Sharon I'Anson

Apr 3, 2019

Northern Cyprus cultural tour

This company attracts mainly elderly retired people which we soon found out (but which I might add wasn't an issue), some of whom had travelled with RSD previously but who vowed never again following the Cyprus experience. Trying to remain as concise as possible I will bullet point the reason for the two star review :- the trip which at the outset appears good value for money then becomes a money pit once you arrive - the first hotel Salamis had nice rooms & reception area but the dining room was noisy (akin to a work canteen) & too busy for the waiting staff to keep on top of, the food was poorly presented & was cold & the drinks were expensive. The second Hotel The Olive showed an improvement in the food albeit there were long queues however our room was dated & had lots of issues which we needed to report to reception on our first day. Drink prices were slightly cheaper though however both hotels were in isolated areas so the 'optional' meal package offered on initial booking turned out not to be optional after all. It was made plain by the tour guide Elam from the outset that a good tip would be required for both him & the driver - £20 & £10 per person respectively - times that by a coach full of forty plus & they are earning more per week in tips alone than the pension received by the majority of travellers. Meals were not included in the excursions including the optional excursion which was at an extra cost & which was attended by all but 8 travellers in our group. Apparently the cost of the trip was subsidised by RSD but in my opinion was still not value for money. It was mentioned by Elam several times that the expectation of RSD is that attendance of the travellers to the carpet, jewellery & leather factory was compulsory with the expectation of a purchase being made - apparently because you have supposedly saved a couple of hundred pounds on the holiday (I would question if what I paid was actually good value for money given the food & accommodation issues) you need to boost the Cypriot economy by spending hundreds or even thousands of pounds on items which lets face it if you are in the latter stages of retirement will have very little use for or need of - the whole process could be likened to a racketeering business. Elam whose two degrees are in history (which he felt the need to keep reminding us of because retired people could not possibly have been educated to a degree level!!) should also think about pursuing a degree in psychology as he was very good at trying to use it on his group & he became quite rude & opinionated towards the end of the trip - he told us several times he was going home on the Monday but he was still at the hotel when we left for the airport on the Wednesday - make of it what you will. Regarding currency we were advised to take Turkish Lira however, most prices in the places visited with this company were in Euros with their way of converting it back to Lira leaving you short changed. FYI it was 50 cents to use the toilets!! Negatives aside we met some nice people & we did have some laughs along with some sunshine.