Has anyone used "Get Your Guide" for a shore excursion?

[islandwoman]

Has anyone used "Get Your Guide" for a shore excursion? 

How was their charge coded on your credit card - travel or a different category?

 

Were you happy with Get Your Guide's service?

[GeezerCouple]

7 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

Has anyone used "Get Your Guide" for a shore excursion? 

How was their charge coded on your credit card - travel or a different category?

 

Were you happy with Get Your Guide's service?

 

First, we have not used this service...

We prefer independent/private excursions, so we almost never take the excursions offered by the cruise ship.

(Sometimes, we'll see if others on our Roll Call might be interested in joining us, such as if we charter a large catamaran.)

 

But we do *not* want to go through some third party.  We prefer to deal/plan with the actual guide or group.

 

We usually start by Googling something like

"Private tours, <location name>" and start reading.  Many of those are obviously not the actual guide service.

 

Then we email the ones that look interesting, telling them when and where and also what WE want to do/see/etc.

Some never write back, and that tells us what we need to know. 😉 

Others may send a form reply.

And then there are those who respond showing they read what we wrote and can help us or even have suggestions.

 

NOTE:  Before ending the planning, we always ask something like, "Give what we've written already, is there anything else that you would recommend for us that we might not be aware of?"

Even if they respond something like, "Well, you'd got the high points of the area already!", at least we know they are responsive.

 

We've had some really good experiences.  A guide for the Vatican had done his Ph.D. dissertation research in the private archives of the Vatican, so he really knew his way around.   A second day was spent with him at the Roman ruins.

 

Enjoy!

 

GC

[NotADopey1]

We used Get Your Guide in New Orleans. The tour was fun and the guide structured the tour to the small group.  Some were more ambulatory than others. We will do another tour through GYG. I don’t remember how the charge was categorized.  

[Nitemare]

I agree wtih @GeezerCouple.  GYG is a third party provider and we try to avoid those, especially in places like Iceland where weather can always affect your plans.  Trying to communicate to a provider thru a third party when time is of the essence is much more difficult than dealing with them directly.

 

I know with the other third party that starts with "V" that you can usually see the actual provider on their website.  Not sure if it's the same with GTG, but I'd try to figure out the actual provider and book directly.

 

[edinburgher]

On 6/26/2024 at 12:16 AM, islandwoman said:

Has anyone used "Get Your Guide" for a shore excursion? 

As others have alrady explained, Get your Guide is a middleman just like "V" so you may not know which tour providor you are actually booked with unless you can find it with internet searching.

 

And as the providor has to pay a commission to a middleman earning  less from the booking, booking directly with them means they actually benefit.  This is important for providors, especially so if they are smaller companies or individuals.

 

Do check their cancellation policies in their " Ts and "Cs" as they may not suit cruise passengers and the actual providor may have more favourable ones.

Edited June 28 by edinburgher

[backbiter]

We booked an excursion with them to Halong Bay, Vietnam earlier this year. Did a fair bit of research online before booking, and the communication with the tour operator (based in Hanoi) was excellent. The tour itself was outstanding and tremendous value.

[lisagro]

I have used GYG several times and have always been pleased. You usually have a small group and lots of personal attention. I won't hesitate to book with them again.

[LEtue]

I have used them for multiple excursions in the Med and had wonderful experiences.  Cancellations were possible up until 24 hours before the tour start time.

 

Not sure I would use them in Iceland though because of the potential weather issues at the last minute - but that may be the same for many tour operators? .

[Nitemare]

14 hours ago, LEtue said:

I have used them for multiple excursions in the Med and had wonderful experiences.  Cancellations were possible up until 24 hours before the tour start time.

 

Not sure I would use them in Iceland though because of the potential weather issues at the last minute - but that may be the same for many tour operators? .

Cancellations due to weather are always possible in Iceland.  My concern with third parties is if there are delays or changes, how much harder might it be to communicate from the provider to the traveler (or the other way around) if time is of the essence?  We like knowing we can email the provider directly at the last minute to let them know we hit a closed road and are going to be 15 minutes late and expect there is a better chance they will get that message than if we have to go thru a third party.

[Floyd and elayne]

On 7/3/2024 at 5:42 PM, lisagro said:

I have used GYG several times and have always been pleased. You usually have a small group and lots of personal attention. I won't hesitate to book with them again.

Glad to hear….i booked a day tour in Reykjavik with them for next year…I researched them with resulting good reviews.

Thanks

[Lenbro1944]

I’ve booked tours through third parties such as get your guide. I know I can pay less by booking directly but you’ll most likely have to pay up front where as with a third party they will take your credit card info and not charge it until 24 hours before date of tour. I feel safer with that so if I cancel in advance I know I’ll get my money back no questions asked.

[donaldsc]

I use the tour consolidators to find an interesting tour.  I can then usually figure out the name of the company that is actually doing the tour and I contact them directly.  At worse I will end up paying the same as if I booked with the consolidator but I can ask questions directly to the tour provider and the provider gets to keep all of my money.  At best I end up with a better tour which is less expensive  than the consolidator cost.  Overall a win-win for everyone except the tour consolidator.

 

DON

[ljandgb]

On 8/25/2024 at 11:35 AM, donaldsc said:

I use the tour consolidators to find an interesting tour.  I can then usually figure out the name of the company that is actually doing the tour and I contact them directly.  At worse I will end up paying the same as if I booked with the consolidator but I can ask questions directly to the tour provider and the provider gets to keep all of my money.  At best I end up with a better tour which is less expensive  than the consolidator cost.  Overall a win-win for everyone except the tour consolidator.

 

DON

 Same here, for all the reasons above.  We've also made friends along the way on some trips and have added them to some private tours we've scheduled.  The tours booked directly have never been a problem.  The ones booked via third party (at the insistence of our traveling companions) were essentially impossible to modify.

[islandwoman]

Having just returned from a cruise that included 4 shore excursions booked through Get Your Guide, here is my experience:  Two of the tours went off without a hitch and were excellent, just as expected. One of them, to Blarney Castle was much better and less expensive than the ship's tour to the same location.  Those on the ship's tour didn't have enough time allowed to kiss the Blarney Stone. Two of the excursions were changed by the providers, unacceptably, just a bit more than two days ahead of time.  I went online and cancelled those two just short of the cancellation deadline.  My credit card had already been charged, but Get Your Guide refunded the entire payment quickly.   

[Nitemare]

On 9/1/2024 at 4:07 PM, islandwoman said:

Having just returned from a cruise that included 4 shore excursions booked through Get Your Guide, here is my experience:  Two of the tours went off without a hitch and were excellent, just as expected. One of them, to Blarney Castle was much better and less expensive than the ship's tour to the same location.  Those on the ship's tour didn't have enough time allowed to kiss the Blarney Stone. Two of the excursions were changed by the providers, unacceptably, just a bit more than two days ahead of time.  I went online and cancelled those two just short of the cancellation deadline.  My credit card had already been charged, but Get Your Guide refunded the entire payment quickly.   

Comparing costs to ship tours isn't a fair comparison.  Ship tours are ALWAYS crazy expensive.

 

Nice complaint about GYG on TripAdvisor on the Iceland forum posted last night or early today.  bad excursion, and GYG won't do anything about it.