First time to Italy, my husband & I want to know if anyone has had experience with Grand Circle Travel's Amalfi Coast & Tuscany extended vacation tour with stays in Rome, Sorrento & Montecatini. We'd be going the end of February for 18 days. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

scullly, most of the people on this board are independent travelers so I don't think you will get a lot of help with your question. I have done both..tour and independent. At this point and for the distinations I want to visit in the next couple of years, I will do independent travel. I am not being negative about tours, and actually the one I took was a good choice for me at that time. It was not Grand Cirle by the way, so I can't give you any help there. If you look at the catagories on the travel talk list, there is one for tours and group travel..amd also on a couple of the other boards. I think you may get better answers from those boards that you will get on this one.

A friend of mine loves Grand Circle tours and has taken many of them, including several in Italy. This friend is in her late 70s, and she takes these tours becaue it is much easier for her than having to deal with moving around by herself, and she likes the company. Most, but not all, or the people on the GC tous that she has taken have been elderly. They are large group tours and they cover a lot of territory, and I would not like them for that reason. However, they have a repuation for doing a very good job at pretty low prices.

I recently went on an Overseas Adventure Tour (OAT) in Turkey. OAT is a branch of Grand Circle, but OAT tours are limited to small groups (max. 16--mine was 10) and include hiking, overnight stays in the the homes of rural local people, and other more physically challenging activities. Some of the same guides handle both the OAT and the regular Grand Circle tours, and I thought my guide on the Turkey tour was outstanding. OAT and GC do not usually stay in the same hotels, because OAT, traveling in small groups, is able to stays in small, unique places, while GC has to stay in places that can accommodate a huge group. But both stay in good hotels.

If you're sure that you wouldn't mind a large-group bus tour that covers quite a lot of mileage, and you'd be happy traveling with a mostly elderly group, I think a Grand Circle tour would be very good.

Grand Circle Tour was part of AARP originally so it does cater to older or retired travelers. They are very slow-paced usually staying in each location 5 days. They alternate scheduled tour days with free days/optional tour days so you will have plenty of time if you want to sightsee on your own. I haven't traveled with them but considered their Costa Del Sol live abroad program at one point. If you enter GCT or Grand Circle Travel into the search function at the top of the page you will find threads about them. The website for Grand Circle is www.gct.com

Sorry not specific to Italy, but my parents (early 70's) did a Budapest, Vienna, etc. tour this fall with the company are were very satisfied with the trip.

Insight Vacations is also great. Give them a look:


http://www.insightvacations.com/choose.html

--Marv

We receive those Grand Circle brochures frequently. We've never traveled in late Feb. or March (usually April/May..Sept/OCt.) I'd be more interested in hearing experiences of those who have traveled Feb/Mar. If you like to explore having the bases that GC offers might be convenient. Don't know the specifics for this tour but we've noted that on other tours, tho they offer great value, the hotels are not centrally located.

I have been with Grand Circle Tours for 13 trips and definitely think they are great and a very good value for the money. True, you may have a full bux, like 45 folks but generally by the end of a two or three week trip, all are very friendly. I also used to do the Costa Del Sol at the Bajondillo, did that probably 6 or 8 times and would stay for the extentions, equallying maybe 2 months like February and March and had wonderful times, met the same folks each year, etc. A year ago my daughter and I (she is under 50) but she got along extremely well with all us old folks we took the trip you mention and it is a wonderful trip. We spent the week in Sorrento, a week in Montecatini and a few days each end in Rome. A very good trip. Of course we took it when it was all inclusive with all meals, wine, etc which they no longer provide as much, have cut back on the meals, beverages, etc so you have to spend a little more of your money. I believe we took it in the fall. Their trips are a very good value. Took the Dubrovnik, Slovania, Croatia trip this last Feb and March and did run into a lot of unexpected snow, however it was still a great trip. Also have done their Italian Riviera, Austria and Switzerland trip can,t think of the name of it but that was exceptional also. Europe is so very beautiful. If I can be any more help, please ask more questions. Sincerely, halfpint

I have eyed the same trip you're considering to Italy but I'm going independently with a friend in May. However, I would not hesitate to take GCT's trip as there are so many free days which is a huge plus.

I have taken GCT's trip to Thailand and to Malta, both of which were excellent. I have on the horizon their Eastern Europe trip next Fall.

You can hardly beat the price (I checked out going to Malta independently and gave up after checking airfare/hotel).

Also, I would not consider most of the people elderly unless you think 50-65 is elderly!! (yes, some were in their 70s). Everyone on both my tours were great and up for anything.

