Getting burned booking independent tours?

[styme123]

It's great to see all of these posts about all the tours that you guys have booked on the BI. I'm going to BI this summer and have been looking into booking independent shore excursions. I prefer to stay away from the big bus tours offered by the cruise ships. I'm kind of new to the whole independent booking thing. Any advice on how to keep from being responsible for extra money on a tour if someone backs out of a spot. I worry that if I book the tour and pay for it and someone canceled I have to pay for their portion. I do see that some tours will let you pay most of the price the day of but more of them seem to want it up front. Any suggestions? Have you ever gotten burned? Anything I should be mindful of when dealing with the excursion companies themselves?

[LHT28]

1)check  the policy if the ship does not make port what the refund policy is?

 

2) see if the tour guide  will accept payments from each person/couple in the group  or if one person needs to put up the finds in advance

if one person  needs to put up the funds ahead of time  make sure you collect from the others  as soon as you can well before the tour date  with the understanding if they cancel ..too bad  unless you can find   replacements for the tour  (tough love approach)

JMO

 

[geoherb]

We did not book any small group independent excursions. I'd also be worried about getting stuck if someone flaked out. We booked a couple of excursions with reliable tour companies. They offered products similar to what Princess has but at a better price. For instance our excursion from Invergordon took us to Urquhart Castle, a cruise on Loch Ness, the Clava Cairns, and Cawdor Castle for less than half the price that Princess offered.

[styme123]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

1)check  the policy if the ship does not make port what the refund policy is?

 

2) see if the tour guide  will accept payments from each person/couple in the group  or if one person needs to put up the finds in advance

if one person  needs to put up the funds ahead of time  make sure you collect from the others  as soon as you can well before the tour date  with the understanding if they cancel ..too bad  unless you can find   replacements for the tour  (tough love approach)

JMO

 

How do you feel about being on the other side and giving your money to someone else who was the primary booker. How do you know they aren't going to cancel their cruise and thus your now out of luck and scrambling around to try and find something else if possible, or worse trying to get money back from someone you've never met. I don't know if it's just the New Yorker in me I'm always on skeptical 😨 

[styme123]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

We did not book any small group independent excursions. I'd also be worried about getting stuck if someone flaked out. We booked a couple of excursions with reliable tour companies. They offered products similar to what Princess has but at a better price. For instance our excursion from Invergordon took us to Urquhart Castle, a cruise on Loch Ness, the Clava Cairns, and Cawdor Castle for less than half the price that Princess offered.

Since you booked directly with the company how many people were usually on the tour with you? I think that's the benefit of getting the groups together they are often 8 people. I'm sure it was less than the cruise ship bus anyway.

[Bob++]

Many independent operators will make up groups for you. You book two seats in a minibus and they hope to find enough people to make it profitable. In these cases, you will always get your deposit back if it fails, but then you are left with no tour.

Obviously, the safest way is to book a tour for just you, or maybe include people you know and trust, rather than random strangers. Otherwise, the only reliable way is to get full payment up front.

[styme123]

10 minutes ago, Bob++ said:

Many independent operators will make up groups for you. You book two seats in a minibus and they hope to find enough people to make it profitable. In these cases, you will always get your deposit back if it fails, but then you are left with no tour.

Obviously, the safest way is to book a tour for just you, or maybe include people you know and trust, rather than random strangers. Otherwise, the only reliable way is to get full payment up front.

My husband and I don't know anyone else on the cruise and it's just him and I going together. It seems like the more popular tour companies on Trip Advisor only want the one person booking it in full. I guess since their tours book well they don't want to deal with it. I wonder if it's a good idea to go with a smaller less reviewed tour company as they may be more willing to be flexible.  

[Bob++]

Tell us where you are going and what you want to see, and you will get better advice here. Many places are easily accessible by public transport.

