News & PR
Vantage Deluxe World Travel News
Vantage Cruise Lines Announces the Ocean Odyssey Launching in 2022
May 26, 2020
Vantage Deluxe World Travel is giving travelers something to look forward to with the new 5-star
Ocean Odyssey, a 162-guest small ship scheduled to launch in March 2022. Following the announcement of sister ship
Ocean Explorer in 2020, the
Ocean Odyssey marks a major milestone in Vantage’s 36-year history by bringing travelers to all 7 continents, as well as destinations new to the company, including the Coral Triangle, Borneo, Komodo, northern Australia, and beyond. The leader in solo travel, the
Ocean Odyssey is also proud to offer 15 solo-designated cabins — a cruise industry first.
Click here to read the press release
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Named ‘Best for Solo Travelers’ in Cruise Critic’s 2019 Editors’ Picks Awards — December 4, 2019
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Wins Three Solo Traveler Awards — November 5, 2019
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Honors Fallen Police Officers in Annual Heroes Cruise to Europe — October 30, 2019
Travel + Leisure Names Vantage Deluxe World Travel One of 10 Best River Cruises in the World — August 13, 2019
Cruise Industry News: Vantage Two New Ships — May 21, 2019
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Adds Exclusive Luxury Tented Safari Camp to African Adventure Offerings — April 8, 2019
Vantage Cruise Lines Announces First Small Ship Ocean Cruising Ship: The New Ocean Explorer Launching 2021 — March 14, 2019
West End House receives $1.75M gift from Vantage — February 15, 2019
Las Vegas Shooting Survivors Receive Free Healing Cruise to Europe From Vantage Deluxe World Travel — November 15, 2018
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Named ‘Best River Cruise for Solo Travelers’ by Solo Traveler — November 9, 2018
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Recognized with Condé Nast Traveler’s 2018 Readers’ Choice Award: #12 River Cruise in the World — October 17, 2018
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Celebrates 35 Years by Launching an Opportunity to Win a Cruise per Year for Life — August 17, 2018
Travel + Leisure Names Vantage Deluxe World Travel One of 10 Best River Cruises in the World — July 31, 2018
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Celebrates 35 Years of Success — July 12, 2018
Martha’s Bike Donates more than 80 Bicycles to Martha’s Vineyard Boys and Girls Club — June 15, 2018
Vantage River Voyager Profile
About.com — updated March 19, 2016
Vantage Deluxe World Travel launched its newest European river vessel, the 176-guest ms River Voyager, in March 2016. Vantage Travel conducts land tours and cruises around the world, and its river cruises are its most popular product. The ms River Voyager is 442 feet long and has 92 cabins and suites. Eight of the....
click here to read the full article.
Also, check out the
Vantage ms River Voyager Photo Gallery on their website!
Vantage Deluxe World Travel Company Profile
About.com — updated March 19, 2016
Vantage Deluxe World Travel is a group tour operator founded in 1983 by entrepreneur Henry Lewis. It is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company is both a cruise and land tour operator that has served over a half-million senior travelers with deluxe land, river, and sea travel programs over the past 30+ years. One of the main goals of the company....
click here to read the full article.
Vantage River Cruises to Offer Family Itineraries in 2017
Cruise Critic — March 24, 2016
Add Vantage to the list of river cruise companies that are becoming family friendly.
In 2017, the company will start offering Vantage Family Journeys river cruises, open to children ages 8 and up. The trips will be planned during summer and holidays and feature a family welcome reception; arts and crafts workshops and singing sessions for kids ages 8 to 12; activities for tweens, teens and 20-somethings....
click here to read the full article.
Five Things You Didn’t Know About Vantage’s New River Voyager
River Cruise Advisor — March 23, 2016
Under sunny skies in Basel, Switzerland, Vantage Deluxe World Travel’s brand-new, 176-guest River Voyager was officially handed over to the company on Friday, March 18, 2016.
The newest and most elaborate ship in the fleet, River Voyager has been designed with the American traveller in mind. Its interior design pays homage to the Jazz city of New Orleans and to some of the genre’s most enduring artists. But this new vessel also represents an important new page in the history of Vantage, as the line increases the quality of its newbuilds and reaches out to a more....
click here to read the full article.
