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Considering Grand Circle?

Nelsipete

By Nelsipete,
in River Cruising

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npphotog

npphotog

Posted
Posted

Maybe I should not comment on Grand Circle as we never have been on a Grand Circle tour but I have read many bad things (and many good things) on this board that puts a red flag up for me. Some folks have been very satisfied with their Grand Circle experience but then some have not.

Different strokes for different folks. Some are never pleased. But I still would consider another tour company first. Seems all the brochures from Grand Circle show a lot of add on optional tours where other companies include the same tours in their package. Willard

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cv sailor

cv sailor

Posted
Posted

We've sailed traveled with GCT and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. Having started with a success, we're off again on our first GCT river cruise (i.e. Bucharest to Budapest). Our continuing commitment notwithstanding, the company has a reputation for less than candid business operations. Consequently, I suggest using caution but not thinking of reputation as a showstopper.

Dollar for dollar, GCT beats most of the competition in terms of affordability, and that opinion is backed up by an article in this month's International Travel News, which compares GCT to Viking.

Perhaps, the best approach involves a brutal third degree of their travel consultants coupled with keeping an accurate record of the consultant's responses.

We will have a cleared picture after our return to the US in late October.

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paul929207

paul929207

Posted
Posted

We also had an excellent trip with GCT - Nile River and Ancient Egypt with pre-trip to Israel and post to Jordan last March. They do offer a number of optional excursions, and we picked the pnes we wanted and passed on the rest. Most people signed up for all but the balloon ride near Luxor.

 

Paul

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GlobeMan

GlobeMan

Posted
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I almost sailed with GCT but had to cancel with 5 months notice. GCT does not like to refund deposits and if you check the fine print, their "cancellation administrative fee" is much higher that Uniworld's.

 

In my case, it took dozens of phone calls then they claimed that my refund was applied to another passenger's credit card in error. Not their error, it was "the computer's error" therefore, I would have to contact the other passenger and have him send me the money! :mad:

 

No matter how hard you try, GCT Customer Service will never allow you to speak with a manager or supervisor. On a few occasions they promised that a manager would call me but they never did.

 

After a month of getting nowhere, I finally told the rep I'd give them 24 hours to give me my refund or I would file a formal complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General's office. Miraculously, that worked.

 

In contract, I once had a booking problem with Uniworld and they immediately assigned a senior "problem resolver" who provided her full name and direct phone number. She said she'd correct the problem and she did within a day.

 

I will never deal with GCT again.

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rogerdawhip

rogerdawhip

Posted
Posted

I have traveled with GCT eight times, six of these trips were river cruises. It is true that GCT's customer

service leaves much to be desired but once you get on their ships your vacation will be fantastic. I am a single traveler and have found no one that can beat GCT in both service and price.

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WarEagle76

WarEagle76

Posted
Posted
Dollar for dollar, GCT beats most of the competition in terms of affordability, and that opinion is backed up by an article in this month's International Travel News, which compares GCT to Viking.

 

cv sailor

 

Regarding the comparison I'd be very interested in seeing it and how the comparison was done. If I checked the correct website there is a subscription involved in order to be able to read it. While I will not comment on the cruise experience on GCT since I haven't sailed on them, I can state that if the pre-cruise experience is anything like what I've been reading, they wouldn't have my business to begin with. On the other hand, for both or our Viking River cruises, the consultants I dealt with (I booked both myself) could not have been more pleasant and helpful from the initial booking until our documents were received.

 

Steve

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cv sailor

cv sailor

Posted
Posted

GCT bundles air; Viking does not. Using similar cruises on the Rhine and Mosel, with air, GCT charges $3645 and Viking $4174. The price comparison uses bottom deck cabins, which ITN describes as larger and somewhat better appointed. GCT also is credited with an edge on cultural interaction.

I am sure Viking has other plus factors, which I've not cited. Moreover, I personally could care less about a few feet of cabin space. My comment is purely one of economics, and my wife and I plan to use Viking for the Rhine cruise cited.

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Michael J

Michael J

Posted
Posted
GCT bundles air; Viking does not. Using similar cruises on the Rhine and Mosel, with air, GCT charges $3645 and Viking $4174. The price comparison uses bottom deck cabins, which ITN describes as larger and somewhat better appointed. GCT also is credited with an edge on cultural interaction.

 

I am sure Viking has other plus factors, which I've not cited. Moreover, I personally could care less about a few feet of cabin space. My comment is purely one of economics, and my wife and I plan to use Viking for the Rhine cruise cited.

 

If Viking is $500,00 more, why aren't you using GCT?

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BJS

BJS

Posted
Posted
GCT includes air in the basic price, Viking does not. Viking offers air, as stated in my reply. In the example cited, Viking quotes air as $875 from Boston, $1075 form Atlanta.

