Grand Circle Travel

Negative experience: We booked an Eastern Europe to the Black Sea River Cruise with GCT on 26 Nov 2024 during their Black Friday Special. The deal on their special has cruise fare "with airfare". When we spoke with Sales (Breault), she stated that we are "getting free airfare" and kept pestering us for upgrading to Premium Economy with more upselling for Pre- and Post-Cruise to which we said "NO" several times in the conversation. She provided a lot of false information and misrepresentation. What she did NOT discuss was the information in the invoice especially about the airfare. I sent my issues to OAT support as they own GCT. Never heard from them -- no response to the email. Called them up, CS Agent Gabby said that there is no supervisor and that they can't do anything about the complaint. I raised the issue through Better Business Bureau in 04 Dec 2024. Travel Relations French said that Sales was correct. GCT was charging the airfare from Boston for $1,250 per person. Their Black Friday Special Ad stated "FLY FOR FREE -- a savings up to $1,600 per person -- on March and May-June departures". Yet, GCT only gave a $1,100 discount per person leaving us to pay a total of $300 for airfare. How is that FLY FOR FREE (free airfare) as claimed by their Sales (Breault) and their promotional Ad? See proofs attached. After reading reviews about OAT, it seemed that most of their issues are about the integrity of their Sales. Their Customer Service and Travel Relations is a joke. At best, their Sales agent was deceptive and their Travel Relations are dishonest. I would NEVER recommend this company. DO NOT TRUST Grand Circle Travel or Overseas Adventure Travel.

Negative experience: So booked a river cruise a YEAR prior to Paid in full. Was called 3 days prior to cruise date to be told they were down grading our room because they overbooked and was offering me a 100 for my troubles while the girl giggled on the other end. I find this to be bad business. BEWARE.

Positive experience: I just came back from the “Impressions of Italy: The Amalfi Coast & Tuscany” 14 day tour. The program director was awesome. She was a professional at job. I love her retelling of history, her comedic narration of what to expect each day, the explanation of the culture and people. She made the experience exciting as well as educational. One my favorite part included having dinner at Italian family home. The Nonna, grandmother, had a garden along with a few animals where she milk her own cow, made fresh cheeses, and wine. Another was going to a lemon farm in the mountains where the owner made a wonderful 3 course meal with lemons. Positive: overall a great trip. Negative and warnings: Do not prebook your optional excursions! If there is bad weather and you change your mind, you don’t get your money back unless the country declares a national disaster or the roads or blocked. It is better to book the day or two before the optional excursion. Decline to give your credit card information at the beginning of the trip to Grand Circle. The return hotel transport back to the airport is problematic for Grand Circle. My flight was to leave at 6:30am. The Grand Circle scheduled pickup was 4:00am with a 45 minute ride to the Florence Airport. The transport arrived late and did not get us to the airport till after 5am. 5 of the 10 people had to go to customs to get out tax refund forms stamp. Then go to another to the refund counter to actually get the money. Customs and the refund counter are located before TSA security. Both departments have long lines. Grand Circle should have dropped us off at 3 hours prior to scheduled flight departure. If there was traffic, car accident, long lines at checkin or security, customs, 1.5 hours is not enough time to resolve or recover from those issues and make it on time as well submit your forms for shopping taxes refund before the airline closes boarding 30 minutes to departure. Instead, Grand Circle consolidated 10 people with 4 different flight schedules into one drop off at the airport. I strongly recommend arranging your own return transport to the airport to ensure you have enough time to check in, deal with customs and tax forms, get thru security and get to your gate. Customs and refund office are located prior to TSA at the Florence airport. Thankfully i had priority going thru security but had to run thru the terminal to get to my gate which located at the furthest end of the terminal. I contacted the company to make them aware of the experience. No response.

Negative experience: I felt like I was on an independent tour. The included activities were on average 2-3 hours a day with the rest of the day on our own. The optional tours were overpriced, I was able to book better tours on my own at lower prices than were offered by GCT, to the same locations. The hotel in Malta was great, very centrally located. Most of the hotels in Sicily were okay. The hotel in Palermo was in a good location but the hotel itself was not the best. Our tour manager didn't seem to have her heart in the tour. I was left behind from the included tour to the four corners and the puppet museum. I was mistaken about the time to meet for this tour so it was my own fault however I feel that a call could have been made to my room to find out why I was not going. The tour manager also left one of the guests behind on the night of the farewell dinner. Luckily the 84 your old guest made it to the restaurant on her own. I will not travel with Grand Circle Travel again.

