Bad experience with Cosmos Tours
Aug 30th, 2003, 11:31 AM
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Bad experience with Cosmos Tours
I would like to report on Cosmos Tour 6910 called ?Focus on Scandinavia?. It is 13 days in length including the one spent flying from the USA. It begins and ends in Copenhagen, with 3 nights in Denmark, 5 in Norway, and 3 in Sweden. Cost $1159 for the land only and $2066 with airfare.
Hotels were more than adequate. Several were very nice indeed. No complaints.
The ones in Stockholm (2 nights) and Copenhagen (2 nights) were no where near city center and you needed to take the subway in the first and a bus in the latter to get into the city. Twenty minutes each way, and you passed a lot of hotels enroute that could have been booked instead.
One room (2 nights in Bergen, Norway) did not have a dead bolt. Trusting sort of fellow, this architect.
The breakfasts in Scandinavia are excellent. Lots of variety and tasty.
The included meals were about normal for a tour like this, none particularly memorable or forgettable. At one of the included meals, the food ran out before everyone had eaten! The last three people in line had the remnants of vegetables and a couple potatoes?the meat was all gone and they were not bringing any more out. It seems that Cosmos had hired an outside catering company, rather than using the hotel restaurant, and when the food is gone..it?s gone. No offer to send the poor souls to the restaurant for a proper meal.
Derek Stevens (Stephens?) was the tour director. He did the absolute minimum amount of work, and was really a glorified bell hop. In 8 travel days on the bus, he couldn?t have spoken for more than 30 minutes (I am NOT exaggerating?more like 15). We learned nothing from him. More times than not, when he did try to say something educational, it was in the line of ?The 500 year old church we JUST PASSED is famous for it?s unique architecture?.?.
The driver did not speak English. He drove the bus safely and handled himself professionally. One odd thing about him though?. when it was drizzling, he seemed to enjoy the screeching sound that windshield wipers make when they need replacing. Thankfully the weather was mostly sunny.
Cosmos charged US$40 extra for transfers to/from the airport. The airport was 700 meters from the hotel and a taxi cost less than $10. Couldn?t they take the $20 extra just paid them and get us a hotel closer to the action in Copenhagen and Stockholm.
There were no name tags given out. Someone please post a reason why putting name tags on 46 strangers is a bad idea. Really.. I?d like to know.
I found the trip itself to be somewhat boring. The first three days on the road offered no scenery of note (if you have unfortunately already booked this tour, start the trip on the 7th seat back from the driver?you?ll move forward two seats a day, and arrive in front for the first good day of sights).
People seemed to sleep quite a bit, as we didn?t have a pesky guide keeping us awake with educational tales of what it is like to live, work, and play in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. I was driven through Scandinavia?not guided.
Cosmos will never get another dime of my money.
Gary Stevens
Hotels were more than adequate. Several were very nice indeed. No complaints.
The ones in Stockholm (2 nights) and Copenhagen (2 nights) were no where near city center and you needed to take the subway in the first and a bus in the latter to get into the city. Twenty minutes each way, and you passed a lot of hotels enroute that could have been booked instead.
One room (2 nights in Bergen, Norway) did not have a dead bolt. Trusting sort of fellow, this architect.
The breakfasts in Scandinavia are excellent. Lots of variety and tasty.
The included meals were about normal for a tour like this, none particularly memorable or forgettable. At one of the included meals, the food ran out before everyone had eaten! The last three people in line had the remnants of vegetables and a couple potatoes?the meat was all gone and they were not bringing any more out. It seems that Cosmos had hired an outside catering company, rather than using the hotel restaurant, and when the food is gone..it?s gone. No offer to send the poor souls to the restaurant for a proper meal.
Derek Stevens (Stephens?) was the tour director. He did the absolute minimum amount of work, and was really a glorified bell hop. In 8 travel days on the bus, he couldn?t have spoken for more than 30 minutes (I am NOT exaggerating?more like 15). We learned nothing from him. More times than not, when he did try to say something educational, it was in the line of ?The 500 year old church we JUST PASSED is famous for it?s unique architecture?.?.
The driver did not speak English. He drove the bus safely and handled himself professionally. One odd thing about him though?. when it was drizzling, he seemed to enjoy the screeching sound that windshield wipers make when they need replacing. Thankfully the weather was mostly sunny.
Cosmos charged US$40 extra for transfers to/from the airport. The airport was 700 meters from the hotel and a taxi cost less than $10. Couldn?t they take the $20 extra just paid them and get us a hotel closer to the action in Copenhagen and Stockholm.
There were no name tags given out. Someone please post a reason why putting name tags on 46 strangers is a bad idea. Really.. I?d like to know.
I found the trip itself to be somewhat boring. The first three days on the road offered no scenery of note (if you have unfortunately already booked this tour, start the trip on the 7th seat back from the driver?you?ll move forward two seats a day, and arrive in front for the first good day of sights).
People seemed to sleep quite a bit, as we didn?t have a pesky guide keeping us awake with educational tales of what it is like to live, work, and play in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. I was driven through Scandinavia?not guided.
Cosmos will never get another dime of my money.
Gary Stevens
Aug 30th, 2003, 12:54 PM
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I have taken several Cosmos tours and sometimes you get a good guide and often you will get an inexperienced guide...the experienced guides tend to be on the first class tours - Globus. As far as the value, for 105.00 per person per day you got hotel, transportation, 5 dinners, some sightseeing and portage. I don't think you would find a central hotel in Scandinavia in high season for that kind of money plus all the extras that I mentioned have to be taken into consideration. Transportation alone for 12 days can be quite costly. The first class tours are approx 30 percent more in price and the hotels tend to be a little more central. The incident with the meals can not be excused and I would definately take that one up with them by sending a letter of disapproval.
