I live about 3 1/2 hours away from NYC and my husband and I visit at least once a year for a long weekend. I have done hop on/off bus tours in NYC twice before with different companies. Last year, when we had planned to do the night tour, it rained, so we were thinking about trying again this year. After looking online, we saw that TopView offered both the night tour which they all offer, but also a Bronx tour, unique to this tour outfit. We decided on this company because of the Bronx tour.
Saturday morning, we activated our tickets in the app, saw that the Bronx tour starts at 9 am, had breakfast and headed to the pickup location. When we got there at 9:15, we were told the Bronx tour only picks up at 9 am. There is ONLY ONE Bronx Tour per day. There was nothing on the app or the website that clearly stated this, although it is clearly labeled in the paper pamphlet. Very disappointing as that was the MAIN reason for purchasing the tickets and won't be in the city to use it Sunday. We've been through all of the other tours, uptown, downtown, Brooklyn, seen all of the sights.
We decided since there's NO REFUNDS to go ahead and get on the downtown bus and head down to the 9/11 Memorial. While we waited, I asked one of the street sellers for a map, since the map on the app is not that easy to use. He made me show him my ticket before he would give me a map. VERY RUDE.
When we got on the bus, we discovered, there's no live commentary, and the driver did not hand out or point out headphones. Once we got the headphones, we discovered that the pre-recorded commentary was not working, just playing music non-stop. A fellow passenger went down and informed the driver, and he reset the system a couple of times and got it running. However, the problem with this pre-recorded commentary, it's not always precise to where you are. Many times it's talking about something you've already passed.
They also boasted a live app that gives you live bus updates. I think they had good intentions with the app, and the map would be nice, eliminate one extra thing you have to carry around, but I did not find the map very user friendly. You have to scroll down to the map, use two fingers to move it around, and then it's only a tiny area, you have to do a lot of maneuvering to see where you're going, and what stops you want. It's MUCH easier to use the paper map.
As far as how long it takes to complete a full route, as other reviewers have complained, I disagree. This is NYC and there is a lot of traffic, and a lot of people. Yes, there are going to be delays. Sometimes routes may change due to closed roads, etc. That's beyond the tour company's control. I do not fault them for that.
We did enjoy the night tour. There was quite a long wait at the stop, and we had to wait for 3 buses before we found one with 2 open seats on the top. They drove slowly over the Manhattan bridge so that everyone had ample time for photos for the night skyline with all of the buildings lit up. The drivers on all three buses were very friendly and checked the empty seats before boarding anyone.
Probably would go with the Grey Line if we do it again.