I realise that I am in the minority here on Ciao but I actually had an excellent holiday with JMC! I thought I’d share my experience with you in order to even up the score a little....
It all started one Saturday in May. My Mum asked if I fancied going away for a week (well, I'll have ... Read review
I realise that I am in the minority here on Ciao but I actually had an excellent holiday with JMC! I thought I’d share my experience with you in order to even up the score a little....
It all started one Saturday in May. My Mum asked if I fancied going away for a week (well, I'll have to think about that Mum.... NOT!), only snag was that it would have to be the following week. Better get busy on the net I thought. So after trawling through a lot of rubbish sites she found on teletext I came across go-now.com. I won't go into detail as this isn't an opinion on go-now but basically I found a holiday leaving on the Tuesday, to Alcudia, Majorca on All Inclusive, seven days for £169, yes £169! My only reservation was that it was with JMC - I'd never travelled with them before and I had heard so many bad things. Well, I discussed it with Mum and she reckoned at that price we should go for it - we did. Prior to booking I used the hotel search facility from Lunn Poly's website (lunnpoly.co.uk I think) to check out the hotel and it looked quite nice. As go-now does not have on line booking as yet, I had to ring up on the Monday morning, was I too late? Not at all. Booking was quick and easy and the only extra cost on top of the £169 was travel insurance, which is to be expected. This was not forced upon us by go-now; in fact I asked them first! Anyway, enough of go-now.
The very next day we were at the airport, it was a local departure too, very convenient. I should mention that there was one slight drawback with the booking, probably due to it being so last minute - we did not return to the same airport, but another local one. I must point out that this was not a mistake on JMC's part - we were informed before the booking process began and accepted it. Anyway, back to the airport. I was slightly apprehensive that we would not be on the list having booked only the day before but no such difficulties. We picked up our tickets at the desk and checked in with no problems at all, JMC's airport staff were very helpful and friendly. There was no delay at all and in no time we were settling into our seats on the plane. I was worried that we would not be able to sit together having booked so late but again, no problems - we even got a window seat! The cabin crew were again, very helpful and friendly. The plane was just as good as other tour operator planes (such as Britannia), if not a bit cleaner. The food was satisfactory - you can never say it is excellent! You did have to pay for your drinks from the bar trolley but this was a cheap holiday flight, not BA, and the prices were OK - £2.00 for a small bottle of wine, cheaper than some of the bars I go in! The flight went very smoothly and before we knew it we were at Palma airport.
We were met by a bunch of friendly and approachable Reps. Luckily everyone on our coach was fairly quick through baggage so we were soon on our way to resort. During the journey, the Rep travelling with us (we didn't get that with Thomson) gave us loads of info about the Island, the resort and JMC in general. He also helped us check in when we reached our hotel as it was fairly late and our hotel Reps were off duty for the evening.
Our hotel was the Delfin Verde Marina, which is a JMC exclusive hotel. Our room was very clean, well equipped and very comfortable. We had a nice large bathroom with Bath, Shower, Basin, Toilet and Bidet - and lots of towels. There was a large balcony with clothes drying facilities and a table and chairs. We did not overlook the pool but I didn't really expect to with such a late booking. It was much quieter too! In the room was all the info we needed on how the hotel operated - mealtimes, entertainment etc.
As we arrived just in time for dinner we thought we would check out the dining room. Although it was coming to the end of dinner there was still the full choice of dishes available. All meals were buffet style as is usual for this type of holiday. The choice was excellent - much better than I have previously experienced. For breakfast there was the usual hot and cold options, lots of fruit, cold meats and cheeses and plenty of drinks options. Lunch and dinner were very similar, having soups, salads, hot dishes, fruits and deserts on offer. There was always something for everyone with at least one choice from red meat, poultry, vegetarian, pasta, healthy choice etc. We even had a Carvery one evening with roast lamb, beef and pork. The times were very good too. From breakfast time ‘til 9.30pm you could eat in the restaurant. Breakfast was 8.00am - 10.00am, Lunch 12 - 3.00pm, Dinner 6.30pm - 9.30pm with snacks available all day from 10.30am to 6.30pm. The bar was open from 10am to midnight every day and ice cream/lollies were available for children throughout bar opening. The drinks were all locally produced and unbranded but to be honest you couldn't tell the difference.
I know this is backtracking a bit but the morning after our arrival we had our welcome meeting. This was very informative and we were all given a guidebook to the island. The meeting was fun and friendly with lots of opportunity to get involved if you wished. Four people even walked out with a bottle of bubbly just for sitting in the right seat! As usual we were told about all the trips and the reps came round to talk to us individually afterwards. There was no hard sell and you didn't feel obliged to go on them. We decided to go on a trip to the Inca Market and Palma (more about that later) and decided to think about another.
