Private tour guide says "Post on roll call and try to get others at the pier."

[Kat in CA]

The ship: Summit

The day: March 16, 2014

The port: Grenada

The situation:

We contacted a non-ship tour guide months ago for a group tour of Grenada. He responded and gave us a price and put us on his list.

When I emailed to confirm yesterday, he indicated that he really wants 4 to 6 more people. He suggested that I post this on the roll call and also try to get more people to come with us.

Should we do something else?

To me this means:

The tour will be cancelled at the pier for insufficient numbers. OR

We will end up paying much more because the tour will be private. OR

We will waste a lot of time at the pier trying to get others to go too.

 

I understand that he wants to fill his van. He won't make enough money charging us $30 each to drive us around the island if we are the only ones. I am willing to post in Roll Call to see if any others want to go. But what if they flake out?

The ship's tour is looking better at this point, but what would you do?

[TorontoSailor]

I have done this before and it worked out just fine. Have always had reputable tour operators.

 

But you are right: If you do not have a full van, he will want you to pay the full freight.

 

I suggest that you post directly on your roll call and see what you get.

 

Make sure you get the details of the people who would like to join you (full names, address, email, cabin number), and follow-up with a direct email stressing that if they book with you they will be committed and you will be counting on them.

 

People on Cruise Critic are quite generally reliable, so I would not worry.

 

If you do not get enough people, you can always cancel within his cancellation window.

 

Good luck.

[wwcruisers]

Yes, posting this info directly on your roll-call is your best bet. If it's only a 6-person van, you may even get so much interest that you have to start a "stand-by" list. :cool:

[rjrpar]

That is one purpose of the Roll Call, setup private tours for small groups

[monicajay]

I find it funny that the tour operator is telling you to do this.

 

If you choose to, that's another story.

 

I have coordinated tours before and it can get complicated. People change their minds a lot.

 

That being said. I often post on my roll call what we have booked and the info if others want to join us but insist they contact the tour operator directly and make their own arrangements. I don't want to take responsibility for others I don't even know.

[dodger1964]

That is one purpose of the Roll Call, setup private tours for small groups

 

Many (most) operators will quote a price for the whole group and then you can pick how many people go to split the cost, based on size of vehicle.

[cruisegirl1]

This protocol is common for folks wanting to share tours. We did this type of semi private tours, for several ports, on a recent Med cruise. In fact, a well know tour company in Italy actually has a tour sharing site to promote tour sharing with others on your sailing

 

As noted, "talk" to those on your roll call to see if others will join your tour. If not, once we were off the the ship in Grenada, we found it very easy to hop in a van for a semi private, several hour, tour. We did this type of touring in several southern Caribbean ports.

 

Enjoy

M

Edited February 2, 2014 by cruisegirl1

[jsf]

If this is like many of the tours on Grenada it would be worth your effort to post on your roll call. It is a beautiful island and enhanced by a tour with knowledgable guide. Talk it up on your roll call stating the trip and sites and also mention the tour operators name so people can look up their reputation. We did tour of the island and found it great.

Have fun,

J.

Edited February 2, 2014 by jsf

[Fouremco]

I'm in general agreement with posting on your roll call and looking for more participants, but as you don't mention who the operator is, the one question I have is how thoroughly have you researched him? At minimum, I look for good ratings on the appropriate ports of call board here and on Trip Advisor.

[Kat in CA]

Thanks to all for opinions here. I have posted on the roll call but it seems pretty quiet.

The tour guide is well regarded on Tripadvisor.

I just don't like surprises at the pier. I actually almost prefer it when a small deposit is made when reserving a private tour. That way, people are less likely to be no-shows and the tour leaves on time--with the guide knowing ahead of time the exact number going.

[Iamthesea]

For all the private tours that I have arranged, we have only had one person not show up for a tour. She was sick, but her husband came along without her. ;) It was known upfront that if one did not go on the tour, they still paid.

 

My suggestion is to correspond with members of your tour a few times before your cruise. Set a meeting time to greet on the ship during embarkation, and then a second meeting on the ship, on the morning of the tour, before all debarking together to meet your guide. Towards the end of the tour, remind participants about the cost of the tour and what their share should be. Make sure that all pay before going your separate ways. ;)

 

As for the tour guide suggesting that the OP post on Cruise Critic...Most tour guides are now familiar with CC and know how the Roll Calls work. Can't blame a man for trying to drum up more business!

[cynbar]

Be very careful about this. I was involved with a group of 10 from our roll call on a cruise on Eclipse a couple years back. We all agreed to 2 private tours on back to back days, the first in St. Maarten and the 2nd day in St. Kitts, both full day tours. Well, for the second day, 2 couples called the organizers and cancelled at the last minute. She was LIVID, and so apologetic to the rest of us. The price went up, of course, as no deposits had been required.

[dodger1964]

Once again there is always going to be an instance where things go bad, but I would bet 99 percent of the cc organized tours go off without a hitch.

 

We've probably done 15 cc organized tours and never had any issues.

 

I suppose if someone was nervous I would suggest that when boarding ship each party could pay the cruiser organizing the event the fee and then if no show they would already be paid.

[Fouremco]

Kat, I took a look at your post on the roll call and see that your tour is with Stan Grainger, JnJ Tours. One of the members on our roll call (Feb 22 Eclipse) posted a similar "anyone else interested?" note and was able to get a full van, DW and I included. While it was a bit more in advance than yours, I'm sure you'll get enough of a response.