Great
Based on 284 reviews
Ritz Tours4.4Honesty, pricing, process and quality scores appear once 5 customers have rated them.
Welcome to Ritz Tours.Your perfect vacation at heart.At Ritz Tours, we have been handcrafting escorted vacations for more than 40 years. Wherever you want to explore, we are experts in guided tours that show you the iconic sights of a destination while immersing you in its history and culture.A family-run business with an enduring passion for travel, our tours offer a variety of travel styles. We specialize in everything from escorted group tours through to custom-designed private tours for families, couples and friends, together with special interest journeys for groups of like-minded guests.Our destinations span the globe: jetting you to the world’s unmissable capitals or its most far-flung corners. Soak up the history of great cities like Rome or Paris on one of our tours to Europe. Witness the UNESCO-listed sites of ancient lands such as Egypt or Jordan. Or book one of our luxury tours to laze on a Bali or Maldives white-sand beach or enjoy a guided tour around the wonders of Brazil or the wildlife reserves of Kenya.Family values and personal service Wherever you travel with us, your tour reflects the traditional family values we have honored since our launch in 1980. We treat you as part of our Ritz family: providing personalized service from the start to the end of your vacation. Along with our attention to detail, professional integrity and first-hand knowledge of the destinations we offer, it means you can be confident of exploring and traveling without any stress or worry.Every one of our tours is designed with affordability and comfort in mind, too. As well as flexible booking, our vacations include international flights, luxury hotel accommodation and comprehensive sightseeing itineraries with expert guides—giving you excellent value and enabling you to explore at an unrushed pace. Each also comes with enriching cultural encounters and optional tours, letting you delve deeper into your destination than the average traveler.Whether it’s a thrilling safari
Ritz Tours (ritztours.com) has 284 customer reviews on Folks Told, with an average rating of 4.4 out of 5.
284 approved reviews, newest moderated first
Crystal M.
We had very knowledgeable guides. Ritz Tours made me feel safe throughout our stay. I would definitely recommend if you’re looking to travel. Thank you !
Reply from Ritz ToursNov 29, 2023
Thank you for your lovely review, Crystal! We are delighted to know you had a great trip, felt safe, and found the tour guides very knowledgeable. We hope to see you again very soon!
Andrew L.
I had a great experience with Ritz tours! My entire trip to Egypt went by with any hiccups and I felt comfortable and safe the entire time. I will definitely be booking my next trip with Ritz.
Reply from Ritz ToursNov 29, 2023
Hey Andrew, So happy you had a great trip to Egypt with us! At Ritz Tours, we make it a priority to create enriching and smooth experiences throughout the journey, and we are excited that we hit the mark for you. We can't wait to see where you travel next with us!
Bertha R.
My first time traveling with Ritz Tours and Maricela Chavez. I was satisfied with the itinerary and had the best time. Will highly recommend and cannot wait to travel with them again.
Reply from Ritz ToursNov 29, 2023
Thank you for choosing us, Bertha! We are delighted to know you had the best time and loved the itinerary. We cannot wait to see where you travel with us next!
Gilbert
Went into this expecting a great experience, and Ritz outperformed my highest hopes!!… cant give enough kudos to Ritz. First of all, we went with only another couple , who by the way made the trip even better, so wasnt sure if ee were even going to go at all. All the accomodations were terrific for the areas that we were at. The guides were terrific espicially Sanya in Phuket. Definetly the best tour guide I’ve ever had…who ever works/employs him should be very very very happy. Had a memorable experience in every city. Hard to say anything that could have made it better. For us, one day less in Bangkok and one day more in Phuket would have made it even better, and we arent even beach people. Just so much more than beaches in Phuket. So happy with Ritz that booked another tour while still on this one and looking to incorporate more in our travel plans. Defintely go with Ritz. Over 30 yrs in great experiences and continuing. Cant say enough good things. 5****+++!
Reply from Ritz ToursNov 29, 2023
Hey Gilbert, Thank you for your glowing review. We are thrilled that you absolutely loved every aspect of the trip and found the tour guides terrific! We take pride in providing outstanding service to every customer here at Ritz Tours, and we're delighted to hear that your visit was no exception. We simply can't wait to see you on your next vacation with us!
Judy B.
It was a wonderful 2-week tour of Europe. Hotel stays, guided tours, etc. were all taken care of by Ritz. It was nice to just enjoy the experience without having to worry about details. Thank you Ritz Tour. Will definitely work with them again.
