O excursions ??????

[pinotlover]

Compassion? I often post that I never go to the Terrace or GDR at or near opening, at lunch or dinner, so to give those with mobility issues ( that normally come at those times) plenty of time to get comfortably situated. At breakfast, I give those with challenges very wide birth. I encourage others to do the same.

 

I've stopped doing O tours now, even when some I might want to do. Reason, not to interfere with those that O might be their only practical option. I recommend the same for those more active tourers.

 

Both cases, I subjugate what I might otherwise do, to give advantage to those more challenged. That's compassion also, plus perhaps manners.

 

It is not a lack of compassion to state there are issues with scooters in the buffet line, others need to be very watchful. It's not a lack of compassion to warn others of pitfalls that occur on ship tours by those not physically up to the tour.

 

When those with mobility issues start to out number the rest of us, I may take your advice of going elsewhere . Until then, I'm very happy with O. Have two tours booked and an advance reservation booking for a third! Not leaving soon! Lol

[Mura]

We have a Nautica cruise in March - really not that far away - with 8 members on the roll call (and most of them posted only once and may or may not still be on the cruise)

 

 

Paul, our May 2018 cruise on Riviera only has SIX at this point ... and has had six for quite a while. Then again, the ship is very undersold ... A few did join since I started the Roll Call, so I don't think we've lost anyone ... yet ... but final payment isn't until December.

 

 

I'm waiting to see what happens!

 

I miss the days of the active roll calls, and I even miss the Meet & Greets that I set up with more than 100 people!!

 

 

I'm also frustrated with our small Roll Call for our November 2017 cruise ... A few private tours have been set up (by me or someone else) but very few.

 

 

Mura

[pinotlover]

I miss the days of active roll calls also. My last cruise in June, which was almost sold out, only had about 8-10 posters and some of them not until the month before the cruise.

 

My upcoming late October cruise had a bit of early activity, then went dead. Then, 6 out of 8 on one of the tours, cancelled the cruise leaving us to scramble on finding new tours. Fortunately, we've meet a great couple and have booked shore tours with them.

 

Been quite a while since I was on a cruise with a roll call M&G!

[AZjohn]

I'm waiting to see what happens!

Mura

Well, we do know the party is at your cabin;)

Cheers,

John

[bitob]

We had a roll call m&g on the Australia circumnavigation of 150 plus cruisers. We also had a large m&g for our Norwegian fjords cruise. The more exciting the itinerary the more likely you are to have an active roll call

 

For our upcoming ta the roll call is surprisingly not very active. We are doing a b2b and the roll call for the cruise the follows is dead

 

I bet the roll calls for Cuba cruises are active

 

We also have cruises booked on crystal and seabourn. The crystal roll calls are pretty dead. The seabourn has some activity because it's Antarctica

 

 

We have a celebrity cruise to Japan and Korea (maybe) in October but we are going with 3 other couples we met on o and arranged all our tours off the roll call That roll call is very active with many private tours having been arranged

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Travelcat2]

Compassion? I often post that I never go to the Terrace or GDR at or near opening, at lunch or dinner, so to give those with mobility issues ( that normally come at those times) plenty of time to get comfortably situated. At breakfast, I give those with challenges very wide birth. I encourage others to do the same.

 

I've stopped doing O tours now, even when some I might want to do. Reason, not to interfere with those that O might be their only practical option. I recommend the same for those more active tourers.

 

Both cases, I subjugate what I might otherwise do, to give advantage to those more challenged. That's compassion also, plus perhaps manners.

 

It is not a lack of compassion to state there are issues with scooters in the buffet line, others need to be very watchful. It's not a lack of compassion to warn others of pitfalls that occur on ship tours by those not physically up to the tour.

 

When those with mobility issues start to out number the rest of us, I may take your advice of going elsewhere . Until then, I'm very happy with O. Have two tours booked and an advance reservation booking for a third! Not leaving soon! Lol

 

Agree with you 100% about compassion. Oceania does have tours that are not recommended for people in wheelchairs and scooters as well as some that work well for them. We found Oceania excursions so expensive that we booked our own excursions and did one with a group from Roll Call (loved that one - it was amazing).

 

In terms of Roll Calls, it seems premium and mainstream cruise lines have active Roll Calls while the rest of us do not. Not sure what the reason is. We have had active Roll Calls on both Oceania and Regent but that is the exception rather than the rule.

[oreok]

I'm trying to find our Roll Call. We're on the Nautica October 10, 2018 Barcelona to Rome. We would love to connect with others and plan some excursions.

[LHT28]

I'm trying to find our Roll Call. We're on the Nautica October 10, 2018 Barcelona to Rome. We would love to connect with others and plan some excursions.

