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Hi! I'm booked in the Wild Western from June 27. Was just wondering if anybody could share some insight on the optional excursions that are on offer...Any feedback either positive or negative would be great
 Thanks, Laura. |
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hi if u want to know the optional excursions just click on the tour u r going on and click on optional excersions ive added them for u below
Optional Excursions Your choice in Sedona Red Rock Jeep Ride (US$45.00) Four wheel drive jeeps driven by professional guides take you around the back country of Sedona, a town noted for its incredible red rock formations set amidst pine forests. Enjoy Old West Hospitality as you journey through these historic canyons. Your choice in Phoenix Hot Air Balloon Ride (US$160.00) Experience an unforgettable flight over the beautiful landscape of the Sonoran desert. Ballooning is an exhilarating experience for everyone – from the neophyte adventurer to the seasoned veteran, from the young to the more mature. The flight concludes wi Your choice in San Francisco Sunset Sailing Adventure (US$40.00) Sail out on San Francisco’s world-famous Bay on the Adventure Cat. Your tour will take you near Alcatraz Island, under the Golden Gate Bridge, and out to Kirby Cove. Enjoy the sunset, the included drinks and appetizers while you cruise around the Bay! Chinatown Dinner (US$19.00) Explore Chinatown and enjoy an all you can eat meal at one of San Francisco’s best restaurants in the heart of San Francisco’s historic Chinatown. San Francisco Note () Alcatraz is not included in this tour. However you may book tickets in advance by going to www.blueandgoldfleet.com. We highly recommend you do as soon as possible as space is limited and sells quickly. We suggest booking the earliest cruise with audio (9 Your choice in Grand Canyon IMAX Movie (US$10.00) This movie shows the history of the Grand Canyon on a 23m (70 ft) screen. This movie is filmed so realistically that you’ll think you’e part of the action. Helicopter Flights ($135 - 25min, $194 - 45min, $420 - all day) See the grandeur and beauty of the Grand Canyon from up above on an unforgettable helicopter flight. 25 minute flights, 45 minute flights and all-day excursions are available. The heli-hiking adventure takes you to the Havasupai Indian Reservation, locate Your choice in Las Vegas Las Vegas Cabaret (US$55.00) The cabaret show incorporates some of the best talent Las Vegas has to offer. The professional dance team is joined by a number of variety acts including professional dancers, a comedian, a magician and daredevil motorcycle riders. Your choice in Contiki Souvenirs Contiki Shirts (From US$15.00) Shirts may be purchased from the Contiki Hotel Representatives in Anaheim or from your Tour Manager whilst on tour. USA Group Photo (US$16.00) There’s no better way to remember the excellent times you’ve had and the new friendships that you’ve made than with an 8”x10” glossy photo of all the members of your tour. Your choice in San Diego Harbour Cruise (US$14.00) Cruise around the beautiful San Diego Bay. View the city skyline while a guide provides a fascinating commentary on the points of interest in this beautiful natural bay! San Diego Zoo (US$29.00) Visit the world’s largest zoo, complete with tram tour! Sea World (US$46.00) Enjoy a day at SeaWorld’s original park. SeaWorld is an unbelievably fun place to see aquatic exhibits and a variety of shows including starts such as Shamu, the Killer Whale! josh daniel |
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Hi Laura,
Definately do the 45min helicopter over the GC it's amazing, Sea World is pretty cool and what ever else you feel like doing, everything is pretty good and you'll find most of your fellow travellers go in for it all as well so don't think Contiki are trying to push it on you, that is off course unless your budget is limited. Enjoy your trip.. Daniel. |
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Hey I did the WW last year and loved every minute of it and am sure you will too!!
I did most of the excursions as you will find others will too and if your mates are then you will want to, plus you end up with no regrets that way! I never did the balloon ride as heights freak me out but those that did said is was stunning and the early start and $$ was worth it. I also never did the jeep ride but my brother did and he said it was great also and a lot of fun. For me personally the imax left a little to be desired and can be missed but some found it enlightening and insightful! The sunset cruise was a laugh and the pics you get from it cannot be beaten!! Also when in San Fran def get a few of your fellow travellers to go with you to Alcatraz, you cannot miss that. Also the buffet is a great way to hang out with the guys and chat and the food is good, and you will prob head on out direct from it afterwards! Oh and with the cruise it gets windy and bumpy and u may get wet if u go out on deck so be warned. With the flight about 90% of us chose the 45min flight but given there had been storms and the weather was not the greatest we all were made to do the 30min one but it was still good and so I think 45min is all u need. With the Cabaret it was fun u get to sample all different aspects of Vegas shows but if you really want to see another major show then you should maybe do that. This year I am on Grand Northern and will in Vegas go see Cirque! In San Diego everyone did the cruise and imagine will be the same with you as it is a great icebreaker. I chose the zoo over Sea World and absolutely loved it if was a little sore afterwards as there is some walking involved. With that it is a personal choice as to what you will prefer. I think I covered everything, any Qs do feel free to ask! Kas |
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I must say, I did just about all of them and loved them.
