Would you ever refuse to pay for a shared private tour excursion?

[Petoonya]

Several years back I organized a tour for eight CC's in Rome. Had emailed and

chatted by phone with most of this congenial group. Booked with CC's most highly

touted company and guide at the time.

Started off on the downside. At the last minute the guide sent a surrogate who seemed a little odd.

 

The guide began making snide remarks to one gentleman about his religion and

appearance. It began a feud which lasted the day. It got so bad at lunch they were

shouting at one another, and my husband had to take the guide outside.

 

It was horrifying. A truce was arranged and the gentleman who was derided insisted on paying his way at the end of the day. I heard from the absent operator immediately after I'd written a review on here and on Tripadvisor and received half our $ back.

 

This tour operator again was #1 on CC, and our tour was just a fluke.

Hasn't stopped me from organizing and meeting great friends on small group tours.

 

Yikes!

Need to add that have probably done 40-50 group tours, including a lot of dive tours

and have never been disappointed outside of this one. It really was just a fluke and

luck of the draw. And already I regret posting my one negative experience :(

[Can'tstopcruising]

Yikes!

Need to add that have probably done 40-50 group tours, including a lot of dive tours

and have never been disappointed outside of this one. It really was just a fluke and

luck of the draw. And already I regret posting my one negative experience :(

 

Don't be sorry. It's good for us to get a balanced picture.

[neoncandle]

I think people should definitely post when they have a bad experience. We can all learn from those situations. But i think it is equally important that we have a balanced view- so glad that others have followed up with their good experienced. Hopefuly this helps us all plan a better trip.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I had some bad ship tours but sometimes I think every person has a different experience.

 

The tours I didn't like so far ( I don't book many in the first place)

 

Lisbon (with Celebrity)- three hour bus tour- boring.

 

Pompeii (with Celebrity)- too much time in cameo store- the guide only touched on certain key areas- ditched her and met back on the bus.

 

Ephesus (with Holland America) guide was too slow, shrill voice and boring. Grabbed out Terrance House tickets and met her back on the bus later

 

Istanbul (Holland America) we revolted against our guide who gave us 10 minutes to walk around on our own at the Topkapi Palace! She ended up giving us 30. She wanted to get us to the carpet store and pushed the carpets at the beginning of the bus tour.

 

Having said that- I never asked for my money back. The tours weren't awful- just not great.

 

Best tours

 

Cinque Terre (Celebrity)

 

Giant's Causeway (Princess)

 

Loch Ness (Princess)

[JLC@SD]

After almost 50 cruises including the Med, Alaska and Britain as well as many Bahamas and Caribbean sailings I can't think of one "meet off the ship, pick me" tour operator who asked for payment BEFORE the trip

Unfortunately the OP did not indicate if this was a pre scheduled tour (ie pre cruise via the internet) or a casual meet at the dock pick up tour (no pre arrangement).

 

If it was a pre scheduled tour, someone has a credit card deposit / payment at risk, and they should have collected from the others before departure as they are responsible for the total tour cost.

 

If it was a meet at the pier / pick up tour, which we have done before, we negotiated a per person or per couple cost. My opinion is this case is that the driver is at risk to collect from each participant.

[Grumpy100]

We did one private tour on our british isles tour last may and at the end of the tour the tour operator came around and just asked us to put the money in a bag that he passed around. We put the correct amount in there and I hope everyone else did and then gave both the driver and the operator a tip. My point is he did not count the money and trusted everyone to do the right thing.

One private tout that we did was in Belfast on a taxi and it was the one tour that I was looking forward to and it turned out just OK. The cab was for four people and the people that had the pull down seats were very uncomfortable the entire day. Never again.

I would like to go back and see the things that we missed

[stipmom]

I had said I did not know all the details but I am pretty sure this was a pre-arranged tour with people who met up on the roll call. I had heard about it from someone who had dined with the couple who had arranged the tour and got stiffed.

[Lois R]

I had said I did not know all the details but I am pretty sure this was a pre-arranged tour with people who met up on the roll call. I had heard about it from someone who had dined with the couple who had arranged the tour and got stiffed.

 

Thanks for that update...sounds like it was 2 selfish people:eek: but as

you can see there have been many, many, MANY of us who have

done private tours with rollcall mates who have been honest

and the tours have worked out well:)

 

Personally, I would still book private tours with rollcall mates and

those 2 folks? What do they say....? What goes around, comes around

and I am sure they will get theirs one day.......

