Tartan Tours Cape Breton Island Cabot Trail Tours

I found a few comments using the search function but wonder if there are others who have used this company. Want to be informed before putting up a deposit via money order with no recourse. Thanks.

Do you know if they have a website? I have been unable to find information on this tour company.

Hi Sue, we've already reserved with her for the date you're interested in. (Unless you're taking another cruise you haven't posted about.) As far as I know she is a solo operator but perhaps she can put you in touch with someone else, or maybe she does have other drivers I don't know about.

They do not appear to have a website, just various listings in business directories. I found her through a Google search of tour operators in Sydney NS.

We used Tartan Tours last fall for a group of four. I've been planning private tours for many many years so I'm familiar with what to ask and how to ask it, and my friend traveling with us has been planning even longer than I have and we both read each & every e-mail to be sure we don't miss anything.

Our tour was adequate, though Diane is more of a driver than a guide (she doesn't accompany you on site). That we could live with because that's something that's fairly unpredictable, and as you both pointed out, there is no website and not a lot of information on Cruise Critic. This turned out to be an issue at the end of the tour when we went to settle up and Diane asked for SALES TAX (I believe it's called HST) of 15% on our tour. This came to over US$50. We were stunned. When I protested, she said she "thought" she had mentioned it in her e-mails (note: this is where a website would have been useful, because there would have been one more source of information). My friend & I looked at each other & knew we had never seen any mention of tax, either numerically or in a general disclaimer, but with the ship departing soon, and not having a copy of each & every single e-mail with us (I print only the most important ones & also type a summary sheet with contact info, phone numbers, prices, inclusions & exclusions etc.) it was her word against ours, so we paid it.

I might add we used a licensed tour operator in Halifax NS on the same cruise and he did not add tax after the fact. I e-mailed him when we got home & he said not only is the tax rate not 15%, he'd never heard of adding it after the fact, that it was "normally" included in the pricing. I gather taxes vary by province in Canada but just as a note, our guide in Quebec did not add tax after the fact either.

When we got home, we each reviewed all our correspondence with Tartan Tours. I save every single e-mail, I still have them in fact. There is NO mention of tax of any kind or any language indicating it would be added after the fact.

I e-mailed Diane and asked for an explanation and received no reply. A second e-mail was not answered either.

I guess one could take the position that you go into a store to buy something and in most places you get tax added to your purchase and maybe I should have known?? Guessed? Asked? But as I indicated, my friend and I and our husbands have taken tours in probably 50 countries total and have never had tax added at all, especially an undisclosed one. There may very well BE tax, but I'm guessing it's folded into the quoted price.

Be sure you have everything documented with this tour operator down to the penny, and bring copies of every single communication.

Thanks. Obviously I will know more after I've had the experience of the tour, but I looked over our emails and she DOES clearly state the tax up front (and it does appear to be 15%) but she has included it in the totals that we will owe her.

I looked up the GST/HST taxes online. It is 13% for Nova Scotia, so I guess she has rounded up slightly. That's only a few dollars so not a big deal.

I wonder if those are included in the taxes we can request a government rebate for, when we leave Canada.

Two If By Sea, That's good to hear. Even if she didn't respond to my e-mails when we got home, perhaps she realized that she hadn't in fact included that information in our correspondence, and got her act together. I do wish she had responded, it really would have been the appropriate thing to do and I don't think we would have been left with such a negative impression, and frankly, I'm self-employed and if someone had pointed out to me that I had failed to include something critical like that, I would have offered to refund the money. And if she HAD included it that information and I and my friend had just missed it, you would definitely think she would have responded and pointed out to us that we should be more careful, and we would have eaten crow. Her failure to respond was really the critical point.

I do think it's probably illegal to represent a sales tax being a higher rate than it really is but that's between you and her!

Have a great time! Sydney really is a wonderful place and believe me I didn't let my unhappiness with that issue sour me on Sydney or Nova Scotia. It was a great port and I'd love to go back!

Trece, thanks for the good time wishes.

Can I ask -- what sights did you ask her to bring to you see while you were there? I have a pretty good idea of what I want to go see (mainly, Fortress of Louisberg, and the Miner's Museum) but it's still months away and we could still change our minds.

Thanks for the responses. I question a tour operator not having a web site in this day and age.

Hi Sue, we've already reserved with her for the date you're interested in. (Unless you're taking another cruise you haven't posted about.) As far as I know she is a solo operator but perhaps she can put you in touch with someone else, or maybe she does have other drivers I don't know about.

 

They do not appear to have a website, just various listings in business directories. I found her through a Google search of tour operators in Sydney NS.

I've been emailing her for awhile, as recently as 10 days ago and she said she was still available. I have another independent tour booked at another port. They are using a credit card to hold the spot but we have to pay cash whch is fine. I think we will explore other options as it is just my husband and I and unless we were able to find others to join us it was going to be an expensive tour.

