Globus/Brendan a disappointment
Written: Jan 24 '04 (Updated Jan 28 '04)
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Pros: Great hotels, efficient baggage handling
Cons: Optional tours a poor value. Little chance to see anything that isn't "Globus endorsed".
The Bottom Line: I would not recommend the trip. Compared to other tour operators Globus/Brendan went out of their way to make extra money off the participants at every opportunity.
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| bd_colorado's Full Review: Globus |
We (my wife and I) just returned from the Brendan/Globus "Spectacular Spain" tour from 19 Dec to 28 Dec, 2003, and I must say we were disappointed with our first (and possibly last) use of Brendan.
First, the positive:
The hotel accommodations were much better than we expected. We have traveled quite a bit in northern Europe and Asia, mostly professionally, and found the large rooms and amenities on this tour wonderful. The included breakfast buffets were generally quite good with an excellent mark for the Melia Costa del Sol! Bags were handled with efficiency and no problems were incurred. Check-in was transparent and room keys were promptly available, which made life much easier.
Now, the "not so positive" to negative:
Unlike other tours we have been on, the "Tour Director" _never_ accompanied us on the daily tours. How can the local guides be evaluated if the overall guide never observes them?
On the first day of the tour, one of our tour members, was mugged at the first tour stop at the Plaza de Espana in Madrid. He was robbed and knifed in the hand. The local guide _never_left_ the bus or attempted to help in any way. When the victim returned with several of the group who had chased the three attackers, it seemed the prime focus of the local guide was to "keep things on time" and move on to the Prado rather than care for the client who was bleeding and in need of medical attention! At the Prado, he was told to take a taxi to the police station to report the incident. He told us later that, had he not spoken Spanish, it would have been an impossible situation. He was not even reimbursed for the cab fare. Perhaps if our Tour Director had also been along, another set of eyes might have spotted the danger.
Frequently tour members were late getting back to the bus by as much as 30 minutes. Had the Tour Director accompanied us on our city tours, he could have helped keep an eye out for stragglers while the city guide was giving the story. Although our Tour Director was clearly irate about the tardiness and admonished the whole bus that “now we would have to check into our hotel in the dark” he never did anything to help avoid it.
Moving on, when we reviewed the tour before purchasing, we anticipated that at many of the "independent" lunches we would have a choice of local town restaurants. To our disappointment, we learned that our independent lunch stops were held at Globus selected Truck Stops and we had to endure vastly inflated prices and mediocre food. On the first occasion of this, we paid 30 Euro for lasagna, fish with over cooked green beans, chocolate cake, a beer and a glass of wine. As was the rule in these roadside stops, prices were not posted along the cafeteria-style line. This is serious tourist trap practice!
During our second Truck Stop lunch one of our fellow tour members who spoke Spanish overheard our Tour Director tell the bus driver “ Are you kidding, no way would I eat in there. I brought my own sandwich.” Although we concurred whole-heartedly with his assessment, this was not exactly the kind of thing we, who had to eat there, wanted to hear.
This mode pervaded the trip. When at any scenic, non-commercial site we were given 10 to 15 minute breaks. When at a "Globus approved" shop or commercial area, we where given 50 minute breaks or more.
Nowhere was this more evident than on the optional "Full-Day Excursion to Gibraltar". Since it was Christmas, we questioned our tour director about the availability of the tour before paying the $55 each. We were told that while many shops were closed, the tour was otherwise "as advertised". This was quite simply a lie. The brochures says: "Tour the Upper Galleries, Moorish Castle, St. Michael's Caves, and the colony of Barbary Apes". What we got instead was a one-hour mini-bus tour of the roads on lower Gibraltar, which included none of those features mentioned except for a small troupe of apes along side the road. This is quite simply false advertising. After this brief trip, we were dumped back into the deserted city center for an hour of unguided wandering down a mostly closed main street. The exception was (of course) the "Globus recommended" Jason's shop. On the drive to Gibraltar, we were encouraged several times by our local guide go shopping at Jason's "since he has stayed open for us". Just how much of a kick back do these guides get from the shops?
On evenings when we were free to choose our own dinners, little information was provided regarding local restaurant cuisine or location. The one time information was provided we were directed to two restaurants that were closed. During our optional flamenco show and dinner, the service was so bad that our Tour Director was overheard to say in Spanish to the headwaiter “Why the hell are you in this position?”
Our tour guide was from Portugal and during our bus trip through Spain he spoke precious little about Spain but quite a bit about how great the Portugal tour was compared to the Spain tour. He informed us that we would never be served a buffet dinner (like we had been having) on the wonderful Portugal tour. Other times he would drone on about how much he disliked the Euro.
Overall, we’re glad we made our first trip to Spain. It's a beautiful country, and we found the history and architecture fascinating. We only wish those good memories were not rather tarnished by the practices of Brendan/Globus.
Recommended:
No
Best Suited For: Couples
Tour type: Group
Tour format: Bus
Tour length: Over a Week
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Epinions.com ID:
bd_colorado
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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