In August of 2006, I did it—I got married. My beautiful bride and I spent some time trying to choose where to experience the lifelong memories of our honeymoon. Since we are both from Southern California, we both have both experienced more than enough beach to last our lifetimes. Since both of us are history buffs, we decided that a trip where we could see and experience some of the history and grand traditions of the United States. Since both of us stay exceedingly busy in life—particularly with the stress of planning a wedding—we decided that a guided tour with a company that would make all of the plans, reservations, and decisions for us. Honestly, we realized that if we had to navigate in strange cities by ourselves, our honeymoon just might result in our divorce. My brand new bride and I took our honeymoon on an Insight Vacation with forty strangers riding around the country on a bus (yeah, romantic). The trip we took was the tour entitled “Historic Cities of the Northeastern United States” (Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York City).

Before I get into the review, I must enthusiastically proclaim that my wife and I had a wonderful time on our honeymoon trip. We both greatly appreciated having someone else doing all of the driving and navigating. On the tour, we went to historic sites, saw famous landmarks, ate meals, and made memories that will last a lifetime. For that I am very grateful to Insight Vacations. Despite the wonderful time that I had, my recommendation of Insight is a bit more reserved. For many people, this will be a dream vacation; for others it could turn into a miserable nightmare. I will review Insight based upon the general amenities and services they provided. Throughout, I will interject some of our experiences. Hopefully, this will provide useful information for those considering booking a tour.


Booking the Tour

This honeymoon was a wedding gift from my father, for which we are incredibly thankful. Unfortunately for this review, that means that I have no information on how difficult it is to book the tour. I do know that tours can be booked either directly through Insight or through a travel agent. According to the tour guide, those who book their tours through Insight have less problems receiving the proper transportation vouchers and accurate information regarding the tour. The tour guide tells us that these are AAA approved tours and the cheapest way to book a tour is through AAA.


Meeting the Tour Guide

After flying into Boston, we took a shuttle to the hotel that Insight had booked (that all went smoothly). Insight gave us the following directions: “Your tour guide will be in the hotel lobby from 1:00-6:00 to meet guests. At 5:30, there will be a meet and greet in the lobby.” When we arrived at the hotel at 1:30, there was no tour guide. I checked us into the hotel and we freshened up in our room; an hour later we went back to the lobby and there was still no tour guide. I called the California headquarters of Insight. After waiting on hold for twenty minutes, I spoke to a very nice woman who could only tell me, “There should be a tour guide in the lobby between 1:00 and 6:00…I’ll see if I can learn where your guide is for you.” We then got discontented and the representative never called me back. At that point, I decided to forget the guide at this point, because we would just enjoy Boston ourselves for the next few hours (there was no way I was spending the next three hours sitting in the hotel lobby). The tour guide showed up for the 5:30 meet and greet at 5:40—the meet and greet consisted only of a ten minute talk warning us to always be on time, meet the bus at 7:30 the next morning, and finally a sales pitch for optional activities during the trip (more on these later). In defense of the tour guide, I should mention that she had just arrived in Boston twenty minutes before she met us and that this was the only time she was late during the whole tour .

Your 40 Closest Friends: The Other Passengers

Far from a quite, intimate, romantic setting, Insight provides bus tours that are designed for groups of forty (our group had 39 plus the driver and tour guide). Of the 39 guests on our tour, slightly over half were from countries other than the U.S. (the main foreign country represented was Australia, but we also had vacationers from Canada, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Ireland). On the last evening, our tour guide told me that Australia is generally the most represented country on the tour because that is where Insight focuses most of its advertising; she also said there are generally just a small handful of Americans on the tours (and it is not uncommon to have no Americans on the tours in America). By far, most of the vacationers were senior citizens who were in good physical shape; however, there were a few slower individuals and a few in poor health who slightly delayed the group on several occasions (look, I’m not trying to be rude, but if you are unable to walk without the assistance of a walker, a group walking tour is probably not the best choice for your vacation—not only will you be miserable, but so will everybody else on the tour). The passengers also included two single adults who were in their late-twenties, all energetic and rearing to go. There was one “child” on the tour (a freakishly large [and annoying] kid who claiming to be thirteen whose grandparents brought him on the trip; however, his monstrous size and his thick facial hair made me wonder of somebody fudged the age by a couple of years to get this guy the child’s rate).

