Private Excursions and Worried Passengers

[OlsSalt]

In realistic terms, the only major consequence of missing the ship boils down to money - it will cost you money to catch up with the ship later. Or get home on your own.

 

Rick Steve's in Mediterranean Cruise Ports tips even lists how to get to the next port, if you miss your ship. This event is in the realm of travel planning possibilities. There needs to be a realistic acceptance of this possibility, and what this Plan B entails by anyone choosing this private tour option.

 

Allowing these people to ruin your private shore excursion should have been dealt with at the very beginning. Take them back to port, and carry on. This was not a matter of being "polite". Asking them to accept the Plan B, or else not participate would have been a better reaction.

 

If they did not bring along proper papers meds and credit card in case of a Plan B event, this again was poor initial planning on their part.

 

Game Plan

1. Private tour

2. Plan B - miss the ship

3. Are you prepared to cover this (remote) possibility

4. Where would we next join the ship and how do we get there

[kazu]

I too prefer the size and flexibility of private tours. I find it really important to clarify the rules re cancellations if a ship doesn't dock or arrives late. I have not had a problem in Europe paying after the tour. In Asia it seems deposits are needed but in some cases there is no refund. so I chose to book with those agencies who refund due to ship not docking.

 

I have never collected money upfront for tours. In Asia, many seem to want a PayPal deposit which seems reasonable.

 

Has anyone had issues paying an individual on board in full prior to an excursion?

 

95% of my tours have been done with everyone just paying cash at the end.

 

My private Flamenco tours, transfer to Seville (because we waived the interpreter - DH's first language) required payment in full along with a couple of others. And our Le Havre tour is non refundable which has been fully disclosed but the odds of not docking in Le Havre are slim to none and everyone has the option to include it in cancellation insurance or not.

 

There was no issue collecting $ from the roll call for those tours where I had to pay and arrange. Everyone made sure I got there envelope with the exception of maybe one whom I had to follow up with and then paid promptly. Not too bad at all :)

 

On an active roll call, you develop a sense of comfort with your roll call members and I think, they with you.

 

Paypal works to pay organizers too. The only time I did that was when I booked the Oasis for our roll call a year out. Everyone paid promptly :)

[SFO Peter]

[beginQUOTE=bennybear;52262121]I too prefer the size and flexibility of private tours. I find it really important to clarify the rules re cancellations if a ship doesn't dock or arrives late. I have not had a problem in Europe paying after the tour. In Asia it seems deposits are needed but in some cases there is no refund. so I chose to book with those agencies who refund due to ship not docking.

I have never collected money upfront for tours. In Asia, many seem to want a PayPal deposit which seems reasonable.

Has anyone had issues paying an individual on board in full prior to an excursion?[/endQUOTE]

===

 

I try to not collect money ahead of time but I do have one case coming up where we have to pay non-refundable entrance fee for Florence Academia Skip the Line entrance in advance. So right now I am out 400 euros for 16 persons and rather than collecting 25 euros person on board for partial payment I will collect 106 euros for the entire excursion. This also tells me that the signups are really interested in going. Mind you that if there is a no-show I will have to bear the cost unless the no-showee or I find someone who will take their place. If the ship cannot dock I will refund the participants their money less the non-refundable 25 euros fee for the Academia so out of pocket will only be 25 euros person.

[mountaindog]

I never paid total amount before tour. I like independent guides. They work so hard to capture their clients and I feel I help them to work.

I paid by paypal and also by Western Union. Depend on the country. In Argentina for example, they don´t have a paypal office so , for the small business is difficult to receive payments from abroad.

I agree that in case there is a delay and we cancell 24 hours in advance there is 50% of cost wich is ok for me as I don´t pay total amount and I pay for their cancellation day.

[txmrs]

We just returned from an 28-day Asia cruise on the Volendam. We went on 10 independent tours (2 of which were 2 days each). My husband had arranged several, others we joined after reading about them on the ship's Roll Call. Sizes ranged from 6 persons to one that was 20 persons but most were under 10. All but one was great. On that one, a couple got in the van the first day and immediately voiced they wanted to be back over 2 hours before the ship was due to depart. This was an overnight tour. Since we weren't the ones who had originally booked the tour, and even though we voiced our concern that there was no need to get back that early, the remaining two couples didn't protest. The end result-- we arrived back 2 1/2 hours before all-aboard time, having missed lunch which was included in the tour price (instead the van stopped at a convenience store and we were allowed to buy junk which totaled what our lunch allowance would have been), and missing one of the stops listed on the itinerary. We will probably never visit that particular city again and felt very cheated that these 2 people had gotten their way. We learned a valuable lesson. In the future, we will arrange all the independent tours we plan to go on and if we invite others to join us, we will ask for agreement before signing up both to the itinerary and to the return time.

