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| - I would like to start by saying that I researched this tour and its reviews before booking so I knew what to expect. Now I know that there are a good number of bad reviews and alot of them are about Steve who supposedly babbles on and on and constantly coughs into the microphone for the entire 50 minute ride to the dam. Well I can now confirm for you that this is true.
I found a deal on Groupon where the tickets were half price. with that being said I paid $29 each ticket. At first I was unsure weather to make the purchase, but despite the negative reviews I read about this tour company I figured I would be on vacation so why not. Best case it would be an great tour and worst case it would be a memorable experience. I think that because I went with an open mind this set the stage for my experience.
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Before arriving in Vegas I called the tour company, gave them my groupon purchase confirmation and reserved the date. The phone operator instructed me to go to the west wing at the MGM grand (where we were staying) where they would pick us up for our tour. The phone operator was helpful, friendly, and accommodating and helped to plan our tour.
TOUR DAY! Fast forward to the morning of the tour. We made our way to the west wing at the MGM as instructed and were somewhat confused to if we going the right way as the MGM is a very large hotel. (asking for directions from hotel staff is advised). We made our way to the west wing tour lobby. We walked out the door (still confused if we were in the right area) and a guy asks if we were going to a tour. I respond yes (expecting the guy to be some kind of promoter trying to sell me something like everyone else in Vegas) but to my surprise he pulled out his list and greeted me by name and then pointed over and said "That's the dam bus, we will be leaving shortly". Our pickup driver was great! very personable and had a great sense of humor. Overall It was a good start and certainly set the stage of what to expect.
REGISTRATION:
After being picked up from our hotel, we stopped at a couple other hotels before being dropped off at registration at the miracle mile shops where we signed in, picked up our name badge, and were assigned a bus.
THE TOUR:
We were assigned to "Bus1" and immediately upon climbing into the coach I saw the driver's name tag on the driver's shirt that read "Steve". Based on the reviews I have read online, my initial reaction was "Oh god, Here we go" So we climbed on to the bus. The driver, Steve, closed the door, stood up in the isle way and over the microphone started to instruct everyone on what not to do and how we should keep our voices down while he was talking over the microphone. He then began to start talking about the bus and how old and elaborated about how bad it was (the bus was average, it had AC and was clean). So with that interesting start, we began our 50 minute trip from the las vegas strip to Hoover dam. Steve talked continuously and he did not pause between his sentences for the entire 50 Minute ride there. Steve loved to ramble about random topics and would then ask rhetorical questions such as "Well Steve, how did that happen" to which he would answer himself with an even longer explanation. The best part is that Steve spent our entire 50 Minute ride to the dam hacking and coughing mid sentence. He literally never stops talking and maybe that is why he is always clearing his throat as other reviews suggest. Either way it was hilarious. Once we got to the dam, we offloaded and were given 2.5 hours to do the tour and wander the dam, I was interested in taking the power plant tour however the lines inside the dam tour were ridiculous (Run by a different company, please read my hoover dam review for more information) after waiting in line for over an hour we decided to cut our losses where we went back outside, walked the dam, did the tourist thing and grabbed lunch at the dam cafe before heading back to the bus. we took another bus ride this time for about 40 minutes where we stopped at a chocolate and going to our hotel.
Steve our driver, while he talked non-stop, was loaded with information about vegas history. You can ask him questions and he will tell you a story, and he has a wicked sense of humor that kept me laughing almost the entire ride.
CLOSING:
Simply put, if you have a planned agenda, high expectations, like to be in control, are hung over, or are an overall boring person, then I'd suggest you not be on bus1.
If you are adventurous, whimsical, and have fun with whatever comes along then I highly recommend you take Steve's tour bus as it is hilarious.
As for myself, I know that I will have to take this tour again the next time I am in vegas.
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