Local Families in Need Receive 1,000 Holiday Turkeys
Vantage Deluxe World Travel — December 19, 2014
NECN Boston – December 20, 2014
Watch NECN video segment
Boston-based Vantage Deluxe World Travel, a world-renowned tour operator, will continue a holiday tradition this year, donating 1,000 frozen turkeys to those in need this holiday season. This is the fourth year in a row the distribution (part of the company’s Vantage Cares program) has taken place...
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Hotshot Families Get Free European Vacation
Vantage Deluxe World Travel — December 10, 2014
FOX 10 Phoenix – December 10, 2014
Watch FOX video segment
NBC Phoenix – July 1, 2014
Watch NBC video segment
Trip of a lifetime for families of Granite Mountain Hotshots ...
Free Vantage Heroes Cruise for survivors of Yarnell Hill Fire
Vantage Deluxe World Travel — December 10, 2014
NBC 12 Phoenix – December 10, 2014
Watch NBC video segment
ABC 15 News, Arizona – December 10, 2014
Watch ABC video segment
For the third time this year Vantage Deluxe World Travel will be offering a free deluxe river cruise to local heroes whose stories of courage and character have inspired thousands of people around the world. This time, the 26 honored guests will be surviving family members of the elite firefighting team known as the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Nineteen of the 20 Hotshots perished last June combatting the massive Yarnell Hill wildfires near Prescott, Arizona. It was one of the deadliest blazes in U.S. firefighting history. The deluxe 9-day Danube River Holiday Cruise aboard the ms River Splendor includes round-trip international airfare from the U.S., accommodations in a deluxe stateroom, all meals, ten sightseeing tours (including visits to 6 UNESCO World Heritage Sites), and the free services of a dedicated Vantage Cruise Director and onboard Concierge. Among the ports visited are Regensburg, Passau, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, and more, with plenty of opportunities to celebrate the season both onboard ship and at the region's famous Christmas markets.
Marathon survivors take off for trip to France
FOX 25 News — November 12, 2014
Watch video segment
Vantage Deluxe World Travel among top ten river cruise companies in Condé Nast Traveler 2014 Readers' Choice Awards
Vantage Deluxe World Travel — October 20, 2014
Today, Condé Nast Traveler announced the results of its 27th annual Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best cruises, cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, and resorts across the globe. Vantage Deluxe World Travel was named among the world's top ten in the "River Cruises" category, placing sixth. This is the second consecutive year Vantage Deluxe World Travel has been recognized among the world's top ten river cruise lines in the Condé Nast Traveler's Readers Choice Awards. All award-winners are listed in the magazine's November 2014 issue, and on their website.
This year, Condé Nast Traveler had a robust group of 76,659 voters participate in the survey. These passionate travelers cast 8,964 votes for more than 1,182 travel companies, attractions and cities around the world. River Cruise candidates were judged based on the ships' activities/facilities, cabins, crew/service, design/layout, food/dining, itineraries/schedule, and shore excursions. Ratings are based on a standard five-point scale: excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor. The mean average of these ratings determined the final Readers' Rating score. For the 2014 awards, Vantage placed sixth in the "River Cruises" category with a score of 85.029.
"Vantage is especially proud of this award, since it comes directly from our travelers," said Carol Ferullo, Senior Vice President Worldwide Operations & Product Development at Vantage Deluxe World Travel. "In order to even qualify for the Readers Choice ranking, you need to receive a minimum number of votes. So the fact that so many travelers came out to support Vantage — a smaller, family-run company — is an incredibly gratifying acknowledgement of our value and service."
Vantage is a world-renowned tour operator known for providing the best values in deluxe travel—guaranteed. The company owns and operates its own fleet of new, deluxe river ships, and also offers escorted deluxe land tours and small ship cruises in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Antarctica, and beyond.
The Way Back — An extraordinary journey down a river in France
Esquire Magazine — January 29, 2014
On a mid-sized cruising vessel, at dusk along the Rhône River in the south of France, two men sit facing each other, speaking slowly through an interpreter. One is Carlos Arredondo, a hero of the Boston Marathon bombings last April. He's the man in the photo—the photo—the one in which Arredondo, wearing a cowboy hat, helps rush victim Jeff Bauman, whose legs were blown away at the knees, away from the scene. The other is Lu Jun, a quiet man whose daughter, Lingzi, a Boston University graduate student, was one of the three people killed that day...
