26 Sep 2025
I’m going to be very honest for this review as I am now calm. My mother and I did the half day Porto trip/wine tasting and our guide was Carlo. Everything was fine in the beginning; we were instructed to walk fast and were allowed to take 5 minute breaks throughout the tour. Once we got into the middle of town, Carlo allowed us to stop at two places; the cafe were we could order eclairs and a coffee shop. He gave us 5 minutes to break. I went to the coffee shop taking a full 5 minutes to get my items and by the time I came back, the entire group was gone except my mother and one other couple. The couple told us he walked right past them, didn’t do a headcount and kept walking. We tried finding him for the next 2-3 minutes and then we collectively decided to walk back to the meeting site. Now while I am an adult with access to a phone, it was a bit jarring to return back to the same spot you left without the group you came with. When we came back to the meeting site, we told Carlo’s coworkers that he left without us and didn’t know if they made it to the bus yet; they were not even aware we were missing and Carlo never let them know we were missing from the group. His coworkers apologized and walked us to the bus stop to complete the rest of the tour to the vineyard and once again apologized. As soon as we get on the bus, this man says “Well I hope you guys enjoyed your extended shopping trip!” So you never took headcount, never told your office we were missing, and then made a joke about it? Ok. After we get off the bus once the trip is completed, Carlo says to me “I’m sorry if I did something to offend you, we do everything in our power to make our customers happy” yeah, ok. I have no doubt this company is amazing with tours, but I think Carlo needs a lesson on counting, making sure all his guests are accounted for, and keep his sarcasm to himself.