A group bus tour is certainly not for everyone. If you are a social butterfly who loves new people, and you think you might enjoy a vacation with a large group of quirky strangers, then an Insight tour just might be for you. If you have a laid back personality, and can laugh it off when you need to sit on a hot bus waiting for the one couple who consistently feels that they can ignore appointed meeting times, then you might really enjoy the tour. If you would laugh it off when you are looking out the window at a historic site you have only read about when the old women sitting in front of you decides that it is time for her nap and pulls down the bus shade so you can no longer see anything, then you are the kind of person that should probably go on this type of vacation. If, on the other hand, you like to be in control, you like to set a schedule and stick to it, and you really could care less about some woman’s granddaughter who is in high school with a 4.5 GPA, then you might not want to spend your time and money on a group bus tour.

In all honesty, there was a real mixture of people on the tour. I met some wonderful, wonderful people who it was a pleasure join on a tour through the U.S. On the other hand, there were also some very, very annoying people. Some of them were loud and self-centered. Some of them appear to be the loner-type who have not held a conversation with another human being in twenty-years.

What about the Hotels?

In the promotional material, Insight claimed that they select nice hotels (making them sound very luxurious). With my pessimistic worldview, I assumed that Insight would be taking us to hotels that were slightly better than the average Motel, but Insight pleasantly surprised me with their choice of hotels. The hotels that were booked for us were essentially nice three-star hotels. For example, while we were in Boston, we stayed at the Parker House (a favorite hotel of Charles Dickens and the place where John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Onassis). The room was rather small and stuffy—and there was no air conditioning in the hallways, but the hotel was a wonderful Boston hotel in a very nice location located on the Freedom Trail. While in Boston, we struck up a conversation with some locals who told us we were at the nicest hotel in the area. In both Philadelphia and Washington DC, my bride and I were given luxury suites (which felt a little bit silly when we are on the bus until about 9:00 at night and need to be up by about 6:00 the next morning). In New York, we were booked on the 49th floor of the Sheraton Towers near Times Square in a room that was just slightly larger than my closet at home (the hotel was great, but the room was shockingly small). Our NY hotel did have an absolutely great view of Times Square which I was visible when I climbed up on the desk and tried to crane my neck around the skyscraper next to us). If you are looking for luxury five-star hotels—well, then this whole tour will probably not be for you (a bus tour really does not exactly proclaim extravagance and luxury). But, really, the hotel choices are the last thing I would complain about after my experience on the tour. Insight is true to its word in choosing nice, comfortable hotels.

Whose Driving Us Around?

Insight boasts of their “luxury tour buses.” Really, what classifies a bus as “luxury”? I suppose rock stars have luxury tour buses, but does anyone who books a bus vacation really expect to find luxury on a bus? Yes, we had sufficient leg room (there are seats for forty vacationers on every Insight bus). Yes, there is a DVD player and monitors for the tour guide to show movies (this was only used once on our trip; when driving from Boston to Philadelphia, we watched National Treasure [but the tour guide could not figure out how to properly work the volume control, so we watched the movie while hearing very little of it). There is also a bathroom on board the bus; however, we were warned not to use it unless we felt we were in an emergency situation, so the existence of the bathroom was a bit useless. Storage room was adequate, which is to be expected given that each passenger was only permitted to bring on one carry-on item. But, honestly, buses are not exactly very comfortable.

Every day, the tour guide “randomly” (wink, wink) selected where everyone would sit and pinned up a seating chart to show each person where they were assigned to sit for the day (couples were kept together). It may not sound like a big deal, but sitting near the front of the bus is a huge perk. For starters, the front of the bus has a better view. Additionally, the ride is much, much smoother in the front (the day we had to sit on the back row, I cursed the concept of vacation buses). Sitting in front is also nice because it allows those lucky few to get of the bus more quickly at the stops (think above the lovely wait you have to look forward to when getting off an airplane; now think of needing to do that 5-10 times a day).

Just a note: while my new wife and I were on the bus, we enjoyed the time to talk and spend time together throughout the trip; however, groups with an odd number of people are pretty much doomed to a miserable trip. There were a few groups of three, and I always felt bad for the third person who was forced to sit next to the creepy-loner-guy or the whiney-old-hag.

Our bus driver, Bob, was extremely sufficient with the driving and navigating. He seemed well versed with the layouts of each of the cities and did an impressive job of maneuvering a huge tour bus through very tight city streets. Honestly, he did a better job of maneuvering the bus than I could have done with my little car on those cramped streets. On the last day of the tour, I was absolutely shocked to learn that this was only our driver’s second tour with Insight. Based upon his skill, knowledge of the area, and chemistry with the guide, I assumed he had been running this route for years.

