Christmas Holiday & Expo in Dubai 7 Days/ 6 Nights (Luxury)

Traveler Reviews

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  Karen Mae

  November 17th, 2021
  1
  I “DO NOT” RECOMMEND this tour! It’s very disorganized!!! If I could give it a 0 I would! It’s NOT worth it! Dubai...
  I “DO NOT” RECOMMEND this tour! It’s very disorganized!!! If I could give it a 0 I would! It’s NOT worth it! Dubai is the 23rd country I visited and I’ve booked many tour packages, but this tour is definitely the WORST! There’s many things I could complain about. 1. The hotel I stayed at smells and the view is a construction site. It’s not worth the money that I PAID EXTRA for $621+ for single room for being solo traveler. 2. What’s on the itinerary is not what you get. You actually get LESS. Marketing and advertising of the tours are deceiving and are not true!!! 3. The Abu Dhabi full day tour as stated on itinerary was NOT a full day tour and you won’t be able to do optional visit to Louvre Museum Abu Dhabi that’s open as advertised since driver told me there’s no time. Arranged company agent changed my pick up time between 10:00-10:15am instead of between 08:30-0900 per itinerary. However, I got picked up passed 10:30am. The driver was late. The other 3 guests from Hyatt hotel who were in the car were also very upset and complained of the promised time of 0800am, but got picked up at 1000am. I was also upset since I rushed getting ready and as a result of rushing I lost one of my contact lenses as it slipped on the sink. I also rushed eating breakfast, but the driver was late. Also I asked if I could go to the museum that’s open, but the driver said there’s no time and also stated nobody told him that I will visit the open museum that I should have told my tour agency. I said, it’s there on my itinerary as an option.I didn’t know I have to tell my tour agency. Also, I thought the tour was full day tour however, I got picked up around 10:30am and finished at 16:30 then drive time 1.5 hours but got to the hotel around 7:15pm. What’s even worst, driver just dropped you off, but doesn’t tell you where to go, so you waste time finding where you should go. Driver also doesn’t open doors for guests and didn’t offer to have lunch. So we starved ourselves. 4. I felt the staff of across Africa tours and travel replies fast, but DOES NOT empathize to travelers. When I had complained, they never said sorry for loss time and inconvenience and how they will improve or fix it next time….nothing.. doesn’t seem to have empathy at all 5. Everything is just disorganized— the pick up time— either you get pick up so late or 20 mins early. They tell you your tour could be flexible, but the bad thing is you’re on a tour with different tour agencies and with different people on each of your tour. So if a couple you’re on a tour with is late, everyone is late. It’s a loss time for everyone. 6. I had to be the one to ask for exact time and date of my whole itinerary the day before my tour starts. The company doesn’t provide it automatically or at least few days before. The guest had to be the one to ask, which this is the first time I had to be the one to ask for my itinerary with time and date. So NOT a good customer service!! 7. There’s also no pre-arrival briefings or pre-arrival email that you must know prior to arriving in dubai or while traveling in dubai. None!!! unlike other tours I’ve booked. So you have to figure things out on your own. What I’m upset about is that nobody told me about needing to ask the store to sign me up for tax free purchases because when I went to the airport, I couldn’t get the tax back that were charged as I made couple of big purchases. They told me the stores must sign me up that I should have told them I’m a tourist, but I didn’t know about this since I wasn’t informed and all the countries I visited did not require this, so I thought I’d just need the usual passport, boarding pass and receipts. However, it doesn’t work like that in dubai unfortunately. I wasn’t able to get my money back from paid taxes from big purchases. I was so upset. 8. Staff will tell you that stay will be at Hilton Mall of Emirates, but once you already purchased the tour, they changed it to Hilton Al Mina and said it’s due to availability. However, I did checked the dates and time they told me it’s going to be at Al Mina and there were availability at Hilton Mall of Emirates. I regret not mentioning it earlier on since I got busy with my finals and also was traveling in turkey with internet issues. 9.You can’t get Hilton points from staying since it’s third party booking. I would just recommend booking your own hotel and day to day tour at viator. The Hilton garden inn I stayed at is only 13-15 mins to dubai mall. Taxi cost one way is $5-$6. Since if you have Hilton honors like me, I was told I couldn’t get the Hilton hotel stay points since it’s booked on booking.com. 10.There’s “NO” Old dubai city tour as stated on itinerary and NO traditional Abra boat included. What was on the original itinerary of old dubai, I honestly just did it on my own and paid for taxi expenses and boat ride to get to spice and gold souks. 11.Arrival pick up time and departure drop off time didn’t go smoothly. The staff told me “the taxi driver COULD ONLY wait for me for 45 mins upon my arrival at the dubai airport”. My arrival was at 02:30am. I didn’t want to have to pay for my own taxi in case there’s an issue at the airport and the driver won’t wait passed 45 mins, so I had asked to be picked up 0500am instead because I didn’t want to miss the pick up time passed the 45 mins timeframe in case I get stuck at the airport for Covidtesting, luggage issues and other unforeseen events.This is so different!!! None of my booked tours had told me that the driver could only wait for me for 45 mins or will leave except this tour!!! Departure drop off they schedule me at 5:00am even if I had asked for 5:30am since my flight is at 08:40am and it takes only 13 mins to get to dubai airport. However, they didn’t change it and just said the driver will be there 5am and if I decide to leave at 5:30 it’s my call. I met with the driver at 05:27am and got to the dubai airport at 05:42am and departed on time. I didn’t appreciate the agency not catering to their guests needs/wants. They will keep insisting their own way, but doesn’t tell you the important things you need to know such as telling the store you’re a tourist and asking the store to sign you up for tax free registration Main advice: Don’t book this tour as it’s not worth what you paid for and you’re better off booking everything on your own as you will save money.I would just recommend booking your own hotel near dubai mall, book taxi online or app careem and day to day tour at viator.Show more
  Traveled in November 2021
  

