Pretty good tour. There are far more interesting things to see on the red loop. I booked the 3 day pass so that we could do both loops with flexibility. Audio worked fine. App was good. The only negative we experienced was at the Times Square stop when they pushed us to get off both routes (we did not start there either day). After explanations, we were allowed to stay on, along with a couple of others who did the same thing. I would hope Big Bus could train its Times Square staff about this (or if you can only start at the Times Square stop, then make that clear). Based on other’s comments, they could use a few more buses or sell fewer tickets to avoid the overcrowding and having to wait.
Important Tips to avoid a horrible time…..
These tours drive through Manhattan where traffic extremely heavy (especially weekdays but also weekends and super especially on the red loop). Go early and do the Red Loop on the weekend. We caught the first or second bus on Saturday (Red Loop) at Empire State. Did the Blue loop Monday (second bus). Both times we got a seat up top. We stayed on the bus all the way around. Traffic was good.
If you can only do one loop, do the Red loop. the Red loop goes past many more points of interest. This is not a complaint, it’s just the way it is in Manhattan.
Hopping off and on is risky - it gets busy later - so you may not be able to get back on. This is especially bad on the blue loop where buses only go once an hour). Traffic gets heavy too so tour takes longer in peak traffic.
Use the app!!! It shows the current location of the buses and all the stops. It also tells you approximate time of next bus, and current time to drive around the loop. Missing a blue loop bus by a minute means an hour long wait.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Jun 2022
Hello,
Thank you so much for your detailed review on your experience! We are happy to hear that your experience went well overall. We also appreciate your recommendations for other guests and for our staff as well. We are sorry if you were asking to come off the bus at first and there wasn't an explanation given at the time. This normally is done when we are not sending that specific bus out as the next departure. However, we are happy to hear you were allowed to stay on in this instance until the bus was due to leave on its next trip. We hope this did not create too much of an inconvenience and that you had a wonderful visit!