I think I need to start this review with a little about me... indulge me, the point will soon become clear! I'm not a flier. I can tolerate it, but I don't like it. My girlfriend is absolutely petrified of it so a road-going holiday is necessary. I'm also a high mileage driver so sitting in a vehicle without the steering wheel in front of me is strange to say the least!
Right, to business. Looking at holidays for this summer, an over-riding consideration was money... the less we spend, the better!! When cost is a primary concern, you quickly find yourself adding everything up. Doing exactly that, we realised our cheap camping holiday last year proved to be anything but!! But it was also the only way we could see ourselves on holiday when you bear in mind our enjoyment of flying, as I mentioned above.
Let me show you what I mean. Last year we went on a camping trip to Biarritzin France with one of those companies that has tents there. This is a self-drive, self catering holiday, so you have to add in food, petrol, and motorway tolls on top of the holiday price. This easily topped £1300 and this was at low season!!
Which brings me on to Shearings coach holidays. Shearings offer either half or full board so that takes care of most of the food. They also look after petrol (well OK, diesel in the case of their coaches!) and the road tolls. All we had to worry about was the bar bill and sun cream. In all, for me, the missus, and a 6 year old lad, it cost us £850 half board for 7 nights in resort and 3 days travel.
Straightaway, we saw the value for money inherent in this type of trip. And of course, that led us to booking it (we've been back 4 days at the time of writing this).
So let's take the whole holiday in chronological order:
Finding It: The borchure is clear, concise, and as far as we could see, accurate. The hotel description was accurate, and in fact, we felt the hotel surpassed it a little. The pricing in the borchure was clear too. What we thought we'd be paying proved to be what we did pay when we booked. In fact, the little lad went half price so we were even pleasantly surprised.
We booked it through a First Choice Holiday Hypermarket, and Shearings seemed to have made sure they knew their stuff, too.
So far, our first impressions of Shearings were very good. We booked with only two weeks to go... more than one week to go and our travel documents were ready for us. Sorted with no fuss at all.
My only concern, being a high mileage driver, was the length of the coach trip itself, but we'd soon see.
On Our Way: There we were at Digbeth Coach Station in Birmingham, expecting to get on some locally hired coach that will take us to meet the real one. What turned up? A Shearings coach! No confusion here, then. With National Express and countless other coaches all using the same bays that were told to go too, it would be easy to think it would be one of then we'd get on. So it was a relief for the distinctive blue bus to appear instead.
Loaded on to this coach, which the driver quickly told us was a feeder coach, we were on the short drive to Exhall in Coventry. This is Shearings' main terminal and most of the feeder coaches meet there for passengers to meet what were known as the tour coaches... the vehicles that would take us to our resorts. This was essentially a big coach park with a building in the middle of it for the passengers.
Now, another review on here suggests it to be a cowshed with far too little seating
and far too long a wait. I see why they say that, but I think that's a little harsh. Yes, there's not enough seating, but I only wish Digbeth had been as nice a place!! You could get a coffee for a fraction of the cost of most places like that and the atmosphere was very friendly. Yes, there was a wait, but when you consider these feeder coaches were arriving from all over the country, the 90 minute wait was understandable and forgivable, and in fact, quite short under the circumstances. And when you consider that you didn't have to touch your luggage at all between loading it on the feeder to taking it to your hotel room, I think the service itself is remarkable.
Getting off the feeder at Exhall was a little daunting. Having never been there before, it's difficult to see where to go except to follow the crowd. Where your coach is and when it's leaving is something you need to know, right? Again, Shearings have this under control. The driver of the feeder tells you one inportant fact... there's someone waiting to answer exactly such questions as soon as you get off the bus. Sure enough, complete with bright yellow jacket, three of them were waiting!! All we had to do was grab a coffee... and encourage a 6 year old to go before he got on the next coach!!!
A quick shout over the tannoy and we were heading for the tour coach. The place is a bit like an airport in that there are luggage trolleys running round, and yellow jacketed people marshalling coaches and passengers around safely. We''re talking serious organisation, here.
