Don't spoil your holiday with DSBW (France, "Colors of Provence")
DSBW tours. Corporate tour "Colors of Provence" (France (Avignon, Marseille, Nice, Cannes), Monaco). 09-16 June 2012 Hotels: Marseille – Mercure Marseilee Center 3*; Avignon - Ibis Center Pont de l`Europe 3 *; Cannes – Ligure 3*; Nice – Mirabeau 3*. This review is a warning to tourists who want to see and experience the south of France. Please choose another way, don't need to do it with DSBW-tours. I went on tours from DSBW many times, but this is the first time I have encountered such frank swindle and disrespect for tourists. True, these were not the so-called branded tours from DSBW before, but there was always a host in the country where the trip was. Maybe that's why everything was organized normally. But apparently DSBW is not capable of organizing a good trip on their own, they can only collect documents and take money, they are good at it. It is unlikely that I will want to repeat the experience of cooperation with DSBW-tours and I do not advise anyone. On the DSBW website you will see 4 positive reviews about the "Colors of Provence" tour, but this is only because they do not post negative reviews (more precisely, they pretend to post, but these reviews are visible only from the computer from which these reviews are posted, and other computers don't. ) Now the program of the tour "Colors of Provence" includes a flight to Genoa with a subsequent transfer to Marseille by bus. In our case, at the time of purchasing the tour, a flight to Marseille and back was indicated by regular Air France flights. 12 days before departure, we were informed that we were not flying to Marseille, but to Genoa, and also on a charter flight of Tatar Airlines at 5.45 in the morning. The difference in ticket prices was not returned to us, although it amounted to 10 thousand rubles. They did not even apologize to us, but rather tried to convince us that we were very lucky that we would admire the beauties of the landscape on the way to Marseille. Only DSBW forgets to point out that the journey from Genoa to Marseille is 420 km and takes 6 hours with three stops. That is, for the same money, instead of a comfortable evening flight on a regular flight to Marseille, we got a sleepless night, "magnificent" Tatar Airlines and a 6-hour journey from Genoa to Marseille. And all this is not before a carefree beach holiday, but before a fairly rich excursion program. Tatar Airlines is a different story: the old Tu-154, which was filled with the smell of kerosene before takeoff, then the air conditioners really turned on; the sagging seats are set so close that with a height of 166 cm, the knees are pressed tightly against the back of the front seat. Poor men, even of average height, squirmed as best they could in order to somehow accommodate themselves. On the day the tickets were issued, it turned out that we were flying back on a different charter than we were informed 12 days ago, and we were arriving at another airport in Moscow. But even these tickets we could not get on time along with the rest of the documents, although we waited until 7 pm. DSBW fooled us all Friday (with a departure at 5.45 on Saturday), and they were talking frank nonsense about couriers carrying electronic tickets. As a result, tickets were sent to us at 9 pm by e-mail after several calls to the company. Since the "Colors of Provence" tour is branded, there is no host, there are no local guides either, and our guide flew in with us. On the DSBW website, the reviews express gratitude to the guide Malanina Natalya. This is also not true. A person lives in the Moscow region and travels to different countries with excursions, and her knowledge is more like an escort than a guide. But even this knowledge Natalya shares very reluctantly. The program has a large number of transfers, and most of them passed silently. We were read articles from the guidebook, we did not learn anything new. We received answers to all questions like: "I'm not a historian, I don't know. . . " , "We have recently included this city in the program, I have not had time to learn everything here" and so on. But Natalya's activity increased significantly when she had to go to cosmetic factories and on additional excursions. And if Fragonard was on the program, and the group got well stocked there and went on an excursion, then on the way to Monaco, the check-in to Gorimard was her initiative, and when half the group refused to go, leaving to walk around the city of Eze, Natalia was very unhappy. On the last day, we changed the program, which everyone already reacted to philosophically, realizing that nothing could be changed, and we had a free day in Nice, since the bus had to stop before going to Genoa airport at one in the morning. However, returning to the hotel in the evening, it turned out that we were not going anywhere at night, because for the third time we had changed the departure time and the charter airline, this time to Red Wings. The next day, our things were taken to the bus, evicted from the hotel and sent to the second free day without excursions in Nice until 17.00. Naturally, the Red Wings delayed the flight for 2 hours, so we returned home a day later than we were going to and again after a sleepless night. After returning from such a trip, it seemed that I had returned not from the Cote d'Azur, but from Turkey or Egypt with cheap charter flights, only Turkey and Egypt were all inclusive, and we had everything turned off. And the price differed significantly. Now about the hotels in which we lived. Marseille – Mercure Marseilee Center 3*. Quite consistent with its three stars and the usual level of Mercure. Breakfast is a buffet, which is important for France. For hot - scrambled eggs with bacon or sausages, cold cuts, fruits, vegetables, yogurt, pastries. There are no complaints. Located close to the port, next to a large shopping center. Avignon – Ibis Center Pont de l`Europe 3*. Breakfast is an attempt at a buffet, no hot food. Sliced - one type of ham and one type of cheese. There are no vegetables. One small elevator, waiting is a problem. Located behind the fortress wall, but close to it. Cannes – Ligure 3*. The only plus is the location. To the beach and port 10 min. at a leisurely pace, next to Monoprix, which is very important, given the continental breakfast, consisting of a roll, a piece of baguette, a croissant and jam with butter. For breakfast we went with our cuts from the store. The windows overlook either the courtyard-well, or a very noisy street with an interchange and a train station. Double-glazed windows do not save, very noisy all night. There is a minibar, also known as a refrigerator. Nice – Mirabeau 3*. Located 20 min. walk from the sea (two tram stops). Continental breakfast. The number of buns has decreased to two, so the amount of food you bring with you has increased. The rooms are very different in size, rather shabby. Hot water does not start flowing immediately, but five minutes after switching on. One bath towel, no hand towels. There is no shower gel or shampoo either, only a small bar of soap, apparently for everything. There is no refrigerator. Two of our ladies were given one towel for two, they went to make a fuss, so they were also given gel. The towel was not changed. The worst hotel out of all four. These descriptions of hotels are useful only for those who travel on their own and can choose, but no one asked us, so we lived where we settled. Summary of the trip. We visited the beautiful places of Provence, Monaco and the Cote d'Azur, but unfortunately DSBW did everything to spoil our impressions of the trip. In addition, judging by the stories of Natalia, on this tour they not only fly on different flights, but also constantly give different hotels. In our case, for some reason, we lived 2 days in Cannes (although this had never happened before on this tour) and 2 days in Nice instead of 4 days in Nice, which are indicated in the program. They can settle in Orange, or in a small hotel in Avignon, which you can’t drive up to and you have to walk, or vice versa, far outside the city, in short, whoever is lucky. Since hotels are not announced in advance, there can be no claims against the company. Take what is given. So think about whether you need all this on a trip for which you pay a lot of money and expect pleasant experiences.