PICK UP was a very DISORGANISED process. There were other tours being picked up from same place which was confusing. We were there early but the loading caused delays.
With this tour you were forced out of sheer confused desperation to take a guess and approach a man who appeared to be the coordinator. At no point did he introduce or identify himself to the wider group to indicate what tour he was in charge of nor at any stage did he check off people on a tour list like a lot of the other Hawaiian tours do - both of which would have at least provided some form of order to loading!!!
There seemed to be three vehicles allocated to this trip and this coordinator was directing people who approached him based off the numbers in their party to whichever vehicle had seats left. He was rude and condescending to the point I felt unheard and intimidated when I tried to “check in”. I asked my husband to take over who had more success but this meant despite being there early and before other late comers we were some of the last to be seated.
Because of this haphazard style of loading my husband and I were unable to sit next to each other for the duration of the tour. The bus itself was also outdated and cramped. I would normally take something like this on the chin but being four months pregnant, knowing this was a full day tour (upwards of 7 hours) and now being unable to take cat naps on my husband’s shoulder on the bus when inevitably needing PLUS following the terrible experience with the coordinator… welp they say first impressions matter! And this one has.
I could be wrong in assuming when you book a tour with your spouse you can expect to be able to sit next to them? Reading other reviews (both good and poor) it appears pick up being a shambolic mess is a common theme. Another common theme of the poorer reviews has been around booked group’s being split up. I wish I’d read that review before booking as it would have made me think twice whilst currently pregnant. Sitting wedged in between two strangers was not what I expected.
There also did not appear to be any spare seats across the three buses once everyone loaded so this tour was fully booked. Perhaps if they didn’t book as many people on these tours and provided enough space for couples and booked groups to sit by each other and worked on a better pick up process there would be no poor reviews. Clearly this is all about the money (bums on seats) and not about the comfort of the service provided seeing as these poorer reviews mention these issues spanning back the last three years yet nothing seems to have changed.
Once we got started things gradually turned around; our driver was super awesome, great attitude, funny guy, provided snacks and some chilled drinks, insightful about the different locations and when he realised we were celebrating our first year wedding anniversary that day he gave us each a wee gift from the last stop which was very kind of him, he received a tip for his cheerful manner and service.
The sights themselves around the island offered on this tour were great! Ultimately this could be a good way in a day to see parts of the island if you aren’t hiring a car. The group was able to see dolphins, whales and turtles at some of the stops. Stopping at the Dole Plantation and Turtle Bay were highlights.
There were some shop stops that could be missed and some drive by locations that could be made into stops but that’s neither here nor there when you’re receiving snap shots of a place.
The stars I give are for the awesome driver and ultimately the sights seen which this trip provided.
The coordinator and the impact of the pick up experience / not being able to sit next to my husband corresponds to this lower review.
My husband did offer to Uber us back to our accomodation towards the end of the tour as he could see me fading however the lovely American group I was seated with / the driver / Dole Plantation being the last stop meant I held on.
Lastly I wouldn’t pay full price for this tour again after learning from others that most of them accessed the tour at discounted prices online.