Kumuka Worldwide
Customer Service
Value For Money
Kumuka Worldwide
User Reviews
South America (latin Landscapes)
I did the Latin Landscapes tour, and have mixed feelings about it. I felt the trip was well organized, but I feel the enjoyment of the trip relies heavily on the tour guide, and mine was not the best.
The itinerary was wonderful- I don't think I could have picked a better one, and the value was excellent. The guide was excellent in terms of logistics and generally keeping organized- 5 stars there, she was organized and on the ball.
Unfortunately, while she was excellent logistically, and could speak Spanish very well, she genuinely seemed to dislike and/or disrespect most of the group. Superficially nice, but lots of gossiping about different group members and involvement in petty disagreements. Honestly, she seemed burnt out. Understandable, but not acceptable when each member of the group has paid thousands of dollars to be there.
Because of this experience, I would not travel with Kumuka again. I've traveled with other organizations without this problem (maybe they have different hiring criteria), and have been on one tour since (with a Kumuka competitor) with a wonderful tour leader. I really wish I'd had a different guide with Kumuka because I know I would have enjoyed the trip so much more, but such is life.
Kumuka - Rude & Unhelpful Tour Guide, Bad Customer Service
Went on a Kumuka tour to Rajasthan in January 2012. The tour guide was not employed by Kumuka but subcontracted by them. He was terrible. Rude, arrogant and not very informative or helpful. We frequently left late in the mornings, drove all day and then he would drop us off at our hotel at night telling us to eat in the hotel, which is not what we went to India for - a corporate hotel experience. We would take ourselves off during the evening, and discover the towns and cities for ourselves, which our guide seemed to resent. My letter of complaint to Kumuka has been ignored, they keep telling me they are 'investigating' the matter but I get the impression that they are really not interested - once they've got your money that's it. You may get a good holiday, you may get a bad one (and with my experience the latter is more likely) - they just don't seem to care. And that's very sad. I wouldn't travel with them again and I certainly wouldn't recommend them either.
Kumuka: A Lifetime Experience
It was the safest and cheapest trip we have ever been aournd the world. Incredible cost/benefit. As we had 2 different crews, we need to ackowledge both teams. Drivers TK and Juda were great as well as tour leaders Shumba and Violet were amazing. It is more than just a trip: it is a team work where everybody has responsabilities. You make friends forever. It is really a lifetime experience. (Africa in Focus - AF-20). Paula & Paulo (Brazil)
Correcting - "around". Paula & Paulo
Susan And Kev For The Win!
This is a belated review, I went last year on the 'European Winter' 21 day tour. I've never been on a tour and wasn't sure what to expect but wow is all I can say! The tour was efficiently run, Susan (guide) was so approachable and knew so much about the places we visited/drove past and Kevin kept the bus spotless (what? is Kevin cleaning the bus again?!).
Stupidly my partner and I booked seperately (to avoid huge credit card bill) and we forgot to let Kumuka know we were together. Straight away Susan sorted out the rooms and we spent all 20 days in the same room.
I can't vouch for other Kumuka tours (friends of mine had a bad experience on their South American tour...sounds like from other reviews the S.A tours are poorly run) but our European tour was amazing! I highly recommend people to book when Susan and Kevin are taking the tours (mainly during summer and the last bit leading into winter).
Kumuka Europe 2011
The 21 day tour of Europe was really bad and i would not recommend it to anyone. What you get for your money is an arrogant bus driver and a cold and uncompassionate tour leader.
The accomodation was always a convenient train or tram ride out of town and we had to find our way at our expense. Also, 2 nights in Venice = 2 nights in an industrial estate in italy with only 1 day in Venice.
Do not trust the notes that accompany the free tourist maps that you will be given. If you want to know if an attraction is open, do your own homework. It will save you a lot of time and effort. Don't expect the tour leader to assist with making phone calls to check if things are open, or update the notes.
