Canterbury Travel.Lapland Expierience
Customer Service
Value For Money
Canterbury Travel.Lapland Expierience
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User Reviews
Great Trip
My family had a great time. all we could have hoped for and more. The elves we're the best and the kids are still singing the songs.
Husky rides, snowmobiles, and the reindeer were excellent!
Magical Sojourn 5 Day Luosoto Lapland Dec 2011
This was a magical experience and I would fully recommend Canterbury Travel, they were excellent. All their staff & elves were extremely entertaining, even the coach driver joined in the Elf song & snowball fights. This was the best holiday I have ever been on. We stayed in the log cabins which were very warm & comfortable. The food was great, although they should have supplied more food at lunchtime suitable for children, evenings children had pizza, chips etc. to choose from, but nothing at lunchtime. It would have been nice if they had supplied hot chocolate during the day activity trips as well as hot berry juice, as my daughter didn't like the berry juice, which meant she didn't have a hot drink all day. The resort is amazing and the activities were very well organised, especially the trip to Santa himself. When our flight was delayed going home, Canterbury took us back to the hotel & put on food & entertainment until they had new flight times - excellent customer service. I came back from this holiday a 40 year old BELIEVER!
Christmas In Luosto
My 7 year old daughter and I returned yesterday from a 5 day trip to Luosto in Finnish Lapland booked through Canterbury Travel. It was a truly magical experience and I got as caught up in it all as my daughter. I was very impressed with the organisation which was very cleverly timed so that most of the time, it seemed like your own coach party were the only people around at each activity. Our coach guides, JJ & Paul, really did make the holiday special for us. They had exactly the right mixture of fun (the kids absolutely loved them - as did the adults!) but you also felt that you were in very safe hands. Two very competent, friendly young men who clearly love their job!
All in all, a huge success and worth every penny!
Fantastic Day But Not As Organised As It Could Have Been.
All in all this was a fantastic wonderful day - now we are back home! Firstly, we had our date changed by Canterbury, even though we had raised our concerns about this on booking. We were not told until we called them to pay the balance. The new date offered was very inconvenient and Canterbury gave no apologies. Pretty bad customer service really. The day itself though was pretty good. It was a very long day as it is a very early start and we had a delayed return - we were all shattered. It was much darker at the resort than we realised and the paths were not very well lit. As everyone is dressed the same it is really difficult to keep an eye on everyone in your party and we managed to lose our two 6 years olds which was quite stressful. However, there is not much Canterbury can do other than light the paths better or maybe provide torches if you need them or have more helpers dotted around. The food was surprisingly good though basic, however, we had to wait for 15 minutes before we could find somewhere to sit down! The husky and horse rides were fantastic and the kids loved them. We felt the reindeer rides could have been longer and a bit more interesting but even so, they were authentic. The kids loved the sledging and the snowmobiles and all the activities. It was only -7 when we went (yesterday!) and it did not feel that cold. The children did not moan once about getting cold. The suits, boots and gloves/balaclavas provided were excellent - really warm and clean. The only complaint we have over the whole day was the fact that we had to wait 2 hours to see Santa. We did a few activities and had lunch before we joined the queue as we did't want to carry the presents around with us. We joined the queue at 4pm local time and we did not arrive back in resort until 6.05pm. We had to stand around and wait for over an hour at the resort for a sleigh ride across the lake. We didn't want to leave the queue as it was really long and so the 6 children in our party got very tired and fed up whilst waiting. The sleigh ride to the grotto was AMAZING - very special. However, when we got to the other side of the lake we then found we had to wait around for another 45 minutes before it was our turn. All of our children needed the toilet - and there wasn't one there! That was awful. We gave Santa's "helper" our childrens letters and they were dumb struck when they saw him with them. For me, seeing Santa (and the childrens faces!) made the whole wait worthwhile. BUT, we should not have had to wait that long. It felt completed disorganised and when I asked about the wait I was told that our plane was delayed so it didn't matter anyway. Not really the point! There are many things Canterbury can improve on - such as the waiting times for Santa. Even suggesting to people that they go early would be helpful! However, on the whole, it was well run and a great day.
