Santana AdventuresReviews of santanaadventures.com

We went on the Bordeaux to Amsterdam trip. Loved Europe and the Windstar Cruise staff. I would recommend Windstar. The Santana Cruise group was disorganized, didn't want to answer questions about destinations and overall bad. "Bill" stated someone biked the routes the day before. That person was on the cruise, so how could that person ride the routes for the next day and get back to the ship? Bad route planning and failed to reroute for construction. La Rochelle was one of our stops. Bill didn't know if the ship could dock because it's an industrial port. This trip was over 2 years in planning! We eventually docked with much drama. Bill likes to talk about himself but, nothing of substance about routes or sights of interest for the next destination. Bike storage was chaotic. For those who didn't bike, a tour bus was available but, the Santana crew member stated she was not a tour guide. She had never been to places we visited. On the flight home, I saw a woman who was on the the trip. She stated to me that she liked Santana but, knows management is unreliable. My advice find another bicycle tour group. Don't waste your money. I do very much recommend Windstar Cruises. They were fantastic.

So, to start off this section I will state that "Part II" would not even exist if it were not (as another reviewer mentioned) that Santana challenged my "Part I" review. As detailed and specific as it was, they questioned if I had actually been on the trip and required that I prove it. Trustpilot reached out stating that if I could not provide documentation showing that I had been on the cruise the review would be taken down. I provided our invoice from Santana and at this point the review remains up. I ran out of space to finish my review in Part I and would have been happy to leave it at that, but as Santana (Bill) tried to have it removed, I was motivated to post the remainder of my experience. I now understand why I didn't find negative reviews when I first looked into this trip. Bill confidently states during the cruise that some people don't like his cruises "In fact some of the people here will likely leave a negative review after this trip." He seems unconcerned and it comes across as quite cocky. It is no surprise once you realize how they lead you to leave a review in a place where few will see it AND they can remove the ones they don't like. After the cruise you get a friendly little email asking you to rate your experience. The link takes you to a legitimate looking place to leave your review, but what I am guessing few people realize is that it is the "WeTravel" site. The software service they use to handle all of your bookings . It's from here that you are invoiced, where you pay, where your "consent" forms are processed, etc. The catch here is that you can't freely access this site. It is only available by invite when you participate in one of their tours. This means that the only people who will see the reviews are people that have already signed up for a Santana Adventure. It also means that they have control over which reviews stay posted. I had to find my way to Trustpilot on my own to leave a "Public" review. And again, as another reviewer mentioned, they obviously watch for these and challenge them hoping the person can't provide the required documentation, or can't be bothered. This is all very shady and once again indicates that Bills primary concern is a continued audience and income from these trips. Now, to pick up where I left off in Part I, I was talking about the ship "La Belle D'Ladriatique". There are zero amenities other than a "lounge" with couches. WiFi is spotty at best, the more people trying to use it, the worse it gets. There were two "hot tubs" (in name only) on the upper deck. One was luke warm, the other freezing and no matter how many people fussed with it to try to raise the temperature.... no go. In conclusion, if you're a "Tourist" and you already love cruises and being surrounded by people at all times, this might be just the right trip for you. But, if you're a person that values your time and freedom and love to ride a bike.... this is a nightmare. My final complaint is what I shall call, McCready Madness. Bill’s style and need for attention shape the culture of these trips. It’s an acquired taste, and the many repeat riders are used to it. Most around me just laughed and rolled their eyes while he babbled away at the twice daily microphone sessions in the lounge. Even his own staff acknowledge during their part of the discussion that Bill is never happier than when he has a microphone in his hand. Rather than emailing critical information to participants, Bill posts a Google Doc and expects everyone to refresh and re-read it daily to see what has changed. Usually, it’s nothing, but sometimes an essential change appears in the middle of the document. This is easy to miss and puts the burden on you rather than the provider to make sure you have the essential information you need. Bill has a support team that does good work putting out fires, lurching from one problem to the next, but you rarely feel that Santana prioritizes your interests. AGAIN, MANY PEOPLE LOVE THESE TRIPS. These are selection effects, of course. You are not going to meet people like us, who tried it once and decided to never do it again. We’d vastly prefer to be with 15-20 cyclists in a conventional group tour than with 200 people on a cruise ship. Bill’s personal quirks and lack of transparency aside, the time taken for disembarkation, getting all the bikes and riders ashore and the need to embark each port by 4 PM or so each day limits how much time you can spend riding or learning much about the place you are visiting. Santana does not mention these limitations in their marketing of the tours. Bill obviously has a successful business and an arrogance and flippant attitude that go along with that - I know what I'm doing - my way or the highway - but his trips are definitely not for everyone. I have never been as disappointed by an amount of money I have spent in my life.

