点评:We embarked on the Konnichiwa , Japan Tour between 9th – 16th April 2024.
Following is our review and constructive suggestions and criticism.
1. Dotonbori Crystal Exe Hotel, in Osaka where we stayed for 3 nights needs to be changed.
This was a “Hotel apartment” type of place with a small kitchenette which was of no use to the tourists. The bedroom was small and cluttered.
The Breakfast provided was not satisfactory at all. There were no eggs served, the dining room had a peculiar odour.
2. Visit to Hiroshima by Bullet train was convenient. Sight seeing in Hiroshima and on Miyajima island was interesting, educative and good. Hotel “The Knot” in Hiroshima was excellent with very good Buffet Breakfast.
3. Return trip from Hiroshima to Osaka via Kobe on a Bus was unsatisfactory and very tiring & time consuming. This 3rd Day was a total waste of time due to the long, tiring journey by Bus. (seeing Kobe Bridge was nothing spectacular)
AFC should charge passengers extra and arrange return journey between Hiroshima and Osaka by Bullet Train, inorder we can do worthwhile sightseeing.
4. Day 4 excursions were satisfactory and interesting. (but the Hotel stay wasn’t satisfactory as explained in para 1)
5. Day 5- excursion to Japan Railway Museum was very educative and informative indeed. Visit to Toyota Museum fell short of our expectations.
Hotel stay in Okura City Hotel was comfortable indeed.
6. Day 6, tour on Lake Ashi and trip on the Hakone Ropeway and Owakudani was scenic and interesting. Mount Fuji was very majestic. Trip to the Lakes was disappointing and due to which there was no time left to visit Shibuya Crossing.
AFC had packed in a bit too much to sight-see on this day , which was just not possible to accomplish due to traffic. AFC shud be conservative in their selection of sight seeing spots and should confer with the Guides in Japan to confirm if proposed sight-seeing itinerary is possible.
(Due to a traffic accident the bus journey took a very long time to return to Hotel. This is beyond AFC’s control).
7. Day 7, breakfast at the excellent Tokyo bay Shiomi Prince Hotel was very good and welcomed by all 42 guests.This hotel was excellent as well.
Visit to Asakusa street was satisfactory, visit to the Tokyo Skytree Tower was very interesting and worthwhile.
Walking down Ginza street wasn’t something new for Dubai residents as we have similar high end shops (which anyway are unaffordable to all passengers).
Driving by the Imperial palace, National Diet Building, taking a walk in “shibuya crossing” was interesting indeed.
We appreciated the two luncheons arranged by AFC.
The Guide Mr Mino San was a very senior gentlemen who did his best to accommodate all requests made the very co-operative and amiable group of passengers (42 in all). His efforts are genuinely appreciated by us.
One major drawback of this Tour was the inordinate, long transit time in Singapore airport on the return to Dubai. Transit time of over 12 hours in airport is UNACCEPTABLE in this day and age of superb connectivities. AFC should charge extra and book the passengers on another connecting flight (not necessarily of Singapore Airlines) out of Singapore within say 3 to 4 hours . This was a very TIRING experience for the passengers, which must be avoided in future.
We would like to appreciate the good services provided to us by Vivek .Varyani prior departure and also from Ms Heena. Ansari. They were polite, and responsive to our questions.
When Heena asked us if were celebrating any personal Event on this Tour, we replied that it was our Wedding Anniversary. She had arranged with the Hotel in Japan to decorate our Room with Balloons and Flowers. This gesture was very much appreciated by my wife and self.
We also thank all the back-office Staff in AFC who have worked diligently and tirelessly to ensure that 42 passengers recd their documents, Insurance papers tickets etc etc well in time. (The inordinate delay by Japan Consulate in issuing visas was a very stressful time for us. Japan Consulate shud definitely upgrade their services)
Haider Ali, from the Travel dept,has scope to improve his customer centric services. He gave as an exorbitant Quotation for our Business Class tickets to Osaka, whc we politely refused and instead we booked it online with sq ourselves. Next when we asked him to send us a Quotation for Business Class trip between Tokyo to Hongkong, he conveniently ignored our request despite of a reminder sent to him.
