Beware of phony "recommendations"... a reminder

[TKS]

Sorry if this thread has caused you to shun all private tours. I will happily continue signing up for and organizing private tours.

In the long run, although I think it is shabby to knowingly jack up prices to make money from fellow passengers (Dave, this DOES NOT include your situation), one must still look at the outcome. Did you enjoy the tour? Was it reasonably priced (lower than similar tour by the cruise line)? Was it well organized/run? Would you recommend it to others? If the answer to most/all these questions is "yes" then you've hit a home run and found a good deal, no matter what the situation with the organizer.

There are always going to be people who "game" the system for a profit. We all just need to be aware it happens and guard ourselves against being scammed. We don't need to throw out the entire system of organizing private tours through CC because of a few bad apples.

The folks I've toured with privately have all been stellar people. I know how much time it takes to research and organize a tour, often at risk of it costing money out of your own pocket for no-shows, welchers, etc. Thanks to all I've toured with for your effort and generosity!!! Edited August 5, 2014 by TKS

[rallydave]

[quote name='Noxequifans']The take away from this thread is that the roll call offered excursions some times are not what they seem to be. Also, it appears virtually impossible to identify the truly legitimate. Even the fact that all are paying the tour posted price doesn't reveal the hidden kick backs/commissions. We have never used the roll call excursions and I now feel we made the right decision.[/quote]

While you have every right to your beliefs, believe you are being too much of a naysayer. Yes, some private tours are not what they seem to be however the same thing occurs for ship sponsored tours at up to several times the costs. Why do you have issues with hidden kick backs/commissions when paying the posted price? You have kickbacks/commissions in many of your dealings outside cruises. One big one for example is purchasing a car. There is absolutely no way to know the true cost of a car to the dealer unless you are one of the principals of the dealership. Even buying groceries at the store there are costs to the store that the consumer has no knowledge of.

We did a 115 nite World Cruise last year and did tours at almost every port organized by many of the people we met on roll call. We knew going in the prices of the tours and what the itinerary was as what was included/not included. Some tours we had to pay in advance while others we paid to organizer or tour operator on the day of the tour. We had absolutely no issues with any of this. We saved thousands of dollars from doing private or ship tours and everything worked out fine.

Don't know if any of the people got their tours free or made money on the tours and never even thought of that until this thread was posted and even if this did occur, have no problem with them making a few bucks for all of the work it took to make the arrangements not to mention that the organizers were ultimately responsible to the tour operator as well as the people on the tours. Met lots of extremely nice people, saw what we wanted and enjoyed ourselves greatly. I did help some of the people in arranging their tours and while I paid the same as everyone else, did have some monetary risks while helping the others. Not saying people should take kickbacks or commissions for organizing tours but, have no problem if people do when they are doing all of the work and taking the financial risks as well as saving everyone money in the long run.

[Mura]

As to the issue of how large your self-organized tour ends up being ...

Whenever I have set up a tour all the members know who is on the tour (their names, and sometimes email addresses if the individual says it's okay to reveal that information), so we know just how many we are as well. This has always been the case with tours that I have taken that were organized by others. I sure would be unhappy to think I was taking a tour for 8 and then end up in tour bus.

Mura

[sitraveler]

We ran into a switcheroo on a private excursion in Murmansk. Our group of 10 was joined with a larger group on 1 large tourbus. It wasn't the fault of our organizer and no way to fix it. But that's Russia. The tour was less than half of the cost of O's tour and was OK otherwise.

[StanandJim]

[quote name='TKS']Sorry if this thread has caused you to shun all private tours. I will happily continue signing up for and organizing private tours.

In the long run, although I think it is shabby to knowingly jack up prices to make money from fellow passengers (Dave, this DOES NOT include your situation), one must still look at the outcome. Did you enjoy the tour? Was it reasonably priced (lower than similar tour by the cruise line)? Was it well organized/run? Would you recommend it to others? If the answer to most/all these questions is "yes" then you've hit a home run and found a good deal, no matter what the situation with the organizer.

There are always going to be people who "game" the system for a profit. We all just need to be aware it happens and guard ourselves against being scammed. We don't need to throw out the entire system of organizing private tours through CC because of a few bad apples.

