I rang JY James this morning (before his post appeared) and he confirmed to me that the reason this tour had been briefly withdrawn from sale was because their local agents had advised them of a significant increase in room rates.

As James has confirmed in his post, this price increase will apply to new bookings only and will not affect those people already booked. He also confirmed to me that the February departure will definitely go ahead.

Cheers

Mike

Regarding Seaweed problem, unfortunately this fenomenon is caused by the climate change and has appeared all along the Caribbean coast down to South America, we must say it is also in Cancun and all along the Riviera Maya, Government and hotels are doing best efforts to clean everyday, worst month was August and now the problem has been reduced

James.

Thanks for this information but one particular concern about the Banana Beach (apart from it frequently being described as "budget" accommodation in reviews and being a half hour walk from the centre San Pedro) is that it was stated in a number of reviews that the staff there were making no effort to remove the seaweed from the beach, whereas at other locations in both Belize and Mexico the hotels were removing the seaweed daily, with some hotels actually buying or renting machinery to help them do this.

Following from my previous post, please try to have the Atlantis submarine in Cozumel included as an excursion for the add-on, you would be making one customer much happier if you are able to do this!!

All the best,

Bob

I have not been on the forum for a few days and it seems a lot has happened. Glad the tour is not being cancelled and also that we will not be paying the extra cost. Here's being positive that everything will run smoothly and all those going will have a wonderful time. Bob, I can swim but do not like swimming in the sea and have never snorkelled so not keen on this. Hopefully there will be other options for those not wishing to snorkel or go to the theme parks.

Jaya

All the best,

Bob

I had been considering this holiday for next year but held off booking because of the issues you raised. Given the information about hotels etc and now an increase in price I will now not be booking. Thank you both for pursuing real issues with this holiday. I really hope it lives up to your expectations.

Regards

Lesley

Nice to hear from you and I understand where you're coming from! I'm hopeful that all will go well for this tour and that the local agents come up with the goods so that all goes smoothly! I'll be writing a review when I get back so you can see how we got on - who knows it might inspire you to go on a later departure! Hope you have a great time whatever tour you decide on.....

All the best,

Bob

I have been in a submarine in Hawaii. It was a good experience, but to be honest we hardly saw anything apart from a turtle or two. Hopefully there will be more to see in Cozumel. I would not mind doing the submarine trip in the hope we see lots of sea creatures.

Jaya

Good to hear from you and its fair to say that, if I had known when I booked this holiday what I know now, then I would have had second thoughts! And if I had to factor in a huge price increase then I wouldn't have booked at all, so I think you've made the right decision.

I wish I could say that I'm looking forward to this holiday but, in light of the issues raised, that's far from the case. In fact I'm still considering my options at this juncture; but I will need to make a decision very soon.

All the best

Mike

Hi Everyone, I can fully understand some of concerns when you noticed that this tour has been taken off sale for a couple of days.

I would like to reassure all our customers that are booked on the 8th February 2016 departure that this date is now confirmed as operating and are hopeful of picking up a least a couple more bookings before the tour departs.

The reason for us taking this tour off sale for a few days is due to on Monday we received correspondence from our local agents to advise that they needed to increase the room rates from what we had originally been quoted. This increase was too high for us to be able to absorb for all customers that may want to travel on this tour in 2016 as depending on departure date it is in the region of £350-400pp extra.

So at present we have had to increase the selling price for any new bookings that book after today but obviously any of the current bookings we have will continue to pay the price that they agreed at the time of booking.

James

And now the prices have reverted to the originals - what is going on? This trip seems so unorganized on so many levels, I think I'll hold off until 2017.

Sandy

Best wishes,

Bob

So if any customers are considering this tour this is the date to book as we will have to increase the selling price on all other dates. All current bookings on the March-October dates will continue to pay the price that they agreed to pay at the time of booking and we will absorb the additional costs.

James

Could we please have an update on the issues with this holiday before we have to pay our balance on 16th Nov. Like Mike and Bob I have a few reservations over the apparent inefficiency of the local agent and would like some reassurance before committing to this trip. There are so many other great holidays I have on my bucket list that I would hate to have a bad experience after ten great holidays.

Have a good weekend.

Sally

Regarding Sandy's post on the prices for this holiday reverting back to the original level, is this a computer glitch or does it reflect additional changes made by the local agents to this holiday?

For example, have some of the included 'holiday highlights' as described in your latest brochure been shelved?

In addition, can you give me the latest information regarding the hotels we will be staying at on this tour? I realise that hotels will be confirmed in the final documents, but what is the situation as of now? Are the hotels still as shown in the 'Holiday Inspirations' booklet? - in particular the budget Banana Beach hotel in San Pedro.

Also, do you have any information regarding the progress of repairs at the Iberostar Tucan hotel in Playa Del Carmen?

I do realise that you must be very busy trying to answer all our questions, but the final balance is due to be paid for this holiday in a few days, so a speedy response would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Mike

The good news on the 8th February date following talks with our agents, we have been able to now keep the price at the original brochure price that all current bookings have paid.

So if any customers are considering this tour this is the date to book as we will have to increase the selling price on all other dates.

James,

If that's the case, then why not show the March to October dates with the additional £300 instead of being back to the original prices? Seems like the obvious approach otherwise it's rather misleading to people who do not use the community.

Sandy

The Holiday Creator and the person who looks after this tour in our overseas team, are currently in the USA. I hope to reply to all of you by next week and hopefully before you pay your outstanding deposit. I would like to give you the most up-to-date information - so I hope this will not be a problem.

The tour is definitely going ahead as planned, so I hope there will be no reason not to pay balances. As James has said above, it will stay at the original price for the 8th February departure but we are unable to absorb the costs for all of the other departures. We are going through the process of updating our system with new prices.

I hope to get back to you soon.

Kindest regards,

Monty

Hope you have caught up with the fact that your holiday will cost an additional £300. It is,only the February date where no increase will occur which seems a bit unfair to those who have already booked other dates. I still intend to wait and see reviews of this holiday before I commit.

Regards

Lesley

All current bookings are still paying the lower (original) price. So, I am pleased to say, all of those of you who have already booked will not need to pay the extra £300.

Kindest regards,

Monty

That is not how JY James's post reads but good news for those booked on other dates.

Lesley

Jaya