As I said, I have not done a Grand Circle..I did a Brendan/Globus...we were about 45 people in all I think and the ages ran from a 13 year old with her early 40's parents, two sets of newly weds in 20's, two very young girls in their early twenties, each traveling alone, and the rest in 50's and 60's...so we were pretty well mixed as far as ages...nice group although I didn't hang with them all the time. Also, like others have mentioned, for all tha was included, you just couldn't beat the price. I think you'll like it, just be sure to read all the fine print so you are very clear on what is and is not included...hope you enjoy

My friend who likes the GC tours said that typically the people are in her age range. (She's late 70s, but has plenty of much younger friends.) I think she said there were about 40 in her groups. The ages probably vary according to the type of trip and time of year and just chance. The age range on my OAT tour was early/mid 50s to early 70s, I think, and all able-bodied and fairly active. I think the tour would have appealed to much younger people, too. The guide said that generally on her GC tours the people are older and often disabled.

We took this trip with Grand Cirlce a few years ago and found it very enjoyable. We were in our fifties at the time the group was diverse from 30 year olds to those in their late
sixties. It was a fun group and an enjoyabloe trip although the food left something to be desired.
We did have to play musical bus seats, moving our seats every day and at the end of the trip twice a day because one group felt they weren't going to get ample time at the front of the bus, but that was doable. the Almafi Coast is beautiful! Have a great trip.

Took a GCT tour 3 yrs ago to Rome, Tuscany, Bolzano, Rapallo, Venice, etc. It was great with nice hotels. Comfortable buses. 42 people in our group. Lots of free time in each city and we got to see a lot at a leisurely pace. Had a great Program Director who even took us on a side trip to Cinque Terrra and arranged for a singer on our gondola ride in Venice. That was the highlight of our trip.

Sometimes had to wait for laggards or real elderly but we all got along just fine. Made some great friends.

I would highly recommend GCT for the first time traveler and the price is reasonable considering all the breakfasts are included, many dinners as well, transportation arrangements, (just putting your luggage out for transfers, being met at the airport) etc. Everything is basically taken care of for you. Best vacation ever.

Are you getting excited about your trip? I see several have already responded...not sure what information you wanted. We took that same GCT tour several years ago and it was fine. Sorrento and Capri area is of course lovely. Montecatini turned out to be a nice little spa town easily accessible to Florence where we went by train one extra day. Nice trips to Lucca, Siena, Pisa, etc. You won't see much of Rome, unless you do take the extension, but we'd been there before. We did take a bus down to Forum on arrival day. This year...a GCT tour to Eastern Europe.

Bill in Missouri [email protected]

Don't bother booking with Grand Circle. They cancelled a planned trip and haven't refunded our $3000 for this trip after 1 month. Not happy with GCT

Yikes, Milliman. Have you initiated the credit card dispute process yet? I would, so as not to be too late.

Message: Milliman,
Have you talked to them. We have travelled with them four times and have two more booked and paid for. At times we have been due refunds and they have been satisfactorily been paid. One thing that bothered us at first is that they cut refunds only once a month, but they have always cut them.

GCT seems to have some ethical problems.Here is a story from the Consumer Affairs.com website.

"Stanley of River Edge NJ (9/25/04):
I paid for a trip on a cruise ship departing in Oct 2004. After paying in full I got a receipt marked paid in full. About 3 weeks later I got a bill for an extra amount marked "Euro difference." I called and was told this was due to Euro fluctuation from the time I booked. I asked for proof of this since the Euro changed very slightly and was told this was proprietary info and could not be given to me. I asked what if I didn't pay and was told I would not get my airline tickets or any information. I asked to cancel and was told the penalty would be over $500 a person. I have taped all conversations and will sue in small claims court.

More horror stories here.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/grand_circle.html

One of their divisions, OAT, bumped me off a trip less than two weeks from departure. I had already received my final documents. They told me that it is their policy to over book trips and so if they don't get enough cancellations they bump. Since I am usually an independent traveler I had not expected this to be a possiblity.

Add my name to the "horror stories" listed on consumeraffairs.com. There's another GCT thread on this post that I started in Feb. 2005 (just click on my name to pull it up). Obviously, you're shooting craps when you book with this company. Those with good experiences are the lucky ones. Not a good way to do business. I contacted the ombudsman from National Geographic Traveler, who took up our cause, but to no avail. His name is Chris Elliott, and he ran an article about our plight several weeks ago on tripso.com.

Our solution was to travel independently again, as we always have before, so that we'll have more control over our travels. So, instead of a trip with cruise to Tahiti, we're going to England in September. We needed to do something completely different, so as not to be thinking of the other trip the whole time. And we're REALLY looking forward to our first visit to London!!!!