The folks I've toured with privately have all been stellar people. I know how much time it takes to research and organize a tour, often at risk of it costing money out of your own pocket for no-shows, welchers, etc. Thanks to all I've toured with for your effort and generosity!!![/QUOTE]

[SIZE="3"][FONT="Tahoma"]+1 from beginning to end. Exceptionally well said! :D[/FONT][/SIZE]

[ORV]

[quote name='ChatKat in Ca.']Some one on our shared cruise did that. He got a free tour for organizing. We did not tour with him.[/QUOTE]

I wasn't aware of this, as far as I know I wasn't on a tour with them.

[quote name='TKS']Sorry if this thread has caused you to shun all private tours. I will happily continue signing up for and organizing private tours.

In the long run, although I think it is shabby to knowingly jack up prices to make money from fellow passengers (Dave, this DOES NOT include your situation), one must still look at the outcome. Did you enjoy the tour? Was it reasonably priced (lower than similar tour by the cruise line)? Was it well organized/run? Would you recommend it to others? If the answer to most/all these questions is "yes" then you've hit a home run and found a good deal, no matter what the situation with the organizer.

There are always going to be people who "game" the system for a profit. We all just need to be aware it happens and guard ourselves against being scammed. We don't need to throw out the entire system of organizing private tours through CC because of a few bad apples.

The folks I've toured with privately have all been stellar people. I know how much time it takes to research and organize a tour, often at risk of it costing money out of your own pocket for no-shows, welchers, etc. Thanks to all I've toured with for your effort and generosity!!![/QUOTE]

+2

[canuck.qc]

[quote name='tks']sorry if this thread has caused you to shun all private tours. I will happily continue signing up for and organizing private tours.

In the long run, although i think it is shabby to knowingly jack up prices to make money from fellow passengers (dave, this does not include your situation), one must still look at the outcome. Did you enjoy the tour? Was it reasonably priced (lower than similar tour by the cruise line)? Was it well organized/run? Would you recommend it to others? If the answer to most/all these questions is "yes" then you've hit a home run and found a good deal, no matter what the situation with the organizer.

There are always going to be people who "game" the system for a profit. We all just need to be aware it happens and guard ourselves against being scammed. We don't need to throw out the entire system of organizing private tours through cc because of a few bad apples.

The folks i've toured with privately have all been stellar people. I know how much time it takes to research and organize a tour, often at risk of it costing money out of your own pocket for no-shows, welchers, etc. Thanks to all i've toured with for your effort and generosity!!![/quote]

+++3

[Fairfield Nana]

Right on! to Dave & Mura. Total honesty is always best. I know of no instances on the few tours I have either joined or organized via these roll calls, where someone took advantage of kickbacks or unfair discounts. I don't consider giving a tour organizer/fellow tour member a small discount for all the work they have done--even though a couple of us who just organized a tour on our upcoming cruise had the tour company apply the "discount" to the entire tour and amortized so all could benefit. I think it was the great Bernie Madoff who once said "Life's too short to be running shady deals"!;)

[pacheco18]

Now would you like to hear about the woman who was selling jewelry from here stateroom on the cruise from which I just disembarked?


There are lots of stories in the naked city
Everyone trying to make a buck.
We were all aghast but no one reported her.

[canuck.qc]

OMG:eek::eek::eek::eek:

[ChatKat in Ca.]

A big part of the travel experience for us on Oceania is small group tours. If the fee for a full van of 6 is $600. IT should be split 6 ways. So what if one person did the work to gather 5 others and then have a nice tour?

The reward is that you are also gaining a nice group to travel with. We have made life long friends this way.

[Mura]

Now THAT is an example of creative thinking.

A little TOO creative ...

It's hard to believe none of the staff knew what was going on ... It's a good thing I'm not into jewelry.

Mura

[pacheco18]

[quote name='Mura']Now THAT is an example of creative thinking.

A little TOO creative ...

It's hard to believe none of the staff knew what was going on ... It's a good thing I'm not into jewelry.

Mura[/QUOTE]

Her stuff wasn't special.
The whole thing was tacky to say the least
I don't think the staff knew

[beachchairs2]

what kind of jewellery....lol....

[Paulchili]

[quote name='beachchairs2']what kind of jewellery....lol....[/QUOTE]

Tacky :D

[pacheco18]

[quote name='Paulchili']Tacky :D[/QUOTE]

That's the word for it

[Mura]

[quote name='ChatKat in Ca.']A big part of the travel experience for us on Oceania is small group tours. If the fee for a full van of 6 is $600. IT should be split 6 ways. So what if one person did the work to gather 5 others and then have a nice tour?

