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10th May 2012
hi everyone.
i havnt booked my tour yet, im still deciding on what date to go. What I was wondering was about the ‘food fund’. Do I pay that to my travel agent when I book my tour or do I pay that when I start the tour in London??
the price is given in Australian Dollars so I assume its before hand.
Any helP?
10th May 2012
Hey.. I was originally going to do the North by North East tour and then the Wild Western but now due to finances I am pretty sure I can only do one 
… any advice would be great. I should probably mention I have been to LA and Las Vegas before however it will be for my 21st bday so it would be nice to do Las Vegas again and see San Fran etc..
Maddi xx
10th May 2012
I recieved my ekit today sorta still trying to work it out i got my number and everything i’m wondering does anyone know if i got friends in the UK and they want to call me when i’m over there do they just dial the number i been givin or do they have to put access number in front of it?
Also i tried to send a txt message from my aus number to the number i been given and put the ekit sim in and no sms came throw does anyone know how to send a txt message to it?
Any help would be great cheers!
10th May 2012
Can anyone tell me the must do’s and dont’s for this tour?
Any help would be great as i’m going on my own.
10th May 2012
I believe that the Contiki buses now have plug points on the bus.
Are these in UK or Continental format?
Thanx
10th May 2012
hi all,
just wondering if the prices for tours on the website are set, (ie. already has the tax and stuff included). anybody know???
10th May 2012
If my luggage weighs 50 lbs will I have to take stuff out? The information I received says the luggage can only weigh 44 lbs. I leave for the Grand Explorer tomorrow.
Thanks.
10th May 2012
Hi everyone,
I am heading on the European Inspiration on 23Feb 09 and have found a great way of saving a bit of money when on my trip. Free audio tours for italy and france. Go to the the link below and you can download mp3 or ipod files of various attractions narrated by Rick Steve. I have listened to a few of them and they are rather informative. Save money by taking these with you on your trip so that you don’t have to pay for guided tours etc. Also there are mud maps of each attraction to guide you around.
Audio tours
Enjoy! 
10th May 2012
I have just returned from the Egypt and the Nile Contiki trip, and I need to warn everyone about a scam we ran into. It involves the waiters and managers on the cruise ship (in our case the M/S Carmen but they are mostly all owned by thee same company; Egypt Hotels).
When we ordered drinks on the boat, the waiter would write down our order, pass us the pad to sign for the order, then retrieve the pad, tear off a pink carbon copy receipt for us and go and get us the drink. The bill was to be paid at the end of the trip. When I came to pay for my bill at the end of the cruise I was shocked to find a list of bills that were much larger than anything I had signed for. I asked for their copy of the receipt which the management produced after much reluctance, which clearly showed that they had added drinks to the receipt AFTER I had signed my name at the bottom. For example, I ordered one beer. The receipt they produced had “1 x beer” written down and just under it in a different handwriting “2 x Heineken beer”. I never drink Heineken, and nobody else ordered with me, just the waiter and I were present, so I can be 100% sure that this was falsified on purpose. What is more, during that night, the waiters didn’t give us the pink receipts. This turned out to be because they were unable to forge our bills and add drinks if we had the pink receipts. I had been given 6 out of the 10 pink slips for the cruise. These pink slips I had tallied perfectly with the blue receipts they had kept for the drinks. But for the 4 bills that I wasn’t given a pink receipt for, I had had many beers and cokes added by the hotel afterwards.
When I noticed this had happened upon paying the bill, I asked around and soon enough, there were a number of people that had found their bills to be doctored. Different hand writing was used, cokes were added to people’s bills who were caffeine intolerant (impossible!), some bills were summarised as “3 x beer, 1 x beer” which doesn’t make sense as they would have just written “4 x beer”. I now discovered at least 6 other people extremely unhappy with the way their bills had been falsified. The management of the cruise ship was very hostile towards us, and our tour guide had disappeared. We argued for about 2 hours but things were getting more and more heated and we looked like getting stuck on the ship with the armed police present without any ability to speak Arabic and defend ourselves, it was a very scary and unpleasant experience. We were then basically forced to pay the inflated bills as otherwise we would be unable to carry on with our tour.
After that night, I asked around and found more people who had paid their bills but had secretly been suspicious of the high amount but hadn’t said anything. I believe that in total at the very least 10 people were scammed like this. I was charged 184 Egyptian pounds too much; other people were overcharged by different amounts. This was a horrible experience as I felt threatened and forced to pay for forged bills by people who had no respect or courtesy for us and were vicious and spiteful. The waiters were certainly involved, and I have good reason to believe that the management were also involved due to their complete lack of concern, insistence that we pay and unwillingness to investigate multiple reports of theft from on their ship.
