Traveling with Friends ( do you really know them ?)

[Kruser Karl]

We traveled with friends only to find that one drank to excess almost every night and was like a bear with a sore head the following morning .

 

When it was time to book shore excursions the cost was always a problem , and there was always a reason to return to the ship early ( needed to have a drink)

 

We organized the whole trip airfares ,accommodation etc. without any input from the other couple .

But after agreeing with flight times and the chosen hotels it turned out that nothing was good enough the flight times could have been better and none of the hotels were any good or they weren't value for money.

 

Has anyone else had similar experiences would you travel with others again?

We won't , solo couple from now on.

[mytank]

We recently started cruising with friends... It's worked out for us, but for the most part we plan our own trip once the destination is decided. We share what excursions we want to do and go together on what ever meshes up with something we both like... If we don't, then we meet up back on the boat. We reserve a dining time/table together so we know we will meet up at some point. My friend and I pick a spa appointment together, our husbands usually do lunch or some beers together while we are getting pampered. We put dry erase boards on our doors and leave notes where we are hanging out so if that sounds good we go look for our friends. I think the key isn't planning everything together...it's very hard. But enjoying some time together on our vacations is nice. I was skeptical the first year we did it, but in a few weeks we will be on our third vacation together. I always book a dinner alone for my husband and I so we can take some time just for us as well.

 

I hope you find some friends that you enjoy traveling with.

 

 

Kari

[fishtaco]

Yes Yes and Yes lol

 

To all questions and its great to cruise with them again because it gives you something to bitch about lol

 

Even better is playing hide and seek with them as they think they are missing out on getting lobster tail we lied about when they decide on buffet lol

[bazzaw]

Oh yes!!!!

 

We are in a big motorhome club - and we get to make many friends in the club:). But I have seen MANY instances where "friends" decide to do a long motorhoming trip together and it does not turn out well. :(

 

It is one of those things where you don't REALLY know how it will turn out - until you try it.. It's a bit like marriage really!!! :)

 

But that's not to say that you shouldn't try it -- just understand that fantasy and reality are often very different things.

 

Barry

[bazzaw]

I missed the second part of your posting heading "DO YOU REALLY KNOW THEM??"

 

Do you really know your spouse of 20+ years??? Do you really know yourself????

 

If anybody answers YES to either of those questions, I would suggest they are fooling themselves. :)

 

So -- no -- you don't really know your "friends".

 

Barry

[cruisine21]

My parents used to go on cruises with friends until they found out the friends were really tight with money. Mum and dad would buy a round of drinks or pay for a meal but the friends would not do the same for them at the next meal.

[scubagirrl]

Neva again. I was in charge of this trip. All plans fell apart.

They never showed up for dinner, decided not to do any of the planned shore trips, and stayed in the pool for the whole trip.

 

Then complained that we didn't do anything or go anyplace.

[The_Big_M]

Wow, that was a bit of a disaster, wasn't it? Are you still friends?

[Bowie MeMe]

Ours is even more complex. We travel as a couple and a single. This group of 3 has traveled for 30 years together and we do pretty well -- we already know the "trouble" points and find ways around them (we do too much laundry worrying for cousin and have to have our sodas while cousin is richer than we because she is tight on the $). Our problem is sometimes we add the 4th person because cousin hates that single supplement (and often she pays almost as much as we do for 2!:() but oh boy! Cousin is used to living alone and sharing room is almost always hard and we frequently do not even know the person and don't share any experiences or memories with the person that we are spending 3 weeks in close proximity to. (Once the 4th person did not mention that she was really 80 years old and had some health problems -- until she had a stroke 3 days before the trip to Greece was to start--it would have been very hard to manage illness and rigors of travel with someone 20 + years older than we were (and she didn't look it!!) Lately we have agreed that it just isn't worth trying to fit another person into our travel group-- most people just don't want to do a month in China or 3 weeks in NZ and many don't understand the cost of traveling --until they get the bills:p Cruising is our main standby for threesome travel in that there is plenty of time and space on a ship to do your own thing. We also found not much problem in having a van and a tour guide for our 3 and a pretty good itinerary laid out since everything was new for all 3 of us. Having so many memories of travels all over the world and being family means this 3+ travel has many patterns established and routine things that we do (I have the first aide kit she has the batteries ) We also do some travel just as a couple as in our upcoming land trip to 4 islands of Hawaii.

