interlopers on excursion

[CPT Trips]

14 minutes ago, K32682 said:

If the tour is in a public place there is little anyone can do about it. In Sofia a few years ago, I came upon a walking tour and listened in for a few minutes. I did not follow when they moved on but certainly could have. 

 

It's up to the guide to decide how to manage "interlopers." In the situation described in the original post I wouldn't have cared unless the interlopers decided to start asking the guide questions or otherwise occupy his or her time. 

Quite a few times while on a guided tour we have seen people stop and eavesdrop on our guide’s explanation with the guide being nonplussed. However on the few times the eavesdroppers followed along, the guide put a stop to it. 

[ldubs]

12 minutes ago, CunucuMom said:

In my world it's called "theft of services."  It is disrespectful and annoying but I trust karma will take care of the thieves in due time.

 

I don't think this would meet the legal definition.  Might be tacky but not illegal.  

 

I hope the interlopers are reading this thread and have their eyes opened.   Maybe they don't realize how "unclassy" they were being.  

[patty1955]

41 minutes ago, horseymike said:

Stealing is stealing where I come from.

Stealing is taking another persons property. This might be theft of service but it's not stealing.

[donaldsc]

I have been on private tours where the guide told an interloper that this was a private tour and to go away.  I guess that if they did not go away there was not much that the guide could do about it but they did.

 

If it was me I would at least make sure to jostle them or step in front of them every time they tried to take a picture.

 

DON

[Mike981]

Not the same but...

 

My son and I were doing a walking tour on our own in Nassau and came across a local giving a tour for a few people in a very public area and we kept our distance. When we went to leave (two  minutes later) he came up to me and asked for money and I laughed and said for what?

 

I am sure that some would have felt bad and given him some money, but come on really?

[Toofarfromthesea]

Trust to karma.

[mrgabriel]

I am not surprised. We've been on walking excursions when people have hung around at the back for awhile, listening to the guide. I personally wouldn't categorise it as outright theft, but I agree that it's in poor taste. The person who was harmed was the guide because they weren't paid for their services, and if they had an issue, it was up to them to stop it. 

 

And I agree with @Toofarfromthesea that karma will likely take care of this. 

[horseymike]

3 hours ago, Mike981 said:

Not the same but...

 

My son and I were doing a walking tour on our own in Nassau and came across a local giving a tour for a few people in a very public area and we kept our distance. When we went to leave (two  minutes later) he came up to me and asked for money and I laughed and said for what?

 

I am sure that some would have felt bad and given him some money, but come on really?

To your point , I totally agree, extortion.

[Mary229]

7 hours ago, K32682 said:

If the tour is in a public place there is little anyone can do about it. In Sofia a few years ago, I came upon a walking tour and listened in for a few minutes. I did not follow when they moved on but certainly could have. 

 

It's up to the guide to decide how to manage "interlopers." In the situation described in the original post I wouldn't have cared unless the interlopers decided to start asking the guide questions or otherwise occupy his or her time. 

Then I have been places where there are so many walking tours in progress you can’t avoid being with one for part of the day.      

[Mum2Mercury]

If that's the strangest experience you've had, you've lived a charmed life! 

 

In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have noticed that these people weren't "on the list".  If I had noticed, I would've thought, "Not my circus, not my monkeys".  I would not have talked to the velcro-couple about their tagging-along.  

 

I am reminded of the quote about "Character is how you behave when you think no one is watching"; this is just a little different in that they showed lack of character when they thought no one had any power to stop them.  

 

 

Edited June 11 by Mum2Mercury

[MacMadame]

We call these people bandits when they are tagging along to a race or event of some sort (running race, century ride, triathlon, etc)

 

These people justify this behavior by saying that the event cost so much and they can't afford it or that the race as sold out. They also say they aren't taking the free stuff (medals, food, t-shirt). But the issue is, if enough people do this, it makes the course crowded -- especially for a sold-out race -- and degrades the experience for the people who paid.

[klfrodo]

We had a small group tour this past summer at the Harry Potter Studio near London. Many times, there would be people not part of the group who would listen in which wasn't really a problem. However, if they continued to follow as the tour moved on, or they would try to push their way in to get closer, the Studio employees would gently inform them that this was a private tour, and they would generally get embarrassed (because they didn't know it was private) and move on.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

Many of the walking tours now use headphones so the guide can speak softly, but the participants can hear them clearly through the headphones.

 

Interlopers wouldn't be able to hear the guide well enough to stay with the tour.

[Mary229]

20 minutes ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

Many of the walking tours now use headphones so the guide can speak softly, but the participants can hear them clearly through the headphones.

 

Interlopers wouldn't be able to hear the guide well enough to stay with the tour.

That is a better experience for everyone 

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

Many of the walking tours now use headphones so the guide can speak softly, but the participants can hear them clearly through the headphones.

 

Interlopers wouldn't be able to hear the guide well enough to stay with the tour.

That is what was done on the included tours on our river cruise earlier this year.

[Mum2Mercury]

22 hours ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

Many of the walking tours now use headphones so the guide can speak softly, but the participants can hear them clearly through the headphones.

 

Interlopers wouldn't be able to hear the guide well enough to stay with the tour.

