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Leger Holidays
by oxon
I've just returned! Leger have a good marketing dept. but that's it! Brochure could of been written by Enid Blyton!
The trip is overpriced and over- rated. Silver Service is really, really bad, no better at all than one would expect from a standard service. In fact worse than some!
As for the coach staff words fail me! Mike ... and Lorna (they are a couple) are only interested in stopping for their smoking breaks. They, along with the on-board guide, light up at every opportunity; cloths smell of stale smoke etc. The guide, also named Mike, seemed unable to project his voice and whence talking off the coach (coach has microfone) just could not be understood; started sentence with clarity but then voice quickly deteriated to a mumble as his head and chin lowered in line with his shoes! I know of no-one that understood what he was saying. On the coach he was audible although some of the information questionable (not as recorderd in history).
I'd love to know what the extra charge for Silver Service covered. We were told from the onset the toilet was NOT to be used unless it was a real emergency as there were public toilets at all the stops and we must use these! If someone HAD to use the coach toilet for a wee then they must not use the tap to wash their hands at all! Antiseptic hand cream would be provided! Lorna added the statement " and don't poo in my loo". We were not allowed to forget these instructions either! No-one dared use the toilet at all---until the final day on the journey to the Ferry when three brave men ignored orders.
We were told daily to ensure we kept the coach clean (they didn't clean it throughout the trip). On day four someone accidently, unknowingly, dropped an empty soft drink (purchased onboard) plastic bottle on the floor as they left the coach at one of the stops; upon returning to the coach with the group Lorna was found in wait clutching a blue plastic carrier bag in one hand and her usual ciggie in the other (not a good company image). She then pounced upon the culprit (who at this point was unaware of her crime), thrust the bag at her and told her to pick up her rubbish from the floor under the seat. The person was so upset to be humiliated thus and explained that they had not deposited anything on the floor. "Yes you have - it's the empty bottle of drink I sold you and you have to pick it up and keep my coach clean". I could hardly believe my ears. This is how customers (paying top price for this tour) are spoken to. It was really shocking.
The whole time it was like the staff were the ones on holiday and the paying public must fit in with them.
Why Legers allow staff to stand at the foot of the vehicle stairs and smoke I fail to comprehend. The smoke kept drifting into the coach. They were always first off the coach and had lit up by the time we passengers disembarked! I could go on forever about Leger coach staff they are so very unproffessional.
The Hotel was as expected. HOWEVER do not opt for the £15 daily dinner deal Leger now offers. It is cheaper to pay at the Hotel should you decide, after reading the menu for the day, to eat there. Leger sell the menu of the day package as having a choice of courses; this is untrue. There was only ever one main course on offer each day. Of the three full days I spent there Tuesday was meat curry, Weds beef stew and Veal on Thursday. Tinned mixed vegetables too. I only ate in-house on the Wednesday and it was not good! People that had prepaid for meals were even eating out by Thursday. Portions on the small side also. There is a large supermarket opposite selling many varieties of prepared sandwiches, salad bowls etc. Plenty of choice and very good prices. MacDonalds is right by it and also a Chinese which serves a daily (closed Mondays) self service eat-as-much-as you-like buffet for 16 euros & 8 for children. Subway is one minute stroll back down the road so you will not starve.
Upon arrival at Hotel there was no porterage as in Brochure; we all took our own luggage to rooms. Our driver told us to feel free to carry our own bags instead of waiting for someone. Seemed to me as all he (they) wanted was us to get off the coach and out of the way. The Hotel staff were refreshingly pleasant, and looked smart, in contrast. Be warned though - the Hotel Bar closes at 11 pm.
There are far better ways to make this trip than the endurance test I have just returned from! Doesn't deserve even the one star!
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Direct Holidays
by Lbird99
When it comes to booking holidays I can be really anal about the planning - my husband thinks I prefer the planning to the holiday!! I have used Direct Holidays several times over the years and have always found them to be completely professional and great value for money. I used them when I booked my holiday in November last year, which ... we went on in May and they are usually one of my first stops when looking for a holiday. They are owned by Thomas Cook, but seem to be run as an independent company.
Finding your holiday - Brochure or Website?
As I have booked with them several times now I am obviously a fixture on their mailing list and always get a brochure through a couple of times a year. I always like to have a nose through the holiday brochures when I am looking for a holiday (and have been known to pop in to the travel agents for an arm of brochures just to cheer myself up!) They do several brochures for short and long haul holidays, and you can also request these via their website and they are normally sent out within a week. I usually use the brochures to make a short list of ones I like the look at that I will then look at in more detail on the website and trip advisor.
