Jules Verne Reviews 81

A fascinating and very enjoyable trip from Aswan to Cairo, though rather overpriced given costs in Egypt. It's impossible to include everything but we felt that Queen Hatshepsut's temple should have figured. The boat was fine with excellent service but its decor is very dark and a bit gloomy. We were exceptionally lucky with our group of fellow travellers, whose company really made the trip.

A wonderful trip to a beautiful country. There was so much to see, our driver Genti got us everywhere safely and our guide, Aryan was very informed, with a wry sense of humour. Hotels were all good, the Mangalemi in Berat being my favourite. Good food, good wine and great company, what more could you ask for.

Sri Lanka is a country which has had a lot of history and foreign intervention. The people have accepted this and are happy to welcome visitors to their lovely country. There is much to see and they are proud to share it. From the coastal areas, jungles, cities, tea plantations and mountains the people are kind, helpful and very welcoming.
Our tour guide was very informative and accommodating. Our group consisted of 3 couples who had never met before but we soon made friends and thoroughly enjoyed our joint experiences.

We had a wonderful guide - Antoine. He was patient, humorous, and well-informed. He really made the trip for us.

This is a disgraceful tour company. E-tickets wrong, resent wrong. We are tying to book in 2nd passenger online and they do not recognise details they have made a massive error somewhere ad no-one at the end of a telephone to help us. We are still waiting for help and our flight is within hours away. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Disgraceful service, way overpriced and should be reprimanded for advertising a service it cannot fulfill.

The overwhelming number of animals we saw, making this the best safari trip I have ever been on.
Well organised, even though the itinerary was changed, I enjoyed the extra flight. Driver/guides were great, accommodation was very good in Amboseli and Elementaita and just good in Masai Mara (quirky), food good. Had a great time

Costa Rica is close to paradise and is a must to visit. The organisation of the trip was good. The failure was your insufficient pre-flight information and the lack of communication on the local tour guide. The group was exceptional.

A comprehensive, enjoyable itinerary in the main. I particularly enjoyed the region of Nimh Binh and the lovely boat trip through the caves. Both Saigon and Hannoi had lots to offer, though our guides didn't always include everything promised. I would rethink the long bus trip to the Mikong Delta from Ho Chi Minh and subsequent, relatively short boat trip there.
The history of Hue was fascinating and we all enjoyed the cooking class and foot massage with the local family afterwards. The boat to Halong Bay was very comfortable and the food excellent .The team on the boat were also extremely well organised and I enjoyed all the trips offered .
All the hotels were quite plush but with such a packed schedule we had little time to appreciate them.
We had three guides, all very pleasant but lacking in organisational skills and they were not always good at disseminating clear information. Duc, the last one, who picked us up in Hannoi changed the schedule for Nimh Binh and we missed out on the pagoda complex. We also ended up kicking our heels in the hotel lobby a couple of times waiting for a bus and again ran out of time to follow the schedule as we had to get to the water puppet theatre . The puppet show, however was delightful.
The food was very good but some days there was breakfast, lunch and dinner included and others only breakfast when we had to point out to the guide that we still needed to eat! If the itinerary were tweaked a little and more experienced guides chosen it could make a real difference to this trip.

I have just returned home from taking the Jules Verne "Vietnam Cultural Journey, Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City"
Although the tour was OK, with a little better organisation and thought it could have been fantastic.
The tour broke down into 4 parts with different tour managers for 3 parts and no tour manger for Halong Bay.
First Ho Chi Minh City, by and large this all went off well with my only criticism being the 3rd day there which involved a trip down to the Mekong Delta - We all felt that there was far too much time on the coach for too little time there.
Then an internal flight to Hue, all went well, 2 nights near Hue followed by an interesting coach journey and another 2 nights at Hoi An - Again everything ran reasonably smoothly.
We then had another internal flight to Hanoi and on arrival there, things took a bit of a dive. We were met by our 3rd tour manager, Duc, things didn't bode well when he couldn't find our coach and had to make a phone call. It was now mid afternoon and none of us had had lunch. We went to the hotel but were told we didn't have time to eat, or go on the planned visits as there wasn't time as we had a Puppet Show booked. The transportation to this didn't arrive and we spent over an hour in the hotel lobby waiting (When we could have eaten) The transport eventually arrived and we went to the puppet show which was excellent. We were all very hungry so we asked Duc if he would drop us at a restaurant recommended by him on the way back to the hotel - Unfortunately when we arrived, there were no tables available and yet another long wait - We did eventually get our meal which was good...
The next few days went well, we were taken to Halong Bay and that all went well enough, but other that ships staff, we had no tour manager.
After Halong bay we went to Nin Binh and then onto a splendid resort hotel but, because Duc had rearranged the schedule we didn't arrive until after 6pm, so we didn't have opportunity to avail ourselves of the excellent facilities on offer. We also missed visiting the temple above Nin Binh and seeing the views.
We then took a very slow drive back to Hanoi arriving around mid day. Duc did take us to Train Street which wasn't on our schedule, but proved to be very interesting. a final night at the Hanoi hotel with a late check out the following evening and an overnight flight back to London.
So - Overall a good trip, but it could have been Amazing. My main recommendation would be to have one tour manager with us for the entire trip.
(This was my 3rd Jules Verne holiday in less that 1.5 years)

Getting us out of Dubai quickly was the single most important element of our trip.
Overall an excellent experience. Hotel group CGH Earth was superb. Bus ok. Guide was nice but hard to understand and had no wildlife knowledge that he shared. Limited time in Pondicherry was unfortunate. Food excellent everywhere.