Fantastic experience: Perfect! 1st time w/ GCT. Planning annual trips by land, sea, river again or w/ OAT.

Negative experience: Management not supportive to new team. They test every week with 80 as passing during the training process. They’re high expectations to train is not even training process it’s all about a grade in a test every week, even though they only explain everything to you one time. They don’t care if you know what you are doing, it’s all about the grade. The trainers don’t care about your needs. I missed 18 points which I would have passed and they terminated me for not giving me the points when they knew I couldn’t answer the 3 questions when I told them I had a page issue on my computer as they fixed it after the fact and I already taken the test. Horrible! I been in the biz a lot longer they even have and honestly probably know more than the trainers. Don’t even attempt to work for them.

Fantastic experience: This was our first Grand Circle Cruise. We were very impressed how organized everything was. We had a great group leader and learned a lot about Eastern Europe. The food was amazing. I definitely recommend taking a trip with them.

Fantastic experience: We were on the Great Rivers of Europe River cruise and loved it. Our guide Renee was excellent in reference to knowledge of the places we visited and to keep us entertained on all tours. His and teammate's ability to keep us informed on the day's activities were great. The meals were excellent, beer and wine included with upgrades available and the side trips which were all included and outstanding. My only complaint was hearing from other guests who purchased the same trip through Zoo Travel shortly before the trip at a discounted price with a better room than ours. Good for them to find a better deal but Grand Circle should have offered these better rooms as a free upgrade to passengers that have travelled with them before and offered the lower-level rooms to the Zoo Travel customers.

Negative experience: So glad I didn't have an urgent need to contact this company. Called them and waited 50 minutes on hold listening to 50's music before hanging up. I will take by business elsewhere.

Negative experience: I am headed to France to go on a cruise that was advertised to start in Paris. Nowhere in the ads for the cruise, on the website or in emails was any communication that the trip was not starting in Paris, but in Lyon because of the Olympics. It was buried in the tour booklet on page 16. I have called customer service twice to request a reimbursement of my train from Paris to Lyon. Still have not heard back. It is just really bad business not to inform people that the trip has been rerouted. Really bad.

Negative experience: After 3 hours on the phone I was given wrong information. Flights my friend got I was told we’re not available. Cost me several hundred dollars and 6 hours sitting at the airport. This is my 11 and last trip with grand circle. No one cares!

Negative experience: This is more attributed to them as an employer, but I believe that having insight into how a place conducts business is useful. In short without giving specifics, do business with anybody else. Viking Cruises is a popular alternative, and so is Road Scholar. I’d do more research into any other travel company, but based on my experiences here you would be better served elsewhere. This company doesn’t practice what they preach, and I believe you can’t support a business like that. Go read some reviews on Glassdoor and you will see my point. Do better GCC, do better.

Negative experience: Once I landed, great experience. Trying to get any sort of support booking airfare and having a delay? Absolutely awful. Letting an airline be the bad guy, even after offering a service to be a travel agency, but doing nothing to advocate for the traveler encountering delays.

Fantastic experience: We just returned from a wonderful trip along the Seine River From Paris all along the Norman coast. We had an authentic lovely visit an visited beautiful towns such as Rouen, Honfleur, and the World War Beaches. Food and all the people on board were very kind, helpful and fun. Our Leader LULU was one amazing knowledgable person. She too her time and cared beautifully everywhere we went. Thank you very much for hiring such great folks!

Fantastic experience: Great company!

Fantastic experience: Grand circle treats its clients with a great deal of care. The crew on the ship were amazing, very sweet and attentive. The cuisine was not only delicious but beautifully presented. Our tour director Tim went above and beyond, on one occasion leading me to a store and directing me to the area I needed and translating for me. He was extremely.compasionate and caring.i cannot say enough about the experience I had. It was wonderful

Positive experience: We enjoyed our cruise from Amsterdam to Antwerp. Food and services on the ship were excellent as were the included tours. I am not posting a five star review because we were so disappointed in our pre-trip hotel and included meals. The Lancaster Hotel in Amsterdam had tiny rooms, was rundown and did not have a restaurant or lounge that was open. In the future I would travel on GCT River cruises but would make my own pre and post trip accommodation.

