Santana AdventuresReviews of santanaadventures.com

We went on the second Japan trip (Kobe to Tokyo - roughly the same routing as the first Tokyo to Kobe trip but in reverse order), and our experience was great. Excellent routes with safe roads, gorgeous countryside, and fun things to see. Mikey, who you can see on Cycle Japan on PBS, created fantastic routes and gave entertaining route talks. With the high quality pavement on back roads with small cars slowly driven by people who are careful about cyclists, Japan is a great place to cycle tour.

SAN-TAN-A My first review here so I’ll just do it my way. THE SHIP (Amadeus Brilliant) seemed reasonably new. It was immaculate and the staff was excellent. In fact I went out of my way to find and thank one particular crew member who was obviously in management but who regularly rolled up his sleeves and helped expedite everything, including loading and offloading the bikes as well as routinely walking through the restaurant at meals just to catch anything the crew couldn’t get to quickly. The food itself was nothing more than average but they handled special requests without hesitation and kept the process moving well so we all could get out and ride or get back to our cabin to rest. THE BIKE was a rental but the provider and the services available were truly excellent, as they had been on my two prior events with Santana. THE CYCLING on this particular cruise suited my style for the most part. Each day we docked at a different town and got out on the road quickly after breakfast. Among other things that also gave us a new city each day for exploring and dining ashore after the ride. The roads were well prechecked with any and all potential surprises identified and explained before we set out. This particular cruise was pretty flat, but that just made it easier to really enjoy the countrysides. To each their own. THE EXPERIENCE is best appreciated when one recognizes the difficulty in meeting the expectations of all the unique passengers aboard. There’s no “white glove treatment” for anyone, and everybody aboard knows that. I’m not the most sociable person, but everyone I met was delightful and delighted to be there. Why? Because that’s who Bill and Jan are, as are their partners and employees. Anyone who is particularly fussy about the exact parameters of each ride, or of the exact food, or whatever might want to look elsewhere for their travel. But if you want to be freestyle, to be around nice and friendly people having a great time, to have guidelines for potential problems one might face, and to see different places every day should really, really consider Santana Adventures. They know what they can and what they cannot do, and they’re very very good at it!

We recently finished our first Santana bicycle cruise with a cruise to Japan. We are experienced bicycle tourists, had never taken a bicycle cruise before, but thought this would be a good way to see a large part of Japan. The small ports listed and the curated sites looked very enticing. However, this was the worst bicycle trip we have ever been on. Communication: emails unanswered for weeks at a time or we were told the answer to our questions would come out in a group email …… eventually. Bike rentals, pre trip hotel location, shuttles (non existent), laundry options, GPS routes and pre and post cruise tour itineraries, all valid concerns that were not addressed in a timely fashion. Tour agenda: we booked our trip knowing a family member would be living in Japan and this would be a great way to visit and see the many tourist sites over the vast island nation of Japan. Viewing the brochure, we were excited about the destinations, the small ports that the “small cruise ship” would be able to dock, a sake brewery visit, and the temples and castles we would see. To quote Santana, “Though our original itinerary was excellent, our return adventure certainly takes it up a notch…Six weeks of scouting pinpointed the best ports for cycling”. The map showed ports of which we only docked at the first 3 out of 10 ports. While we did see a few sites the first few days, it went downhill from there. After the first 3 ports we became aware that the rest of the itinerary was changed and no mention was made before or during the trip until the night before. This was due to the “ship size” which was supposed to be small enough for the small ports. We ended up docking in large ports cities which required us to bike many miles (6-8) to get out of the multi lane traffic congested roads and on to less motor vehicle traveled roads. No bamboo forest, no pearl farm, no sake brewery, and since the ports were different, many of the Temples and shrines were missed. We had to travel to S. Korea for the “international” port requirement. This ended up being the second largest city in S Korea, Busan. Due to weather delay the day prior, we had 4 hours in this port before leaving. Thank goodness because it would have been a mess to travel through this busy city of 3.4 million people. Where we would have traveled on bike is a mystery. One day a couple in our party rented a car to tour around one port city, Beppu, when they read about the city highlights which were not along our “curated” bike route for the day. There was an option to take a tour bus for people who were injured, or had a bicycle issue or were just accompanying a cyclist on this trip. We took that bus one day and on that day saw many of the sites we had expected to see during cycling but did not. GPS routes: as many previous reviewers have said, these were put together and came out at the last minute, often during breakfast or the morning talk, leaving us no time to review the routes. They were not the “carefully curated routes” described, nor “exotic and diverse”, nor “interactive stops or interactive sessions with the friendliest people on earth”. We did have a some local interaction when we stopped at a local Family mart, Lawsons, or 7-11 shops for snacks as the daily briefings were bereft of lunch options and on the 2 days when lunch was mentioned, the designated restaurant stop was closed one day and on the other day they ran out of food. We were not allowed to take food off the ship per customs in Japan so we had to stop at the local marts, some days there just wasn’t anything. Dangerous and disorganized: traveling with so many cyclists through the big cities was down right dangerous. And as other reviewers have mentioned, we were making illegal right turns for 4 days before we were informed of the different traffic rules for cyclists in Japan. In contrast, like other travelers and reviewers here, we have used several other bike companies, including Experience Plus Bicycle tours, for over 10 trips, where we receive answers to email inquiries within 24-48 hours, and GPS routes are sent before we leave the US. Many companies offer planned food recommendations, van support with food and water when we are cycling in remote areas, as well as scouted routes and tours of notable sites. None of this happened with Santana. We are experienced bicycle tourists, having taken over 15 bicycle vacations with several different companies, this was a mess and was extremely disappointing. Maybe other Santana itineraries are better, but we won’t take the chance booking again. Positive: the ship, the Windstar Star Breeze; the suite rooms were great, the ship was clean and the staff friendly and efficient. They even helped move the bicycles on and off the ship.

