Senior Discovery Tours

A little confusing today but it all got sorted out in the end.

I took the Seniors Discovery Tour...Spain/Portugal 2 centre's holiday.There were six of us that traveled from Ottawa to Toronto to catch our flight to Spain. We were greeted by a lady that had no name tag. We assumed it was our Tour manager Fatima Sena which we were told would meet us in Toronto.This lady who we proceeded to call Fatima, ( she did not correct us as she was not Fatima)insisted to take us to terminal 3. When we showed her that our tickets clearly said we were flying out of terminal 1 which we were already at, she insisted to take us all to terminal 3 which was a long hike. At least 20 mins if not longer. Only to find out that we had to go back to terminal 1. When we finally arrived back at Terminal 1 we met the real Fatima Sena. Still have no idea of the other ladies name. Not very professional. From Toronto we proceeded to Lisbon airport with a 1hr and 15min transfer time. This is a ludicrous time for a connection especially at Lisbon Airport as it is so large and lacks proper infrastructure. We had agents yelling at us RUN, RUN YOU HAVE 2 MINUTES. I dubbed this action the Seniors Olympics. This was ridiculous as many Seniors could not run due to whatever condition. After running to catch this connection we lost 2 of our passengers who had to stay overnight in the Lisbon airport. This connection should have not been booked so tight. I do not believe anyone would be so incompetent as to leave only 1hr 15 mins between connections especially when the group are Seniors. This was not the greatest beginning to our trip.Then I must mention our Tour manager Fatima. Very nice lady and was as helpful as she could possibly be. The problem was this trip was Fatima's first Tour to Spain and Portugal. She had not been trained on this tour and was as unfamiliar with the Tour as the rest of us. She should have been accompanied by another manager to teach her the ins and outs of the Tour. My heart went out to Fatima.We then had 2 people who contracted Covid in Spain. We were all required to test ourselves, take a picture and forward to Fatima. That was great, then we had people who tested positive in Portugal but no one else were required to test themselves and see if they were pissitive. I do not understand the difference in protocol. All in all I found the Tour OK. I will go on my own next time. Have lost my confidence in discovery Seniors Tours.

On April 10 I went to Puglia with Senior Discovery tour. To my disappointment when I received the flight itinerary I realized that getting there would take would take a total of 20 hrs…..11 hrs flight and 81/2 hrs waiting in the different airports. Both going and returning we had a 5hr lay over in Rome. And to top this off, on our return the flight ,from Brindisi to Rome our flight was at 6:30 in the morning which meant leaving the hotel at 3AM.The area we visited was very interesting and an eye opener . The numerous invasions in the past gave the are a richness in history, architecture and cuisine.This brings me to another hiccup. We were never able to really enjoy or feel the country. Our guided tours ended at lunch time. And after that everything was closed until 4:30-5:00. Our hotels were not conveniently placed to enable us to go into the city, town or village to visit.The food at the hotels was not always very good. The Hilton Garden Inn, Hotel Monte Sarago and Hotel Parco de I Principi the food and wine were from good to very good. However Palace Hotel San Michèle and Cristal Palace Hôtel both food and wine were difficult to take. Both these places served us someone’s home made wine which was not very good.My final comment is our stay at the H San Michele. The drive up this mountain was about 2hrs…….we did this 4 times…not necessary. We should have gone up one day, visit the church and town and then stayed at another hotel at the bottom…..it was long and tedious and not necessary.Better organization would have made this trip less tiring!Aria

Better than booking online

We took the 2 centre Portugal tour Feb. 21 to March 8. The SDT staff did a great job organizing the tour, and our Tour Manager Jayne was both a competent professional and delightfully approachable. As on any tour, the weather was variable, but never interfered with our activities. The bus rides were very comfortable, sometimes with WiFi. The local guides were first class. The hotel the first week in Albufeira was high above the beach, so you had to be a strong walker to make the trek. The second week's hotel in Estoril was smaller and more accommodating. It was near the beach and the train system.This was a very good introduction to the southern half of Portugal, and a chance to try seafood of many kinds, not always for the squeamish. But don't forget the pastry shops. Finally the people on tour are among the finest you will meet. I left my heart in Albufeira.