Reply from Ritz ToursNov 8, 2023
Dear Judy, We sincerely appreciate your positive feedback and are delighted to hear that you had a wonderful 2-week tour of Europe with Ritz Tours. Our goal is to provide a hassle-free and enjoyable travel experience for our valued customers, and we are thrilled to learn that you were able to relax and savor the journey without concerns about the logistics. It's fantastic to know that our hotel accommodations and guided tours met your expectations and contributed to your overall satisfaction. We take great pride in ensuring that every detail of your trip is well-organized and seamless. Thank you for considering Ritz Tours for your travel needs, and we look forward to the opportunity to assist you with your future adventures. If there's anything specific you'd like to share or if you have any questions or suggestions for improvement, please feel free to reach out to us. We're here to make your future journeys just as memorable and worry-free.
Gloria J.
Enjoyed the Tour of all countries very much. Our Tour Guide was considerate knowledgable, caring, and kind. According to our Group, we were comfortable with assessabilities provided.
Reply from Ritz ToursNov 7, 2023
Dear Gloria, We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed your tour of all the countries with Ritz Tours. We greatly appreciate your positive feedback and are thrilled to know that your tour guide was considerate, knowledgeable, caring, and kind. Ensuring our travelers' comfort and accessibility is of utmost importance to us, and we're glad to hear that your group found the accommodations to be satisfactory. Thank you for choosing Ritz Tours for your travel adventure, and we look forward to serving you on your future journeys.
Vernessa G.
I attend this tour, what I thought would have been my trip of a life time, not only that my dream trip. Unfortunately we did not receive our itinerary until after the trip was paid for. Our host was not available at anytime of the planing to asked question or answer any concerns. We had to reach out to Olga from Ritz's. Our tour guide was very nice and helpful. The tour consisted of 98 people with 3 buses and if you didn't come with anyone you would have been lost. Nothing on Ritz's but our host should have had some kind of meeting with everyone that was attending the trip so that we would have been more familiar with everyone that was traveling. To start off there was too much walking and a lot of us were not prepared for that .There were a lot of elderly people on the trip. The hotels were definitely not what was expected.(no air, tv hot water, small beds, no refrigeration ,far away from everything etc..) no adequate staff to accommodate with your luggage that you had to carry from hotel to hotel. The meals were not French Cuisine as stated (chicken every meal and a lot of starches no green vegetables, didn't even offer sodas to drink, you had to pay for them separate after all the money that was paid out as stated French Cuisine Meals.Ritz's tours planned the trip and they were the cheapest hotels and meal that you could offer and our host didn't bother to check itinerary before hand. I paid for certain tours and did not expected to go on all the other tours. We had NO free time to ourselves to do anything and as I stated we were around nothing at night. We stayed on the buses from sun up to sun down riding all day long jumping off the bus quickly for a bathroom break. I know a couple of people that was on an European Tour the same time I was on mines and their experience was nothing like mine and they were with a GOOD TOURING COMPANY. The BEST feedback I can give moving forward is to give customers the QUALITY OF THE TRIP THEY PAY FOR. I will never travel with Ritz again..
Reply from Ritz ToursNov 7, 2023
Dear Vernessa, We genuinely regret that your highly anticipated trip did not meet your expectations, and we sincerely apologize for any inconveniences you encountered during your tour. Your feedback is invaluable, and we'd like to address your concerns. We understand that receiving the itinerary after the trip was paid for was a significant source of frustration. In cases involving larger groups, such as the one you joined, we work directly with the group organizer, who is responsible for conveying all the necessary information to travelers. Typically, this process ensures that everyone is well-informed about itineraries, flights, tours, and inclusions, which helps eliminate any confusion prior to the trip. We apologize that this process did not function as smoothly as it should have in your case, leaving you feeling unprepared. We strive to inform our clients about the nature of our tours, which may involve walking and longer coach journeys. Your suggestion to provide more clarity on the physical demands of the tour upfront is appreciated and will be considered for future tours. Regarding the hotels, we apologize that they did not meet your expectations. We select hotels based on a number of criteria: standard of service, room quality, location, cleanliness, etc; this almost always results in hotels being located in different areas of the city, as we will aim to select the best quality hotels in that city instead of selecting hotels of varying quality in the same locale. The size of European beds are generally smaller than American beds and are sorry this information was not conveyed prior to departure. We apologize that the dinner provided in the Parisian cafe did not live up to your expectations and will work towards improving the menu for future tours. Regarding your complaint about not expecting to go on all the tours listed on the itinerary, we again apologize that this information was not properly conveyed by the group organizer. On the itinerary, the sights and activities listed are all the tours that the entire group will visit on the trip as this was a fully escorted group tour. We are grateful for your feedback and are committed to improving our services. We would like to extend our apologies once again for your experience and invite you to consider joining one of our slower-paced tours in the future, which may offer more opportunities for personal exploration and less coach travel. Thank you for sharing your concerns, and we hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a more enjoyable travel experience in the future.
