Grayline Best of Manhatten Experience 6 hr.

We have one day in New York before our cruise and have been thinking of the Grayline Best of Manhatten Experience 6 hour tour. It is done in an air-conditioned bus and they stop for lunch in Little Italy and then there is a short ferry ride. We are traveling in late October and am worried about the Hop On & Off buses as they are open and if it is raining it could spell trouble. I am also worried about getting off the Hop On & Off bus and then having a long line to get on another bus.

Has anyone taken this tour and what are you opinion of it?

Thanks in advance

I noticed you had no responses, so I will try to help. I myself have never been on a Grayline tour in NYC. But, Grayline is a very reputable company, and I did notice yesterday while in the city that the buses that they use looked top of the line, brand new. I am sure the tour will be fine. Did you look at tripadvisor?

I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth as a tourist who has been to NYC many times.

Any tour that is not a hop on/hop off is going to be better because you stay with your group and the guide the entire time. There is no waiting for buses. I have not been on this particular tour with this company, but I think this would be good for you guys since your time is going to be limited to 1 day.

You will get to see many of the sights that otherwise, you may not get to see. I am assuming the ferry ride is going to take you by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. That will allow you to see those much closer and get some really good pictures.

Aaawww.....my favorite......Little Italy! I have eaten at so many places there, but I can say that (and I am Italian and very picky about my Italian food) that La Mela's has been our favorite so far! The chicken parm took up my entire plate.....and it was not a small plate either.

You will have a great time! NYC is a wonderful city!!

I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth as a tourist who has been to NYC many times.

 

Any tour that is not a hop on/hop off is going to be better because you stay with your group and the guide the entire time. There is no waiting for buses. I have not been on this particular tour with this company, but I think this would be good for you guys since your time is going to be limited to 1 day.

 

You will get to see many of the sights that otherwise, you may not get to see. I am assuming the ferry ride is going to take you by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. That will allow you to see those much closer and get some really good pictures.

 

Aaawww.....my favorite......Little Italy! I have eaten at so many places there, but I can say that (and I am Italian and very picky about my Italian food) that La Mela's has been our favorite so far! The chicken parm took up my entire plate.....and it was not a small plate either.

 

You will have a great time! NYC is a wonderful city!!

Thanks for the info. I have read on Trip Advisor that the hop on & off tours do not get that great of reviews. The problem is the wait times after you get off as many buses are full.

I am also considering ON BOARD TOURS, have you any comments on them. They use a mini bus with about 35 people on them.

Thanks in advance

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I am also considering ON BOARD TOURS, have you any comments on them. They use a mini bus with about 35 people on them.

 

Thanks in advance

We went on Onboard Tours a few years ago and it was great .I had lived near NYC for several years and his tour took me to areas I had never been to . If this is your first visit to NYC I would highly recommend On Board Tours.

Good to hear that you were pleased with On Board Tours. I booked with them a few days ago for our one day in NYC next month before our cruise. I saw that they got good reviews. I liked the fact that they get off with you and you don't have to wait for an empty bus to continue on.

Good to hear that you were pleased with On Board Tours. I booked with them a few days ago for our one day in NYC next month before our cruise. I saw that they got good reviews. I liked the fact that they get off with you and you don't have to wait for an empty bus to continue on.

Which tour did you pick with On Board Tours? What date will you be in NYC? How far in advance should one book? I know that he said Saturday was their busiest day and we will be booking on Saturday.

Thanks for the info. I have read on Trip Advisor that the hop on & off tours do not get that great of reviews. The problem is the wait times after you get off as many buses are full.

 

I am also considering ON BOARD TOURS, have you any comments on them. They use a mini bus with about 35 people on them.

 

Thanks in advance

Yikes!! We actually did On Board Tours back in December and it was a really bad experience. So bad, that they ended up refunding part of our money. I did a review on Trip Advisor, so feel free to go out and read it. My screen name there is the same as here and I did it back on December 13, 2011.

We got totally ripped off as you will be able to read in my review. Note that they have 41 terrible reviews and that's pretty high.

I would post the link here, but I'm not sure if I can or not.....

For any of you going with On Board, you need to show up 45 minutes early!!!!!!!! They will give your seats away to the local hotels that sell tickets for them, regardless of the fact that you already paid for your tickets well in advance.

Which tour did you pick with On Board Tours? What date will you be in NYC? How far in advance should one book? I know that he said Saturday was their busiest day and we will be booking on Saturday.

We did the see it all tour and only booked the night before but that was in a slower tourist season.

