Signing up for excursions you're not capable of

[LindaJ+]

On our wonderful Rotterdam cruise there was one person on our Stockholm excursion who was obviously not capable of negotiating the terrain.  The excursion descriptions are pretty specific ... mentioning cobblestone streets, inclines, numbers of steps you might need to climb and how much walking is involved.   There was quite a bit of walking on our tour.  This person could barely move even with a cane.  When we got to a slight incline on a cobblestone street she started screaming ... and I mean SCREAMING ... that she was going to fall.   This went on at every stop.   People tried to help her but then she would scream at them.   Our tour guide tried to accommodate her as best he could without inconveniencing everyone else in the group but it was a constant problem.   I heard later that she did the same thing on other tours and by the end of the cruise she had a reputation on the ship.  

 

I think people who are mobility challenged should not sign up for walking tours! 

[canadarocks]

As someone who us lucky enough to still be fully mobile, I am now dealing with a partner who is not. It is a very hard thing to deal with. I think and I hope what you experienced is not a normal occurrence. I have found most HAL passengers choose their excursions appropriately.

 

But I do understand if your enjoyment of a once in a lifetime excursion was negatively impacted, especially if this particular woman acted this way on multiple occasions. Sad on so many levels..... 

[jimmy2x]

I can understand your frustration, but if I had been there I’d hope to have a measure of compassion. There, but for the grace of God, go I.  

[TiogaCruiser]

It’s too bad it wasn’t reported, or if it was, it wasn’t acted upon. Doesn’t HAL still have employee “escorts” who are comped on to excursions? Wouldn’t notifying Shorex manager be something they could do, and then the manager being proactive in checking her other bookings to confirm whether they were appropriate? 
 

It’s a safety issue as much an issue of being able to provide a tour for everyone that they are expecting.

Edited June 5, 2022 by TiogaCruiser

[Florida_gal_50]

I had concerns about a shorex I took in San Juan a few years ago.  It’s was rated as medium or whatever the wording is.  The shorex person completely dismissed my concerns.  The tour was easily strenuous.  I did not yell at people but I was not happy with the tour guide and  the tour.  She was maybe 20 and she couldn’t care less if anyone had an issue. It sounded like the ops was well documented, this was not.

[muffin]

I think she should have been offered a comfortable place to have a cup of tea, until the group got back, or escorted back to the bus where she could wait inside, or returned by cab to the boat. Where were her partners or family In All this? If alone, shore excursion should have noticed when she booked. I have some issues and would never put a group in jeopardy for my inabilities. I have been the one to suggest all the above remedies  for myself when a n excursion has been more than it sounded like it would be  on a couple of occasions. No problem for me, HAL, the. Stafff or the other people.  it’s actually fun sitting in a foreign country, having an espresso at a sidewalk table for an hour all by yourself waiting for your friends!  

[Cruise Junky]

That would be hugely disappointing. They were selfish.  There are usually tours for the people that have mobility issues. 

[Radbooks]

I read excursions as carefully as possible since I travel with my 85 year old mother. But, I honestly feel like Holland doesn't do a great job in describing their tours. I love how Princess does their description with step by step details.  Sometimes I go there to see if they have similar tours to Holland so I can compare.

[muffin]

Radbrooks….good for you to try to get the real story…good idea to compare. This ladies issue was she was already there…….now what should she or the guide or staff do so as to not ruin the day for everyone?  I bet you’d join her for tea! 

[durangoscots]

If this happened on a number of occasions, obviously the individual is not dealing with the reality of their own limitations. The escort from the ship should alert the tour desk. Sometimes the difficulty of a tour is not clearly stated..... I had one such in Brazil. I managed not to cause a problem and kept up, but the guide took more difficult routes than described (he was young and enthusiastic) and I thought at one point I would not make it. When we reached a place where there were some seats at the end of a long and miserable walk, one of the locals saw I look pretty well shot and found me a seat. No help from either the guide or the ship's escort.  If there had been somewhere to stop on the route and get back to the ship I would have. No more nature hikes for me. However, I did let the tour office know about the difficulty of the hike and also that deviations that were made. It was marked as moderate.... it was very strenuous. 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2022 by durangoscots
typo

[Cruzin Terri]

And for this reason I book private excursions.  On ship excursions you go as fast as the slowest person.  You also see what the ship wants you to see and not always what you want to see.  

I also have some mobility issues. However I don’t scream at people.  i just get private tours and explain to the driver/guide what my limitations are and they accommodate me.

Case in point.  We could have paid a huge sum of money to go to Manchu Pichu with HAL.  Instead we booked a private tour for the two of us with Abercrombie and Kent.  I explained what i was able to do and we had a great time for one extra day at half the cost that HAL charged.

