Ship Excursions that are too fast to keep up!

[cartervan]

I was just reading a post about pay toilets, and someone talked about about being on a ship excursion in Bruges where the guide moved so fast it was hard to keep up. I didn't want to hijack that thread, but it reminded me about the number of times we've been in that situation. We are "senior citizens" who try to keep active and do a lot of walking. But we can't move as fast as a 20 something guide. And there are always several other older people in the same boat. Once in Pisa we had a long distance from the bus parking lot into the walled old city. We practically ran. Then, after our tour we only had a short break to take pictures, then were to meet outside the wall. We almost didn't make it back in time, and then the busload took off at a trot back to the bus behind our flag-waving guide. Once we got on the bus the guide remarked casually that "almost everyone" was there. She went on to say that it "happened every time". Didn't that tell her something!?! When some of us protested, worrying about the people left behind, she assured us that they could take a taxi or something to get back to the ship on their own! Of course, we complained to HAL, but I doubt if anything changed.

[OlsSalt]

That has not been our own experience with HAL excursions, but we usually take the more active ones. Do you remember the activity level of those excursions that moved too fast - were they the lowest level symbol - the little walking figure that goes from one to three or four?

 

You had every right to protest and I am glad you did. But I will also assume these tours had the lowest activity level warning up front.

 

We have been on tours where the guide tried to throw in some sort of unlisted "shopping experience" and the bus passengers protested so the guide had to abide by the tour description, that did not include any such extra stop. You have a right to get what you expect - and the lowest activity level tours do stress their leisurely pace.

[lajbec]

I was just reading a post about pay toilets, and someone talked about about being on a ship excursion in Bruges where the guide moved so fast it was hard to keep up. I didn't want to hijack that thread, but it reminded me about the number of times we've been in that situation. We are "senior citizens" who try to keep active and do a lot of walking. But we can't move as fast as a 20 something guide. And there are always several other older people in the same boat. Once in Pisa we had a long distance from the bus parking lot into the walled old city. We practically ran. Then, after our tour we only had a short break to take pictures, then were to meet outside the wall. We almost didn't make it back in time, and then the busload took off at a trot back to the bus behind our flag-waving guide. Once we got on the bus the guide remarked casually that "almost everyone" was there. She went on to say that it "happened every time". Didn't that tell her something!?! When some of us protested, worrying about the people left behind, she assured us that they could take a taxi or something to get back to the ship on their own! Of course, we complained to HAL, but I doubt if anything changed.

Why did y'all hollar for her to slow down? You paid for the tour and she works for you. Even I was a 20 and 30 something, I had no qualms about telling a tour guide to slow their roll.

[OlsSalt]

FYI - from the HAL website - the little walking symbols did not copy: It is recommended talking to the shore excursion people before booking the tour to express any concerns, and by all means let them know if there were problems or inaccurate presentation of what was offered and delivered.

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Choose the shore excursions that interest you by using the icons as a general guide to the level of activity involved,

and select the shore excursions best suited to your physical capabilities. These icons will help you interpret this brochure.

easy activity: Very light activity including short distances to walk; may include some steps.

moderate activity: Requires intermittent effort throughout, including walking medium distances over uneven surfaces and/or steps.

strenuous activity: Requires active participation, walking long distances over uneven and steep terrain or on steps. In certain instances, paddling or other non- walking activity is required and guests must be able to participate without discomfort or difficulty breathing.

panoramic tours: Specially designed for guests who enjoy a slower pace, these excursions offer sightsee- ing mainly from the transportation vehicle, with few or no stops, and no mandatory disembarkation from the vehicle during the tour. As vehicles outside the United States are rarely lift-equipped and ramps are seldom available, a very small amount of walking will be necessary. The pace will be gentle and taking your time is encouraged.

limited capacity: The number of people able

to participate in this tour is strictly limited. Reasons for limiting capacity may include the number of transportation seats available, or the need to maintain a safe ratio of guides for hikes, fishing and water activities. Tours require a minimum number of participants in order to operate.

meal: This tour includes a meal—lunch on daytime tours, or dinner on evening tours.

snack: This tour includes a small snack or tasting of local specialties. The snack is not a meal.

 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

Trying not to be disrespectful here, but without knowing the activity level of the excursions in question, it is hard to judge what happened.

