Island Marketing Ltd.

[jiminyC_fan]

Mauigirl, I'm so happy to read that you enjoyed your excursion on Hilo. I just booked with them minutes ago on the same tour.

[jenlowen100]

Jimmy C, we did the same thing as Mauigirl and had an excellent experience. We booked the volcanoes in Hilo and the island otur in Kauai and i would highly recommend http://hawaiicruiseexcursions.com/ to anyone visiting both of those ports.

[bramj]

Glad to hear good reports for Island Marketing, just looking at their web site, we are from Australia wasnt sure to book with them or not, would love to hear from people that are going with them just recently

[jiminyC_fan]

THANKS, Jen!!

[TourDeCruise]

Since Mary Lou's tour was full, we just booked via Island Marketing for Hilo, the five hour tour, for next month. Is this the same tour that others did? Any additional feedback and experiences for Island Marketing for the Hilo tour?

 

Kathy

[wacruiser77]

We booked the Big Island Volcano National Park and Rainbow Falls excursion while in Hilo, HI on April 28, 2012, from Radiance of the Seas.

This was similar to a tour offered by the ship although the ship tour included lunch and was $40 more for 2 of us.

 

My problem with this excursion is that we were loaded onto a mid sized bus at first and then transferred to a 12 passenger van because they said "we can't afford to use a larger bus for a small group." We sat at the pier for about 10-15 minutes, no air conditioning and very cramped. The van had poor visibility and the passengers in back had to crawl over the rear wheel well just to get seated. After I got out of the van to find the driver, we got air conditioning and the tour proceeded.

 

It was not the drivers fault and he was a good tour guide. But we were not treated well by Island Marketing, and will probably not use them again.

__________________

[Middleager]

I would never book a tour with a company like this, unless it's the only way to get on a tour for a tour operator that doesn't advertise/book their own business. Yes they may be reputable. But I'd rather book directly with the actual tour operator. It's usually cheaper and you communicate directly with who you will get the tour from.

 

 

It's like in Oahu there are many tour operators for scuba diving. There are many brokers who do not own a boat or an actual diving op. They are only agents who take your money and book a seat on a boat. I would rather find out who runs the boat and book directly with the boat operator. That way I know which boat and the original operator, and can make requests for dive sites with them, and have a better chance of getting what I want.

 

If I book thru a broker, there is very little chance I can request for dive sites thru the broker, who is among others who may be booking a seat on the boat.

 

Most tour ops would also advertise their business some where. Usually you can book the tour cheaper directly with them. If most people book directly with them, the money go directly to them and helps to keep them in business, so that when it's time for my tour they are still in business.

[TourDeCruise]

We booked the Big Island Volcano National Park and Rainbow Falls excursion while in Hilo, HI on April 28, 2012, from Radiance of the Seas.

This was similar to a tour offered by the ship although the ship tour included lunch and was $40 more for 2 of us.

 

My problem with this excursion is that we were loaded onto a mid sized bus at first and then transferred to a 12 passenger van because they said "we can't afford to use a larger bus for a small group." We sat at the pier for about 10-15 minutes, no air conditioning and very cramped. The van had poor visibility and the passengers in back had to crawl over the rear wheel well just to get seated. After I got out of the van to find the driver, we got air conditioning and the tour proceeded.

 

It was not the drivers fault and he was a good tour guide. But we were not treated well by Island Marketing, and will probably not use them again.

__________________

 

Our experience was similar for our April Celebrity Century cruise to Hawaii. I was just about to call them that morning because the bus was a little late (5-10 minutes) when the mini bus showed up at that time. We also were transferred from the mini bus to the van once we left the pier area. Once we got going, the tour was fine. The driver/tour guide was good but not excellent. We did enjoy the tour. I agree it is better to book directly with a company.

 

Kathy

[jiminyC_fan]

We used them in May for Hilo and it was PERFECT!!! Thoroughly enjoyed the tour. The smaller group tours are so much better than the big bus tours. We really enjoyed our bus driver. We did load into a bigger bus and transported to a close area where we were broken off into groups. It did not take us long at all to get on the road. I HIGHLY recommend them. Well organized!

[HawaiianAndy]

Jimmy C, we did the same thing as Mauigirl and had an excellent experience. We booked the volcanoes in Hilo and the island otur in Kauai and i would highly recommend http://hawaiicruiseexcursions.com/ to anyone visiting both of those ports.

 

We too have had great experiences with Island marketing which is why we keep using them for our cruises. We find they always have a selection of tours you can't find anywhere else as well as tours with the best prices. We have always been very happy with their customer service and we make good use of their online reservations chat, we talk to their agents directly when we are making our reservations. We loved the volcano tour, our oahu tour and the Maui island tour. We've also used them for our caribbean cruises and we will use them again.

[brandy3415]

Companies often have non-refund policies on cancellations. Airlines have been doing it for years!

 

Not sure why they are giving you such a hard time with your rebooked tour in Caribbean. When I had a problem, writing a very clear, direct but not scathing email to the company got results. Before you completely give up, write them and once again describe the problem. Maybe someone else will see it and deal with it.

 

From my experience, tour companies do take negative posts on this board very, very seriously!

 

Give it one more shot!

[jiminyC_fan]

Sorry about your experience but I have found several tour companies with no refunds, period. It's been awhile since I used them so I don't remember their cancellation policy.