Spain & Morocco From $3,849 $3,449 pp*

The US customer service responded promptly to our queries. The reps were knowledgeable and courteous when answering the calls or the emails.

1) Many of us arrived in Madrid at about 10 AM on Sep 15th. The Collette tour manager dropped us off at the hotel reception area and left. Nothing to do till the rooms were made available later in the afternoon. Many of the tourists slept in the reception area. Should arrange some optional local tours. 2) Visit to Toledo the next day PM is worth it. 3) The "Renfo AVE fast train ride" from Madrid to Cordoba is NOT worth the price !! What is the point of reaching Cordoba couple of hours earlier and just sit around waiting or walk around aimlessly for over two hours for the rest of the group to show up by bus to begin the local tour!! For those who take the train option, include some local tour in Cordoba for those couple of hours. 4) Paella Demonstration was rushed through and did NOT make much of an impression. Maybe should go to the internet to find out more about Paella cooking. 5) Chaos on the boat from Tarifa to Tanger trying to get the Moroccan visa. The tour manager should organize the process better and not just walk away leaving the tourists to their own devices !! 5) The two hours or more spent in Chefchaouen looking at a Medina should be eliminated. Instead only stop for lunch and then move on. We can spend that two extra hours in Fez which is more interesting !! Collette may even pursue flying tourists from Tanger to Fez unless flying domestic airlines is not an option. 5) In Morocco, too many Medina ( ancient part of the town) visits. After a couple of visits, they all start to look alike. Should cut down the number of Medina visits and replace those visits with something more interesting. 6) In these Medinas, the very narrow uneven cobble stone streets and the uneven stair steps pose hazard to tourists - especially when they had to look up instead of watching their steps, to see features of interest pointed out by the guide. 7) "Marrakesh by night"- the coach ride is not worth the trouble. A long walk to the restaurant should be eliminated. 8) Rick's cafe not worth the time. Recommendation: Review the tour program and make necessary changes to make the tour more attractive. Stay: 1) My notes about the hotel stays were lost so I am not able to associate the hotels with the issues we faced. In a hotel, the water in the sink and the bath tub would not empty. The Front desk said that they would send a plumber to fix the problem. We stayed two nights. No plumber showed up. 2) In Cordoba, our room #415 has two doors. One door is supposed to be always open and the inner door opened with the card key. When we returned from breakfast, the first door was locked and would not open with the card key. We had to get our baggage out for pick up. Rushed down to the front desk but the lady at the desk was no help. After about 15 minutes delay, a mechanic showed up and took him about 20 minutes to unlock the first door. 3) In a couple of hotels in Spain and Morocco, the card key would not work even the very first time. In one case, the front desk had to make the key a couple of times before it would work. 4) In one hotel, the bath tub was so high many ladies complained about difficulty getting into the tub for shower. Potential for some one getting hurt. Recommendation: Use your leverage as a major customer to pressure the hotels to make sure the rooms are in good condition and everything in the rooms in working order just before the guests arrive. Tour guides: 1) The tour managers in Spain and Morocco simply told the members to rotate daily their seats so that those in the back of the bus will have a chance to move to the front. But did NOT enforce. The result some members always grabbed the front seats and those who sat in the back grumbled. When some tourists followed the rule and tried to move to the front, those who would not follow the rule caused a bit of tension. That is bad. Solution: The tour managers should prepare well in advance of the tour, a bus seat map and prepare excel sheet of the seat assignment for each day and post it daily in the bus so that every body is aware of the assignment. 2) The tour managers and local guides are fairly well versed. But using the "whisperer" device for such a large group of 44 members is not working out well especially in the narrow streets of the Medinas. Solution: Split the group into manageable size of 12-15 members. Which means more local guides.

Service was good.

Very large group. The pace was very fast was told by Tour Guide this is not a shopping trip. When some wanted to do some shopping . I must state the guide in Spain was very thoughtful and helped me quite a bit, Very sociable , he has trouble with English terminology, group size did not help. A few more trips he will be more prepared. He was overwhelmed.

One of the poorest organized trips we have taken. Poor tour directors.

Did not care for lical guides at all in Morocco. Spains were ok. In Spain Cordoba best visit.Would loved staying there over night.

Locations and events were wonderful and tour directors were knowledgeable. Bus drivers were extremely professional and city guides were great.

Same as previous comment.

