Excursion bus 'protocol'

[philpcruiser]

Ok, so you get onto a 50 passenger excursion bus. There are no reserved seats besides the front row or two for your guide and the mobility challanged. The excursion has multiple stops where everyone gets off. Upon returning at every stop, are you expected to take the same exact seat you had? (even though: 1) your next stop is all of 5 minutes away, 2) all the rows look alike, and 3) no one has left a coat or bag to claim their seats. I ask this because on a recent cruise, my wife boarded our bus just ahead of me (I was taking a final photo). Unintentionally, she didn't sit in her "assigned" seat and was rudely reprimanded by a very grouchy 'gentleman' (it wasn't even his seat). This is not an airplane with assigned seating. The bus does not have a first class section. Isn't this a first come, first seated situation?

[davekathy]

Ok, so you get onto a 50 passenger excursion bus. There are no reserved seats besides the front row or two for your guide and the mobility challanged. The excursion has multiple stops where everyone gets off. Upon returning at every stop, are you expected to take the same exact seat you had? (even though: 1) your next stop is all of 5 minutes away, 2) all the rows look alike, and 3) no one has left a coat or bag to claim their seats. I ask this because on a recent cruise, my wife boarded our bus just ahead of me (I was taking a final photo). Unintentionally, she didn't sit in her "assigned" seat and was rudely reprimanded by a very grouchy 'gentleman' (it wasn't even his seat). This is not an airplane with assigned seating. The bus does not have a first class section. Isn't this a first come, first seated situation?

 

Ask your tour guide when everyone is seated.

[GUT2407]

I think most people take the same seat, it saves angst.

[Kartgv]

There are no hard & fast rules, but our experience on many tour buses is that people almost always take the same seats for the entire trip. They may have lined up early in order to get seats on a particular side. On many trips, the bus is locked or attended at each stop, so people are told they can leave things at their seats (water bottles, jackets, umbrellas, etc.).. In that case, it would be very awkward to have to retrieve your belongings when someone else had taken the seat you had previously occupied. There's no need for anyone to be grouchy or rude about it - that's only allowed when someone comes back late & delays the entire bus at multiple stops!

[CruiseGal999]

There is NO assigned seating. It is first come, first seated. If there are no personal belongings on the seats, IMHO, you and yours are free to sit. AND just a note, a lady who sat behind me on a tour bus stated "don't you dare put your seat back". She smiled and huffed and sat down. As I reclined to my seat's fullest extent.

[NLH Arizona]

Every excursion I've been on where there is a bus, everyone has always taken the same seat.

[sloopsailor]

There is NO assigned seating. It is first come, first seated. If there are no personal belongings on the seats, IMHO, you and yours are free to sit. AND just a note, a lady who sat behind me on a tour bus stated "don't you dare put your seat back". She smiled and huffed and sat down. As I reclined to my seat's fullest extent.

 

Ah, the new normal - if someone is rude, be even more rude in return. Both of you took the low road that day. :rolleyes: Fortunately, most people are polite and will not confront others unnecessarily.

 

From my experience, after more tour bus rides than I could ever count, almost everyone will sit in the seats they arrived in when re-boarding. This seems almost universal, whether on a cruise ship tour, a convention tour, a real estate tour, etc. And this happens anywhere in the world.

 

But, there will always be some who think that they are much more important than everyone else and will take someone's expected seat, causing confusion as the first seat occupant now has to try to find an empty seat without being rude and taking someone else's expected place, slowing down the entire boarding process as a result.

Edited September 15, 2017 by sloopsailor

[geoherb]

The seat you take on the first leg of a bus excursion is the seat you're expected to have for the rest of the day. Otherwise you make unpleasant people show their true colors. And life's too short to have to deal with unpleasant people. Also it's easier for people to assist the tour guide in telling if someone's missing if everyone sits in the same place.

[Hey Tina]

Yay, this again!

[Keith1010]

My experience is that most if not all people take the same seat.

 

Keith

[Ashland]

Absolutely agree with the above...Only one time have we seen a bad situation... island tour in Aruba...an elderly couple had the first seats behind the driver and since we also boarded early we knew they had been two of the first on the bus. A young couple who were two of the last to board and they were very upset that they ended up with two seats in different rows. Our first stop on returning to the bus this young couple sat in the elderly couple's seat...as the elderly couple boarded they were visibly upset by this and many nearby went to their defense...the young couple didn't care..even the guide intervening made no difference to them. So many of us were in absolute shock...luckily another young couple a few rows back quickly offered their seats (to the older couple) and moved towards the back of the bus to take the empty random seats. This was the most disgusting display we have ever seen and hope to ever see again.

