My wife & I did not rate the overall QUALITY or VALUE very high. The pacing was too fast, ship... read more
My wife & I did not rate the overall QUALITY or VALUE very high. The pacing was too fast, ship... read more
I concur with the previous comments. We cancelled a September trip on July 21, 2020. With excuses... read more
My wife and I had the "Romantic Villages of Alpine Europe' tour booked for July of 2020. When concerned arose over travel restrictions we were told by GCT that we could cancel up to 90 days before departure and receive a full refund. We cancelled about 100 days before departure. After multiple phone conversation we were told they were behind in handling refunds. Finally, after a month we were told that we would NOT receive our refund but a future credit instead. GCT said there was a CHANGE IN POLICY and it was retroactive to all cancellations.
It is their right to change policy but it is not ethical to make it retroactive to cancellations that were told several time that we would receive the our refund. After filing a dispute with the credit card company, Chase, GCT said they would refund the $8480 if we dropped the dispute. We took them at their word and dropped the dispute. However, now 2 month later and a email from Customer Service and a letter from the head of the Finance Department confirming the refund would be made--STILL NO REFUND.
Again I had to go to the Dispute Department at Chase and reopen the dispute. Now 4 months later and nothing we were told by Grand Circle Travel has been true and STILL NO REFUND. Shame on them for these poor and deceitful customer service and business practices.
I booked a river cruise in Jan. 2018 with Grand Circle Travel for a cruise in May 2018. Grand Circle advised me to take the travel insurance insuring me that for any reason something happen on the trip or I had to cancel the trip I would receive a refund. This was NOT true. Shortly after I booked the trip I had to cancel the trip due to family matters. I had already made the necessary down payment and purchased the travel insurance, which I thought was through Grand Circle since I had paid Grand Circle. As it turned out the insurance was with a company called "Trip Mate". I filed my claim with Trip Mate in mid Jan and expected to hear from them shortly. Over the next six months I tried calling Trip Mate to see what was happening with my claim. I was never able to get through to speak with anyone. Even after leaving my phone number, which their auto voice system suggested, I never received a return phone call. I finally contacted Grand Circle for their help. Even though I had paid Grand Circle for the insurance their only comment was that Trip Mate was a third party that they hired and they had no control over someone they hired for their business. After many more phone calls to Grand Circle they finally agreed to give me a $500 credit, instead of a cash refund, for any furture trip wih them. This was not what I was told by Grand Circle when THEY sold me the insurance policy. I find this very deceptive on their part. It turns out that the only way to receive a cash refund is if the cancellation is for medical reasons, which Grand Circle NEVER to me. The $500, which is way less then I paid for the insurance, is worthless since I never intend to take anymore trips with Grand Circle. After the lies and misinformation, Grand Circle is one company that I will never travel with in the future and have and will be advising all my friends and family to avoid at all costs.
My wife & I did not rate the overall QUALITY or VALUE very high. The pacing was too fast, ship (new to GCT) , had mechanical problems, never quite on schedule, # days alloted much too short, for distances required to travel. It cost us $1,465/per day, ($732.per person), had to travel great distances, saw very little, and it was time to go home, airline routing not good.
Compared to 5 previous trips with GCT, this one was most disappointing.
Picture gallery - travel agent - very good.
The gallery is exciting. Fun to visit. Full of posters from several countries. Photos from photo artists are remarkable. They are all well known artists.
The travel agent is mostly concentrated on cruises. Office people are really helpful. They give you very good ideas. Nice people.
We spent 14 days aboard the River Rhapsody going from Amsterdam to Vienna. The whole trip was wonderful. The accommodations, the food, the tours, the staff, just everything was great. We highly recommend Grand Circle