I read a lot of reviews of On Board Tours on Trip Advisor and while they did have some awful rating mostly due to mechanical problems but they had a lot more of great reviews .One bad review was because it wasn't a double Decker bus , another was that it was too much money , another that the buses were small or they weren't open air or they did not stop for an hour for lunch or the ferry was crowded . So out of all the terrible reviews only a small amount were significant problems .

I read a lot of reviews of On Board Tours on Trip Advisor and while they did have some awful rating mostly due to mechanical problems but they had a lot more of great reviews .One bad review was because it wasn't a double Decker bus , another was that it was too much money , another that the buses were small or they weren't open air or they did not stop for an hour for lunch or the ferry was crowded . So out of all the terrible reviews only a small amount were significant problems .

I also read the reviews on Trip Advisor and it seems that one of their big problems is to get a bus to the starting point to take the tour. I am almost thinking of booking with Greyline. Greyline gets many bad reviews but it seems it is 99% for the Hop On & Off buses.

The tour I am thinking about is their Manhattan Experience, which is an enclosed bus and the reviews on that one are pretty good. They have that in 4, 6, & 8 hour tours and looking at them the 6 hour is the same as the 8 hour but without going to the top of Rockefeller Center.

I read a lot of reviews of On Board Tours on Trip Advisor and while they did have some awful rating mostly due to mechanical problems but they had a lot more of great reviews .One bad review was because it wasn't a double Decker bus , another was that it was too much money , another that the buses were small or they weren't open air or they did not stop for an hour for lunch or the ferry was crowded . So out of all the terrible reviews only a small amount were significant problems .

I also read the reviews on Trip Advisor and it seems that one of their big problems is to get a bus to the starting point to take the tour. I am almost thinking of booking with Greyline. Greyline gets many bad reviews but it seems it is 99% for the Hop On & Off buses.

The tour I am thinking about is their Manhattan Experience, which is an enclosed bus and the reviews on that one are pretty good. They have that in 4, 6, & 8 hour tours and looking at them the 6 hour is the same as the 8 hour but without going to the top of Rockefeller Center.

Keep in mind, these are only the reviews that are actually posted. There are still so many people who do not post reviews on sites like TA, whether good or bad.

We showed up 30 min early for the tour, but both buses were filled up already. When I questioned the employee, he brought the big boss man over to me. I'm sorry, but I do not tolerate crap from businesses who run things dirty or for greed. I gave this owner complete hell because of his response to me. He explained to me that even though I had bought our tickets on-line 4 months in advance, they have deals with certain hotels in the city that will sell last minute tickets to their guests, which aka, results in overbooking. He apologized and said we could get on the next tour. That was not good enough for me. We had to re-arrange the whole day---he said he would refund half our money, but it took me 3 months of contacting them and the BBB on a daily basis to get this. I did finally get it though.

I did some research on this company after we returned and I found out that they ended up having to change the name of their company because they had received so many complaints filed with the State of NY, that they were losing a ton of business.

After that whole mess, we ended up having another problem with the Holiday Lights tour. It was just a huge mess. Not to mention we did not stop at all of the stops we had paid for, per the advertisement of the tour, which is why I went to the BBB.

OP--I think you would be fine booking your tour with Greyline, especially since it's not a HOHO tour.

Keep in mind, these are only the reviews that are actually posted. There are still so many people who do not post reviews on sites like TA, whether good or bad.

 

We showed up 30 min early for the tour, but both buses were filled up already. When I questioned the employee, he brought the big boss man over to me. I'm sorry, but I do not tolerate crap from businesses who run things dirty or for greed. I gave this owner complete hell because of his response to me. He explained to me that even though I had bought our tickets on-line 4 months in advance, they have deals with certain hotels in the city that will sell last minute tickets to their guests, which aka, results in overbooking. He apologized and said we could get on the next tour. That was not good enough for me. We had to re-arrange the whole day---he said he would refund half our money, but it took me 3 months of contacting them and the BBB on a daily basis to get this. I did finally get it though.

 

I did some research on this company after we returned and I found out that they ended up having to change the name of their company because they had received so many complaints filed with the State of NY, that they were losing a ton of business.

 

After that whole mess, we ended up having another problem with the Holiday Lights tour. It was just a huge mess. Not to mention we did not stop at all of the stops we had paid for, per the advertisement of the tour, which is why I went to the BBB.

