Have You Ever Regretted Sharing a Private Tour or Ride With an Unknown Fellow Passeng

[cruzeluver]

Twice we have joined private tours via a CC roll call.

 

First was for a trip to the rain forest in Puerto Rico and the second was to Irie Blue Hole in Jamaica. Both times it worked out great! Everyone showed up on time and the groups were very small, making for a very enjoyable experience.

[Tiggertastic]

We've had some fantastic experiences sharing with strangers and made friends and star in touch, what we've cringed at is the fun of travelling with extended family - oh the joys of waiting for a child, a parent etc

 

 

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[lynncarol]

Only one less than pleasant experience during many years of private tours. A woman, through the roll call, wanted one other couple to join them on a Sicilian tour. My husband and I contacted her and agreed to split the cost of a private tour with guide. Once onboard the ship, I learned she had been contacted by a number of other passengers and (on her own) decided to hire a bus for what was now almost 25 people! When I questioned her about this, she replied that "now it would be a lot cheaper". Unfortunately, the speaker system on the bus didn't work and our guide finally gave up after trying to shout over so many passengers. So, we had an all day bus tour where with no way of knowing what we were seeing. One good thing: we met two other couples on that bus who asked us to join them in Athens where just the six of us had a fabulous tour.

[keithm]

Wow! I guess we've been very, very lucky! We enjoy private tours, try to stay with 6 folks (hate those jump seats!) Made some incredible friends & I'm sure we'll make many more. Most important, set a total # of folks, set a firm time & itinerary & don't hesitate to stick to it. That being said, we're on Eclipse in 26 Nov 17 & have room on a couple of island tours,come join us!

If they have the Lobster lunch Catamaran on Antigua, take it! One of the most enjoyable tours we've done on the Eclipse.

[Toofarfromthesea]

We went on a tour organized through our roll call. Unfortunately, the tour was in a large van, not a small bus. We were considered the least disabled and had to sit in the very back on uncomfortable seats. This was a full day tour so our discomfort was major. My husband had recently had a hip replaced and I had sciatica and a bad knee. We won't take another unless we are assured it will be in a small bus!

 

Yikes, if you were the least disabled I'd hate to see the other folks!?!

[donaldsc]

Yes, but in fairness the tour operator could not have known. We took a private tour, small bus size for a full day. A family from our cruise booked, 5 people. They were late and came loaded with luggage. Only as we were about an hour in did it become clear that their toddler child had a significant health problem that required speciality food and a direct catheter to her stomach. Hence the luggage, it was all the special equipment and food. They said to us it would only need to be dealt with every 2 hours. Not so.... Then the ugly tourist came out and one of the pax attempted at more than one stop to get the tour guide to leave this family behind. In addition, we had the loud insistent tourist who wanted stops not in the itinerary (as described by others in the thread). It was a miserable tour. We all felt very sad and sorry for the impacted family but all of us felt that they needed to have taken a private, not a group tour to accommodate the challenges of the poor little one. The two other passengers really made it hard. As DH said, once we knew, we needed to operate as a team. They didn't.... And we missed one major stop on the tour as we were so late because of the stops to support feeding the small one. We coped, we thanked God we had not had the challenges this family had but we wished for a different tour experience.

 

I am going to be totally harsh here. The people with the toddler certainly had issues to deal with but that was their problem and not yours. You shouldn't be impacted by the problems with their child. They lied and withheld information that would have caused you to refuse to accept them on the tour. That is unacceptable behavior. I would not feel sorry for them in the slightest. They probably signed up for your tour because they were too cheap to book their own private tour.

 

The tour member who wanted to have them kicked off the the tour and put on a taxi back to the ship at their own expense was 100% right. Your DH was 100% wrong.

 

DON

[MizDemeanor]

quote:

"If you want comraderie book group tours with known friends you are traveling with"

 

 

Not everyone travels with friends......not everyone travels with even a travel partner so your suggestion doesn't

work for everyone.

 

Nothing works for every person, as this is simply, as they say, life. But being friendly and enjoying a good time and a good excursion is the real objective here I think. Its Sightseeing. We go to see the sights. We could be with the dearest people we know and end up with a flat tire.

 

Maybe then a private tour to avoid all sorts of issues is an option too? For important sights we take private tours and avoid all sorts of concerns that are related to other people and their issues.

[2theship]

I am going to be totally harsh here. The people with the toddler certainly had issues to deal with but that was their problem and not yours. You shouldn't be impacted by the problems with their child. They lied and withheld information that would have caused you to refuse to accept them on the tour. That is unacceptable behavior. I would not feel sorry for them in the slightest. They probably signed up for your tour because they were too cheap to book their own private tour.

 

The tour member who wanted to have them kicked off the the tour and put on a taxi back to the ship at their own expense was 100% right. Your DH was 100% wrong.

