Has anyone worked with/booked tours through Viator company?

[Work to travel]

I found this website that is associated with The Lonely Planet that has tours all over the world. You enter the country and region and it pulls up tours specific for cruise ship passengers. Has anyone booked and/or taken a tour with this organization? http://www.viator.com/

 

We are looking at a private Ushuaia shore excursion to Tierra del Fuego. They have a Worry-Free Shore Excursion policy:

"We will ensure your timely return to the Ushuaia port for this activity. In the rare event your ship has departed, we will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call. If your ship is delayed and you are unable to attend this activity, your money will be refunded."

 

Lots of interesting tours but just want to be sure they are reputable. They are endorsed by Lonely Planet.

 

Thanks everyone for any impute.

Work to Travel

[John Bull]

Viator is a big well-established and reputable international concern. That's no absolute guarantee but they're about as safe as you can get.

You're probably aware that, like City Discovery, they're a booking agency, not a tour operator. They sell excursions on behalf of local operators both large and small. The quality of the tour depends on the operator, not on Viator, though hopefully they don't deal with operators who don't meet with decent minimum standards.

You can probably ferret around the web, find the operator of a chosen tour, and book direct at a lower price. But the price difference is unlikely to be significant - they get a large discount from the operators and, for instance, they don't charge customers a premium for booking most ho-ho buses or major attractions.

 

Cruisingexcursions is a new but well-regarded outfit doing the same but

specialising in excursions for cruise passengers.

Cruisingexcursions have a clause guaranteeing your return to the ship in time, I'm not aware that Viator had that safeguard, cruisers are only a tiny proportion of their clientele. I suspect that safeguard has been added by Viator due to the presence of the new-kid-on-the-block.

 

There are pros & cons dealing with an organisation like Viator.

It's one-stop shopping - plenty of choices for all your ports on one website.

Your up-front money is much safer. If the tour doesn't happen or is sub-standard, you are much more likely to get recompense - they'll simply debit that recompense from payments to the operator. Chasing a foreign tour operator for your money back is much less likely to be successful.

But..........

You have to pay with booking. So watch out particularly for refund policy if, for instance, your ship doesn't make the port.

They're an extra cog in the works, so there's an extra potential for an error in a booking

You get scant tour information from them, their staff will likely know no more that the words on their website. We declined one excursion through them for that reason.

 

We used Viator just the once.

For a day excursion from Hong Kong into China, operated with an included group visa. Because of the group visa, the excursion had to be pre-paid. About 200USD for the two of us. We chose to book with them for about $10 more than the operator's direct price because we know nothing about that HK operator and felt our money was safer with Viator.

An excellent excursion, Viator arranged the pick-up from our hotel, texted us the day before to remind us, and phoned us at the hotel to again remind us.

Couldn't fault either Viator or the operator.

 

JB :)

[Work to travel]

Thank you so very, very much for your wealth of information! Appreciate your time and effort.

 

Work to Travel

[giraffegirl]

We used Viator for excursions in Iceland and in Amsterdam. Had no complaints whatsoever. They are really easy to use and you print out your e-ticket at home before you ever leave so you've got all the details at hand.

[duellapaul]

We have used Viator many times in many cities but all in the US. We have found it fulfilling what we needed. All of the tour operators were willing to accommodate anything that came up. And their prices were comparable to other operators, if not less.

[cruiselovers20]

we have used them numerous times and we have always been very pleased with their service/tours. We have already booked tours with them for various areas we are visiting this year.

[beachgal]

Also used Viator at several different international cities and always been very happy - they met us on time and made sure we got back to our cruise ships on time. Always a small group and get to see so much in the limited time we have in port. We'll definitely use again in the future. Highly recommend!!

[guild1944]

I have used Viator many a times and found them extremely good, reasonably price and hustle free refund.

