I have booked a Collette Vacations tour to Ireland for Summer 2010, does anyone have experience with this tour operator that is recent?

No, sorry. I am just curios, why is important for you other's experience AFTER you already booked the tour?

Well I guess just peace of mind that I booked a good one..and just to read other people's comments. I have read a lot of post as to just going on your own, I am going w/ my 22 year old daughter and we both just wanted to go on a tour, and not have the responsibility of driving.

I hope you will like the tour and enjoy !

When questions about guided tours come up I always wonder if there is a good forum for clients of guided tours. Cruisecritic is great for cruisers. Isn't there anything similar for guided tours?

Fodorites tend to be do-it-yourselfers.

Collette has a good reputation. Trip Advisor has a forum that discusses Collette tours.

http://tinyurl.com/yal8frg

I personally have not gone on a Collette tour. However, I have at least five friends who have gone on multiple tours with Collette and have been pleased with their tours.

In 2007 I took a Collette Tour through Northern Europe. The tour began in Berlin, going on to Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow and Warsaw, two nights in each city. The tour guide and coach driver were both excellent, very knowledgeable and experienced. Seats on the coach were rotated on a daily basis, dictated by our guide, one row back, a fair system for everyone. As we boarded the coach each day we would find our names on a card on the assigned seat. I found this to be a very civilized and accommodating way to do this.

However, the negatives were that the hotels were not centrally located, involving lots of walking or public transportation when on one's own and two of the five hotels were definitely inferior, obviously Communist comfort level. In Prague (no name hotel), worse than budget level rooms, horrible food. In Budapest (a Radisson), budget level rooms, but good food and nice public areas.

On the flip side, the Sofitel in Berlin was splendid, as were the Sheraton in Krakow and the Westin in Warsaw, the three latter quite posh.

This was a middle budget tour, so my expectations weren't set too high. However, I was traveling solo with arthritic knees, so was hampered on the free time by these issues. The group was a total of 45 people, 30 of them from a church group in Michigan, the nicest people I've ever met. It was a wonderful two weeks, give or take the few negatives stated.

As a solo traveler I would definitely do another tour with Collette, especially now that I've got a brand new pair of knees.

Hope this help in addressing your concerns/questions.

I have used Collette for many years. I find them most helpful. The tour managers are knowledgable, friendly, and try to make all the passengers happy. The cost is reasonable, based on all that is included. Hotels are always nice, and location is usually the best. I have three more trips scheduled for 2010.

I have been traveling with Collette for the past 12 years and coordinate their trips for our Retired Teachers Association. I can assure that this company has a wonderful reputation. They are the oldest tour company in the U.S. and have been in business for 90 years. They are a family-owned business who are very involved in making your travels the best possible. Collette travels to destinations all over the world and they have some of the best guides in the world who work exclusively for Collette and who make your travel experience a memorable one. They house you in 4 or 5 star hotels, usually located downtown and they give you some of the culture experience of the area you are visiting through entertainment, local guides etc. You will certainly get your money's worth plus much more and you will have a great experience. Don't hestitate to travel with Collette. You might be interested to know they have a Foundation that supports schools, orphanages and the well-being of the people of many of the countries where we travel, including Africa, India and S. America.

www.affordabletours.com has a forum for reviews of different travel companies.

Well I do feel better now about our choice,and as most travelers know, must just wait for the great vacation,and as we all know the wait is always long and the trip is always too short! Thanks, Sandi

They may be an absolutely wonderful company and you may love them.

However - I'd personally be very suspect since <u>both</u> JoeyParrott AND Patteson registered on Dec 4 and those were their first and only ever posts. They look very much like ringers posting 'praise' of Collette. If it is such a great company, they shouldn't need fake 'satisfied' customers to convince . . . .

I noticed that also, I'm still hoping all goes well, I certainly researched them a lot and all the hotels also. Sometimes we all just have to make to most of a vacation and "go with the flow"

On my Ireland trip I found the tour guide to be extremely helpful in preparing us for the trip details. I never felt unprepared for an event or unsure of how to handle a situation. A guided tour is really the way to go for a first time in foreign country. I haven't used another company but I can't imagine how another company could top Collette.

>A guided tour is really the way to go for a first time in foreign country.<

Many Fororites would disagree.

I'm kind of scratching my head that three people are brand new to these message boards and their only posts are to comment on this tour company. That starts to become a red flag of sorts...

*Fodorites*

amwosu: Yep - first JoeyParrott, then Patteson and now MMoniz all just <i>happen</i> to come across Fodors, just <i>happen</i> to find this Collette Tours thread, and just <i>happen</i> to register and post these glowing recommendations

Now I'd personally not touch this company w/ a barge pole just on principle.

Hi everyone,
I've come across this thread in my Google alerts for Collette, and I do apologize for any misconception about the nature of Collette. I'm the supervisor of Communications at Collette and as a company, we ethically prohibit employees from pretending to be travelers in any circumstance. We do not solicit for helpful reviews and would never compensate for them either. We have many happy customers and repeat travelers and through our own research, we've found that a great deal many of them do follow us on the web via vehicles like Google alert. AS that is how I came across the thread, I could assume a few of our travelers came by that way as well.

I assume the above reviews were merely written by a couple of our passengers.

Sandi, as this thread was initially to help you understand if you made a good decision, I did want to point that out. We do have a 97% satisfaction rate, Ireland is one of our top-selling destinations and should you go with us, I do think you'll have a wonderful trip. I wish you luck.

If anyone has any questions, please do not hestitate to call or email me as I would be happy to discuss this further. Nicole Sullivan, Supervisor of Communications. Direct line: 401-642-4699 | Email [email protected].

Hope everyone's having a great holiday season so far.

-Nicole