I personally would not wish to wear a name tag and find after a few days you have made some friends and will get to know people...at least the ones you have common interests with.
I personally would not wish to wear a name tag and find after a few days you have made some friends and will get to know people...at least the ones you have common interests with.
Aug 30th, 2003, 01:06 PM
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I can understand why you feel a bit cheated with this tour guide. When one signs on for an escorted tour it's usually assumed the guide will be knowlegeable and since he is a representative for the guest. That's really too bad to have been stuck for that length of time with an incompetetent person.
Another thing that's mostly common is that tour group hotels are not always in a central area. It's cheaper for the tour company I guess. When I went on an escorted tour of several European cities with Globus our hotels were nowhere near to the sights. For ex., our itinerary said we would visit Paris and we did but our hotel was the Novotel nearby the airport! We were there for two nights only so when we got back from dinner to the hotel it was not as if we had been located somewhere central like the Latin Qtr. that we could do some walking around before going to bed.
Because of the set itineraries and being stuck on a bus for hours (because all I recall was that we were constantly on the road almost each day to reach our next destination)I prefer going independently now.
Plus when you're on a tour you're stuck with alot of different personalities. Like this one guy on my tour would be late to board our bus every morning of the tour and this kept everyone back.
Another thing that's mostly common is that tour group hotels are not always in a central area. It's cheaper for the tour company I guess. When I went on an escorted tour of several European cities with Globus our hotels were nowhere near to the sights. For ex., our itinerary said we would visit Paris and we did but our hotel was the Novotel nearby the airport! We were there for two nights only so when we got back from dinner to the hotel it was not as if we had been located somewhere central like the Latin Qtr. that we could do some walking around before going to bed.
Because of the set itineraries and being stuck on a bus for hours (because all I recall was that we were constantly on the road almost each day to reach our next destination)I prefer going independently now.
Plus when you're on a tour you're stuck with alot of different personalities. Like this one guy on my tour would be late to board our bus every morning of the tour and this kept everyone back.
Aug 30th, 2003, 02:06 PM
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I've taken 4 Cosmos tours and will do #5 this fall. I had 1 average guide and 3 excellent ones. They all gave good commentary during the bus rides and it sounds like you just got a dud. I also had a lot of central hotels, maybe just lucky on my tours. I like Cosmos because they have a more easygoing attitude than other more regimented tours. There were optional excursions available, but we were also told how to do things on our own.
Aug 30th, 2003, 02:10 PM
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First, name tag...If they did give them out, I wouldn't wear one, so I'm not sure why you wanted one.
As far as the tour guide, I do feel sorry for you, I just took a tour with Insight and our guide was so wonderful, gave us a lot of information and made sure that all we were all taken care of properly. If people had special food needs, she made sure that was also taken care of. I don't think we could ask for better. I know that she was a big part of making the trip so enjoyable and smooth.
Our hotels were all central, except for one, and though we didn't spend much time at the hotel, it was nice to have their at the center of town. Especially in Venice, we were IN Venice, not on the mainland, therefore, we were able to walk around and get back to our hotel, clean up and then go out to dinner without any hassle.
Having said all that, I do believe that Insight's tours are more expensive, I guess the old saying is true, "you get what you pay for".
However, overall did you enjoy your tour?
As far as the tour guide, I do feel sorry for you, I just took a tour with Insight and our guide was so wonderful, gave us a lot of information and made sure that all we were all taken care of properly. If people had special food needs, she made sure that was also taken care of. I don't think we could ask for better. I know that she was a big part of making the trip so enjoyable and smooth.
Our hotels were all central, except for one, and though we didn't spend much time at the hotel, it was nice to have their at the center of town. Especially in Venice, we were IN Venice, not on the mainland, therefore, we were able to walk around and get back to our hotel, clean up and then go out to dinner without any hassle.
Having said all that, I do believe that Insight's tours are more expensive, I guess the old saying is true, "you get what you pay for".
However, overall did you enjoy your tour?
Aug 30th, 2003, 04:57 PM
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all it takes is a little research to find out where your hotels are located; they are all on the internet for you to check. Also Cosmos is a budget tour company and you cannot expect to get centrally located hotels and highly trained tour guides. I am going on a tour with their sister company globus; it will cost me a little more- trip was discounted thru a internet booking site- all of my hotels in spain are 4 or 5 star hotels in the center of cities. hope this helps for next time.
Aug 30th, 2003, 06:21 PM
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We took a 21 day Cosmos tour of Italy, and one of the first things we were told upon arrival was that we did not have a tour guide, we had a tour escort. Apparently, escorts are less knowledgeable and tour guides have to pass some kind of a test or have training or certification or some such thing. We were also less than pleased with our escort. Be thankful, however, that you had good hotels. Not all of ours were good, and two of our rooms were outrageously bad. Despite that, we had an outstanding trip. Cosmos was the only tour company, at any price, to offer the itinerary we wanted, and we felt that, overall, we got our money's worth. Having said that, I would not go with Cosmos again. However, it is important to remember that it is a budget tour.
Nov 6th, 2003, 02:20 PM
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I must say that we've traveled with Globus, Backroads Touring, twice with Elderhostel, 3 times with Grand Circle, plus several others and found all to be excellent as to hotels, meals, guides, information, etc.
So far, so good.
Bill in Missouri
So far, so good.
Bill in Missouri
