Contiki Tracking Order Status

I went on the Ecuador and Galápagos Island tour with Contiki and if I had my time again, I would have booked with a different company, mainly because of the Galapagos leg of the trip. Go to Ecuador and the Galápagos but don’t do the Galápagos with Contiki. It’s a complete rip off and we had horrible tour guides. When we arrived in the Galápagos we were met by James and Andres. Throughout our trip it was unclear who was the trip manager. From the beginning, James was scowling at passengers, rushing the group and rarely had a kind word to say. He would often leave out essential information like what to bring at the start of the trip. This improved as the trip progressed and people complained. On the first day we had a lot of different transportation, were rushed and my friend and I were nearly left behind on the first island as no one was counted onto the boat or kept together. We were not warned how bad the speedboat transport was (we had to take this multiple times) and were shocked at how rough and long the trip was (this transport option needs to be changed). The boat was always crowded, without adequate ventilation and visibility, and jarring. It was definitely the worst part of my trip other than the frustration of the guides. We had an optional bike ride that we were told was 'easy' and 'beginner' as many passengers expressed that they were inexperienced. Little did we know that the bike ride was in the heat, around 14 kms or more long and sometimes through sand which would trip people off their bikes (indeed one person fell off in the sand). When James saw that people were struggling to keep up he appeared angry and rushed us to continue. I personally had a bike that's chain kept coming off and got a flat tire. Then Andres swapped his bike with mine. There were also comments made that people shouldn't be walking only riding as it takes too long. The sights seen on this tour were not worth the long and tiring ride (particularly the mangrove section where we were bitten by many mosquitoes after not being warned about bringing bug spray). On the included snorkeling on Isabella no one gave us any information about the animals including that sea lions may be swimming with us (so this was quite a fright for me initially). It would've been nice to understand some more about the creatures and the ecosystem throughout the entire tour. There was no day song or day sheet throughout the entire tour. We often had to ask for information to be posted on the watsapp group and would often have a tour leader say "as I told you yesterday." One day we were taken to a restaurant for a tiny included breakfast. On another day we were taken to a local restaurant for included breakfast and they ran out of scrambled eggs, and watermelon, and had low quality food and drinks. My roommate’s coffee had curdled milk that she couldn’t drink. James and Andres often disappeared during meal times and this was no different. Part of the issue with being rushed was that we didn't have adequate toilet breaks. At one point at the Charles Darwin Centre I asked James if the whole group could have a toilet break and he said yes. When my friend and I went to the toilet he moved the group on and continued the tour without us and said snide remarks to other passengers while we were gone when someone suggested that the group waited for all members. The Galapagos Planet Hotel room was loud (constant hammering day and night, loud slamming doors, drunk people yelling as they came home) and tiny. We had no hot water and no duvet on the bed. I complained about both of these issues to the staff but it was never fixed. So I gave up. My roommate and I ended up booking another hotel room for the last night due to lack of sleep. I passed all of this information onto Contiki, so hopefully these issues will be resolved shortly.

They say you meet people from all around the world which is a bit of a false advertising. In fact 90% of the people on my trip are Australians. They also use what’s called dynamic pricing which seems sketchy at best. My advice; pay in AUD if you must go with a group. But imho it’s way more fun to just stay at hostels and meet people and party that way. Saves money and you meet more interesting people

I had a positive experience with a LA to the Bay trip (California, Nevada, Arizona). I departed from London and all the stages of this trip went smoothly (flight, transfers, the tour itself, hotels). For what I paid at the time it was totally worth it. Sadly I will soon be over the allowed age limit and will not be able to attend these trips anymore. It would be great if they could extend the age limit. It saddens me to see so many negative reviews on here.

The trips are amazing and well worth it. I give it 2 stars however due to terrible costumer service and faulty website (couldn't make payments, couldn't login, couldn't change password). Very unprofessional.

I don't know what these bad reviews are from, I've just been on the Grand Southern in the USA the first since COVID and it was excellent. Incredible trip with passionate guides, a great atmosphere and itinerary, I have made some amazing friends, met amazing people and grown so much as a person. Some things to note are that they are expensive! I spent way more money than I was expecting, they're quite pricey to begin with so I thought that it would cut the cost with some included meals and activities however the majority of the "optionals" are not included. This is fine as hey it was well worth it, activities like a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon is something that will stay with me forever. You do also have to tip the guides or are expected to like all other services in the US, so it can be unexpectedly expensive but even with this in mind it was 110% worth it the most fun I have ever had abroad.