Author:
Date of purchase: 28 june 2012 Written: 03 august 2012 |
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Travel agency: Этнотур (Kyiv) Service type: экскурсионный тур |
I will briefly try to describe how we went to the Carpathians for the Constitution Day as a corporate party.
I never write reviews, I limit myself to gratitude to the organizers after the trip, but I could not resist here. I travel by bus tours not for the first time and not only in Ukraine and I perfectly understood what awaits us. I must say right away that I have not met the worst organization. We went under the program Yaremche-Bukovel-Goverla-Kremenets as a team, a close-knit company, mostly young people.
1 day. We left Kyiv. Night move. Neoplan bus, not very new and clean but tolerable. Julia, the group's chaperone, is a young girl with incomprehensible work experience, because I question her organizational skills. During the trip, she never ceased to amaze. For some reason, she was always surprised by the desire of people to go to the toilet, to which she reacted as if she was doing a favor, probably from 12 to 10 in the morning, until they arrived, they did not stop once.
Day 2 Settlement in the hotel was negotiated in Yasinya, settled in Yablunitsa. But it didn't matter to us. The hotel complex is normal, there were also ordinary buildings and log cabins. The food (breakfasts and dinners) in their hut is generally not bad, it's a matter of taste. Personally, I had enough. It is possible to order a sauna at your own expense (300 UAH).
On the first excursion day paid an additional 70 UAH. First we went to Bukovel, the weather is terrible, cold and rainy. We got up in the rain on the lift (another additional 27 UAH), and then with a quick step back to the bus, inspecting the village through the raincoat.
Moving to Yaremche, the rain stopped, the weather and mood improved. We visited the wooden church and the Probiy waterfall. The Dovbush stone, the Dovbush trail, the Dovbush rocks and everything else according to the program were not shown to us, without any motivation. We were given free time for lunch. Everything. We returned to the hotel. When asked why we didn’t go to the Yablunets Pass, Yulia answered “there is nothing to see there”. And to Vorokhta - "tomorrow we will pass through it to Hoverla, and there is nothing to see there either."
Day 3 Let's go to Goverla. Additionally we pay 120 UAH. Received a prod. ration. We really drove through Vorokhta, without stopping even for a photo. I don’t know who came up with the idea that the climb is easy along the walking path, which does not require even light physical training. It is difficult to go up and down, it took me 7 hours, with stops, halts and staying on the plateau for about an hour. Impressions of the sea, but the second time I will not climb.
Day 4 We release the numbers. We are going to Kremenets. The town is small but quite nice. We examine the monastery and the ruins of the fortress, after which we are voluntarily forcibly taken to the dining room for lunch.
We ask for free time for a tour and a photo of the city center, in response "you have an hour and get to the restaurant by taxi yourself, no one will come back for you." Everyone goes to the dining room, who eats, who sits on the bench for an hour (including me) is indignant. The funny thing is that we again drove through the center on the way out of the city. The question is, why was Yulia in a pose and spoil the trip.
On the way home again problems with the toilet, we stopped at the request on the highway, where there are not even bushes. At the same time, three people were forgotten, everyone had to yell - stop.
Outcome. The tour included places worth seeing, there are all the prerequisites for a good rest. All my impression was spoiled by the organization, incompetence, intractability of the head of the group.
The cost of the trip is not cheap, while constantly paying extra for the excursion package. Services and services of the company "Ethnotour" is not worth it.
Dear Eugenia.
We are pleased that in your opinion the tour turned out to be excellent. Good words from tourists add strength to our work.
Now about the negatives you have left from the process of preparing documents and applying for a visa.
First of all, let me emphasize the fact that you booked a tour with our agent and received all the information from him, and not directly from us.
On our website, the tour program contains an exhaustive list of services included in the "Visa Support", and among these services, the tourist is not accompanied by a representative of the tour operator to the visa center. Absent for the reason that according to the rules of security of the visa center, I quote: "Accompanying people are not allowed in the Visa Application Center - friends, relatives, colleagues, etc., except when the presence of an escort is necessary (accompanying the elderly, disabled, children)."
Insurance. The original insurance policy is submitted to the visa center.
It is not a problem for us to issue an insurance policy, but it is impractical to send it across half the country when we send all other documents to our agents by e-mail. Therefore, in such cases, our agents draw up insurance policies themselves - accordingly, the insurance service is not ordered from us. In the document "Confirmation of the order" sent by us to the agent which contains the list of all services ordered by the agent for us from the tourist, the "Insurance" service is absent.
Amount in the bank account. At your request, we provide you with documentary evidence of timely informing us of the manager of the travel agency where you booked the tour, about the need to increase the amount in your bank account.
Sincerely, tour operator Algol.
Шанівна Євгенія.
Ми втішені, що за Вашою оцінкою тур виявився відмінним. Хороші слова від туристів додають сили в нашій роботі.
Тепер про негатив, який у Вас залишився від процесу підготовки документів та подачі документів на візу.
Перш за все дозвольте наголосити на тому факті, що Ви бронювали тур у нашого агента і всю інформацію отримували від нього, а не безпосередньо від нас.
На нашому сайті у програмі туру наведено вичерпний перелік послуг, що входять до "Візової підтримки", і серед цих послуг супровід туриста представником туроператора до візового центру відсутній. Відсутній з тієї причини, що відповідно до правил безпеки візового центру, цитую: "У Візовий Центр не допускаються супроводжуючі - друзі, родичі, коллеги, тощо, за винятком випадків, коли присутність супроводжуючого необхідна (супровід літніх людей, інвалідів, дітей)."
Страхування. У візовий центр подається оригінал страхового полісу. Для нас не становить жодної проблеми виписати страховий поліс, але нецілесно пересилати його через пів країни, коли всі інші документи ми надсилаємо нашим агентам електронною поштою. Тому, в таких випадках, наші агенти оформлюють страхові поліси самостійно – відповідно, послугу страхування у нас не замовляють. В надісланому нами агенту документі "Підтвердження замовлення", яке містить перелік усіх замовлених у нас агентом послуг для туриста, послуга "Страхування" відсутня.
Сума на банківському рахунку. За Вашим бажанням ми надаємо Вам документальні підтвердження вчасного інформування нами менеджера туристичної агенції, в якій Ви замовили тур, про необхідність збільшення суми на Вашому банківському рахунку.
З повагою, туроператор Алголь.
Thanks for the answer. But, as you said, the visa center is not allowed escorts. So why when I went through another tour operator he had a representative at the Visa Center and then I just came and gave the prints, and he had already submitted my documents? Does this rule apply only to individual tour operators? If others provide such a service, then think about what you can do to not burden tourists.
Дякую за відповідь. Але, як ви зазначили, візовий центр не допускаються супроводжуючі. Тому чому коли я їздила через іншого туроператора в нього був представник у Візовому центрі і тоді я просто прийшла та здала відбитки, а він уже подав мої документи? Чи це правило діє тільки для окремих туроператорів? Якщо інші надають таку послугу, то подумайте, що ви можете зробити, щоби не обтяжувати туристів.