Diamond Tours
Reviews and Complaints

We have taken several Diamond Tours, and the tours themselves are good. However, if you require a hotel room with handicapped access and your request one be reserved, don't count on it being available to you. Our latest trip was a Savannah trip June 24 to June 29. Once again a handicapped access room was requested when our reservation was made. When we reached Savannah (800 miles from home) we were told that the handicapped access room had been given to someone else. Due to the type of handicap, a bathroom with a raised toilet and grab bars is a necessity. The hotel clerk suggested we take the available room on the second floor and when it was necessary to use the bathroom to take the elevator to the lobby and use the facilities in the lobby. Not a reasonable accommodation for an 82 yr old w/an assistive device for walking, especially in the middle of the night! We were told by a Diamond Tour Manager that the request for a Handicapped access room was not a "reservation", but only a "request" and is based on availability. This is not mentioned anywhere in the literature. Had it been indicated we would not have booked a tour. It has happened on previous trips as well, but I thought it was just a "fluke" until someone from the company actually verified that handicapped access is not guaranteed. I don't know how they can continue this practice as the ADA does indicate "reasonable accommodation", and I would think the traveler who specifically requests the necessary accommodation when booking should be told that this accommodation may not be available when they reached their destination. On this trip, after a lot of bickering and arguing, and with a lot of help from our Diamond Destination Manager, and hours after all the other tour members were checked in the hotel finally found a room with grab bars at the toilet and our Destination Manager picked up a plastic "raiser" for the toilet seat. Unfortunately, this was after we were made to feel extremely uncomfortable just because of being handicapped.

I was on a Diamond Tour to Virginia Beach with the North Berrien Senior center, from Sept 23 to Sept 29, 2018. Our group leader is Debbie Ziemke. The bus driver was pleasant and did an excellent job of driving us to and from different places on this tour. On day 3 of our vacation, my friend and I were sitting in the lobby of our hotel, when he came running down, demanding the hotel staff ( a male and female) to " turn the channel to FOX news). He yelled at them, and after the changed the channel said We are kicking those Dems butts, and saying the supreme court judge, whos name I have forgotten was kickin [censored].. my friend spoke up, and at that point this man turned from a mild mannered nice bus driver to a out of control person, ranting and raving, and storming out of the hotel...We were frightened...So was the staff at the hotel...I asked them if they felt the same way we did, and they totally agreed this man was out of control. Face red, Yelling ect...It is not appropriate for any employee to voice his political views on anyone...The thing that worried me was his quick temper...I did tell our group leader. I wanted to share this with you, as the man never attempted to apologise at all. His name was John. That is all I know. I would like you to tell him not to yell his political views to anyone, he had no idea if we were in agreement or not, and frankly did not care. Not right. Thank you for listening

This is so long overdue, but you have the most unprofessional, disrespectful group leader (ES) anybody could ever encounter. I've taken two trips with her and I would never take another one if it was free. She has a very negative attitude and demeanor. After paying nearly $800 for a trip to Orlando, FL (Holy Land Experience) she literally denied my cousin the key to her hotel room because the two of them didn't see eye to eye at the beginning of the trip. I personally asked her for the key and she very sarcastically told me no.

Our trip was combined with a very nice, caring couple from VA because she couldn't fill her bus. She never once got on the mic to greet her guest or say anything to us as a whole because she was too upset with the driver for not having cleaned the bus or having any trash bags upon his arrival to her home. Something that didn't have to be brought to the attention of the guest. She was so upset with him, she threatened to not give him his tip and I believe she even told him the same.

She allowed the other guides group to make all of the decisions and had an attitude the entire trip. I have never met anyone so angry, nasty and bitter. I tried to talk to her in a pleasant way and her being a very seasoned person 70+ (I believe) simply rolled her eyes at me and then had to audacity to come back to our hometown and try to slander my name within our church body. That did nothing for her except confirm the type of person she truly is. All that know me, already know the kind loving and caring person that I am.

