Our tour guide, Michael, gave us a very informative tour and Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach are absolutely stunning.
Michael and the information he shared rates an Excellent but I have to give the company a Poor based on the following reasons.
The tour is advertised as a 2 hour tour but our tour only lasted 1 ½ hours.
Unfortunately I was very disappointed that other people were added to our tour after we were told we would be the only 4 people. Due to COVID, I make a concerted effort to ensure our safety and wouldn't have booked this tour knowing there would be other people in the van with us.
Also, I had 2-3 phone conversations with Daniel Daly (the owner) and he lead me to believe he would be our tour guide but met us at the van and left. Michael did an excellent job even though I was upset about the extra passengers and Daniel not being our guide and therefore didn't enjoy the tour as much as I should have.
If you book with this company, make sure you get some type of assurance, other than verbal, that the tour is as sold (guide, # passengers, length of tour).
Response from Host
Feb 2021
I really appreciate your comments and would like to reply to each of your concerns raised.
All of our guides are of a very high standard, being aware of the local history going as far back as 2000 years BC with our first residents the Timucuans. Michael is an extremely knowledgeable guide and professional operator of many years service on the Island. We really appreciate your rating him as excellent!
The tour is advertised as a 90+ minute tour that can run up to two hours depending on various factors including interaction of the clients in asking questions, amount of time spent at the different locations on route including taking photo's etc...
In regards to Covid 19 concerns. We operate 12 seater passenger vehicles and currently restrict the numbers on the bus to a maximum of six persons. Of your group of four, three of those booked on-line and on a different day to your reservation. We always try to accommodate any special requests made by individuals in regards to any given need or concern they might have for the duration of the tour in advance of departure. No request was ever made as to closing out the tour as a private group and booking on different days would have made this difficult to facilitate without a manual override to our system.
I did have multiple conversations with you during your consideration as to the tour content being right for you. I do operate tours as a guide and depending on the scheduling might very possibly have been operating as a driver for the tour you were on. However, it appears that there have been some assumptions made that were never agreed with you on behalf of Amelia Island Historic Tours.
You made a request that your group be collected from your private hotel on the Island. This request was declined because, as a public tour, to facilitate such a request would have taken the bus out of service for other members of the public wishing to take the tour at that time. This was clearly intimated to you resulting in your using your own transport to get to the departure stop for that tour. Two other persons had also booked, taking taking the maximum we allow currently to six persons in total. Currently most businesses on the Island are operating at 100% capacity. We are still closing out a six which is a company decision as oppose to being mandated by the City. Private tours are available whereupon groups are collected from their given location and taken out on a Private tour and then deposited back to their hotel at the end of the tour. I have even take guests to lunch as part of the inventory.
This company has a very transparent policy in regards to booking public tours. We run three tours a day at 10.00am, 1.00pm and 3.00pm. The tours are 90 minutes in duration but can go over that time depending on factors already mentioned.
All information relating to the tours are as they are advertised. There are no hidden agendas and if a special request can be accommodated, it would appear in the notes section of your booking confirmation.
I am truly sorry that you feel you did not enjoy the tour as much because I was not your guide. I don't recall having taken you on a tour prior to this experience and therefore find it difficult to reconcile where this comparison comes from?
Our aim is to always give our guests the best possible experience and for the most part, we succeed!
I hope that you enjoyed this beautiful Island and hope that we might see you again in the future, accommodating all of your needs as best we can.