cvs tours

Bus Charters

Experience, value, friendly drivers, and reliability – that’s what we offer at CVS Tours. If you are looking for group travel on Vancouver Island, talk to us about what we can offer that makes us different from the rest. We can accommodate from 24-56 passengers per vehicle. Any bus company can get you from point A to B but it’s the journey that makes the experience.

Let us help you plan your itinerary and find ways to enhance your trip and find out what it’s like when service and experience come together to create true value.

Contact us [email protected] / 250-893-1078

Local impact of global IT outage at CVG, hospitals, 911 centers, gas stations

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - All flights from several major US airlines – including Delta , United and American Airlines – are grounded Friday morning due to a global Microsoft outage impacting computers and communications, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and media reports.

The ground stop impacts all flights from the airlines, regardless of their destination.

Flight delays began overnight and continued into the late afternoon on Friday.

Steve Gustafson, who was flying home to Virginia, was scheduled to arrive home at 7 pm. tonight. He had waited at CVG for 12 hours.

“(I’m) just a little frustrated,” Gustafson. “I wish we would have known before we left.”

According to FlightAware data, more than 5,300 flights were delayed in the U.S. and more than 1,900 flights were canceled. Globally 29,000 flights were delayed and 3,200 were canceled.

Airlines weren’t able to say when operations would resume.

Be sure to check your flight status before heading to the airport.

This morning we are here at CVG. We are speaking with passengers who are experiencing delays or cancellations because of this worldwide IT outage. https://t.co/AK0w5EhRk8 @FOX19 pic.twitter.com/eGwTmdf7Wj — Tayler Davis TV (@taylerdavistv) July 19, 2024

A global internet outage is affecting airlines, banks, media and offices

At this time, we are aware that some carriers are pausing or delaying flights due to technology issues. Passengers are urged to check with their airline for flight status before leaving for the airport. — CVG Airport (@CVGairport) July 19, 2024

Delta Airlines issued a travel waiver Friday that allows customers to make changes to their itinerary via http://Delta.com or the Fly Delta app.

As of 7:53 a.m., Delta announced some flight departures, explaining why some of them were paused.

American Airlines also issued a travel waiver for those impacted by the outage.

Some Ohio BMV locations and services might not be available Friday, according to an official statement.

A BMV official said they “are working to restore services as quickly as possible.”

911 phone lines

The global outage also hit several 911 centers across the Tri-State with phones and/or some county computers going down starting around 1 a.m. Friday.

Dispatch lines in Butler and Warren counties were both impacted.

So were West Chester Township’s 911 phone lines, according to township spokeswoman Barb Wilson.

A dispatch supervisor in Hamilton County said 911 calls in areas without service automatically rolled over to them.

Hamilton County dispatchers handled the extra 911 calls without issue, she said.

She said they directly communicated with first responders in those other counties over police and fire radios.

No serious problems were reported and most if not all in the northern Cincinnati suburbs were back up by dawn.

Butler County’s 911 phone lines went down about 1 a.m. Friday and didn’t come back up until around 6:30 a.m., Chief Deputy Tony Dwyer tells FOX19 NOW.

Staff immediately came in overnight and scrambled to get the 911 phone lines back up as quickly as possible.

He confirmed Butler County’s 911 calls are among those that automatically bounced over to Hamilton County 911 dispatchers while Butler’s system was down.

No 911 call went unanswered, he said.

“Thankfully most of our county was quiet last night so there was not a noticeable impact that we are aware of.”

Middletown police also experienced phone outages including its 911 lines, the police department wrote on Facebook.

They directed residents who needed police or fire assistance to still call and then if they couldn’t get through, to call Monroe police or the Ohio State Highway Patrol “and they will send the information to us.”

In Northern Kentucky, Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties all reported their 911 phone lines were operational, however, the non-emergency phones still went down due to the Microsoft outage.

Kenton County Emergency Communications Center Executive Director Ashley Hawks said they started to see a loss in technology around 1 a.m. after a couple of their phone positions began to shut down unexpectedly.

“We didn’t lose functionality of receiving phone calls at that time,” explained Hawks. “It just lessened the number of call-take positions that were available to us.”

Hawks said they experienced internet service outages before, but nothing like what happened on Friday.

“I personally have not seen anything of this magnitude,” Hawks said. “There have been incidents where things have happened with internet service and our phones are actually voice-over-internet phones, so they have gone down previously. However, not as widespread.”

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Avondale is impacted, a spokesman confirmed shortly after 3 a.m. Friday.

“We have a number of Microsoft-based systems that are affected; however, we are using our standard backup processes to ensure patient care is uninterrupted,” the hospital said in a news release early Friday.