If you look at this day through adults eyes, you may be disappointed. If you forget the cost and look at it through childs eyes, it is wonderful. On the day itself you may well be stressed, as it is not an "easy day" with the kids. For various reasons it is quite a hard day! But, once you are home, the memories are worth it all and will last a lifetime.
Value For Money
Like You We Were On The Trip And Have Had No Joy W
Like you we were on the trip and have had no joy with Canterbury
Not tried ABTA - what would arbitration cost ?
Have you had any offer of compensation from Canterbury at all ?
Hi, had no offer of compensation from Canterbury. ABTA letter basically backed their company and made it clear we'd be daft to go to Arbitration. Think the cost was £108 but could potentially be liable for Canterbury's costs too so could be a lot more. Any suggestions?
Value For Money
We To Travelled To Lapland On 11th December 2010.
We to travelled to Lapland on 11th December 2010. Having been transferred to another airport it was a disaster from start to finish. Put on a coach to be taken to get our snow-wear. Back on coach to resort (losing lots of time.) Very little time in resort rushing from one thing to another. Food was appalling, cold and tables not cleared after use. Santa was no different than one you can see in any store on a Saturday. The present was the same for everyone, age and gender, a husky stuck in a bag. Rushed off again in coach and to top it all, we had to get changed ON THE COACH out of all our layers of clothing,quickly to get back to the airport it was a nightmare trying to change children as well as ourselves in the space of a seat. NO ICE CASTLE, NO SLEIGH FROM AIRPORT
We too were on that flight and had an absolutely awful time. None of it was as advertised and we have also tried to claim a refund/compensation through Canterbury Travel with no joy at all. Have since taken it up with ABTA but they are sticking by their company and have suggested Arbitration (though they have stated that we don't stand much chance!) which will cost more money. Any thoughts on where to go from here? Watchdog??
Value For Money
Do Not Touch This Company.....our Christmas Was Ru
Do not touch this company.....our christmas was ruined this year....booked a one day trip to Lapland- Enchanting lapland, from Dublin 19th Dec to arrive at airport where there was originally no check in, flight was not on the screen, the crew arrived late, eventually we boarded the plane to be told an hour and half later that canterbury had cancelled the trip as the crew were out of hours, no apology, nobody to meet us! I had phoned Canterbury originally when the flight was delayed and they couldn't give me any information, phoned them after flight was cancelled and they were clueless and extremely rude. You have no idea the amount of children who were disappointed and they didn't care!! Stay far far away from this company to ensure you don't get your christmas ruined like ours was !!! You have to give a star to submit your comments but realistically mine would be minus minus!! Have nothing positive to say about this company!!
Value For Money
We Were Booked On "enchanting" Lapland To Enonteki
We were booked on "Enchanting" Lapland to Enontekio 11 December 2010. Last minute the pilot announced we had to change airports through some emergency. From then it went from bad to APPAULING. We generally didn't get anything we had booked ot paid for. Should have had approx 7 hours on locatiobn, only got 2.5 hours, and no ice castle, no food, no skidoo ride across frozen lake, only 30 seceond taster rides at the location they took us to. No Canterbury rep until last minute who tried to tell us we were getting exactly what we had booked and paid for, ABSOLUTE RUBBISH. Still trying to get compensation from Canterbury who are totally unsympathetic and are convinced they have acted within their booking conditions. What a load of rubbish - STAY AWAY FROM CANTERBURY UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR FAMILIES TO BE VERY VERY LET DOWN AND DISAPPOINTED.
I agree - similar experience last year for the Lapland Enchanting trip from Dublin on the 17th December, 2012. With much excitement, I had booked this trip for my godchild to what I had hoped would be her most magical and memorable Christmas ever.
I did some research on other tour operators who also offer a similar and lower cost trip, but my reason for choosing Canterbury Travel was for what I thought was the expertise in the area and to quote what was advertised
we have the most experienced staff, certainly use the best ground service providers and offer a superior standard product’
I was very excited about the trip as I had also booked this last year and unfortunately due to the adverse weather conditions, the trip had been cancelled.
This was going to be a trip of a lifetime but as the day commenced and progressed my expectations were lowered considerably.