 

Having compared many river cruises with Viking to others, especially GCT, we find their initial brochure price is much higher for some of their cruises. BUT....they frequently offer their cruises at a 2 for 1 price which makes them lower assuming you are available and willing to travel at those times. GCT seems to have less included tours than Viking and more optional tours which adds to the price assuming that you are interested in the tours. We are not "head out on your own" travelers and much prefer organized tours with free time available so that is important to us.

 

Viking frequently offers "free" air from some areas of the USA and air for a couple of hundred dollars from other areas.

 

From reading what has happened to Nelsipete, in the other thread, what good did a lower price, assuming it was lower, do for them?

 

 

Maybe someone else has, but I haven't been able to find under Terms and Conditions for other cruise lines that they say they do over book and you can be "bumped" even 7 days before you are to leave. It is possible other companies do this and just don't spell it out. I know ocean cruise lines overbook and offer incentives so good to switch to another cruise that they don't have any trouble with takers of their offers.

 

Personally we had considered a trip with GCT but now the "tons" of brochures we receive each week will only go directly into the trash. There are too many others companies to choose from to risk being a party to GCT's unacceptable polices. We'd read about others' complaints but felt these things were mainly personal opinions or isolated incident. To pay months in advance, let them have interest free use of our money, and then at the last minute be told we aren't going is totally unacceptable. This is a policy and not an opinion or an isolated incident.

 

 

.

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Twice_a_year

Twice_a_year

Posted
Posted

Air Newark to Budaoest and Amsterdam to Newark only $800 with Viking. Included transfers. No problem - excellect service on KLM.

 

Saw a GCT tour boat next to ours. It was much fancier than the Viking Spirit. Can't comment on anything else on the GCT boat except the passengers we talk to were very friendly. :)

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Kayelache

Kayelache

Posted
Posted

I've traveled with GCT on eight occasions, twice on river trips, with my wheelchair bound husband. I cannot praise this company enough. We had a cabin with a balcony on each of the river cruises, Great Rivers of Europe and Romance of the Rhine and Mosel. Every aspect of each cruise was wonderful. Yes, some of the tours were "optional" which suited us just fine. Those who went, found them excellent value as did we on those we took. But often we preferred looking around the quint little towns where we docked to taking off in a bus to a place we had visited previously. I was happy to have the choice.

Twice, we booked tours with GCT which we had to cancel because of my husband's health. We got a refund promptly, on one occasion, when he became hospitalized with pneumonia a few weeks before the trip. The second time, which was our error, booking a too strenuous tour (China) we were promptly issued a voucher, which we then applied on another more suitable GCT tour. I must say we were forwarned by the GCT agent who booked us, that this would be a difficult trip, but we decided to try it anyway. When I found out about the long walks through the domestic Chinese airports, uneven surfaces, etc, we knew it was too much.

Since his death last October, I traveled with the more active sister company, OAT to Vietnam, which was a wonderful experience. I am booked on their Peru/Galapagos tour this December, and thinking of booking the China one we had to cancel. I have traveled with other companies, but since have yet to find fault with GCT and OAT, I'll stick with them.

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BJS

BJS

Posted
Posted
I've traveled with GCT on eight occasions, twice on river trips, with my wheelchair bound husband. ... I'll stick with them.
Thank you for posting your experiences and I hope your "luck" continues. There have to be many, many satisfied travelers with GCT or they wouldn't still be in business despite their "over booking" polices and poor customer service.

 

They are just a company we will no longer consider after Nelsipete's experience.

 

.

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Michael J

Michael J

Posted
Posted
Thank you for posting your experiences and I hope your "luck" continues. There have to be many, many satisfied travelers with GCT or they wouldn't still be in business despite their "over booking" polices and poor customer service.

 

They are just a company we will no longer consider after Nelsipete's experience.

 

.

\

 

BJS: A web site about Viking Spirit you may not have sen, with pictures etc.

http://cruises.about.com/od/vikingrivercruises/ss/viking_spirit.htm

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GlobeMan

GlobeMan

Posted
Posted

When you compare river cruise lines, also compare hotels, especially if you're planning extensions. When I compared Uniworld to GCT (not recently), GCT used 3 star hotels, not conveniently located while Uniworld used 4 star hotels close to the center of town.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Nelsipete

Nelsipete

Posted
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Posted

Some readers may recall that 9 days before we were scheduled to leave on a Grand Circle cruise on the Rhone, we were informed that they had overbooked and that, as last to register, we were bumped.

 

I want to let you all know that GCT has refunded our money in full in a timely manner (in less than a month) and given us a voucher for nearly half the original price to be used on a future cruise.

 

We were terribly upset at GCT for ruining our anniversary in Paris (although we went to Paris on our own anyway, without the cruise), and I wanted to correct the total bad impression that I left by letting you know about the refund and voucher.

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travelsfun

travelsfun

Posted
Posted

On behalf of myself, and the few other GCT supporters on this board, thank you for your post concerning your refund and the credit GCT gave you. It is good to hear positive solutions to problems addressed here.All too often, we only read the complaints and not the outcomes.

Dorothy

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