Fantastic experience: I joined Grand Circle on their riverboat trip on the Seine: Paris to Normandy. I LOVED IT! The staff, the food, the tours, the sights...ALL were well chosen, perfectly organized, and wonderfully explained. The staff were 110% attentive and friendly. I was a solo traveler and quickly met others either on tours or during open-seating at our meals. Before the trip, each time I called Grand Circle, I was greeted with friendly and knowledgeable staff. This is a great company.

Fantastic experience: Recently completed England, Scotland and Wales tour. Our guide Will was most knowledgeable and presented a memorable experience!

Fantastic experience: We took an Alaska land tour with them. It was fabulous

Fantastic experience: Awesome

Fantastic experience: Recently did the Eastern Europe cruise and it was fantastic! This was my first Grand Circle cruise. I have done numerous Overseas Adventure Travel trips. The cost of the trip was a good value considering almost all the excursions were included. Our program director Monica was excellent and very knowledgeable. We loved that they had free electric bikes on the boat that we could ride along the Danube. They also have a water station to refill water bottles. The food was also very good, along with the entire crew. The stops on the cruise was also interesting. Golubac Fortress was especially nice. Loved Bucharest and Budapest.

Positive experience: Little disappointed because river cruise was curtailed due water levels, was given a wine tasting at non descriptive winery in small town as a compensation ok guess love wine tasting.

Negative experience: About 5 years ago, booked a trip to Sicily, they cancelled the trip one week before departure. Will never book with them again.

Negative experience: The boat, Bizet is dated and in need of refurbishing The food was in inedible, not suitable for eating, more like frozen dinners that were microwaved Two separate bunk beds as opposed to a single queen bed Dockage in Paris is distance from inner city

Fantastic experience: I would go on smother river cruise with them in a heartbeat. It was remarkable Thank you.

Negative experience: Worst experience I have ever had. Especially the tour guides were incompetent people. Food and other staff were great.

Fantastic experience: My river cruise with this company started south of Paris, and ended at Cote D’Azure. Outstanding food, great amenities, I was traveling with a small group. The cruise was several years ago, but I would not hesitate to travel with this company again; although at 76, I may just stay on land.

Negative experience: The trips look amazing & other people say the trips amazing. I tried to make reservations, but the website doesn't let you finalize the trip. I called this Monday to book the trip and I was on the phone for over 1 hour and no one ever answered the phone. I called back on Tuesday but wasn't able to get the discount. The cost was a bit above my budget so I was hoping to get the discount rate. I am very sad the trip I was trying to book was for my birthday.

Fantastic experience: Went to Paris 4 years ago. We had a great time. We will be traveling to Holland this year. Love Grand Circle Travel.

Fantastic experience: My favorite travel agency!

Negative experience: Due to health concerns, I had to cancel a trip I was told it would take 45 days to get refund. Today I was told it would take an additional three weeks Refund checks are written manually. However, these are able to handle payments to them immediately. They ave been working with my money and will not be giving me the interest they’ve earned while I wait Their refund system is an antiquated one by choice and I am extremely disappointed and will reconsider traveling with them again

Fantastic experience: Excellent tour company

Fantastic experience: Everything ran so smoothly from bus travel, cruise, hotel and tour guides! So much fun

Negative experience: We haven't travel yet, but trying to determine the cost, we received a different answer each time we call. The sales person said that a 10% discount would apply. However, when we tried to pay they said no discount was allowed.

Fantastic experience: We booked a river cruise again. No photos yet.

Fantastic experience: I just returned from my first Grand Circle River Cruise, and it was WOW! We were on the Romantic Blue Danube Cruise, and I cannot think of one thing to complain about. Grand Circle thought of everything: the itinerary was filled with on-board speakers and cultural demonstrations, interesting tours at each stop, great staff and crew, and the most excellent Program Directors. I highly, highly recommend Grand Circle.

Fantastic experience: First class company that goes above and beyond to make your trip memorable

Positive experience: Good trips and trip leaders. Prices up until recently, now many good deals. Ability to price trip online.

Fantastic experience: Trip from Paris to Normandy was a fantastic adventure! River cruises are an excellent way to travel.

Fantastic experience: I've booked three trips with for my family of four. All the trips were amazing. I don't use any other tour company.

Fantastic experience: Have cruised with GCT 12 times, looking forward to more.