My wife and I decided to take a biking trip to Japan for our 25th wedding anniversary. We have been doing bike trips annually with Backroads and decided to try something new. It turned out to be a really bad idea. Santana Adventures is run by Bill McGready who is in the business of building tandem bikes. These trips are really a cult following of Bill with other tandem owners who like to travel with Bill. There were 300 bikers on this trip and only literally about seven support staff. There were two support vans that might show up in 90 minutes to two hours god forbid you had a problem with your bike or got hurt. The routes were not properly loaded on this first day so we were trying to follow the route backwards to make sure we got to the boat on time so we did not get left behind. Ridiculously stressful. The routes were very dangerous and often on busy roads for a period of time. I found it very interesting that bikers who have been on a bunch of these trips would bad mouth Bill bad say you just need to embrace the chaos. Seems really stupid to me especially as someone who rides a single and not a tandem. Mikey who was hired by Bill to prepare the routes was not even aloud to ride with the guests. It always makes good sense to have staff riding with guests to ensure safety and make sure people are having fun and not getting lost. For example, backroads has 25 people max on its trips with two support vans and the leaders actually ride with you. From now on we will stick with what we know and love. Lastly, the ship was great and the wind star cruise staff was great. Also, on a positive note we did meet some really great people and formed some new friendships. So, if you have a tandem, love chaos, went to spend a fair amount of money for a trip with no support to hang out with the cult of Bill, Santana is for you. Otherwise, stay away much better options out there.

Let me start off by saying my husband and I loved Japan. We would go back, given the opportunity. However, I agree with the other reviewers, that the planning felt like it was done on the fly, and many of us had difficulty discerning the routes. I should have known there'd be issues when our greeter at the Tokyo airport was holding the Santana sign backwards! And, on our first night in Tokyo, we were offered a walking tour after dinner, which we eagerly joined. It soon became clear that our tour guide was lost, and then he abandoned us, leaving a group of uninitiated tourists to find their way back to the hotel. There was always a concern about making it back to the ship on time, which added stress to the trip (an expensive trip) where it was not necessary. Dustin, one of the tour assistants, seemed continually unhappy, and apathetic about answering questions or offering any type of assistance. Some other staff members were great, namely Phillip & Laurie, Mikey & Gypsy, and Heather. These folks help balance some of the negative aspects of the trip. And I agree, that Bill's hand drawn, "scribble maps" were not amusing, at all! We don't care about cartoon fish.....we want specific details about routes! Bill seems to have his acolytes, and those will be his repeat customers. But, based on our experience, we will seek other tour companies for future bike trips.

