This is a family operation that needs to review its procedures and staff. First of all, our tour was late to start. This is due in part to them scheduling tours with no space in between to allow for the unexpected. There was an 8am tour, then 10:30am tour and lastly our 1pm tour. Each tour is supposed to last 2 1/2 hours.
Our tour started 15 minutes late and the driver was rushed to get us on the van and on the road. This is difficult for the guide, as this is hard on them with no breaks. By the time he started with us, he was beginning to lose his voice. As a tour guide myself in a different industry for over 15 years, we were trained on how to communicate information in an entertaining and understandable fashion. We would also have a 1 hour break between tours. Talking for over 7 hours straight is expecting too much. It starts to show later in the day.
Secondly, although our guide was from the area, he spoke mostly about himself and his experiences, not as much on the area itself. Unfortunately, he has not developed the communication skills to be an effective tour guide. I caught him a couple of times giving inaccurate information. Not to be overly critical, it does not create a creditable experience. My wife and I noticed others on the van disconnecting from the tour.
Finally, due to the late start, the most important stop, the totem park, was cut short to get us back to the ship in time to sail.
We did enjoy seeing the areas outside of the city, but feel we did not get the information or experience described in the listing. This company needs to review itself and make some improvements. I give this rating with some reluctance but with the hope that it helps them make the changes necessary to be successful.
Відповідь від хоста
Dec 2019
Hello, we apologize that your guide was late. We run our tours back to back simply to accommodate to guests as much as possible. There are multiple ships that come to port a week with only 4 hours in port (if we put a gap in between tours we would not be able to accommodate these guests).As you could see as even back to back you heeded to head back to ship quickly. We do try to schedule our guides so that they do a tour and then have a 2.5 hour break (while another guide take the tour between). However this is not always possible. Our guides are only asked to do 2 tours a day and our tours are 2.5 hours long . So even on the few days where they need to pull 2 back to back its about 5 hours. This guide no longer works at Seaside Tours as he did not reach our standards. We greatly apologize for your bad experience and would like to thank you for your feedback as it allows us to provide a better experience for future guests.