Steve

Oct 28, 2023

Amazing Ireland Tour

Three tour directors and 2 drivers within the first 6 days! First director was disinterested gave misinformation, unprofessional to the point of advising who he slept with at a site stop! It took 2 days and repeated requests before he provided his phone number. Then advised wanted to see blood before that number was called. We asked Trafalgar Australia if our small wheeled cabin bags could be accommodated in the hold of the bus as we understood they could not go in the overhead space due to safety. They confirmed this would be OK after checking with management. The tour director advised no when we arrived telling us they would have to stay at the hotel. This was the result of a number of tours being combined and a 100% full bus now not what we were advised were average numbers. The bus driver however next day day got the bags on with no problem after we had spent the night repacking. No effort was made to get people on the bus to get to know each other. The result of this was that groups formed with little interaction with others. A sick couple who started the tour took no precautions to prevent the spread of illness. The tour director offered no assistance when requested for medical help. Trafalgar claimed to have a hygiene policy however this was never advised or implemented. This resulted in a bus load of very sick people who could not enjoy the tour. The accommodation was 3 star at best with some locations well out of the city centres eg: one located in an industrial park, some also very dated. Breakfasts supplied where OK however dinners supplied were hit and miss. Many optionals could not be taken due to illness. One optional was cancelled with no replacement. On the last day we were with the assistance of a guide to "wander" Dublin with a view of Trinity college instead we went around on the tour bus and saw and heard the same commentary as per day one. Tour numbers were large well over what Trafalgar advertise as average numbers. This was due to a number of tours being combined as mentioned earlier. Some day stops were too long and other stops eg: English markets at Cork were pointless. Third Director Pat and second driver Hugo did a good job to try and salvage a sick and unhappy tour. It appeared there was little or no hand over eg: who had already paid for some optionals. At a farewell dinner (arranged by some guests) everyone expressed such dissatisfaction that they would have gladly left the tour and gone home days earlier. I note that if Trafalgar respond at all to the feedback given it is in a very generic and standard response. No Trafalgar we don't have great memories and are still trying to recover some 2 weeks later. We have travelled extensively on our own and on tours. This I would rate as our worst experience which is disappointing as Trafalgar is clearly riding on an outdated reputation. As noted by Maria( on our tour, previous feedback on this site) we should have done more research.