Fantastic experience: I enjoyed my first trip on Grand Circle. The staff was accommodating and very pleasant. The meals wonderful. The guides Soli & Vedran were the best and most knowledgeable of any trip I have taken and I have been on many guided trips. I would definitely travel with Grand Circle again.

Fantastic experience: LOVE the tours that are offered to allow you to get to know an area better. Giving it a 5 based on what they offer ..... I've never taken a tour with them.

Positive experience: Enjoyed this trip! Stunningly beautiful locals. Side trips should stress participants must be agile, especially pontoon ride on Colorado River. The tour guide was knowledgeable, fun and gave lots of additional information.

Fantastic experience: This is a great company to travel with. We have traveled with them for 15 years and have never had a bad experience. They strive to be sure you have an excellent experience. We will be travelling with them more and have already booked future trips.

Fantastic experience: Best trip ever. This was our first river cruise after many land vacations. Might never take another land vacation. No packing/unpacking. Great meals. Best of all, our Tour Guide, Heloise, was tremendous.

Fantastic experience: The Grand Circle Tour to the Canadian Maritimes was wonderful. The tour guide was both knowledgeable and fun. Our itinerary covered many interesting sites. I recommend this tour without reservation.

Fantastic experience: The Grand Circle Travel trip to Mexico: Puebla & Oaxaca was exciting, educational, beautiful and entertaining. Our Travel Guide and his assistant were tentative, friendly and knowledgeable about the sites we visited, and the surrounding environments. If you want the true cultural experience of Mexico this is the trip for you.

Fantastic experience: My mom and I did the Ireland In Depth tour this summer, and it was fantastic! Our program director, Denis Greene, was amazing-- so kind, fun and extremely knowledgeable. I loved the daily activities and found the mix of planned and unplanned time to be just right. Ireland was beautiful and everyone we met there was so friendly. Back in January 2023, when we were making our reservation, the hold time for calls was very long. This was off-putting, but I think it’s improved now. Once we had our reservation, everything was organized and easy. We had a wonderful time, and I’m really glad we chose GCT!

Fantastic experience: This was one of the best trips we have ever experienced. The ship's crew was excellent and the food was superb. Our tour director, Anastasia was one of the best we have ever had...always pleasant and well informed. She also sent a collage of photos and video clips after the cruise that captured the various venues and activities very well. The welcome dinner at a restaurant near our hotel was the only disappointing aspect aspect of the trip...noisy, crowded, bad food and poor service. From then on every part of the trip exceeded our expectations.

Positive experience: This was my second trip with Grand Circle, the first being a river cruise. The tour was great but too rushed giving basically no down time. The tour guide was very knowledgable about the National Parks.

Fantastic experience: Basically it was a excellent trip. Met some wonderful people making friends. Had couple of hiccups of which I won’t share. All in all I might consider taking the trip again I. The future.

Fantastic experience: Chan was a great leader and a beautiful country. He was an easy going, positive attitude sort of person and who got things done quickly.

Fantastic experience: Terrific trip. Beautiful countries and fabulous team leaders. Local guides excellent. Wonderful lectures on board ship. Terrific cuisine and the entire ship crew were engaging, helpful, and extremely pleasant.

Fantastic experience: My England,Scotland and Wales trip was wonderful.GC,as always, did it again with well planning and having the best Group Leaders.I did the pre and post trips , staying one more day in Glasgow .Every day was a different adventure, learning experience.I recommend everybody who hasn't been in United Kingdom.

