Name: British & Irish Voyager
Brand: CIE Tours
SKU: N/A
Price: 2955 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.5 (1 reviews)

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Great Britain Budget Nature Trips & Packages

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The Scottish Highlands is an incredible place, and there isn't much that can take away from it. Rabbie's 3-day tour to Skye makes the surprisingly far distance manageable, and stops at all of the right places. I particularly like the stop in Pitlochry, which is avoided on other trips. Other great things about the tour include the lodging (my friend I signed up for "hostel" and were put up in a lovely little bed-and-breakfast with a super nice host, other guests had similar experiences!), the bus, which is a spacious and comfortable Mercedes van, the small group size, and the amount of time you are given to explore the many towns and stops along the way. These things definitely helped make the trip wonderful, and are why I loved my journey into the highlands, even in the wind and the pouring rain. 

With all that being said, there were two things I wasn't too fond of: the "tour guide", and the fact that no hike is included. Being surrounded by some of the most incredible hiking trails in the world, it would be great if we had the time to do even a 1 or 2-hour loop somewhere. I was itching to get out and actually experience the land, and never really got to beyond climbing the Dun Beag Broch (which was awesome). 

The guide also pissed me off. Chick was a charismatic enough guy, definitely very Scottish, but he had next to nothing to offer about the place, historical landmarks, and really anything. We sat for 3 days in a van for hours with this guy, and he not only knew nothing, but happily spouted completely incorrect information. My friend and I, who were studying at the University of Edinburgh, were absolutely appalled at the outlandish "facts" he just made up about just about everything! From absurd statistics like the fact that Scotland runs on 95% wind power (in actually only like 60% is even renewable energy), pointing out castles that and landmarks in Edinburgh that literally weren't what he said they were (he called a random building the Palace of Holyrood, and said Mary Queen of Scots had three children), it was so annoying. I don't know if he was doing it to test us "tourists" and see if we actually knew the truth, or literally did not know, but when other people started asking about basic things later on, he would straight up admit that he didn't know and say he would look it up (he never did). The only thing he really did was preface the Battle of Culloden, telling us he would tell us the story the entire time, and we only actually got to the battleground at the end of the trip. 

That was my main issue with Chick, but my friend was also offended by some of his jokes, one was a bit homophobic and others were sexually explicit. I think he was harmless and wasn't hateful or anything, and I wasn't personally bothered, but if you are traveling with children or sensitive to this kind of thing, it may bother you as well. 

In conclusion, I was upset with the guide because I expected to learn new information on my tour. Instead, my friend and I would google all the attractions the night ahead and read up so we knew what we were looking at during the tour, and made sure we got correct information.

Rabbies

The Isle of Skye

Planet Rail

CIE Tours

The Majestic Line

Country Walkers

Grand Circle Travel

Rick Steves

Cunard

Newmarket Holidays

Untours

EF College Break (EF Ultimate Break)

Great Value Vacations

I took my 80 year old Dad and he bragged about it every day till he passed 5/2020. It was the best thing I have ever done. Wish I could do it again with him.

Our Guide was awesome. John did an amazing job

10 Day Taste Of Scotland & Ireland

We had a phenomenal time on our Taste of Scotland and Ireland tour. Pat, our driver, and Malackey, our tour guide for Scotland, were so informative and funny. Pat was so skillful at handling the bus, meandering the tight spaces on the country roads. There were a couple of time I felt like I should "suck my breath in" to help out but Pat pulled it through every time. 

Both countries were exquisite and this tour showed us the best of both Scotland and Ireland. 

We definitely would book another trip with CIE.

Best vacation EVER!!! The locations and landscapes were breathtaking. There is beauty everywhere in both countries. The hotels, meals and attractions were top notch. The very best part of the tour was our driver/ tour director, John Greene. His charming personality and incredible knowledge made the trip an even more wonderful experience. We can not say enough positive things about him! John took very good care of all 38 of us and kept the tour running smoothly. We loved exploring the lands and embracing the cultures and all the experiences were great! We can't wait to go on our next tour! We also like to thank Annika Norstorm- our Scottish Tour guide- she was fabulous!

My wife and I travel often and while we enjoyed our tour itself, we would not use CIE again and would caution anyone else before doing so as well.
By the time our tour guide casually mentioned that their numbers on our particular tour were “way down” (our group had 28 the first week and only 18 the second week on a 50 person bus), I had already figured out why.  CIE, as a company, is just not very good.  Our group of three in Colorado, booked with some other family, a party of two, in Florida, to make sure we were on the same tour.  The problem is, in spite of detailed explanation that we would be traveling separately and paying separately, CIE consistently attempted to treat us as a single party of five, both in payment and logistics.  They charged our family in Florida an extra $50 to send their ‘travel bags’ to them directly.  They messed up the travel vouchers for our group and even had them scheduled to be picked up at the wrong airport in England.  This was clearly communicated on multiple occasions, but was still messed up by CIE.

Then there is their transport company.  Before getting to the Denver airport, we received notice our flight into London would be delayed 2.5 hours.  I called immediately, giving CIE a ten hour notice, and was told it would cost extra money for them to pick us up later. Apparently, they don’t do pickups afternoon.  This would have been good information to have beforehand.  Upon arrival, when I called the travel company at 2:00 pm local time, there was no answer so we ended up just taking a taxi and paying an extra $70 just to get to our hotel.  Despite multiple requests, CIE has repeatedly refused to refund our $45 that we prepaid for our transfer, claiming a non-refundable policy.  Think about this… 5 people on our trip, bringing in nearly $20,000 of revenue to this company, and rather than make it right, when the delay was no fault of our own, they choose to hold firm to their “non-refundable” policy and refuse to refund a measly $45.