Latrice S.
The European Tour September 6 - 17, 2023 was the worst trip I have ever experienced. We are worldwide travelers and was appalled at the way this trip was executed. Ritz Tours switched flights at the last minute with lower class cheap airlines; we paid for excursions with the tips included, however, received an email for mandatory additional tips at the last minute and were forced to pay even thought Ritz Tour Rep. advised we were not obligated to pay and they were optional; Host was not available after we paid the initial deposit to answer any questions or guide us on the dynamics of the trip. We had to carry our luggage almost every day. Ritz tours promised stays at reputable hotels, however, the were not; hotels did not have adequate air conditioning; did not have refrigerators for guest who had medication that required refrigeration; did not provide wash cloths; most only had twin size beds; did not have any American speaking television shows; were far away from central areas, restaurants or shops for refreshments and did not provide ice and very limited vending machines and did not have adequate staff to accommodate special requests. Many meals were cold or barely warm and consisted of Chicken, no vegetables other than starchy potatoes or rice, high fat pastries and cakes without regards to dietary restrictions; there were no French Cuisine Meals as stated in the Itinerary; only had options of water, tea or coffee and no alternative drinks; elevators were very small with a long wait to get to your room; Guests were not provided as much free time as stated in the Itinerary however was forced to ride the bus from sun up to sun down and was only allowed 15 to 20 minutes every 2 hours for restroom and food breaks; driver did not allow any eating or drinking on the bus even though he was selling bottles of water and many of the highlighted attractions were seen while the bus was moving; The Host was not known to many travelers and seemed to not know what was going on and did not seem prepared to handle such a huge turnout. Our Tour Guide was the only saving factor and this is not about her because she only did what she was paid for and even accompanied a sick guest to the hospital late at night wherein the Host did not accompany, inquire and was not available by telephone in case of an emergency for the sick guest. I am going back to the destinations without Ritz Tours or anything to do with because I do not feel I got what I paid for and want to enjoy my next experience. For future travels I would definitely do the research because a lot of the tours were unnecessary and I would have rather had more time to explore and shop rather than all of the excessive walking. When should we expect the refund on the flights as the ones we rode on only equated to $500 instead of the $1,400 that we spent. You have my mailing address as well as my friend and we expect to see it soon otherwise we will be seeking legal remedies.
Reply from Ritz ToursNov 7, 2023
Dear Latrice, We are very sorry to hear that your experience with the European Tour in September 2023 did not meet your expectations. We are, however, pleased to hear that you had a positive experience with our tour guide, Natalie. We would like to clarify that the full itinerary, list of tours, hotels, and inclusions were provided to the group organizer. In larger group tours like this, our primary point of contact is the group organizer, who is responsible for disseminating this information to all participants. The organizer typically addresses questions and concerns related to itineraries, flights, tours, and other details to ensure a smooth and well-informed journey. We apologize if you felt unprepared due to any shortcomings in this communication process. Regarding the physical demands of the tour, we always make it clear to our clients that this particular tour involves a fair amount of walking and longer coach journeys. We aim to set accurate expectations before departure to avoid any surprises during the trip. We would also like to mention that a French dinner at a Paris café was included in your tour, and we regret that it did not meet your culinary expectations. We acknowledge your disappointment with the 4-5 star hotels, and we're sorry they did not live up to your standards. We value your feedback, and we would like the opportunity to make amends. In the future, we recommend considering one of our slower-paced tours, which provide more time for individual exploration and fewer coach journeys. We strive to offer a variety of tour options to better suit our clients' preferences. Additionally, regarding the flight costs, we quoted ticket prices of $1395 per person. The alternative option was purchasing flights on your own; in the end you elected to choose the flights we offered. We strive to be as flexible and as transparent as possible and always offer the option of a land-only tour in which you are able to purchase your own flights.