The 2 things which Italy is most known for are the Tower of Pisa and the city of Pompeii. Neither of these were offered as a part of the Kamuka tour. We could make our own way to Pompeii at our own expense on our free day, but it was not until we were on tour that we were advised there must be a minimum number of people to want to go on these tours for it to be worthwhile. Contiki will take you to these sites as a part of their tour regardless of how many people are on the bus.
It seemed as though the tour was organised around the personal agenda of the tour guide. You will not receive an emergency contact number, so if you arrive at the meeting point at, or just after the agreed time, there is a good chance the bus will not be there or you will likely cop a snide remark from the sarcastic driver.
I have been on Geckos and Contiki tours before and overall, kumuka was the most disappointing tour i have been on, and ruined tours for me forever. It was not the tour that was sold to me. It spoiled what was supposed to be a long overdue holiday. This was an opinion shared by the majority of people on the tour.
2/10
I did a 16 day tour of France, Spain and Portugal in 2003. Altogether disappointing. In all,the major cities the accommodation was way out of town requiring train travel to the the city centre. The food was disgusting, thank god for breakfast to sustain ourselves during the day. On the road about 8am with about a 10 hour bus trip to the next overnight stop. Often getting in late, like 9 or 10pm to eat dinner. I was supposed to finish my tour in London but instead decided to leave in Paris, oh what a relief to get off the bus and have no agenda for a week, not constantly looking at my watch to get back to the bus. Never again, Kumuku sucks
Wow I wish I had xylophone as a kumuka tour leader. The one I had in south America didn't do a thing.
I must say I would have preferred it if you had talked to me about your concerns, instead of slagging me off on a public website. Then again it was very difficult to get you to make any conversation with me, or anyone else for that matter.
I don’t think you realise the hours, and hours I spent with some of the others, trying to sort out their problems and very nasty fights with each other; going over and over information without judgement, and trying to run things smoothly, only for them to slap me in the face. There were no thanks; just expectations and demands. I would say turn left 3 times, they would turn right, get lost, and blame me.
I do appreciate manners, and if someone (or 4 people at an optional when I asked the group what time they wanted to leave, and all agreed on 11am) feel its okay to make everyone else wait for them. Then stroll in, with no 'sorry guys' or even acknowledgment that everyone has been waiting, I do get a bit miffed for the others. This went on for 20 days.
On that tour, I waited in lobbies, rang rooms, ran around parking lots, looking for late comers. I also spent 2 days booking hotel rooms for one who couldn’t get on with roommate; booked excursions for people who didn’t show up, and looked up sites for anyone who asked. I don’t know where you get the idea I wouldn’t make phone calls, or check things. The last thing I did was check boat times for the group, at the Amsterdam meal. All you had to do was ask.
With the handout sheets I personally make for my groups, I did check all the info the week before the tour began. As I said in the lengthy talk about the tour, in Nov things change. I am restricted to what they put on their internet sites.
In 21 days, I handed out 9 sheets which contained info about 118 sites and restaurants. Unfortunately Laduree in Paris had a kitchen fire, I never said the skiing was avail on the Jungfrau in Nov and gave you a booklet which stated this also; the criminal museum in Florence went out of business; a restaurant in Venice changed management and you didn’t like the other one listed; and a mask shop closed for a months holiday. In Vienna they decided to renovate the palace and close off the tank display in the HGM museum; and on the Prater website, it still says 'Reisenradplatz and some attractions open all year round'. I am sure the other 110 things were correct.
I go out of my way to collect maps for your convenience. Some have to be ordered weeks ahead from tourist info offices. What kind of maps would you prefer? photocopies out of guide books? Hand drawn?
As far as my phone number, anyone who asked for it, had it. We never left anyone behind anywhere, so I don’t understand the problem. We just did a lot of waiting. I find that more often than not, my phone will not connect with a non-UK mobile; so the first person called is one of their mates, and the message is passed on.
