summer2013
I am COMPLETELY DISSATISFIED with the service and attitude of Kerry Blackburn of the Discovery Group.
He was the travel director for our European Tour to Spain and France, and the person in charge of 'Dance Mania'. We as parents/guardians of a dance troupe took our girls (ages 11-18) on this tour to dance at the festival and experience Europe. I know it's LONG, but PLEASE READ and BEWARE before booking a trip with this tour agency!!
The BAD:
1. First, and foremost, "Dance Mania" was not a part of a festival. There was no festival; nothing like we are used to in the USA with music, food, games, etc. There was only a stage and one other dance group (which performed hours later). There was a very small crowd, no banners, no announcements, no flyers, no food, etc.
a. Not what we expected from a trip that was planned almost 2 years in advance.
b. A tent and water was provided for the girls (BY the sound crew!) not Kerry.
c. The second show was cancelled, due to rain - but Kerry did not have a backup plan. He was also very confrontational and had plenty of excuses and NOT one solution.
2. Kerry was very disrespectful - one instance he called one of the parent/guardians "STUPID". When confronted, he said that she wasn't stupid it was her mentality. (He was very abrasive and arrogant).
3. Despite what was advertised, admission to only one attraction was included in the tour price, all remainder of tourist attractions, activities, etc. were left for us to pay at the door.
a. More IMPORTANTLY, NO reservations were made for ANY tours! (no churches, Louvre, Eiffel tower, etc)
4. Again, despite being told, some meals would be included, not one breakfast, lunch, or dinner was included in the tour package. Except those provided by the hotel, however, I consider those amenities part of the hotel service.
a. We did not have one meal with the entire group - a dinner theater would have been wonderful - especially one that focused on dance, like flamenco (and this was available if we had reservations).
5. He had no knowledge of the area we toured. Did not appear to have done ANY research.
6. He left us on our own several times, most of the time we had no idea where to go or how to get there. Basically, a bus would drop us off and pick us up at a certain location (not always where we were dropped off).
7. When asked about closing times of the attractions, he did not have an answer, no assistance offered. Instead, he was very condescending and basically said we were on our own.
8. No maps of the area were provided. (We could have definitely used a walking map, which includes side streets and major attractions).
9. Although we discussed the Louvre (major attraction) being closed on Tuesdays (via internet website), he still took the group on Tuesday - to find it WAS CLOSED. We wasted that entire day on tourist attractions that were closed! (Not only the Louvre!)
10. We stayed in a city that was inappropriate for our travelling group (which included young girls and their parents/guardians). This city contained many intoxicated men (very drunk, some girls witnessed a man passed out in the streets surrounded by police while they were merely purchasing gelato), casinos, partying throughout the night, discos, etc.
11. Thanks to his planning, we arrived at the airport at 8:45am. Our plane leaves at 10:35am! And we are flying international!! Worse - bus pulls to the wrong entrance AND floor. Fortunately, security at the airport allowed us to pass through the crowd, since we only had 10 minutes to get through 'border police/passport check' and security lines. We had finally made it to our gate at 9:55am, fortunately our flight was delayed (which I am sure was due to our tardiness) and we boarded our plane at 10am instead of the original 9:50am scheduled time.
The good:
1. We all learn from our mistakes - and booking with Kerry is one mistake I will never do twice!
2. Disneyland Paris was wonderful; however much or all of the credit goes to the Disney staff and coordinators.
3. Waterpark was great; however this was not on his itinerary, nor did he know there was a waterpark. (This would have been so much more age appropriate for the girls - at least as an option).
4. WE made the best out of our trip despite all the road blocks and hurdles.
5. Hopefully, others can learn from our mistake and DO NOT BOOK a TRIP/TOUR with KERRY BLACKBURN. read more