Edited January 10, 2019 by Bob++

[LHT28]

10 hours ago, styme123 said:

How do you feel about being on the other side and giving your money to someone else who was the primary booker. How do you know they aren't going to cancel their cruise and thus your now out of luck and scrambling around to try and find something else if possible, or worse trying to get money back from someone you've never met. I don't know if it's just the New Yorker in me I'm always on skeptical 😨 

I only book via others if I can pay the guide myself  on the day of the tour

 It is  a fine line

Yes I know of someone who books the best guides  then gets a group going 

then when close to sailing he announces  they have cancelled the cruise

I believe he cancels long before  he lets others know about it

He never discloses the tour guide he books

sometimes you have to trust others  but  you are right to be skeptical

 

[styme123]

22 minutes ago, Bob++ said:

Tell us where you are going and what you want to see, and you will get better advice here. Many places are easily accessible by public transport.

We will be on the Princess BI this summer. I have ideas or tours for Guernsey, Dublin, Glasgow (military tattoo), LeHarve (on list for Normandy tour). I'm thinking about Butler tours for Cork and maybe Odyssey tours for Belfast.

Trying to work on Orkney-Kirkwall, Invergordon, Edinburgh. In most of these ports I'm pretty much okay with seeing the usual stops as I have never been to any of them. Some spots are higher on the list. In Invergordon, Dunrobin castle and falconry is a top list visit and the other usual stops with those tours. I can skip the Falls of Shin and the golf course. 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, styme123 said:

My husband and I don't know anyone else on the cruise and it's just him and I going together. It seems like the more popular tour companies on Trip Advisor only want the one person booking it in full. I guess since their tours book well they don't want to deal with it. I wonder if it's a good idea to go with a smaller less reviewed tour company as they may be more willing to be flexible.  

more  tour guides  are asking for payment  upfront

I prefer not to do that  so I just keep looking for one that will take payment on the day of the tour

But I can see their side as well

people book then do not show  so they are out of money for that day  unless they can recruit people at the dock

it is more of  a problem in the UK  & some ports in Europe   than  the Caribbean  where lots of vendors at the dock to choose from

 

[styme123]

18 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I only book via others if I can pay the guide myself  on the day of the tour

 It is  a fine line

Yes I know of someone who books the best guides  then gets a group going 

then when close to sailing he announces  they have cancelled the cruise

I believe he cancels long before  he lets others know about it

He never discloses the tour guide he books

sometimes you have to trust others  but  you are right to be skeptical

 

Thank you for your feedback. At least I feel a little better knowing that I'm not just being "weird" and untrusting of others. It just seems like so many of those posting on the  roll calls were doing it that way with having one person book. I thought maybe I was missing something or just not that experienced in doing it that way that I was feeling skeptical. 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, styme123 said:

Thank you for your feedback. At least I feel a little better knowing that I'm not just being "weird" and untrusting of others. It just seems like so many of those posting on the  roll calls were doing it that way with having one person book. I thought maybe I was missing something or just not that experienced in doing it that way that I was feeling skeptical. 

if  a small group tour then it may be easier for one leader  than several people trying to lead 😉

for bus tour groups  like Busy Bus in Wales  it is easier to have people book on their own with the company  since it is  a set route

 

If I do private tours it is usually less  than 12 pax 

I have not had any problems  (so far)  with people cancelling last minute  or no shows  but always a possibility

 

[elaine5]

someone on our BI cruise last year had this happen. I would do the following: book tours only days 3+ of cruise (or however long cancellation period is--such as if 48 hours).  Have a meet up where others pay you cash for their share in advance--or have them mail a personal check before the cruise. Someone else did this and got stiffed by another couple who never came to meet up-luckily she had time to cancel the excursion.

Edited January 10, 2019 by elaine5

[fabnfortysomething]

3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I only book via others if I can pay the guide myself  on the day of the tour

 It is  a fine line

Yes I know of someone who books the best guides  then gets a group going 

then when close to sailing he announces  they have cancelled the cruise

I believe he cancels long before  he lets others know about it

He never discloses the tour guide he books

sometimes you have to trust others  but  you are right to be skeptical

 

we have had good luck with being lead organiser or joining others and its worked out well

however last year had a couple of no shows so rest of us had to pay extra

another when other tourmates didnt  show up for meet and greet as arranged and coudnt contact them was able to cancel a week before with tour guide and give him chance to find others for the day

this was payment on day to tour company

 