At the end of a wonderful trip outside all of her pure negativity, she opted to not make our last rest stop after asking a few people on the bus that hadn't fallen asleep if they wanted to keep riding and not stop. We the other few of us woke up and realized we hadn't stopped a huge disagreement ensued and very profound words were exchanged by her and the mother of a teenage daughter who needed to used a real restroom. Then she tried to make it sound like we were only stopping for them which was so unfair. The driver ended up pulling over on a major road so the young lady could use the bathroom at a gas station. The mother learned that neither her daughter or son were asleep when she took the liberty to ask if we should stop, which should have never been an option. Yet - neither of her children were asked. The mother was beyond upset because the guide (ES) woke her up to change a DVD but didn't feel the need to wake her regarding a rest stop, likely because she knew we would have opted to stop as we were scheduled.

Three adults aforementioned had planned to take her trip to Myrtle Beach next week (9/10/18), but that immediately became a dead mission after the way she treated us and a few others on this trip. My cousin and the mother also plan to file a complaint against her (ES), because you simply can not treat people the way she does and think that it is okay because it is not. These scenarios could have gone a lot differently, had we been as immature and disrespectful as she was.

She is a major misrepresentation of your company and I would earnestly ask you to investigate all her previous trips and I guarantee you will have some real complaints. There has been something negative to say about her on every trip she has booked. I plan to also submit a copy of this in writing, I simply have not had the time to put this to paper but I had to take just a moment today to give you a little insight on how this person is representing your company - it is not good.

Thank you

Was very disappointed in the New York/Statue of Liberty trip on July 5, 2018. Didn't get to go up in Statue of Liberty which is why we went. The enroute hotel was dirty and in the middle of the night the hotel gave another couple the key to our room and luckily no one was hurt. No responsibility was taken by Diamond Tours or the Hotel. The trip was very fast paced and not organized well. Our Tour Guide walked fast and by the time we caught up with him he was ready to go to next spot. Once home called Diamond Tours to complain and was told would get a return call from customer service but have never received one. Called a total of three times requesting return call and still haven't received return call. Will not travel with Diamond Tours again.

I attended a Warner Robins Senior Trip to New Orleans with Diamond tours. I specifically went on this tour because my late husband and I had always planned to do the riverboat cruise. Unfortunately he passed away this past February. I decided I was going to go on this trip and do the riverboat, just like we always said we would. We were informed once we arrived at the Creole Queen Paddlewheeler at 1 pm, that the boat had been broken for a week and wouldn't be fixed for the following two weeks. This was highly disappointing, but what could I do? We were then informed that Diamond Tours knew that the boat was broken. They didn't make additional plans to make up for the inconvenience. Basically we were told we had a free day to do what we wanted.in a city that we didn't know. Nor did we have transportation. After walking around idly four hours in the hot Louisiana heat, we met up with the tour group for dinner. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Out of 40+ people, not one of us were happy with our meal. Our service was horrible. And the manager was incredibly rude to all of us. Needless to say the last day of our trip which was suppose to be the highlight, ended up being a complete disappointment. I know Diamond Tours can not help the attitude and service of Bubba Gump Shrimps, but I do hope they keep that experience in mind before using them again to represent to Louisiana culture. I am however, very upset that we weren't informed about the broken riverboat, since they had been notified a week before that it would no longer be part of the excursion. I may of canceled all together.

June 10-14
Bus driver got into an accident in new York City ruining our entire new York City tour.
I delayed my bilateral mastectomy surgery so I could get to see New York City, I've never been.
The rest of the trip was awesome.
We were given $12 for a meal, I told the host to keep it, that in no way compensated for the loss.
I would like to have a full day in New York City once I am healed.
Lori Beaulieu and David Dowdy
2861 Main Street Route 17 Fayette Maine
[protected]

Comfort Inn Hotel in Syracuse NY was horrible, dirty and it had bed bugs. The second hotel Ambassador Hotel in Cape Cod was also dirty, smelling old and had no elevator to the second floor. The continental breakfast was horrible the food was not good.

It cost $37 to tour in a van around Martha's Vineyard not worth it because much of what you saw was forest area and the driveway to someone's home.

The bus driver was not pleasant non communicative. He barely spoke with us the four days he drove us around. He did perk up when a collection of money was given to him which he did not deserve. The bus also broke down and another tour service company drove was from Syracuse NY to Michigan. Now this bus driver was wonderful we should have had this kind of person for the entire trip he was kind thoughtful asking if we needed water and asking if you need help to get on and off the bus. The driver was from Fitzgerald Tour not sure but he was great.