My agenda has nothing to do with it. It's about trying to fit everything in, in a, day for the group. I've seen it before.
If you really wanted a tour that went to Pisa and Pompeii, and to stay on Venice Island, why did you book one that didn't?
Our dossier clearly outlines where we do and don't go. Pisa cannot be included in the winter itinerary as we are coming from Switzerland. We don't have enough time in the day. Our tour covers a great distance in a short time. Longer tours have the option.
Pompeii is an optional, I had no control over that as we needed enough people on the Paris to Rome segment to be able to prebook and hire in an Italian coach, driver and guide. The dossier says it's dependent on numbers. I gave you 3 other options of things to do. I believe your previous tour with another company was going south and it was on the way.
For Venice, the dossier clearly says we stay in Mestre, which is 8 mins drive from the island. You could have easily gone in the first night, and stayed in the second night. If you only spent one day in Venice, that was your choice.
Where do you get the idea we were in an industrial site? We were next to a huge park with paths, ponds, boating club, a pedestrian bridge and a tree lined path to the centre of Mestre. They were building a roundabout down the road, but we were in a 4 star hotel with big beds, marble tables, big bathtubs, flat screen TVs and silver service dining.
There's nothing more I can say except I'm sorry you had such a lousy time. I've had several letters from others on the tour who enjoyed themselves. You get what you give out.
Cheers
I was also on this tour and I'm pretty sure I know who wrote this review and I doesn't supprise me she was a pain in the ass. The tour was great she is the type of person who find fault in everything in life and not cut out to be a traveler. Some people just can't hack it.
I too was on this tour and I must say I thought the guide was very good and also the driver. The hotels were fine and we were given lots of information. We didn't stay in an industrial park in Venice we stayed in a very nice hotel in a park area. Pisa was not in the itinerary and pompei was not included. I think some poeple are not cut out for travel and maybe should stay home we had one or two people that were hard to be around if you get my drift.
Kumuka Central America
this is the email i sent to kumuka after the trip..
have been traveling for 25 years and this is the first complain i am writting..trust me there is no exaggeration on this even i am skipping some details.
this trip was really awful..from the beginning to the end.
you guys never should do this trip in 11days...you will end up getting bad reviews.and please let your customer knows that when you can not get enough people to serve escorted tour.
hotels are terribly smelly and has be change or upgraded for better ones.
on the itinerary 3 breakfast was included but fabiana the guide didn't know about , we have left last 3 days to have breakfast and we end up missing one breakfast as our flight was early morning.
fabiana didn't know that we are married and hotel tried to put us on different rooms.
-fabiana supposedly the tour guide don't have experience and have never been to any of the city on this trip but speaks Spanish.sh.e didn't give any information on any city we arrived
nothing about the history or were we are while we are on the buses.she was sleeping on the buses instead of giving us some small information about cities.
we even heard that she said" i am helping a friend to get this people to Costa Rica"
she asked question to bus driver to get some information about the place but she didn't even translate to us.
-in Guatemala city....we asked for wakeup call and didn't get wake up that we have to leave at 4am. we end up rushing without breakfast and shower.
-she put 6 of us in a very small local bus and a stop later 8 more guys got in the same bus we could hardly move our legs.it was terrible 6 hours trip to copan.
-hotel in copan smell bad. towel smell bad. she hired a tour guide for Mayan history and she asked $3 tips from every person to pay tips to guide.
-we got into another bus to continue to trip to Tegucigalpa...why do we had to stop on Tegucigalpa a city with crime and stay in very very bad hotel
one of the Irish women said she end up sleeping in her cover as the bad had marks and very dirty , i end up drying myself with paper towels as the towels were smelly.
even the hotel entereace had bad odor.. you guys really skip the hotel in this city and find a hotel outside of the city and people can maybe have a lunch while they are passing this city.
-granada hotel room smelled very bad we end up moving to another room which has less odor.
-island hotel is the only decent hotel. service was good too...we had little rest here.