I am now a bit more cautious

However I would never sign up for a tour where didn't have all details of tour company ad if I'm organising it will always share email communication with tour company with tour mates

ie I communicate with them by email before the cruise

[styme123]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:28 PM, fabnfortysomething said:

we have had good luck with being lead organiser or joining others and its worked out well

however last year had a couple of no shows so rest of us had to pay extra

another when other tourmates didnt  show up for meet and greet as arranged and coudnt contact them was able to cancel a week before with tour guide and give him chance to find others for the day

this was payment on day to tour company

 

I am now a bit more cautious

However I would never sign up for a tour where didn't have all details of tour company ad if I'm organising it will always share email communication with tour company with tour mates

ie I communicate with them by email before the cruise

After reading everyone's good advice, I feel like I'm going to try and stick with tours I can just book on my own directly. The only thing that I've been finding as I look up tours for Kirkwall right now in my planing, is that the more popular/well rated tours are all private ones that cater to groups of 8 that are pre-arranged. I guess if they are getting the bookings it's a lot easier for them. A lot of them also want payment at time of booking or by 90 days out. 

[mauimary]

We have booked quite a few private tours over the years that we have arranged. We have done these on cruises where we have not known anyone prior to the cruise. All of them have been very successful w/o any problems. We do keep our tours to 6-8 participants. I have arranged them only with tour companies that will allow ea partipant to pay either by credit card or cash depending on company policy on the day of the tour. Or if they want $$ ahead of time we will not use a company that requires one person to front the cost. They must accept individual payments. Also I want to know their cancellation policy if the ship does not make port. 

 

I do post my tour and the description on our cruise Roll Call. I also post an email address that I only use for cruise tour arrangements.  I ask that those that are interested to contact me privately. I do not want to waste everyone’s time that has no interest to have to read through all the arranging on the boards.  If they decide they want to participate I want to know how to contact them. (Names stateroom number, email address). Prior to the tour onboard the ship I want to meet them in person so I know who I am looking for. I do this by contacting them onboard and ask them to meet briefly at a certain place. We do not even try to meet at the M&M as most of the time that’s impossible. We have never had anyone fail to show up or cancel at the last min. We have found that with keeping in contact we have had very reliable cruisers who have been a lot of fun. 

 

The one and only time that we have had a cancellation was unfortunately us at the last min. with an emergency surgery a week prior to flying to Europe for a cruise.  I asked another member of our group to assume the lead and I contacted the company and everyone in our group informing them of the new lead and contact info. I also had a late request by another cruiser who took our place. 

 

We have joined many many private tours arranged by others.  Those have also been well planned tours as well. If you set your rules and plan well your tours will be successful. Do not accept more responsibility then you are comfortable with. Make sure you are contacting reliable tour companies. We have found great ones through Cruise Critic on the Port section. If you are looking at a tour company pose the question and ask if others have used them

also ask which companies others have used. 

 

Finally if you fo not feel comfortable arranging or joining someone else’s tour a private tour is not the way to go for you.  They can be amazing when we’ll arranged and you definitely get to experience a lot more and have flexibility. 

 

 

 

 

[mauimary]

One final comment I forgot to mention in my previous post was that we have found it best to meet as a group and get off the ship together. That way if someone is missing or late they are easier to reach and the group is not left standing there waiting. We meet early enough so that we’re ready to get off the minute the ship us cleared!  It’s very nice to get out of the port before the ships busses do and arrive at an attraction ahead of the masses. 

[gkkapp]

Couldn't agree with Mauimary more .  I have arranged a number of tours and been part of other people's tours.  I do exactly as she does when setting up my own tours.  Never had anyone not show up or not pay.  I do keep in touch with everyone and try to meet before the tour once on the ship.  We meet and get off together.  I took over a tour for people who canceled the upcoming cruise and found others to take their place.  Don't be afraid to book tours and get others on your roll call to join.  It works!!!

 

<<<Karen>>>   

[styme123]

8 hours ago, mauimary said:

We have booked quite a few private tours over the years that we have arranged. We have done these on cruises where we have not known anyone prior to the cruise. All of them have been very successful w/o any problems. We do keep our tours to 6-8 participants. I have arranged them only with tour companies that will allow ea partipant to pay either by credit card or cash depending on company policy on the day of the tour. Or if they want $$ ahead of time we will not use a company that requires one person to front the cost. They must accept individual payments. Also I want to know their cancellation policy if the ship does not make port. 

