When I decided to book myself an overseas vacation, I knew I was in for a lot of mathapacchi. Visiting different tour operators (read Thomas Cook, SOTC, Cox&Kings, Club 7 etc) to collect literature and breaking my head over whose itinerary was better. Whatever it was, it was enough to keep me occupied for a month or so. I ended up shortlisting Club 7 because of their prices (about 10k less than similar tours by Cox&Kings/Thomas Cook) but more than the prices because of their front desk. Also Club 7 is headquartered in Kolkata so I figured it would be more accessible if anything went wrong.
The Package - We opted for a European package that offered 2-3 days each in England/France/Switzerland/Italy and some brief "in-transit" time through Germany/Austria. The package cost us 56K INR and 1100 Euros per person plus optionals (side tours) of around 250 Euros/person. Out-of-pocket on "jiski jitni shraddha ho" basis came to about 25k/person in our case. The tour cost was all inclusive, including even tips but excluding 5 lunches which we were supposed to pay for on our own.
Front Desk / Booking - We wanted to go to Egypt. But Prithviraj Das, our liaising officer reaffirmed what we already knew. Egypt in June would be literally "too hot to handle". Prithviraj was really one of the better things associated with the tour. Very affable, helpful and pleasant to speak to. He would keep calling me now and then for the VISA arrangements and to keep me otherwise updated of other requirements. Even though we decided on the tour quite late, he didn’t rush us with the payments. I had paid my INRs upfront at the time of booking and was more eager to make the EURO payment too but I ended up paying the EUROs hardly 15 days before the tour; both of us waiting for the rupee to appreciate (which incidentally it never did !). Everything during the booking stage went as per expectations.
VISA - The UK VISA took a week for them to arrange and Schengen another 7-8 days. We coordinated with a guy called Subhas for VISA arrangement and he handled it quite well. Though he did manage to scare us initially by telling us that our photos were not as per specifications and that the application might get rejected !
Briefing/literature/merchandise - Club 7 conducted a briefing session for our Group 5-6 days prior to departure. This exercise was really useful in that it gave us a pretty good idea of what to expect, what to carry and what to avoid. The initial itinerary given at the time of booking was revised at this stage, thankfully without any shocks. We were supposed to take the Eurotunnel to cross the English Channel but this was changed to a Dover-Calai cruise, something most of us were rather happy with. They gave us a complimentary airbag, passport holders and caps. Needless to say the quality was decidedly substandard and we’d rather have settled for even a 200 rupee rebate on the tour prices instead :-P
Forex - Club 7 is streets ahead of the others when it comes to forex dealings. Everyone knows that there’s a premium charged over the prevailing exchange rate while buying currency. The important question is how big is this premium. I was closely monitoring the live rates for Euro/Pound, the two currencies I needed to buy, on a regular basis, while simultaneously taking quotes from both Club 7 and Cox&Kings. While Club 7 would typically quote around 75-80 paisa above the Bank rates, Cox&Kings’ rates would typically be 2-2.5 rupee higher. When you have to buy over 3000 Euros and a few hundred pounds to boot, it isn’t difficult to see that you end up saving a good 5K odd merely on account of the difference in exchange rates between the tour operators. Whats more Prithviraj gave me the option of buying forex from elsewhere, something that Cox&Kings flatly declined.
Transport - We flew Emirates both ways and it wasn’t too bad except for a few quirks in the service (maybe more on this in a separate review). All flights on time. For road transport we were booked with TRAFALGAR, a reputed UK based company offering good and timely service. We were hoping for a Volvo but they gave us a Mercedes-Benz coach which was good in every respect except probably the most important - both leg space and overhead luggage space. Covering the Continent on a coach wherein you are cramped for room can be anything from irritating to harrowing.
Tour Guides - Our tour guide was Kali Bordiewala, a Parsi gentleman from Bombay. Most of the times he managed the Group quite well. His briefings were timely and nuisance in the Group was controlled. Only time I found him lacking was when we had an issue with the local Hotel manager/Driver where he seemed helpless; eg., twice we had our dinner slot preponed because a "native" group was being accommodated. Given we weren’t "fair-skinned", guess the unfair treatment was unavoidable.
Hotels / Restaurants - we stayed all through in good 3-4 star hotels except in Florence where the hotel room was a bit cramped and cleanliness of the bathroom left a bit to be desired. Half of the places had free wifi too, though we hardly got time to use it.
Itinerary - We stuck to the preplanned itinerary. As can be expected in any given group with diverse interests, there was trouble. Someone wanted more time at London eye while others wanted more time at Trafalgar. Yet others wanted to spend the day at Oxford street shopping. But the Guide managed to keep these "ambitions" under check and often we weren’t more than 15-20 minutes off schedule. Some places of visit like Fragonard perfumery in Paris, Swarovski Museum in Innsbruck, Murano glass factory in Venice and Leather factory in Florence were all commercially inspired and probably heavily commissioned. Their inclusion in the program, especially as tight as this one, was questionable but fact that they were pre specified in the itinerary somewhat absolves the operator, of the crime.
Food - Club7 had negotiated complimentary breakfast at all our hotels. And in most cases we were in for a fantastic continental fare - fruits, cereals, assorted breads, eggs, exotic cheeses, juices, good coffee and what have you. I’m sure I must have added 5 kgs of weight going liberal on the Breakfast. Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said of the Dinners. Dinners were arranged at Indian restaurants in the city of stay. In many cases the food was limited in variety and sometimes even annoying to the palate. And guess what we had no option but to politely "Agree to Disagree" :-P Choices for Lunch were again limited by the highway outlets that the TourGuide was commissioned to take us to, which often were more of a rip-off.
Hitting you where it hurts - Now there are a couple of things which really pissed me off. One, most of the Hotels we stayed in were on the outskirts of the city. Which meant once you check in, there was absolutely nothing that you could do. Neither shopping, nor sightseeing. Second, dinner was usually booked for 7pm, sometimes even earlier. I fancy I am in a habit of taking early dinners (read 9.00/9.30) but having dinner at 7 is unimaginable. Its even more unimaginable when you consider that in Europe, its almost broad daylight at 9pm in the night. The only positive was we were having meals closer to IST.
Troubleshooting - I suppose this is where the real character of a tour operator comes out. I lost track of my Group at Buckingham Palace on what will remain as one of the most memorable days of my life.
Contd. in comments....