Brightsparks Travel (Canada)

[SilverLining]

Elmo went on a trip to Ottawa with his school.  Previous years, the school made all the plans.  This year, they decided to book with Brightspark.  It was very close in price, but, they stayed in a gorgeous hotel instead of a college dorm,  had security in the hotel lobby, as well as security on the two floors students stayed in (so nobody could enter or leave).  They also ate in nice restaurants instead of pizza on the lawn.  Also, had guided tours to more places.

I'm posting about this in the ON topic forum for a reason. 

At the information evening, we were told which restaurants the students would be eating at.  One of the guides would be responsible for contacting each restaurant regarding allergen info, and anyone with an fa child could speak directly with that guide, as well as contact the restaurant directly.

My son does not have food allergies, but I thought this was excellent.  Teachers are not accustomed to having to ask appropriate questions in restaurants, so having someone who does it regularly seems a step up to me....but I would think the fa parent would want to speak to the person.

We did have a bit of an issue regarding Elmo's epi-pen, but that was a school issue.  The Brightspark guides do not take responsibility for emergency meds--that's up to the school staff.

The students and teachers all got home quite happy, which meant a lot too.

Anyway, just wanted to post about this because if any other Canadians have students that will be going on trips they may want to let the school know about this company.  They do trips to Ottawa, Toronto, US, and International.  (maybe other places in Canada, I'm not sure)