Explorica Inc. Review

As a Spanish Teacher / Group Leader for student tours, I could not be happier with Explorica! I have arranged student tours at my school since 1999. For the first 8-9 tours I worked with a competitor, in 2010 I decided to shop around. I am sooo happy to find Explorica!! If you want to plan a tour that ensures quality accommodations, excellent communication throughout the planning process, great Tour Directors, unbeatable pricing and unique touring experiences...look no further. I've been there and wished I would have "found" Explorica sooner. It is not until a Group Leader has experienced multiple tour companies do they truly know quality!

We loved our tour guide Kat. Explorica cancelled our extra excursions due to it being a small group and still have not refunded the money that we paid. We booked 6 excursions, for our small group on our own at better prices than the two that we paid for through Explorica. The hotel was far from London and the accommodations were not that good. We only had a tour bus for one of the days. The other days we used public transportation, which was not bad, but used it multiple times throughout the day because any activities that were booked, were on the opposite side of town from other activities or dinner. Be prepared to walk an average of 13 miles per day. I guess this fills up the day. Our seats for Wicked were in the very back of the theater. I feel that I paid way too much to Explorica for this trip. Museums are free, theater tickets are cheap, and we only had a bus for one day. I am not sure where all of my money went. I traveled with an amazing group of people, planned 6 wonderful excursions ourselves and enjoyed our guide, but Explorica had little to do with any of that. I would not recommend this company.

DO NOT BOOK with World Strides or Explorica. My daughters trip to China was cancelled on 2/17/20. For six weeks I've been told I will get a full refund to my credit card by April 3rd. Today, I was told they are having "systems problems" and have to issue the refunds manually and I can expect to receive my refund of $3500 by the end of June. When I asked to escalate my call, I was told "no" and the customer service rep hung up.

Don't take their word that you are going to get the refund! Class Action Suit??

Fantastic!! By far the best way to travel! It was so great to not have to worry about planning, public transportation (private bus), and waiting in lines. Our tour guide was fantastic! He spoke the local language, knew where to go, and was very informative about history and the significance of what we are seeing. It's also fun to make new friends and get to know the people in your group!

Great company! Both trips I've gone on have gone off without an issue. Good hotels and food, and our tour directors were great with my kids.

Let me start with the positives - Alex was our tour guide in Quebec City. He was absolutely awesome! He knew so much local history, so many places, shops, etc. He was THE BEST! I felt like the money we paid for activities was well worth it, we had no down time - which, with the amount the trip cost, we shouldn't and didn't.

I felt the lodgings were great, the bus and driver (Augustin) was great, and the food offered was adequate as well - although the mom in me would have preferred to see a fruit or vegetable more than once on the trip :).

Now, regarding 'home office' and the planning portion, I was not so thrilled. My son and I wanted to do a stay behind and leave from another nearby city instead of just leaving with the group. Since Explorica doesn't book flights until one month out, pre-planning for this was a nightmare. They suggested doing land-only after many calls, and I'm not sure why this wasn't an option mentioned in the first place. The group ended up flying in and out of where we wanted to leave in the first place, which was a bit frustrating after paying all that add'l money ourselves to fly us in and out of Quebec and then Montreal, and getting train tickets, etc. to get us where we wanted to be, when we could have just traveled with the group. I spoke to several people on the phone who were hard to understand due to accents, and wished I could have requested someone else to speak with or if I'd been assigned to one person as a 'case manager' over our little tour, etc. I felt like I was constantly having to restate my story and bring people up to speed while they read someone's notes from the last call. I feel that 'home office' made it harder than what it needed to be for planning a few extra days and arriving with the group.

I went on a tour to Puerto Rico with Explorica recently, and I enjoyed it so much! The accommodations and food were great, and our tour director, Lola, was AWESOME! She was so kind and you could tell she was extremely passionate about her home, and enjoyed teaching us about Puerto Rican culture. Our days were filled with activities, so it was never boring. I will never forget my travels to Puerto Rico. I d like to thank Explorica, Lola, and everyone else involved for making it amazing.

As a High school student who used explorica agency for a class trip I can proudly say they put immense amount of effort in planning events and activities that will truly give you the cultural experience of wherever you are traveling. As well the guide my classmates and I were given was absolutely incredible. He helped students communicate to locals, inform us about the areas we traveled to, shared personal experiences and even helped spot some of the students when they forgot their money on the bus. At the end of the day nothing I would love more than to go back on this trip, truthfully a trustworthy agency with real loving people, I was pleasantly surprised.

I was very disappointed with the accommodations for my daughter s Washington, DC trip. The hotel was more than sub-standard. The lights in her bathroom were dripping - not from condensation but from pooling in the fixture! Her room smelled like mildew and the solution was for housekeeping to spend less than 5 minutes to Fabreeze it. We were not made aware of breakfast times so some of our students missed breakfast. We also missed several stops on our itinerary. And to top it off, upon arrival at the hotel, the elevator didn t work and trapped several of our students, some of which had rooms on the sixth floor! For the price we paid, I am utterly disappointed! I wouldn't never recommend this tour company.

