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Traveler Reviews

Review by:   Carmela D,    February 2017 1 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - not recommended.
I have used hop on hop off tours in many, many cities in my years of traveling and I've always had good experiences, so I know it's a great way to see a city. In this particular trip to New York City, we were looking solely for a night tour. We wanted a way to see the holiday lights in NYC without having to travel half the city by foot. My Mom and I booked ourselves on the Holiday Light Tour by Grayline. We were on the 8:30pm bus on Sunday, December 11, 2016. Worst. Experience. Ever. Their brochure indicated that we would see all of the dazzling lights of the city culminating with the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. How many Christmas light sights did we see? Exactly one, Lord and Taylor. And that's it. We drove around a dark Central Park 1 1/2 times and wasted 60 minutes even though the tour was supposed to be 90 minutes of our time that we will never get back. Our bus driver negotiated additional tips from some tourists that were at the origination of the tour to drop them off at the Empire State Building wasting more of our time and then while dropping those tourists off at the Empire State Building, the driver and tour guide tried to get MORE tourists on the bus for 20 each to drop them off somewhere else in the city. I already knew we were in trouble with this tour group/bus, but it gets better. After all of the shenanigans I've already described, the tour guide starts to tell us that it was his 2nd to last day on the job and that he was quitting and didn't really care about the company or their guests anymore. I'm glad that I had to frame of mind to let him know that his performance thus far was a clear indication. When we asked the bus driver and the tour guide if we were going to at least see the Rockefeller Christmas tree, their response was that it was too crowded and there was too much traffic. Before I got off the bus, the tour guide decides to start debating politics with us when we mentioned we were staying at Trump International. Really?! Do yourself, your wallet and your precious time in the city a BIG favor: STAY AWAY FROM GRAYLINE.
 

Review by:   Ann M S,    February 2017 1 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - not recommended.
DO NOT TAKE THIS TOUR. HORRIBLE. No commentary. Hardly any lights. Worst 2 hours ever. Do Not Take This Tour. RIPOFF
 

Review by:   Toni L,    January 2017 3 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - worth doing.
The guide was entertaining, but the ticket sales people were rude and ineffectual.
 

Review by:   David P,    December 2016 3 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - worth doing.
First there are not that many Christmas lights to see. No view of store fronts because of all the people walkin around looking at Christmas displays. It was however a nice tour of Manhattan or at least the part we drove in.
 

Review by:   Ronald K,    December 2016 3 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - worth doing.
Did not see Rockefeller center,street was closed
 

Review by:   Smiley,    December 2016 3 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - worth doing.
The tour guide was awesome and the bus driver was a very good driver. The guide was very informative and funny. The downfall is that this tour takes part on a hop on hop off type of bus, which is barely protected from the cold and wind. We froze, especially our feet. We strongly recommend bringing heated insoles for the feet and hot paws for the hands, a really good winter coat, as the seats on the bus are just those plastic kind without any padding and they stay cold, as well as a hat. A rain coat helps when it rains as well, as we experienced rain and snow on this tour. _br/_ We travelled exactly 13.7 kms during this tour and were able to see many wonderful lights and were well amused by the tour guide. _br/_ I give it 3 stars because I think an enclosed bus with padded seats would be much more appropriate for this tour and the cost. It would have been nice to be comfortable while watching the lights.
 

Review by:   louise r,    December 2016 1 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - not recommended.
Don't bother if your intention is to see Christmas lights - if you want a night time tour of Ny then its great . Very disappointed , having been on a similar tour 4 years ago which was brilliant -but that was with a different tour company.
 

Review by:   happybeingstef,    December 2016 1 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - not recommended.
The absolute worst tour we have ever been on. we paid to be in a bus that quickly drove past a couple decorated buildings. The Man that was narrating the tour hardly spoke, he spoke more to a women from Las Vegas, and when he would mention something it was after we had passed it. Very disappointed in this tour. Several of the people on the tour including my husband and myself went to the box office to complain. I tried contacting viator during the tour with no response. No pictures taken because the tour was horrible
 

Review by:   Diane W,    December 2016 3 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - worth doing.
Our tour guide was great but talked really fast.
 

Review by:   Shannongilmer,    December 2016 4 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - recommended.
Tour guide was very informative and enjoyable.
 

Review by:   Topcoprtdnc,    December 2016 1 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - not recommended.
Awful experience. The narrator had such a heavy Asian accent you could not understand the majority of the tour. He tried to tell politically insensitive jokes and made several errors in historical facts that were corrected by passengers. Don't waste your money!!!!! You would be better to walk and view the lights.
 

Review by:   Kuniyuki N,    December 2016 1 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - not recommended.
This was a bad tour. We had a terrible response at the Visitor center of Gray line, and had to walk around to find our bus._br/_ The bus did not stop by Rockefeller center Christmas tree.
 

Review by:   Nan,    December 2016 2 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - ok, could have been better.
First of all, it was raining. We were offered ponchos but we had umbrella and rain jackets. We drove a few blocks and guide seemed not to care about any narration. He offered the comment that we were in Times Square but without history/details of area. There was limited covered seating on upper deck. So we were on lower level where you could not see anything. After driving a few blocks, the guide had us transferred to a SECOND bus so we could sit in covered area. The second guide was friendlier and offered much more detail and history as we drove along the tour._br/_ The covered area leaked water in many spots of the covering!! The guide gave tourists extra ponchos for coverage and warmth. Lots of the dripping /leaked rain ran under seats and continued to drip from seams in the covered roof . Some people went to lower level as belongings/packs were getting wet. These buses need some covered roof repairs.
 

Review by:   Judi H,    December 2016 1 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - not recommended.
The tour guide was totally inappropriate for this tour. This was a Christmas light tour, there were children on the bus as well as a diverse group of people. He may quite a few political references, talked about drug use, talked about the 'wifey' getting half of her husbands money, etc. He was generally very negative. I was with a party of 4 and everyone felt the same. I would definitely not recommend this tour. On a positive note...the lights were beautiful!
 

Review by:   doris j,    March 2016 3 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - worth doing.
Fun
 

Review by:   Jim N,    March 2016 4 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - recommended.
Good tour but would recommend not taking it if it rains
 

Review by:   Haryadi B,    March 2016 4 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - recommended.
it was nice to see NYC at night, love this tour
 

Review by:   Geoff S,    March 2016 2 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - ok, could have been better.
The bus was old and our front windscreen was broken making visibility poor. The commentator on the bus was making a fuss at passengers further down the bus so we couldn't hear some of the things he was saying. We did seem to go round the block a few times.
 

Review by:   Kayleigh L R,    January 2016 5 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - ultimate experience - highly recommended.
Fantastic! Great tour guide, awesome tour of the city !
 

Review by:   Tracey C,    December 2015 1 star review of New York City Holiday Lights Tour - not recommended.
The tour guide was aweful! Interjected too much of his personal beliefs and agenda. Tours should just be the facts of the tour and NOT his personal opinions about it,
 

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