Customer Service
This was not our first pilgrimage, but our…read morefifth. So, we were familiar with other tour companies' service delivery. This organization was way below par, and I would not ever recommend using them for anything. As an example, the first night we found our dinners were not included in our reservation. Because it was in an industrial area, there were no restaurants within walking distance of our hotel (voco Venice Mestre-the Quid). We contacted Canterbury to get them included, as was promised, or pay out of pocket @ $25 per meal. According to the hotel, Canterbury refused to pay. According to Canterbury, the hotel would not accept their payment.
On our first day of touring Venice, the driver picked us up at our hotel but did not know there was a second pick up to be made. We had to convince her there were people waiting there. When we arrived in Venice, the tour guide was not available. When we connected, we found out she had planned to show us everything we were scheduled to see the next day when we joined the entire larger group. After I explained the agenda was (from the Canterbury program) she said, "Ok what do you want to see". I repeatedly asked the Canterbury rep for details. I was assured by Canterbury they were planning something good for us.
At our first hotel, Voco Venice Mestre-the Quid, the pickup to join the larger group was 45 mins late. When I called the Canterbury Emergency line to inquire about the status and ask for instructions, Dak (sp?) explained he didn't want to hear my complaints in any uncertain terms, and I should take it up with the company when I get back to the states. He then proceeded to tell me he was sending two cabs, one for the four of us (at the Quid) and one for people at St Anthony's. 30 mins later a bus showed up for us, loaded our luggage then drove to St Anthony's for the other five.
Responsiveness/communications
You are asked to put everything in email, but emails are not returned. When leaving a message, you get your response not with a call (even though requested), but with an email which generally does not address the items you left in your voicemail. I had to follow up two and three times to get anyone to respond, and again, the responses were often incomplete, or flat out wrong (when requesting dates or hotel names, I was given information that did not end up being true). In talking with the other pilgrims, this was a theme across the board for many.
Hotel choices were located mostly in industrial areas, away from any restaurants or convenience stores. If you wanted to do anything or go anywhere in your off time you had to pay cab fare. The quality of the hotels and quality of food in the hotels was average at best.
Dinner in Assisi at TH Assisi Hotel Cencolo was at 8:30, because that's all the hotels would give us (per our guide). One night the dinner wasn't scheduled until 9:30pm. With the slow service, we didn't get back to our rooms until 11pm.
San Giovanni rotunda Palace the shower was small, door didn't close which left water on the floor. The staff was very rude. Rooms did not have anywhere to place luggage/bathroom essentials, so everything was on the floor. Door keys didn't work for several people requiring multiple visits to the front desk. Lobby restrooms didn't have toilet paper, soap, etc. Neither Front desk or bar could make change for any euro, specifically 10euro. One elevator broke which left 104 people descending with luggage using a single elevator that held two people at a time. At breakfast, they were supposedly out of fruit, but then magically another bowl appeared, the impression was they were not quick to replenish food or drinks. At dinner, one table was completely missed when the entrée was distributed.
Grand Hotel Vanvitelli the Room numbers were confusing, in some cases requiring staff to walk you to your room. No accessible usb ports by desk, no outlets (for charging phones/devices). The shower lever was broken, and the shower safety bar was loose making it unusable. The shower was slippery and required a towel to prevent slipping. At Breakfast, they had two coffee machines, only one worked which meant a queue to get your beverage. They ran out of coffee cups and plates and were slow to replace. Additionally, one of the two juice machines was broken or being worked on.
The itinerary was jam packed. Buses were not always comfortable, and the itinerary had many hours of travel. With the number of people on the tour it made it impossible to keep to a schedule so there was a lot of "hurry up and wait". We visited some amazing holy sites but because we were often running late, there was no time allocated to pick up information about the sites, holy medals, or any items to remember the site.
Guides, the quality of the guides at each location was hit or miss. Some were very knowledgeable; others did more people management to keep everyone together. The guides who stayed with us throughout