We're All Off To Sunny Spain... On the tour bus and away we go. We were lucky on the outward trip as the coach was only half full. It meant there was room for people to grab two seats instead of one if they wanted to stretch out. The bus itself was the same as the feeder (I can hear you shuddering) but since our feeder coach was reloaded to take people to Switzerland, we think, then you'll see that that wasn't a problem. It had air conditioning, light reactive glass, toilet, DVD system (Johnny English and U571 came on after we left Calais later that evening) and reclining seats. It also had Roy and Dave as the two drivers who kept us entertained with the odd story and occassional wind up, plus the lovely Julie who kept us all topped up with tea, coffee, and an ever present smile... while she tried to keep Roy and Dave under some semblence of control!!! :o)
Speaking of wind ups, if anyone tries to tell you that French Customs have passport scanners that require you to hold your passport to the vehicle windows so it can read them, don't believe it!! The two drivers got most of us with that one!! LOL!!
Off down the M1 then, heading for Dover, then on to the motorway towards Dover itself, we stop at some services for a little break. I had noticed that our's was the first coach out of Exhall so I thought it was just us on the way out.... nah!!! Pull into the services and 5 minutes later, another Shearings coach appears. Then another. Then another.... in all, by the time we left again, there were 7 or 8 lined up. It became a recurrent theme! In the ferry port itself, we didn't just see another 7 or 8 coaches. I lost count after 30!! There's another Shearings interchange there, too with more feeder coaches meeting us there. We were still lightly loaded as we got on the ferry, though, so stretching out was still possible.
Lining up to get on the ferry, the 7 or 8 coaches following us turned into 14 or 15!! It was a Shearings invasion!!! :o)
One thing to remember, though is this: listen to the drivers when ever they get on the coach's microphone. One important piece of information they gave us before the first time they stopped was the vehicle's fleet number painted on to all four corners of the coach. When there's 15 odd identical coaches sitting in a service station, that fleet number is essential in finding the right coach... I mean, you don't want to go to Switzerland when your holiday is in Spain, do you?
The Ferry! We met a couple of new friends in Exhall so after some food, we found the bar... naturally!! This is a nice perk of letting someone else drive for a change. I'll have to remember that one!! I can't really say much more about the ferry, though, especially since this is about Shearings. One thing, however, don't buy the duty free onboard. It's far cheaper elsewhere, especially if you go to Spain like we did. Their high street prices put the duty free to shame!!
France... A little joke with French Customs at our expense later (I'm sure I saw one of them reaching for the gloves thinking we were taking the... ) and we're onto the A16 out of Calais. Roy and Dave explained a few things about the coach... you know, the buttons above our heads, the refreshments supplied by Julie, etc.... as well as something about the drive to Spain. We would stop every two to three hours or so, with a short leg stretch, nicotine top up, etc., at the same time. Fuel stops were in there and we'd stop for breakfast in Montpelier sometime the next morning.
With that, the dvd system came on, first with Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson at his best) followed by a superb example of Hollywood's hijacking of history with U571. They certainly passed the time for a bit until the main cab lights went out around 1am or so. The kids onboard were sending them home long before, of course, with our little 6 year old kicking mum off her seat onto the one behind her so he could stretch out!!
Now this is where I have my only real problem with a coach holiday. This isn't a criticism levelled at Shearings, per se. I think it's a problem on any coach, plane, train, or even car. The taller you are, the harder it is to get comfortable enough to sleep. Personally, I couldn't sleep at all, catching only a light nap here and there. And with the main lights off, you can't read or anything, either. I took a personal DVD player with me for the trip but I daren't put it on as I knew the screen would light up most of the coach and wake people up. It was frustrating and I did arrive more tired than I thought I would.
An offshoot of sitting down for such a long time was swollen ankles. Deep vein thrombosis has been a term used in connection with long haul flights recently and it is something Shearings have also considered. While they have never seen a case on their coaches they do suggest the same sort of exercises you would do on a long flight. Plus the regular stops they make throughout the journey to take on fuel, change over drivers, etc., is something the drivers themselves, as well as Shearings, suggest we used to stretch our legs for a bit.