Problems from the start. Delayed flights, missed flights, and trying to make up missed days. I had a 12 hour bus ride to only get lunch.
The only reason it's one star is because it can't get any less.

My son and I traveled to Italy with a small group from NC and were teamed the tour (hotel and bus) with groups from New Jersey and Kentucky. If you are looking for a "tour" trip, this is it. We saw more in 8 days than I could have ever imagined seeing on my own. Our tour guide, Lucia, was great! She would easily get 5 stars from me. She knew so much and was able to answer any and every question we had. She may have seemed a little 'gruff' and short to some but I saw that as how most of the Italians I met were. She is the absolute best and what she does and I liked her wanting us to be early so we didn't get caught up in the crowds.
Now, for why I could not give this tour any more than 2 stars. The first hotel we stayed in was HORRIBLE!! The Demidoff Pratolino is not worth being a part of this tour and Explorica needs to remove it from the tour. The air conditioner, lights and TV did not work properly. The bathroom was somewhat wiped down but the orange grime on the bottom of the shower curtain and on the shower walls meant it had not been cleaned in a very long time. I spent most of my 2 nights there killing spiders. The front desk staff was very dismissive (rather rude) and never sent anyone to check the air conditioner. You could not sit on your patio because there were no chairs or tables and the outdoor pool was not operative. The patios were very unkempt and full of weeds. The grounds had many weeds and was not well kept. There was a fee to use the indoor pool, which was simply ridiculous. The breakfast was the only thing worth anything at this place. Having just come off of a 10 hour flight to this hotel was just not acceptable.
As I said, if you want to travel specifically for tours (learning the history seeing the sites, etc.), Explorica is it! If you are looking for a relaxing vacation with shopping, free time and rest, I would strongly suggest NOT traveling with Explorica.

The worst trip ever The company did not live up to their part at all. I was rerouted to a completely different country left in the airport for over eight hours. Tour didn't stop at designated stops

Horrible customer service/refund policy. They would charge you money for the cancelled trip and then would say you have to wait 6-8 weeks to get it back... Still counting.

There refund policy is awful. We paid $2,633 for a school trip to Costa Rica. They will only refund us back $2000. When asking for full refund they will not budge. Yes, I did purchase the insurance at an additional fee. So I feel if I pad for the insurance then why do I have to forfeit the $600. Basically the insurance was a waste.

We took a tour of Belize with a middle school group. Our tour guide Jake Martinez was fantastic!! He was really well organized, very calm and great with the kids and parents alike. He provided just the right amount of information to keep us all interested but not overwhelm us. The trip was great for all. Belize was beautiful!! The activities really were enjoyable and our days flew by. Thanks Jake!!!

Explorica is an amazing student group travel provider. I have traveled with them on 1 tour in 2016 and have my 2nd tour coming up this summer. My guide (Derek) was fantastic and went above and beyond to make sure the trip went off without a hitch. As any experienced traveler knows, hiccups and delays can happen, and Derek was always one step ahead making sure we were comfortable. The pace of the tour was just fast enough to keep the kids busy during the day and exhausted by night, and the hotels and meals were what one would expect on a student tour.

I will continue to travel with Explorica, and would recommend them to anyone planning a group trip!

I do not want this to happen to anyone else they kept over a $1000 of my money we had to cancel this true, They were rude and very unprofessional there was nobody on the corporate side to call to try to get help with this, Do not get the insurance you will get ripped off, I would not Pay for this trip in advance anything can happen just like it did for us and we are out of a $1000

My daughter went in two high school trips organized through Explorica and both went exceptionally well. The one time I had a question or concern, the company immediately responded and fixed the problem.

I just returned from chaperoning my first hs international trip and couldn't be happier with my choice of using explorica. We took 19 people from our school, and explorica made the logistics smooth... when we missed our connection on the way to Milan, we were already prepared for how to resolve the issue of rebooking 19 people! As a travel agency, they could have helped us rebook, but we understood that revoking for 19 is easier since from the ground.

We missed the first full day of the tour, but our tour guide was able to easily bring us into the already established larger group. Our local tour guide was awesome... some of the more specialized tourguides left a little to be desired, but our primary tour guide was receptive to feedback on who he was bringing on for the specialized stuff.

Food arrangements were a bit of a let down... I think they really cater more towards the pickiest of American school children... the food was frequently chicken and potatoes... but overall, this company really exceeded expectations.

My trip to China with several students and teachers of the Ethel Walker School was a wonderful educational and personal experience. I would recommend this trip to anyone interested in expanding your horizons..Having been to the far east many yrs ago , I was unable to get to China. When this opportunity presented itself I was thrilled to go! It proved to be everything I imagined! The cities , the people , the accommodations and the guides were without question-exemplary in every way! It was so well planned with no problems ever during the entire trip. I will tell you that we went from place to event to dinners and to sightseeing with not one problem during the whole journey.. Our guide was tremendous, and whatever we needed or asked about she was there to assist...never missing a beat! When I had a small medical situation, she found a pharmacy within minutes and got me there and cared for. I cannot say enough about Lee as I was not alone in my praise of her.She cared for each of us as though she had known us for years instead of days. She was so well versed in her knowledge of each town and whatever we were seeing and she made everything so easy for us... I will never forget this trip and encourage one and all to go and learn firsthand about China..It will open your eyes to another magnificent part of the world.

