Shoko is a excellent guide. She gave us options because of the rain and was very accommodating to our needs.
Chi was good but Shoko was excellent told us stories and learned our names. She was very organized. We have fun with her even thought it rained. We were really happy with Shoko
Remi was excellent.
Yoshi was very good and this hotel is very nice too thanks
We had a nice dinner provided by Harry Kim and Alicia tonight but they couldn’t stay to join us.
Overall even with all the miscues we had a nice trip
Thank you for setting this up for us. I can’t say enough about Harry Kim and Alicia they are wonderful people to have represent Novaland tours A+
Also I would like to take the time to say we really enjoyed Olivia’s friendliness and her knowledge we learned a lot from her. People get sick like me and Stanley threw up few times today because of the slow heavy traffic that made the ride seem longer then it really was.
Thank you , Harry Kim, Olivia and Alicia for some great memories.
Joe Sui and friends from the San Francisco Bay Area and Las Vegas Nevada.Cindy,
Here’s the review. Gave it a 5 overall. Well done. Here’s a bit more detail
than just that form.
#1. On the driver pick-up, in both cases, the drivers were not standing with signs. Rather,
they were parked on the curb and Bruce had to call his driver, but didn’t have WhatsApp
and needed to get someone to call for him. In our case, our driver wasn’t there with a sign but
he texted me to text him when we arrived and to meet him at a designated spot.
So, maybe the instruction should be that the driver will either be there with a sign or will
send a text with the meeting spot. It will avoid confusion.
#2. On Day 2 of our tour, it didn’t make sense to go to the Tsukiji Outer Fish Market, which is a place
to eat lunch, and then go to the Sushi making class, for lunch. So we changed the Fish Market to
Day 3.
#3. Also on Day 2, the Imperial Palace Gardens are not that interesting. No flowers. No cherry blossoms.
You can’t see the palace. It was a lot of steps. Not worth the walking. I think that when you book a tour
with people in their 60’s, as we are, you need to be sensitive to the number of total steps in a day. We
walked over 15,000 steps on Day 2 and over 20,000 on Day 3. That’s too much for us.
#4. Also, on Day 2, we just did the Meiji shrine and dropped the Shibuya crossing. Moved that to Day 4 when
we got back from Yokohama. There wasn’t enough time for that on Day 2.
#5. I would definitely add the teamLabs Planets to your tour. It was fantastic. Great activity. A must see.
It was one of the best things we did.
#6. There was a major World Tri-Athelon race in Yokohama the day we went. The traffic was really bad with
a lot of roads blocked off. You may want to check for things like that. It was interesting but we drove around for
about 30 minutes trying to get a place to park.
#7. Our hotel, the Hyatt Hakone, was about 5 minutes from the end of the Mt. Fuji ropeway. So we just went
directly there and did not go to the Oshino Hakkai.
#8. Day 7, we went back to our hotel to rest and then took a cab to the Geisha Show. It’s too long a day to just go
to the show after a whole day of touring. The Geisha Show was probably the one thing we all agreed we could
have missed. It’s not a good show. Very touristy and not well preformed.
#9. I would add the Tea Ceremony with Kimono Experience to your itinerary. It was the single best thing we did.
Fantastic. The women were all dressed up. We took pictures. Had a nice tea ceremony. Very nice experience.
#10. On Day 10, Yoshi didn’t think we would like the Cup of Noodles tour and instead, we went to a museum that
had a model of some villages from about 250 years ago. It was nice.
So, we did make some changes. Added a few things. Dropped a few things. Both tour guides were excellent. You may
want to check with them after you suggest an itinerary and see what they think. Being local to Japan and being experienced
your guides, they have good insight into what we might like.
Appreciate everything. Thanks.
