We met with friends for lunch yesterday. They're going to Spain with the Camping and Caravanning Club, on a 'Rally'. After chatting to them it seems a good way of doing it, and they've lent us the Winter Sun Camping book to have a look at. This costs £10 but is refundable if you book your tour through them. It appears to be a very comprehensive book, covering a lot of practical questions which those touring in Europe often ask.
Our friends have booked a ferry to Bilbao in January, and are then staying at sites recommended by the C&CC en-route, then joining a rally near Valencia for five weeks before heading home. Interestingly the price structure is nothing like those of the tours organised by ACSI or the Caravan Club - merely a payment of the 'normal' site fees (around £11.50 per night for pitch/electricity, etc) and extra if they want to join in any optional meals or excursions. Rally organisers will be on site during the whole period they are there, and it seems to me that you can stay for as little, or as long as you like, though I haven't read the book in any depth yet.
I've been a member of the Caravan Club for many years, and we hosted a First Timers in France tour a few years ago, so I'm interested to know how the 'Other Club' do things differently, and which works best!
Is anyone a member of both Clubs? Anyone done both organised tours, and how do they compare? Anyone an organiser with the C&CC? Any comments?
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We're members but have never done an organised tour with them.
We have friends however, who are members, and who did a tour to Canada, and hired a MH there. So not the same, but similar. Their itinerary was all mapped out, but essentially they travelled by themselves, so it wasn't a rally and neither were there any organisers on any sites. They did say at the time though that, having researched extensively, the prices from C&CC compared very favourably with other organised tours. So much so, that friends of theirs, who were interested in doing the same tour a year later, went on to become members of the C&C, just to take advantage of that.
For many people a big deciding factor will be their dogs.
The Caravan Club has a complete dog ban for all their centrally organised tours in Europe. If the tours and rallies in Europe arranged by local Caravan Club centres or those arranged by Camping and Caravanning Club are more flexible about allowing dogs then many people will choose those.
I have been on the C.C.C. rallies in Spain for the last 14 years, in the winter. They are excellent. You only join in the activities if you want, not do so you miss a lot. I highly recommend them. A plus point is that they are a lot cheaper than the C. C. rallies
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We were on a C&CC rally this past summer, as they were on a site that we like anyway. The stewards were really nice and friendly, and had been doing it for years. Due to the way we planned our holiday, we were only there 3 nights at the end of our holiday, but met some nice people, and a nice variety as well (3 other units on our patch, a family from Scotland who were new members & trying out their new VW conversion for the first time, and a couple who got a last-minute ferry deal to try out their upgraded MH & the stewards). There was also 2 other corresponding patches, which were fairly full, considering it was coming to the end of the school holidays. And as it was coming to the end, the activities were winding down, and we missed the ones that were available. We'd planned our trip a bit too optimistically, and we were exhausted by the time we got there.
Whilst not able to comment on the activities, I would say it is a good way to meet like-minded people, and we are looking forward to their UK meet up in Malvern in August.
------------- 2019: Hurn Lane CAMC, Cirencester Park CAMC & Lytton Lawn
We have been on 3 Motorhome tours with CCC. No real issues to talk of. Very well run and well priced. If the rally type tours are of the same standard, then all will be well. We are members of CC and CCC. CCC won our vote because the company running the tours for CC faile the interview. The guy was huffy because I asked him in what way his tour was betterthan the CCC one. He was so shirty that I had to terminate the 'interview'. No doubt hings have improved over the last three years.
Can I ask that when you say 'the company running the tours failed the interview.....' exactly what you mean? Caravan Club European tours are organised by staff from the Caravan Club themselves, and the tour guides are all members of the Caravan Club, who volunteer their services and who are paid only some of their expenses - but not enough to cover all costs. The 'long-distance' tours are organised differently - was it one of these you were enquiring about?
I would add (later) that we chatted to people on the Overseas stand of the C&CC at the NEC Caravan Show - and noticed that more people were chatting on that stand than on the CC one and that people seemed friendlier.
Post last edited on 03/12/2015 07:55:22
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by Val A on 01/12/2015We met with friends for lunch yesterday. They're going to Spain with the Camping and Caravanning Club, on a 'Rally'. After chatting to them it seems a good way of doing it, and they've lent us the Winter Sun Camping book to have a look at. This costs £10 but is refundable if you book your tour through them. It appears to be a very comprehensive book, covering a lot of practical questions which those touring in Europe often ask.
Val - You can look at the Winter Sun book online, you don't need to buy it.
We have done the CCC La Manga rally a couple of times, for two weeks or so. It runs for 6 months, so people dip in and out, only a few stay for the whole thing! OH enjoyed the boules club which was a group of ralliers who just met up informally most afternoons on the boules court. As you say, you can join in things, arrange your own things etc. Some say it can get a bit cliquey, but everyone is normally friendly, and happy to see a fresh face around to chat to!!
We dropped our membership after the 'fluid pricing' on club sites was introduced. They were increasingly looking more like a commercial enterprise than a true members club. If you wanted to book the ferry yourself, you paid a premium to book the rally, and their ferry quotes were not competitive. This may or may not still apply.
Quote: Originally posted by minicamper2001 on 03/12/2015
We dropped our membership after the 'fluid pricing' on club sites was introduced. They were increasingly looking more like a commercial enterprise than a true members club. If you wanted to book the ferry yourself, you paid a premium to book the rally, and their ferry quotes were not competitive. This may or may not still apply.
We incorporated it into our main holiday, and there wasn't a change in price at all whether you did or didn't use their rates for the ferry.
------------- 2019: Hurn Lane CAMC, Cirencester Park CAMC & Lytton Lawn
Quote: Originally posted by Val A on 03/12/2015
Can I ask that when you say 'the company running the tours failed the interview.....' exactly what you mean? Caravan Club European tours are organised by staff from the Caravan Club themselves, and the tour guides are all members of the Caravan Club, who volunteer their services and who are paid only some of their expenses - but not enough to cover all costs. The 'long-distance' tours are organised differently - was it one of these you were enquiring about?
I would add (later) that we chatted to people on the Overseas stand of the C&CC at the NEC Caravan Show - and noticed that more people were chatting on that stand than on the CC one and that people seemed friendlier.
Post last edited on 03/12/2015 07:55:22
I spoke with the company directly and quizzed the guy re the tour. I asked him to compare the CC tour with the CCC tour and what advantages the CC tour had with regard to the CCC tour - eg what did the CC tour offer that the CCC tour did not. He took offence at the question / complained that I was questioning his professionalism / that I was being offensive by asking the question. In the end the lost his temper and I hung up on his rant.
I'm surprised CC wardens have such a bad reputation - we've always found them cheerful and helpful (despite the fact that our caravan has the door on the "wrong side"!)
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
Yes am going to chip in there and say the same as Iwalani, having stayed at sites of both clubs and independents I can honestly say that CC wardens we have met are just as good and friendly as C&CC and independents.
I really can't see why it would be that wardens from one club were so different than those from another? all people doing a job to earn a few pounds. It's a bit harsh to tar a whole organisation based on people having met one or two grumpy people.
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Topic: Caravan Club tours versus C&CC - Overseas