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Boston bombing victim engaged to nurse: Tragedy brought me 'love of my life'
Today Show — December 20, 2013
Boston Marathon bombing victim James Costello believes the worst moment of his life was a blessing in disguise. Being injured in the April 15 attack led Costello, 31, to meet his future bride, Krista D'Agostino, while she was working a six-week temporary stint as a traveling nurse at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital… After they met, Costello asked D'Agostino to accompany him to a benefit for the bombing victims, and the couple became inseparable over the ensuing eight months. Costello then proposed to D'Agostino earlier this week during a 10-day trip to France, part of an all-expenses-paid "Heroes Cruise"with a total of 114 first responders, their families, and victims of the bombing, courtesy of Boston-based Vantage Deluxe World Travel...
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Boston Marathon Bombing Survivors Get Free Trip To France
WBZ-TV — December 11, 2013
More than a hundred survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings, along with family members and first responders, left Boston's Logan airport Wednesday night on an all-expenses-paid vacation to the south of France. The gift was the idea of Vantage Deluxe World Travel, a Boston agency that organized the 10-day French river cruise for those intimately connected to April's events. "It's going to be amazing," said bombing survivor Jeff Bauman after he checked in for his flight at Terminal E. Bauman says he was thrilled to get the invitation to take the vacation, as if fits right into his optimistic attitude. "You gotta keep on trucking, keep on going and can't let anything slow you down," he explains. "You only have one life, right? So keep on going."...
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Vantage prepares to send off marathon victims on free cruise
WCVB ABC Boston — December 10, 2013
Vantage Deluxe World Travel and Boston Marathon bombing survivors share thoughts about the upcoming "Boston Heroes" French Waterways cruise aboard the ms River Discovery II, which Vantage has donated to some 114 survivors and their guests. The cruise is valued at well over $7,000 per couple, and includes international airfare and daily sightseeing (including 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.) Watch the report from Jorge Quiroga at Newscenter 5 at 11, WCVB ABC Boston...
watch video
Bolton's Boston Marathon hero receives a cruise trip
Bolton News — November 18, 2013
First responders and victims, all heroes of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings gathered together Friday night, Nov. 8, for a celebratory countdown to a free all-inclusive 11-day cruise through the south of France sponsored by Vantage Deluxe World Travel. Vantage has partnered with the One Fund to provide the river cruise through the south of France aboard the deluxe ms River Discovery II starting on Dec. 11, in an effort to thank Boston's heroes for their inspiration, courage and kindness...
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Boston Marathon Victims and First Responders Offered Free 7-day European River Cruise
Boston Business Journal — July 29, 2013
Boston (MA) — Vantage Travel announces that approximately 144 Boston Marathon victims, first responders, and guests will depart Boston on November 18, 2013 for a free 7-day Rhone River Cruise aboard the ms River Discovery II. Inspired by displays of courage and kindness after the Boston Marathon bombings, Vantage Deluxe World Travel CEO Henry R. Lewis worked in conjunction with the One Fund to give something unique back to these heroes as an expression of gratitude. Each hero is invited to bring along one guest as a companion...
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Vantage Deluxe World Travel Christens ms River Splendor
Vantage Deluxe World Travel — March 18, 2013
Boston, MA (March 14, 2013) — Vantage Deluxe World Travel, a world renowned tour operator celebrating 30 years of success in 2013, christened the ms River Splendor today in Antwerp as the newest addition to its growing European river cruising fleet. Miss Belgium Noémie Happart led the official naming ceremony as the ships godmother alongside Vantage COO Kevin Wallace; Roger Spoor, Captain, of the ms River Splendor and Patrick Janssens, CEO of Shipyard DeHoop, the Netherlands-based shipyard responsible for designing and building the new ms River Splendor. The new ship will make its inaugural voyage on March 17th from Amsterdam.