In San Diego the harbor cruise was okay. It was a beautiful day and it was a good way to meet the rest of my tourmates. If I had it to do all over again I may have skipped it to explore the city but it was the first day and I was still a little shy so I didn't want to take off alone just yet. I chose the San Diego zoo and it was pretty interesting. About half of the people on my tour chose the zoo and the other half chose Sea World. That seems to be the great debate. I was sort of let down by the zoo because I expected it to be so amazing. It could've been the sleep deprivation due to the fact that my roommate on that tour (who I had met only hours before) was having loud sex for hours the night before. But that's a different story. In Phoenix the hot air balloon was AMAZING!!!!! There are a few downsides to it though. They fail to mention that you need to be up at about 4 am. They also fail to mention that hot air balloon landings are an adventure. Honestly though, it's probably one of the most amazing things I've ever done. One basket can fit up to 16 people but ours had only 6 so it was nice and comfy. You also get a cute little breakfast and hang out with the pilot afterwards. For anyone going on the balloon, heed this WARNING: please please before you leave the hotel, go to the BATHROOM! Go as much as possible! The moment I stepped onto the balloon and we were about 10 feet off the ground is when I realized that I had to pee desperately. You spend quite a bit of time in the air. Anywhere from 30-60 mins. I only thought about my bladder and it was horrible. We got up to an altitude of 10,000 feet and the views were unreal. Do bring a light jacket or something though because it's freezing up there. And don't forget to pee! Grand Canyon Imax...ehh. I usually love educational stuff like that but it was kind of lame. I expected it to be the scientific facts but instead it was the tale of one explorer that no one has ever heard of. To amuse yourself, try to find the scenes where the "one armed explorer" has his arm beneath his shirt and his hand in his pocket. It was a nice cool theater with popcorn and snacks and the ticket was only $8 so I say just go! The helicopter ride was also FANTASTIC! I chose the 25 minute ride because I was low on funds. About half of that time is spent flying over trees so most people chose the next flight up because they would have more time over the Canyon. For me, 25 minutes was perfect. I'm not usually too sensitive about flying but I definitely thought I was going to be sick a few times. If you are air sick, take something before you go. It's such an amazing experience. A few people on my tour went on the all day Heli-hike and had nothing but great things to say. Judging by their pictures and stories, I think that is a great option and I wish I had done it! Las Vegas I chose to opt out of the Cabaret because I wanted to see the American Storm show. There are so many shows to choose from in Vegas, I highly suggest researching before you committ to the cabaret. If you have a "surprise" as an option in Vegas DOOOOOO ITTTTTT! It will be so worth it! My tour manager made everyone sign up and gave us a personal guarantee that if we didn't like it, he'd give us the $7 out of his pocket. No one asked for a refund! I was on the western highlights (which is combined with wild wester and la to the bay) so I didn't go to San Fran. Hope my little reviews helped! |
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Hi
I was on the WW in may this year, and did most of the optionals. My opinions... Red Rock Jeep Ride This was really fun (and there wasn't really that much else to do in Sedona for a couple of hours). Hey, one of the jeeps had a break problem (they had to go and get another one), and even that didn't stop our fun - they were just a little bit late. Hot Air Balloon Ride Very early start to get to this one, but worth it for the views. Included breakfast was poor - but there was champagne. I second the recommendation to visit the bathroom before leaving the hotel! (We had to get the bus to stop after collecting us, because we all needed a bathroom break.) Sunset Sailing Adventure This wasn't the best, but that was mainly due to the weather (very windy/choppy). We couldn't get out of the bay because of the waves and the boat was pitching badly at times - note that this is a real sail-boat and it's fairly small. Would have been better if the weather was nicer. Chinatown Dinner Food was OK (not sure I'd really call it "authentic" though). Definitely a must-do to say goodbye to everyone who's leaving in SF - although they technically weren't supposed to come, our TM organised for them to choose it as well. Note that the "included transport" to this dinner is WALKING (and it takes 30-45 mins). Get the address from your TM, grab a couple of other people and split a cab, then get comfortable in the bar waiting for the idiots who decided to walk. Alcatraz DO IT. And book early! It was really interesting, however it does take a good chunk of time to do properly (3 hours approx). Go 1st thing, have lunch at Fisherman's wharf or at one of the stalls further along the waterfront and get out to see the rest of the city. San Francisco was really easy to navigate on public transport. IMAX Movie Didn't do this one. No-one really raved about it. We took the opportunity to stock up at the general store across the road instead. Helicopter Flights Wanted to do the all-day trip, but in the end it was so windy they could guarantee to pick us up in the arvo, so did the 45 min trip instead which was amazing. Definitely do one of these. (By the