Santana AdventuresReviews of santanaadventures.com

This was our second trip with Santanna the first being New Zealand 13 years ago. Prior to our departure to Japan there were a few concerns that we wanted to address in some of the emails that were sent out but, as other people have stated our e mails went unanswered, I finally was able to get a hold of Pam and she was great, answered all our questions via text. We had no problems with direction. Bill suggested we use Bike GPS which we downloaded every morning, the nice part of this app was that there was a blue line and as long as you were on the blue line you were going the right way, now the garmins might have been different but for us the ride GPS worked great, the map the Bill drew was nothing more then a overview of the route. The people that had Garmins we told to leave there chips at the desk so the new route could be uploaded. Cycling in Japen was awesome the drivers were extremely kind gave us plenty of room to pass and if you didn't like riding on the road there were bike paths everywhere. We were lucky since we did the second week tour we hit great weather everyday. As for snacks the 7/11, Lawson and Family mart had fresh Sushi, and finger sandwiches, nothing like the places in the states and about every mile were vending machines with drinks so as long as you had Yen you were good. Some people complained about the time lines on departure but we never had a problem we usually rode the 40 mile route and got back in plenty of time to change, help load the bikes and eat before the ship left the dock. Every night there was a meeting of what to expect the next day on the ride which was informative, funny and help full all options were give so you could decide while route you wanted to do. Some of the planed food stop were a bit frustrating 50 or more people showing up at a ma and pa food stand they got overwhelmed service was very slow, we actually left on place because if we waited we wouldn't make it back in time. The Windstar and our steward were both great the staff was friendly and the food was ok to great depending on were you ate. I do wish there was a way for Bill or the ship to have authentic Japanese meal on board Sushi would have been great or some other dishes. Over all we enjoyed the trip, After the second day you knew what to expect and as long as you kept a open mind and a sense of humor things went pretty smoothly. If your looking fo support vans, guides to ride with, and snacks every 10 mile then this is not the trip for you.

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.