Vantage Says Thanks To Veterans With Free River Cruise
Travel With Value — November 7, 2012
Watch video segment
Vantage Deluxe World Travel is giving thanks to military members this Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving by offering a 14-day European river cruise to select U.S. veterans and families of fallen U.S. Armed Forces. On November 16, 2012, veterans (and a guest) from various U.S. cities will be flown to Budapest to embark on a "Vantage for Veterans" Eastern European river cruise.
Vantage to launch two more ships in 2013
Travel Weekly — October 18, 2012
Vantage Deluxe World Travel is launching two new 176-passenger river cruise ships in Europe in March. The River Splendor and River Venture, which will both depart on dual inaugural voyages from Antwerp to Amsterdam on March 13, are part of a $120 million fleet investment program, which will double Vantage's river cruising fleet by 2014. Vantage said that it is building the new ships in response to a 50% increase in customers over the past five years...
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ms River Splendor water tested!
Vantage Deluxe World Travel — May 29, 2012
The newest member of the Vantage fleet is afloat! The
ms River Splendor, a 442-foot vessel conceived and designed with the American traveler in mind, has launched from its slipway at the shipyard. Over the next few months, it will be fitted out with the best in river cruise furnishings and amenities for its official launch on March 17, 2013. Like its sister ship ms River Discovery II, the new ms River Splendor is made for intimate cruising, with no more than 176 passengers on board. And with 45 crewmembers, the ship has the best passenger-to staff ratio anywhere—better than 4-to-1!
Learn More about the ms River Splendor!
Photo tour: Vantage Deluxe cruise ship River Discovery II
USA Today — April 18, 2012
One of the newest river cruise ships in Europe, the River Discovery II, is operated by Boston-based Vantage Deluxe World Travel. What's it like to sail on the 176-passenger vessel? Click HERE to see our new comprehensive photo tour of the River Discovery II, which was christened in late March in Amsterdam and is operating on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers...
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Vantage's River Discovery II aims to meet growing demand for solo cabins
Travel Weekly — April 2, 2012
Vantage Deluxe World Travel named the 176-passenger River Discovery II here in mid-March, a river vessel that caters to solo travelers with single cabins, an option absent from most of the newer river cruise ships...
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Riverboating in Europe is becoming the new trend on waterways.
YNN, Albany — April 2, 2012
River cruises accommodate an intimate number of passengers, usually under 200, and always stay in sight of land, a plus in the safety department. Those are just two reasons why frequent cruiser June Spargo has sailed 62 times with Vantage. "The main reason is you get the opportunity to stop at small towns, villages that you would never see on a bus tour," says Spargo...
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Hub Travel Operator Cruises Ahead
Boston Herald — March 25, 2012
Vantage Deluxe World Travel's upcoming 30th anniversary may prove a watershed moment. The international tour operator, with corporate headquarters in the Hub, is investing $120 million toward expanding its fleet of ships overseas, including building and launching a 442-foot cruise vessel that made its maiden voyage from Amsterdam on Friday...
Dutch Shipbuilder Builds River Cruisers
Maritime Journal — March 21, 2012
Dutch shipbuilder Shipyard De Hoop has built a first generation river cruise vessel – the first in four for US tour operator Vantage Deluxe World Travel. The newly built 135m long River Discovery II has since made its way to Amsterdam where it was christened at the end of last week...
River cruise operator Vantage christens new ship
USA Today — March 18, 2012
AMSTERDAM (March 18, 2012) — Boston-based Vantage Deluxe World Travel today christened its first new river cruise ship in five years, the River Discovery II, in a dockside ceremony along Amsterdam's waterfront. One of the tour operator's most loyal customers, June Spargo, 85, served as godmother of the 176-passenger vessel, presiding over the breaking of a champagne bottle against the ship's hull. Spargo has taken 63 trips with the company...
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Vantage river ship has solo travelers in mind
Travel Weekly — March 19, 2012
AMSTERDAM — Boston-based Vantage Deluxe World Travel christened the 176-passenger River Discovery II here on Sunday. The vessel caters to solo travelers with single cabins, an option absent from most of the new river cruise ships being built today...
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Next stop for TV Diner: Holland
NECN — March 10, 2012
(TV Diner) — TV Diner has taken you to Italy twice, Peru, and Bermuda. Now we're going to take you to the rivers of Holland in a special cruise that's a grown part of the travel business...
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