The Bossy Person with the Microphone: The Tour Guide

In our experience the tour guide was relatively friendly, relatively informative, and relatively organized. Linda, our tour guide, gave brief lectures as we passed the various historical landmarks. Though she read off a basic outline, her overall knowledge was very impressive (my wife and I were both history majors, and we were impressed with the historical information she presented). Linda has been giving tours for about twenty years, and it was obvious that she was incredibly familiar with the sites.

While we were generally pleased with our tour guide, finding her to be basically helpful, we did have some complaints. First, her information was not always accurate. When different guests asked her about activities that they wanted to do in their free time, her answers were generally exceedingly weighted by either what the vacationer wanted to hear or what would be easiest for the tour guide. For example, we wanted to get tickets to get a tour of the capital building (only 1,000 are given out each day). Linda assured us there was no need to get up early to go get in line for tickets—just go over there when we wanted our tour. Needless to say, that was wrong information—very wrong. This type of misinformation was rather frequently dispensed on the tour—so, we quickly realized that the concierge at the hotels were much better sources of information about city attractions. Second, both the tour guide and the bus driver seemed more concerned at getting done that giving us a sufficient tour. Just about every day, the tour guide and driver made comments about rushing through guided tours so that they can get back to the hotel to relax. A final complaint about the tour guide: while she sounded like a walking encyclopedia, she was not always accurate. After coming home, I looked up a few of the facts and historical accounts that she told us only to learn that they were completely fictitious (several times she presented urban legends as if they were true).

All Our Stuff: The Luggage

Each passenger is allowed to have two pieces of luggage: one piece of checked luggage that was stowed away under the bus and also one carry-on piece that could be tucked under the seat or placed in the overhead compartment (much like an airplane). Insight provides a piece of luggage to be used as the carry on—it is a small just a small bag (about the size of a woman’s purse). Only a few people actually used the provided bag, instead using their own pieces of small luggage (though Insight does not appear to have any strict standards, they expect the carry on pieces to be much smaller than an airline would allow).

The one very nice service that Insight provided was ensuring our luggage got where it was supposed to be. Theoretically, when we arrived at our hotel rooms our luggage should be in our rooms waiting for us. On the mornings that we were heading to a new city, Insight arranged for bellhops to pick up our checked bags and have the luggage already stowed on the bus by the time we boarded. While this system sounds terrific in theory, it never actually worked that seamlessly in practice. In every city, the luggage was late getting picked up (forcing us all wait as we sat on the bus, preparing to leave the city). Despite the flaws, it was nice to know that we never really had to worry about the luggage—Insight would do the worrying for us.

What Kind of Things Will We Stop and See?

Obviously, the stops will be different depending upon which trip a vacationer chooses, but after my trip I feel that I learned enough about Insight to know that all of their stops will always be marked by two characteristics: first, they will be cheap; second, they will be easy. By cheap, I mean that if there is a per person charge to do an activity, you can pretty much guarantee that it will not be included on your Insight tour (if it is included it will definitely be listed on the promotional material). For the attractions that cost money, the tour guide will show you the outside of the location and explain that it is not worth the admission price. The only reason this bothers me is because Insight advertises that they pay all admission prices for every stop on the tour. That definitely would have meant something different to me if I realized that we only really stopped at the free attractions. Not only are the stops free, but Insight also only selects attractions that are easy to get 40 people in and out of. I certainly understand this, but when visiting historical places, there are many locations (Independence Hall, the Capital Building, etc) that would be wonderful to visit, but Insight will not even attempt with the size of the groups. Generally, the Insight bus drives us by the different locations while the tour guide quickly talks about it. At certain points, the bus will stop so everyone can get out and take pictures.

What about the Included Breakfasts?

Insight provides breakfasts each morning of the tour. I knew the breakfasts were provided by the hotel, so I mentally prepared myself for a week of continental breakfasts consisting of donuts, Pop Tarts, and cold cereal—but I was wrong! These were exceptional breakfasts. Each morning, we were treated to a fine breakfast buffet that included fresh fruit, fine cheeses, French toast, waffles, omelets, bacon, bagels, coffee, juice, etc. My personal favorite breakfast was the crab omelets—delicious. Without a doubt, I give the provided breakfasts two thumbs up.

What about the Other Meals?