Locations and events were wonderful. Tour guides were very knowledgeable, as well as the tour directors. Bus drivers were very professional

Same as previously noted in overall rating

Very pleased overall, the long days on the bus was too much,

The time spent in Seville

We were impressed with the itinerary and the tour directors were excellent.

The itinerary was good and the tour directors were genuinely concerned about meeting the expectations of the travellers.

The Tour directors were top notch. Genuinely concerned about their guests.

The tour directors were great. Genuinely concerned about the travellers enjoyment of the tours.

The trip was flawless from before we left right up to the departure home. The guides took very good care of us. We had the flexibility to go with the group or choose another activity.

This is difficult. Carmen was very informative in Spain about the culture both past and present and Yasein in Morocco was equally knowledgeable. they had good senses of humor.

Buses were large and comfortable Both tour guides were knowledgeable and friendly Tours were good Would recommend this tour

excellent sampling of both countries

From the initial phone call to the follow up email from our tour manager, everything was excellent, personal and correct. The sites included on the tours were interesting; and the schedule was mostly on time.

The cultural and historical connection between Spain and Morocco was explored through the many interesting sites and the knowledge of the guides. What I love about Collette tours is the out of the way, unexpected gems such as dinner in a riad, a visit to Spain Square in Seville and Marrakech by night. The hotels are outstanding. Some of the ones in Morocco were like palaces

I thought the tour was very good and would recommend it to friends especially if they want to see something different and exotic. The included meals were exceptional, the hotels were mostly excellent. The Hotel in Granada was 3 star at best. The hotel in Marrakesh was lovely except for the fact the air conditioning was not working and when reported they brought us a fan. Not acceptable. I also felt when I reported this they did not care, it was only when my husband went to the desk we were given any notice. The tour guide "Tammy" in Fes needs to be reconsidered, his speech about what women want was completely unacceptable. I also felt he needs to tone down his speech about Muslim life style. I enjoyed the Spain portion of this trip very much, I do think that they tried to include a few too many things. There was very little free time which would of allowed us to explore a few things on our own. The other suggestion I would make is if this trip was scheduled around Ramadan again that lunches should be included into the itinerary. I feel our tour managers did an excellent job of finding us lovely places to have lunch, it also wasted so much of our time paying bills ect at these restaurants. Pre-arranged lunches would have reduced this wasted time. Although I do not feel I will ever want to visit Morocco again. I would like to explore more of Spain but at a slower pace with much more free time included. Not unlike the trip of Portugal and the its Islands we took in 2018. I would also like to say the Angela did a 5 star job in both Spain and Morocco.

I thought the tour was very good and would recommend it to friends especially if they want to see something different and exotic. The included meals were exceptional, the hotels were mostly excellent. The Hotel in Granada was 3 star at best. The hotel in Marrakesh was lovely except for the fact the air conditioning was not working and when reported they brought us a fan. Not acceptable. I also felt when I reported this they did not care, it was only when my husband went to the desk we were given any notice. The tour guide "Tammy" in Fes needs to be reconsidered, his speech about what women want was completely unacceptable. I also felt he needs to tone down his speech about Muslim life style. I enjoyed the Spain portion of this trip very much, I do think that they tried to include a few too many things. There was very little free time which would of allowed us to explore a few things on our own. The other suggestion I would make is if this trip was scheduled around Ramadan again that lunches should be included into the itinerary. I feel our tour managers did an excellent job of finding us lovely places to have lunch, it also wasted so much of our time paying bills ect at these restaurants. Pre-arranged lunches would have reduced this wasted time. Although I do not feel I will ever want to visit Morocco again. I would like to explore more of Spain but at a slower pace with much more free time included. Not unlike the trip of Portugal and the its Islands we took in 2018. I would also like to say the Angela did a 5 star job in both Spain and Morocco.

Yes, the service was good. The people who were on the trip were easy to be with … not a rotten apple in the barrel. The only downside … too many churches, medinas and perhaps not enough free time. The opportunities for swimming were wonderful and the hotels were pleasant. Both tour guides were accommodating and knew there "stuff." It was interesting to be there during Ramadan. That was a good learning experience, although it was frustrating sometimes not be able to have a glass of wine with a meal. Certainly, this was outweighed by the overall experience in Morocco with Muslim customs. It was lovely to see so many beautiful head scarves on the women. This is why I love to travel and be the "other" in someone else's culture. It makes me a better citizen of the world.

I've written all of this in a previous box. I'm through now. Thank you.