way, the one guy who did the whole day trip did get back in the end, although they'd already grounded the helicopters when they took off to get him!) If I had the choice again I'd probably do the all-day - there's accomodation at the bottom, and flights to Las Vegas are only $50 or something from GC airport! Las Vegas Cabaret Didn't do the Contiki one, organised tickets to another from TKTS for about 1/2 the price. Show we saw was great, only comments on the Contiki one were from the people who had just finished Europe and compared it unfavourably to the Moulin Rouge. Las Vegas Surprise Optional DO IT!!!! Contiki Shirts Not even offered to us - maybe you had to ask? USA Group Photo Got one to remember everything. I think it was worth it, but this would be a personal thing. San Diego Harbour Cruise Everyone did this - mainly because our TM didn't specify it was optional. Cruise was good value, but a lot of people were upset about not being told. San Diego Zoo or Sea World I went to the zoo which was nice but not brilliant. The people who went to Sea World apparently froze (sea breeze). Note if you don't leave the hotel with the group in the morning, you can't get to the beach, however you can just be dropped at Balboa Park and wander around if you want. Hope this helped Christine   |
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Wow guys this is great. It's very informative. I am doing the Wild Western tour in June 08. Thanks so much for taking the time to write all of this down. I am even more excited now (which i didn't think was possible).
Cheers, Tam _________________________ Tam & Jess - going on the trip of a lifetime |
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Hi everyone, Just wondering if anyone remembers the name of the place you stayed at while in Vegas. My friend from Orange County wants to meet up with us here and he wants to stay in the same hotel. Thanks, Bec |
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In regards to San Diego, I would go to SeaWorld over the San Diego Zoo. I've been to both dozens of times, but SeaWorld still seems to amaze me
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Helicopter Flights
If you can afford to do the all day, it is really nice. The pics I saw from my other tour members who took short flights and then a hike got pictures above of the grand canyon and lots of rock views. If you do the all day, you get two helicopter flights (one there, one back), and you get rock views, and you get to see two pretty waterfalls and swim in one (we ran out of time to go swimming in the 2nd one farther along) and see really clear rivers. (I did the all day with 5 other people in my tour group) If you can't afford it though, Yosemite National park has wonderful (free) views - more lakes and waterfalls and mountains than red rocks. Wish I'd gotten a chance to try out the hot-air balloon but there was a storm on that day. If you're in san francisco - read up on alcatraz, see if you like it. Not everyone in my tour loved it, but read up on it and check out the tours to see if you'd like that kind of thing. Didn't think the Aquarium by the bay (not a contiki optional, but it's at the Fisherman's wharf) was worth $15 as it consists of two underwater tunnels (one of deep water and one of close to the bay water) and about 3 touch pools (you get to touch different underwater creatures like sea urchins, star fish, and bat rays, etc). Thought there would be more stuff to see like the amount of exhibits in the zoo (we weren't able to cover the entire zoo in the time we had). San Francisco bay cruise was a little cold when I went, but it was still fun and got lots of close up views of the two bridges (Oakland and Golden Gate) and went under the golden gate - they also include two drinks (alcoholic or non) and mostly snack food when I went. took too many photos of alcatraz (partly because I didn't go into alcatraz). In Vegas - at least wander through Bellagio (the one with the waterfall show) - there's a glass flower ceiling display, a large garden inside, and a large chocolate fountain. (Went on Wild Western mid May to early June/08) |
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Hey there,
I noticed you're from Mass, which is a relief to see. I'm from NYC and I'm planning to do the western highlights trip but I was told that most people on the US trips are foreigners! I've been to europe a lot so I wanted to do some domestic travel now.. your roomie having loud sex in your room was hilarious to read about! haven't had that happen to me on a trip yet but then I only did !.. Rob
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I did the walk to the Chinatown dinner and it was great.
*California Highlights - 9/24/08* Bridge to Reef - 11/3/09* |
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I hope I'll be able to do the all day helicopter tour
but I'll be going there in January so I'm not sure I'll be able to  Does anyone have any info about that?? Wild Western April/May 2010!!! |
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I went on the Grand Southern in January/Feb 2008 and they had the all day heli-hiking tour at the Grand Canyon available to us. I was back this winter and they didn't offer it due to the flooding that happened last summer.... I've heard that the reserve has since re-opened to the public, so I would assume the heli-hiking tours are also available again...
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Contiki Trip Forums North America Discussion North America Advice Optional excursions for Wild Western
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