[LadyDi]

Has anyone tried these vacations? The are frequently advertised in the Daily Sun but pricewise they sound too good to be true

[swrinfla]

LadyDi:

I've never used them and probably won't - for a variety of personal reasons.

You might want to take a ramble through www.my3cents.com which provides, after selecting efficiently, some fairly harsh criticism of this travel company. It should be noted that some of the remarks are pretty old and things may have improved!

My word of caution is to be always thoroughly aware of what you want when traveling, and scrutinize every single thing which any agent/company does for you!

The "too good" may apply here, though I can't say from experience!

Good luck!

SWR

[GatbTester]

Lady Di, while my wife and I have not used them, we did visit their offices on 441 North. We inquired about a specific trip over New Year's with some friends that had already booked with them. Needless to say the price had changed dramatically and we did not book the three day cruise leaving from Port Canaveral.

[Bonny]

IWhen LJ put prices in the paper, it usually does not cover port charges, taxes, etc. Those things can add a lot of money to the trip. I do know a couple of people who had some problems like arriving for a pre hotel stay before a cruise & finding out there was no room booked. Just be careful, they have had problems.

[Bryan]

You should check with the Better Business Bureau. I did and found that they had 71 complaints is the past 36 months. You can get the BBB online at http://centralflorida.bbb.org/Find-Business-Reviews/. You can also check with the local offices of Seniors Vs Crime for any local complaints. The Marion County Office (in TV near Mulberry Rec Cen) is 753-7775 and the Sumter County Office (in the Government Annex on 466 at Morse) is 753-2799, X4253. I personally have not used them based on the research I did.

[peepop]

I want to tell you all about the trip we just completed with Legendary Journeys to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival beginning on October 7, 2010. Firstly, we were dissatisfied with our Hotel (Hotel Grand Albuquerque). When we arrived we found that the hotel was in the middle of a complete renovation. Due to the renovation, there was considerable noise, dust and workers everywhere. The restaurant was closed and there are no restaurants within a reasonable distance. Also, when we arose at 4:30 AM for the mass ascension, no food was available. We are positive better accommodations could have been found.

Balloon Festival Mass Ascension: We arrived at the balloon field in plenty of time for the launching of the balloons, however, the problem was that the launch was delayed one hour resulting in our having to leave just as the ascent began in order to meet their very tight optional tour schedule, hence we did not get to see it except at a distance.

Optional Best of Albuquerque Sky City (Acoma): After and hour and a half drive, we finally arrived at the Sky City, only to find it was closed for some sort of Indian Ceremony. We were assured that we would see the museum and meet a Native American Guide. Neither happened, instead we were taken to a different museum (Cost to enter $5.50), After hanging out there for an hour or so, they finally loaded us on the bus to begin the Sandia Peak Sky Ride & Dinner Optional. Cost of this trip $79.00 per person to see a $5.50 museum. Bad Deal.

Optional World Famous Sandia Peak Sky Ride & Dinner. On arrival, we were required to sit on the bus for 2 hours waiting for the tour manager to obtain tickets. When she finally returned, it was already dark and we were able to see nothing except city lights (no better than from the hotel room). The tour manager told us that we could stay on top as long as we liked. Most stayed a reasonable time but three stayed up there for a very long time. Finally at 10:00 PM, we left for our dinner at the Sandia Casino for dinner. Since they were closing at 11:00PM most of the food was looking quite old and some complained about being cold. We didn’t arrive back at the hotel until after midnight. Cost of Trip $69.00 Bad Deal

Optional Scenic Grand Canyon Train While we did not schedule this optional, but we were required to sit on the bus for more than a half hour waiting for the tour manager to straighten out the messed up reservations that had our group going in the wrong direction. I believe they got that fixed.

