“Luxury” disappointment

I did the North Sea Jazz Festival 2023 tour with them. Lol. Where do we start? 🙃

I was truly disappointed from start to finish. I got a phone call at 17:38pm on the 29th of June (we were meant to be flying on the 30th of June at 13:55pm) saying our flights had changed to a later time 21:55pm. I got to OR Tambo and still had not met anyone on the trip. Walked to the boarding gates by myself. Our host called me when we on the plane already.

Upon landing in Paris the transfers to the hotel were a mess. We did not stay at the hotel we were initially told we would stay at. We were meant to do a city tour which was substandard in every way, highly disappointing- no gems to see, instead just iconic tourist spots for quick Instagram pictures. I don’t even know if it can be called a tour, it was so rushed. They nearly left someone behind at the Basilica.

Some people completely missed a day in Paris due to flying a day later. I still don’t understand the flights situation to be honest because some people flew out on the original time set on the itinerary.

I basically had my own itinerary for the entire trip. The host even asked us to share the link we used to purchase Eiffel Tower tour tickets. Which was particularly upsetting as this is the information we expect to receive from the host.

On the train from Paris to Amsterdam we had expected early check in at the next hotel. As we had asked prior and we were told that our rooms would be ready. Instead we arrived to sit at the hotel lobby. At this point (4 days into our trip) neither the owner nor the host has formally introduced themselves to the group as a whole. The only planned tour in Amsterdam was the boat cruise. Communication was last minute, no drinks or snacks were made available. People brought their own. Others weren’t sure if they were allowed to bring. We were so over it at this point.

Amsterdam to Rotterdam was the first time I had seen an actual coach big enough to transport everyone together. It was the scramble to pay the driver for me- I can’t! Rotterdam was just the North Sea Jazz Festival. Tickets were sent to us last minute. The ticket master app crashed so most people had issues retrieving their tickets. I eventually printed mine manually at the help desk after begging for assistance and missing some acts I wanted to see on the Friday. We also weren’t told that transport to and from the jazz were on our own account (we stayed about 5km away). We had to figure out the metro by ourselves, shout-out to the locals for helping us. At this point we’re winging a PLANNED trip because wow asking for communication is like hitting blood out of a stone.

Then rumours start going around on the Saturday evening “did you hear that we’re flying back a day later” our hosts still hadn’t communicated this to us. Eventually they tell us on the Sunday. Long lay over in Doha - we’re going to stay over and then do a tour of Doha before heading to the airport to come home. Yoh! Mess. I had expressed my concerns as I needed to be back at work on the 13th of July. I got no response from the owner and our host just responded with “apologies”. I practically landed and went straight to work.

Three of the ladies that travelled with us couldn’t leave the airport because of their passports (they required transit visas as they aren’t South African nationals - surely as the owner/host you check these things prior?!). They were left to fend for themselves till 18:55pm the next day when we boarded the plane. Only for the flight to be delayed by another hour 🫠

The accommodation in Doha was **** and about 15 minutes from the airport, not to mention the school buses they made us travel in. The tour was much the same as Paris - in these mini school buses (at midday in the blazing heat) and included short stops. Very rushed. We could honestly have stayed inside the airport. I doubt anyone would rave about Doha and the accommodation we stayed at.

Overall terrible service! I would not waste my money like this again. Just the basic courtesy of actually hosting us was lacking. The principle of being transparent about what’s included and excluded in the trip. The general lack of communication was a pet peeve. I felt like I was begging for communication. All whilst the owner and her husband were living their best lives (I hardly saw them on this trip). Too many red flags. We were disappointed over and over again. In a nutshell, this trip was a nightmare.

A word of advice to this “luxury” travel agency:

1. Give us ALL our documents before we travel (train tickets, jazz tickets, tour passes/vouchers, etc).

2. Learn effective ways of communicating from when you are planning the trip (explain what is included and excluded on the amount quoted so we can accurately plan our travel budgets, we all spent more than intended on this trip). We were truly shocked about many things, I ran out of Yohs. It was also our hosts first time traveling to these destinations.

3. Also, learn to find solutions instead of ignoring us or responding half heartedly.

The only positives here were the wonderful people I got meet on this trip. Everyone was able to pivot and make the most of their trip despite the hiccups and multiple inconveniences we had to endure. We definitely made lemonade from our lemons.