 

Keep the seats you have taken upon boarding.

[julie3fan]

Also it's easier for people to assist the tour guide in telling if someone's missing if everyone sits in the same place.

 

This is a great point that wasn't addressed the last time this was discussed. It would help to not just realize that 2 people are missing, but someone sitting close by could say "Oh, it's the couple wearing the matching Aloha shirts that are missing" and another could say "Oh, I saw them heading towards the gift shop", etc.

[1025cruise]

One time I was on a tour, I think it was St. Thomas, where the busses were the pickup trucks with the rows of benches in the back. My wife and I got back early and took our seats in our row. The lady who had gotten on first in our row was miffed that we didn't wait for her to get on and sat elsewhere. If she had asked, we would've moved so she could get on....

[kc58ab]

Most of the time I've seen people return to the same seats they started with. Being they are not assigned seating I don't know that I would necessarily say you have to return to the same seat. But there have been several good reasons to do so already suggested. On one trip in Grand Cayman with several stops on the last one we had someone decide to come towards the back that had been at front this caused a couple with their small child not be able to all sit together in the larger seats in the back.

Another angle on this though on the same Grand Cayman tour on one of the stops we got on a boat to go out to see the Stingrays. Part of the boat was covered in the front. I obtained a seat towards the front which I was happy to have as I was a little anxious about the boat ride. I noticed several people in the back were getting really wet along with their belongings. One poor girl was definitely sick and was leaning over with her head between her knees. On the way back everyone seemed to take their same spots. Before I sat down with my family I went up to the girl I had seen sick before and asked her if she would like to trade me spots to sit up towards the front. So because I got a seat up front which was clearly I'm more comfortable spot does that mean I should get it both ways? I'm not sure I would agree that that is the case.

[Shmoo here]

Most excursions I've been on everyone just takes the same seats. Of course, on occasion, there's one or two people who seat hop. Many times the person who was originally seated there just moves into the now vacant seat.

 

I find more and more guides expressly saying "please keep the same seats during the tour" during their initial announcement upon boarding.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been on many tour buses in many different countries.

And we always try to take the seats we started off with. A few times people did take our seats. We just glared at them -- said nothing.

You really should take the same seat after each stop.

[philpcruiser]

Most excursions I've been on everyone just takes the same seats. Of course, on occasion, there's one or two people who seat hop. Many times the person who was originally seated there just moves into the now vacant seat.

 

I find more and more guides expressly saying "please keep the same seats during the tour" during their initial announcement upon boarding.

I think it is a good idea for the guide to step up and indicate what's expected (especially these days where courtesy is lacking). If you take a circular island tour, people on one side of the bus may see beautiful coastline, where the other side sees a rock wall or nothing but trees. Switch sides so others may enjoy the trip. I paid just as much as you for the trip, so give me a chance to enjoy too.

[CruiseGal999]

Ah, the new normal - if someone is rude, be even more rude in return. Both of you took the low road that day. :rolleyes: Fortunately, most people are polite and will not confront others unnecessarily.

 

From my experience, after more tour bus rides than I could ever count, almost everyone will sit in the seats they arrived in when re-boarding. This seems almost universal, whether on a cruise ship tour, a convention tour, a real estate tour, etc. And this happens anywhere in the world.

 

But, there will always be some who think that they are much more important than everyone else and will take someone's expected seat, causing confusion as the first seat occupant now has to try to find an empty seat without being rude and taking someone else's expected place, slowing down the entire boarding process as a result.

 

There was nothing rude about my reclining my seat. My seat does recline, it is my prerogative to use this function of my seat. I had the seat in a reclining position on the first leg of the tour, I saw no reason to NOT recline on any other part of the tour.

[julie3fan]

As on the other thread where this issue was discussed previously, so many times you leave something on your seat that you don't need when you get off at a stop. That kind of automatically makes that "your seat".

 

Same if you have anything in the overhead bin - it's nice for your things to still actually be "overhead", which it would be only if you returned to your same seat.

 

I think that the majority here (and the previous thread) say to return to the same seats, or to follow the guide's instructions. It would make sense on a circle tour to switch sides halfway thru the trip, but only the guide would know if, or even when, it would be appropriate to do so.

[martincath]

As can be clearly seen, opinions vary on the etiquette... which is why I have an expectation that every guide will make a clarifying statement. They know the route - or they shouldn't guiding us! So if it's a trip with 'better' seats due to views, making it fair to swap sides/front to back then stating this upfront makes things work much smoother - if it's not, well then simply telling people you'll all see everything so please keep the same seats so you can leave your stuff.