If there is not one started you can start one in the Roll Call section

Be sure to put the dates & the year in the subject line

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=422&order=desc

[nancyshaw]

Roll calls were huge until O decided to include some of their cheaper tours (under 199).

 

One of the main reasons people posted on roll calls , was to meet others and do some private tours.

 

Now it has become very difficult to find others. Yes, must make more of an effort to do so on the ship.

 

I have an Alaska/Denali booked for Aug 2, 2018. No one is on roll call. We have 2 O life tours, the kind the OP is speaking of. Four hours, three hours, as they are under $199. Those kind of tours done privately would be a fraction of the cost but you need at least 6 people to do so. With no one on roll call , that is not possible.

[JimandStan]

Roll calls were huge until O decided to include some of their cheaper tours (under 199).

 

One of the main reasons people posted on roll calls , was to meet others and do some private tours.

 

Now it has become very difficult to find others. Yes, must make more of an effort to do so on the ship.

 

I have an Alaska/Denali booked for Aug 2, 2018. No one is on roll call. We have 2 O life tours, the kind the OP is speaking of. Four hours, three hours, as they are under $199. Those kind of tours done privately would be a fraction of the cost but you need at least 6 people to do so. With no one on roll call , that is not possible.

 

Seems to me that the lack of participation which Nancy is reporting is more of an Alaska thing than an Oceania thing.

The "Good" Tour Operators can virtually write their own tickets up there because the area is so heavily trafficked.

For that reason, there really isn't the same monetary or quality advantage to booking privately in Alaska.

In fact, most Alaskan Tour operators will form ad hoc groups for folks wanting to tour off the cruise ship grid

[nancyshaw]

While I may agree with you for Alaska, the same cant hold true for other itineraries.

Since offers of inclusive O tours, it has become very difficult for most cruises to find others to do private tours with. Even if the included tours are substandard and only for a few hours as opposed to a private tour that may be 8 hours, they are still taken since they are included.

 

This is the down side of O, including some tours, leaves very little opportunity to find others to do private tours with. You have to almost travel with your own group to be able to do so.

[ORV]

While I may agree with you for Alaska, the same cant hold true for other itineraries.

Since offers of inclusive O tours, it has become very difficult for most cruises to find others to do private tours with. Even if the included tours are substandard and only for a few hours as opposed to a private tour that may be 8 hours, they are still taken since they are included.

 

This is the down side of O, including some tours, leaves very little opportunity to find others to do private tours with. You have to almost travel with your own group to be able to do so.

 

There are some of us that prefer the 3-5 hour tours as opposed to the 7- 9 hour ones(which in truth usually involve spending 3-5 hours on a bus).

 

My point is that some view this as a positive, not a negative as you presented it. Different strokes and all that.

[nancyshaw]

I have never spent 3 to 5 hours on a bus on an 8 hour tour. When you organize private tours you can make sure of that. The itinerary is up to you. Unless of course you have mobility issues so a panorama tour is all you can do.

 

Perhaps some day, all I will be able to handle is a 3 hour tour, but not yet.

 

Cruise lines make more money if they can offer half day tours. They offer then in the morning and the same ones in the afternoons. Pack in the busses.

 

In any case. Very difficult to find private or do private tours with O cruises.

[pinotlover]

I agree with ORV, it’s strictly a personal thing. I travel for the ports of call and the experiences of those lands, culture, sights, and food. For us, part of experiencing different lands and cultures is eating their local authentic cuisine. Panda Express, Taco Bell, and Oceanla do not represent authentic cuisines, nor do they really try. Therefore, we look for local restaurants serving authentic local food along with local beers and/or wines for lunch. Getting back to the ship to eat lunch in Terrace or Waves is anti why we pay to cruise. It is the extreme rarity when the best meal we’ve had during a cruise was had aboard ship! Since we’ve paid $$$ to get to these ports of call, the last thing we want is a rushed tour to get back to the ship before 14:00. We want to see and explore as much as we can in the short 8-10 hours we have in port.

 

Everything I just wrote is the complete opposite of some cruisers wishes. That’s accepted and understood. We all have our reasons for cruising which is great.

 

The issues for the Roll Calls are:

 

1. Some people give you a list of requirements for tours that don’t meet your wishes. As an example, they insist upon the 3-4 Hour tour and back for lunch, nothing strenuous and little walking. They need a different group.

 

2. Some want to be total free agents. They’ll make no down payments for tours and will walk on the Group right up to your date of tour, if they get a better offer.

 

3. Some will never lift a finger to help plan or Captain a tour themselves. They might sign up for a tour you’re putting together, but never expect them to do the work of putting one together themselves for you to participate on. Some of us believe sharing those duties is a nice thing.

 

All of this has started to give the Roll Calls a bit of a black eye. We’ve been fortunate that on our recent past and upcoming cruises, i’ve Posted on our Roll Call and gotten private replies from sufficient past cruisers and we’ve put tours together off Roll Call. So the Roll Call got things started, but late comers don’t see the fruits of those efforts.

