Viator Excursions

[Hendon427]

Looking for feedback on Viator shore excursions.   They are a subsidiary of Trip Advisor.  Pricing is considerably less the Celebrity

[Fouremco]

We've used Viator a few times and were happy with the excursions. They were less expensive, smaller groups and better excursions in our view. We'd use them again.

[Beanb41]

Viator has some similarities to a cruise line in that they both use local tourist operators and both clip the ticket. A major difference is that the cruise line uses a larger clip but does provide some guarantees not given by Viator or other on line ticket agencies. On some occasions both may use the same local operators. Our experience is that some Viator excursions have been better than others just as some  cruise line excursions have been better than others. We have an upcoming cruise where we are using Viator and another online ticket clipper and Celebrity for excursions. The ticket clippers are for short excursions pretty much guaranteed to be back before sailaway the Celebrity for a long distance all day excursion.

Its very much how risk averse are you, whether you have OBC that can be used for the excursion and do you want to be an organiser or are you happy to be organised.

There is no right or wrong answer.

[mom says]

As the others have said, Viator is a 3rd party agency. They do not operate the excursions, they just sell tickets to excursions operated by independent excursion companies. While I prefer to deal directly with the operators instead of going through someone else, Viator is about as reputable as any 3rd party agency.

[aml3679]

We have used Viator many times and have been satisfied.

[jean87510]

I've used them in europe and the Caribbean. One thing i really like about viator is if you cancel (in the timeframes), you can get your money back. As long as you make sure to book excursions with the cancellation policy. This was key in some areas of europe as a few places would not reimburse us when we had a Itinerary change or a flight change well before their cancellation timeframes. 

Usually the vendors contact me directly after I pay so that I can give our phone # and get theirs and other small details. The trips never seem crowded. 

Another tip regarding viator. If you see an excursion that looks great, contact the vendor directly. We did that in st. Kitt and Grenada. I really didnt save much money. I just did it because I couldn't get the time I wanted on the viator site. Both vendors on st kitt and grenada were happy to accommodate.

[bebe08]

We have used Viator many times and really like them.  A key difference between booking with them vs the tour operator:

 

- Viator will require full payment at time of booking, but is fully refundable up until a few days before tour.  

As someone who has been a victim of credit card fraud more than once this decreases my risk ie not giving credit card to various tour operators, and I know I can easily get refunded if change my mind.  I am more comfortable booking directly with tour operator if no deposit is required and you can pay in cash at end of the tour.

 

Viator also vets the tour operators which gives added piece of mind.  To me it is similar to using a travel agent to book your cruise....they are an independent third party.  I have also found that they prices are competitive and not usually higher than booking on your own. 

[4774Papa]

11 hours ago, mom says said:

As the others have said, Viator is a 3rd party agency. They do not operate the excursions, they just sell tickets to excursions operated by independent excursion companies. While I prefer to deal directly with the operators instead of going through someone else, Viator is about as reputable as any 3rd party agency.

I too prefer to deal directly with operators, but sometimes those operators are difficult to find.  This is especially true in East Asia.  We have found Viator tours to be consistently good and a good value.

 

One advantage is that I can book Viator and pay in advance instead of having to carry lots of cash to pay the tour operators.  Also, sometimes organizing tours on the CC Roll Calls can be a pain.  Some people who sign up fail to show up for the tours or back out at the last minute.  Having to collect all the cash for organizing tours can be a royal pain.

[luv2travel90266]

Have had excellent experience with Viator. They typically offer a discount on the 1st tour you book with them if you register on-line. I have used them all over the world. Especially great is their skip the line tours which save hours of valuable vacation time not standing in lines. I probably saved at least 2 hours at the Vatican and was inside in 15 minutes. Same as several popular museums.  

[gerelmx]

I booked Viator excursions in Vancouver, I receive a great service, less crowded that X excursions and better price,

[Georgia_Peaches]

We used Viator on several excursions in Italy and Spain. They were great!  Many of their excursions originate in the cruise port so you don’t have to go far to find them. Highly recommended. 

[cruisemom42]

I have had less than stellar experiences with the tours I've booked through Viator in Europe and US. I would STRONGLY recommend looking for a local tour on your own. No knock on Viator's actual process -- but if the quality of the tour itself matters to you, then be very careful in what you book.

 

Several times I've been stuck on tours with multiple language groups -- you have to listen to every spiel in 2-3 languages, which slows things down a lot. 

 

Another time Viator cancelled the tour I booked (due to lack of participation) but did not bother to let me know in advance until I was actually at the place where the tour started. They had plenty of opportunity to either email or call me in advance but did not. Then, rather than refund me, the local provider very forcefully tried to get me to sign up for a different tour that I did not want....

 

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

Another time Viator cancelled the tour I booked (due to lack of participation) but did not bother to let me know in advance until I was actually at the place where the tour started. 

 

 

This would be my main complaint about Viator.  

[SbbquilterUT]

My personal choice is to review tours and operators on several sites and then work directly with the vendor rather than a third party like Viatour.  That way I have been able to get information directly from the operator particularly when traveling with a family member with T1 diabetes and we need to understand specifics.