Let me first say this was a bucket list item for me. I honestly was so excited to get on the balloon. Although I had been on a helicopter before I was not sure if there would be a difference but there truly was a difference in the two- it was amazing. The views were priceless. However, there was a bit that I’d like to mention that could’ve made my experience top notch. But before i mention that i would like to say they had an amazing crew that helped assist with getting in and out of the basket- I’m slightly disabled if i might mention and their assistance made it possible for me to even take the ride - getting in to & out of the basket is not easy especially if you are older or have a slight ailment. They communicated well between everyone & the crew was there waiting for us when we landed which was awesome.
To make things better for others who decide to take this balloon ride, i think the landing should be better explained. It was “not” explained very well & gave us all about 30 seconds before we landed, he yelled a quick “bend your legs.” None of us that were on the balloon had ever been on a balloon before and had no idea what to expect. Explaining this prior to the landing would’ve been much better so that we all understood what we would be experiencing during the landing. this would’ve made things go a lot smoother. Also, one other gripe I had was… that i noticed that everyone else that attended the balloon ride that day was invited back for champagne (accept for me & my best friend) instead of offering us to come for champagne, the driver said, “what are you doing after here?” i chuckled to myself & thought to myself, obviously not drinking champagne with you all.
*** we were the ONLY blacks there if i might add. I was offended by that but NOT surprised at this, because it is quite “usual” behavior towards people of color in this country. So i’m giving this trip 3 stars because of that.
Réponse de l'hôte
Oct 2022
Hi Breezy,
Thank you for your review. I'll review with our pilots when and what they say for landing to make sure we add where we can. Standard practice for them is to give a briefing before leaving the ground. I'm not sure specifically what happened the morning you flew but obviously for whatever reason, that did not occur or if a more detailed briefing was given, they did not have your attention while doing so. As for post-flight, "what are you doing after here?" or a variation thereof is a conversation starter for us. We ask that or a variation there of to most of our guests as a way to try and connect with them and it gives us something specific to talk to them about, an opportunity to make recommendations of things to do in our backyard and so on based on their response. The sparkling wine toast post-flight is automatic and included. While it's not required that people join us for the post-flight toast, it's kind just assumed that everyone will. It's not something you need an invitation. Because of that, it's mentioned on our confirmation emails, the package description in Viator, our website, etc.. I sorry there was a misunderstanding and that you missed the post-flight toast because we would have loved to have had you join us for that. I was pleased to read that our crew were kind, helpful and courteous helping you into our basket and delighted to hear we helped you check hot air balloon ride off your bucket list! Thanks again for joining us!
Sincerely,
-Gabe