"2 Day Rhode Island Boston CT from NYC HELPFUL REVIEW"

2 DAY BOSTON RHODE ISLAND TOUR
Bus #1771
2 Day Boston Rhode Island

Day 1
The trip started off with an employee picking us up from 39-10 Main street in Flushing, New York in front of the HSBC bank at 6:30am. The person actually didn't get there until about 6:40am, but that’s cool. We were taken to 177 Canal street in Brooklyn, NY. The bus left Brooklyn at about 8:15am and we were headed to our first attraction, but before the attraction we stopped at a rest area to get a quick 45 minute bathroom break and food. The rest area was clean, (the rumors are true no one is permitted to use the bathroom on the bus). There was McDonald's, Subways, and Dunkn Donuts to choose from. After about 45 minutes we were headed to Rhode Island to The Breakers Mansion.

Our tour guide Rachel (very nice and organized person, her English is perfect) mentioned the itinerary and the attractions we were going to see on the 2 day tour. Among the mentioned attractions 2 most important attractions that were on the website when I booked this trip were not mentioned. That was the museum of science and the Quincy Marketplace. It's not Rachel's fault, it's the taketours.com/ gotobus.com owner's fault. They do not update their website to explain/reflect that some of the attractions are dependent upon the weather conditions or they forget to remove older attractions that were not going to be on the current trip. So double check with the company before you book the 2 Day Boston Rhode Island trip.

The main reason my son wanted to go on this trip was to do the Harbor Boat Cruise and to go to one of the most talked about museums in Massachusetts which is the museum of science. The purpose of me booking this trip was to explore that museum and the Quincy Marketplace area. My children and I ended up going to the Marketplace 2xs on our own while the other tourist went to activities we opted out of.

On to the annoying part of this trip. This old Chinese lady just didn't know how to say sorry or excuse me and she bumped my son. This lady had a habit of pushing. Hello f*ckn boundaries everyone. I had to yell at the lady because she pushed my daughter out of the way while we were getting off the bus on the first day and then was pushing up against my lower back causing me to almost topple my fragile son. Then Day 2 the pushing of my son yea no enough been enough a day ago. I was trying my best not to get ghetto up on that bus, but it happened. I informed Rachel what my intentions were if this lady touched any of us again. Rachel spoke to the lady and told her to please keep her distance from my family. The lady and her friends told Rachel in Mandarin, that I wasn't telling the truth. These ladies, not knowing that I studied Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Mandarin in junior high school 204 in Queens and in high school here in New York City told Rachel what I was claiming wasn’t true. They ALL were extremely shocked when I turned around and told them I wasn't lying I was telling the truth and that I understood 75% of what they just said. Then I said in Chinese say excuse me. I also had an Indian and Caucasian family on the bus that witness this happen to my child and they spoke up and acknowledged my son was indeed pushed. Just because my family is African American and Hispanic mix doesn't mean I only read, understand, and speak English. Being that I knew I was going to be around 80% Chinese I brushed up on the languages before I booked this trip. Some phrases you might want to learn in Chinese before booking these trips.
1) Say excuse me
2) Stop pushing
3) Yidong MOVE and that’s only after you are tired of the bullsh*t

Attractions: You can read my detailed reviews on the individual attractions on my yelp.com reviews dated 8/18/18 and 8/19/18
1)The Breakers Mansion we toured for about an hour. Without using the devices 1 hour would be more than enough time.
2) New England Aquarium: The 2 hours was more than what we needed to explore the Aquarium. After about an hour of exploring we decided to leave and walk to the marketplace which was only a 3 to 5 minute walk from the aquarium.

Our fellow bus riders headed to the $35 a person lobster dinner at about 7:30pm and we headed back to the marketplace to watch the free street performances and shop for 1 hour.

About 9:15pm we arrived at the Holiday Inn. It was only about 30 minutes drive from the marketplace. It was clean, had a microwave, fridge, coffee maker. Wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm not used to staying in these types of places, with that said it wasn’t bad at all. I brought my own pillowcases and wash items.

Day 2
Headed out at 6:10am. We are used to waking up early so no sweat to us. It looked like our fellow travelers didn't mind as well.

First stop Harvard at about 7am for an in-depth guided tour. It was not worth the $36 I paid for the 3 of us. You can still see Harvard with the group for FREE. You just have to guide yourself. DO NOT PAY FOR THE GUIDED TOUR for Harvard on a weekend or if the tour is before 10am IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

Second stop MIT arrived about 8:20am and left about 8:45am it is a self guided experience and it's free as well.

Third stop was at 9:15am until 10:15am and that was the Harbor Cruise. That was worth every nickel. Just being able to sit was priceless. It's a tour so of course the crew member was talking about the history of the Harbor which was cool. She spoke in-depth about the Boston Tea Party...

