Signing up for excursions you're not capable of

[RuthC]

I have mobility problems, so always review tour descriptions thoroughly for suitability before I book. Then, shortly after boarding, I go to the Shore Excursion Office to confirm the suitability of what I have chosen. There are times I cancel, and select a different tour, while other times the tour will be fine for me. 

But just as often it is difficult to impossible to get a straight answer out of the Shore Excursion representative. Ask how far a given walk is, and the answer is usually something like 'not far'. Fair enough, but no help. But I ask how many yards/meters is a given walk, and I get the same 'not far'! That wasn't the question, but your 'not far' is my couldn't make it if you gave me all day! 

HAL not only has to give better descriptions of tours, based on the ability level of the passengers---not the staff, but they also have to be willing to take specific questions and get the specific answers to them. Making their best guess, or fluffing off concerns, does no one any good. 

[MAVIP]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

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! 😉

In 2015 (long long time ago, I know) we hired a taxi in Kusadasi with kusadasitaxiport.com   Mr Yucel Bor (in fact his brother) drove us to Ephesus (30 minutes drive), waited there during the time we needed for an extensive visit and he drove us back to the ship (bought us Turkish delight to thank the 4 of us for the job....). We decided not to visit another site near Ephesus. Half day transport. All as promised by e-mail: € 50 cash upon return in Kusadasi.  At the entrance of Ephesus we paid entrance tickets with extra visit to the villas (a must see) and a guide. Of course that was not included in the taxi fare.   I wish you and DW a perfect visit. 

Edited June 5, 2022 by MAVIP

[jlnprt]

RuthC, I so agree with this. On our Alaska cruise a few years ago, we booked an excursion that included a 2 mile-ish "hike." That's what the written description said. There were three women near us who were asking the Shore Excursion Rep very specific questions about the walking. She kept telling them it was "just a bit of a stroll." It was not. It was not an intense hike by any means, but one of the women used a cane and another a walker. They enjoyed most of the excursion but stayed back for the hiking portion and said they were disappointed that the rep had made it sound like it was a short, easy walk, but that they weren't going to slow down the rest of the group. HAL needs to make their descriptions realistic. 

[VMax1700]

@MAVIP Bedankt!

They are still showing €50 on their website!

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, jlnprt said:

She kept telling them it was "just a bit of a stroll." It was not.

This is the problem with descriptions, for me that is a stroll.  The current ranking system is meaningless.  I really don’t know what they could do except show you elevations and distances yet some would not understand that.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

This is the problem with descriptions, for me that is a stroll.  The current ranking system is meaningless.  I really don’t know what they could do except show you elevations and distances yet some would not understand that.

Princess gives very good descriptions.  Go take a look.  Maybe walking 10 miles for you is nothing.  Probably for a number of people it is.   When you ask shorex people for guidance they should be able to do that.  That is not that big of an ask or they should not be in a position to do the job.