Recently I took a Heritage tour with Diamond Tours along the Florida coast. First let me express what I really liked about the tour. Our driver Malissa was excellent, the tour stuck to the schedule, the tour historians were by and large fairly good, everyone was very professional. I just don't think they were equipped to provide in depth Black History.
Here's what I didn't like: the tour was scheduled to tight (we didn't have enough time between Amelia Island and the Diamond Tour dinner to freshen up), most of the places we were assigned to eat were terrible (example: Hurricane Patty's Waterfront). We were not allowed to provide a Black Historian although Ms. Bernadette Reeves used to work for Diamond tours.
We did however, get to enjoy her historical perspective of St. Augustine. She turned out to be the best presenter of Black History we encountered. That may be because she lived through the history. If you have an opportunity to provide a historical tour for another Black group you may want to think about employing Ms. Reeves. I know that your tour group would greatly enjoy it. You may also want to contract a Black Historian to present at Kingsley Plantation.

Terrible trip. Small bus seats, hotels ok, prepaid meals sub par. Trip organizer never gave clear instructions as to time frames etc. Step on guide was a joke. Named a few landmarks as we drove by, bus let us off, said 20, 25 min to see whatever it was. He handed us brochures for what we stopped for as we got back on bus. 3 destinations required tickets and we had limited time at each. There was always a wait as they could not locate whoever had our tickets. Coming home we had to stop an hour frome home to get fuel. The final straw was they delayed our departure that day by 2 hours for no apparent reason. Poor organization and communication. Not my first bus trip or first Diamond trip, but it will be my last

Tour#1411814 Very poor communication between the leaders of the two groups. To start with the B&R group waited an hour for the bus to show up. Our leader change the pick up time the other group did leave a 1/2 hour earlier than the y were scheduled to but we were left waiting. Then I was taking a nap woke to find my backpack under my seat was all wet with spilled lemonade from the lady across from me that did not say a word to anyone that she had spilled the sticky drink. At our next stop I had to clean it up. I was told were the paper towels were but neither the bus driver or group leaders offered to clean it up. Thank goodness my items inside my backpack were not damaged. The Iowa leaders did not let our leader have much say in things, I was expecting a game filled fun time, instead we have inexperienced, rude leaders with Golden Girl episodes, movies, trivia questions and a few prize drawings. The snack pack & water was nice. There was so much confusion and irritation. When we arrived at our hotel in Dumfries, VA our buffet dinner was not set up for enough people and of course that lead to running short or out of food. Someone did not add the B&R Group in so we waited for setup. A suggestion stay downtown D.C. to cut the 2 hour bus ride out each day and allow free time to walk to see the sights further. Sondra did a great job as the step on tour guide she was so informed and helpful unlike our tour leaders. Another suggestion National Harbor is such a neat place. We were there at lunch time and the Ferris wheel does not open until 4 p.m. Mon-Fri, Noon Sat & Sun. It should be worked out so that stop is a dinner stop with a little more time. I was told they try to keep the cost down...you get what you pay for! For my almost 800 dollar trip I was so disappointed.This was my first Diamond Tour and most likely the last. I will pay more for professional, quality tours that I have experienced prior to this. Once again you get what you pay for.

The tour director was amazing. It was wonderful to meet such a positive happy energetic gentleman. The bus was a day trip bus.The most uncomfortable bus ever with undersized i get storage, and seats. The hotels were so remote we spent hours getting to any and all attractions. Two full days three tour guides did not show. The tours we did have were 80% on the bus. The amount of time it took to get everywhere cut time at attractions like the underground city in half. We were short on time everywhere. My most desired location Quebec was not worth seeing. I will not use diamond tours again...