TWO IF BY SEA, I just checked and my last email from her was on March 23, last Sunday and she said, that yes, SHE was still available on July 2. I would double check if I were you..

Two If By Sea - Well, that's another kindof funky twist to our day, but with tours things are always played by ear a little bit so I'm not complaining about this, just stating fact. When we first started corresponding, the only place I knew we wanted to see was Louisbourg, and I asked for suggestions for the remainder of the day. SHE suggested Baddeck, Bras d'Or, and also said we could probably get to part of the Cabot Trail (ours was a 9-4 tour). We specifically said we did not want a full sit down lunch (enough food on the ship!!) but rather a quickie stop somewhere. She provided a rough outline of the day, including timing, and all seemed fine.

When we were picked up, she seemed a little vague on what we had discussed, and again, we tend to go with the flow, since we feel we are paying guides for their knowledge of the local area. We went to Louisbourg first and DH and I absolutely loved it, it's just the kind of place we like, and I would go back again if we return to Sydney. When we met up afterwards (as I indicated, she does NOT guide you, she just leaves you) she seemed to no longer want to go to Baddeck etc. but she suggested the Miners' Museum. Sounded neat to us (though why it wasn't suggested when we were planning our itinerary, I don't know), and she called ahead to reserve tickets for a particular tour. I thought we would stop for a bite as we had requested but now that we had a tour time, we had to keep going, which was fine. The Miners' Museum was very poignant and interesting and something we'd never done anywhere, so it was a good choice. Again, however, she doesn't accompany you, but the museum provides a guided tour.

At that point, however, I guess it was too late to get to Baddeck etc. as planned, so she decided we should eat at the Miners' Museum - but this turned out to be a full long sit down meal (nice restaurant, I might add - great food - nice owners) - we treated her (which we had mixed feelings about once the tax thing was sprung on us :rolleyes: ).

So - it was a fun day and a learning experience, but it bore little resemblance to the plans we'd made - which was OK, we got to Louisbourg and that's the main thing I wanted to see - but I don't know why she suggested certain places only to alter the itinerary at the end - there were no weather issues or anything like that - I do suspect we expended a lot less GAS on the itinerary we ended up with than the one proposed.

I'm not sure what month you'll be there, I understand Louisbourg has different policies about guided tours within the site depending on the time of year, so check in advance and be sure you join up with one. I hadn't really researched this because I thought Diane would be accompanying us, and found out when it was too late that there were guided tours. It's very neat because the guides/staff are all in costume.

You'll love both places.

Had I known we were only going to do two things, and were going to spend a lot of time on lunch, I'd probably have requested a shorter tour, OR would have spent more time at Louisbourg. Also, the port terminal building had a crafts market set up inside & there were some neat regional crafts. I would have allotted time for seeing that had I known. Also, considering that Louisbourg and the Miners' Museum aren't that far away (they are not nearby by any means, but certainly not as far as the Cabot Trail) and considering we really didn't receive any actual guiding, and admissions were not included anyway (be sure you research admissions to those sites, they were not inexpensive), I might have looked into the cost of hiring a cab for a certain number of hours, just as a comparison.

I don't want to imply it was a bad day because it most definitely was not! There was just a little more hindsight involved in this day than most other tours. If there's anything else you want to know, don't hesitate to ask. I can't stress enough that we loved Sydney.

Sue 1898 - I agree with you about the website.

Both of you - I can't say I'm surprised to hear you have both been told there is availability on the same day. ;)

I have been e-mailing Diane about tours in October. Our ship is in Sydney a short time - from 1-6 p.m. She suggested several things: a 3-hour tour in a van for 6 people to go to Louisbourg, the Miner's Museum, or Englishtown/St. Ann's Bay would cost $300 plus tax plus admissions. I asked how much the tax was as well as admissions. She said the tax was $45 (15%), and the admission to Louisbourg had been $16.

Because of our short time in port and the 3000+ passengers all wanting off the ship at the same time - I will be very tempted to book the longest ship's excursion that's available. I want to get off the ship in a timely manner and see as much as possible.

Hmm. Sue, thanks for the notice. I will check with her and see what's up. Maybe she has a second driver she uses for additional bookings.

Trece, thanks for the advice about the Fortress. I thought it was more of a walk-in and walk around on your own sort of place. I will check their website and see what I can find out.

Hi,

She wrote right back to say she has additional drivers. So if you're still interested in the Cabot Trail tour, there shouldn't be a conflict.

Of course, I will know more after our trip, and it is very helpful to hear from Trece about what to expect -- the fewer surprises, the happier I will be. Thanks also for an explanation of the restaurant at the Miners' Museum, since I had thought we might end up there ourselves.

But for now I have had only positive communications with her and am looking forward to the day in Sydney!