At Dublin airport there were two tour operators going to Lapland. Canterbury Tales and Sunway Travel and I started questioning at that stage, if I was with the right tour operator. Sunway Travel had goodie bags for all the children and also feedback from someone who has been on the trip with them before had sing songs on the plane going over with transitition year students helping out with entertainment.
The supposed sing song that we were looking forward to and practicing for was for approx 15 mins with two children singing two songs. I understand that these flights are chartered but considering the type of trip it was meant to be, a bit more of an effort could have been made to get the Christmas spirit and build up the excitement on the flight. The food was terrible and it was really hot on the plane also.
When we arrived at the airport in Lapland it was utter chaos. I have been told that there were eight reps from Canterbury at the airport – can’t say I saw any. We were given a green disc when we arrived and then had to queue for the clothing and shoes which took forever. I would have thought with all that experience, Canterbury Travel claim to have, a better system would have been in place for this. Not only that, they ran out of shoes and correctly sized outfits.
On a positive note – the destination was nice and did look special. The ice castle was fantastic and the Husky ride was greaty. It would have been great however if there had been a photographer around to give you the option of taking a few professional photos especially for the ‘Santa Visit’.
But this was the biggest and most important let down which was to be the highlight of the day was ‘the Visit’ with Santa himself. We waited for nearly 2 hours in a queue to get the snowmobile to Santa’s Hut – which wasn’t great but I would have accepted that if Santa was all that I expected him to be. In my mind I thought he would be in this wooden gingerbread like hut /cave with toys and elves, fairy lights, reindeers outside, a sleigh and everything your mind as a child can think of, . And THAT was the biggest let down of all – a small little hut, nothing special with a Santa who didn’t even have a real beard – why pay nearly €1,500 to see that - I could have gone to a local shopping centre and experienced the same thing!!.
The only thing he did that was a positive at all was say to her to close her eyes and said – I know who you are - ‘You are (name removed) and you are 6’ after that it went seriously downhill – he asked her if she had any brothers or sisters - thought Santa was meant to know everything??– I had already said on the booking form to mention (name removed) her sister. He kept referring to me as her mother which I covered with ‘you meant ‘God Mother’. Asked her if she had written a letter or not …the list is endless and then she got handed a very unsuitable and cheap present. I was told when I booked that a lot of thought and effort are put into the childs present but two beanies which I could have bought in a euro shop for a 6 year old – seriously ?? For me it was the look on her face when she saw the present and said – I can’t believe Santa could give me a present like this – he always gives me things I really like.. I explained to her that maybe Santa was tired or his elves had made a mistake, so kind of covered that. I know it should only be a token present so as not to take away from Christmas Day, but how difficult would it be to pick a present a little more suitable for a 6 year old?.
As we were delayed with queuing for Santa, we got the 2nd bus leaving the site when I was handed a pack with Certificates that weren’t even signed. I have been told that the reason for this is that parents have said that they want to write the certs themselves – but I find this hard to swallow. If a cert is given by someone you don’t know with your name on them, they are a lot more special and real and give that sense of achievement that they are meant to, rather than from someone you do know..
Attention to detail is critical when organising anything from a consumer perspective – unfortunately, the picture Canterbury Travel portrays is not the reality.
The saddest thing about all this is that this moment can never be got again – she now thinks that she has seen the real Santa and while she hasn’t said it, I know she really was not impressed, she hasn’t talked about it since only mentioning to her parents that she loved the huskies and thought that the reindeers looked sad.
To summarize, we will have everlasting disappointing memories - I paid a 5* price for a less than 2* treatment.
We too were on that flight and had an absolutely awful time. None of it was as advertised and we have also tried to claim a refund/compensation through Canterbury Travel with no joy at all. Have since taken it up with ABTA but they are sticking by their company and have suggested Arbitration (though they have stated that we don't stand much chance!) which will cost more money. Any thoughts on where to go from here? Watchdog??
