Island Tour Rating:

Maps of the island in our seats when we stepped in the bus always impresses me. Interesting drive and lots of good narration. We loved the history, and the thorough explanation of the architecture. All roofs on Bermuda are white and stair stepped. Water runs down the roofs into a guttering system and into the basement. They also have slits in the roofs so the wind can blow through the roof, rather than blowing the roofs off.

We took the excursion on Sunday, and most stores were closed. Bus stops were hurried, but we did have a 30-minute stop in Hamilton. With the stores closed, I wish they had just stopped for a bathroom break, and moved the extra time to the beach. Our tour guide was a delight giving us running commentary during the entire bus trip. Some guides talk on the way out and have nothing to say on the way back, but not her. She explained that her boyfriend was very sick in the hospital, but personally I don't think we would have noticed anything off if she hadn't mentioned it. Several assured her we enjoyed her tour. Our tour guide let us stop in St. George to pick up lunch at the grocery store buffet. We didn't care for their bus. Near the front, there were two sets of three seats that faced inward, so we only got to see half of the scenery. Also, the seats didn't have very good padding. Some complained about narrow seats, but the specs did mention a 300 pound weight limit. I wonder if it's possible to purchase to extra tickets for one person so they have more room. The guide let us off the bus a few times for photos.

We had only one place to shop, and it was also a fifteen minute restroom stop with only one working toilet for a bus of fifty.

Harbor Cruise Rating:

We got to see lots of Boston, and I think this was the only tour that got us a pretty good look at The US. Constitution, Old Ironsides. I think the cruise was the highlight of the tour. After the cruise, we boarded a very comfortable bus w/ a toilet in the back, for a trip through the city. The guide was a character, and put his own twist on the trip. We were let off the bus once to see Holy Trinity church. Lots of good history, and lots of "first" buildings in the country. Boston had the first library, but Newport had the first library that lent books! We loved the 400 years of history in both Boston and Bermuda, in West Texas we're lucky if things go back 150 years.

City Tour Rating:

Really comfortable bus, like the one in Boston. Got to see a lot of Newport, and stopped for lunch at the Elms and a self-guided tour of the mansion. But unfortunately, we missed a lot of the ocean side drive since the police had it blocked off. We had a good meal, yet slow service for lunch. I think the bread was homemade, and I saw a bread machine on the shelf. The sandwiches and soft drinks were in a fridge only accessible by the clerk. We had a choice of cookie, drink, sandwich and chips instead of the fruit mentioned in the cruise description. The guide was slow getting us our Elms Mansion tickets, so we didn't have enough time to see all the mansion. We were handed radios to listen to in the various rooms. We were told to return to the bus at a certain time. In the rush to get finished with the tour, we hurried through the last several rooms, not listening to the radio commentary, and my husband fell on the landing of the last flight of stairs hurrying to meet the deadline. Fortunately, he was not injured. Both Elms Personnel and our tour guide took his name down, but we haven't heard from anyone. As it turned out, our bus was late, because they returned to the ship to pick up another batch of passengers for the second tour of the day. So, we really had more time than the tour guide led us to believe.