Stops and Breakfast Most of the stops were for 20 minutes or so to give the drivers a break and a chance to changeover. They were usually in motorway service stations which despite the French ones being better than those in the UK, they still look fairly similar. Stopping for breakfast in Montpelier proved to be a pleasant surprise. Despite it being a motorway service station, it had a terrace outside the restaurant overlooking rolling countryside with the motorway completely out of view. Coupled with the gorgeous weather, it was a superb start to our first day in the sun.
Roy and Dave left us at Montpelier to take over another coach while new drivers took us into Spain. We still had Julie looking ater us, though. Into Spain and we stop again at some more services. The coach we were on was heading to Salou, somewhere south of Barcelona so that meant us getting off somewhere. So, at these services we were met by a locally hired coach where we, and our luggage, transferred. We were asked to make sure our bags got onto this coach, but we didn't get to load them. Like I said, they look after it from departure to hotel! After a few goodbyes to our new found friends heading to Salou, and our thanks to Julie, we were off again for the short drive to resort.
Here at last!! The transfer coach did a tour of Malgret and Lloret dropping people off. At the services where we transferred, a new Shearings person met us. This was Suzanne who turned out to be our resort rep. Full of local information and enthusiasm for her job, she later proved to be a big credit to Shearings as she made sure our holiday went smoothly. Her first job, however, was to get people into hotels and checked in. So, with a bit of information passed to us, each stop saw her getting off the coach, making sure everyone had their luggage and then walking them into the hotel reception to get checked in. Though she didn't stay with people as they checked in, she made sure the hotel knew which company they were with and the check in process was simple and easy.
Our turn, and Suzanne repeated the process. As she walked us into the hotel, she also told us that she'd hold a welcome meeting the next day to give us details of excursions, information we wanted, and for us to get to know her a little.
Checked In!!! We had the key in our hands and were in the lift on the way up to our room. We had also gotten a key for the safety deposit box... essential, I'd say!! In to the room and our first impressions were good. It wasn't a huge room, but we weren't too bothered. There were two single beds there... and three of us! But having been in foreign hotels before, we just checked under the beds. Sure enough, there was a bed under there, too. The next day, the maids realised there was three of us and made the third bed, too. No problems. We like this place! But, first things first! A quick unpack to find shorts and t-shirts... and swimming trunks for his lordship!!... and it was down to the pool and bar for a deserved beer in the sun! Bliss!!!!!
Welcome Meeting Suzanne turned up about 5 minutes early... it surprised us as most reps we've encountered in the past aren't usually reliable assuming you can find them. But no problems here. Even though she had a few hotels to cover in two towns, she was where she said she'd be when she said she'd be there. You can't beat that, so well done to Suzanne and Shearings, there. The welcome meeting began with the usual stuff with the only distraction being the opera singing and mickey taking of the slightly tapped in the head barman. The bar of the hotel was fairly large but he was speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard across deserts!!! Despite getting asked to shut up by Suzanne, he didn't... not that she, or any of us minded. He was very entertaining and made sure anyone within 5 feet of him had a smile on their faces. Good bloke.
Suzanne began the formal bits with an explanation of the excursions. Straightaway we decided we wanted to go to Barcelona... especially because the Nou Camp stadium was on the tour!!! But also the fountains, the Gaudi Cathedral and La Ramblas. She also said that we could buy an excursion from her or direct as the price would be the same. She wasn't on commission and had no sales targets so we didn't get a hard sell at all. Another refreshing change.
The information Suzanne gave us about the excursions was accurate to say the least. We did two excursions while we were there and she gave us information about the good bits and the bad bits of any excursion she told us about. I won't go into details about the excursions except to say they were well worth it, but it's obvious she had been on them herself. What better information can you get but the voice of experience?
On Our Way Back The worst part of any holiday... we'd had a superb time but now it was time to go. We had to be out of the rooms by 10am, but there was a locked baggage store available. The coach wasn't picking us up until about half three. Suzanne had left details on the holiday company notice board in the hotel foyer. She'd left details of when and where the coach would be, what time, each of us by name and even our seat numbers!! She was also on the bus when it arrived.