I have been to Japan twice before, both on bicycling trips. This was an altogether completely different experience, and not for the better. I was completely unaware of “bike centric” focus of this company. As such, this experience could best be described as “biking in Japan” as opposed to the more desired “being in Japan biking”. Little was done to provide an appreciation for the culture. Unfortunately my 4 friends that I’d traveled with had not been to Japan before and didn’t get to experience the cultural richness that I’d experienced on my previous trips with 2 different companies. I advised them to return for a more fulfilling experience. Sadly, to make matters worse, the trip was completely disorganized, haphazard and the rides were unsupported. Biking was hazardous for a significant part of the routes, and the lack of available food planning was truly negligent. While the cruise line itself was wonderful with a very friendly staff and wonderful staterooms, this did not come close to making up for the deficiencies of the Santana Adventures Tour company. The trip was expensive, my road bike rental itself was an additional $700. Their advertising is completely misleading. The only saving grace was that I did not sign up for their pre and post tour excursions. Reports are that they were also similarly disappointing. I learned a very expensive lesson to not travel with Santana again.

Our first trip with Santana (and, likely, our last) recently ended with a sigh of relief as we disembarked. My wife and I have traveled extensively by bicycle (16 trips with 5 companies, with daily rides of 40-60 miles)and our trip to Japan was among the worst one we have been on. Poor communication - details of the trip often not released in a timely fashion. Pre and post-tour details were received 2 months prior to departure (PTD) and you had one week to decide and then price went up $500. Bicycle rental information received 3 weeks PTD and rental was expensive - $1000 for a road bike, $1300 for e-bike. This was in addition to the already expensive base price and other tacked on fees such as cruise extras such as off ship activities, admissions, guides, and rider support (most of these extras were non-existent). E-mailed trip brochure would qualify as false advertising. 70% of the ports listed on the brochure were changed. Only the first 3 days were the same. A variety of excuses were given (such as the port was too small) however this shipped was booked 2 years PTD and this information should have been relayed to the guests. I am aware that ports may change due to unforeseen circumstances however 7 out of 10 would qualify as a different trip. I have been on 8 cruises and not once was a single port changed. The brochure also had many misleading or photo-shopped pictures that were not part of the cycling tour. The most egregious was one with Osaka Castle and Mt Fuji in the background. Another was a lovely photo of Chureito Temple and Mount Fuji. This image was even on our cruise ID and bike license plates. Unfortunately, this temple was much too far from port to visit by bicycle (70 km one way). I was able to find many of these "photos" on the internet with minimal effort. With no information given about any of the changes to the itinerary or what we would see in the new ports, our group felt that this was not the trip we paid for. Santana used Ride with GPS for navigation. None of the routes were available PTD. In most cases, the RWGPS route was downloaded the morning of the ride, leaving no time for planning cultural visits or other stops during the day. Most rides were not very scenic, involved long stretches on busy roads (how else would a cyclist get out of a port town) and lacking in dining opportunities for lunch. It seemed obvious that these "carefully curated routes" (as per the brochure) were not actually scouted before they were downloaded. On several rides the RWGPS route has us turn off the main road onto a side road for a short distance (0.5 km on one occasion) before taking us back on the same road while having us cut across traffic twice in order to follow this “curated route.” There is no support van as such. A van is available for emergency repairs or if a rider gets injured, but if you run out of water of have no food and you are in the middle of nowhere, you are on your own. Luckily Japan has vending machines like every other mile along the road so at least water is available. With limited information of dining opportunities during the ride, most off-ship dining involved getting a snack at the convenience stores such as Lawsons or Family Mart. Not exactly the cultural experience we were expecting. I could go on and on but but space is limited. This review is rather long but I think you can understand the level of disappointment everyone in our party had with this trip. We did almost nothing that was described in the e-mail brochure nor was much of any of it discussed in the daily briefings. Many rides involved navigating through very busy port towns and were not particularly scenic. Almost all dining was aboard the ship and was typical cruise fare. While it was good, there was almost no local flavor to the menu. Not having to live out of a suitcase for 10 days did not make up for the fact that we were not really visiting Japan, but merely cycling in a foreign county only to return to our English speaking, “westernized” floating home at the end of each day. The best 2 days of this trip were after we disembarked and met up with our private guide for a 2-day tour of Nara and Kyoto. While this review will not change any minds of the many repeat customers of Santana, it is not meant for them but rather those who are on the fence deciding on their first cycling cruise. While other Santana destinations and itineraries may be better, I am not willing to spend the money to find out. And to add one last point - Santana had the nerve to flag this review “ because they don’t think it’s based on a genuine experience.” So I had to send proof (with a 3 day time limit) to Trustpilot to prove that I was on this trip. Thus the verified check on the review Clearly this was done with the hope that I would not send the info and this review would be taken down.