Negative experience: This is a poor way to review a trip. We're used to detailed questions. However, our Program Director, Eric Hall, was excellent and provided super information and courtesy throughout the trip, despite having to deal with one traveler's broken hip from a fall. The scenery was excellent, no compliment to Grand Circle Travel. The hotels were are best mediocre; the included meals (breakfast-- ok but typical buffets) rarely included vegetarian choices or, if there were veg. choices, they were usually pasta, nothing creative. Any time a drink was included for included meals, the wine was an oaky Chardonnay -- not tasty. The hotel in Banff was conveniently located but had two double beds and totally inadequate lighting (one weak lamp between the beds, one weak floor lamp, and a desk lamp that was 3-4” above the desk top -- worthless for light. Not a good choice for a hotel. The hotel in Calgary was ok but difficult to control a/c. The included lunch in Banff had no veg. choices. There was a good buffet lunch at the Saskatchewan River Crossing. The hotel in Jasper had NO a/c and was far from town. The included dinner was poor; again poor veg. choice-- veg lasagna with two pieces of broccoli, some small cubes of carrots, good cheese, and a LOT of pasta. The closing dinner was again poor; it seemed as if the restaurant wasn't expecting us. No veg choices so I had the Indian chicken -- hold the chicken!!. Good features were Director Eric, scenery, the Ice Explorer at Athabasca Glacier, Sulphur Mountain gondola (apparently added/included because we lost one day in Vancouver), Grey Monk winery, Sun Yat Sen's garden, careful and curious driver Martin. Many of us felt that Grand Circle Travel is cutting corners as compared with former trips we've taken (this was our 17th) -- fewer included meals, lower quality hotels. Hours on the bus made long days but the scenic stops are far apart. Perhaps wiser to drive alone between Banff and Jasper and skip the other places.

Fantastic experience: just completed trip to Canadian Rockies. One of the most impressive and unique areas in the world. Would recommend it highly

Fantastic experience: My recent combined land and cruise trip Nice to Paris was very lovely, indeed. All accommodations were excellent and I have high praise for the Chanson river boat. It was truly lovely. The entire crew was so friendly and accommodating and approachable from Captain Mercier himself right on down the line. The meals prepared on board for us were some of the BEST I've ever encountered, land or sea! Consistently. Kudos to Chef Tibor and the entire kitchen crew. All the stops and destinations along the way were picturesque and lovely. I took way too many photos especially in the ancient small village of Vivier! From the top deck it was a fun experience to see the wheelhouse lower as we cruised under some LOW bridges and equally interesting to watch as this football field-long ship eased into to various locks along the route. The largest one, the Bolen Lock, is the deepest one in France. It was awesome to witness how fast that “ bathtub” filled up! This is a trip I highly recommend but be advised that one needs good walking stability and some stamina for walking tours within the villages and towns visited. Go and enjoy!

Fantastic experience: Highly recommend! Incredible crew and amazing service. Great atmosphere as well. The tour guides are extremely helpful and inclusive and everyone on board makes you feel welcomed.

Fantastic experience: Never a disappointment traveling with them . I have done 12 trips thus far!

Fantastic experience: We were lucky to travel on the River Harmony from Antwerpen to Basel. This ship was fabulous. The MS Harmony was a well-run, beautiful ship that provided first class comfortable accommodations. The crew were very professional in manner and appearance. The culinary staff provided amazing and delicious meals. Everything was so well organized. The crew could not do enough to make our trip memorable. The captain was one of the most personable we have met. The waiters, bartenders, hotel staff, front desk staff were very friendly and helpful and made our trip enjoyable. The food was excellent! Each day GCCL kept us busy with either a tour or an optional tour which is what we came to see. Excellent Itinerary for visiting this area of the Mosel and Rhine Rivers. GCCL should definitely hold on to Rebecca, Janka and Johannes who were the program directors. They were very knowledgeable and a lot of fun to know. These three people worked non-stop to meet our every needs. Our program director, Rebecca, was the best we have ever had. We thank very much Liudmyla, Sandi, Stefan, Aleksandr who worked with us every day nonstop. This was our third trip with GCCL and we must say it was one of our favorites. The highlights were the walking tours, learning about the towns, castles, ruins, customs and cultures of the various towns and countries we spent time in. Meeting locals, tasting wines, beers and cuisines of the regions. The entire river cruise was a dream come true with lots of organized activities and friendly people. Already thinking of booking next one.

Negative experience: Not very happy about our trip not a good start pre trip was an extra but not to our expectations.

Fantastic experience: Fabulous trip. Very knowledgeable guide. All planned out for you just go and enjoy. Plenty of down time if you wanted it.

Fantastic experience: Went from Provence to Paris last year and now will go from Paris to normandy..both river cruises

Fantastic experience: Our first real river cruise - and our best trip ever. Wonderful and caring trip leaders and ship's crew. Outstanding food, awesome sights, both on land and from the ship. Meaningful educational programs. We'll definitely sign up for more trips from Grand Circle.

Fantastic experience: Scenic Rhine River tour..spectacular scenery...chef prepared food was awesome!