The entertainment program was excellent. There were lots of games and activities throughout the day such as tennis, water polo, line dancing etc. Every evening there was a show of some sort - from outside entertainers and the hotel entertainment staff equally. All were of a very good standard. We were treated to Kenyan acrobats, Saturday Night Fever and a Broadway Medley to name a few. This always followed the usual bingo and prize games. The hotel had a large pool with a separate area for small children. There were plenty of sun loungers around the pool and not once did we have difficulty finding a free one - at any time of the day.
I can't really comment thoroughly on the children's clubs as we didn't take a child but from the outside it seemed excellent. There was three clubs for different age groups and each child was given a goody bag on the first morning containing T-shirts, hats, playthings etc. There was a children’s disco every evening and games throughout the day. Each day the winners of the day’s activities were presented with medals and certificates (this happened wit the adults too).
The trip we went on was excellent. As I said earlier we chose to visit Inca Market and Palma. We had the services of a very friendly English speaking guide who gave as much info as we could ever need. There was plenty of time to have a good look at the bargains on offer at Inca before we continued to Palma. Once there we had a lot of free time for shopping and lunch. We also were given a very informative walking tour of the city of Palma.
Unfortunately after a few days I became ill - a stomach flu, nothing to do with the Hotel, JMC or the food - just unfortunate. This is where I cannot praise the Reps enough. They arranged for the doctor to visit. When she arrived, a JMC medical rep accompanied her. We were given a prescription and immediately given the necessary forms to reclaim expenses on our return to the UK. We were also given help obtaining the prescription. We had in the meantime booked another excursion - a cruise, which we were unable to take. The rep immediately offered a refund as were unable to take it and we received our refund very promptly.
When the time came for our departure we were not kept waiting - our coach arrived when it was scheduled to arrive. We had a good journey back to the airport - again accompanied by a Rep, who kept us all entertained to say the least. Once at the airport, again no problems with check in and luckily no delays. Our flight again went smoothly and we received the same excellent service as on our outbound flight. Soon, sadly we were landing and our great holiday was over.....
Although it didn't apply to us I think I should add that JMC seemed to cater well for disabled holiday makers. Wheelchair usere and the elderly were given priority for boarding and seating and lots of help was available from friendly staff. Complimentary wheelchairs were also on offer. The hotel had ample facilities also with a ramp entrance and lifts to all floors. In the bar area and the restaurant there was plenty of space between seating to allow passage for wheelchairs.
In summary, we were lucky enough to find such a bargain for an All Inclusive holiday. Asking around we found that it was an excellent bargain - a family of four had paid over £2000! We had an excellent experience with JMC. It may seem that a lot of my opinion relates to the hotel but as I said earlier, it is used exclusively by JMC and a lot of holiday complaints do relate to accommodation.
I hope I haven't bored you all to death with this (very) long account and for those of you still reading I hope this has been of some help. I found holidaying with JMC to be a friendly and all round enjoyable experience, especially good for family travel. I realise that we were probably very lucky to experience no problems at all and that not everyone will find such a good deal, but bear this in mind - Don't dismiss JMC out of hand next time as I nearly did - you may regret it!
Advantages: The rep has admitted liability & was quite helpful in doing so! Disadvantages: Money off my next holiday is a joke!, complaints form too small
...their logo colour!) we have JMC (tight-fisted holiday company). DING DING! The battle commences! Ok…..what the heck am I on about….
To those of you that haven’t read my Bahamas op – I mentioned at the end of the opinion that despite opting for half board at my hotel, in theory I really got the room only basis (the food was so bad at the restaurant in my hotel that I would have sooner stayed in my room!).
The story begins! ... ...as this op is about JMC and not my hotel but all I will tell you is that the service was appalling and one of the restaurant ‘specials’ was spam in gravy…enough said! Anyway….after about 4 days of crap food and service I complained to the rep in our resort. She was very helpful and said that she would sort things out with the restaurant manager. To cut a long story short – even though she tried, the restaurant situation ...
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...be offered some entertainment. However JMC had other ideas.
It all began when they boarded the plane. It was approximately 9pm and over a two hour flight so they were hoping to watch a newly released film on the in-flight entertainment. Unfortunately the first thing the JMC crew announced was that the in-flight entertainment system was not working. However you could still buy their headphones! As a very poor compensation they did offer everyone ... ...in this one case the JMC staff showed they could be decent people even if the company was not up to much and managed to find said family member a spare vegetarian meal so no one went hungry. Horay.
Now for the rather boring part of the tale – the one time JMC neither excelled or failed abysmally, the journey from the airport to the accommodation. The journey was smooth and quick. The only unfortunate points were the JMC rep. speaking over ...