 

Unfortunately, again, trying to be sympathetic, but unfortunately, we have seen a fair number of people on excursions that were struggling to keep up. And yes, we have seen people left behind as they couldn't keep up. The most notable one was a Lucca/Pisa tour, where two walks of over 2 miles each were scheduled. A couple was 20 minutes late (back to the bus) from the first walk, and was advised by the guide. When they were 20 minutes late after Pisa (which has a healthy walk from the bus parking area to the sites) the bus left without them. We were almost a hour late back to the ship. The couple apparently came back in a taxi. This was a high activity excursion.

[iancal]

Just one more reason why we prefer private excursions-by ourselves or with small groups.

[bcummin]

We do not walk as fast as we used to either.

It does pay to speak to the tour guide.

On our last cruise, we were concerned about booking a special shore excursion that ended with a long and strenuous hike. I expressed my concern to the shore excursion manager, who contacted the provider. She then said there would be choices, and we should go ahead and book the shore excursion. It turned out that the choices we had were the long hike or a shorter hike with leaders, or we could do a shorter walk on our own. This shore excursion made us very happy.

 

Barbara

[cartervan]

As I recall, the tour was listed as having a moderate activity level with quite a bit of walking involved. We can and do walk a lot. But this girl really outran us (a lot of us). And we did try to yell at her, but she was so far ahead she couldn't hear us.

This was the worst example I can think of when we've had fast walking tour guides. But it does happen, often.

The thing that was most alarming about that particular excursion, however, was the fact that she really didn't give enough time for people to make their way back to her meeting point. She did wait for about 10 minutes then left them behind.

[OlsSalt]

As I recall, the tour was listed as having a moderate activity level with quite a bit of walking involved. We can and do walk a lot. But this girl really outran us (a lot of us). And we did try to yell at her, but she was so far ahead she couldn't hear us.

This was the worst example I can think of when we've had fast walking tour guides. But it does happen, often.

The thing that was most alarming about that particular excursion, however, was the fact that she really didn't give enough time for people to make their way back to her meeting point. She did wait for about 10 minutes then left them behind.

 

Don't forget the guide was also under strict instructions to get back on time. Late arriving tours, that get stuck waiting for slower passengers, make this a HAL problem for their own required onboard and departure times. My guess is the guide knew exactly when she had to leave certain locations in order to make it back to the ship.

 

Might be a good idea for HAL to make their descriptions more detailed than just saying "walking moderate distances". Not very helpful. I believe I am now seeing them indicate the actual steps climbed and miles total that must be negotiated too. So that means they are listening to complaints when passengers found there was a mismatch in the suggested activity level.

 

I am sorry you had this problem. But we have found the "moderate" activities do up the pace, as far as stamina and speed required. Good you are bringing this up so others can also benefit. Also do not know what altitude this activity was at, which does make a huge difference in one's own sense of exertion. Sea level is certainly easiest. But many tours go up to much higher altitudes.

 

Was on a walking tour in Turkey once and one older couple who walked long distances every day in New York City found most of the "walking" routes just too much, not for the length of the hikes but because the change in altitude over their prior long distance walking experiences at sea level NYC. It was a shame but they had to spend most of the time on the bus, waiting for the rest of us to get back.

[Despegue]

The other side of the medal is the fact that there are always people who think that a certain reporting time is not valid for them...We absolutely hate having to wait for latecomers.

Playing the Devil’s advocate now, please do not take this personally...

By far most of the time when people are late, it is not because the guide went too quick ( they do not run but you need to pay attention and a walking tour does, surprise surprise, require one to be able to walk at a normal pace.) but mostly because they were still shopping, making pictures of everything etc etc.

 

 

We avoid group tours whenever possible for these reasons. We want our freedom, but when on a group tour, we adhere to the agreed times and follow.

[cruisemom42]

The thing that was most alarming about that particular excursion, however, was the fact that she really didn't give enough time for people to make their way back to her meeting point. She did wait for about 10 minutes then left them behind.

 

Considering that it takes the average person about 20 minutes to walk a mile at a steady (not brisk) pace, 10 minutes sounds like a reasonable amount of time to wait -- surely the stragglers were not left more than half a mile behind the guide?