Optional Las Vegas Illumination etc. I mistakenly scheduled this optional tour and immediately after making the reservation I call to cancel it. This request was emphatically denied and no wonder. We got to see the following, a free light show on Fremont Avenue, a free water show at the Rio Hotel, The dinner at the Rio was anything but special. I would compare to any other Buffet in Las Vegas. As to the masquerade we never saw it. Cost of this optional $89.00

Letters and phone calls have not been acknowledged. I would not travel with this outfit again under any circumstances.

[BowleesCreekYachtClub]

Went to them once because of an ad with low prices - but they didn't exist. Now we always use vacationstogo.com. Their prices always include port fees. Nevertheless you do have to pay some taxes which will amount to about $70 per ticket for a 7 day cruise. We're off on a 10 day cruise on the Emerald Princess on Nov 28 for $452 per ticket - total price for two people with taxes $1055 (inside cabin). Can't beat it.

[Nathan444]

Responding to a recent post on another tour company by (Peepop) I wanted to add my two cents. My company, Vivo Tours (locally owned in Altamonte Springs), is an advertiser on TOTV. I read your concerns and issues with the other tour company you mentioned, and was very sorry to hear of all your troubles. I would like to invite you to try one of our trips at some point. We are known for our extraordinary customer service, and for immediately dealing with any issues that might arise on our tours. Happily I can report we have never experienced a slight problem on a multi-day tour, but we did, however, have a surprise bus malfunction recently and had to cancel a day trip. That same day we were able to refund each and every passengers money in full - just one example of how we immediately tend to any negative issues that arise unexpectedly. We also treat our passengers as our guests, and we want you to feel as if you are with family when on a Vivo Tour. We care about each and every client, and look forward to making every trip memorable. It's why we're in this business in the first place! So one of these days, if you are interested, I invite you to join us on one of our day trips. Bring along a friend and come for free, or just come by yourself for half the price of that trip. There are many trips to chose from, and all leave and or pick up in The Villages area. (You are even welcome to talk with Villages clients of ours to get a better read on whether or not our company might work for you.) Vivo Tours (advertised in The Daily Sun in Sunday's Travel Section) are affordable, easy and fun! We promise!

[Hancle704]

Went on a 20 plus day cruise that they set up as Fire and Ice (Hawaii then to Alaska). Without boring you will all of the problems, I will never use them again no matter what the price is because when we take a cruise we want it to be as good as we can get and not as cheap as you can get.

[flbaldy]

After reading some of the other posts, I'm starting to feel very fortunate. My wife and I went on two Legendary Journey trips over the past couple of years and both were a very good experience. No complaints.

[DRegis]

Originally Posted by LadyDi

Has anyone tried these vacations? The are frequently advertised in the Daily Sun but pricewise they sound too good to be true

I made the mistake of booking with them and lost close to $5,000.00 for nothing. Yes their initial prices may sound reasonable, but they are not. They add extra charges for trips to see anything and lie about what you will see. We did the Balloon Fest and Vegas trip in Oct. this year. Their were 50 some of us victims that booked that trip and every single person had complaints. They have no alternatives planned repeat trips if weather is bad, they lied about what is included and the number of days that they trips are. Basically everything was a lie. I have very long complaints that I have posted where ever I can find places to post. I have also reported them to the Better Business Bureau. The owner of the company, Al Ferguson, tried to tell me his staff is well qualified and fits the company well. Of course they fit the company because they are trained to lie just to get your money, but know nothing about what their doing. I booked out of the Summerfield office and had the unfortunate dealings with Sherry. If you read review and complaint sites, pretty much everybody that dealt with her has names for her. I don't think there is enough room to list my complaint here that I have put on sites, but if you google Legendary Journeys and then click on complaints and reviews you will see how bad they are. I wish I would have done that before I booked with them, I know now NEVER EVER again. If I can warn people and save them money and heart-ache at least that is something. Again look elsewhere for travel companies. I have been on many trips in the U.S. and overseas and been through many travel companies, this one was the worst ever. If there was a rating system with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, I would rate them negative 1000, they are that bad. Ignore their ads in the paper, I wish I had.