PLEASE be aware of this forgery. Keep and ask for every single pink receipt that you can, tell all your fellow tour friends to do the same, then they can’t scam you.
Finally, this trip was the most fun trip I have ever had, so do enjoy yourselfs, it is truly fantastic. I just need to make sure that Egypt hotels get punished for what they did you us and that nobody else gets treated like we did.
Nick
10th May 2012
Hey all,
i dont know if anyone noticed, but the new brochure came out for Best of USA and i was going to book… but for some reason after a certain date early next year they are cutting out LA all together, & starting the tour at Sn Fran, so the trip is shorten.. but the price is the same.. so howcome the price hasnt decreased??? if im wrong, could someone plz correct me..
Im a lil annoyed as i was about to book for next year!
cheers
camo
10th May 2012
Has anyone done this tour? How was it?
Does anyone plan on going on this tour anytime between late May – July?
10th May 2012
hi guys !!
i am heading off soon on the european vista.
i need to fit in the relatives visit, who live near amsterdam. can anyone tell me the detailed itinerary of our time in amsterdam?
they probably can meet me at our hotel (does anyone know the name of it? i have not recieved the documents and i leave in 6 weeks).
the brochure itinerary looks like this…..
Fri – arrive in amsterdam. out on the town, nightlife etc.
Sat – bicycle ride through edam. (when is this done, how long does it take?). free time in the afternoon. i want to see anne franks house etc, a few things. is the optional canal cruise/dinner/sex show this night?
sun – leave for london. free time in the morning?
THEREFORE…. if i have a few hours free to see relo’s and maybe a few sights out of town, could i do this on the saturday? or not possible as too rushed? if not then, when !!??
many thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions, i would love to get this all organised before i go.
cheers, and happy travelling!
danielle
10th May 2012
I have been reading everyone’s reviews on packing with a suitcase vs. backpack … seems like the consensus was that a suitcase was much easier to have on a contiki tour. I am doing the Grand Explorer, however I am planning on travelling on my own in NZ after the tour for approx. 10 days and am not sure if a backpack would be better in this case. Has anyone travelled on their own afterwards and if so, what did you use and what are your thoughts about it? I don’t know if many people have suitcases when they stay at backpacker hostels?? Any advice would be great, thanks!!
10th May 2012
Hi Guys,
I am currently in the UK with a backpack containing a couple of t-shirts, jeans and a pair of cargos (and some brown swade hiking type shoes). I will be departing on Sunday for the 16 day trip from London to Rome going via France.
The guide book ‘recommends’ classier clothing. Should i spend what little money i have left buying some ‘duds’ in London so i can attend all night time ‘functions’ or is it not worth it?
Keen on hearing the thoughts of those that have travelled on this or similar tour.
Also keen on hearing from anyone embarking on this trip.
Cheers
j (aus)
10th May 2012
Hi, I just booked the aussie explorer for April 2010, I’m super excited! I also booked 1 night pre tour in darwin & 2 nights post tour in sydney. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice of what I absolutely shouldn’t miss while in either of these cities with my limited amount of time. I’m especially wondering about sydney since i’m guessing i will probably just be recovering from jet lag in darwin. also, if any one had any insight of what the weather will be like mid april to mid may it would be much appreciated. thanks!
10th May 2012
I am doing the Cairns Sunshine Trail in August 2008 and I am really into photography. Knowing me I will be aching to take pictures of the unique sea life I am hoping to come across while snorkeling. Does anyone have advice on the best way to do this? I know there are disposable waterproof film cameras but I was wondering if there was a way I could still use my digital. Thanks!
10th May 2012
I was wondering if you take your own laptop, is there anyway that you can connect the internet while you are in Europe?
I have read a few posts about banking, photos, emailing home etc and i would feel much more comfortable with my own..
Any advice???
10th May 2012
I noticed that on the price of the tours says that it only includes land travel for the tour. Does that mean we need to get our own flights to the starting country of the tour? How will we know where to meet the tour group?
However when I go to book my tour, there is a Flight section that asks me where I am departing from, but nothing else. No further flight information is provided. Why is that?
Thanks
-Phil
10th May 2012
I’m spending 26 days in Europe, including a 19 day Contiki tour.
I sleep really badly without my own pillow (one of those special foam pillows). I know it will be a pain to carry it around europe, but is it worth taking it? I do plan to sleep, I am not a partier, and am worried that I will not have a decent nights sleep in 26 days!
Need some advice…
10th May 2012
I am 28 years old and I want to go on one of the European tours. I am debating between the encounter and inspirations. Anyone have any suggestions/advice on which one to do? I am planning on going July 2007. Which one would be better for someone my age??
