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1.0

I was told to use Viator for our tour as we could avoid long lines and waiting when our ship arrived at Honolulu. I paid for the tour through Ford World Travel on 12/23/15 for the tour on 1/15/16. We called the day before and were told we must be at the hotel for pickup by 8:50 am for pickup by Polynesian Adventure Tours. We skipped breakfast and taxied over, arriving 30 minutes early. The bus arrived, but we then circled all over downtown picking up added tourists for 45 minutes. (None of these people were required to take cabs to meet the bus, only us). Finally, we arrived at Pearl Harbor about 10:30. We walked the 3 blocks to the entrance and waited while the driver went to pick up our tickets for the trip to the Arizona memorial. He returned shortly to announce our trip was scheduled for 3:00 pm!!!! Then he announced we had to return to Honolulu since our tickets were for the last tour only. We then were driven to the Punchbowl and the National Military Cemetery there. This amounted to a two-minute drive-through with not even a pause to take a photo.

Then we proceeded back downtown where we spent 30 minutes to by a hot dog from the street vendor there. (He obviously has a sweetheart deal with Polynesian!) We then retraced our route through downtown before returning to Pearl harbor. We toured the museums and facilities onshore and still had over one hour wait before our tour started.

We finally got aboard the tour boat and got to the Arizona. Since it was late in the day, photos picked up a great deal of shadow reflection and did not turn out as well as they would have had our tour started at 10:30 am as we were advised. Also, the naval personnel were anxious to return us ashore as they had been busy all day, so we were not allowed to spend as much time as we would have liked.

I am not wealthy and at my age will not be able to visit this memorial again. It was to be the highlight of my cruise, but obviously was not. The only positive was our driver. David remained positive though he was quite embarrassed that his company had not obtained our tickets beforehand. As we returned to Honolulu we passed within a block of our ship; he allowed us to disembark, saving us another $20 cab fare (he should be complimented).

Had we known Polynesian would not pick up our tickets for the morning tour we would not have used them at all. Additionally, the day-long misadventure precluded our seeing any other sights in Honolulu as it was now evening. We were disappointed and very frustrated and have had no response from Viator since this time. If they did not want to take ship passengers on their tours they should advise travel agencies not to book them. I deeply resent having to pay for a taxi ride when everybody else on the tour was picked up at their hotel. The ship was docked only a few blocks away; the bus could easily have picked us up there. Obviously, Viator and Polynesian are in the business only for the profit, not to provide service for the fees they charge. A total disaster!!!!!

Reason of review: Inept service, improper advertising, disregard for customers.

Monetary Loss: $150.

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution.

Viator Cons: Terrible customer service.

Location: Leblanc, Louisiana

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Roxie Rbk

Hello,

Thank you for your message. We are sorry to hear that this experience was not up to your reasonable expectations.

We do hope that you have also sent your concerns to our Customer Support Team available at Support@Viator.com so that we can raise your concerns with your Tour Operator.

Unfortunately, as Viator does not run the tours, we often do not have a say in how they are run, but we are happy to raise your concerns and communicate with the Tour Operator on your behalf.

We do hope this information helps, and we hope your trip was otherwise excellent.

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