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In 2024, we were the first ever winners of the Trusted Service Award, 10 Years of Excellence. This exclusive award recognizes our consistent service performance, customer interaction and engagement for an entire decade
Trusted Customer
see prior comments. They refuse to take ownership of the entire trip and all its subcontractors.
Overall the trip was amazing, Trip management and logistics by GET however was 1 star. As GET was our primary point of contact, and the company we paid, I expected them to manage and take ownership of the entire trip, including the subcontractors they used. They refuse to do so. Here are details:
My wife and I just completed a 10 day Splendor’s of Egypt tour, booked through GET. Overall, it was an unforgettable experience. We felt safe. Our guide, Essam, took excellent care of us, though at times could be a bit overbearing. There are also some areas we feel could be improved.
Highlights
•Seeing all the major historical sights, which were breathtaking.
•Our guide, Essam, impressed us with his deep knowledge and passion for Egyptian history. There was never a question he couldn’t answer.
•Cruising the Nile was a delightful experience, offering beautiful views and a relaxing atmosphere.
•The food on the cruise boat was excellent, and the servers were attentive and friendly.
Improvement Areas
Tipping Culture
One of the most frustrating aspects of the trip was the constant expectation for tipping. Despite paying a premium upfront for the tour, we were frequently prompted by our guide, Essam, to tip various individuals, including bus drivers, the trip administrator (Rafaat), bathroom attendants, and the boat crew.
Tipping seemed to be expected for every small interaction, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. This led us to disengage from local people, as we assumed everyone was motivated by money. In our country, tipping is discretionary and reserved for exceptional service, not a forced obligation for people simply doing their jobs. If workers require tips to make a fair wage, this cost should be included in the upfront price of the tour.
Flexible Itinerary
The itinerary was constantly changing, likely due to the complexity of coordinating cruise ships, buses, and venue schedules. While understandable, this made it difficult to plan our downtime—such as scheduling massages on the boat—and caused unnecessary stress. Many excursions began very early, such as the 2:30 a.m. flight from Cairo to Luxor. Later starts would have been more manageable. For example, why not fly directly to Luxor the night before the cruise?
Cruise Suite Mix-Up
Our experience on the cruise boat started on a rocky note. Despite having a "guaranteed suite," as confirmed in an email from Daniel Pelletier of GET on September 6, 2024, we were initially placed in a standard room. Only after discussions with ship personnel and Essam, we were moved to our suite, which fortunately had not been booked. We received no compensation for the stress and inconvenience caused by this error. In my follow up with GET, they refuse to take ownership of the "miss", simply telling me it was confirmed on their end, and communicated to the cruise line, Spring Tours. I find this completely unacceptable.
Shopping Pressure
While Essam was an outstanding guide, we felt pressured to shop at his selected outlets. He became visibly agitated when we chose to shop independently or visit other stores. This made us feel uncomfortable and less supported in exploring local markets freely. It also gave the impression that Essam was receiving commissions from these shops.
Conclusion
Overall, the trip was an amazing experience. We felt safe and appreciated Essam’s expertise and care. However, the foul up on our cruise ship suite, frequent tipping expectations, flexible itinerary, and shopping pressure detracted from the enjoyment. Despite these issues, we would consider traveling with GET again, but with the hope that they address these concerns for a more seamless and stress-free experience.
Review date:
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Sabrina Williams
The travel specialist was very helpful and did a good job sending the information and itineraries for the trip. I felt informed every step of the way from the initial booking to the final payment and review information. I would like better flying options for future trips with comfortable seating especially for the longer flights.
I had a fabulous time on my vacation and would definitely recommend the agency that I went through. The tour guide Steve Fowler was engaging, informative, friendly and an awesome tour guide. He gave many history lessons during the trip that were interesting. The bus driver was awesome and did a great job getting our group from city to city. We were able to see "once in a lifetime" landmarks and learn about different cultures. The only part of my experience that was a disappointment was the flight with British Airways. The seating was cramped and very uncomfortable. There was no leg room or even elbow room for this long six hour flight. I paid for an upgrade coming back and was disappointed to find out that those seats were just as cramped as the ones I had going to my destination. There were three people in the row on the return flight instead of four that was on my initial flight. The rest of the trip was a blast and I have been giving recommendations to friends and family about my trip. I am also browsing around looking for my next experience.
