Dr. Dan F.
What a mess of a cycling tour company
What a mess of a cycling tour company. My wife and I are seasoned cyclists with many national and international cycling trips under our belts. We’d heard good things about Santana Adventures, so we thought we’d give them a try. BIG MISTAKE! Based on our experience and those of numerous other cyclists on our Venice to Bari cycling cruise trip, one would guess this was Santana Adventures’ maiden voyage. Poor vertical communication between staff, lack of information provided to guests on a constant basis and most seriously NO scouting of any of the route options prior to sending us on our way each morning. We encountered impassable roads, closed bridges and tunnels and travel on busy highways with heavy truck traffic with no prior notice by staff. This is dangerous and reckless. It’s a minor miracle some of the less experienced cyclists did not get hurt…or worse. One morning I asked the staffer handing out Garmin route chips(at the last minute, of course) if he had driven the route and what we could expect to encounter. He casually stated he had scouted the route. Sadly, we came to find out he was untruthful as the route had been closed for many months due to construction. Bill’s morning updates would include museums or churches to see during our daily rides, only to find out some of them were not open at the time of our arrival. The staff’s poor prep work on many occasions such as this resulted in us missing out on some fun stops during our daily rides. Most of us felt we would likely need a vacation after THIS vacation due to the undercurrent of stress and chaos created by Bill McCready, the owner and observed on a daily basis. Bill was openly antagonistic to his guests on multiple occasions, and rarely accepted responsibility for the many missteps his guests experienced due to company disorganization that bordered on incompetence. Oh, and BTW…this excursion was undertaken on a cruise ship in the middle of a pandemic. However, one would be hard pressed to know this based on the tone set by Bill and his staff. Bill’s orientation meeting was in a packed lounge with very few of the 200 guests wearing masks, the majority of whom just arrived from across the US by plane. We were greeted by an unmasked Bill spouting falsehoods about COVID-19, such as the virus being much less severe than the common flu. As Chair of my county’s local Board of Health, I was appalled. We experienced very few moments of peace and mindfulness during this trip that was supposed to be all about peace and mindfulness. It was exhausting due to the constant stress imparted on us by Bill and Company. A couple of positive notes to end this otherwise negative review: Cruise staff on the ship was exceptional. Extremely service oriented with a wonderful attitude throughout our trip. Leland, the head bike mechanic on our trip was amazing. Extremely talented at his craft and a great guy as well. Although Bill was a master at creating chaos around him, he was also very good at solving unanticipated problems when they arose. Unexpected pandemic related port closures and choppy seas meant some changes to our itinerary. Bill was able to mobilize trucks and buses on short notice when needed to offer alternative tour experiences for his guests. This was most appreciated by all of us. We are already planning our next cycling adventure overseas, but rest assured it will not be with Santana Adventures.