Alcatraz Visit and Golden Gate Bridge Express

Never have I ever experienced such unprofessional behavior from a tour guide. I was running 5 mins late due to heavy traffic (11:34 arrival) and I tried to contact the tour guide before to let them know. It went to voicemail and the text I get was “why call?”. So I write that I will be 5 mins late and no reply. When I get to the hotel at 11:34, the tour had already left. No call. No text. No nothing. I had to ask the friendly staff at the hotel to help me get in contact with the tour guide but nothing. I tried to ask if there was a meeting point I could get to to get back on track with the tour and the response I get was “on tour”. 20 mins before the boat to Alcatraz, I finally get a message detailing my ticket (was never received before) and saying that I should hurry to make the boat. By this time, I had already booked another trip to Alcatraz. Not only this, they only refunded me $24 of the $90. They also wrote “sent you text at 10:36”, which is completely not true as the first text was after I tried to call. So yourself a favour, book with another tour and avoid this like the plague. This unprofessional behaviour should not merit any business. I have a full video transcript of the unprofessional messages sent to me and the times I tried to call.

Unfortunately (probably an overbooking or resale of our ticket) ruined our unique chance to win Alcatraz. And broke half of two days in San Francisco. We only found out when we stood with the children at the port in the heat. For the action before, the ticket went strangely. It was really bitter as we will never come back to San Francisco. The money returned. But that's the least we can do. At least I would have expected a good discount for another promotion.

This tour was such an amazing experience for me, and it was definitely worth the money! James, our driver, picked us up from the pick-up point on time, and told us stories of how the Golden Gate Bridge was built with on-screen animation inside the mini-bus. James ensured we all engaged as a group by asking us all where we came from. He parked up at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, and waited for about 45 minutes for the group to walk across the structure. There was a lovely cafe at the drop-off point too. I got just over half-way across the bridge and turned back around. You could've definitely got farther though if you walked faster and did not stop for as many pictures as myself! Then, James drove the group to the pier, where we departed the bus and queued up to get on the cruise over to Alcatraz. We probably queued for about 30 minutes. Once there, we opted for the audio tour around the prison to get the full information. I am a Criminology student so this was definitely an added bonus. At the end, I visited William Baker (the last living prisoner of Alcatraz) who was signing and selling his book in the gift shop. Overall, this trip was definitely a once in a life-time experience, and my favourite part of travelling the West Coast last year! Thank you again to James, our lovely driver.