Customer Service
Value For Money
I Am Writing This Review Because Prior To Our Visi
I am writing this review because prior to our visit I could only find bad reviews and was very concerned - I contacted Canterbury Travel and was assured that they had changed the staff back to the old staff they had used previously and that our stay would prove to be magical and they were true to their word. We travelled to Luosto on 9th Dec 2010 - Party of 5 including one 5 year old child - 4 day trip. Only problems were delayed flights going out from Manchester due to accidents on the M56 because of the bad weather, the crew was involved in the crash - and delays on return but this was no fault of Canterbury. We stayed in 2 log cabins my husband and I in one and my son, his wife and my grandson in the one next door - ideal for 2 adults and 2/3 kids but glad we didnt try and stay in the one - as its open plan and would of been a bit too "Cosy" if you get my drift!! We ate breakfast at the Scandic Log restaurant which was buffet style and excellent - loads to choose from lots of lovely fruit, breads, meats through to hot food eg; bacon, sausage every type of egg (scrambled, fried etc)and more, we paid extra money to eat at Kertullis in the evening, well worth it, A la carte, very good service and great food - we thought it would be more relaxing than buffet style especially because you are tired after you have been searching all day for "Santa". Arrived at about 6,30pm in Rovenimi Finland and it was approx 90 mins on the coach to the resort in Luosto - the coach trip was good - Christmas music played and they showed a film on the way to the resort and then Tricky Dicky one of the elves stopped the coach a few miles before we arrived and boarded it, he threw snowballs and was naughty much to the delight of the kids on board. We were tired and hungry and also a bit concerned that we would be too late for our evening meal but this was unfounded as the staff were waiting for us at Kertullis with a smile. Back to the cabins and after a good nights sleep, very warm with the log fires in the cabin,we were up early the next day, had breakfast and boarded the coach "In search of Santa" - we were taken to various points and enjoyed lots of different activities such as snow mobiles, horse, reindeer and huskey sleigh rides and met with Snowey Bowey the elf, visit to the ELVES WORKSHOP where we met Mrs CLaus and Noisy Nod who was great with the kids and had them racing around outside playing games in the snow -there was plenty of hot berry drinks during the whole time at each location we visited and fires to keep warm by as well as toilets,plus one on the coach- About 5 or 6 stops in all with lots more activities and met with all the other elves Speedy Sam etc. On our last stop our rep Liisa asked if one adult from each party could stay on the coach to fill in some paperwork - when all the kids were off the coach our rep explained that she had said that so not to spoil anything for the kids but she needed to give us the info on the following day basically what to do when we got to Santas house etc. We were out about 7 hours and on our return they was childrens activities ie Magic and Balloon making put on at the the Hovis. Next day we were up very early off again in search of Santa - we were taken by coach and then transfered to sleighs which were pulled by snowmobiles - off into the fells and finaly arriving at Santas house - each family was taken in via a side entrance so the others didnt know what was happening whilst one the elves kept everyone playing. When it was our turn we first met with an elf who knew my grandsons name and chatted to him in the "office" where all the letters to Santa arrive then we went to where the elves shoes are made and finally got to see the "REAL SANTA " because Jason (my grandson ) had written a letter and of course we had taken a present, which you hand in on your first night at the resort - Santa had the letter much to my grandsons amazement and gave him the present, all very clevely done, simple but to a child of 5 he was so amazed that he had actualy got his letter - I had also typed what Jason had put (so it was easy to read) and included a bit more information about Jasons pets which he talked to Jason about - when we returned back to the coach we all carried on to more activities and then back to the resort, again childrens entertainment and optional excursions but to be honest we were so tired after dinner we were glad to get back to the cabins and relax. The final day we were taken to Santas village just outside of Rovenimi and right on the Artic circle - I think this is where the day trips go to as there is a Santa here too but advised not to visit as it confuses with kids as we had already seen him - Anyway thats it in a nutshell - if you decide to visit have a great time and be prepared for very cold weather so lots of layers - it was minus 32 one day and the temp didnt get above about minus 20 - also very important do learn the "Elf song" you sing it all the time - Have fun
Customer Service
Value For Money
We Went To Lapland On The 17th Of December 2010.
we went to lapland on the 17th of december 2010.
day trip.
i thought it was worth every penny,the staff on the plane at the airport and at our destination was fantastic all of them were very help full friendly and proffectional.
i will and have been recommending caterburry travel to many people.if i could i would go back every year.im so pleased that i chose to go to lapland with you guys my two little girls who are 8 and 5 thought it was amazing espeially father christmas he was just fantastic.an expereance that me and my family will never ever forget.
thank you
marie whittern
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