 

I do post my tour and the description on our cruise Roll Call. I also post an email address that I only use for cruise tour arrangements.  I ask that those that are interested to contact me privately. I do not want to waste everyone’s time that has no interest to have to read through all the arranging on the boards.  If they decide they want to participate I want to know how to contact them. (Names stateroom number, email address). Prior to the tour onboard the ship I want to meet them in person so I know who I am looking for. I do this by contacting them onboard and ask them to meet briefly at a certain place. We do not even try to meet at the M&M as most of the time that’s impossible. We have never had anyone fail to show up or cancel at the last min. We have found that with keeping in contact we have had very reliable cruisers who have been a lot of fun. 

 

The one and only time that we have had a cancellation was unfortunately us at the last min. with an emergency surgery a week prior to flying to Europe for a cruise.  I asked another member of our group to assume the lead and I contacted the company and everyone in our group informing them of the new lead and contact info. I also had a late request by another cruiser who took our place. 

 

We have joined many many private tours arranged by others.  Those have also been well planned tours as well. If you set your rules and plan well your tours will be successful. Do not accept more responsibility then you are comfortable with. Make sure you are contacting reliable tour companies. We have found great ones through Cruise Critic on the Port section. If you are looking at a tour company pose the question and ask if others have used them

also ask which companies others have used. 

 

Finally if you fo not feel comfortable arranging or joining someone else’s tour a private tour is not the way to go for you.  They can be amazing when we’ll arranged and you definitely get to experience a lot more and have flexibility. 

 

 

 

 

You guys have giving me a lot of good information. Now I'm kind of wondering what to do. I have been looking into booking a tour out of Kirkwall. I found 2 that seemed pretty good. The first one is about $78pp, 6 hrs, seeing pretty much all the typical stops plus would have time at the end to see St Magnus on our own. The pros I don't have to form a group. I can be added on to their booking so they handle all that. They require 50% deposit and cancellation fees. The other company is $107 pp, no deposit required, pay the day of, if we don't port no fee, but I need to add people to the tour max of 6. and that tour is 7hrs and includes a stop at Scapa Flow, Churchill Barrier and Italian Chapel. I'm not sure about time at the end to visit St Magnus on our own. So which one would you all pick?    

[mauimary]

Styme123. I think it boils down to your comfort level forming a tour group. If this is the first time participating in a private tour you may want to go with one you personally do not have to make the arrangements for and take responsibility. What is their cancellation policy?  Is your 50 percent refundable if the ship does not make port?  Or is it non refundable if you decide to cancel. Obviously they want you to be 100 percent sure you want to be on this tour. If you have a number of concerns I would probably go with one I didn’t have to arrange. The difference in price for us would not be a concern. It is obviously for a smaller group which makes the cost go up. 

[Cindy]

On 1/10/2019 at 12:55 PM, elaine5 said:

someone on our BI cruise last year had this happen. I would do the following: book tours only days 3+ of cruise (or however long cancellation period is--such as if 48 hours).  Have a meet up where others pay you cash for their share in advance--or have them mail a personal check before the cruise. Someone else did this and got stiffed by another couple who never came to meet up-luckily she had time to cancel the excursion.

 

That was me!😢 I’ve booked dozens of small group tours all over Europe, the US, and the Caribbean, and a tour last summer in Ireland was the ONLY time I’ve had a problem with getting stiffed by people on my roll call. The thing that really stunk was I probably could have filled those spots three or four times if I had more than 30 minutes notice.🤬 That said, I will continue to organize private excursions because the experiences we’ve had and the friendships we’ve formed far outweigh the one problem I’ve encountered.

 

My “rules” for booking private tours/offering space to roll call members:

 

1. The company has to have a clear refund/no penalty clause if the ship doesn’t make it to port.

 

2. I will pay a deposit, but I prefer a company that either accepts advance payment from individuals or takes payments the day of the tour. If I am going to have to pay for an entire tour I ask roll call people for payment in advance. Yes, there’s some trust involved both ways, but I think I could refer people to some of my previous roll calls if they wanted to confirm I’m not a deadbeat!😊

 

3. I’m very specific about what I have planned, and people can take it or leave it. I don’t want to get into any disagreements about long shopping stops or returning to the ship early for a scheduled (free) meal. If that’s what somebody wants to do they should probably find a different tour. No hard feelings, but I don’t want both of us to be disappointed. 

