Very Memorable 21 days Tour of Indochina
Overall we were very satisfied with all the arrangements made for our 22 days Indochina tour starting Jan 18, 2018, & covered Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore & Bali. The itinerary was quite comprehensive, the hotels selected were very decent, clean and comfortable; and we were very pleased with the each of the restaurants selected for lunch during the entire tour. Some were unique and left fond impressions. Guides are key factors in any tour. They can make an ordinary point of interest /itinerary extraordinary and also make an extraordinary site/itinerary ordinary! We were very pleased with every guide at each destination, without exception. They were all very well informed, enthusiastic, courteous, and willing to go the extra distance to take care of our needs & make our visit memorable. We were especially pleased with their candor & honesty when providing information. All drivers were very good, as well. They were all cautious and not once did we feel that safety was being compromised. So overall we had a wonderful and very memorable tour. That being said, below are some comments and feedback where Odyssey could enhance the experience of customers in the future. 1. It would have been preferable if we were informed about optional/additional/ alternative sites of interest & activities not covered in the planned itinerary for us to consider on our own on days when Odyssey arranged tour was for half a day or on “rest” days when no site seeing was arranged. Some examples: In Singapore could have provided info about Marina Bay Sands “Sky Park”, Gardens By the Bay; Buddha Tooth Temple, Clark Quay. (Would recommend that Buddha Tooth Temple be included as a point of interest in covered Singapore day tour and Santosa island as an optional site to be explored on one’s own if desired).We did the above-mentioned sites on the main island on our own and it would have been a big loss if we had not. We had one full “rest day” in Luang Prabang- we could have been informed about Elephant Village Camp for rescued elephants and any other possibilities; Had one full " at leisure" day in Bali, but no information was provided about optional sites/ activities of interest such as the Monkey Temple, Waterfall etc. Though our guide was kind enough to take us to coffee garden and allow us the opportunity to enjoy coffee tasting and especially the unique Civet poop coffee, this was neither included in the covered itinerary nor any information provided to cover this on our own, if we desired. 2. There needs to be at least one vegetarian set lunch option, as a standard, in ALL lunches included in the tour. We had a vegetarian in our group and this was an issue at several lunch stops. ( Most breakfasts and lunches were included in the tour package). 3. Odyssey collected fees for flights that were part of the tour well in advance. Therefore it was surprising that we had to make a selection of our seats for each flight at check-in at the airport from the then available very tight pool of seats. It would have been better for Odyssey to ask us for our seat preference and reserving seats accordingly in advance, where possible and give us the option of paying additional fees to reserve a seat in advance where applicable. 4. It would have been welcome if Odyssey had responded with the same promptness as it did to complimentary messages as to those reporting a concern e.g. type of room assignment in Peninsula Hotel in Singapore or problems experienced with transportation after arrival at Bali Airport. 5. During initial planning, it was apparent that copying and pasting between itineraries and other details like fees, hotels etc. between customers is practiced. This could result in errors unless one is vigilant. Therefore caution needs to be exercised.