Viator shore excursions

[shurford]

I am going to New Zealand and looking at shore excursions have noticed that Viator are a lot cheaper than the cruise ship in some cases half the price for same trip. they ofer money back if ship doesn't go into port, and guarantee getting back to ship on time for sailings, has anyone had dealings with them are they reliable, appreciate any information on shore excursions.

[CruiserBruce]

From comments on the Ports boards they are not tour providers....they are tour brokers. They take your money and contract with locals. This is sometimes a plus, sometimes a minus.

Edited September 20, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[Louise22]

Although I haven't used them for land tours, I have used their taxi transport airport to hotel in South Vietnam, Russia and other places. A really first rate service with someone always waiting with a sign for me and great vehicles. I wouldn't hesitate to use them for a land tour.

[6rugrats]

There's nothing wring with them, but as CruiserBruce stated, they are a middleman. You often can just book directly with the tour provider.

[alcpa1]

Shurford,

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Viator is a world wide tour aggregator.

If you have not joined the Roll Call for your sailing do so because there will be others who have put together small group tours. The specific tour companies can also be found on the Ports of Call boards.

The cruise ship excursions are generally more expensive, as you discovered, and are more likely to be on large busses depending on your cruise line. The tours arranged by the Roll Call members are almost always less expensive and far more enjoyable as you are with a smaller group of informed travelers.

You can also check out tour operators with Tours By Locals. It is similar to Viator.

Trip Advisor has a forum for tour operators. If you look on the banner you will see the heading MORE. Click on it and you have even more options.

Have a great cruise.

[Keith1010]

CruiserBruce has it write.

 

What we do is see what the options are with Viator and when we narrow it down to one or two guides we then look up the guides on Trip Advisor to read additional reviews. And we can write to the guides on Viator to ask questions before we confirm a booking.

 

Another good ones is tours by local and some of the tours are on both sites.

 

Keith

[SuiteTraveler]

We used Viator in Spain and the tour guide they sent was outstanding - really made the most of our day in Barcelona.