Transportation from Bar Harbor cruise port to Acadia Visitors Center

[texbecca]

We'll arrive at Bar Harbor at 7am on a Sunday morning. We booked an Acadia biking excursion through Viator that departs at 9am from the Acadia visitors center. Will we be able to get an Uber or cab to get us over there from wherever the ship docks? (actually I think this may be a tender port). Hoping this is doable. The excursion sounds fun.

[1025cruise]

Bar Harbor is a tender port. In addition, if this is your first stop in the US (after Canada or Bermuda) you need to go through immigration before getting off the ship. You should be able to get a cab/Uber to take you.

[GTJ]

12 hours ago, texbecca said:

We'll arrive at Bar Harbor at 7am on a Sunday morning. We booked an Acadia biking excursion through Viator that departs at 9am from the Acadia visitors center. Will we be able to get an Uber or cab to get us over there from wherever the ship docks? (actually I think this may be a tender port).

Bar Harbor is a tender port. While there is a free bus service between Bar Harbor and the visitor center, it does not begin operating outbound until 10:00 a.m., and for that reason you will need to utilize a taxi or TNC service. But you could use the free bus service at the end to return to Bar Harbor, and not have to pay for a return taxi ride. Schedule information is here: http://www.exploreacadia.com/route1.html.

 

Also note that Viator does not operate any tours. The company is merely a middleman between tour companies and their participants. In this case, the tour will be operated by Island Time Ebike Rentals Inc. If you were to book the tour directly with the tour operator, then the fee would be $165. See http://www.acadiaebikerentals.com/southwest-harbor/ebike-tours-carriage-roads. By choosing to use a middleman, Viator, Inc., you will be paying a higher fee, $187, so that this company can also make a profit (although the company does offer a "lowest price guarantee" at its discretion: http://www.viator.com/support/lowestPriceGuarantee).

 

If I were to do this type of excursion, then I would likely choose a rental without guided tour for $99. Some reviews of the guided tour noted a lack of added value, at least beyond having someone navigate. Given that I have a very good sense of direction myself, and I would prefer bicycling at my own pace (including making stops for the duration that I choose), a straight rental, without having to adhere to a strict timetable, would work better for me. (In this case it would likely be more efficient to utilize a rental facility in Bar Harbor itself, without the need to travel by taxi to the visitor center.)

[shipgeeks]

The visitors center is just a few blocks from the tender pier.  If one is fit enough to do a bike tour, walking there should be no problem.

[texbecca]

16 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

The visitors center is just a few blocks from the tender pier.  If one is fit enough to do a bike tour, walking there should be no problem.

Yes, but we need to get to the Acadia Visitors Center. Which, according to Google, is 3 miles away from the Bar Harbor Visitors Center. Certainly walkable if need be but worried about getting there on time.

[GTJ]

8 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

The visitors center is just a few blocks from the tender pier. If one is fit enough to do a bike tour, walking there should be no problem.

I think that you might be confusing the Acadia Information Center, operated by the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, with the Hulls Cove Visitors Center, operated by the National Park Service. The former is located a few blocks from the tender pier, but it is not the visitors center, and it is not the meeting point for the tour at issue. The latter is three miles distant from the center of Bar Harbor. While that distance is certainly walkable, particularly by persons anticipating to bicycle, I think it is misleading to characterize three miles as "just a few blocks" . . . it is a one hour walk on foot, a good portion of which being without sidewalk and on highway shoulders.

[shipgeeks]

Thank you, I stand corrected.