Although the tour to Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai provided a comprehensive overview and introduction to the region, the company representatives were rude, unhelpful, and dismissive of my concerns prior to the trip. The pace of the itinerary threatened the health of several individuals within the group, including me, and no one was available to help with medical issues. The tour group leader was insensitive and uncaring and often yelled at us for not being able to keep up. As a teacher, I feel that this trip and company fails to provide sufficient or even adequate service and consideration to the participants. I would NOT recommend this company nor its tours to anyone. That being said, I did enjoy my trip, despite the numerous problems I experienced.

I would actually rate this company a zero if I could. They have taken advantage of the health crisis around the world right now as a way to cheat families of their money. I had purchased the insurance protection plan on my children's educational trip that is intended to cover a cancellation fee of 15% off what I have already paid on the trip after the upfront fee and insurance. I confirmed this by calling twice. Once I submitted the email to cancel I was told they would be keeping 50%. "Our leadership decided to mend our policies so that any fees associated with cancellation will not increase between February 28, 2020 and May 15, 2020. Under normal circumstances your retainment would have been of 75% of the trip cost plus non-refundable fees, as per our Terms and Conditions. Right now the retainment has been honored at 50%." Yet I've been told that there is a $2076.00 cancellation fee when my regular "15%" would only be "495.00." This company is contradictive and changes their story and policies to take advantage of people. If you wait it out for 30 days before your trip you get Zero back even with insurance if you cancel BEWARE!

We suppose to have a tour for dc this year but due to covid it was moved until spring 2021. My daughter can t go as she is going to a different school. I had to request refund. They are are charging me 100 to get my money back. They said it was required but shouldn t be. I called for refund and said 2 weeks. Called three weeks later and now say 8 weeks. Why should I have to wait? It s my money. Such a shady company

I don't know where to start. I've lead many student trips abroad & decided to use Explorica to take students to France & Italy for their "Art of France & Italy" tour. The trip started fine at the airport, & our flights were great, until we got to Paris.

It was one bad thing after another for this trip.

When we arrived, we were then taken to our hotel to "freshen" up. We (36 people) had to share a foul smelling bathroom with two toilets that hadn't been cleaned next to a large conference room where we were to put our things. We were told our luggage would be safely locked in the room while we ventured out for the day. When we did return, we found our bags moved, opened and rummaged through. Upon check-in, it took close to an hour while our tour director argued with the receptionist about how many rooms we had, and how many we should have & how many boys, girls, triples, singles, doubles we had, and over & over we went. By this point, we had been up for nearly 48 hours & were completely exhausted, & our students were standing in this tiny hotel lobby --again in the way, in front of this tiny elevator, waiting to find out where they were going, with bags that had been opened, with a tour director arguing with the receptionist. She then turned to me & asked for money for the room deposits from each of the students --10 euros per student!! THIS WAS NEVER EXPECTED nor explained ahead of time. Some students didn't have cash. The tour director suggested I should put it on my personal credit card which I was NOT responsible to do, nor was I comfortable in doing. I found this was completely inappropriate. On top of that, once rooms were sorted, there weren't enough rooms for all of our students because of a booking mistake & some had to share beds!

While in Paris, we were expected to take the metro everywhere which caused a LOT of problems. One of our female students actually got groped on the train & with only a few teacher chaperones it was impossible to keep our students completely safe from this happening when we were forced to pile into a packed metro 4 times or more a day.

The program we chose was a busy one, & we expected it to be, but we were completely rushed around the entire trip, never knowing where we were going. We spent 45 minutes chasing our bus in Milan with our luggage after the overnight train because our tour director had no idea where we were going. On tours, there was no time for gift shops or to go through museums on your own. Tours took up 100% of the time. When students were trying to buy gifts they were yelled at for being late. We tried to cut things out to give more time, but we re told it was already booked & we had to.

.At one point we arrived at a restaurant at our expected time and it was closed. It wasn't due to be open for another 35 minutes. We got blamed for being late. Then we re served raw chicken and rushed out so the next group could come in at their scheduled time.

Our hotel in Florence was changed without our knowledge & we were moved completely out of the city center & unable to access any way of getting back if we wanted to spend more time. The new hotel we stayed at was a converted convent on a giant hill, inaccessible to anyone with difficulties walking. We arrived in the dark & had to walk down a VERY steep, unlit walkway down to the entry way with our luggage which had dog feces dropped along it which was unseen until the daytime. We had to take this 15 minute walk each time we needed to get to the bus & back again & we had one chaperone who was older & had a VERY difficult time doing so.

Our group had signed up for the pre-paid tips option & thought everything was taken care of. When we arrived, we were shocked to discover that we were going to be asked daily for tips for local guides, daily bus drivers & at the end of the trip a LARGE tip for our trip guide from the chaperones which apparently was NOT included. None of this was ever explained or told to us.

I will never use explorica again for my student travel. Small things make a big difference, get it together.