Are you sailing with celebrity cruise, ship  "eclipse", march 26th to April 7th. If yes, we can talk about private excursions together at the port. Might be economical, 289-946-0026 ( Canada )

[lynncarol]

I used Viator once, and NEVER again.  I booked a tour through what I thought was the vendor, only to find out it went through Viator.  3 days before the event, the vendor emailed me that the tour was only available in Italian.  I responded that since I don't speak Italian, please cancel my tour.  The vendor said he would.  None-the-less, Viator charged my credit card the entire amount and refused to believe that I had cancelled.  Unfortunately when I disputed this with my credit card company, I could not find the original vendor's email while Viator sent the cc folks a 17 page response resulting in the credit card company believing them and not me...so I was out the entire amount.

[njhorseman]

5 hours ago, guild1944 said:

I have used Viator many a times and found them extremely good, reasonably price and hustle free refund.

Are you sailing with celebrity cruise, ship  "eclipse", march 26th to April 7th. If yes, we can talk about private excursions together at the port. Might be economical, 289-946-0026 ( Canada )

 You posted this on a thread that's been inactive for 9 years, so no...they're not on your upcoming cruise.

And it's not a very good idea to post your phone number on a public message board.

[WEGL81]

Viator is owned by TripAdvisor.  I have probably booked with them for 30-40 excursions, all of which have worked out perfectly.  It's important that you use their website or app, though, and link it to your email. That is how they communicate.  Viator also has a lot of "Reserve Now, Pay Later" options that eliminates the risk of not getting refunds when you cancel (which also has to be done at least 24 hours before the scheduled tour).  Your cc does not get charged until 24 hours before the tour, so cancelling is always hassle-free.  I have had several cases where the tour operator communicated an issue to me through Viator which resulted in me cancelling the tour.

[Petronillus]

We've used Viator twice. The first time was an excursion from Montreal to Quebec City. Mediocre in every respect. What soured me the most was that the Montmorency Falls was billed as one of the major attractions. At that point the bus stopped and we all trooped out, only to find that the falls was across the river at a far distance.

We recently were part of group that booked a tour with Viator in Manila. There was confusion about the pickup point, as a result of which our start was delayed by tour hours while we shuffled back and forth outside the cruiseport. The Viator contact number was not much use and the guide, once the connection was made, was thoroughly nonchalant and insouciant.

My experience so far leaves me less than impressed and less than eager to book with Viator in the future when/where a suitable alternative is available.

[Torquer]

We were recently on a tour in Puerto Chacabuco that we booked directly with a private tour company for $150 pp and there was no advance deposit required.  At lunch, the tour guide came up to us and asked for their fee and we gave them the money.  We then found out that everyone else at our lunch table had booked the tour through Viator instead of booking direct like we did.  They paid $200 pp plus they had to pay Viator in advance.  Needless to say, they were not happy with themselves for overpaying for the same tour. 

 

My point is to make sure Viator is really providing some value over what you can get by booking directly with a private tour company.  We have never used them, but I understand that in some cases, they may have a better cancellation policy than the tour company and they provide some protection in case the tour company goes out of business.  But in the case I described, it provided the Viator customer absolutely no extra value and just cost them more money.

[cccole]

Sometimes Viator is a good start to looking for tours but if you can contact the tour company directly you may have more options and a better price.  Cherie

[90scruzer]

On 1/16/2015 at 6:58 PM, duellapaul said:

We have used Viator many times in many cities but all in the US. We have found it fulfilling what we needed. All of the tour operators were willing to accommodate anything that came up. And their prices were comparable to other operators, if not less.

we have used them often, but never in the US :P. 

 

but as always it's caveat emptor.   They are just an aggregator (think Amazon here -- you get a lot of "knockoffs"/copy cats and you have to do due diligence to get the better tour) and they also can add a significant hike to the price over going direct.   So it depends upon how much legwork you wish to do to find a local tour (when you can find one) and even that is not a panacea as we have had a few REALLY bad local ones (including what may be the worse tour we've ever taken - a private one at that!).