My spouse and I travel quite a bit. We like to do our own thing, but enjoy a GOOD tour every so often . This tour had great reviews and since we were limited on time in NYC , we gave it a whirl. What a disappointment. We booked a “small group” tour which was only supposed to have 12-15 people. This most definitely did not happen. Nobody bother to notify us that our booked tour would not be honored. Since we did not know that we would not take a small group tour, we stood around in front of the Hyatt just staring at a large bus fill with loads of tourists. We didn’t even attempt to approach this bus because it definitely was not a small group and there was no way to know that was an Amigo tour bus! There was no signage or any other indication that this VERY LARGE bus was even remotely associated with Amigo tours. Once we finally figured out this was our tour, there were only unpleasant seating choices left, WAY in the back, with VERY limited viewing. I had read over and over on trip advisor reviews that similar instances happened to others, but I remained hopeful. I hope others reading this will take this review to heart. Don’t repeat my mistake.
More disappointment with the actual tour. Without getting too lengthy , I will briefly share the flaws. The tour guide will refer to all development in the boroughs as “gentrification” and make subtle political innuendos. All graffiti seen anywhere on the the tour will be highlighted by tour guide as beautiful “art”. Many great sights will be pointed out to you such as: Costco; any & all Starbucks; LaGuardia Airport (ad nauseam); Walgreens; CVS; Broadway Shows posters; and the much anticipated view of the camera that scans the EZ pass on the bus. Many on the bus were loudly wondering why the tour guide was pointing out such strange things?
Our tour also included a lengthy stop (30 plus minutes) at the UniSphere near the Queens Museum. Walking to the UniSphere and taking a picture took us less than ten minutes. There was literally no other vehicles in the parking lot and less than 20 other random people visiting this “attraction”. However, when the bus arrived at the stop for the Brooklyn Bridge, we were told we had 11 minutes (oddly specific) and it was SOOOO congested with visitors. Also, the bus did not park in a convenient location to the Brooklyn Bridge to get pictures. Walking to the spot, that many people were flocking to for pictures, was at least 6-8 blocks away. There was no way for us to get there and back in ELEVEN minutes! There were several crossing streets with lights. This was a huge disappointment to us as this was one of the biggest reasons for us booking this tour. We saw the many, many, beautiful pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Amigo Tours website. We had hoped to see such sights. The tour guide did not tell interesting stories about anything. The last two hours of the bus ride (really, that’s all this was), the guide didn’t even say anything. The air conditioner if did not work the last two hours. We arrived back to the original meeting place about 6pm and not 3:30.
I could go on and on. The Coney Island stop would take a whole separate disappointing review.
Please save your money, time, and frustration. Run, don’t walk, away from this tour. Look for literally ANY OTHER OPTION.