Fourth stop was Connecticut, Yale which I paid for a guided tour. Started about 1:40pm until 3pm. It's optional as well. I paid because my son wants to attend Yale (he’s 10). Never to early to start thinking. However, I won't pay again because it's free to tour on your own. The campus, just like Harvard is open to the public. However, I was never forced to pay for anything that was optional. I didn't do the Duck Tour or that nasty expensive Lobster dinner. Remember look carefully before booking a tour, there are some trips that state attractions are (mandatory) and some trips with attractions that state it is (optional).

Rest Area heading back home to NYC- we stopped for 15 minutes.

My only gripe is that the bus dropped us off on Northern and Main street instead of the original drop off and pick up location which was supposed to be 39-10 Main street Flushing. The drivers 2 children ages 8 and 15 were on the bus so I'm guessing it was so they'd be closer to take the bus home alone. In all fairness it was easier for people to get to the bus from here. However, unfair to my children and I because we had to wait over 15 minutes for my husband to come get us because he was waiting at the original location then got stuck in traffic coming to the new drop off location.

A run down of what I voluntarily paid for on this trip:
DAY 1:
Rhode Island (my son loved it)
-The Breakers Mansion $24 Adult &
$8 X 2 children ages17 and under=$16
Total=$40 PAID
One of those things you have to see at least once while in Rhode Island. I’ve been there about 3xs. Though Christmas time is the BEST time to go.

Boston
Aquarium (okay)
$28 X 2=$56 & child under 12=$19
TOTAL=$75

Hotel overnight in Boston (included)
-------------------------------------
DAY 2
Boston
Boston Harbor (awesome)
$22 X 2= $44 and $17 age 12 and under=TOTAL $61 PAID

Harvard (wack) DONT PAY FOR AN IN-DEPTH TOUR
$12 X 3 all ages= TOTAL $36 PAID
I know lwhat you’re thinking who pays for a college tour, but whatever. I won’t ever make that mistake again.

NEW HAVEN CT (awesome) DON’T PAY FOR THIS TOUR IT’S FREE
Yale $11 x 2= $22 and child 12 and under $7. Total=$29 PAID

Plus I paid the $60 for the 2 days mandatory service fee for 3 people because it's $10 a day per person so $10X3 PEOPLE= $30 a day X 2 days total= $60

Total paid: $301

So the breakdown:
$301 (the attractions we chose to do plus the driver/guide fee) + $216 (the initial tour price was $108 each. I purchased the deal buy 2 get 1 person free) grand total for a 2 day trip, 1 night hotel stay, 5 attractions, no gas money to be spent, no driving I had to do, visited 3 different states in 2 days all for $517. That's about $172 per person. I'd say that's a great little trip for 3 people.

"Worst experience"

the first trip took us more than 9 hours to get into our first destination niagara falls and it was the worst experience that we’ve ever encountered; (1) the restroom was locked for the entire trip , unless you are chinese, yes they only allowed chinese people to use it so bias, (2) you cant be late and thats acceptable but if you are chinese the tourist guide and the driver will wait without any words, (3) the driver doesnt know how to speak and understand not even a simple english which is often cause of misunderstanding, (4) customer service was terrible, been on the phone for more than 30 minutes bt still cant speak with no one same with the live chat I’ve got no response, it was so hard to reached them out w an urgent and non urgent concerns. (5) they should give you a concrete and well detailed itinerary so you will be aware as to what time, wht type of restaurant etc. so you can plan ahead just in case you will not goin to avail the other activities.

"Why didn't I see this site before i…"

Why didn't I see this site before i booked with them!!!! Please learn from my mistake, worst ever!!! I did the 2 Day DC and Philly, don't book with them....you are better off planning the trip yourself and taking a hop on and hop off bus! I only saw 5 star reviews on their website, and like a fool, I believed them! HORRIBLE!!!!!!

"All fine except that we were not…"

All fine except that we were not informed that entire tour group will be of Chinese language origin. Tour guides were talking mostly Chinese and did not have good English dialect skills. Bus driver was not able to speak English at all. Was disappointed that wifi was not working through most parts of the journey so googling about the place for information also became inaccessible. Felt as if I were in China more than USA.

"Company changed the itinerary during my…"

Company changed the itinerary during my trip without notifying me. When I inquired about this they simply replied that Lassen (sub-contract company) made a change, despite what was on their website when I paid. I've made a formal complaint, but so far nobody responded. They also removed my review from their website! Taketours lies about their tour packages and refuses to admit it!

"Worst tour company!"

