Testing mouthwatering recipes in friendly cucinas
Strolling through vineyards and sampling their wares
Seeing premium olives pressed into oil
Themes
Cultural, Culinary & Wine, Local Immersion & Homestays, Relaxing Retreats, Transformative
What travelers are saying
"I am posting this review for the second time. Shortly after my original post was verified by TrustPilot it was removed with no notice to me. Let's see what happens this time.
This is a review of Classic Journey’s Morocco tour from November 2 – 10, 2024. This was my first experience of CJs.
The front page of the CJs itinerary boasts of “local well connected guides”. We had local guides join us twice for walks as we moved through the Atlas mountains – too bad neither of them spoke English.
Claim #2 – Foodie focused. At one point we were served virtually the same meal five meals in a row. We were never offered options (other than do you want chicken or meat tajine) while we watched the guides sit at a nearby table eating a salad of fresh greens, tomatoes, chickpeas and more.
Claim #3 – Privileged access events. The closest I can come to matching this claim to our experience was the guide-described “lunch with a Berber family.” The reality was the group was served by a Berber family, who then left us to eat; no verbal exchange at all. The guides again ate on their own. Or perhaps it was the promised visit to a school on Day 8. “Very possibly, your favorite experience of the week will be visiting a countryside school. Meet the students and teacher and see how class here compares to the ones at home.” Again just one problem, according to the guide CJ tours have not gone to the school for quite some time. Sorry you all carted supplies for the school all this way. Definitely not a favorite experience
Day 1 – Our visit to Fez was described as beginning with a guided tour of the largest medina in the western world. Reality: three shopping stops. Carpets, followed by the most touristic commonplace fabric store in the Medina, and finally the tannery. The salesman in the shop talked of nothing but his personal history which had zero to do with tanning leather. Absolutely nothing on how the famous tannery actually operates. But the worst was yet to come. To exit you had to make your way through multiple sales rooms. If you tried to move on out you were told not to leave.
When we arrived in Marrakesh several people asked for recommendations on where to buy specific items – leather, inlaid wood, slippers. The guide’s answer was to take us to an overpriced, commercial mega-store where we were “greeted” by another rug salesman; this made the third rug shop we were taken to. To our credit we all walked out. The next afternoon, during our free time, several of us found an artisan market (government certified) just a few yards away from the venue of the day before. Exactly what we had hoped the guide would have directed us to,
The final day in Marrakesh the group lunched together near the YSL museum and garden. I excused myself to use the toilet. The lock on the inside of the stall jammed and it took restaurant staff to free me. I returned to the table to find the group gone. The restaurant staff called the guide to return. When he did return not only was there no apology, but he noted that I “must have been having an anxiety attack.” What I was was angry. But let’s say I was in distress, where was his duty of care to those he’s guiding. It’s worth mentioning that at Ait Ben Haddou another woman was left to find her own way out.
Some of what I’ve mentioned, and these are just the “high” points, were told to our trips’ Travel Experience Coordinator when she called on the night of Day 5 to make sure all guests were happy. More than one told her of complaints. We saw no evidence of changes. So the promise of care and attention to detail is quite hollow. When I spoke on the phone with the same Coordinator after my return, she feigned ignorance that CJ had run three groups simultaneously. One group was totally separate, though we saw them at some of the hotels, and several guests interacted with them, while the other two were blended together with two vans and two “guides.” My van had a “guide” who during our 10 hour van rides only spoke to give his poorly learned prepared speech for the day; lasting no more than one or two minutes.
CJs has heard this from myself, my three travelling companions and numerous other group members. Their response has been to offer me a discount on a future trip, though they have been tight lipped as to what that would be. I believe others only got “thanks for the feedback.” Why would I risk my money and my time with a tour operator that when things go wrong refuses to make good on broken promises. Any company can have a “bad day”. It’s how you make it right, or don’t, that really tells who they are."