Great day out, would not recommend going this far out of season as most of Sag Harbour and Southampton was closed. Tour guide had a lot of knowledge. The outlet centre was very good.
Though I'm glad I took this trip, there were pros and cons. I was happy for a refresher on some of Long Island since it had been many years since I last was there. The bus was comfortable. It was lovely weather and I enjoyed each of our stops: Southampton Beach and town, Sag Harbor where I had a very lovely lunch at The American Hotel. A bartender there provided some info about visiting Long Island that wasn't mentioned on the tour, and I really appreciated his info. The tour info focused on how difficult and very costly to visit the area, and the rich/famous people who live or summer there. The stop at the Winery for a wine-tasting was friendly and informative. A couple of hours stop at the discount mall was fine. Though I could have skipped this with all the shopping in NY, I can see where it was a really nice perk for some guests. Some improvements I'd recommend: it would be a nice, welcoming gesture to provide a small bottle of water to guests. But perhaps they don't since you can't use the bus' toilet. . . . ??? It was a turn-off that the first announcement on the bus was about this. Were I traveling with my elderly but active mother, we would have wanted to know this before booking. It's a long bus ride with no option for a toilet and I imagine this would cause some people stress. I don't think it was necessary to emphasize throughout the day that if you weren't back at departure time, the bus would not wait AT ALL and would leave without you. The guide even told us how much it would cost if we had to find a cab back. I'm a prompt person and this had me checking the time all day vs. just having a relaxing time. I understand needing to make an announcement, but I thought the lack of diplomacy set a negative tone. Some of us joked about it throughout the day: don't be late! they won't wait! It would have been nice to have some small effort to connect the people in the group since there were people from many different places. It was a nice touch that a couple of Billy Joel's songs were played as we approached NY on our return.
Really great tour, great guides,. But spent far too long at the outlet stores. Would rather have spent more time in the various towns.