I gave 3 stars rather than less because the tour itself was great.  Our tour guide and itinerary were top notch. We did the 14 day Irish/British Grandeur and it was a whirlwind fourteen days.   We saw a tremendous amount of sites and points of interest, but in doing so, we were exhausted by the end, despite being much younger than most of our tour companions. While there were a couple free afternoons and evenings, there wasn’t a single free morning.  The mornings that we were leaving the hotel, we were to have bags out of our hotel room by 6:00 am or 7:00 am and we would be leaving between 45 mins and an hour later.  Even when we stayed an additional night, our latest morning departure was 8:15 am.  This is most definitely not a leisurely tour so be prepared to get good at sleeping on a bus.  
The most disappointing part of it all though was the ‘bait and switch’ of the hotels.  This tour was promoted as 4 and 5 star hotels, which was a complete fabrication.  We stayed one night at a 5 star, two nights at a 4 star, and every single other hotel was maybe a 3 star. Maybe.  Terribly uncomfortable beds, pillows, and poor service from hotel staff.  For the price we paid for this trip, the hotels were a total rip-off and we expected better.  The moral of the story is this; your numbers are down, CIE, because you’re not a very good company and word is spreading about your poor customer service.  Go see Ireland!  Just do it with a different company.

British & Irish Grandeur

We had a really terrible 10 days aboard the Glen Etive. They are short staffed so used temporary and inexperienced staff. The customer care was poor, cabins not cleaned, boat broke down, we did not get to the outer Hebrides- instead travelling up and down the Scottish coast. We felt unsafe on the tender - receiving help from the RNLI on one occasion. We hardly slept on the hard beds. Overall. Would not recommend to anyone

Idyllic Isles of the Outer Hebrides Cruise

This trip was the most poorly organized and executed trip I have ever been on. I have attended other trips by other companies in the past and always had a wonderful experience. 

Prior to leaving on our trip we had researched rbe hotels listed and had some concerns about the one we would be using in London: the Copthorne Tara. Reviews mentioned blood in beds, floors, general uncleanliness and even MAGGOTS IN THE BEDS. We called EF with our concerns and were essentially dismissed. This was our first sign to run. 

The flights on the way to the trip were just fine, but our accommodations in London were extremely subpar. We checked in at 1pm and our hotel room was not ready until almost 6pm. Other people from our trip arrived and checked in after us and had their rooms ready before us. Once we entered the room we were greeted with the smallest single beds I have ever seen. The room was a room with a adjoining door, this door was broken and did not lock, which is a major security concern for two young women alone. We found blood on our wall and in one bed as well as a curtain. When this information was shared with the front desk we were met with complete apathy. There was no urgency and no concern. A girl on our trip ended up with bedbugs from this hotel, and the rest of the trip we spent in fear that we too would become contaminated. The air conditioning in the room was broken and when we shared this with the front desk we were told someone would be up to address it which never happened. At once point the temperature in our room exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit when the weather outside did not go above 70. We shared this as a concern about the heat being activated and were told there was none in our room.

The girl that ended up with the bedbugs was told that they would contact a doctor for her l- they called a doctor once and he never arrived. She finally had to resort to calling back to the USA with a tele health appointment in order to be sure that the rash she had was bedbugs. She was confirmed with rjem and covered all over with bites. She had to miss most of her trip cleaning her belongings and the trip did nothing to assist. 

Then we went to Paris. The hotel there was no better. Cleanliness and concern and consideration lacking. Each night from midnight to two am there was a intense clanking outside our bedroom that came from the GRAVEYARD we were next to. When we complained about the noise again we were met with zero concern. The beds were just as small, and I had an allergic reaction to something in their linens. 

Amsterdam was the only hotel that was nearly worth our money, but on the way there my friends luggage was stolen. When this was reported to the THALYS employees they did absolutely nothing and did not even check the train to see if the luggage had been moved. We made a police report and reported it with EF but there was again no urgency.

The trip home was also a mess. We arrived at the Amsterdam airport 4 hours before our flight (as requested by the airport) and were told we were unable to check in or check our luggage for two more hours. We waited two hours in line and then checked in. We then waited over two and a half hours for security and almost missed our flight, which when we expressed this concern to the airline, and to the airport employees we were regarded with disinterest. We had to run to make it to our flight only to find out our plane had not arrived on time. 

Our flight was then delayed over two hours on the tarmac and when we finally took off, we realized we would miss our next flight because we only had a two hour layover. The only reason we managed to make our flight was because the wonderful employees of Dublin airport and their assistance. We ran to our flight again and made it with less than a minute to spare, the doors closing behind us and the plane taking off minutes after we sat down. The travel time that was estimate to take a total of 17 hours for the two flights and all the in between times  turned into close to 24 by the end of the time when we arrived home. 

Through all of these issues our tour guide was downplaying the seriousness of all these issues. She refused to believe that our friend was actually infested with bedbugs, and did not get a doctor involved, making them call an emergency service in the United States. In addition she told our friend with this affliction to lie to the rest of the trip and not tell us that she had the bedbugs because she did not want to cause a panic. This is a violation of medical codes and could cause serious harm to others. When we had our issue with the stolen luggage she did not want to accompany us to make a police report and only did so after I asked her to come with us. 

For a company charging for an “upgraded trip experience” and for the additional money we paid, we did not receive any of the upgraded “4-5 star accommodations”. I want my money back. I look forward to receiving a refund for the “upgraded” part of the experience, and will be sharing the service I received widely throughout my networks.

Great Britain Budget Nature Trips & Packages Tour & Trip Reviews

Everything Great but the Guide