Sabrina Williams
Review date:
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Vicki Crawford
Loved this tour, we experienced so many adventures and both my son and I have a wonderful time!!
Review date:
Friday, January 17, 2025
Roxanne Perez
Our travel specialist was Barb. She was great. If she wasn’t available all other agents were knowledgeable.
All the places we went to were awesome. Fabio our guide and Ciro our bus driver were excellent. Restaurant in Rome Day 1 and Day 10 farewell dinner was lacking in great food. Hotels were good. The added excursions were worth it. They had the best dinners.
Review date:
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Monica Rosales
Barb was excellent help on the phone. She answered the questions I had, especially regarding the travel insurance.
Great trip. Learned a lot. Fabio, our tour guide, was extremely knowledgable. The individual local tour guides were outstanding! Food was good and the wine flowed freely.
Review date:
Monday, January 13, 2025
Trusted Customer
Barb Gardner is always helpful and responsive to my requests.
The Rhine Christmas Markets Tour was as advertised and as expected.
ALL staff were professional, helpful, and courteous beyond expectations.
Excursions were normally 1-1.5 hours and left plenty of free time to explore in depth or shop.
Food and beverage choices were excellent.
There were always an evening gathering and postings(hard copy and electronic) describing the events and weather for the next day.
The 1970's party was a big hit with most guests.
The only drawback was that at the ship was docked a few times directly adjacent to another ship making the cabin dark - since the drapes needed to be closed for privacy.
Review date:
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Dana Bryant
Our travel specialist was great, handling all the booking smoothly as well as taking care of our flights. Others at GET that helped us were equally friendly and helpful. Everyone really seemed like they wanted to get everything right for us to have a great trip.
Practially everything went well and our expectations were met or exceeded at every turn. In addition to the tour booking, we used GET for our flight arrangements and the staff was as helpful as any other travel agency, looking at various options for us according to our requests. Communications were good from start to finish.
Our Travel Director, Federica, was charming and knowledgeable, consider yourself lucky if she is your TD. She made many small adjustments as we went to the schedule based on her 30 years of experience to improve our trip, always keeping us informed. Our driver, Alessandro, was also great and earned raves from our group. Every local specialist was great and we enjoyed our time with them, with the minor exception of the one for the Positano and Amalfi Coast Drive. He was OK, just not personable or very informative.
Included meals were generally ok, as were most of the optional experience ones, with some repetition in food choices. A few were spectacular. We were a little surprised to not have more exposure to classic pasta dishes, but that's a small thing. Hotels ranged from perfectly fine to one that was wonderful (Grand Hotel Dino) to adequate (Johanna Park Sorrento).
The tour itself was great and hit all the highlights we expected. There's not enough time to see absolutely everything and most of the experiences are 'typical', but it's what we signed up for and gives you a great overview for future trips when you can get more off the beaten track. We signed up for every optional experience and it added a lot to our enjoyment. Nearly all of them were well worth the added costs. The only mystery was why the included experience on the first night was never mentioned or done. We didn't realize it had disappeared until we got home and reviewed the itinerary.
Overall the pace was good, this tour allows many two-night stays, which helps. If you do all the tours, it can be a lot of walking and long days, but not overwhelming. Pack comfortable shoes and a little patience and enjoy. We also found the people of Italy very welcoming and accommodating of food allergies. Learn a little Italian, it goes a long way. One word of warning, pillows were uniformly flat and unsupportive.
Review date:
Sunday, January 5, 2025
Response from Grand European Travel:
Thank you for your amazing review of The Best of Italy. Your comments and suggestions are spot on and we are so happy to see that you had a wonderful time. We are honored to be being able to make this trip possible for you.
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Trusted Customer
Surprisingly this vacation was fantastic from booking to the guided tour. Hays TX for to Dorothy of GET Tours. She provided excellent assistance from the start. And Trafalgar was outstanding.
Surprisingly was pleased with the entire ordeal of booking our tour and the outstanding guided tour conducted by Trafalgar. Dorothy of GET Tours was fantastic in assisting us and answering all my questions..
Review date:
Friday, January 3, 2025
Response from Grand European Travel:
We appreciate you letting us know about the the great service you received from Dorothy! We will share your comments with her and the rest of the GET team. We are also thrilled to see how much you enjoyed your trip and hope this will be the first of many adventures to come.
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
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