 

OP--I think you would be fine booking your tour with Greyline, especially since it's not a HOHO tour.

you said the company had to change its name-are on board tours and all new york yours the same as their offerings online seem to be similar

you said the company had to change its name-are on board tours and all new york yours the same as their offerings online seem to be similar

I was trying to find my email that I received from the NY Dept of Consumer Affairs because that is who advised me about the name change. I filed a complaint due to false advertisement (did not go to all the stops that their website listed) and that is when I was also advised that OnBoard was not licensed (this was back in Jan) with them because they had a name change and had not yet filed under their new name. (I was really mad over this tour company and that is why I went to the BBB and Dept of Consumer Affairs--I never file complaints like I did with this comp)

The name they used to have should not be an active name anymore, so I wouldn't think NY Tours is the same company. A lot of the tour companies in NY have similar tours because tourists want to see all the popular sites. I certainly will use tour companies in the future (even though I've been there many times already), but I just won't use OnBoard.

I was trying to find my email that I received from the NY Dept of Consumer Affairs because that is who advised me about the name change. I filed a complaint due to false advertisement (did not go to all the stops that their website listed) and that is when I was also advised that OnBoard was not licensed (this was back in Jan) with them because they had a name change and had not yet filed under their new name. (I was really mad over this tour company and that is why I went to the BBB and Dept of Consumer Affairs--I never file complaints like I did with this comp)

 

The name they used to have should not be an active name anymore, so I wouldn't think NY Tours is the same company. A lot of the tour companies in NY have similar tours because tourists want to see all the popular sites. I certainly will use tour companies in the future (even though I've been there many times already), but I just won't use OnBoard.

I just looked up the BBB ratings for On Board Tours and Grayline and both received a BBB rating of F.

We did the Greyline tour in Manhatten in 2010, we thought it was a very comprehensive tour and enjoyed it very much. The only thing they didn't tell us is that at the end of the tour they leave you at Rockafeller Center - this is not where the tour starts. My DH has problems with walking more than a couple hundred of feet at a time and it took many rest stops to get back to our hotel. Luckily for us it was only a couple of blocks away.

I just looked up the BBB ratings for On Board Tours and Grayline and both received a BBB rating of F.

Not cool at all!!!!!:(

We just did the Freedom Tour with OnBoard NY tours, and we had a fantastic time. I was a little worried after reading some of the reviews, but the bus was on time, they gave us bottled water, and everything was as promised. There were only 14 people in our group, and our guide Dave stayed with us the whole time. We only had one day to spend in NYC, and we would highly recommend this tour. We got there 45 minutes early to check in, but could have gotten there 15 minutes early and been fine. I realize that on any given day it could be a different situation, but we were pleased and felt that the tour was very worthwhile and worth the cost of the tour.

We just did the Freedom Tour with OnBoard NY tours, and we had a fantastic time. I was a little worried after reading some of the reviews, but the bus was on time, they gave us bottled water, and everything was as promised. There were only 14 people in our group, and our guide Dave stayed with us the whole time. We only had one day to spend in NYC, and we would highly recommend this tour. We got there 45 minutes early to check in, but could have gotten there 15 minutes early and been fine. I realize that on any given day it could be a different situation, but we were pleased and felt that the tour was very worthwhile and worth the cost of the tour.

That makes me feel better....I was getting worried. We're signed up for the NY See It All Tour for Sept 25th at 12:30. I'll report back with our experience when we get back home around the middle of October.

That makes me feel better....I was getting worried. We're signed up for the NY See It All Tour for Sept 25th at 12:30. I'll report back with our experience when we get back home around the middle of October.

Ah, yes, the see it all tour! The exact tour that we paid for, but was not satisfied at all.

Beware----they advertise (I see they still do) that they stop at all of the following:

Our itinerary speaks for itself. This is the stuff you want to see: Get out at all of the following stops:

• Times Square
  
• World Trade Center Site
  
• New York Stock Exchange
  
• Wall Street
  
• Trinity Church
  
• World Financial Center
  
• Federal Hall
  
• Madison Square Park
  
• Flatiron Building
  
• South Street Seaport
  
• US Customs Building
  
• 5th Avenue
  
• Rockefeller Center
  
• NBC’s Today Show Set
  
• St. Patrick’s Cathedral
  
• Central Park
  
• Strawberry Fields
  
• Dakota Building
  

They do not stop at Times Square (you look while driving through it--not a biggie for most since we all tend to go there on foot anyway), you also do not even get close to Rockefeller Center or the NBC Today show set. I also hope they changed their stop for the WTC site, because our view was from inside a building. I was so glad I made our own reservations for the 9/11 Memorial. We also did not get out at 5th Ave. We drove down it and took pictures while we were moving.

Good luck! I hope you have much better luck than many of us have had!:)