 

I've had "After lunch, please swap with the couple across the row from you so you both get to see the good views" or "Every time we reboard, please move one row further back/forward" and even "If you want the same seats all the time sit in the back, if you want to rotate so you get the front seat at some point sit near the front" (figuring out which row was the 'breakpoint' between rotaters and stayers took a couple of minutes, but afterward both types of folks were happy).

 

It's better for everyone if the guide can help ease friction compared to leaving pax from different age groups/cultures/countries to sort out among themselves who is the rudest one. Any time there's a logistical annoyance like seat swapping I raise it with the guide and if they don't resolve it, I remind them that their tip level varies with trip enjoyment and folks aren't enjoying themselves right now;-)

 

Best guide we ever had was on a multi-day coach tour: laid down the law on day one about seating and time to return and ensured that every person acknowledged they understood. Day two we actually left a couple behind because they were late back to the bus - and nobody ever misbehaved again. That couple handed over an envelope to the driver but not the guide at the end - the other ~44 people else gave an extra big tip to the guide as it was the smoothest, most efficiently-run tour ever.

 

NB: before the inevitable "OMG that's horrible how dare he abandon them" posts - we wasted an extra HOUR looking for them all around the bus station before leaving, the guide left multiple photocopied notices with local taxi phone number, public bus routes etc. to the next hotel stuck up for several blocks and even called the local hospital and police station before leaving town. Everyone already had his business card with cellphone number. The missing couple called his cell another hour later, when we were almost to the next hotel - and managed to get there the same evening. A few days later when chatting over dinner he even mentioned that if the couple had not been Spanish speakers (we were in Spain) he would have stayed behind himself and sent the rest of us on the coach.

Edited September 15, 2017 by martincath
spelling

[sloopsailor]

There was nothing rude about my reclining my seat. My seat does recline, it is my prerogative to use this function of my seat. I had the seat in a reclining position on the first leg of the tour, I saw no reason to NOT recline on any other part of the tour.

 

You wrote "As I reclined to my seat's furthest extent", you clearly implied that you did it on purpose to irritate that rude person. THAT action is equally rude - and vindictive. If that isn't what you meant, then why did you bother telling us what you did?

[TruckerDave]

Yay, this again!

 

But do we need a passport and is the food any good. ;)

[CruiseGal999]

You wrote "As I reclined to my seat's furthest extent", you clearly implied that you did it on purpose to irritate that rude person. THAT action is equally rude - and vindictive. If that isn't what you meant, then why did you bother telling us what you did?

 

It wasn't rude or vindictive. It is my right to use any and all functions of the seat. And I did that. But have NO doubt, I don't take kindly to a stranger telling/demanding that I do or do not do something. Why did I relate this experience? Because the majority here have clearly stated that there are 'rules/protocols' to be followed and adhered to. NO there isn't. You don't have to like the fact that people take different seats when re-entering the bus, but you don't have a right to ask them to move or get pushy about it!

[PTMary]

It wasn't rude or vindictive. It is my right to use any and all functions of the seat. And I did that. But have NO doubt, I don't take kindly to a stranger telling/demanding that I do or do not do something. Why did I relate this experience? Because the majority here have clearly stated that there are 'rules/protocols' to be followed and adhered to. NO there isn't. You don't have to like the fact that people take different seats when re-entering the bus, but you don't have a right to ask them to move or get pushy about it!

 

Your self entered posts remind me of that saying: "There is always one in every crowd".

 

The common social behavior is to return to your same seat. That is how a polite society works. And, fortunately, it still works well, no matter where in the world. That you have decided that you will come first in such situations, you are the exception, not the norm, as most people on this thread do not agree with you. And you are a mean spirited exception at that, based on your reaction to that rude woman, and how you are responding to this thread. Thank heaven the vast majority of people aren't like you. :rolleyes:

[navybankerteacher]

There is NO assigned seating. It is first come, first seated. If there are no personal belongings on the seats, IMHO, you and yours are free to sit. AND just a note, a lady who sat behind me on a tour bus stated "don't you dare put your seat back". She smiled and huffed and sat down. As I reclined to my seat's fullest extent.

 

If the rule is "first come first served", and no one with any authority has stipulated that people should keep the same seats, why shouldn't "first come first served" apply at each boarding - especially when people have not indicated desire to keep their original seat by leaving something on it? .... particularly when some seats are preferable to others.

 

Anyone who INITIATES confrontation by telling someone not to recline a seat WHICH IS MEANT TO BE RECLINED, certainly has no right to protest when that seat is reclined.