to Grand Circle? I read members of the same family run both.

Yes, they are owned by brothers. We have had one trip with GCT, to Egypt. It was wonderful, beginning to end.

Have been on one Vantage cruise which was wonderful from start to finish. Have booked another for March and anticipate another fine time. Seems to me that they are reasonable, in that many side trips are included so you really don't have to spend any $$ unless you want souveniers or alcohol. What do you all think about their pricing?

Seems like there have been some horror stories here about one of these two Companies but can not recall which one. You might want to do some searching. Had to do with a river cruise last year that ended up being on a ratty old bus instead and Company refused to make any refunds etc. Just thought you better check it out before you spend your money.

Loved our trip to South America with Vantage 10/06. We're booked for Russia in 2007. The trip to South America was extremely well-run. I was amazed, given the scope of the trip, how well it all went. Great guides, great hotels. Happy with Vantage.

There are those who love them and others who loathe them. The poster "samting" reported here about a very difficult experience with them some time ago. Try doing a search by her name for info.

If you are ocnsidering a river cruise with Vantage (or Grand Circle, whose owner is a brother to the owner of Vantage) you may be interested in reading this report about the disatisfaction, complaints against GCT and their mis-handling, deceit, and ultimate law suit that resulted, before considering going with this company. After almost a year, and over 750 complaints from travelers who took Spring cruises and got the same illegal treatment from GCT, there finally looks to be some sort of restitution forthcoming.

Here's the story on the "settlement" from The Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General website:

http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pa...86&id=1789

We have taken 6 tours with Grand Circle and booked a seventh one today. We have been totally satisfied with every one, or we wouldn't be booking again. Given the huge volume of travel that they do, there are sure to be some complaints, but their very high number of repeat travelers indicate a high degree of customer satisfaction.

Jack and Ann

clarasong = samting

I have several friends that have taken GCT and Vantage tours. We did Egypt and Jordan with GCT. NO COMPLAINTS!

Well, looks like this is more than a 'complaint'. It is an actual settlement where GCT is ordered by the court to make restitution (see details) and to inform prospective travellers ahead of time to changes, substitutions, (not tell them the cruise is 'on' when they know for certain that it will not happen--that's called fraud.) and to refund portions of charges that are excessive and/or do not apply. I think this is an important judgement as it sets a better standard for travel industries. When things go wrong, no one likes to feel they are at the 'mercy' of the travel industry. . To the OP, being kept on hold for 20 minutes just is not acceptable--competition drives this industry, and customer service, or lact thereof, has been a constant and serious complaint against both GCT and Vantage.

Regarding Vantage, I personally have never traveled wiht them, but my parents have done quite a few of their trips (they just did one last fall to Italy and Switzerland). They rave about the trips and always consider ones that are through Vantage.