[bennybear]

Txmrs, that is too bad! I am finding things much more difficult than in the past. I have had excellent luck and no problems with multiple trips and tours. For the majority of most people trust works, but it only takes one party to ruin a trip.

I had a recent unpleasant experience where I had paid the agreed deposit with the rest to be paid to the tour company the day of the tour and the organizer than changed things and insisted on prepayment with a 15 minute time period during our dinner seating!

I agree that all things need to be clear and all parties need to agree up front to them. I am thinking that some new suggestions need to be made on a sticky. There are some excellent ones already listed. I noted the caution about collecting money on board.

For me, I prefer tours where you pay that day or if a deposit is needed each passenger pays their own. That way there is no middleman. Safer for organizer and participants. I wouldn't want to be carrying huge sums of cash.

[SFO Peter]

depends, depends, depends.

 

A couple weeks advance payment in full is not unreasonable. You have to look at the situation from all angles. If you cancel early enough this will give the "organizer" time to find a replacement or he/she can be out that money. On a minivan for eight the tour operator will most likely insist you pay for eight rather than six etc. When you pay the organizer this indicates that you are serious on going on the tour. If you cannot go and help find a replacement you should get all your monies returned. On one of my tours there is already a one couple cancellation at no charge so unless I find a replacement I will be out 200 euros for the cancellation.

Edited March 16, 2017 by SFO PETER

[cruisemom42]

Rather than deal with the hassles of arranging small groups, I prefer to just go on my own using public transportation, if possible. No dramas.

 

When I do arrange a private tour in Europe, the cost is nearly always per vehicle. I make it clear to participants that, for a minivan (for example), if we get 6 people the cost is X, and if we get 8 people the cost is X minus 20 or whatever. I don't feel it's ever appropriate for the arranger to get stuck with a larger portion of the cost OR for the arranger to get a free tour. For me it's share and share alike. :D

[Baddabing]

I have decided to go thru my TA's excursion since they will go to an additional area the cruise line company no longer uses and they have the disclaimer:

"We have never had a customer miss their ship. Our team possesses over 80 years of combined cruise line experience and we are not aware of a single case in which a customer on an independent tour missed a ship. In the extremely unlikely event that you miss your ship due to the late arrival of one of our tours, we will arrange and pay for your accommodations, meals, and transportation to the next port of call, and we will pay you an additional $500 USD per customer for the inconvenience"

[Cindy]

 

When I do arrange a private tour in Europe, the cost is nearly always per vehicle. I make it clear to participants that, for a minivan (for example), if we get 6 people the cost is X, and if we get 8 people the cost is X minus 20 or whatever. I don't feel it's ever appropriate for the arranger to get stuck with a larger portion of the cost OR for the arranger to get a free tour. For me it's share and share alike. :D

 

 

That's what I've done for the tours I set up in Europe next month. I posted the price with four people, six people, or eight people, so everyone knew what their obligation would be before they signed up for the tour. I'm not getting any financial benefit from organizing the tours unless you count the fact that I can afford to do things that I couldn't do with just two of us.[emoji846] Everyone is paying their share directly. I would not want to have to be responsible for others' money.

 

 

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[OlsSalt]

I have decided to go thru my TA's excursion since they will go to an additional area the cruise line company no longer uses and they have the disclaimer:

"We have never had a customer miss their ship. Our team possesses over 80 years of combined cruise line experience and we are not aware of a single case in which a customer on an independent tour missed a ship. In the extremely unlikely event that you miss your ship due to the late arrival of one of our tours, we will arrange and pay for your accommodations, meals, and transportation to the next port of call, and we will pay you an additional $500 USD per customer for the inconvenience"

 

Small warning - actually collecting such "promises" may not be as easy as making them, if they don't follow through. Unlikely you can sue them in their local small claims court, collect on any judgement or have any practical recourse at all.

 

But you can blast them out of the water on yelp and trip advisor. Often just as good. So always be prepared to get to the next port on your own - with the right money and documents.

[ozzandwitchy]

When I was the on the Nieuw Amsterdam the folks who arrived to ship late were those who were doing their own thing in port and not on a ship or private excursion. In Cephalonia we saw 3 people on the coast running to the pier in order to get back to the ship, of course they were late and they were seen so the ship waiting for them to get on board (to a rousing reception from other passengers). And a couple were souvenir shopping and taking their time on the dock and one of the crew had to run out to let them know to board.