Children’s surgical and radiology/imaging patients at all locations should arrive at the scheduled time but delays are likely, so families will want to plan for that.

The hospital said all appointments resumed as normal starting at 10 a.m. Appointments after that time are on as scheduled, they added.

At 3 p.m., Cincinnati Children’s said they have “restored patient care operations with some minor exceptions, which we are actively addressing. We expect those issues to be resolved soon. Cincinnati Children’s will contact families whose appointments were canceled so they can be rescheduled.”

For questions about surgeries Friday at the main hospital in Avondale, call 513-636-4517, or 513-803-9820 to reach the Liberty Township location.

All other non-surgical clinic and office appointments before 10 a.m. were canceled.

The Schubert Research Clinic is closed until 10 a.m.

Urgent care and emergency departments remain open.

No issues were reported at the UC Air Care medical helicopter service, Christ Hospital and St. Elizabeth hospitals in Northern Kentucky, representatives said.

“UC Health services are currently not disrupted by this morning’s global IT outage. Operations are continuing as normal,” a spokeswoman said.

Gas stations

Speedway gas stations are impacted nationally and locally, where at least three locations are closed in Northern Kentucky: one in Newport and two in Covington.

One of the Covington locations shut down at 1:30 a.m. Friday, according to an employee there who spoke with us around 6:30 a.m.

Other gas stations like the Circle K in Springdale and Thornton’s in West Chester Township off Interstate 75 at Tylersville Road are open.

Two of Thornton’s three front registers went down around 2 a.m. Friday due to computer outages, leaving just one working to ring up customers, an employee said.

Gas pumps were working fine, she said at 3 a.m.

All banks are open and no local ones appear to have any issues.

Sheri Bruce of Erlanger contacted FOX19 NOW shortly after 5 a.m. Friday and said she logged onto the Truist banking website and saw: “Service is not available.” There was no explanation, she added.

Truist is a national bank with branches all over, including in Northern Kentucky.

Branches were open as usual on Friday morning, FOX19 NOW crews observed when we checked locations including in Newport.

“Our branches, care centers, and digital banking services are open to serve clients,” according to a bank spokeswoman.

US Bank ATMs are working and customers can use their mobile banking app, FOX19 NOW confirmed.

Go Metro - Cincinnati

Metro Bus riders were unable to use the regional bus service’s real-time app that tracks buses, according to Go Metro Sr. Vice President of External Affairs Brandy Jones.

Customers will have to depend on the scheduled times, which can be found on Metro’s website .

One of America’s most popular coffee roasters is still feeling the effects of Friday morning’s outage.

Starbucks spokesperson Sam Jeffries got back with FOX19 NOW at 2:30 p.m. to report the mobile order app and online pay features are temporarily not working.

“Starbucks is among those companies experiencing impacts due to a widespread third-party systems outage, resulting in a temporary outage of our mobile order ahead and pay features. We continue to welcome and serve customers in the vast majority of our stores and drive-thrus and are doing everything we can to bring all systems online as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience,” Jeffries wrote in a statement.

Customers can still go in and order coffee in person.

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When does 'Big Brother' start? 2024 premiere date, house, where to watch Season 26

"Big Brother" is almost back.

CBS announced the premiere dates for its summer slate in May, which includes the 26th season of the reality smash hit alongside the network debut of "Tulsa King" and a new true-crime series called "The Real CSI: Miami."

The newest season of "Big Brother" will have a special two-night premiere and will then air Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, featuring live evictions, according to CBS.

Earlier this week, the network unveiled the season's theme for the show, which is "Big Brother Artificial Intelligence," also known as "BB AI."

According to CBS, artificial intelligence is taking over the house and the theme will "deliver the most unpredictable season for Houseguests."

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

“From summer camp, to tech, to the multiverse, 'Big Brother' loves to put a twist on topical and pop culture themes,” said executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan in a news release. “This summer’s ‘BB AI’ theme promises to bring the fun, the comedy and the unexpected game play that is a hallmark of 'Big Brother.'” 

Here's what we know about Season 26 of 'Big Brother' so far.

'Big Brother' Season 26 premiere date

Season 26 will have a special two-night premiere on Wednesday, July 17 and Thursday, July 18, according to CBS. Both episodes will air from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT.

Where to watch 'Big Brother' Season 26

All episodes will air live on CBS and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+ .

Paramount+ subscribers and Pluto TV viewers can continue to catch all the action on the "Big Brother" Live Feeds, according to CBS.

Watch 'Big Brother': Subscribe to Paramount+

'Big Brother' Season 26 cast

As of July 11, the cast of Season 26 has not yet been announced.

'Big Brother' Season 26 house

The show's official YouTube page posted a Season 26 house tour on July 9.