The reward is that you are also gaining a nice group to travel with. We have made life long friends this way.[/QUOTE]


I certainly don't expect to get a bargain rate when I organize a tour. I don't think I'd say "so what?" but on the other hand I don't expect a discount if I do the work. If I didn't want to do the work, I wouldn't do it!

I will say that those tours I have organized have required much less work than some others I have been on where I know the person who did the organizing did spend a LOT of time. I've been lucky in that respect. Someone has usually clued me in on a recommended guide and I didn't have any unusual chores to do in scheduling the tour.

Mura

[StanandJim]

[quote name='pacheco18']That's the word for it[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="3"][FONT="Tahoma"]You [I]looked[/I] at it? :eek:[/FONT][/SIZE]

[canuck.qc]

[quote name='StanandJim'][SIZE="3"][FONT="Tahoma"]You [I]looked[/I] at it? :eek:[/FONT][/SIZE][/QUOTE
She couldn't look away!!!

[IMG]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uhZ1wNIIhY4/T1V49nKMTNI/AAAAAAAAC0w/Am95LUAUkHQ/s1600/almost_but_not_quite_terrified_enough.jpg[/IMG]

[Mura]

I can think of two reasons why she did ...

One was that Laraine has indicated in prior posts that she DOES like jewelry ...

A second would be pure curiosity! I think I would have been curious too!


I remember being invited to dinner at the home of one of my employers' homes. This was a small law firm which at the time had three partners and about 5 employees. The senior partner was elderly and lived outside of town so he never did so, but the two partners located in NYC did. (More detail than you need but I thought I should lay the background.)

Anyway, we were at the junior partner's home one night and his wife took the women into another room and showed off quilts that she was selling. We were just as shocked as Laraine was at hearing that a passenger was selling jewelry from her stateroom.

Come to think of it, this could be a good marketing ploy for me. But unfortunately for me, I sell string instrument instruction books written by my father and I don't think I'd find many customers on board ...

Maybe from the string quartet ... :D

Mura

[pacheco18]

[quote name='StanandJim'][SIZE="3"][FONT="Tahoma"]You [I]looked[/I] at it? :eek:[/FONT][/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Of course not.
I saw what she was wearing herself -- tacky. LOLOL

[pacheco18]

[quote name='Mura']I certainly don't expect to get a bargain rate when I organize a tour. I don't think I'd say "so what?" but on the other hand I don't expect a discount if I do the work. If I didn't want to do the work, I wouldn't do it!

I will say that those tours I have organized have required much less work than some others I have been on where I know the person who did the organizing did spend a LOT of time. I've been lucky in that respect. Someone has usually clued me in on a recommended guide and I didn't have any unusual chores to do in scheduling the tour.

Mura[/QUOTE]

My reasons for organizing private tours are entirely selfish. I want to be sure that I am on a good tour with a great guide and seeing the things that I think are the best things to see. LOL I never complain about all the work involved and folks are always grateful and thank me. That's all I need.

[LHT28]

I seem to remember awhile back someone posted they would bring their jewelry to sell on the ship I think the girl was travelling with her family ..the posts were pulled
I would have reported her because I am a mean person :rolleyes:

[YoHoHo]

I have been offered payment if the group was above a certain size. One was very substantial for a over 20(?). I suggested a reduction in price instead; everyone was to pay them directly

One that did get beyond their 'base' size' of 12, I booked 2 vans and had 6 in one and 8 in the other. room to spare and move about in both, two vans so no loading time and everyone's price was reduced. Everyone paid the driver after the tour. Wont do that again. He was panicked with so many people passing him cash and walking away. I stood by to ensure he got enough plus a decent tip.

I have been on the hook for a large celebratory pre-cruise dinner. I accepted cheques in advance that I could cash in Canada, setup paypal group so others could pay with a CC in a safe, secure way (I simply ate the fee if they paid with a CC rather than a Paypal account) and accepted cash from those who did not want to pay in advance. That they did not want to pay in advance concerned me with them a much as them with me. Especially because a couple would not say the magic words in email commitments to pay me at the dinner without some prodding.

In the end it was fine and a lot of fun but taking cash like that is a real hassle, I empathized with the driver on that tour. (and yes, I paid in full for my dinner too!)

[TKS]

You and your lovely DW are some of the special folks we've met on tours and at that special dinner. You, ralleydave, and others like you are the reasons I'll continue private touring. What a wonderful time we've had together because of those tours/events. My cruise experiences would be less rich without you. Thanks, Mark!