Aspect | Mark(1-5) | Advice or Remark | |
Travel Consultant | 5 | Cindy was fantastic. Very responsive. Took care of any issues. Very pleased with her performance. Highly recommend. | |
Tour Guides | Command of English | 5 | Both guides were excellent. Spoke perfectly. |
Knowledge of Subjects | 5 |
| |
Ability of Explain | 5 |
| |
Attitude | 5 | Great attitudes. | |
Flexibility | 5 | Made suggestions to modify the schedule that made the trip more enjoyable. | |
Drivers and Cars | 5 | Big vans. Good drivers. Clean. On time. | |
Hotels | Location | 5 | We booked our own hotels. |
Comfort | 5 |
| |
Sights or Activities | Worthiness of Visit | 4.5 | The Geisha show in Kyoto was a bust. The Imperial Gardens were not worth all of the walking. We dropped or changed the dates on some other sites. |
Meet Your Interests? | 5 |
| |
Too Tight or Too Loose? | 5 | Probably a little too tight. We made changes. I can give you more details in an email. | |
Public Transportation (train, flight, cruise, etc.) | 5 | We enjoyed the subway system. The bullet train. | |
Any Other Aspect |
|
| |
Overall Score of the Whole Package | 5 | A great trip. Well organized. Everything ran smoothly. Well done. |
Thank you very much for making all the arrangements and being so patient with us. We enjoyed our first trip to Hokkaido.
Thank you again.
Sharon and Jay Fidell
Aspect
Mark(1-5)
Advice or Remark
Travel Consultant
5
Tour Guides
Command of English
5
Knowledge of Subjects
5
Ability of Explain
5
Attitude
5
Flexibility
5
Drivers and Cars
5
Hotels
Location
5
Perfect ( Hilton and Gran Via)
Comfort
5
Sights or Activities
Worthiness of Visit
4
Some tours added seem to be more to occupy time than anything else ( boat tours for ex). Too far from Mt Fuji.
Meet Your Interests?
5
Too Tight or Too Loose?
Confusing question. If I answer is it about tight or loose?
Meals
NA
Public Transportation (train, flight, cruise, etc.)
3
Too much Metro on day 1 in Tokyo Shinkansen was perfect.
Any Other Aspect
Overall Score ofUI the Whole Package
4
Elisa
1=poor, 2=fair, 3=good, 4=very good, 5=excellent
Aspect | Mark(1-5) | Advice or Remark | |
Travel Consultant | 5 |
| |
Tour Guides | Command of English | 5 |
|
Knowledge of Subjects | 5 |
| |
Ability of Explain | 5 | Driver gave suggestions of which shops are good to visit along the way. | |
Attitude | 5 | Driver was on time on that day. | |
Flexibility | 5 |
| |
Drivers and Cars | 5 |
| |
Hotels | Location | NA |
|
Comfort | NA |
| |
Sights or Activities | Worthiness of Visit | 5 |
|
Meet Your Interests? | 5 |
| |
Too Tight or Too Loose? | 4 | we had some extra time left at the end of the day. | |
Public Transportation (train, flight, cruise, etc.) | NA |
| |
Any Other Aspect | NA |
| |
Overall Score of the Whole Package |
|
|
16 versions of itinerary dealt with by an amazing, calm and understanding Joanna . A trip during golden week in Kanazawa delivered without flow… Great guides , great hotels… We felt like we spent 3 weeks in that 9 days vacation …This is the value of a professional agency like Novaland… It would have been impossible to organise this on our Own….
1=poor, 2=fair, 3=good, 4=very good, 5=excellent
Aspect | Mark(1-5) | Advice or Remark | |
Travel Consultant | Kate | Kate was very wonderful to work with. She was very responsive and attentive and she put together a very nice tailor-made itinerary for my family. | |
Tour Guides | Command of English | 4 |
|
Knowledge of Subjects | 4 |
| |
Ability of Explain | 4 |
| |
Attitude | 5 |
| |
Flexibility | 5 | We appreciate the guides being flexible with our requests. | |
Drivers and Cars | 4 |
| |
Hotels | Location | 4 |
|
Comfort | 4/5 | We give the hotels in Tokyo and Hakodate top marks. The Gate Hotel Ryogoku was very nice and had a wonderful breakfast as did the L’agent Stay Hakodate Ekimae. We did not care for the Hotel Keihan Kyoto – even though it was rated as a 4 star, it was definitely more like a 3 star hotel and the breakfast was disorganized and not very good. | |
Sights or Activities | Worthiness of Visit |
| The sights were tailor made for our visit. My mother was focused on nature sights which we covered thoroughly. |
Meet Your Interests? |
| Kate definitely made sure that the sights met our interests! | |
Too Tight or Too Loose? |
| The pace of the tour/number of sights was perfect for our family. | |
Meals |
