Viator for excursions

[jdragr]

Has any ever used this website viator . Com to book excursions?

 

 

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[travel33]

Has any ever used this website viator . Com to book excursions?

 

 

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Not from a cruise ship, but used them last year when in Jamaica. No problems, and good prices.

[Cards5440]

We stumbled upon Viator when planning our trip to Europe last fall. We booked 2 tours with them when we were in Munich and I have to say it was money well spent. The cost of the tour included transportation from the meeting point and included a guide that was with us the entire day. The guides were extremely knowledgable and friendly and while we were on more educational tours (Neuschwanstein Castle and Dachau) we had a great time!

 

I would not hesitate to use the site again, in fact I never thought of using them to book excursions for a cruise. Going to check them out and see what my options are!

[cruisetexas]

We use them often for excursions. We've never had any problems.

 

Go ahead!

[jdragr]

The prices seem too good to true on the one excursion I have looked up which is why I listed if anyone had used them.

 

 

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[Lady Chew]

We booked through their website once in London, several years ago, and just a month ago in Rome ... excellent tours!!

 

We'll probably use them again next time we travel in Europe.

[Stratheden]

We have used them in the US - they were great.

[Bescotti]

I use them for airport-hotel transfers in Europe and have been very pleased.

[Keith1010]

Yes, I've used them.

 

Essentially people who give tours do not work for them but can be listed on this site and part of the cost goes to the site. Some of the tour guides are listed on multiple sites. The key is to do the research about the tour and the tour guide.

 

Keith

[John Bull]

They'll be a lot cheaper than ship's tours, but the tours that they sell are a little more expensive than booking direct with the operators. That premium is quite small - mebbe 5% to 10% - because they get discounts from the operator as well as that premium from the customer,

 

Used them just the once, when payment up-front was required due to being included in a group visa & we wanted the security of giving our money to a respected international agency rather than an unknown foreign tour operator.

No problems, worked very well, including phone & text reminders about the pick-up.

 

The quality of a tour depends more on the actual operator than Viator, but they're a convenient middle-man.

 

JB :)

[Shorex]

 

The quality of a tour depends more on the actual operator than Viator, but they're a convenient middle-man.

 

JB :)

 

Yes. Important to remember that Viator is ONLY a middleman. The same tours can be arranged directly with the provider. It is usually not difficult to decipher the underlying provider and compare prices.

[agabbymama]

I booked transfers and about 6 tours with them for our Med cruise. I especially liked that it was paid for in US $$ well before we ever left for the cruise. I was at first a little concerned that you get a voucher that has to be turned in for an actual ticket, but all of the vendors accepted the vouchers without any problems.

 

I also want to mention about the transfer. I looked on Viator listing for hotels and thought I saw my hotel listed, so I booked the transfer. Upon second viewing, I realized the hotel name was close, but not my actual hotel. I called Viator and explained. The rep put me on hold, came back and said she had contacted the Vendor and they could accommodate my hotel with no problem. We arrived into Rome FCO approximately 9:15 pm and were in the van with only 1 other couple by 10:00. They dropped us first as our hotel had a curfew of 11:00, just made it with about 10 minutes to spare.

 

Now I always check Viator whether on a cruise or land vacation, to see what is available. I don't always book with them, but I do check them out for comparison. While they are a 3rd party booking agent, I find that they stand behind their product and were very helpful when I needed assistance.

[Putterdude]

Viator to the best of my knowledge are only brokers or bookers for tours for which the receive a fee from the operator, they do not conduct there own tours. Their name often pops up when looking for excursions but I have found that we can get a better deal dealing directly with a operator that either comes highly recommended here on Cruise Critic or Tripavisor.

[Suska_83]

Has any ever used this website viator . Com to book excursions?

 

 

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I wear by them. All the trips i've made. I've booked excursions thru them. They never disappoint. Granted for a Cruise (i've only been to one so far) I booked the swimming with the dolphins in Tortola and private beach with lunch in Turks and Caicos and it was great! (plus great prices too). All other trips i've had (Europe, Canada) I've booked the majority of the excursions thru them with no problem. So yea I do recommend ;).

[blackpool belle]

I used them in Venice and there were no problems. Booking in advance saves a lot of waiting/queuing time.

[cruisemom42]

My experiences with Viator haven't been as good as most of the other posters, unfortunately. I've used them several times in Europe with very mixed results:

 

Rome: They cancelled one tour I booked (due to lack of participation) but didn't bother to email or call me to let me know until I actually showed up at the tour meeting place. Then, rather than offer me a simple refund, they kept after me for at least 15 minutes to book a different tour with them instead (which I didn't want).

 

Rome & Lisbon: One tour in each place had passengers in three different languages within a single group. Every spiel had to be given in English, then repeated in French and then Spanish (or in the case of Lisbon, in English, French, and Italian). It means a lot of standing around and waiting.

 

Lisbon (different tour to the above): Our guide left out one key site out of four listed in the tour description with no explanation given. She also basically abandoned our group in Fatima. I did eventually get partial credit from Viator on this one. But partial credit isn't what I wanted -- what I wanted was to see the promised site.....

 

After these experiences, I wouldn't book with them again, at least not in Europe. Earlier, I had booked two tours in Japan with them, and they were fine.

 

I strongly suspect that the best tour providers don't need to contract with a middleman like Viator to sell their tours, and there's probably a reason why the others are willing to give up a percentage to be bookable this way.

Edited June 19, 2014 by cruisemom42