Hi - looking at taking Mac's Adventures or Tripsite bike and boat tour next summer. Likely doing the Danube "Easy" route or the Amsterdam "Easy to Moderate" route. The boat for the first tour is the Carissima, looks okay. Both of these tour companies seem to offer the same tour, on the same dates, on the same boat.........just wondering how that works and if these trips are worthwhile. They look reasonable with decent accommodations - much less than the other river cruise companies out there and I like the more casual nature of them. Any recommendations or reviews are very much welcomed. Thanks in advance.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16241 posts
I can tell you how it works. Macs Adventures does not actually run the trips; they book with a local provider, who in this case could be Tripsite. Or maybe both of them book with the same local provider who is not named.
We experienced this when we were looking for a guided hiking trip in Patagonia. We narrowed it down to two companies, Mountain Travel Sobek and National Geographic. They seemed to offer the same hikes, staying in the same hotels, but running the trip from opposite directions (one started in Chile and finished in Argentina, the other did the opposite.). I called each one to discuss the details and found myself talking to the same person. Turns out that MT Sobek runs the trips for National Geographic. Our guides wore jackets with both logos.
When I was trying to decide between them, I asked the phone agent if she could tell me which one was likely to have more whiners and whingers. She did not answer directly, understandably, but said the National Geo clients were a little more “high end” which I enterpreted as more needy. We chose MT Sobek and had a great group.
I have a good impression of Macs from talking to them about a potential trip (which we ended up not taking). And I used to get the Tripsite brochures when I was more interested in biking than hiking. I was impressed with their attention to detail. so pick whichever one has the dates and prices you like.
Posted by
OP
44 posts
Thank you so much for your reply. It was really helpful. It’s so hard to make an informed decision so your reply is greatly appreciated.