Eclipse TravelerReviews of eclipsetraveler.com

We were in the Texas version of the trip. There were many issues that made this a suboptimal experience. The initial presentation by the ET president was difficult to understand due to a combination of poor PA system, bad acoustics, and the presenter's accent. This could have been amended with a simple PowerPoint presentation, but he did not bother. He then left the next day for Mexico leaving us with local guides. There were no ET personnel with us for the rest of the trip. All we had were local guides and the bus drivers. The only meal included every day was breakfast. Lunch and dinner were only included on the day of the eclipse. For the rest of the trip, it was our responsibility to find a place to eat lunch and dinner and to pay for the meals. The initial itineraries had no times on them and the guides seemed at a loss themselves as to exactly when events were supposed to occur. The first itinerary only stated for the day of the eclipse that we were getting up "very early." How early? Apparently that was going to be a surprise. Several days went by before we got an itinerary with specific times. While in Houston, we were advised to spend the entire day visiting the Galleria Mall which was in the same building complex as the hotel. This did not merit as a very special or interesting activity. The next day was advertised as "a day at Houston Space Center" which was to include a presentation from an astronomer. There was no such presentation and the "day" consisted of three hours. There were no other activities for the remainder of the day. There were few guided tours. Mostly we were dropped off at locations and told when to get back to the bus. There were some odd stops including a bar on the way to the eclipse site and another day a stop at a shoe store. Neither were on the itinerary, nor was any explanation given why we would want to stop at these places. A group photograph was taken on April 8. I have made several requests for ET to send it to me. Instead, they sent me the group picture for the Mexico trip. As of this post on May 21, they still haven't sent me the picture. I had to track it down myself from another customer. There's more, but I think that's enough. We are not going to use ET in the future. Dan and Margy UPDATE 10/21/2024 This is our response to the reply ET posted to our review. The fact that it took five months for ET to do so is a statement in and of itself. Once again, ET promised to send the group photograph--just as they did five months ago. I am not holding my breath. Their claim that they received 95% great reviews from our group is surprising. At the last breakfast, someone at my table asked, "Is anyone else ever going to use Eclipse Traveler again?" His question was met with silence, to which he said, "I didn't think so." Given about eight people at the table and you claim that 95% gave "great reviews", you would think at least someone at the table would have said they would use ET again. Yet, they did not. As for being happy to see the eclipse despite the weather, I also felt that way. Being happy about seeing the eclipse and how we felt about the performance of ET are two different things. "Many" of the Texas group travelers have booked with ET for the Egypt trip? Really? Would ET care to share the percentage of the Texas travelers who have booked with ET again? Over 50%? 20%? 10%? Note that there are three other reviewers from the Texas trip: Bill Sudow, CustomerJudith, and Sara M. None of them were favorable. "I have traveled to more than 100 countries over 30 years, and this was the least professional group I have ever traveled with." -- CustomerJudith "This tour wasn't up to the standards I'm used to when traveling, and I will search for another provider for future eclipse tours." -- Sara M. If you reply to this update five months from now or whenever I will read it with great interest. But as for using your company for any future trips or recommending it to anyone else, no way. Updated 10/23/2024 With regard to the update posted by Eclipse Traveler on 10/21/2024: -- We have not requested a refund. -- Our reviews are true, not false. On 10/21/2024, the ET CEO sent us an email threatening legal action. I replied, asking that he point out the false portions of my review. I also requested his lawyer's contact information. Thus far, he has not replied to these requests.