Insight provides two included dinners: one welcome dinner and the second night and a farewell dinner and the last night. I found the dinners to be very good, considering that Insight picked up the bill. The restaurants that Insight selects are generally two or three star restaurants which have particular significance in the city. According to our tour guide, Insight dinners will almost always have a choice of three entrees: chicken, beef, and fish. On the two provided dinners, the tour guide made a very big deal of the fact that Insight will pay for each person to have either a glass of wine or a beer because “Insight is cheap and will not give you anything free!”

Other than the breakfasts and two dinners that Insight provides (or whatever number they advertise for a particular tour), the vacationers are responsible for their own meals. For lunch, the bus usually stopped at some type of food court where we could grab a quick bite (warning: if you refuse to eat fast food, you might miss a few meals). For dinners, there were generally a few choices within walking distance of the hotels.

Prepare to Pay More Money: Extras and Optional Excursions

Be warned: if you want to see the “good stuff” on the tour, Insight will charge you extra. For example, Insight included Washington DC on the tour, but if we wanted to get on the tour bus and have the guide take us to all the monuments for an evening tour, that cost an extra $30 a person. On two other evenings optional were sold which would take us to a historic site and provide us dinner for approximately $70 per person). On our trip, there were a total of four “optionals” which ranged in price from $20 to $70. Not everybody on the tour realized that they would need to shell over more cash to actually see the places that they thought they were already paying to visit. Some of these optional tours are absolute must-do activities, but some of them are complete rip-offs. Unfortunately, it is very hard to tell what will be worthwhile. For example, the $66 “Walking Tour of Georgetown” turned out to be a ten-minute, three block walk with absolutely no commentary by the guide.

On the last day of the tour, the tour guide announced a last minute addition of going up to the top of “The Rock” for the best view of New York City. She announced that she could get us tickets for $20 and asked each of us who wanted to go to get our cash ready for her to run in and buy the tickets. I was a bit surprised when I later learned that she only paid about half as much as she charged for the tickets (with a coupon from the hotel, I could have purchased a ticket for just $11 and that is without a group rate discount which she was able to get). If she had convinced all 39 of us to go, she could have made almost $400, just for running to the ticket counter for us.

Our bus driver were also kind enough to sell us water throughout the duration of our incredibly hot summer tour (the tour guide frequently repeated how wonderful the driver was for offering this service since he was simply doing it out of the kindness of his heart, so we were all indebted to him). Though they sold the sixteen ounce Costco water bottles for only $1, I decided that I would make a game of calculating how much profit the driver was making off our water (hey, some of the bus rides were a little dull—I needed something to keep myself occupied): by the conclusion of our trip it was probably around a $400 profit that the driver made selling water just on our week long tour (the bottles are purchased in bulk for well under $.20 each and approximately 100 were sold each day). The driver later said he planned on making about 40 tours a year, so this totals a profit of approximately $16,000 a year, which is pretty good for extra pocket cash. I am left to ponder whether the driver will be reporting this cash profit on his tax return.

While I felt that Insight was charging every conceivable fee, I still feel that my tour was worth the cost (easy for me to say since it was a gift). But if you do plan an Insight tour, be sure to budget a few extra hundred dollars per person for hidden costs (in addition to what is necessary for food, souvenirs, and activities during free time).

One Last Cost: Tipping

Another expense that Insight will not let you forget is the tip. We were reminded constantly that we live in a “gratuitous society” and that the driver and tour guide should be provided tips of $2.50-$3 and $4.50-$5 per person, per day respectively. At the end of the tour, it was made quite clear to us that my wife and I should give an envelope with approximately $40 to our driver and $60-70 to our guide. Just another expense to think about when budgeting for the trip. If I sound a little bitter about the tipping, I am. Not because I am against tipping (actually, I think I am usually rather generous), but because I was rather insulted by the continuous reminders that they expect a tip with the repeated cues of how much they were owed.

Conclusion

Insight Vacations provided exactly what they promised us: a historical tour which was essentially hassle-free, as they drove us, guided us, and made most of the necessary decisions during the week. Insight definitely delivered a competent tour. With that said, I doubt I will do another Insight Tour. Next time, I would rather stay a little bit longer in each place and have the opportunity to decide exactly what I want to see and do. When I want a tour, I will pay a local tour company for a day tour, which will probably be more efficient and informative than what Insight provided.


Recommended: No

Best Suited For: Couples
Tour format: Bus
Tour length: Several Days
Tour type: Group