Last year, my mother and I did the Christmas Bonfire Adventure Tour, with the dinner and tour of the San Fransico plantation. And to cap off the night, we had some time to watch the bonfires being lit on the Mississippi River Levee. This tour, while a lot of money and time, gave us ample time to actually make the hike to the river (more than a quarter mile) with enough time to enjoy the celebration and not feel rushed.
This year, on Christmas Eve 2018, we decided to do just the Express Tour as we didn't find the dinner and the plantation tour worth the extra money. We paid $118 for the trip. Posted on the website and on each ticket was a departure time of 4:45 pm December 24, 2018. We took this time as we would be leaving the Grayline tour location at 4:45 pm. This was not the case. The first bus didn't arrive until 4:46 pm and our bus didn't leave until almost 5 pm.
The main issue is there was literally no communication from anyone at Grayline as to why we were delayed. There were a bunch of employees standing around waiting for the buses to arrive.
Because we were already late, the bus driver stated to the entire tour as we were leaving she didn't have time to offer up the safety information on the transportation; so there could have been a liability issue had something happened and we weren't briefed.
It didn't take long to reach our police escort once we got out of the city, but we did have to wait for at least 30 minutes for the rest of the buses to catch us to our location. So we just sat on the side of the road, wasting time. When we finally got to the bus drop-off area, it was about 6:40 pm. So if you wanted to be present on the levee when the bonfires were lit at 7 pm, you had to haul down (more than) a quarter mile stretch of uneven barely lit street and climb up the levee before the celebration actually started. And while we left 15 minutes late, the bus pulled off the parking at exactly 7:50; the tour guide didn't know how many people were abroad the bus, so she guessed when we left the River Levee that she wasn't gonna leave anyone behind. Essentially we had less than an hour to experience the bonfires celebration because there was so much wasted time, which included the hike to and from the river.
The tour guide didn't provide any information as to why this is a tradition and when she did talk, she screamed into the microphone blasting everyone's ears. She also told the group that there were places to purchase food, drink, and bathrooms. Which is not an accurate statement. The information she provided, was a basic history of New Orleans, but not in chronological order.
When we were leaving, instead of turning off the lights to allow for the tour to see the bonfires, she decided she needed to talk more. She was quickly told that we paid for the bonfire experience and wanted more time. She also didn't provide eggnog (like we received in 2017) nor did she read from the Cajun Night Before Christmas. She instead raffled off that book and a necklace.
There is no reason to spend the money on the Express tour when it is literally cheaper to rent a car and drive to the Mississippi River Leeve yourself.
The tour and tour guide were so bad that numerous people bailed once we arrived back in New Orleans on Canal Street.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Jan 2019
Micheal, I understand that the tour manager has tried to reach out to you about the guide and the driver. Although it may not have been exactly like 2017, we would have wanted you to have a good experience and apologize that it did not meet your expectations. I can connect you to the manager if that is agreeable.