The 7 days and 6 nights bus trip from The Kingstowne Adult Center in Alexandria, VA to Mackinaw City- Mackinaw Island September 12-23, 2017 was a good adventure. My major complaint is centered around the Clarion Hotel Beachfront, where we stayed for four nights. The hotel was not conducive to provide a safe room environment for guests and especially senior citizens as we were. The bathroom tub/shower offered no safety bars of any kind when taking a shower. It was a major hazard to enter the shower and to have no safety bar to hold onto to or to reach out to when showering. There was an very old jetted bathtub with a built in handle bar on the tub surface only, but that couldn't provide any support if you were standing and taking a shower. The closest bar in my hotel room #114 was the shower bar that housed the shower curtain above my head. When I reached for that bar, the bar shifted as it was not properly adhered to the wall. This was so unsafe and in my opinion not in compliance with safety codes and requirements.

TOUR GROUP NUMBER: 1304811

Our group from Kingstowne Travel Club for Active Adults just returned from trip to Mackinac Island, MI. The group travel from Alexandria, Virginia to Mackinac Island from 17th September and returning 23 September 2017.

The touring was great but the hotel in Mackinac Island, MI was horrible and not accommodating for older adults. The bathtubs/showers had no safety grab bars, the tile on the floors were slippery, the carpet needed cleaning, smelled horrible, there were wires hanging everywhere in the room to support the flat screen television in the room, the AC was loud and ran non-stop and the carpeting had trash particles apparently left from the previous guest. Upon arrival, I had to go to the office to request another ice bucket because the one in the room was broken and the phone did not work. Diamond Tours should be checking out hotels prior to securing accommodation for occupancy. Clarion Hotel is well below standards / poor quality hotel and not equipped to accommodate seniors and no one else. Best Western and Radisson hotels were right on point, no problems at all.

The restaurants in Mackinac were horrible for dinner, food was always cold, food choices were limited, and desserts were questionable. The only good meals were the one we paid for.

I would rather pay a few dollars more and have a better quality of food and restaurants.

The motor coach driver did an outstanding job. Lori was very professional and kept us abreast of what was going on every day.

Extremly poor company, they have VERY low standards, dirty hotels, busses never cleaned, rude tour guide and driver. I have been trying to get a refund, but its been 2 weeks. Upper mgnt has same poor customer service the driver and tour guide did. They just don't care (except for you giving them the check). Very poorly planned trip, and extremly bad exicution. I should have read reviews on this company first( my bad!) all i can say is STAY AWAY! I can't say this loud enough. If your interested in seeing nothing but restrooms and throwing away money then this is the company for you. If you expect other than that, go with another company. Thanks for your time jim/lori

Our group from SC are on trip to Branson Mo. Bus clean..driver great...but we only had forty minutes to see Graceland's in TN. Lines long and not enough time to see. Very disappointed and for money paid for tickets should have been able to see more. Have traveled with Diamond four times and satisfied every time but this has been a great disappointment. Thank you.

I was on a NYC tour from Southern IL from June 22-28, 2017. We were planning to take a group trip that was extremely popular and we ended up needing 2 buses. I was asked to lead Bus 2 and agreed to do so. Most everything on the trip was great. There were a few complaints about lack of time at Ellis Island, 9/11 museum, etc.to explore on our own. Our step-on guide in NYC Tony was very rude, condescending, and would leave people in the group behind specifically a lady with a wheeled walker. He was very demeaning to the bus driver as well. I asked the lead (who was on bus 1) on Day 1 if she would contact Diamond Tours about this and I have no idea if she ever did because we were stuck with him for 3 days! We stayed in 3 different hotels and 2 were very nice. The 3rd needed updated and a passenger complained that there was old food in their room.
My main concern with Diamond Tours is their business practices! Each person paid $699/double occupancy. There was somewhere near $2, 000 additional for the purchase of prizes and what have you. I purchased supplies and prizes for my bus and was never reimbursed by the lead for this tour. I later found out the lead on Bus 1 used them to purchase souvenirs for her bus while in NYC to use as prizes on the way home and bought additional cases of water for the passengers on bus 1. What about the people on Bus 2? That money was a portion of their trip fees as well. If anything, the price of the trip should've been reduced for each passenger so that additional money wasn't left over or they should have been refunded money.
Secondly, Diamond Tours expects the leaders on each bus to carry a large amount of cash around to tip the step on guides and bus drivers. I don't feel that anyone should carry that amount of cash without being bonded, insured, etc. In fact, I have been on a tour where the lead got mugged and lost a large amount of money in Miami that was never recovered. Everything thereafter had to be put on that individuals credit card. They need to figure out a better system of making sure these people get tipped without making someone carry around cash.