  Reply from: Across Africa Tours & Travel

  Dear Karen, We very much appreciate the time you took in writing your feedback, as it helps us see things from your perspective. 1. You paid $621 to cater your a private room; the rate of this tour was $628 PP based on two people sharing 2. You requested the trip to be changed since you did not want to take the covid19 test and the journey as organized. However, we are investigating the overall experience on tour to make sure no travels id left stranded 4. We tried to accommodate you each day, but every day you had new demands; we work on improving our customer services to accommodate the needs of all customers in the future 5. The driver got there on time, not to experience late pick up as the first day. He waited for you in the lobby until your scheduled start time arrives 6. We shared the itinerary more than twice together with information-packed. Every day you could get a departure text sent to your phone for the pick time on the next trip. It's unfortunate we still got a one-star shy 7 Customer services shared the departure information on your phone and replied promptly to all your questions; You were advised accordingly on the itinerary through chat and WhatsApp test from customer services in Dubai and head office. 8. Before booking, we mentioned the hotel we have available is Hilton Al-Mina; both hotels offer the same services and ensure you'll get your free shuttle rides. 9. You mentioned you want to see the new Dubai city, which was not part of the itinerary. To accommodate this, we have to remove the market "Souk" and replace JBR, Dubai Frame, Atlantis Hotel, Burj Khalifa, etc., 10. We advise airport process is very rapid in Dubai and will take a few minutes to pass the immigration. However, you decided to decline our advice and request pick at 5 am. Upon arrival, you informed the customer service you needed to be picked up 2 hours before your request. We got you another ride to the hotel to avoid you keeping you at the airport. You also wanted an extra day accommodation which you had declined earlier since the check-in was 3 pm. We advised it better to get to the airport bit early to hit the long lines at Turkish airlines on the Departure date. We informed you the driver would be there at 5:15 am, and if you decide to leave at the airport earlier, we respect your decision, and drop off will be at 5.30. Sadly, this was misinterpreted, whereas we wanted you to get to the airport on time. We are incredibly sorry about the issues with your trip. Please feel free to contact us directly if you have any questions or be of further assistance. We hope you are having a great day. Thank you and kind regards, Tecla O'Hara Customer Relations Manager

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• 

  Marie-France

  January 7th, 2021
  2
  Hotel is excellent but the rest is very bad. Nobody for hotel transfer on the first day and until now no news of...
  Hotel is excellent but the rest is very bad. Nobody for hotel transfer on the first day and until now no news of promised refund. Tour N°1: a : picking 45 minutes later than planned. Lots of driving around the city and some stops. Since everything was closed no visit (museum or other). Tour N° 2 (safari). Picking 45 minutes late. Again a lot of driving for 10 minutes fun (more for young Asian kids) in the desert. Waiting for 1h30 at the parking with nothing to do. When going to the 'camp', big detour hence we missed the sunset! Food OK but food is always good in that part of the world. Tour N°3: I was 45 minutes late...mainly nothing to see and do in Hatta: no driving through Hajar mountains and no stop to take pictures (we did only highway and no possibility to stop). No Wadi lake park (or was it the dam?), Hatta museum??? Everything was mostly empty... No stop for any food or drink. I get lucky at the heritage village. The driver abandoned us at the hill park to get some food for him but not for us... In general, those daily tours were half-day tour with a lot of driving to see nothing!Show more
  Traveled in December 2020
  

  Reply from: Across Africa Tours & Travel

  Dear Marie France, We are very disappointed to hear that overall your experience with our company was not satisfactory. We appreciate your feedback and very sorry that your recent experience on Christmas Holiday in Dubai 7 Days/ 6 Nights tour was not a pleasant one. We strive to deliver the best service possible to every one of our travelers and when we fall short of that goal we try to do everything we can to resolve the issue. On the first day, the driver waited for you at the airport for around two hours and still could not get hold of you. Nonetheless, we decided to offer a refund but instead, you mentioned it is ok for the pick - up which might have been misinterpreted from our end.  However, we'll issue a refund that will be processed in the next 7-10 working days for airport pick up.  Since it was a holiday most of the museums were closed hence could not be accessed. As for desert safari, the activities included are quite popular with travelers, not Asian kids as you have stated. Desert bashing, sandboarding, camel riding can only take place in the desert.  As for the last day, the driver was waiting at the lobby for a duration of more than one hour. The receptionists at the hotel tried to call you but no response.      Again, all of us sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and hope you will give us another chance to make things right Across Africa Tours Travel Public Relation Team

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• P

  peter

  December 15th, 2020
  5
  Please take it....things in Dubai are Amazing...you will enjoy, relax and refresh your mind together with your family...
  Please take it....things in Dubai are Amazing...you will enjoy, relax and refresh your mind together with your family like I didShow more
  Traveled in December 2020
  

  Reply from: Across Africa Tours & Travel

  Thank you for your wonderful feedback.

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• G

  Gare

  December 14th, 2020
  5
  You will definitley enjoy it ... its part of a new and great experience
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  Traveled in December 2020
  

  Reply from: Across Africa Tours & Travel

  Thank you for your wonderful feedback. Looking forward to making new and vivid experience.

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