Not a good experience. - Price: very expensive. Had to put down a deposit almost 2 years in advance - no cancellations or refund. (To their credit, there are a lot of repeat riders. Our cruise appeared to have been sold out in a few days.) $1000+ p/per day, double occupancy + bike rental and admission to places that they subsequently cancelled without accounting or refund. - Biking: very chaotic. No advance planning. You have to attend morning or afternoon briefings to get the route for that day or next day if lucky. Maps are chicken scratches on a paper as Bill himself calls them. Routes are often on very busy highways. Sometimes no restrooms for a long stretch. - Frequent changes, removing ports and listed sites without advance notice; no apologies, much less compensation for the inconvenience. We were assigned to a wrong cabin, so had to repack and move. Bill said the ship got it wrong, so tough. They have nice pictures in the original description of the trip, but we went to probably 1/3 of those places if lucky. Granada was in the schedule, but on the evening before, we were told that the ship couldn't dock at the original port for us to go. They took a port out of the published schedule but did nothing to make up for it. - Bikes are problematic even when you pay for the "performance" bike. My clip broke because their pedal was defective. I requested repairs and was promised to get a spare next morning - I didn't; they were too busy to find it. In the afternoon they were again too busy, until I just demanded that they get it to me, which took them 5 minutes!? - They hired some guides that took us to snake oil salesmen while they stood by without giving any warning except to their favorite few passengers. Some positives: With the cruise, no need to pack unpack everyday. Laundry is included in the price. The crew on the ship is super friendly and efficient. The food and drinks are just ok. Other riders are all friendly and pleasant, a bit on the older and richer side, so the defects of Bill's cruises don't seem to bother them. "That's Bill"... Will not go again. If you are a person that likes organization, this is not for you either.

I was planning to take a trip with Santana Adventures. I put a deposit down. After that I had no response to numerous emails. calls. left many vmails. sent more emails. more vmails. messaged thru facebook. Based on their lack of response I would NEVER trust them to manage a trip. I still have not received a response.

Please be advised that this company has unrealistic refund policies. We had to forfiet a sizeable deposit with notice given a full 18 months prior to departure. Santana Adventures has poor customer service and a business practice of misleading hidden charges added after the initial commitment.... almost 20% ($2,130) tacked on to the already high price of a $10,798 cruise. POOR BUSINESS PRACTICE! I have been asked to provide more information. Here is the email I sent to Santana about a month after signing up for the Columbia River Cruise and more than 19 months prior to the depature date. My group of friends (there were 4 of us total) felt the additional fees were not properly outlined at checkout. This communication supports my comment above: Sent Sunday 1/16 @ 7:59am Hi Dustin, I am in receipt of invoice #17045 for the Columbia River Cruise-2023. Although I still plan to take the cruise, I feel it is poor business practice for Santana Adventures to tack on $2,130 additional charges (20%) after the commitment to cruise. I have cruised and taken several bike tours in which guides, ride support, admissions, port charges.... were part of the package charges declared on the front end. When I signed on for the cruise, it was my understanding that the total cost would be $10,798 (less gratuities). Did I miss the fine print? Thank you, Barbara T Subsequently, we decided to cancel our trip. We had a call with the President/CEO of Santana on 5/8/22 (16 months prior to departure) who made an offer to cancel our reservation, resell our cabin and return our deposit, applying $1,000 of our deposit towards his expenses and withholding an additional 3-1/2% of our deposit amount. No monies were ever received. I would just like to caution travel shoppers to educate yourselves on what you are signing up for when you book with Santana Adventures. Read EVERYTHING. Ask questions re: "cruise extras".

Avoid this company at all costs. The worst customer service I have ever received. Even though my husband and I paid in full for an extremely expensive cycling cruise, they didn’t bother to put me on their mailing list so we received NO updates about anything related to the cruise—including the fact that the cruise ship operator went bankrupt. I have had to constantly reach out since they refuse to communicate —even about the mountain of legal paperwork we have received from the cruise line. I usually love supporting small “mom-and-pop” businesses but the lack of professionalism and the fact that they refuse to communicate about our hard-earned money is outrageous. Apparently all customers will be forced to hire lawyers to fight the cruise line even though Santana has our money in an account. They will keep your money—highly unethical.

BEWARE. They take your money and deliver NOTHING! Santana cancelled the Columbia River Tour for August of 2024 and refuses to provide a refund ... they are holding our money while they sucker more people into tours that they require you to prepay. When they cancel, you get nothing. We have gotten nothing but headaches and heart aches from dealing with this company.

Santana cancelled a trip in Spring 2024. They are not providing a refund despite having my money in a trust (supposedly). The owner, Bill, is not communicating with the group in a transparent manner. It is remarkably disappointing and frustrating.