I don't really mind mixing with different kinds of people, but being the ONLY other nationality is awkward if not annoying. People were speaking Chinese all around, I can't laugh at a joke or even offer anyone anything. William was a fun gu..y, I suppose. He spoke Chinese most of the time and English sometimes, which we strained to understand with his accent. The driver was cool, such a sport. Didn't enjoy the first leg of the bus ride since we were seated at the back next to a family with a man that smokes (I have asthma) and his rambunctious and loud grandson. Solvang was a quaint town. I like that they tried to preserve the look and the industries. We had a light lunch at Tower Pizza... absolutely delicious, and I didn't hesitate to say so. We were not given a lot of time to go around, so we just looked around and bought some pastries in case we got hungry. Hearst castle was absolutely breathtaking for people who like antiques. The grand opulence is just truly amazing. I would have liked to stay longer but time was short. Oh, and be sure to check the tickets your guide gives you. We got a ticket for the upstairs bedroom tour and two grand room tour. Obviously we can't be separated so we had to go back to the ticketing area to clear it up (wasting time). Lucky for us, it was not a busy day for them, and they had space for more in the grand rooms tour. We stayed overnight at the Courtyard Marriott in Newark, really wonderful. Clean and luxurious with helpful staff. We had a cooler for drinks in the room which we used as a mini refrigerator, and a small coffee maker which makes one drink at a time. Supplies in the room are not a lot, but you can call the front desk and ask for more. Ice maker is near the elevators. We would have used the jacuzzi out by the outdoor pool, but we were dead tired. We did not go with the group to San Francisco. It was quite a large group by then, we were tired from the day before, and there were specific places we wanted to visit at our leisure that was not on the itinerary. For the Yosemite leg of the tour, we had to wake up and get ready at 4am. The bus leaves at 5am, so be sure to have some semblance of breakfast ready to go the day before. The microwave is in the Marriott lobby free for anyone to use. Yosemite was a little bit of a bummer in summer because there is NO FALLING WATER at the waterfalls. Maybe springtime would be a better time to visit the falls. The view was still good though. Just a little side note, if you don't want to eat Chinese food EVERYDAY, you might want to bring some food with you. You can also buy some supplies and food at the Raley's or Safeway supermarket near the Marriott. Safeway has a deli, Marriott also has a tiny 'Marketplace' and a Starbucks in the lobby you might want to take advantage of.Read full review
The tour was really good as they covered most of the high sight seeing places.Our Pilot Sunday and tour guide Larry was added credit for the tour.He was able to explain everything with historical background which really impressed . The tour.. pack was scheduled in a such a way that u will be able to see all listed places with slightly hectic schedule due to distance and traffic. The optional tour are all worth paying for it except the SFO in depth tour which does not make me satisfied for paying . Over all the tour was all good.Read full review
Tour guide and bus driver were extremely friendly. The Guide is SUPER in every way: professional, knowledgeable, courteous, flexible, friendly, and speaks Chinese/English well. The tour locations are great sites, but the route was changed b..ecause Hearst Castle required reservation, so we went to Yosemite first, and saw the castle and Danish town on Day3. San Francisco sightseeing was great and the food at Chinatown was very authentic and memorable. Sheraton hotel in SF was very nice also! Packed tour, and the the bus was older and restroom did not work. Great value tour!Read full review
Just finished this trip yesterday. The tour itself was good, accomodation was excellent, but yet greatly disappointed by tour provider. We were assigned seats next to each other, but when we boarded the bus, we were told that they had rearr..anged our seats so we were not next to each other. We called/emailed Tours4fun more than 5 times that first day and they said that they had contacted tour provider, but the whole day nothing happenned. You are better off ORDERING directly from tour provider, SeaGullHoliday.com, they take care their "own" customers before taking care other people. Or maybe you can try another travel agent who is more respected by the tour provider. This one got no respect/service by the tour provider.Read full review
First day, our seats were separated from bus. The tour provider would not honor our seats reservation, which would have been next to each other. It was just the 2 of us, how does it make sense to separate us. Tour provider claimed they had ..the right to move us around to accomodate other passengers. What a BS!!! Ended up spending the whole day complaining throuh Tours4Fun, but nothing happen. Tour provider didn't even call the tour guide/driver to try to resolve this issue. At the end, all we got was a "sorry" from Tours4Fun and a wish to enjoy the next 2 days of the tour. You're better off purchasing directly from SeaGullHoliday.com, where they will give you guarantee tickets or from other agents. Other than that, the tour itself was fun, schedule was hectic, but was necessary to visit all these places.Read full review
Kevin the tour guide and F1 bus driver were just great. The tour is just an overview of the places but it featured the high points of each sight as seen on postcards and travel books. The trip was hassle free except for the early morning wa..ke up calls to maximize the time and our money's worth, off course. The hotel accommodations at Marriot were generous. Restroom breaks during the road trip were ample. A great buy!Read full review
Kevin the tour guide and F1 bus driver were just great. The tour is just an overview of the places but it featured the high points of each sight as seen on postcards and travel books. The trip was hassle free except for the early morning wa..ke up calls to maximize the time and our money's worth, off course. The hotel accommodations at Marriot were generous. Restroom breaks during the road trip were ample. A great buy!Read full review
Actually people should have know before they participate in these tours that they are all chinese tours. You always have to eat in the chinese town in the asian buffets. 90% of the people are asian in the tour. The movies you will watch dur..ing the trip will be chinese. And your tour guide will be chinese also. Our tour guide even dont know english well :( But the tour is nice in general. I will recommend the hearts castle tour, the other tours are not necessary maybe the city tour. But it is better if you do the city tour by yourseld , it wwill be more funRead full review
1. on the 1st day, my friends and I waited for the bus to pickup us 1 hr because CS told the tour guide the wrong place pickup location, and they asked us to call someone or taxi to catch the tour bus. finally, they called the taxi. 2. the ..tour guide; ZAC fm seagull holiday (join bus) didn't say anything, but he said, "you're scare me". 3. the optional tours say "Prices may vary due to different seasons and is subject to the final price on the box office". h'ever, the tour guide charge - hearst castle 24 ( the ticket shows $21.60 ) - cruise $26 (but the tour guide charged $28) - sightseeing $25 (they charged $25)Read full review
Solvang, Hearst Castle, Yosemite was very nice. You guys should go there! Tour guide Zac was great. I think the San Fransisco tour should not be charged an extra cost, but should be included since SF is very small.
They charge an extra $6 per day per person a fee for the driver and tour guide. Aren't they paid by the company already? That's an additional $36 added to the $230 price for 2 people. They charge extra for the "City Tour" of SF that lasts f..or about 3.5 hours, which should be included. Pay or they drop you off in the middle of downtown to do what you want and pick you up later in the evening. So Golden Gate and Pier 39 only included in SF tour unless you pay for extra. They take you to a couple of Chines Buffets, which up charge you since you "came of the bus". One place charged $11/person if you were one of the tourists but only $8 for locals as posted in their flyers. When I asked about it, they made up excuses for the additional charges. Hidden charges? Why need to mark how many tour bus people entered in a log book if the company doesn't get a cut of the up charge. Same thing for the hotel accommodations. Stops at various places were short and hurried. Yosemite only stops included the Yosemite Lodge with 20 minute sight seeing of Yosemite Fallls. Second stop is the "Tunnel View" of Yosemite Valley. Scenic overlook of valley but that's it for another 20 minutes. After that you're on your way out of Yosemite for a long nauseating ride down the mountain to Fresno. Overall OK if touching certain points of interests but a bit too hurried to enjoy sights completely and the extra charges are discouraging.Read full review