4.6/5

CIE Tours . . . . Very Good in Many Ways, BUT Read My Review and Plan from

Regarding the booking service, I do not feel that our needs were handled in the best possible manner. The CIE Rep indicated that we could either purchase our tickets for the flights on our own OR we could allow CIE to purchase the flight tickets for us. I felt that CIE may be able to get us a better price on plane tickets so I opted to have them handle our flights. I booked the trip and made complete payment approx 6 weeks prior to departure. After receiving flight information via email from CIE shortly after that I noticed that seating selections had not been assigned. I called CIE right away and asked about seating selection. I was told that I could go online and make the selections. So I went online and attempted to make seat selections. I was able to make a seat selection for the 1st of four flights without issue, however for all of the other flights the seats that were shown as available ALL had an additional charge of anywhere from 49 to 125 English pounds each! This was in addition to what we had paid for the flight. I did not choose a seat selection. I called CIE tours and explained to them what I had encountered. They then told me that I could just allow them to choose the seating for us at no additional cost. So I left the seating assignments to them. Consequently we did know our seat assignments until we got to our first flight in Boston, MA. We then learned that for our flight overseas from Philadelphia, PA to Glasgow, Scotland my spouse and I had been assigned seats in 2 different rows and each of us had been assigned a middle seat ! This was on an American Airlines flight in a narrow bodied jet (3 seats each) beside one aisle. To me this was a jet that you would normally see for a regional shuttle but NOT for an overseas flight of 6 hours or more. Think about how you would feel knowing that you had been assigned a middle seat in a different row than your spouse! Fortunately we got it straightened out at the airport and ended up getting reassigned to two seats in the same row.

Another issue regarding the booking service is that I told them that I wanted to extend my trip by one day in the city where our tour ended (Edinburgh, Scotland). They acknowledged and I "assumed" (my mistake) that they would take care of booking me for an additional day in the last hotel we would be in . . . OR ask me if I had any other preferences for lodging for that last day. Instead, none of this had been done and I ended up having to check with the hotel staff to see if they had availability for us for another day. Fortunately the CIE Tour Guide helped us with this and saved us approx $52. off of the normal daily room rate. Our CIE Tour Guide (Christianne) was EXCELLENT ! I cannot say enough Good things about her!

Our trip began in the U.S. at approx 11:30 a.m. EST. When our flight arrived in Scotland the local time there was approximately 7:30 a.m. To us it was approx 2:00 a.m. EST. Upon arrival at the airport in Glasgow we then had to wait at the airport until a number of other people arrived from various places on other flights. This was so that CIE 's passengers could then be transported from the airport to the hotel in Glasgow all at once on one bus. By the time we reached the hotel it was approx 9:30 a.m. local time. It was then that we learned that normal check-in time for the hotel was 3:00 p.m. For us this was feeling like 9:00 a.m. the following day from when he had began our trip. We did finally get the otel to allow us to check in at approx 12 Noon local time. We retired to our room for approx 2 hours and then had to regroup to meet the rest of the tour group for a tour of the city of Glasgow. I am gad that we did make it to the bus for the tour of Glasgow because it was FANTASTIC . . . as was the rest of the trip !

So what I would tell you (CIE) . . . . IS THAT THE PEOPLE WHO MANAGE YOUR COMPANY are NOT the people that make your trips great. The people who made our trip WONDERFUL was our Tour Guide, Christianne, and our Bus Driver (Declan). From then on our trip was just Wonderful. For your credit I will say that the Itinerary and the choices for hotels is Very Good. And I would do it again.

I think your company could do a number of things differently and much better pertaining to some of the things that I mentioned. Many of your clients are retirees and your planning and scheduling does not seem to take into account what a long trip overseas for senior citizens does to them. I also would like to say that our return flight from London to Boston with British Airways was MUCH MUCH better than our experience with American Airlines. I will purposely strive to never fly with American Airlines again.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

Wonderful trip!