The complimentary gifts given by AFC to each family. were of good quality and highly appreciated.
翻译:我们于 2024 年 4 月 9 日至 16 日开始了 Konnichiwa 日本之旅。
以下是我们的评论和建设性的建议和批评。
1. 我们在大阪住了 3 晚的道顿堀水晶 Exe 酒店需要更换。
这是一个“酒店公寓”类型的地方,有一个小厨房,对游客毫无用处。卧室又小又乱。
提供的早餐一点也不令人满意。没有鸡蛋供应,餐厅有异味。
2. 乘坐子弹头列车前往广岛很方便。在广岛和宫岛观光很有趣、很有教育意义,而且很好。广岛的“The Knot”酒店很棒,自助早餐非常好。
3. 从广岛经神户乘坐巴士返回大阪的旅程令人不满意,非常累人且耗时。第三天完全是浪费时间,因为坐巴士的路途漫长而疲惫。(神户大桥没什么特别的)
AFC 应该向乘客收取额外费用,并安排从广岛到大阪的子弹头列车往返,这样我们才能进行值得一看的观光。
4. 第四天的游览令人满意且有趣。(但酒店住宿并不令人满意,如第 1 段所述)
5. 第五天 - 游览日本铁路博物馆确实很有教育意义和信息量。参观丰田博物馆没有达到我们的期望。
大仓城市酒店住宿确实很舒适。
6. 第六天,游览芦之湖、箱根索道和大涌谷,风景优美,很有趣。富士山非常雄伟。湖区之旅令人失望,因此没有时间参观涩谷十字路口。
AFC 在这一天安排了太多的观光活动,但由于交通拥堵,无法完成。 AFC 在选择观光景点时应该谨慎,并应与日本的导游协商,以确认拟议的观光行程是否可行。
(由于交通事故,巴士旅程花了很长时间才返回酒店。这超出了 AFC 的控制范围)。
7. 第 7 天,在东京湾潮见王子酒店享用的早餐非常好,受到了所有 42 位客人的欢迎。这家酒店也很棒。
参观浅草街很令人满意,参观东京晴空塔非常有趣且值得。
漫步在银座街对迪拜居民来说并不是什么新鲜事,因为我们有类似的高端商店(无论如何,并非所有乘客都能负担得起)。
开车经过皇宫、国会议事堂,在“涩谷十字路口”散步确实很有趣。
我们感谢 AFC 安排的两次午餐。
导游 Mino San 先生是一位非常资深的绅士,他尽力满足非常合作和友善的乘客团体(总共 42 人)的所有要求。我们由衷感谢他的努力。
这次旅行的一个主要缺点是返回迪拜时在新加坡机场的转机时间过长。在如今交通十分便利的时代,机场转机时间超过 12 小时是不可接受的。AFC 应该收取额外费用,并为乘客预订另一趟 3 到 4 小时内离开新加坡的转机航班(不一定是新加坡航空的航班)。这对乘客来说是一次非常累的经历,以后必须避免这种情况。
我们要感谢 Vivek .Varyani 出发前为我们提供的优质服务,以及 Heena. Ansari 女士。他们很有礼貌,对我们的问题反应迅速。
当 Heena 问我们这次旅行是否是为了庆祝任何个人事件时,我们回答说是我们的结婚纪念日。她已经与日本的酒店商量好,用气球和鲜花装饰我们的房间。我和妻子非常感激这一举动。
我们也感谢 AFC 的所有后勤人员,他们勤奋工作,不知疲倦,确保 42 名乘客及时收到他们的文件、保险单、机票等。(日本领事馆签发签证的过分拖延让我们非常紧张。日本领事馆绝对应该升级他们的服务)
旅游部门的 Haider Ali 有改进客户中心服务的空间。他给我们开了一个高昂的大阪商务舱机票报价,我们礼貌地拒绝了,而是自己在网上通过 sq 预订。接下来,当我们要求他给我们发送东京到香港商务舱旅行的报价时,尽管我们给他发了提醒,但他还是故意忽略了我们的要求。
AFC 为每个家庭赠送的免费礼物质量很好,我们非常感激。