3-daagse Oost-Canada-tour vanuit Toronto

I would do it again. There were more positives than negatives, but I need to talk to someone at Viator to get some clarification on: 1) We were not aware that it was a Chinese tour (our guide did provide English translation luckily) 2) We were not told we needed to pay for the “extras” with cash (there were 6 of us so at $369 per person that required over $2200 in cash) 3) Confusion with itinerary. (When I booked, the Thousand Island tour was included, but once we arrived we were told that was an option) 4) Establish an organized system for disembarking the bus. There was a difference in etiquette (as happens between cultures) on how to disembark from the bus so every time we stopped some passengers would immediately get up and fill up the aisle rather than exit in an organized pattern one row at a time (some passengers were down right aggressive and physically pushed) 5) Although the level of hotel was low to keep costs down (side note: hotel was often a 2 star, but the rooms themselves were all closer to 4 star) things could still be improved: cleanliness of common areas, stocked vending machines etc…one hotel had no bottled water to buy and we didn’t stop for over 5hrs before we could get some. 6) Supply cold bottled water. Get a couple of coolers. Replenish with them with ice as we stop. That would have been such a perk! Does Viator “subcontract” tours? This company was not Viator. I think it was Compass? A customer can’t do accurate research if they don’t know the company offering the service. This comes across as disingenuous. There was no way for me to research the hotels or the food we were going to be offered. This lead to “surprises” since what was expected and what actually came to be were very different. Expectation is important. Things should have been made much more clear to what this tour actually was: a tour of Eastern Canada, tailored to Asian tourists. Luckily our group was easy going and adapted, but we know this would have been a very big problem if other members of our family had joined us. Viator would Serve itself well to clearly communicate to a customer what they are signing up for. It is extremely important to do this. Our guide, Yasmin, was excellent. She did a good job juggling narrating in 2 languages. The things we saw were fabulous. It was VERY whirlwind, but, we expected that, and hence we’re prepared for that. No surprise there. We have great memories and “memorable stories” we will be sharing for many years.

This tour was an opportunity to see a lot in a very short time frame. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

The guide Yasmin was very kind and helpful as well as the bus driver. I would say the tour was a good value however, I think it would be better if they included bottled waters per day. The rotation of seats per day also makes sense for fairness. Also, it should have been emphasized that opting not to join the “optional” arranged meals and attractions would give a very limited amount of options to do and to eat and will most likely be stuck in the bus waiting for others as there were some attractions that were somewhat remotely accessible.