"The tour guide was very knowledgeable"

The tour guide was very knowledgeable. However, I did not like the set up of the tour. One day we were not given any time for activities. Too much time was spent on the bus.

"Travel Adventures Make Great! "

I can not express enough how wonderful the customer service is with Explorica/World Strides and how amazing the guide and driver was to our group while we traveled for 13 days in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador. The attractions, the coach, the staff and the guide & driver could not have been better. Thank you from the group leader of this group.

"Croatia was Beautiful"

Croatia was beautiful - we snorkeled, swam and walked the walled village. History mixed with sun and fun.

"Too many issues to put down"

Too many issues to put down, but many problems relating to hotels, restaurants, transportation, and trip logistics. I have had good experiences in the past, but this trip was way below expectations.

"A lifetime of memories"

My tour consultant, Bryan Shields, has always been attentive to my groups' needs. Our tour director on this trip was the best we have ever had. Georgis Galvanos has spoiled us for any other. His attention to our wants and needs went above above and beyond what we imagined. It was a bittersweet goodbye to Greece and George. Our group has wonderful and unique lasting memories brought to us by a very knowledgable and entertaining director in George.

"Horrible company policies - all benefit themselves "

1. They decide halfway through payments they are going to start charging 2-3% credit card fee. I would’ve accepted or chose a different payment method if this was known up front, not halfway through payments

2. Had to cancel and yes I did have insurance but they deduct $800 from the refund. Waiting on a $4500 refund and they tell me I have to wait 3 MONTHS for it to be processed! Ridiculous and should be paying me interest then.

“ It takes 12 weeks for a refund to be processed on our end please know some banks may delay the availability depending on the financial institution, all refunds will always be sent back to the original form of payment unless the refund is declined, then a check will be sent to the mailing address on file. ”

Update: they decided they would transfer the refund without the 12 week wait so I am updating to 3 stars.

"Our guide Deenah was the best! We loved Greece!"

Our guide Deenah was the best! She is amazing! Loved a lot of our local guides and all the places we went and loved the cruise ship! Beautiful and amazing historical sites, beautiful beaches and great food!
Only issues was tipping for local guides was not relayed to us and I felt so bad for them that we tipped them anyways bc they are amazing! Clearer communication before trip to budget tipping for those local 1/2 day guides and bus drivers. Also last day in Souni was underwhelming and kind of boring. Guide did not go up to temple of Poseidon with us and did 20 mins. instead of an hour. Frustrating.

"I few travel hiccups ,connecting…"

I few travel hiccups ,connecting flights should be booked further apart to keep from missing connecting flights especially if international travel is involved. Ilaria is an Excellent tour guide! We loved her! All our day guides were great as well!

"Good guides and interesting sites, but poor accommodations and scheduling."

The Tour Director who traveled with our group was wonderful, and the sites we saw were incredible. However, most of the hotels were of poor quality (to the point of being hazardous) and far away from locations. There was no ability to "go out and explore" at the end of the day if we wanted to, because we were so far away from anything. We spent a total of over 20 hours of our trip just riding the bus, and a large portion of our lunches were actually just grabbing a quick sandwich or something at a gas station. The Tour Guides we had at locations like Pisa, the Colosseum, and the Vatican were well-informed and friendly, but we were on such a tight schedule that it was hard to take in pictures, look at all we wanted to see, and really take in the experience. The itinerary we were given beforehand was vague on time and access; somethings we "experienced" only by seeing them briefly from a bus window as we drove past, and without knowing how much time we would/wouldn't have to "explore" each location, it was hard to plan in advance what to do, so I often spent what little time we had to individually explore just trying to figure out on Google Maps what was available in the area that we would like to do.

"The company responded rapidly to my request…"

The company responded rapidly to my calls and guided and helped me with the steps I had to take during the incident that I have during the trip.