Fuzzywuzzy Posted August 10, 2019 Report Share Posted August 10, 2019 Ok, here goes. We booked the "Essentials of Halifax" tour. It was a tour of the city on old London double decker busses that looked cute, with a variety of stops. You get on a bus and get off at any of the number of stops and then get back on the next one. Now....this is not the fault of Royal but the tour operators. We were warned that the waits at each stop could be up to 15-20 minutes so plan accordingly. What they don't tell you is you may not get on the next bus.. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. (This tour was extremely oversold.) So, we are patiently waiting at one stop in a nice line chatting with others. The bus that arrived is obviously pretty loaded. We start to get onboard when a man comes up, PUSHES an older woman out of the way as she is getting on, then puts up his arm like a barricade and let's nobody in the line on the bus but stands there so 16 people in his family/group can come along the side of the bus and get on. I guess we wait for the next one. People can be asses, I know that, but my problem is that the bus driver and the tour guide just stood there and did nothing at all. I thought they were in charge of loading and unloading their bus, not Mr. Barricade Arm. So, wait for the next one. Again. So away we finally go headed back to ship a little tired from the stops we got off at, etc. when we notice a smell that is a cross between sulfur and burnt cornbread. Anybody who has been driving since standard transmission days recognized it: the clutch is burned out. Yep, couple of stops left before ship and we are in a dead bus. We are told a rescue bus is on the way but if we want we can walk back to the ship, it's only a 35-40 minute walk. I Don't think so. We waited for the rescue bus. While headed back to the ship on the rescue bus I was sure I smelled sulfur and burnt cornbread again. The tour we planned to last 4 hours lasted 7. YOLO, Lovetocruise2002, ellcee and 4 others 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted August 12, 2019 Report Share Posted August 12, 2019 Yeah, his 16 members of his family wouldn't have made it all on if I was there.......what an a** as for the tour itself....annoying, but prob not the first tour that's oversold or understaffed....kinda ruins the day/experience for sure. Fuzzywuzzy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted August 12, 2019 Report Share Posted August 12, 2019 Make sure you mention this on your post-cruise survey. Royal won't know that people have issues with tour operators unless someone complains! Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzywuzzy Posted August 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2019 3 hours ago, AshleyDillo said: Make sure you mention this on your post-cruise survey. Royal won't know that people have issues with tour operators unless someone complains! Don't know if that's necessary. Guest Services and Excursion Desk were side by side on the ship and they both got an ear full. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted August 12, 2019 Report Share Posted August 12, 2019 4 hours ago, AshleyDillo said: Make sure you mention this on your post-cruise survey. Royal won't know that people have issues with tour operators unless someone complains! @Fuzzywuzzy Definitely mention it in the survey, as you want someone to hear about it shoreside, not just on the ship. Fuzzywuzzy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted August 12, 2019 Report Share Posted August 12, 2019 This is exactly why contracts with tour operators are reviewed and cancelled periodically. Fuzzywuzzy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.