Avoid Graylines Trolley Tour Vancouver

[Lightsluvr]

We suggest that you avoid the Graylines' Vancouuver Trolley Tour in Vancouver. The Hop-on Hop-Off claim is a joke. They have too few double-deckers and trolleys operating at any one time and there are huge lines at every popular stop, so you may have to wait hours to get onto the "next" trolley. Very disorganized. We were at a downtown stop for over an hour just to get started on the tour; a supervisor pulled up on a motorcycle and called a regular bus for the 20 people waiting at our stop "just to get us into the system". After we got "into the system", we experienced more full trolleys that could take no more passengers. We had to wait an hour to be picked up at Stanley Park and we bypassed several stops for fear we would not be able to get back on. We finally just gave up at Granville Island where crowds were huge and took a taxi back to our hotel. Graylines is quick to take your money but they refuse refunds even though they misrepresented their service and schedule.

Buyer beware.

 

LL

[weathermom]

what day of the week was this? LL.... last weekend was really crazy around vancouver.

[Minybear]

I sure hope graylines deluxe city tour is all right!!

[TK0507]

What other services are there besides Grayline? I will be there in late June and was planning on using them. Any other reviews of Grayline? Are they always backed up like that or was that just a bad experience?

[Coral]

We did the grayline hop on hop off trolley previously (2 years ago) and enjoyed it. We had no problems and received a AAA discount.

[Lightsluvr]

what day of the week was this? LL.... last weekend was really crazy around vancouver.

 

It was on Saturday, May 5.

 

Grayline's supervisors admitted they did not have enough units into the system when the tours were supposed to start at 9:00. When the trolleys got full, they just started bypassing stops, making hundreds of paid customers very upset. The double-deckers never got caught up to fill the gap, as they are supposed to alternate with the trolleys through much of the route.

 

LL

[weathermom]

for some reason it's like the start of "cruise season" was a big surprise for a lot of businesses this year. I'm not sure why...it sure did start with a bang - not a whimper - with 4 ships in town the same day - I think we usually just have the "odd one" for the first week or two.

 

I think a lot of businesses targeted this weeked for going full strength rather than last weekend as now there are multiple ships pretty much every day. At least I've noticed more of the trolleys and the big red buses (the other "jump on jump off" tourist buses) around the last couple of days.

[lambs2]

What other services are there besides Grayline? I will be there in late June and was planning on using them. Any other reviews of Grayline? Are they always backed up like that or was that just a bad experience?

 

We took the hop on-hop off Big Red Bus around Vancouver. This was two years ago and we thoroughly enjoyed our day riding it to see the city sights! Not sure if it is still operating, but you can do a web search and see. The driver helped us figure out where to catch a local bus to get to our hotel near the airport. We had all our luggage with us on the HOHO bus after our Alaskan cruise.

[TK0507]

I am wondering in anyone knows if the situtation has improved in Vancouver since the start of the cruise season. Has anyone used the trolleys in the past couple of weeks? Do you still recommend avoiding the Graylines Trolley tour?

[aussie jb]

I used the trolley a couple of weeks ago and thought it was great, we got to use it for the second day as well. The drivers we had were fantastic and a lot of fun - especially Larry.

[Krazy Kruizers]

That's a shame it has gotten bad. We did them a few years ago and didn't have any problems.

[weathermom]

I don't think it has likely "gotten bad". The first big weekend of the cruise season was tough on everyone - residents, busiinesses, tourists, tour operators... we all had to sweath through that weekend. The cruise season "groove" seems to be in full swing downtown now though & I'm seeing happy tourists walking the streets, riding the buses etc.

there are 2 options for the hop on hop off buses though... vancouver trolley http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/ and www.bigbus.ca . I'm not affiliated with either, but folks sure seem to be having fun riding around on them.

[bbjaspan]

Can you ride these buses/trolleys as much as you want for the 2 days, or only "once around." Do they somehow keep track of where you've been or if you've got a valid ticket for the day you can get on anywhere?

 

Where do you buy your ticket to begin?

 

Thanks

[aussie jb]

You can ride them around as much as you like. We were actually approached by a representative at the pick up spot in Gastown who was selling tickets, otherwise just jump on board and someone will catch up with you at one of the stops. The drivers don't sell the tickets. Personally, I thought it was good value for the two days.

[bbjaspan]

You can ride them around as much as you like. We were actually approached by a representative at the pick up spot in Gastown who was selling tickets, otherwise just jump on board and someone will catch up with you at one of the stops. The drivers don't sell the tickets. Personally, I thought it was good value for the two days.

 

Thanks. It's so great to hear from someone who's been there/done that.

[KarenE]

Has anyone done this tour recently? Has it gotten better?

[bjksgk]

I had read this post before we left for our cruise, but figured things had worked out by now since its been a month. WELL I am here to tell you the situation is just as bad as the OP described.

 

We were there this past Sunday. Were sold our tickets right away, and although there were lots of people waiting we figured it was time for the next trolley/bus. We were not told anything about any problems (it was raining). A few minutes later a trolley came and it was full - no one got off, and they would not allow any one on as you cannot stand. Some of the people in line started to complain loudly and we found out they had been waiting over an hour, some almost two hours. The buses were not running at all, only the trolleys. Because it was raining, people were not getting off the trolleys. WHY we were not told about this situation before they took our money and wasted our time I don't know, but I recommend that before you buy your tickets you ask if bOTH the trolley and the bus are working, or else you will be waiting forever to get on the darn thing at one of the stops.

[kruisecat]

It appears (based on their website) that Grayline West Vancouver is currently having a labor dispute and when I went to reserve one of their sightseeing tours I was told that at this point they were not taking reservations. Based on this information it would appear to me that that is why the busses were not running for the previous poster. I'm guessing that the Vancouver Trolley just cannot handle the amount of business that they normally share with Grayline.

 

All of this leads me to the Big Red Bus company which also has a hop on/off service and allows riders to use it for 2 consecutive days.

 

Hope this helps!