I recently booked a tour using Taketours and it was the most distarous trip ever! I had a bad feeling about this tour initially itself when I had to confirm my bookings numerous times over chats and calls and still didnt receive it until 10PM the day before I had to leave for the tour. On pickup day, as confirmed by taketours that I will be dropped at hotel, the girl who cam to pickup told us they didnt have cars and couldnt drop us to hotel and we will have to go to chinatown and be there till 5. I was traveling from India and after a 40 hour journey all I wanted was to sleep and rest. I had already confirmed this thrice with taketours that the pickup people will drop me directly to the hotel, but they shifted us around and finally dropped us at hotel around 3.30PM. When I tried reasoning with driver he rudely told me off and said that is how the tour works. Each day tour would start around 6 and at every attraction you get too less time to see it. If you are late for 5 minutes, the guide humiliates you in front of the entire bus. For the entire trip, the guides wouldnt stop for lunch or breakfast. They didnt even have water on bus and we had to scramble in the limited time to buy water from the most expensive places. Most problematic was the language issue! This tour is supposed to be "bilingual" but drivers/guides would speak in chinese 90% of the time. For 1 line of english they will speak 10 in chinese and at many points will skip english altogether. Also their English is non comprehensible for better part and you need to listen with 100% concentration to understand a word. After all that you even have to mandatorily give a whopping 20$ per person fee every day(which became 80$ for us, a family of 4 so 80*4 = 240$) The worst part was someone stole my wallet with all the cash for the trip and no one helped us even when we told the guide. They still kept pressuring us to give them the fees. We were so distressed and tired we had to leave the tour in middle!

"Don‘t book thru Take Tours!"

I booked the 1-Day Antelope Canyon Bus tour departing from Las Vegas. I arrived at the meeting point 30 mins prior to departure and waited for an hour for the bus to pick me up. I asked every single tour bus that passed by if this was my tour but the bus didn’t show up. When I called the tour guide, she told me that the bus had already left without me because they couldn’t find or call me.
I was definitely at the meeting point on time and nobody tried calling me at all. I can only assume that my tour bus leaving for Antelope Canyon didn’t stop at the scheduled meeting point according to my confirmation or it didn’t show up at all.
When I tried calling the customer support, nobody even answered the phone. The only way to contact Take Tours was through a live chat. They refused to reschedule me or to give me a refund. I can certainly NOT RECOMMEND this travel agency.

"3 days trip to Niagara Falls,Washington DC, Philadelphia"

I took 3 days trip to Niagara Falls, Washington DC, Philadelphia.
As per Itinerary Day 1 - Niagara, Day 2 some places of Network state and Day 3 - Washington DC and followed Philadelphia. They are written some arbitrary location for some days Day 3 attractions will cover on Day 1 and Day 1 on Day3, that information is neither covered in Itinerary nor ticket confirmation email.
Once we are on boarded in Philadelphia and the bus guide is announced we covered Philadelphia(Day1) and going to Washington DC. our boarding time is 10:30 AM of Day1 and bus moved 10:40 AM of Day1 from Philadelphia.
we tried to reach bus guide for Itinerary change, he says check with people where you book the ticket we are not responsible, and we tried to reach out all number provided in communication email but no use and not proper response to handle the things.
Bus seats are not at all good and hand rests are not working properly and bus rest room is locked.
First day accommodation was worst when we entered in to hotel room celling coated color is dropped on my 5 years kid like a big pancake size and no drinking water.
Tour guide is showed attractions where they make the money not as per schedule. If we asked they saying no time to cover.
Last day of my trip is horrible and un-forgotten in my life.
Tour team treated very well, they parked some rest area which not have anything and asked us to get down from the bus, thrown all our bags outside, without discussing anything with us, they just asked us to pay money of service tip/fee, we are not accepted to pay tips because of poor service and they called 911 to get their service tip/fee of $10 per person per day.
I am at middle of the road/trip @7.30 PM with my wife and 5 years old kid and 19 months baby.
I made my own transportation to reach home be spending approximately $250 with the help of friends.
I saw hell in my life and reached home @ mid night 1.10 AM.
He dropped off not only me, total 16 people in the middle of the road, all have 13 months age baby to under 5 years kids of different ages.
They asked to get down the bus 4 of old age people of 65 + years if they are not paying service tip money, due to the age problem they paid requested the tour team guys to drop reasonable location where they get transportation and tour team guys are accepted.
All kids are struggled a lot without proper food.
This is the way take tour team of treating customers?
Only money is the matter for your company not customer satisfaction?
Once again thank you for arranging money minded and unprofessional tour guys to trip.
I have attached photos how take tour team treated with customers.

"Not a really great experience!"

They are only getting a 2 because I love the places we went to. However, the ride was horrible they refuse to stop at places that actually have food. So they force you to eat Chinese food. It’s like they starve you until you get to Chinese food locations. They make you pay for $10 Watkins glens but it’s free to enter the park they claim it’s for the parking fee but the parking fee is not that expensive. What bothered me the most is that service fee!! That’s a rip off!! Shelly Liu made it seem like she had to give money to the company but all she did was split the money between her and the bus rider. I was praying the whole ride!! The driver was a horrible driver!! Don’t take this tour! It matches the cheap price! Find another way to get to these beautiful places on your own. Also the tour was rushed! Also they refuse to let you use the bus bathroom!!

"Very bad and roude customer server also…"

Very bad and roude customer server also same with tour guide.

Tour guide contacted one day prior for to pay for optional package.
Also no curtsy for change in itinerary if flight gets delay or cancel.

I never book on taketours ...