Polar night and polar bear island - a Norwegian winter adventure

[Justinf]

I don’t see the point in complaining anonymously so I sent an email to the company offering to give some constructive feedback.
They have been great in their communication so I suspect that they will gladly accept it.
After that i was quite hungry but opted for something light.

 

[Justinf]

I have already received a lovely email from the company offering a partial refund.
Here is my response. I’m honestly not concerned about the money.

It’s my pleasure to help.
I thought the driver could have done more to take me some of the sights. Even if it was a nice mosque or the corniche or the souq.
He could have stayed in the car if he wanted, but at least I could have gotten out and had a walk around taken some pictures and got a small feel of what Doha was like.
Other than a stop at the cultural village, which was nice and enjoyable, the rest of the time was spent driving around with the guide saying things like ‘there is the palace on your left but you can’t see it’.
I did appreciate the karak tea that was bought for me, which was absolutely delicious by the way.
But the driver seemed all too keen to finish up way earlier than three hours and get me back to the airport.
At $350 the tour was not cheap, but I was happy to pay for the experience.
I realise the fog was nobody’s fault, and that my flight was one hour late in getting in, but I felt more could have been done to stop at a few places and see things close up rather than trying to take pictures in fog from a moving car.
Your reviews online are obviously exceptional and it’s clear that you run a great company and service.
I won’t be writing a negative review for the public as I would much rather discuss it with you personally.
I thought your communication before the tour was first class.
For reference I will attach some of the BEST pictures I took from the cart, which we spent 80% of our time in.
It’s up to you if you want to provide a partial refund and how much.
I just wanted to let you know because constructive criticism and learning is part of life.

 

[Justinf]

They were most appreciative and have offered a partial refund of 40%.
I didn’t do it for the money, so any compensation is OK with me.
It cost US$250 so the refund is US$100.
Their response was well constructed and pointed out the things that should have been to adapt to the weather.

 

[Justinf]

I overheard someone talking about the Super Bowl, which gave it all away. Seattle had won and I was very happy.
So I went to the bar to celebrate at 6.30am.

 

[Justinf]

Soon enough boarding commenced so I drifted out of the lounge and to the gate.
Seat 3K, the same one going over.
PDB of sparkling rosè and there was Arabic coffee and a date.
While I loved the karak, the coffee was a nup.

 

[Justinf]

After takeoff, drinks orders were taken and I chose a glass of of the Chateau Lynch-Moses and then had the Chilean Montes Alpha Syrah. Both were extremely good. The FA said “we don’t have bad wines onboard”.
I’ll let better judges than I discuss that.
It was a bit weird to see Doha in daylight for the first ever time.

 

[Justinf]

It was time for the breakfast service and I went with the fresh fruit followed by the omelette.
I don’t eat pork and I nearly had a Justin moment where in was about the ask the FA if the sausage was pork.
Well, of course it wouldn’t have been. It’s a Middle Eastern airline and everything would be halal, so I didn’t make a fool of myself for once.

 

[Justinf]

I have the rest of the week off work, so I will get around to watching a full replay of the Seahawks win, but now I was beyond tired so I had the bed made up and slept for a solid three hours.


Upon waking up I was hungry again and realised I hadn’t tried the mezze plate yet. So that’s what I did.
Just your stock standard dips to me.

 

[Justinf]

After that, I felt even more tired and went back to sleep.
I reckon I got another three or four hours in and woke up just as we had passed by Perth.
A final meal and I asked for the pasta, which was delicious, and the cheese plate, which was also good.

 

[Justinf]

Well if you have read this far, we are about 15 minutes from landing in Melbourne.
We will be about 20 minutes late but the Western Ring Road city bound is gonna be hell.
Wondering if there is another way I can go to get to Barwon Heads?
Thanks for reading.
I’ll do a little summary a bit later on tips for anyone who is considering a trip and what the highlights and lowlights were.
Also I am open to taking suggestions for next year’s. I’m not getting any younger and I want to still keep doing it while I can.