Fantastic experience: Our family of 13 took the Yellowstone trip. It was a wonderful experience. Zero issues and the entire trip was well planned and executed. Food was good, service and hotels were very nice. Would recommend traveling with them again.

Fantastic experience: Grand Circle Travel has been our travel company for our last five overseas vacations. They have always provided great service and have gone above and beyond our expectations many times. When the volcano eruptions in Iceland stranded us in Europe at the end of our scheduled cruise, GCT arranged for us to remain on the cruise ship for an additional 5 days at no charge. They rebooked our flight home when air travel resumed. During our extended stay they arranged to get prescriptions filled for those running out of medicine because of the unexpected delay returning home. We have always had wonderful experiences with GCT.

Fantastic experience: The ships, tours, and sights are stellar, but the crew and staff are truly what makes every trip perfectly special. I have pictures of them, too, but respect their privacy. There is no comparison to the other river cruise lines because the shiny marble and crystal on the fancier ships themselves are not what we value. I’m always surprised at how impressive each trip is with GCT!

Fantastic experience: Very helpful. Got the information I needed. I have traveled with Grand Circle. Always a good experience. I recommend this company

Positive experience: As I embark on my 7th trip with Grand Circle, I have to say they are a solid 4 stars. The trips are interesting, well planned, and the trip leaders are some of the best in the business. Their prices are reasonable for what you get, and they really take care of their travelers.

Fantastic experience: The best most economical riverboat experience. The riverboats are not the most modern out there, but they are spotless, the food is excellent and the crew is cheerful and helpful. The guides are top notch and personable. I really felt like a pampered member of a family.

Fantastic experience: Stopped by on our way home after going to DC

Fantastic experience: Grand Circle takes great care of you.

Positive experience: Beats the fast food places. The food is pretty much standard meat and vegetable restaurant, and appears to be popular with the locals. Wait staff was very good, and food was served quickly.

Fantastic experience: Great Experience

Fantastic experience: We have done 5 trips and have the 6th booked. All excellent. We mostly use their small group travel division, Overseas Adventure Travel.

Negative experience: Wow what a unethical, unscrupulous cheat of a company GCT and OAT is. Took our deposit for a trip to Sicily. Never answered many phone call attempts. On hold for hours 10 times only to be disconnected. Never responded to many, many emails. Basically took our money and hid. RUN don't walk away from this company. Many other tour operators that run a ethical customer service based business who deliver on the promises they make. Don't be scammed like we were.

Negative experience: The air travel completely ruined our trip. I have done 4 of trips with GCT and my grandparents 27! This past trip on the Christmas markets of the Danube was unbelievable but I will no longer travel with GCT because of the flights. It took 30 Hours to get there and 26 hours to get home. They had us take 3 flights with 6 hour lay overs for no reason. We were with a party of 8 and booked the only minor (11 years old) of the group on a different flight for the final flight. I reached out to GCT from the airport and they refused to help. I am sad to say this was our families final GCT trip. The boat was fun but not worth the headache of the flights.

Fantastic experience: Some of the sights in the Christmas market. Lots of good and wine.

Negative experience: The customer service reps are not well trained and have to constantly place a caller on hold to respond to questions. The hold times are ridiculously long...I'm talking hours! A trip I booked in April 2022 for a March 2023 sailing was canceled in November 2022 due to lack of passengers and now I am being charged an additional $500 to rebook it as I was not able to take the trip at the time THEY offered in exchange. I was told by the customer service rep their would be no additional charge and then I received a bill for $500. This is my first time using their services and will most likely be my last time because they are unethical. It should not be so frustrating to plan a vacation.

Positive experience: We just returned home from a lovely Christmas Market cruise down the Danube. Grand Circle offers a lot for the price..nice boat, excellent, attentive staff and wonderful sites and tours. The food is wonderful and house beer and wine is good. The program directors are also wonderful. However this is overshadowed but the horrible customer service line.(waiting on hold for almost 2 hours every time you call!) And not booking connecting flights with enough time to make your connection. All travel advice states having at least 2-3 hours for connections which was not our case. When arriving in Frankfurt we only had 90 minutes to make our connection to Nuremberg. You need to go thru immigration and security again thus we missed our connection and needed to wait 3 hours for the next flight to Nuremberg, which left us very upset. We were with a group of 37 and half of us missed the connection. We have another trip planned in April 2023, The return flight is from Nice to Frankfurt with only 90 minutes to make our connection. If Grand Circle does not change our return flights we will cancel our trip.