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Advantages: cheap price Disadvantages: like anything you get what you pay for!!!
...was my first experience of JMC - hopefully it may well be my last!!!!!!
OK OK I know I booked a late minute 'bargain' holiday through Thomas Cook but thats still no excuse for crap service as a lot of people may well have paid the brochure price. The Flight
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We arrived at Gatwick Airport, checked in our luggage, walked around the shops had some food the plane was leaving on time - Excellent!!
We boarded the plane and found our seats - ... ...mistake if you travel with JMC I found out - best to ask for isle seats as THERE'S NO B****Y ROOM!!! I've travelled a few times - not loads - but enough to feel that this was the most uncomfortable plane journey ever!! The seats are so close together that theres only just enough room to lower your table for the food!!!!
Once seated the pilot introduced himself, told us how long the flight would be, where we would fly over and then handed us over ...
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Advantages: Cheap quite hassle free to book Disadvantages: Where do I start!
...Sale
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I booked my JMC holiday about 2 months ago from going places. I got to see the choice of apartments in the brochure and chose these particular self catering apartments in Kavos in Corfu because of the following details stated in the brochure:-
1) 50m from beach
2) 800M from centre
3) Had its own pool
4) Had a pool bar
The holiday was fairly cheap at around £350 from two weeks in September. I liked option two as I knew Kavos ... ...frisk women. For goodness sake JMC you had an extra 1.5 hours to organise that a female security guard could be at the boarding gate to frisk folk. Well chaos ensued as children were split from parents etc etc
Finally we took off 2 hours late.
The Flight
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We had managed to nab extra lag room seats, but, yes there’s a but I very quickly discovered I had no table! I told the trolley dolly when I ordered my drinks so I got my drinks ...
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Advantages: Cheap, cheerful package holiday Disadvantages: None that we encountered
...and drinks vouchers by the JMC staff. This was also a first for me. We were told there was a problem at Gatwick airport, and our plane hadn't taken off from there yet, so we would be delayed at least 4 hours, but at least they were honest and sympathetic. We settled down for some sleep and about an hour or so later, was awakened by an announcement informing us they would be shipping us out to a hotel, where we would stay the night.
We stayed at ... ...all on JMC.
The JMC staff stayed with us the whole time from checking in, to boarding the plane when it finally took off after a 13 hour delay. They didn't just dump us off the coaches and leave us to fend for ourselves even for a minute.
On arrival back at Gatwick, insurance claim letters were waiting for us, and I just would like to add, that this delay was caused by a minor plane shunt, closing Gatwick for a short time, and therefore completely ...
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Advantages: Food was OK, nice service, took off on time Disadvantages: The seat space and headphone sockets!
...Oh no, an op that I must write with bias... my sister works for JMC... I must write a good review to escape her wrath surely... or will I?!
JMC are a collection of different companies, merged in the recent past, and are now collectively under the JMC umbrella. JMC is now a very large company, and is "unravelling the package holiday piece by piece" according to the adverts. Having been slated on Watchdog and that winking Anne Robinson, I must say I can only write about the airline how good or bad it is, and not the company as a whole… although the health and safety department is the best around… (Was that OK sis?!)
I booked my holiday to Corfu (see previous op) through Golden Sun Holidays who seem to be just an operator and not an aircraft owning company. I say this because I flew with JMC, despite not booking with them...
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Advantages: That they had a problem and let us fly with monarch on the way there!! Disadvantages: : Food, unhelpful staff, cramped conditions
...I had booked flight only to go to florida five years ago when i chose JMC it was the first time i had flew before and never been abroad .
So when i had arrived at Gatwick at 6.30 am and went straight over to check in desk as we got to the desk we was approached by a member of the JMC staff who had told us that there was a problem with our plane we had to make a serious choice eaither to wait at least 7 hours for the next plane or transfer to another airline and with me been a nervous passanger as i have never flown before. I dicided to go with monarch airlines so we didnt have to wait another 7 hours or more.
after enjoying my holiday and thinking of going again i was ready to fly home as we flew out of sanford in florida. As i waited for the plane to come in it seemed there was no problems with the plane and was able to fly...
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...In Stockport at my training session for this summer, we had tests every morning on the day before’s lessons. One question asked for the definition of “vertical integration” within a travel industry context. The answer? When a company has every part of the holiday package in-house. JMC is quite proud of being a vertically integrated company, but they couldn’t be one without this, their own airline. I didn’t fly to resort with JMC since they didn’t have 15 spare seats on the day we had to go, but I did make my return journey with them on Friday night.
Check in in Mahon was swift and simple, with the maximum possible number of desks open. My luggage weighed in at 19 kg (the lightest it’s ever been), just under the quite strictly enforced 20 kg limit. I wasn’t given a choice of window...
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01.09.2006