 

4. People have to be willing to give me their personal (non-Cruise Critic) contact information, including cabin number, phone number, and e-mail address.

 

5. I ask everyone to meet in a designated location on the ship on the day of the tour so we can disembark together and avoid any mis-communication.

 

6. I usually ask everyone who has booked a tour with me to meet on the first sea day to put names with faces, reconfirm, etc. Our first sea day was a whole week after the start of the cruise last summer, so I skipped that step. I should have known something was amiss when the deadbeats also didn’t show up for the scheduled Meet & Greet on boarding day — and they (supposedly) had all the name tags.

 

Here’s what happened this summer: https://theworldthroughmylens.blog/2018/09/06/beautiful-ireland-outside-dublin-for-the-day/  

 

I really think that experience was an outlier. Almost every post on my blog is a private tour that was filled with “strangers” from my roll calls, and they were all great! Good luck with whatever you decide, but I think if you proceed with a little caution you can have a lot of success in creating or joining private tours.🙂

Edited January 13, 2019 by Cindy

[wheezedr]

One thing I might add in today’s connected world is to exchange photos on line prior to the cruise.  Last year I had a rental car in a location where non ships tours were hard to arrange so I offered on my roll call to share with a second couple.  Got a number of nice responses and after agreeing on plans and itinerary with one couple we agreed to meet.  A couple of weeks pre cruise we exchanged photos on line.  Made it easier to find each other and made it a little more personalized.  Might not stop someone from being a no show but at least you would know who to look for.

[Turtles06]

14 minutes ago, Cindy said:

That was me!😢 I’ve booked dozens of small group tours all over Europe, the US, and the Caribbean, and a tour last summer in Ireland was the ONLY time I’ve had a problem with getting stiffed by people on my roll call.

 Wow, Cindy, I just read your blog post about what happened.  That is awful.  I can't imagine people behaving like that.  Knock wood, I haven't had an experience like that arranging or participating in private tours with folks on our Roll Calls, and I'm glad it was a one-off for you.  

 

Your advice about making sure people understand what the tour will cover is spot on, though even then it won't necessarily stop whining.  Some years ago, I organized a small group tour out of Le Havre through Overlord Tours with folks on our Roll Call to see a number of the D-Day sites in Normandy (which turned out to be one of the best tours we've ever taken).  It was very clear that we would spend the whole day doing this, and that we would NOT be visiting the Bayeux Tapestry (which would have required a chunk of time that would have cut down on the D-Day sites).  Nonetheless, one of the couples spent the entire afternoon whining about why we were not going to see the Tapestry, telling us that their friends had combined that with a D-Day tour.  (Different tour!)  Whine, whine, whine.

 

 

[Cindy]

4 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 Wow, Cindy, I just read your blog post about what happened.  That is awful.  I can't imagine people behaving like that.  Knock wood, I haven't had an experience like that arranging or participating in private tours with folks on our Roll Calls, and I'm glad it was a one-off for you.  

 

Your advice about making sure people understand what the tour will cover is spot on, though even then it won't necessarily stop whining.  Some years ago, I organized a small group tour out of Le Havre through Overlord Tours with folks on our Roll Call to see a number of the D-Day sites in Normandy (which turned out to be one of the best tours we've ever taken).  It was very clear that we would spend the whole day doing this, and that we would NOT be visiting the Bayeux Tapestry (which would have required a chunk of time that would have cut down on the D-Day sites).  Nonetheless, one of the couples spent the entire afternoon whining about why we were not going to see the Tapestry, telling us that their friends had combined that with a D-Day tour.  (Different tour!)  Whine, whine, whine.

 

 

 

My lesson(s) learned on being specific were 1) suffering through stopping at every darn drug store on Roatan🙄, and 2) explaining why we wouldn’t be cutting a day in Sicily short for a scheduled MDR dinner time!😳