This was our first bus trip with Diamond Tours and probably our last. The choice of Motels and Restaurants were not what we expected. Upon entering our assigned unit at The Town Crier Motel it was "THE BATES MOTEL", they did not offer breakfast so we had to be driven to the Captain's Quarters Motel every morning for breakfast. As for the choice of restaurants: Bull and Bear was fair... Irish Village (twice) was fair... Cape Cod Tasty Buffet was HORRIBLE!... Blue Moon was good. The only really good meals were the ones we had to pay for. Evidently, the research was poorly done by the staff.

Bottom Line: You get what you pay for...

On May 21, 2017 we were going on a trip to St. Augustine, Fl and Jacksonville, Fl. Now where to begin, First off, we had to meet our bus in Jamaica, Qns. now meeting the bus out there wasn't a problem, it was when we got to New Jersey the bus broke down at a rest stop. The bus driver didn't let us know anything. Now you'll think we sitting there for 3 hours she'll let us know something, right? No she didn't. She's (bus driver) walking around with a attitute cause we were asking her questions about what was going on. Now they wanted us to stay at the rest stop until they took the bus to the mechanic to get it fixed. We were not allowed to stay at the rest stop because we didn't have a car. So therefore, we had to go with the bus driver. We get there and we had to to wait a additional 5 hours for them to fix the bus. Mind you still no communication from the bus driver. So it took 8hrs for them to fix that bus. Ok, now we're back on the road in Virginia now and we're at a rest stop and don't you know they changed buses on us, again the bus driver didn't let us know NOTHING! To me and everybody else that was on the first bus we were like why not change buses back at the garage right? No they wait until we get to Virginia. We were way behind schedule. We was suppose to get to Georgia (Rocky mountain) hotel by 10:30pm. We didn't get there until 4am. Still no communication from the bus driver. Now next day we realize the bus we changed to was infested with ants. We let the driver know and she ignored us not checking or inspecting the bus she just put her headphones in her ear and act like she didn't hear us. Lastly were coming towards the end of the trip and she didn't want to stop so other people can use the bathroom. She didn't get out her drivers seat to help the elderly people get on and off the bus she just sat in her drivers chair with her headphones on. We collected tips for her( the driver) and no thank you or nothing. Diamond Tours you really need to get better drivers with good attitudes.

Quinton was the driver for the Woolmarket Prime of Life trip to Pigeon Forge from Biloxi, MS.
It was obvious that he was not an experienced driver. He often ran over the center line and off the highway on the right side of the road. He frequently turned too sharp running over the curb. He "floored" it when he backed up! I spent 20 years in the military and frequently drove large vehicles. This manner of driving would not have been acceptable.
In the beginning of the week, he was not understanding of some older travelers' needs. He was less than gracious to many. He did improve in this area as the week progressed.

I've just returned from a Diamond Bus Tour to Canada. The touring itself was great, and the hotel in Canada was fine. The hotel in Syracuse, NY, however, was horrible. Diamond Tours should be checking out these hotels prior to placing people in them. All of our group was displeased. The restaurants in Canada, for the most part, leave something to be desired. First of all, NEVER put a group in a Chinese Buffet. These places are horrible, and I don't trust their cleanliness. Two other bus loads of tourists were scheduled to come in right behind us, and it was mass confusion. You couldn't get anywhere near the food. Then, one of our people at our table wished to have a refill on her soda and was told that only one soda per person was permitted. That is absolutely ridiculous. I understand accommodating a group of 50 can be challenging, but Chinese Buffets are a last resort if not a NO resort. I'd rather go to a Big Bob's than that. Some of the other places gave us only 3 choices of food. For someone with food restrictions, the choices were hardly accommodating. Beef, chicken or fish. How about if you are vegetarian and allergic to fish? Then, what do you eat? It seemed that way the whole trip . . . beef, chicken or fish. This trip was Sept 10-17, 2016. I'd rather pay a few dollars more and have more quality.