But waiting for it was a little depressing. We put our gear in the baggage store and wandered into town for last minute shopping and something to do. We wanted to go on the beach or in the pool but with no showers available to us we couldn't. This is something with any holiday, though, but the baggage store meant we weren't rooted to the hotel. So, there was coffee on the promenade, pizza in a nearby restaurant and wandering the lovely little streets of Lloret to amuse us while we waited for the depression that was going home from a superb holiday. Quite a pleasant last few hours of our holiday, really.
The bus arrives and, unlike the trip to the hotel, this was a Shearings coach that actually took us all the way to Exhall. The lovely Julie was this time replaced by the enthusiastic Lee who matched Julie for energy and smiles. Same thing with the luggage... it was loaded for us and we didn't see it again until we got off the feeder coach in Digbeth the next evening. Another tour around the hotels of Lloret and Malgret picking people up on the way. We were the only passengers with a kid on this coach and we were put near the back... I think this was the reason as the coach got almost full to capacity. In any event, there was a spare row right behind the missus and little'un meaning she could grab it later on. In fact, Lee told her she should. I don't know if this was planned, but it seemed like it might have been.... it was certainly very welcome as even though he's only little, he can't half spread out!!!
The trip back was pretty much the same as the trip there. The same services in Montpelier were used for dinner in the evening, this time, instead of breakfast, with the morning food supplied by services near d'Ubillier nearer to Calais. Each time we stopped, we got to see our new friends who were picked up by a different coach from Salou, and of course, beers were had on the ferry!! :o)
We got to Calais very early, however. Given that we counted at least fifteen Shearings coaches when were we waiting to board, it seemed logical that P&O wanted them on a particular sailing. So arriving early meant a wait for the ferry. Shearings had a good idea for this... obviously, it's happened before. They dropped everyone off in one of the famous hypermarkets for an hour!!! A few bargains later and we were back on the coach and on the way to the ferry.
Back to Blighty and it was definitely welcome home... it rained!!! Oh well. Overcast and raining matched our mood. We were home with the prospect of work a few days later. We said our thank yous and goodbyes to Lee and the drivers in Exhall. Exchanged numbers and said our goodbyes to our new friends too... glad that our feeder journey was only 30 minutes to Birmingham and not their further 5 hours to North Wales!! Given how tired I felt, I didn't envy them. Then it was back to Birmingham and home. Back to mundane reality. Don't you just hate coming home from a holiday???
Summary We had a superb holiday and made some good friends on the trip. We relaxed, let others do the work, and just soaked up the sun, beer, and general mood of a lovely place. The coach trip, despite my reservations, wasn't too bad. Would I do it again? Probably.
Would I use Shearings again? Definitely!! They are superb at what they do. Their descriptions are extremely accurate, great value for money, and staff in any function are a credit to the company and their respective professions. Everyone was professional and extremely competent but also managed to be warm, friendly and always happy. They didn't seem like staff... more like friends or family you're staying with and haven't seen for years! Not many other companies can say that.
So, thank you for a great holiday, Shearings! See you next year!!
Schneckster
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I think if I was going to do a holiday abroad this would be the way. Had hols in the UK with Shearings and despite being the youngest always thoroughly enjoyed it. Great review, really made me feel I was there with you.
hayslad 12.11.2004 14:31
Not only was the review very informative and helpful - but it was very well written in a style that made it fun to read - a skill that few people posess these days.
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Advantages: ideal for non flyers wishing to travel to the warmer climate of the med. Disadvantages: NOT A TRIP FOR CHILDREN WHO WILL GET RESTLESS ON A LONG COACH JOURNEY
alliedprawn 12.09.2007 (12.01.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Shearings Coach Holidays
Advantages: Affordable holidays in the Sun. Great Staff, a good choice of locations Disadvantages: Coaches not what they are hyped up to be. Lower Decks uncomfortable and cramped.
Aug 26th, 2004
exceptional by (15%):
very helpful by (85%):
