Small Group Excursion?

[espmass]

When Celebrity lists a "Small Group" shore excursion, how many passengers do they usually mean?  Or does it depend on the particular excursion?  I am specifically looking at their Small Group Tour of Pompei while in Naples.  Could not find anything on the port board.  Thanks.

[gerelmx]

In the description of the shore excursion X mentions the size of the group normally 12, in a minivan.

[LB_NJ]

3 hours ago, espmass said:

When Celebrity lists a "Small Group" shore excursion, how many passengers do they usually mean?  Or does it depend on the particular excursion?  I am specifically looking at their Small Group Tour of Pompei while in Naples.  Could not find anything on the port board.  Thanks.

Pompei can be very interesting IF you have a good tour guide.

[espmass]

1 minute ago, LB_NJ said:

Pompei can be very interesting IF you have a good tour guide.

Yes, we are really hoping to find a somewhat affordable private tour.  Checking through various sites like Viator and Get Your Guide.

[Tudy]

Most of the small group small group excursions I have been on through Celebrity had 24 participants. Viator has about 15.

Edited December 26, 2023 by Tudy

[jelayne]

We just did a small group excursion (Chef market tour).  We were a group of 8 with Chef in our van.  When we got to the market we find out there were 4 vans of 8, so small was actually 32 people.  
It was a joke, the aisles in the market were narrow, which is pretty common.   It would have been difficult for 8 to gather around the Chef as he described the things he was purchasing and how they could be used, most of us never heard one a thing he was doing.   

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, espmass said:

Yes, we are really hoping to find a somewhat affordable private tour.  Checking through various sites like Viator and Get Your Guide.

we often use toursbylocals. we look for a guide with a vehicle that holds 6 to 8 and share with one other couple. if you haven't used TBL you book direct with the guide, pay via TBL head office in Canada, and full refund if the ship doesn't dock.

[wrk2cruise]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

if you haven't used TBL you book direct with the guide, pay via TBL head office in Canada, and full refund if the ship doesn't dock

 

And since you have to pay in full 30 days in advance the tour leader can contact TBL and have the other participants pay TBL directly.   I found people more comfortable paying the supplier in advance vs paying me in advance.  I'm not going to risk no-shows on day of tour and get stuck with the extra cost.

[NutsAboutGolf]

15 hours ago, espmass said:

When Celebrity lists a "Small Group" shore excursion, how many passengers do they usually mean?  Or does it depend on the particular excursion?  I am specifically looking at their Small Group Tour of Pompei while in Naples.  Could not find anything on the port board.  Thanks.

 

It only means one single thing, more expensive than non-small group tours (occasionally they offer both a small group and a non-small group tour).  Have only done two and both were in the past year, one was around 20 people and the other around people 30

[D. B.]

It has been my experience that what Celebrity calls a Small Group Excursion ends up going to the Same Places that the Mega 50+ excursions go to and often at the same time. 

 Some ports/islands do not have roads big enough for Big Busses so every excursion can be divided up into smaller groups to fit the smaller transport.

 Gibraltar is one such stop.

  That means the only real difference is how long it takes to get off and back on the transport.

  The Mega tours can sometime be only as fast moving as the slowest person in the group?

 

[ConnMom]

The small group excursion we took last winter in Aruba seemed to be no smaller than all the other excursions that were boarding at the same time we were.  We were on a full size bus, with at least 35 people in the group.  It was very disappointing, and in my opinion a poor value.  It confirmed my rather low opinion of ship sponsored tours.

Cheryl

[Lazy in NC]

Actually we were lucky. We did a small group tour of Herculean in Naples through Celebrity and we only had 12 people. I think the max is 25.

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

And since you have to pay in full 30 days in advance the tour leader can contact TBL and have the other participants pay TBL directly.   I found people more comfortable paying the supplier in advance vs paying me in advance.  I'm not going to risk no-shows on day of tour and get stuck with the extra cost.

You certainly can do that but we have never bothered. I pay everything up front and collect the money on the ship. Of course we only have a group of 4 max 6 so generally I am only collecting from one other couple. By restricting the group we travel in comfort, walk with the guide (rather than trailing on behind like a group of school kids ), stop in local cafes for coffee /cakes and restrict shopping  (apart from to genuinely local markets).

We have used TBL in South America, Japan, China, Europe, and the UK, never had a bad guide nor a problem collecting the money.

 

 

[NMTraveller]

Twenty to fifty.  Sometimes they will run two on the same bus.

[PurpleTraveller]

I was on a Celebrity "Small Group" excursion in Kotor, Montenegro in June 2022 which had 29 passengers and we were in a full size bus. On a Celebrity standard excursion a few days later in Messina, Sicily there were 28 passengers. If you want a true small group maybe look for a private tour where you know how many participants there will be.

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[NMTraveller]

28 was the max for today.