Negative experience: Reservation process is dreadful. Constantly being put on hold for even the most basic questions. Poor handling of trips that had to be rescheduled due to pandemic.

Fantastic experience: Great tours at reasonable prices.

Fantastic experience: Educational, awesome trips-best prices!

Fantastic experience: Went to Spain and Portugal with my parents and the agency was great during harder times and challenges. And tour director Juanjo Perez went above and beyond to make it a great experience for my family and the bus drivers skill and safety was amazing as well

Negative experience: I would recommend AGAINST traveling with this company. My mother-in-law fell under the spell of their marketing, and booked a trip. Obviously, keeping a cruise ship full of retirees in the times of COVID requires a lot of thought and care, which GCT did not take. For some reason (to help passengers "organically" create personal connections and help future sales?), activities on the ship seem to center around social, shared indoor dining experiences: fellow travelers spend a couple of hours eating their dinner and socializing, without masks, in close proximity. Eating dinner solo, in one's cabin, is discouraged. As you would would expect, a bunch of folks on the ship came down with COVID. Some "got disembarked" into a local "covid hotel" (imagine finding yourself, sick with COVID, in a foreign town). Some are "isolating" on the ship, sick, stuck in their tiny, poorly ventilated cabins... and some are still incubating the virus and spreading it during the mandatory social dining, and to the locals who are hosting various on-land activities ("a visit and a [no-mask] conversation!"). I really hope all of these folks – including my mother-in-law – eventually make it home, safe, healthy, and alive. In summary: if you or your loved ones fell under the spell of GCT's marketing... you can get the much-coveted "I wish this weren't happening" experience for less, much safer. PS The food / food service and the tours are great, though.

Negative experience: Grand Circle Travel has the worst customer service. If we have a question about our scheduled trip there is no call back system or way to email the company. The wait time for us has been one to two hours to ask a question. Not a good way to treat their customers.

Negative experience: GCT is the most unethical and unprofessional travel company we have ever dealt with. We cancelled a vacation in April 2022 and pretended like they never recieved the initial cancellation notice and subsequesnt ones. They will try every trick in the book to keep your money. DO NOT agree to "banking" your money for future travel and keep good records as to when you requested your cancellation and refund. I finally filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of Massachusetts, which caught their attention and finally resulted in a partial refund.

Fantastic experience: Fabulous service n tours. I won't travel with anyone but GCT N OAT

Fantastic experience: We have used a number of tour group and settled on Grand Circle because of their involvement with the areas that are being visited.

Fantastic experience: Grand Circle river cruises are excellent

Negative experience: Horrible customer service and also from the supervisor, we went to upgrade and they said they had balconies 414 and 415 as we are traveling with our friends, we were put on hold for 45 minutes and when they came back they said they made a mistake and they only had 414 available for the $600 per couple up charge and they had room 400 which would now cost us $1,000 instead of the $600, that we were told was available by two different customer service representatives, when we spoke to Sarah the Supervisor she did absolutely nothing to make this situation right, I mean nothing, now we will never book again with Grand Circle and our friends who have 13 trips won't book with you anymore either, this is totally DISGUSTING as to treat your loyal customers in this fashion.

Negative experience: Terrible Customer Service My wife and are 10 time travelers we were very happy up to now I have been trying to finalize our air portion of the trip. I spent 6 hours on hold the first day and 6 1/2 hours on hold the second day and currently on hold for over an hour I have sent 2emails with no response

Fantastic experience: I absolutely love the experience. Will highly recommend to all. Thank you

Fantastic experience: Unforgettable experiences at Unbelievable prices. I don't know how gct does so much for the price.

Negative experience: After booking a trip with this company they made me pay for my flight home from Lisbon after I had already paid for it once. The last five trips with this company have been outstanding however this one to Spain was horrible. I will never travel with them again and will be tacking them to small claims court.

Fantastic experience: Grand circle trip to Egypt was my alllllll time favorite of any trip I’ve ever taken The small group became family ( still keep up with some ) The care, the love, the knowledge shared by GC was amazing ! I recommend this over any cruise line anywhere

Fantastic experience: Small group travel. Guides are excellent and put up with our craziness. They know there stuff and the in's and out's of where you are. Also the people traveling in your group are just down to earth people probably like you and loving life!