[JimandStan]

While I may agree with you for Alaska, the same cant hold true for other itineraries.

Since offers of inclusive O tours, it has become very difficult for most cruises to find others to do private tours with. Even if the included tours are substandard and only for a few hours as opposed to a private tour that may be 8 hours, they are still taken since they are included.

 

This is the down side of O, including some tours, leaves very little opportunity to find others to do private tours with. You have to almost travel with your own group to be able to do so.

 

LOL, I feel your pain. I've been having the same conversation forever with those folks who refuse, under any circumstances, to eat away from the ship.

As I learned at mothers knee, NEVER presume to spend other peoples money. It never ends well, no matter how good or well meaning the advice may be....

[RJB]

While I may agree with you for Alaska, the same cant hold true for other itineraries.

Since offers of inclusive O tours, it has become very difficult for most cruises to find others to do private tours with. Even if the included tours are substandard and only for a few hours as opposed to a private tour that may be 8 hours, they are still taken since they are included.

 

This is the down side of O, including some tours, leaves very little opportunity to find others to do private tours with. You have to almost travel with your own group to be able to do so.

Sorry, but I do not agree that the O life tours are substandard at all. Some of them are very good. We have taken quite a few and sure there were a few poor ones but the vast majority were just as good as some private tours we have taken. In the last two years we have taken maybe 15 O life tours and will continue to tale them as we go on additional cruises.

[Paulchili]

While I may agree with you for Alaska, the same cant hold true for other itineraries.

Since offers of inclusive O tours, it has become very difficult for most cruises to find others to do private tours with. Even if the included tours are substandard and only for a few hours as opposed to a private tour that may be 8 hours, they are still taken since they are included.

 

This is the down side of O, including some tours, leaves very little opportunity to find others to do private tours with. You have to almost travel with your own group to be able to do so.

 

I suppose it can vary from cruise to cruise.

We are booked on 3 O cruises next year.

I had no trouble organizing a private tour in all 3 ports in Vietnam and am up to 10 people now (no more needed). The other two are in the Med in the Fall and I am participating in private tours on both cruises that others organized.

On all 3 cruises we are also doing O tours in addition to private ones as we have lots of OBC.

So, as always, YMMV :)

[nancyshaw]

Sorry, but I do not agree that the O life tours are substandard at all. Some of them are very good. We have taken quite a few and sure there were a few poor ones but the vast majority were just as good as some private tours we have taken. In the last two years we have taken maybe 15 O life tours and will continue to tale them as we go on additional cruises.

 

Well if they are that good, that is even more reason why less are interested in Private tours.

[JimandStan]

Well if they are that good, that is even more reason why less are interested in Private tours.

 

I believe that you are missing the point.

The Private Tours were only necessary because the Ship sponsored tours were substandard.

If they have improved in quality, then it probably IS a better choice to use them.

They aren't "preferable" in and of themselves...

[LHT28]

we never found the ship's tours substandard but do not care for 30+ people on the tour so we will do private tours with12 or less people

In some areas it is still easier to get others to join private tours ... Alaska & Caribbean are not those areas

[nancyshaw]

I have not been able to find people to do private tours on many itineraries, Iceland, Canary Islands and now Alaska. That is my point. That has happened since O began including them. Good tours or bad, that is the reason and that is my point.

 

Very easy to do private tours on other lines which do not offer inclusive tours.

 

I think I get the point very well.

[pinotlover]

I’ve had reasonably good OLife tours and some substandard ones also. Most all I have considered overpriced for what is provided.

 

The horrible tours I had were not because of the specifications of the tours themselves, but ones where Oceania refuses to enforce minimum physical limitations requirements on the tour passengers thus allowing those passengers to bring tours to a near standstill. This has lead to missing some of the described sights on a tour. Simple Question, “ If Oceania says wheelchairs are not allowed on a specific tour, why do they allow passengers with wheelchairs to load the bus for that tour? ADA doesn’t apply in Europe or Asia! This is the primary reason I avoid O shore tours.

[nancyshaw]

Yes I very much agree with you.

 

But have also experienced private tours where the organizer specifically says, NO MOBILITY issues and you have people get on the van who can hardly walk. We had that happen in South America recently. Someone who could hardly walk, fell while negotiating a steep trail. It held up everyone for one hour. We missed the sites we were scheduled to see as a result.

[pinotlover]

Nancyshaw;

 

Had I been the trip Captain of that private tour, I wouldn’t have allowed that person in the van to start with. I would also have objected if I was only another participant. Paying the extra money, because of fewer participants, would have been a better option for us.

[nancyshaw]

had only 12...sometimes it is not how many....