The tour was set through viator who told us to meet the bus at b.b.kings.
At 7:18 am the tour company sent a text message asking us to confirm tour. At 805 am when I saw message, I called and left a message, no one answered then texted them that would would see them at b.b.kings at 930, per what we've were told from viator. At 8:33, tour company texted back to meet them at 9am, at b.b.kings, or at 119n. Riverside dr at 930am. I didn't see the message until 9:08am, so we missed the chance to walk around the block and catch the bus. 5 minute walk We ended up running to the second location, about 1.3 miles away and called the tour company again to ask them to be sure the bus would wait. Memphis city tours told me that they tried calling and leaving me a message, no record and that I was susposed to contact them about the tour the day 24 hours before, she said it was on the voucher. I did not see anything about checking in with them the day before. She continued to argue, I just asked her if she would tell the bus to wait, as we were rushing as quickly as we could. She said she would call the driver, and she did.
Not sure where the communication broke down, but we were disappointed in this booking. The bus part of the tour was ok, it appears like the tour company has man ups ways of booking this. Just city tour, city and lunch, city, lunch and cruise, or city and cruise. We ended up with 2 hours in the middle for down time as we thought it was the entire tour would be 6 -6.5 hours. Very overpriced!
Bus tour was ok, about 1.5 hours...drove around showing us buildings in Memphis, although we did get out to see Peabody ducks, and Saint Jude's hospital. The cruise portion was good, entertaining, about 1.5 hours. Overall disappointing.
72 included the cruise which we noticed when we arrived was 17 per person and there was room to board at last minute, driving though Memphis with tour guide through a small neighborhood of historical houses, detailed story of Melvis's death, drive by where Martin Luther King was assassinated, short stops at St. Jude visitor center, Peabody Motel lobby, and we were dropped on Beale Street for 2 hours 15 minutes on our own which was too long. No entrance fees except the 17 river cruise, nor lunch/tips were included in the 72. May be worth it to some, but overpriced in our opinion.
Also ensure the tour bus will pick you up at your motel in spite of what Viator may tell you on phone otherwise, or what the motel may tell you when motel convinces you to change your reservations. Call the Memphis tour director phone number on voucher several days before to ensure pick up details, not the 24 hours as recommended.
We really enjoyed both the city tour and the river boat segments of the tour. Both guide were very good and it gave us a good introduction to Memphis.