If you’re looking for a nine day adventure chock fulll of chaos, unprofessionalism and just outright hubris by the staff, this is the trip for you. If you’re a seasoned bike tour enthusiast like we are, run far, far away from this group as you’d be throwing your money at an individual who simply ought not be in the tour business. Let’s start with basic communication with Bill McGready, tour operator and owner. Bill and his staff treat e-mails with the same attention as junk mail, that is most of the them probably go in the trash folder, but certainly not responded to in a time, manner, if at all. The one response we did receive (after our second request) was to inform us that we weren’t signed up for the post trip tour because we hadn’t paid the requisite fees. The truth was we had paid, and we promptly sent him another copy of our paid receipt. Otherwise, regular contact was lacking both in attention and detail. If you wanted updates, you had to search through e-mails for a shared Google doc sheet for last minute trip changes, with no prior alert given that changes were made. The point of embarkation (meeting point for the ship) was changed within a day of our departure, certainly not optimal when most of us were busy enough and preoccupied with international air/ ground travel. Check in to the cruise ship was abysmal, with a 1 1/2 hour wait just to pick up our rental bikes, which were lacking in promised features, and for which we paid the exorbitant price of over $500.00 each. The AM and PM briefings were sketchy and unprofessional. Bill imparted to the group inadequate route details, minimal safety instruction and, at times, outright misinformation, all the while satiating himself with copious amounts of wine. On day 5 of riding we were finally told we had been making illegal right turns for the previous four days! This information should have been shared on day 1. The route maps he shared with the nearly 300 of us were illegible and obviously drawn up at the last moment. Since this trip was in Japan, we were forbidden from taking food off of the boat for sustenance during our bike rides. Not to worry boasted Bill (for the Day 2 ride), we’ve arranged for you to have lunch at a renowned Ramen noodle restaurant along the route. That restaurant, to the dismay of the cycling group was closed, which meant the entire group of mostly 60-70 year olds could either continue on with the 54 mile ride, or turn back towards the boat. Luckily, I had a factory sealed goo in my back pack to hold me over, but others in our group returned to the boat early basically running on fumes. On this particular day, an older gentleman in the group had a terrible cycling accident and ended up in the local hospital. Bill’s comment in the end of day briefing, while himself cautioning the group about NEVER conjecturing or spreading rumors, was quick to assert that the gentlemen was probably not paying attention, and that he would be able to tell this “simply by looking at the gentlemen’s bike.” We know from the first-hand accounts of a physician who was fortunately on the scene that Bill’s assessment was incorrect. Bill seemed indifferent to the fate of this cyclist who ended up with a three week stay in a Japan hospital.Day 9 was fraught with adventure again as Mikey, the SA route expert was piecing together parts of the route on the morning of departure. He was bold enough to brag to the group about a special curry spice restaurant at the approximate mid-point of the ride, only to find out that they ran out of food before most of the group (not all) had a chance to eat. Also, and likely because of poor planning by Bill, many cyclists waited almost two hours to get off the boat that day because of unexpected and unplanned for customs/immigrations screening. While Bill announced to the group the process was moving quicker, it was actually moving slower. My wife and I were about 20th (out of about 300 guests) in line, and it took us nearly an hour to get off the boat and riding. Also on this particular day, our friend and travel companion took off with us assuming her rented e-bike was fully charged, as was part of the rental obligation. At about the 25 mile mark, the bike’s battery went dead causing a 45 minute wait by the side of the road and a disappointing ride in the van back to the boat. The cost of the e-bike rental was over $1,200.00, but Bill’s staff just couldn’t be bothered with ensuring that the bike was ready to ride. Like I mentioned at the outset, if you like chaos, disorganization and rudeness, go with Santana. My money will stay with the reputable bike tour companies like Backroads, who truly appreciate your business and pride themselves on genuine customer care and service.