Looking for reliable streaming options? Check out USA TODAY Home Internet for broadband service plans in your area.

Who is the host of 'Big Brother'?

Julie Chen Moonves returns as the host for Season 26, according to CBS. She has hosted the show since its debut in July 2000.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X  @GabeHauari  or email him at [email protected].

Book Tickets

Hop-On Hop-Off CitySights

• Butchart Gardens Experience
• Reasons to go
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Double Decker Digest

Truly the best way to discover Victoria’s must-see points of interest!

Unlimited Sightseeing, stops at the best attractions around the city – is there a better way to explore Victoria? Experience Victoria like no other: aboard one of our open top double-deckerbuses! Sightseeing Victoria’s CitySights Tour allows guests great flexibility to explore the many popular attractions Victoria has to offer.

Your ticket grants unlimited access to our Sightseeing double-decker bus service allowing you to discover Greater Victoria at your own pace.

Stop frequency varies throughout the year. Refer to route schedule for more details.

Tour Highlights

Ogden Point Breakwater

Bastion Square

Beacon Hill Park

Steamship Terminal Pier / Coho Ferry

Old Town / Chinatown

Inner Harbour

Oak Bay Village

Cook Street Village

Ticket prices.

Departs daily (Stop #1) from in front of the iconic Fairmont Empress Hotel, see “Route and Schedules” or departure times.

Stops are served daily. Your 24 or 48-hour pass allows you to hop on and off whenever our tours are operating.

Routes and schedules are subject to change.

Book Tickets Schedules

Tour Information

Download route map

Departs daily (Stop #1) from the iconic  Fairmont Empress Hotel  -721 Government Street.

See Schedules below for departure times.

Stops are served daily by double-decker buses, based on our tour schedule and you decide what to see and when to see it. All stops on the tour are carefully chosen to maximize your sightseeing experience, from the picturesque Inner Harbour to Canada’s oldest Chinatown, visit your own selection of Victoria’s highlights. Your 24 or 48 hour pass allows you to hop on and off whenever our tours are operating.

Route and schedules are subject to change. Your Gray Line agent will provide you with the most current information prior to boarding.

• How long is the Hop On Hop Off tour? Our narrated tour is approximately 90 minutes long. However, buses can be delayed 5-10 minutes depending on road conditions, events and traffic.
• How long are our tickets for the Hop On Hop Off tour valid for? Once your ticket is redeemed it is valid for 24 hours. See one of our ticket agents if you wish to book a 48 hour ticket.
• Does the bus stop at every stop? The bus will stop at every stop, allowing for enough time for those who want to hop on and hop off to do so.
• Will there be opportunities to take photos? Our experienced drivers will slow down at beautiful views or landmarks to ensure enough time to snap a photo from the bus. If you wish to take a better look, you’re welcome to hop off at any of our 15 stops.
• If I hop off at a stop, how long will I have to wait for the next bus? Our buses run hourly from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Please refer to our route schedule here, for specific stop times. Talk to one of our ticket agents for the most up to date schedule.
• I’m staying at the Delta Hotel. Can I get on the bus there? Yes! You can hop on at any of our 15 stops. Please call customer service to make arrangements.
• Is the tour narrated? Our tour is fully narrated through our speaker system with a recorded narration.
• Is the bus wheelchair accessible? All our buses for the Hop On Hop Off tour are wheelchair accessible on the lower deck. If you are booking the Butchart Gardens tour and need wheelchair accessible, please contact customer service.
• How should I dress if I want to sit on the top level? Depending on the weather it can get quite windy, especially when driving along the water. We have blankets for people that want to get the best views without getting too cold.
• I am not able to make the date I booked for the Hop On Hop Off tour. Can I go another day? Of course! Tickets not redeemed on the date of reservation are valid for use within 90 days.
• Are food and drinks allowed on the bus? Passengers are welcome to bring food and/or beverage items on the bus. We reserve the right to ask that any passengers safely and appropriately dispose of their items before entering the bus.
• Do I have to check in before my tour? Yes, check in with one of our ticket agents at least 15 minutes before your tour time. They will make sure you have the correct tickets and information before boarding.
• Can I bring my dog? As much as we love animals, pets are not allowed onboard at any time with the exception of people with disabilities with service animals.
• What time should I arrive for my 11:30 am tour? We do ask that you arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your tour departure time. This insures everyone is checked in, aboard the bus and ready to go at the scheduled time.
• Do the tours run rain or shine? We are not called the Wet West Coast for no reason. Our tours run in all sorts of weather. If we need to cancel due to extreme weather conditions, you will be contacted.

Please visit our full list of FAQ’s for more information

Route Schedules

Schedules vary depending on the season. Select the schedule that applies to your travel plans.

What Our Customers are Saying