Tour organizers threatened at Meet & Greet aboard Grand Princess

[MicCanberra]

I have never gotten a free seat on a tour I have organized or made any money, mostly it has been for friends travelling together and if there has been a seat or 2 extra we have offered it on the roll call for any takers.

I also did a Venice Ghetto and Murano DIY tour in 2011 and have a group for our TA this year that I did research for, made copies for the participants and never charged so not everyone arranging tours has an incentive of making $$$.

I think the people who are trying to make a profit are so rare among shore excursion organisers that they are practically non existant. Now, the ones that receive a discount may be a bit more prevalent.:D

[RASHOPPER2]

I have asked the people on the two cruises on which I am the Meet and Greet Organizer not to collect money for their tours at the Meet and Greet.

[MicCanberra]

I have asked the people on the two cruises on which I am the Meet and Greet Organizer not to collect money for their tours at the Meet and Greet.

I think that is very sensible considering.:D

[chey1]

Big NO from me! Princess' job is to bring me to these ports of call, feed me and entertain me. And hopefully keep the toilets and AC in working condition...:rolleyes: What I do when I get to a port of call is my own business. Princess has the right to offer me a shore excursion and I have the right to find a better deal. Certainly I would exercise a bit of discretion when collecting money and such, but for the Captain to use this kind of attitude is very bad form IMO. Where does it say that you give up your freedom of choice when you get on a cruise ship anyway?

 

Is there anything in the passenger contract to that effect? I'm reading mine again (for the first time:o)

 

I would agree! It is our option to do as we choose in ports of call. I also agree discretion is a good thing. The captain or the cruise line were way out of line IMO.

[deadzone1003]

I would agree! It is our option to do as we choose in ports of call. I also agree discretion is a good thing. The captain or the cruise line were way out of line IMO.[/quote

 

True, it is your option when you are in the port of call, but when you are on the ship, you have to follow the ship's rules and the Captain's orders.

[caribill]

At today's Meet & Greet, Capt. Herriott threatened expulsion from the ship of anyone observed in public organizing or collecting for privately organized tours.

 

On another thread it was reported that this was said by the Hotel Manager, not the Captain.

[Colo Cruiser]

I would agree! It is our option to do as we choose in ports of call. I also agree discretion is a good thing. The captain or the cruise line were way out of line IMO.[/quote

 

True, it is your option when you are in the port of call, but when you are on the ship, you have to follow the ship's rules and the Captain's orders.

 

 

Yes you sure do!

[san diego sue]

The person that started this thread was actually at the M&G and he is

very reliable. He knows the difference between the Captain and Hotel Manager. I think he gave correct information and Pia got her info. not first hand as she wasn't at the M&G. So unless we were there, really don't know.

[tip]

I would agree! It is our option to do as we choose in ports of call. I also agree discretion is a good thing. The captain or the cruise line were way out of line IMO.

 

I would also agree with the above. This would leave a very sour taste in my mouth if I had witnessed it.

[Cancun01]

The person that started this thread was actually at the M&G and he is

very reliable. He knows the difference between the Captain and Hotel Manager. I think he gave correct information and Pia got her info. not first hand as she wasn't at the M&G. So unless we were there, really don't know.

 

I agree. I was at the first meet and greet and it was more like a bizarre than a meet and greet. Tour organizers were announcing missing names on their tour lists by microphone. There was very little meeting and greeting going on. The captain was most certainly at the first meet and greet and obtained his first impressions there. The original poster is in my experience very credible and reliable. I have no reason to question the content of his post.

[Ship's Wake]

I agree. I was at the first meet and greet and it was more like a bizarre than a meet and greet. Tour organizers were announcing missing names on their tour lists by microphone.

 

Wow!:eek:

[san diego sue]

So glad we aren't on that 49 day cruise. We were originally scheduled and did the 30 day Star instead. Our M&G was very civilized. I was the coordinator. We really visited and got to know each other. Had some fun prizes donated by myself and a few others for a drawing.

I did introduce the tour operators in case someone needed to speak to them after the meeting. No money changed hands that I was aware of for tours. On our second M&G, the other coordinator had a gift exchange.

We planned a CC luncheon and did have a sign up sheet for that.

We all had cabin numbers for people doing the private tours in case there was a problem. However, before starting our journey the tour stuff was handled by private emails.

In all fairness our M&G had just a little over 100 people showing up, not nearly the numbers the Grand had show up.I can see how things could get out of hand with huge numbers.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I really think the key word is "discretion." You're allow to post on the roll calls about tours you're interested in. You can post links to tour companies. You can post one's email address and ask those who are interested in going with you to send an email with your cabin number. It sounds better if each party can pay directly to the company (just as one would do if booking a cruise within a group), but if the operator would rather have one payment, then why not set it up for the passengers to pay the organizer at their cabin, rather than at the meet and greet, which is really set up to meet your fellow passengers. Or have them pay off the ship before the tour.

 

Sorry, but I'm with the captain on this.