Originally Posted by
MMSteffey
- Just returned from the Santana Greek Isles Adventure. We're experienced with other outfitters, first time Santana, single bike riders (1 E bike, 1 Hybrid)/human bike).
- The good: fun and interesting participants, nice room on a Crosi ship, good food. There were a few unique and interesting destinations arranged for us. Respect and appreciation for tandems and the teams that ride them.
- The rest: underplanned, understaffed, and falsely advertised.
- Bill and company were already exhausted, stressed out, short tempered, and unpleasant to deal with starting with the pre trip option. Exception: mechanic Leland, who was tired and stressed yet managed to remain gracious. The tech person just up and disappeared about 3 days into the trip, leaving us with no support for Garmin and Ride with GPS.
- Several paragraphs of the marketing materials extolled the daily "morning boost" , a special and Santana exclusive addition to get a ride to a high point on the island. This was the reason we booked this Greek Isles Trip. This was never available, no apology, no explanation. Total false advertising.
- Staff was obviously scrambling every day to find a SOS van to rent in each port. Some days we had to get back to the boat early because the van had to be returned. Actually staff was always dealing with some chaos somewhere. The constant changes and uncertainty really impact the social vibe of the trip.
- Bill publicly / vehemently blew off the fact that one of the days was a major Greek holiday, resulting in our start having to divert around a major parade and encountering additional parades (road closures and complex diversions that we had to figure out on our own, in Greek) on the way. Everything was closed for the holiday. Less traffic, but no drinks, snacks or restroom on the road.
- The entire ride was on busy roads, some in marginal condition with minimal shoulders, and there were two bad accidents, one resulting in a broken hip, the other in stitches.
- Staff made the error of replacing my last name with my husband's on the departure Covid test result form (well known fact that the Covid test has to match the name on your passport), Instead of an apology and correction of their error, I was subjected to a semi private 20 minute rant by Bill about how it does not matter, Greeks don't care, and I probably made the mistake on the pre trip forms. When I pointed out that my first and last name was correct on the name tag and bike plate, he just ranted louder. Ultimately I had to return to the US with a document that was sub optimal.
- My take on it is that this company started out as a well intentioned opportunity for tandem riders to travel together on interesting trips and has developed into a profit maximization opportunity for Santana. (Bill's welcoming line was "thank you for supporting our travel lifestyle").
- If after all this you are interested in purchasing 2 spots on the Santana Mississippi trip, please let me know.
Thank you for that very well written report of your recent experience. As someone who has participated in quite a few Santana tours and events over the years, I have to admit that everything you have written rings true.
I agree that, as you wrote, "this company started out as a well intentioned opportunity for tandem riders to travel together on interesting trips". We experienced several of those trips organized around 2-3 dozen tandems based in a hotel or traveling inn-to-inn. At some point they switched to strictly ship-based excursions. This has some advantages in eliminating packing/unpacking and other issues associated with switching lodging, but it comes with other constraints. The boat determines the routes and number of participants, and adds a layer of detachment from the local culture. This is when the tours began being opened to non-tandem riders, I suppose in an effort to fill the boat. I think it’s also when the interactions with staff and customers seemed to degrade.
Fortunately there now exist other outfits that are offering the type of tandem-oriented program that used to be offered by Santana.
Since my wife and I made the decision to walk away from the tours we were registered for this fall, it’s helpful for me to get news from others on the experience. Much appreciated.