Well organized. Good guides.

Ireland Dream Trip

I was somewhat hesitant to book any tour. We had no experience traveling with a tour company, but decided to try CIE for our Ireland trip. I am glad we did. Not only was booking with CIE easy, but the variety of itineraries they offered was exceptional.

Had a few problems but would do it again.

The driver and guide were fantastic! The problem came with issues with United when we were traveling to Ireland and we had so little time in St. Andrews.

Ireland

Great Tour

We had a wonderful tour and the whole experience was more than what we expected. It all began with the outstanding service by our tour booking agent. Our questions were fully answered and we were kept informed about our upcoming tour on a regular schedule. Our tour guide was a perfect. We had very nice hotels and the meals and service was first rate. We did not even mind the time on the tour bus because there was so much to see and the commentary from our guide was very informative. We made many good friends on our tour and will remain in touch with them for years to come. How many times can we say "wonderful!!!"

Good value

The only problem we had was that we were told we would be travelling through Amsterdam on the way home, but we were never scheduled to do that. Once we were done with dinner the last night, we were sort of cast off on our own.
The trip, otherwise, really deserved five stars. The accommodations were great, the bus was luxurious, and the meals were exceptional. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and concerned for all his passengers. He offered us a map to keep track of our route each day. This has been a great keepsake!

Excellent guide and tour

Our tour guide was excellent and knowledgeable. The accommodations were very good to excellent. We traveled with our handicapped son and Patrick, our guide and driver, went out of his way to see that our son's needs were met. You don't find that every where.

Excellent Service, Excellent Trip

CIE provided very professional and knowledgeable booking service.

Good itinerary, excellent tour guide - Frank our guide was full of information and developed a wonderful rapport with the group.

Wonderful way to visit Ireland!

The tour was wonderful! Everything was well organized and planned out and even though we had a schedule of places to visit, we never felt rushed. Gerry our driver/guide was great with shared lots of information about Ireland, its history and politics, as well as the areas visited. The Adventure tour was ideal for getting to see many different areas of Ireland as well as major attractions. The hotels were comfortable and the food was always good. The choice of places to stop for lunch gave us a chance to dine in a really old Irish pub as well as taste traditional dishes. We would definitely use CIE tours again.

Best way to see all three in one trip - Scotland, Northern Ireland and Irel

Excellent from start to finish.

We'll be back!

First time to Ireland was FABULOUS! Our guide, Gerry was amazing! He shared so much about the culture and people with us. Without this tour we would not have learned so much and felt so comfortable in a new land. Gerry also has a great sense of humor, which put everyone at ease. Small group is definitely the way to go. There was plenty of space on the bus and the tours did not feel rushed.Will definitely be back!

they were very responsive to my questions

they provided very good documentation and were very responsive to my questions

Will go again and see more

The variety of hotel accommodations was great. They were all high class and cared for us and displayed the countryside well.
The food was too good. Still dieting after the trip.

Loved the off trail events.......the back road trips were great.

Very good tour excellent tour guide beautiful sights

Professional in all ways

Prompt professional responses to enquiries from the start. Guide/drive Joe polite, competent, highly professional, fun and full if information and fabulous stories which brought the trip and places alive. The quality of the accommodation over the 13 night trip was exceptional and well located, tour inclusions were great overall a fun worthwhile experience. we would and have recommend the company.

I liked CIE tours so much that this was my second tour with them and I brought three others with me.

Loved Tommy and Jerry. Informative clean buses loved most of the hotels foo

Price was good Tommy and Jerry were great. Hotels good. Food great. Loved playing es we saw. Yes I would recommend them to friends.

Worth the Price

I couldn't have been happier. Matt was a better tour guide than I had thought possible. I was impressed with his knowledge, his demeanor, his treatment of tourists, and more importantly of the respect he was given at the places we visited. For me we could have spent a lot less time shopping and more time at the stops but it wasn't an all bad balance.