"Outstanding Trip"

Outstanding trip. We took 64 to Washington DC and the tours were set up and flexible so we had control over what we saw.

Our tour guide Mary and Barbara are solid professionals that made the trip informative and fun to be on.

There were a few hiccups but that was at the airport and a restaurant which nobody had control over, so that is not on Explorica.

I highly encourage any teacher or admin to look to Explorica for their next trip, as we already have done for the summer of 2025.

"A very well lead organized tour."

A very well lead organized tour.

"The company did not notify me that the…"

The company did not notify me that the optional tour had been cancel before I got to Paris. By the time I had found out- everywhere else was booked. The company did nothing to try to help me and they did not tell me what the minimum was for the optional activity, otherwise I would have made sure the students signed up. On the last day, the transportation never arrived to get us to the airport. We had to find alternative transportation and it resulted in us almost missing our flight. Overall, we had good experiences but these two things outweighed a lot of the good as the company didn’t do anything to help us.

Our tour guide Batilde was absolutely wonderful. She did everything she could to help book another optional activity. She helped us get taxis to the airport and she was very knowledgeable.

"Accommodations Nightmare"

My daughter went to Washington DC last month with her 8th grade Beta Club members. While the bus ride and the tours went well, the accommodations booked by Explorica were deplorable! The hotel was dirty, and she sent photos of cockroaches in the bathroom! Online reviews of the hotel clearly stated that this hotel had several problems of this nature. This was totally unacceptable for students and staff! I contacted customer service and provided them with my email and phone number. I also sent an email to Mr. Beekman regarding this problem, reminding him that Explorica's website states that you can count on them to provide "reliability and safety in their products" and that "quality is our daily mindset." This was 360 degrees from our experience, and since I've had no response from anyone in spite of several emails, obviously no one cares. This was our first trip with Explorica, and it will be the last. Hotels don't have to be fancy, but they do need to be clean and certainly not infested with cockroaches!

"Howard Paull our tour director was…"

Howard Paull our tour director was fabulous! He really knew each city and made sure that we were able to spend as much time as possible in each place. He was great with students and adults.

"Great trip because of the people we worked with"

Brendan McCoobery was extremely patient with us as we set up the trip and had lots of questions. They were answered promptly and clearly. Brandi Johnson, our tour guide, was great with the students and the staff. She adapted our itinerary as needed and communicated with us when planning. Our main driver, Alex, was superb at navigating difficult traffic and meeting up with us on time. Of course, it was important for us to be on time too.

"Taku"

Taku, our tour guide/director was AMAZING. He knew the country in and out, plus his love for Japan was evident. Also, luck was on our side and the group of 31 gelled together on day 1 and it remained that way the entire tour! Simply one of the best tours I have ever done with any company!

"booking experience"

Havent travelled yet. Due to go to Japan in 2 weeks with my daughter thru her school. 10K invested and no itinerary. We have no idea where we are staying, what times and by what means we are getting to all the sites listed to visit. Despite 10K up front we had to give another $240 to the teacher for tips for drivers as his apparently is not included. I cannot get anyone there to return a call regarding upgrading my airline seats which Delta stated had to be done thru the rep from explorica. No details as to cost breakdown, where did 10K get spent? This has been extremely poor would rate negative digits if allowable. Based on others reviews I guess I should plan to spend money on my own hotels, food and airfare. Absurd!

"Great tour director/bus driver - but some adaptions needed"

Our tour director was great! Jay was flexible and helped us to change things when weather did not cooperate. He made sure we got to see everything and do everything we wanted to do. He was knowledgeable and made the learning interesting for my students. Our bus driver Adam was kind to my students and knowledgeable/strategic about his routes. The personal service on the tour was great!

Explorica may need to reevaluate food- they are great locations and delicious options- BUT middle school kids vs high school young adults are different in their calorie needs. Know who you are serving!

Also when you pay to be an exclusive group- bus size should not change. High School students are larger and the smaller bus was not the best option for a 5 hour trip by bus. If you need to charge an extra fee - do so! It was the first time this has happened to me in all the trips I have taken- so I was not expecting this.

"Not what we were told we would do…"

We were all so excited to go on this trip, but our tour guide was really not that good. He got lost constantly and he barely told us about things, and we didn’t do half the things on our itinerary. I was really disappointed to be honest since I paid so much.