Trece, in terms of timing: I *would* like to get back to Sydney in enough time to see the crafts assembled for us there on the pier, as I imagine we will begin by heading straight to the fort and bypassing those. Do you remember enough about your timing to tell me what time was your tour at the Miners' Museum? If it made things tight at the other end I will want to plan definitively on an earlier one.

One of my aims is to avoid any crowds from the ship's organized tour of the Miner's Museum, which seems to go there before lunch.

Thanks!

Thanks for the info. We're really looking for a tour, rather than a driver as Trece clarified Tartan Tours to be. I think we will consider other options.

Two If By Sea - First of all, please clarify in advance whether that crafts market in the terminal building is there all the time. We weren't told about it, we just stumbled on it when we returned, so there was no pre-planning involved in our seeing it.

Yes, we did also start with the fort. I don't feel we had enough time there, but I usually feel that way in any port! I suggested researching the tours offered there because I think you'll get the highlights quicker, and then give yourselves time to roam around. The costumed guides are really neat and they are happy to pose with you. As I understand it, during the summer months the tours are often & plentiful, then as fall approaches the number of tours drops, and I believe there are a few weeks at the end of the season where there are no tours at all & the site is entirely self-guided. You have to allot time to the fact that you are not dropped off on site, technically. Diane drops you at the visitors' center, where tickets are purchased, then you have to take a bus to the actual entrance of the site. The buses run often, but obviously it is a "time eater" to have to do this, ditto on the way back. There's no choice about this, it's nothing to do with Diane. Also, if you're tendering as we did, additional time is lost to the tender process. I realize I'm backtracking here a little, it's just that your available time isn't necessarily what it seems.

She called ahead from the car & reserved tickets for the Miners' Museum. I'm thinking that it was sometime about 1. There were no ship tours there at the time, basically it seemed to be just people with their own cars. Our guide was "Abbie" (yes, this is a male), a retired miner, and his presentation was WONDERFUL. Ask for him. The walking inside the mine is a little treacherous, I'd suggest a small flashlight would be helpful (don't bring something huge because it'll ruin the atmosphere). You have to wear a hard hat & cape. The website is minersmuseum.com.

You can do all of this and still have time for the crafts (if you've determined they will be there) if you skip lunch. I don't think the Miners' Museum restaurant offered takeout. The menu is on the website if you're interested. We had had a hot buttered rum and a cookie at Louisbourg - it's as if you are eating in a local tavern of the period - I'd suggest that and you'll be fine until you are back on the ship. If you eat at the museum restaurant, nice as it is, you'll be rushed.

Two If By Sea, I agree the more you know in advance, the better - I'm like that too - there are enough unexpected moments during travel as it is, better to be prepared for what you can be. If you have any other questions, let me know! :D

Sue1898 - My friend and I have come up with a classification system for guides we've had. We try to determine in advance what class they fall in, but we often are at their mercy. Only in countries where guides are regulated and you can ask "do you have a guiding license?" are we ever sure. To us, there are the "drivers" that basically take you from Point A to Point B to Point C. Yes, they do talk, and you learn about life in the area, some history etc. but you are on your own at the sites. And then there are the "guides" who basically are with you every step of the way & accompany you on site. We'd had very little information about Tartan in advance - but she's definitely a driver, not a guide, according to our classification. One expects to pay less for a driver than a guide. Diane was our highest quote for the entire cruise, and once the tax was added (everyone else had included it) she was far & beyond the highest. I say this with the understanding that local economies are different & one factor is that what you pay in a place where there is a lot of competition is not necessarily what you pay in a place where there aren't a lot of choices.

I know you'll both have a great time!!

Thanks again! I clearly have some more research to do. Was planning to do a lot more anyhow, as we got closer to the actual trip. But your information has been VERY helpful!

I'm glad to have been of help - I know I was floundering a lot when it came to research on this port. I do want to add that we were there in late September, so you are going to encounter a different situation in the summer, probably a lot more crowds (local as well as ship), for example. Be sure to check on cruisecal.com to see what other ships may be in port the same day so you see what some of your competition might be! Don't forget July 1 is Canada Day, venues may be closed or altered, and I'm guessing people may link their own vacations to the holiday like we do with July 4. You have a number of considerations we didn't have (unfortunately, none of them positive!) when it comes to tight timing. :eek:

BTW - are you from Boston?

Diane of Tartan Tours cheated my friends and me. She promised to give us a tour and drive us 40 minutes outside of Sydney to the Louisbourg Fortress. It would cost $280 for four of us. We were shocked when she pulled up in front of the visitors center to let us off. She came back two hours later when we called her. We had to go inside to pay our own entry fee and then pay for a real tour. When we tried to get some of our money back because she didn't do as promised, Diane reluctantly came down to $250, still an outrageous price for simple taxi service.