[Petoonya]

Feel very badly about not following up my ONE sour experience with all the wonderful things that have happened arranging and being part of a small group tour. That one experience I had in Rome with the irritable tour guide was an extreme exception- like a 1% happening.

 

We've met the most wonderful people and have traveled as far as Germany to see friends from groups we've been part of. It's sweet to look back and recall sharing some of the most beautiful places in the world, Tahiti, Santorini Tuscany with unforgettable friends. We're going back and doing the eastern Med again, and while we've been most places and do things on our own, still have "friends" on connections that we're planning activities with. And visiting friends in Australia next winter.

 

I am sorry to have blurted out one unfortunate experience. It was a 1% er.

[Lois R]

Feel very badly about not following up my ONE sour experience with all the wonderful things that have happened arranging and being part of a small group tour. That one experience I had in Rome with the irritable tour guide was an extreme exception- like a 1% happening.

 

We've met the most wonderful people and have traveled as far as Germany to see friends from groups we've been part of. It's sweet to look back and recall sharing some of the most beautiful places in the world, Tahiti, Santorini Tuscany with unforgettable friends. We're going back and doing the eastern Med again, and while we've been most places and do things on our own, still have "friends" on connections that we're planning activities with. And visiting friends in Australia next winter.

 

I am sorry to have blurted out one unfortunate experience. It was a 1% er.

 

Petooyna, no need to apologize:)...you had a bad tour but it is not

putting a halt to doing other tours:D......1% bad....99% good?

I think your good ones win out;)

[Petoonya]

Petooyna, no need to apologize:)...you had a bad tour but it is not

putting a halt to doing other tours:D......1% bad....99% good?

I think your good ones win out;)

 

 

Thanks Lois.

Your thoughtful nature is much appreciated.

[bbappel]

I had said I did not know all the details but I am pretty sure this was a pre-arranged tour with people who met up on the roll call. I had heard about it from someone who had dined with the couple who had arranged the tour and got stiffed.

 

This would be more helpful if the actual people affected were posting, rather than a second hand report. Actually a third hand report.

 

I'm curious if this was our Silhouette trip (May 30) - and if the tour was organized through the Private Roll call. I would hate to think that any of the people in our group would treat others in the group badly. Then again, since this is a third hand report, we don't really know what happened.

 

I've organized tours and been on tours others have organized, but admittedly only twice did I organize tours with strangers. Once it was a wonderful time (6 of us in St. Petersburg), the second time (6 of us in Villefranche) not so wonderful - but I think it was that 4 of us were friends and had the same idea about what we would do. The other 2 were add-ins and didn't have the same idea. My fault as much as theirs I think. Clear communication and expectations are essential.

 

I did learn of one couple in our Silhouette group who backed out before a tour for personal reasons, in time for the organizer to find replacements or reduce the size of the vehicle, not on the day of the tour. They didn't just not show up and especially didn't go on the trip and not pay. It may be that this is the episode that has morphed into stipmom's post. The organizer might not have let the other passengers know that the cancellation had happened, and would result in higher costs.

[Jade13]

I don't understand why the others had to cover. I assume there was an agreed price so they should pay only that amt. and the tour operator should deal with the couple who refused to pay separately. I would refuse to pay for them. It's not my problem, it's the operators problem.

 

It doesn't work that way unless you are booking a standard group tour where the tour operator puts people together. They are rare in France and Italy, and you have no control over the itinerary.

 

It would be your problem if you were the tour coordinator and had left your credit card to hold the space.

[Jade13]

Happened to some group on our Silhouette cruise so the others had to cover the couple who refused to pay

 

That is totally bizarre.

 

Let us know which roll call and maybe someone can figure out who it was and out them. I would love to know their reasoning as to why they thought others should pay for their tour. Would love to know if anyone went after them once back on the ship, and if they did this to others on another excursion at a different port.

[pinebro]

we did 4 private tours with the same 8 people on a Med cruise.

4 of us were together, the other 2 couples were added from CC rollcall.

all went well 1st stop.

1 friend was sick 2nd stop - we all paid $10 more

another friend got a special invitation - at 3rd stop - we all paid $15 more.

no complaints.....had a great time.......however........

after 4th tour (all 8 made it)the other 2 couples decided they had overpaid all week and were not paying for this last tour - leaving me to pay the whole fare for them !

 

now when I organize tours, I collect before the tour.

