Don't use one day in Provence from Marseilles

One day in Provence day tours marseille-Provence William Templer -DO NOT TAKE THIS COMPANY IF YOU ARE ON A CRUISE. We nearly missed the ship and the driver and guide Geraldine did not seem to care, would not drive any faster and then blamed us for it! We asked for a tour of Avignon and then wine tasting in Chaetauneuf du Pape. William had asked in an email if we needed a lunch reservation and to let him know. Two days before I emailed and said yes we would need lunch. He mis understood this to mean we wanted lunch in Chaetauneuf du pape. No worries. He found a place with nice food that could accommodate our large group but the pace was very slow and no food for the kids to eat. Entres were a choice of fish or lamb. We spent 2.5 hours at lunch. I wish he had given Us the choice of a quick lunch or a longer one. We basically missed Avignon having only 45 minutes there due to lunch. But the worst was yet to come. The tour was to end at 5. We told them We could be a few. I uses late as we needed to be on board no later than 5:30. We left Avignon at 4 and hit massive rush hour traffic. Someone in our party noticed the TomTom showed our arrival as 5:46. When she asked Geraldine about this Geraldine was not concerned. We called the ships agent to alert them. After we got on the high way our arrival time was up to 5:57 the ship was to sail at 6. We asked if they could go faster as we saw many cars and busses passing us but they refused saying it was not any issue. When the ships agent called us back and asked for our Latino we were told they would not wait for us. Finally Geraldine understood the seriousness of the situation Nd the driver sped up. We arrived at 5:47. The ship sailed at 6:02 leaving another couple standing on the doc as they arrived in a taxi at 6:05. The most upsetting part was Geraldine telling us that we had said we had more time up to 5:30 so she was not to blame. We also never heard from William. I was very disappointed with the lack of customer service and throwing the blame on us. Finally, Geraldine was not an informed guide. She read a script of the area as we drove to Chateaunerf du pape. She got lost finding the winery. Overall the area is lovely and I would like to go back but not with this company. A/C in the bus was on and off. The guide did not know what she was talking about and we nearly missed the ship. Avoid them.

None of us needs the stress you experienced. Thanks for the heads up.

Ouch!

Was this your first time in Europe or your first cruise in Europe per se? I only ask because I see you have sailed in other area's not the Med. If it is I think this was a good lesson allbeit a tough one for you...things are NOT the same in Europe re tours,taxi's,etc. They the hired tours need to be given exact times,direction as to your needs and a no nonsense approch to what you want from the start.It seemed this was not done and your guide/driver took advantage which I can see spoiled the whole day for you. I would email/write William and let him know that you are on CC and this could hurt him and ask what happened and could you get a portion of your money refunded just for the mental anguish of your guide not understanding the NEED to make the ship in time etc. The answer is always no if you do not ask. If you go again do use one of the highly rated tour peole mentioned all the time on these boards. Now you can start palnning a land trip to see what all you missed.:D

Thanks for the heads up, we will be there in a couple months.

How did you know the cruise agents number? is that something they give out at each port?

Thanks for the heads up, we will be there in a couple months.

 

How did you know the cruise agents number? is that something they give out at each port?

There is some variance by cruise line. But as a general rule you will be given this information in either your daily printed schedule or a separate handout with Port Information (both of which are usually delivered to each cabin). As long time independent travelers (we often go hours from ports) we always carry the Port Agent info. We have also started to ask Guest Relations if there is a direct phone number to the vessel (sometimes yes and sometimes no).

Hank

There is some variance by cruise line. But as a general rule you will be given this information in either your daily printed schedule or a separate handout with Port Information (both of which are usually delivered to each cabin). As long time independent travelers (we often go hours from ports) we always carry the Port Agent info. We have also started to ask Guest Relations if there is a direct phone number to the vessel (sometimes yes and sometimes no).

 

Hank

Thanks !!