 

DON

I almost hate to say it but I agree with you. If they were a group of five, they could have booked their own tour. I always want to be accommodating and account for everyone's needs but it would have been nice to have known ahead of time. I once arranged a bus tour and one of the participants didn't tell me she'd have a problem stepping up into the bus. As luck would have it, the bus we had was handicap accessible and there was a lift along with an experienced driver to operate it so the problem was averted. Frankly, my least favorite tours have been with friends or relatives. I told people in advance what we were considering for the day. If they didn't like it, they could have told me. No . . . they wait until the day of tour and say "why aren't we going there???". Don't get me started on tours with my SIL . . .

[toodycat]

We were on DCL doing a small fishing excursion. The boat held no more than 8. It was our family of 3 and another couple with a child. The start of the excursion was inauspicious when the other mom fell while off the ladder leading down to the fishing boat and was splayed across the bow. I honestly thought she must have broken something and that the whole thing would be cancelled. Miraculously, she was OK. So we went fishing. After about an hour, the other family said that they had had enough and wanted to go back to shore. Of course, we had paid with the understanding that the excursion was several hours long, not one, and it had not been cheap. But, can you really in good conscience force three people to keep fishing when they don't want to? So, we agreed to go back. But, since then I haven't really shared a small excursion with another family.

[Texed]

I just hope folks don't regret going on an excursion with me. ;p

[donaldsc]

We were on DCL doing a small fishing excursion. The boat held no more than 8. It was our family of 3 and another couple with a child. The start of the excursion was inauspicious when the other mom fell while off the ladder leading down to the fishing boat and was splayed across the bow. I honestly thought she must have broken something and that the whole thing would be cancelled. Miraculously, she was OK. So we went fishing. After about an hour, the other family said that they had had enough and wanted to go back to shore. Of course, we had paid with the understanding that the excursion was several hours long, not one, and it had not been cheap. But, can you really in good conscience force three people to keep fishing when they don't want to? So, we agreed to go back. But, since then I haven't really shared a small excursion with another family.

 

Again - I am going to be harsh. You paid for several hours and you should have gotten several hours. The family had 3 options

 

1) shut up and fish

 

2) just shut up

 

3) swim to shore.

 

I would not have shortened the tour because they did not like it. Nobody ever hijacks my tours unless they have a medical emergency and so far I have never had this problem. I did have a tour where the guide had a car accident on the way to pick us up and was in the hospital in critical condition but that is another story.

 

BTW - if she had broken something, you could have just called an ambulance to have her picked up and you go out and fish w/o her.

 

DON

[mourne]

Wow! I guess we've been very, very lucky! We enjoy private tours, try to stay with 6 folks (hate those jump seats!) Made some incredible friends & I'm sure we'll make many more. Most important, set a total # of folks, set a firm time & itinerary & don't hesitate to stick to it. That being said, we're on Eclipse in 26 Nov 17 & have room on a couple of island tours,come join us!

If they have the Lobster lunch Catamaran on Antigua, take it! One of the most enjoyable tours we've done on the Eclipse.

 

Hi keithm did you book the Lobster lunch through the ship or privately. Thanks

[TonyUK]

We have had some fantastic tours with fantastic people over the years on around 25 cruises worldwide. Just 2 major issues...one in Bali. We should have known...the couples main questions were about the cost of the trip. They brought sandwiches made on the ship for the day...it was over 30 degress. We had arranged a Balinese lunch...they declined. We sat in the air conditioned restaurant and they sat on a wall in the full sun across the road eating their picnic! We had a great tour. At the end they had no local money. He took out a calculator worked out what they owed in UK £ handed it to us. jumped out of the van. Fortunately we had enough to pay and give a decent tip.

The other was a shared taxi. The man was 20 mins late at the start. The woman's card didnt work in a shop and instead of just leaving kept us waiting 25 minutes. He got really aggressive when I said he would have to go get her. It was a really unpleasant trip.

Lessons learned from both experiences.

 

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[jagoffee]

Again - I am going to be harsh. You paid for several hours and you should have gotten several hours. The family had 3 options

 

1) shut up and fish

 

2) just shut up

 

3) swim to shore.

 

I would not have shortened the tour because they did not like it. Nobody ever hijacks my tours unless they have a medical emergency and so far I have never had this problem. I did have a tour where the guide had a car accident on the way to pick us up and was in the hospital in critical condition but that is another story.

 

BTW - if she had broken something, you could have just called an ambulance to have her picked up and you go out and fish w/o her.

 

DON

 

Although it is hard for me to disagree on the main points of your two posting in this subject, I would imagine I was not the only one checking to see which future cruises you have booked.

[benjoon]

I just hope folks don't regret going on an excursion with me. ;p

 

 

 

Yes I hope so too as we are booked on at least one private tour with you on the Millennium. [emoji4](16 weeks I can't wait)

 

 

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[CruiseGal999]

We were on DCL doing a small fishing excursion. The boat held no more than 8. It was our family of 3 and another couple with a child. The start of the excursion was inauspicious when the other mom fell while off the ladder leading down to the fishing boat and was splayed across the bow. I honestly thought she must have broken something and that the whole thing would be cancelled. Miraculously, she was OK. So we went fishing. After about an hour, the other family said that they had had enough and wanted to go back to shore. Of course, we had paid with the understanding that the excursion was several hours long, not one, and it had not been cheap. But, can you really in good conscience force three people to keep fishing when they don't want to? So, we agreed to go back. But, since then I haven't really shared a small excursion with another family.