[Jade13]

We had sort of the opposite issue in St. Maarten years ago. One member of our roll call arranged a private boat tour, and about 20 of us signed up to go. He was very active on the roll call, gave us the tour operator's name, description of the tour, etc. and reconfirmed the list several times as more people signed up. He didn't attend the Connections party, but it was at an inconvenient time and many didn't receive invitations, so we didn't think much about it.

 

The next morning everyone met at the designated point on the pier...everyone, that is, except for the guy who organized the tour. When we finally decided he wasn't going to show, one of the group phoned the tour operator and they'd never heard of him!

 

Now that is really strange! Was the tour operator able to send someone last minute to pick up the group?

 

Also, did you ever track that guy down on the roll call/CC when you returned? He doesn't sound as if he was really cruising.

[Bridge Maven]

Reading this thread reaffirms the various reasons why I would never plan to take a private tour with strangers in cyberspace that I met on a roll call. There are too many other good options for taking tours to justify the risk.

[SkystheLimit]

Reading this thread reaffirms the various reasons why I would never plan to take a private tour with strangers in cyberspace that I met on a roll call. There are too many other good options for taking tours to justify the risk.

 

Could you please elaborate on the "other good options" ?

[Bridge Maven]

Could you please elaborate on the "other good options" ?

 

Skysthelimit - other good options include:

 

Cruise line shore excursions

Private tour arranged at port

Taxi at port to take you wherever you want to go

Private tours arranged with real life friends or relatives

[3418ahl]

We have taken well over 25 tours with fellow cc members that we have met in "cyberspace" and never had any type of mishap. We have also made friends that we have spoken to for years since!

[Minoushka]

I am pleased to re[port NEVER having that problem . WE went with Janet to OLYMPIA recently and we all hooked up with her as she reserved and paid up front WE all paid her including tip before we all got in WE had a great guide and a super day

I have organized many tours Only once a couple could not make it But they did send payment but our guide was nice he only charged half

If someone stiffed I would be more than livid as we all have more or less a budget to follow an extra amount would not be cool I for one wouldlike to know why theu did not pay up Even ship tours can be disappointing but you still need to foot the bill

[odysee]

After a lot of good private tours, we had a very bad one in Lisbon (lots of standing around, guide who practically never explained anything, less time on tour and sights than what was offered, etc.).

I was sorely tempted not to pay the full amount and/or to complain. However DH and I decided to leave it and paid full amount so as not to cause trouble/embarrassment for the passenger who organized the tour for cc roll call members.

[teajak]

Reading this thread reaffirms the various reasons why I would never plan to take a private tour with strangers in cyberspace that I met on a roll call. There are too many other good options for taking tours to justify the risk.

Totally agree. Just because some poeple are on your roll call doesn't insure honesty and integrity.

[jacketwatch]

Totally agree. Just because some poeple are on your roll call doesn't insure honesty and integrity.

 

I agree with this as well. The options Bridge Maven gives as alternate plans work for me.

 

We once shared a tour with another couple randomly as they choose the same guy we did for St. Lucia and hit it off so well we did other tours with them as we island hopped.

[herbanrenewal]

I was stuck paying for a no show when I organized a small group (6 people) and 2 didn't show up. my friend and i had to share the added cost which was still much less than the ship's tour. When the other couple realized, they contributed so we all paid equally. We had no one in middle seats and all felt it was a better deal for us.

 

Another time we rented a car to share with one other couple who cancelled the night before. The day ended up costing us twice what we had budgeted but still comparable to ship tour and we had complete control over how to spend the day. Funny thing was when we went to pick up our car, there was the other couple picking up the car they had arranged weeks before. While we could have shared with someone else if she had only told us she was not going to share, I was extremely relieved not to be sharing the day with that particular woman!

 

On the other hand we have had marvelous tours with many cc arranged groups of strangers, both small groups and large.

 

My favorite, Kona Dave arranged 2 separate tours during our TA in May. 60 people participated each day. Super arrangements. Everyone paid up front via PayPal to Dave. The tours were fantastic, and if you ever are cruising with Dave don't miss the opportunity to join a group tour that he arranges. This was the best large group tour I have ever taken.

 

Bottom line I look forward to each roll call to see what is happening. I personally don't arrange anything that I couldn't pay for myself if need be so I book car or minivans. I join groups when the tour and price suits me. Even if I was on a tour that wasn't as planned I would pay my share.

 

I can't really imagine problems occurring too often.

After all, a tour guide who disappoints a CC group is going to have his name blasted on the site most of us use to make contact with guides for upcoming tours. Not delivering as advertised could be a fatal mistake for his business.