Terri

[GeezerCouple]

31 minutes ago, Cruzin Terri said:

And for this reason I book private excursions.  On ship excursions you go as fast as the slowest person.  You also see what the ship wants you to see and not always what you want to see.  

I also have some mobility issues. However I don’t scream at people.  i just get private tours and explain to the driver/guide what my limitations are and they accommodate me.

Case in point.  We could have paid a huge sum of money to go to Manchu Pichu with HAL.  Instead we booked a private tour for the two of us with Abercrombie and Kent.  I explained what i was able to do and we had a great time for one extra day at half the cost that HAL charged.

Terri

 

I was just about to post a reply like this.

 

Depending upon where we are going, what speed, how much uphill, etc., or just standing, I may need to rest.

Therefore, we do not go with group tours unless it is clear that it will be appropriate, and I'll make extra inquiries if needed.

 

However, we usually try to take private tours, so not only can we rest whenever it seems suitable, but, importantly, we can decide to "spend more time here, and less time there..." if something really captures our attention.

 

If it's a private tour/excursion that would be suitable for others to join us, I'll try to arrange that via the Roll Call.  Twice we've chartered a large catamaran, and found about 6 others to join us.  Perfect!  It was arranged as a leisurely sail to stated locations, including swimming or seeing something special like turtles (the one we saw was *huge*!), etc.  Everyone understands what it will be like.  If others want an active hike or swimming all day, they aren't going to join us, obviously.

 

IF we found ourselves "outpaced" somehow, I cannot even imagine screaming.

We'd try to find our way back by taxi or something, or just sit someplace and wait.  But I can't imagine finding ourselves in a difficult-to-navigate place where it isn't easy to "get back" without having already noticed that the going is getting rough... 😱

 

Cruizin Terri,

Very interesting that you mentioned Abercrombie and Kent.  I never thought about an organization like them for a day excursion.  We almost always (all but once, see below) arrange our own travel... we find the hotels, we find daily guides, we charter a boat, we get train tickets, etc.

But for our trip to Japan, we wanted to be able to go off the beaten path for a few things, where English wasn't like to be spoken at all, etc.   And we wanted a few specific activities.

So for the first and thus far only time, we contacted Kensington, and they arranged a private 12-day tour for us with considerable input from us.  It was truly "THE Trip Of A Lifetime!"   We don't regret one minute or dollar.

And yes, they arranged the transportation to work for us, with a few extra taxis available, etc., and a wheelchair if needed in a few places (only needed once, for a looong walk in a museum with no seating areas... but they knew about that in advance and arranged it for us).  Our guide needed to interpret some of the special lectures or lessons that we wanted to do, as they weren't on the regular "tourist schedule or path", and no English at all was spoken, etc.

Now, we'll consider them or A&K for something shorter than a multi-day tour.

Many thanks for the idea!

 

GC

[Cruzin Terri]

58 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Very interesting that you mentioned Abercrombie and Kent.  I never thought about an organization like them for a day excursion.

It wasn’t a day excursion. We were off the ship for three nights. They arranged everything from planes, trains, to hotels and a private guide for the whole time except when we were on the plane. They picked us up at the ship in Lima, got us on the plane, guide and driver met us in Cusco and were with us until we boarded the flight to Guayaquil.  We were then met with an A&K rep who escorted us back to the ship.  It was great.

Terri

[12cruise2]

We had a woman on an 89-day trip around Africa, if you can imagine, who would use her cane to block the elevator door open so no one else could enter the ship's elevator that she was on!  Then on a shore ex. in Cape Town, her husband forgot his passport, so had to walk back to the ship, get it, then come back, a long way, through passport control while we all waited in the coach.  Then, she insisted with the tour guide that after lunch, she and hubby couldn't walk the block over a flat surface to see penguins and that the tour guide HAD to get her a golf cart to go the distance!  Believe it or not, the tour guide did it, and then the lady tried to refuse to reimburse the guide for the rental of the golf cart.  No golf carts were in sight, so I have no idea where the tour guide got it.  THEN, at the next stop, arboretum, she and hubby didn't get back to the coach on time to leave, by now all of us had HAD it with her, so the staff member from the ship said she'd stay behind and get them to the ship by cab--just as the bus was pulling out, they showed up! 

[VMax1700]

HAL's excursion descriptions are poor.  Easy, Moderate or Strenuous.  For whom?  A twenty year old who works out every morning and runs regular half marathons, or a 70 year old couch potato who is concerned he may sprain his wrist pulling the ring on his can of Bud?

A more 'in depth' description is necessary on the HAL website, not just the dismissive, 'some steps need to be negotiated'.