| Our meals were not provided by the tour. The breakfasts at the hotels were wonderful in Tokyo and Hakodate, but the breakfast at the hotel in Kyoto was not very good. | |
Public Transportation (train, flight, cruise, etc.) |
| The flights and trains were well organized. Our first guide made sure that we got on the Shinkansen safely!! | |
Any Other Aspect |
|
| |
Overall Score of the Whole Package |
| 5 |
Parames (Ms)
1=poor, 2=fair, 3=good, 4=very good, 5=excellent
Aspect | Mark(1-5) | Advice or Remark | |
Travel Consultant | 5 | My travel consultant (Ms Cindy) was very patient and customised the tour itinerary according to our requirements. She was very friendly and clarified all our queries. She also made sure to check with me and the tour guides to ensure that all of us were safe throughout the tour. | |
Tour Guides | Command of English | 4 | Both Mr Seiya and Mr Nobu were fluent in English and we were able to understand them well. |
Knowledge of Subjects | 4 | Both Mr Seiya and Mr Nobu were knowledgeable. | |
Ability of Explain | 4 | Both Mr Seiya and Mr Nobu were able to explain and clarify our doubts. | |
Attitude | 5 | Both Mr Seiya and Mr Nobu were patient to explain everything in detail and were very friendly. They were also adaptable and made sure that we were okay. | |
Flexibility | 5 | Mr Nobu adjusted the sequence such that we were able to be at the particular spot when it was less crowded which made it easier for us. | |
Drivers and Cars | 4 | All the cars were good. However, the car for the drop off to airport was a little crampy because the seats were not folded properly and this resulted in three people squeezing into seats meant for two people. Apart from that, the driver was very helpful and assisted us to find a post box to post the portable wifi. | |
Hotels | Location | 5 | All the hotels were located at a nice place and the Tokyo and Kyoto ones were located near convenience stores. |
Comfort | 4 | Every hotel was good. However, for the Tokyo one, the two rooms were located one floor apart and we had difficulties going over to each other's rooms because of the security restriction (card access to the floor). This was very inconvenient especially when trying to pack our luggages. | |
Sights or Activities | Worthiness of Visit | 5 | All the sites were curated based on our interests and were worth the time to visit. We have no regrets in that sense. |
Meet Your Interests? | 5 | All the sites were curated based on our interests. Therefore, we enjoyed our tour. | |
Too Tight or Too Loose? | 5 | We had ample time at every spot and were able to take nice pictures and make good memories. | |
Public Transportation (train, flight, cruise, etc.) | 5 | The bullet train rides were good and allowed us to save time travelling from one location to another. | |
Any Other Aspect | - | - | |
Overall Score of the Whole Package | 4 | We had a good time and would definitely recommend Novaland Tours to our family and friends. |
Hi Whitney,
You’ve been amazing.
We had a great time. All guides were amazing! Everyone super courteous and sweet.
Everything was super amazing!
Thank you so so much!
Monia
1=poor, 2=fair, 3=good, 4=very good, 5=excellent
Aspect
Mark(1-5)
Advice or Remark
Travel Consultant
(Joanna)
5
Overall - Very clear in communication. Ensured itinerary meets customer needs.
Tour Guides
Command of English
5
Knowledge of Subjects
5
Ability of Explain
5
Attitude
5
Jovial and polite.
Flexibility
5
Able to change plans according to customers' needs.
Drivers and Cars
5
Driver cum guide is friendly and welcoming. Knowledgeable in and around Kyushu. Car is comfortable and spacious.
Hotels
Location
5
Conveniently located to eateries and shopping. Good breakfast and comfortable rooms.
Comfort
5
Sights or Activities
Worthiness of Visit
5
Interesting places to visit, beautiful spring flowers, especially wisteria, which we really enjoyed and appreciated.
Meet Your Interests?
5
Overall a very enjoyable trip for first time visit to Kyushu.
Too Tight or Too Loose?
5
Itinerary is nicely planned.
Meals
5
The two meals in Beppa hotel are super filling and it seemed a bit wasteful to us as we could not eat alot.
Public Transportation (train, flight, cruise, etc.)
NA
Any Other Aspect
Nil
Overall Score of the Whole Package
5
Thank you, Joanna and Zheng, for a well-planned and well-executed trip for us. Appreciate your work.