Interesting itinerary. Lovely boat. Great crew. Most of all a very knowledgeable and fun guide

A fantastic trip! Boat excellent & guide really bought the history of Egypt to life!

Flights and transfers were well organised and we had all the information we needed for the outbound trip. Our accommodation was very good, the staff made us feel very welcome, our room was comfortable and the food was excellent.
The places we visited were well chosen and gave us the chance to experience Marrakesh in all it's richness. The Majorelle Garden was lovely.
We were less impressed with our guide, he did not provide as much information about the places we saw as we have had on previous trips. On the trip to the Atlas Mountains we were walking for about an hour uphill to the place we had the meal, leading me to think we had been dropped off at the wrong place. He also left on the Wednesday night and did not leave us any way to contact him in an emergency.
We were very impressed with our driver, who was friendly and considerate in the way he treated us.
Overall we had a very enjoyable holiday.

Great itinerary focusing on The Pyramids and GEM museum. We chose not to join the Coptic Cairo option to allow a second visit to the museum.

Comfortable, efficiently run hotel with well-trained & friendly staff. Good choice of restaurants and a terrific range of breakfast options

Excellent, knowledgeable tour guide supported by safe drivers navigating us through Cairo’s challenging traffic.

We felt in good hands with Jules Verne.

We had a wonderful tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful and we really enjoyed his company. Our driver was also excellent. Especially in the crazy Cairo traffic.

This tour is 'full on'. We were eating breakfast at 7am to be ready for 8am which meant 6.30 alarms and we weren't back to the hotel until 3-4pm (Even later on the first day). We didn't mind, but there was not as much time for relaxing then I thought there would be.

The hotel was wonderful and very comfortable. The restaurant options were numerous and as a vegetarian, I appreciated the Italian options in the downstairs restaurant. Unfortunately we didn't have time to use the pool, but it looked wonderful.

The logistical organization was excellent. I think if I could make one change, it would be to add an extra day so day one could be split. This would mean we could spend more time at the Giza Pyramids, and do Saqqara and Memphis the next morning. I think most of our tour was very fatigued by the time we were in Saqqara, and this would also avoid the afternoon heat.

We had a great stay and probably for us it was best that there was not too much "old" snow and it made walking through the tracks and forest a joy. The company was great and the Der Stern Hotel was comfortable and very hospitable. All in all a great holiday.

In August, I went on my first Jules Verne holiday – a River Cruise along the Douro in Portugal and had a wonderful experience. The itinerary was thoughtfully organised, the staff on board were excellent, and all the excursions were enjoyable and well-paced for the group. Our guide had good local knowledge and a good sense of humour, adding to the relaxed nature of the trip.
I particularly enjoyed the visits to several local vineyards, which were very informative, and I learnt lots, as well as the day trip to Salamanca, with free time to explore the city. The food on board was consistently superb, with a range of options, although there may have been a little too much food!
The scenery along the Douro is breathtaking, and the engineering of the locks was a real highlight of the journey. Each time we approached a lock, everyone hurried up to the deck to watch the process. The group I travelled with truly enhanced the trip. We had great conversations over dinner each evening and spent a few nights singing around the piano, which made the experience even more memorable. The Spirit of Chartwell barge was perfect, much nicer than the larger boats we saw on the river and it gave me exactly the small-group experience I’d hoped for.
I have no complaints and will definitely travel with Jules Verne again, I’ve been looking through the brochure for my next trip.

We had a fantastic Danube cruise with JV in September. All arrangements were great and the tour manager Sue was really good. Thank you.

Excellent trip with faultless organisation. A great team with driver, guide and rep. We got VIP treatment wherever we went. Cairo is an amazing city

I was so impressed by every element of my first-time Jules Verne Escorted Journey to Cairo. I was travelling as a single female in a small group and at all times felt well looked after, safe and cared for.

The reservation process was seamless and the pre-tour information was clear and accurate. Emails were answered promptly and airport arrangements were slick.

The standard of the representative and guide in Cairo was gold-standard! I cannot possibly think of a single thing that they could have done to improve this experience. You really could tell that Jules Verne had well-established and respected relationships on the ground, and this meant a seamless journey for us and access to the jewels that Cairo has without any of the potential fuss.

I am 100% going to be a repeat customer!