[Mary229]

There is no excuse to scream or seriously inconvenience others.   The guides are not nurses or maids, they are guides.   I have on occasion been with people who are not fit for the excursion perhaps it was the description or it may have been an error in judgement.  In no case did they impose upon others except to politely ask where they could wait.  A polite request usually gains the sympathy of all and if possible we will all slow down or take turns assisting.  
 

as I often say, in travel you must be willing and able to alter your plans .  If that means leaving the tour and taking a taxi back to the ship, do so.  If the description was not adequate you can then take it up with HAL and request a refund.  Nothing like requiring a refund to get them to write better descriptions.  
 

i did notice on my last cruise that there were some more details in the descriptions but I agree with others there could be much more detail.

[LindaJ+]

I had not even thought about reporting it to the shore excursions desk ... might have been a good idea

[DaveOKC]

A couple of years ago I was having walking issues and used a cane part of the time.  On one HAL tour I was really having trouble keeping up on the cobblestone road (not listed on the tour description), so I told the leader to keep the group moving and not wait on me, that I would catch up at the various talking point stops (told him to keep talking not wait on me).  This worked out fine, but I was sure beat at the end.  On another tour, at one point I just waited for the group to return to a point near the bus as I knew I could not keep up.  Its all about knowing your limits AND being considerate of others.

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I totally agree that HAL really needs to do a better job describing tours and possible problems. One that should be added is winding roads. I do not have a mobility issue but do get very motion sick on a bus or van, (oddly rarely have problems on the ship) I always take motion sickness pills for every excursion but I think they need to advise when there will be issues like this.

I agree Princess does do a bit better job in explaining. Something else Princess does that I don't think HAL does which is odd since they tend to do everything the same. But with Princess if a tour is easy but is a long tour over 4 hours they move it to Moderate. Also basically anything that is a walking tour they list as Moderate to Strenuous. HAL's desciptions are not quite as good as Princess.

[Dunmore2]

We were on a walking tour, billed as “Strenuous”, in Valletta, Malta. I was disappointed at the people who signed up who were not capable of walking the distance required, especially as it was explained in the description. Obviously not everyone read the synopsis. The tour guide politely asked people to walk faster as the cathedral was going to close soon, and we had other places to see.  The complaining of those with baby strollers, knee replacements, etc was annoying. I expect to see all the places promised in the tour description. Lesson learned:  private tours.

[rotjeknor]

16 hours ago, LindaJ+ said:

On our wonderful Rotterdam cruise there was one person on our Stockholm excursion who was obviously not capable of negotiating the terrain.  The excursion descriptions are pretty specific ... mentioning cobblestone streets, inclines, numbers of steps you might need to climb and how much walking is involved.   There was quite a bit of walking on our tour.  This person could barely move even with a cane.  When we got to a slight incline on a cobblestone street she started screaming ... and I mean SCREAMING ... that she was going to fall.   This went on at every stop.   People tried to help her but then she would scream at them.   Our tour guide tried to accommodate her as best he could without inconveniencing everyone else in the group but it was a constant problem.   I heard later that she did the same thing on other tours and by the end of the cruise she had a reputation on the ship.  

 

I think people who are mobility challenged should not sign up for walking tours! 

I think I know whom you’re talking about… We were on a tour with her as well . When I tried helping her when her cane got caught getting  off the bus , she gave me the dirtiest look possible….. 👹  . 

[durangoscots]

39 minutes ago, Dunmore2 said:

We were on a walking tour, billed as “Strenuous”, in Valletta, Malta. I was disappointed at the people who signed up who were not capable of walking the distance required, especially as it was explained in the description. Obviously not everyone read the synopsis. The tour guide politely asked people to walk faster as the cathedral was going to close soon, and we had other places to see.  The complaining of those with baby strollers, knee replacements, etc was annoying. I expect to see all the places promised in the tour description. Lesson learned:  private tours.

Well, it does not even work always with private tours. I did a tour in Iceland where one person complained so much about how long the tour was that the organizer gave in and we returned to the ship early. The only plus side was that now we knew not to include that person in tours, but it sort of ruined this one.

 

 

[Dunmore2]

Just now, durangoscots said:

Well, it does not even work always with private tours. I did a tour in Iceland where one person complained so much about how long the tour was that the organizer gave in and we returned to the ship early. The only plus side was that now we knew not to include that person in tours, but it sort of ruined this one.

 

 

That sure sounds like a way to ruin a tour,  sad to say.

[VMax1700]

We are due to be in Kusadasi in a couple of weeks and had pondered on the Ephesus tour but hesitated with the walking element as DW is still recovering from her cancer treatments.

However, thanks to this thread we now know that the solution to this problem is to shout loudly at the tour guide and be generally obnoxious to fellow travellers! 🙄🤐   Booking it tomorrow! 😉

[durangoscots]

12 minutes ago, Dunmore2 said:

That sure sounds like a way to ruin a tour,  sad to say.

It was really ruined either way.... return early or listen to her whine all afternoon. 

 

Susan