Of course you can also search for holidays on the Direct Holidays website. I just prefer to use the brochure method first as I find it quicker to skim the details on the page and eliminate any that aren't suitable - for instance I am diabetic so I rule out anything without a fridge in the room. The search is really easy to use - You put in when you want to go, who is going, what airport and the country or region you want to go to. You can also cut this further by adding your budget, board type, free kids places etc. It will then bring you up a list of available places. Each hotel has a summary, a full specification and images (and videos if available). I like the initial summary page as you get to see the flight times straight off - and when you are travelling with a toddler this is very important! You can also click from here to see if there are other flight times and room types available. The other bit I really like is the change date tab as it brings up a calendar with the per person price for 2 weeks either side of your chosen date, and you can see if there are any bargains by going a couple of days earlier or later. The only thing I'm not that keen on is the compare function as all it really does is show you the price side by side.
Booking
You can book your break via the website or by phone. I have booked both ways - I usually use the internet but as we were taking a wheelchair and I had a few questions I booked by phone. The call centre is based in Scotland and the lady I spoke to - Lisa - was absolutely wonderful. After taking all the usual details of who was going and ages, she checked the price against my internet quote which was matched. She talked through whether we would a disabled room which we decided we didn't, but she said she would put it on the booking requesting a hotel not miles from the main facilities - and we ended up with a room a stone's throw from the lifts which was fab! She also explained who I needed to contact to book the wheel chair on the flight and what info I needed to provide, and put on the booking that we would be bringing crutches in the cabin in addition to our hand luggage at no extra cost. She even gave me her email address so that if I had any queries once I got off of the phone I could send them through. I also booked us seats together for a small fee and our in flight meals (including a kids meal for Little Man) - never a culinary delight but at least they break the flight up a bit!
If you book on line the process is pretty much the same - you type in the names and date of births of all passengers, then you can select your extras and meal requests by using the tick boxes on screen. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes online. Now I know how easy it is to travel with a wheelchair I would go back to online booking, but I would definitely recommend calling them if you have any queries as they were so helpful.
Paying for your holiday
When I booked there was a low deposit offer so I paid this via credit card which has a £5.95 surcharge. However I do it for the protection just in case the company goes belly up! Debit cards do not carry a fee which is good. The rest of the deposit is due 8 weeks later, and they will send you a reminder through the post to let you know, with final balance being due 12 weeks before you fly. You can pay by phone or online regardless of how you booked, and you can make payments at any time before the balance is due - if I had a spare £10 I would pay it off the holiday, although they do send you an updated invoice each time you make a payment and I had about 20 in the end!
Tickets Please!
Our tickets arrived 16 days before our holiday and came in a cheque book type document with little titbits of information about our destination, when and where to check in and of course our flight tickets. Like most holiday companies now they do not supply luggage tags but they do supply big direct holidays stickers to put on your suitcase if you really want to! This is really the last contact you have with Direct Holidays as once you arrive at the airport you are in the hands of Thomas Cook.
Why choose Direct Holidays?
For me it really comes down to getting the best value I can for my money. Although that you may find a similar holiday a bit cheaper through one of the holiday finder websites, but I am reluctant to book through a tour operator I have never heard of - I guess I am a bit of a coward. I priced my holiday up on both Thomas Cook and First Choice - Direct Holidays was more than £100 cheaper and the flight times from First choice were horrendous (I don't want to fly home at 1 am with a crabby 3 year old thanks!) Also, despite being the same company Direct Holidays gave me in flight meals and an extra 5kg baggage allowance per person included in the price so it was a no brainer for me! You still get your transfers, taxes and rep service but you get to take more clothes!!
Conclusion
As you can tell, I would really recommend Direct Holiday. The service you get is excellent and once you get to the airport you are like every other Thomas cook customer - just a bit smugger! Now obviously I had to look at the website to 'remind' myself what it all looked like, so I'm off to nag Hubs about this absolute bargain I've found for next year...
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Exodus
by nodbod1
I've been on four trips with exodus and would highly recommend them. The trips are always really well planned and run by leaders (usually local to that country) who know their country well.
The advantage of exodus over organising things yourself is that all the hassle is taken out of it for you, you can do a great deal in a ... short space of time and you'll travel with like minded people. You will pay more for these benefits though. Some countries are easier than others to organise things yourself. I've travelled to Thailand and Australia independently and would advise anybody to do so because it's so easy to organise things yourself and to meet people as well. I went to Nepal with Exodus though and wouldn't have fancied trying to organise that myself - I would probably have got lost in the mountains!
I've generally been lucky with the other people in the group but the people do vary depending on the type of trip, for example I did a multi activity holiday - canyoning, paragliding etc in Turkey and this attracted a much younger group than the walking holiday I did in Poland.
Exodus offer a loyalty discount, if you've been on two or more trips you get 5% off and if you've been on nine or more, you get 10% off.
The main negative is that Exodus' main flights are from London for their trips. I've spoken to them about organising something for me from up north but they usually suggest that they could book me a domestic flight to London. What I've usually done is gone online myself and tried to find a flight from the north west that lands around the same time as the group flight. This has usually worked out well so I've booked the trip 'land only' and paid for my flights separately - sometimes this has worked out cheaper than if I'd taken the group flight. I'm not sure what would happen if the flight was delayed or something though- this could mess up the arrangements.
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