Additionally, that means the people at the back of the crowd can hear as well as those at the front.  This is a good idea.  

[clo]

On 6/10/2024 at 8:30 AM, K32682 said:

If the tour is in a public place there is little anyone can do about it. In Sofia a few years ago, I came upon a walking tour and listened in for a few minutes. I did not follow when they moved on but certainly could have. 

 

It's up to the guide to decide how to manage "interlopers." In the situation described in the original post I wouldn't have cared unless the interlopers decided to start asking the guide questions or otherwise occupy his or her time. 

It had occurred to me that the OP could have said, "perhaps you should ask our guide if he can include you and what the cost would be?"

[Hlitner]

On 6/9/2024 at 6:40 PM, arealcheapskate said:

Having just come off our cruise, I have to tell you all about the strangest experience we've had yet. 

 

Now I consider myself about as cheap as they come, but another couple one-upped us on a recent walking tour shore excursion we had booked. 

 

Basically, they hung around and just followed the walking tour of the city - but weren't on the official excursion list, nor had they paid. We got to talking and they defended their actions by saying that we were just walking in public and there wasn't anything the guide could do. The guide didn't make a fuss but we all felt a bit awkard. I do wonder if they got charged for it in the end but I doubt the cruise line did anything. 

LOL, I do get the frustration.  Folks pay the overpriced cost of a simple walking excursion and don't expect freeloaders.  I will admit, that DW and I are very independent travelers and have often been near walking tours (in many parts of the world) and will listen-in for a few minutes.  Sometimes it is comical because we know that the info from the guide is wrong (this happened at Ephesus).  We also once were near a walking tour in Fira, Santorini, when we heard a guide say "this is a jewelry store" which was pretty obvious to anyone who read the sign (and nearly every store was a jewelry store).

 

But here is the reality,  When you are on a walking tour, anywhere, there is nothing to stop anyone from tagging along, listening in, etc.  You are in a public space and the tour does not own that space.  Some tours get around that issue by giving all their charges wireless ear buds/ear phones so the guide can privately talk to their charges. 

 

By the way, when I mentioned "overpriced" we were recently on a European cruise where it was common to charge up to $99 for a simple 2-3 hour walking tour.  Consider that many of these tour groups had over 20 folks, so the tour company was getting about $2000 for a short walking tour!  I want that job :).  But in all fairness, that revenue is split between the local tour company, the third-party company that operates most cruise line tour desks, and the cruise line (who gets a generous cut of the action).  

 

Hank

[Azure Moon]

Following the tour was wrong, in my opinion, but listening in for a few minutes is not.  

 

Like the previous poster(s) said about the tours being conducted in public spaces is true.  If the guide is speaking out loud in the space, it's out there for all people to hear that are nearby.

 

I listened in to two or three minutes of a tour at Gettysburg one time.  If my husband hadn't come to get me, I would have looked to see about signing up for the tour or the next tour.  He made plans for us to do something else, so I still have a Gettysburg tour on my bucket list.  In New Orleans, I listened to people talking about a tour description, and I immediately jumped in and booked a ticket!   Learned my lesson earlier and didn't give anyone a chance to keep me from doing the tour.   My sister and her son bought tickets and went on it with me, but my husband and rest of the family didn't.  Some of them wished they'd joined us as we had such a great time!

 

So sometimes a person listening in learns of something they would like to do.  So tours aren't always out money. 

[ilikeanswers]

On 6/11/2024 at 8:51 AM, Mary229 said:

Then I have been places where there are so many walking tours in progress you can’t avoid being with one for part of the day.      

 

I ended up tagging behind a walking tour for a bit in Tallinn just because they were taking up the whole street and they were stopping at all the places I wanted to take a photo. While I was waiting for the crowd to pass so I could take my photo I ended inevitably listening in. Once we got to a square I finally was able to break free from the group and raced ahead straight into another walking tour group😂. 

[Mary229]

8 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I ended up tagging behind a walking tour for a bit in Tallinn just because they were taking up the whole street and they were stopping at all the places I wanted to take a photo. While I was waiting for the crowd to pass so I could take my photo I ended inevitably listening in. Once we got to a square I finally was able to break free from the group and raced ahead straight into another walking tour group😂. 

Exactly, I have been places so crowded with walking tours you likely could have learned a few new languages just listening to the competing versions of tours in the vicinity.😉.  Now I hear the people on the walking tour are angry with me for being too close.

[BeasleysMom66]

6 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Now I hear the people on the walking tour are angry with me for being too close.

 

I know you are being sarcastic  but I think we can all agree that there is a big difference between someone who is clearly doing their own thing but does cross paths with tours on a similar itinerary and the couple who clearly is participating but not paying.

 

Celebrity does curb this a bit (I am not sure it is 100% effective) with numbered stickers that the participants wear.  It allows the guide to know if their entire group is present after rest room breaks or independent time etc.  The stickers along with a clipboard roster of names/cabins also aids in identifying interlopers.  I know I was on 1 excursion where a family of 3 was attempting it and got politely directed to shore excursions to pay up if they wanted to go with us.  

[Capt_BJ]

wearing Viking's headset during an excursion .....