-San juan del sur hotel was bad end up changing room again , it was hard to breathe in the room. and the beach was terrible. you guys had to get a room close to good beach
at madera.
-costa rica
we didn't got up early to move to costa rica and we end up in costa rica at 4 pm. we had a optional tours listed as volcana or museum tours on same day.
how we could've done these after 4 pm? Fabiana got us on local smelly bus,,i had to hold my nose.and then local small ferry that is packed buy locals that we couldn't find a place to sit.Fabiana said that we will eat on cafe that kumuka recommend. others in groups said that they wanted go by taxi and we wanted to walk as distance was short receptionist marked the map wrong and we end up looking for cafe 1 hrs and couldn't meet the others. when we come back guy didn't even say sorry and didn't care.
hotel inka was really really bad too. again end up changing room. first room didn't have any windows and was next to the bathroom. fabiana got the room that has inside windows as i said she didn't care and was on vocation more then we are. fabiana said her budget don't cover the room with window and if we want another room that we have to pay more ? time they gave us second room that has inside window. still didn't help, ceiling fan was noisy as hell, on top of that reception guy had 2 more of his friend with him party all night that we couldn't sleep all night. when we got to the reception early in the morning to check out 3 parting guys were sleeping on the couch at the entrance.i ask for manager to talk but he didn't want to give manager info.I end up arguing with him and he didn't care at all.
Obviously Kumuka has a very, very bad problem of providing customer service in South America and Central America. Kumuka wake up and smell the coffee, there are better companies out there such as Gekos and wilderness exp. This person will be lucky if they get 'any' comprehensive feedback from this unethecial 'tour' company.
Customer Service
Value For Money
Great Adventure With Kumuka
I booked PRIDE OF AFRICA, a 49 day long trip from Nairobi to Joburg with Kumuka without knowing much about the company. To make a long story short the trip was a fantastic experience and Kumuka did it perfectly. The Kumuka team was great, very helpful and committed in making everything work perfectly. Definitely to recommend!
Value For Money
I Went On The 5 Week Latin Discoverer Tour (chile,
I went on the 5 week Latin Discoverer Tour (Chile, Bolivia, Peru) with Kumuka from Dec-Jan, and it was terrible. The tour guide didn't speak Spanish and she had never been to Peru and was leading the tour blind. She also got drunk on several occasions (returning to our hostel one night at 4am when we were meant to leave at 5am, we couldn't get her out of bed) and also forgot to check if a private bus was locked so 2 bags got stolen off our bus in La Paz. She also lost a passenger's credit card details and was usually too hung over to help us, even when one passenger was sick with food poisoning and tonsillitis.
She had no knowledge of the areas we visited, the history or the culture.
I would not recommend Kumuka to anyone!!!!
we are also on a simliar tour with the same guide and have suffered the same events! am very angry and upset! would not recommend also.
Customer Service
Value For Money
I Have Used Kumuka Twice Already For Travelling Ar
I have used Kumuka twice already for travelling around Africa and both times i was very satisfied with the trip. My first trip was only 2 weeks and the second one that I just came back from was almost 2 months. Beginning with the customer service while booking the trip with the London office and throughout the whole trip it was great. The tourguides and drivers are fantastic and very helpful. If you are not a fussy eater you will enjoy the food. The highlights are great and the value for money as well. If you check their webside they often have amazing up to 25% discount offers. Go for it!
Customer Service
Value For Money
I Travelled To Vietnam With My Girlfriend Early Th
I travelled to vietnam with my girlfriend early this year and had a fantastic experience. The Accommodation far surpassed what we had expected on tour - being greeted at your hotel with cold towels and an ice cold drink when it was 35+ was class!. The tour guide was a very knowledgable and helpful. The overnight cruise on Halong Bay was incredible - great seafood and great scenery. My only gripe would be that we should have had a little more time in Hoi An and maybe a little less time in Nha Trang.
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