20 Jul 2022
You should hire tour guides who are knowledgeable and able to communicate well. Our tour guide, Leila, did nothing more than lead us to the ferry at each stop. She did not share even one bit of info about the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. I paid $700+ for a private tour expecting lots of stories and interesting tibdits. It was a joke. No private tour. She got upset when some of us wanted to stop and look at the exhibits in the museum. Then when we came down from the ledge at the statue, she tried to get us straight on the ferry and was upset that we wanted to go to the front of the statue. We went anyway as she rolled her eyes. How can we not go to the front of the statue? At Ellis Island, we asked to go to the third floor to see the dorm rooms. She said that was not included. Leila never took us outdoors or explained any of the exhibits at Ellis Island. It is convenient that I cannot access this tour on my Viator page to review it there. It is conveniently gone. I have used Viator many times in the past. I do not believe I will be using in the future, however. I am sharing with my friends as well. The only thing we learned from Leila was that she came to NYC in 1983. I heard that about 10 times. I would have had the same experience as she provided if I had purchased the tickets myself and it would have cost me $294.90 instead of $737. This was a very, very bad experience. I have been taken advantage of for sure. I wish someone from Trip Advisor would reach out to me.