 

Ahh ... YES you can. I was on a group dive with the company that taught me how to dive. I rented the last of their equipment and there was trouble with the mouthpiece that I wasn't aware of. I ran out of air ... motioned to my husband ... and NEVER got his 2nd moutpiece. I had to get up to the surface. I kicked and kicked and broke the surface screaming every profanity I knew. My DH broke the surface next to me. We were both SO sick. Felt like we were drunk. Of course we did NOT have anything to drink other than water. Couldn't stand. The guy who owns the dive shop said "tough sh*t ... we are NOT going to shore" "There are a lot of other people here that paid for a full 1/2 day dive". They didn't go back to shore and we were just left to ourselves to 'recover'.

[CruiseGal999]

Again - I am going to be harsh. You paid for several hours and you should have gotten several hours. The family had 3 options

 

1) shut up and fish

 

2) just shut up

 

3) swim to shore.

 

I would not have shortened the tour because they did not like it. Nobody ever hijacks my tours unless they have a medical emergency and so far I have never had this problem. I did have a tour where the guide had a car accident on the way to pick us up and was in the hospital in critical condition but that is another story.

 

BTW - if she had broken something, you could have just called an ambulance to have her picked up and you go out and fish w/o her.

 

DON

 

I like the way you think, Don. I have agreed with your posts ... the couple that I've seen lately.

[donaldsc]

Ahh ... YES you can. I was on a group dive with the company that taught me how to dive. I rented the last of their equipment and there was trouble with the mouthpiece that I wasn't aware of. I ran out of air ... motioned to my husband ... and NEVER got his 2nd moutpiece. I had to get up to the surface. I kicked and kicked and broke the surface screaming every profanity I knew. My DH broke the surface next to me. We were both SO sick. Felt like we were drunk. Of course we did NOT have anything to drink other than water. Couldn't stand. The guy who owns the dive shop said "tough sh*t ... we are NOT going to shore" "There are a lot of other people here that paid for a full 1/2 day dive". They didn't go back to shore and we were just left to ourselves to 'recover'.

 

You had a medical issue due to bad equipment supplied by the tour operator and needed to go back. The group on the fishing trip just decided that they did not want to go fishing anymore. Just a whole lot more than a little bit of difference I would say.

 

DON

[Beanb41]

One must understand that a lot of private tour organisers are as much in the dark as to how the excursion will turn out as the remainder of the party. Having organised a number of private excursions I have relied upon comments and reports from other CC Roll Calls, Facebook, Trip Advisor and any other travel forum I can get information. In most cases the tours I have put together have been by E Mail. Fortunately the only rogue one I had was a shared transport from Rome to Civitivecchia. We got stiffed for price by the organiser but that was a lesson learned to be more aware of surroundings in future.

[TonyUK]

Yes I hope so too as we are booked on at least one private tour with you on the Millennium. [emoji4](16 weeks I can't wait)

 

 

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Texed We didnt regret it at all. XXX

 

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[excitedofharpenden]

Texed We didnt regret it at all. XXX

 

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Just pack some waffles for Ed's snack. He'll be fine;)

 

Phil

[Jade13]

. Fortunately the only rogue one I had was a shared transport from Rome to Civitivecchia. We got stiffed for price by the organiser but that was a lesson learned to be more aware of surroundings in future.

 

 

How did that happen? The price of the transfer should have been set and split by the number of passengers. We once did a shared transfer to the same port that I organized and price was set and the same for two couples including pick up at two different hotels.

 

 

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[kimlovesfl]

Again - I am going to be harsh. You paid for several hours and you should have gotten several hours. The family had 3 options

 

1) shut up and fish

 

2) just shut up

 

3) swim to shore.

 

I would not have shortened the tour because they did not like it. Nobody ever hijacks my tours unless they have a medical emergency and so far I have never had this problem. I did have a tour where the guide had a car accident on the way to pick us up and was in the hospital in critical condition but that is another story.

 

BTW - if she had broken something, you could have just called an ambulance to have her picked up and you go out and fish w/o her.

 

DON

 

Agreed. You paid a lot of money for several hours of fishing. They should have known this was a long excursion. If I had to cut my tour short because of those inconsiderate people, I would have wanted a substantial refund. I'd have refused.

[villauk]

Yes I hope so too as we are booked on at least one private tour with you on the Millennium. [emoji4](16 weeks I can't wait)

 

 

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You'll have a great time with Ed and Jacquie ;).

[ReneeFLL]

Maybe Cruise Critic can add a section for people to rate each other? All of the nightmare people are registered users. Would be nice to name and shame!

 

This may sound harsh to a lot of people, but I have to agree with you. It would let others who are planning a tour know of problematic people. The organizer can then make sure that either these people aren't on the tour or make them completely aware that if they are X amount of time late then they will get left behind and will have to get back on their own. It is just totally rude of people to want to do their own thing that takes away from everyone else and that isn't in the tour description.