 

Go with caution when traveling with anybody you don't know from living with. It can or can not work and it is hard to predict the outcome.

[rugbypopsie]

I alternate between cruising with husband and friends to cruising with friends/girls cruises etc. loved all of them...thanks my cruisie mates you know who you are.:D

 

Sue

[KarateMan]

I know the feeling. You think you know people yet their interests are certainly not into travel.

 

There are some people that love to explore new places and will really get into the sights and scenery and enjoy the beauty and enjoy where they are.

 

There are others that just cant wait to get a drink in their hand. You often wonder why they even bothered going on holidays in the first place. Come on if you want to drink then you can do that at home or at your local pub. What's the point of going on holidays if you are going to do exactly the same as you do at home.

 

If you want my advice don't book things for others. Do your own thing. If they want to tag along and enjoy the trip with you let them. If they want to leave let them and do not care about them. Just keep doing your own thing and at the end of the holiday you will still have enjoyed it your way. You will have no regrets.

 

Its worst when you want to travel with young people who want to spend most time in a free Wi-Fi café doing facebook updates.

[karmac]

I think we've all been through his at some stage. Our recent cruise in July, there was 28 of us. Some we had cruised with before and some we hadn't. We didn't have any problems but, that said, none of us felt any obligation to have to do things we didn't want to just because someone else did. I was basically the "spokesman" for the group. Hubby & I had our mind made up as to when we wanted to eat AND what waiter we wanted. We hired a bus to take us to the terminal and on the way in, I told them our intentions and asked if they all wanted to join us for dinner. They did. All 28 of us the first night but after that it was mainly just the adults. I also let them know that we'd be at trivia every morning and afternoon and said anyone was welcome to join us. Again, they all did pretty much every time. We had a great time and no issues at all.

 

BUT........we did a couple of weekend cruises last year and one lady that came with us (and I will add that she is a vey dear friend) whinged about pretty much everything. She even complained once that her drink was too full:eek:. The problem is, due to the fact that we are doing another 2 weekend cruises in January with much the same crowd, I felt I had to ask her. (She got extremely offended when I didn't originally ask her on the first one.....and it was with a group of people she didn't even know). Not only does she basically invite herself, she then gets me to do the booking for her. I booked for her & her hubby for our Voyager cruise and guess what????......she complained about the deck they're on!!!

 

I do however have another weekend cruise in Jan and one in May that she isn't coming on:)

[Oz_Steve]

We have cruised once alone and once with friends. The cruise with our friends was much more enjoyable. They are excellent company and we had 3 future cruises booked until we had to cancel one due to work commitments. We have other friends coming on one of the future cruises.

After we booked our second cruise we had a number of people who complained that we didn't tell them so now we send a group email when we book a cruise and say if you want to join us then fill your boots. We have 34 people coming on one of the cruises, not all our friends but friends of friends etc. It started with 2 couples and sort of went from there.

I guess the point is that you let them know what you want to do and they can join you and vice versa.

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Many years ago when I was turning 50 :rolleyes: we decided to book a cruise to celebrate. Before we new it we had 21 of us going. We ended up doing the bookings for everyone as they all wanted to be on the same deck as us.

We had the best time and a lot of fun and laughs. Maybe it was because we all got together for dinner but during the day and going ashore it was each to their own so at dinner there was a lot to talk and laughter as everyone had their own experience to talk about rather than going around like a swarm of bees everywhere together.

Great memories. Interesting topic thanks to the original poster.

Jill:)

[MicCanberra]

We are quite selective with who we travel with (as a group), there is too much at stake if things go sour. What is much better is travelling with the friends that we have made on a cruise. Using this strategy, we already know that they like to cruise the same way we do, same sort of itineraries, activities, timing (as in night owl or dawn breaker), drinking patterns, eating patterns etc. We book a cruise and let them know, if they want to come, great, if not, there is next time.:D

[Kruser Karl]

One of the problems we encountered was that our friends came on the trip with preconceived ideas that were based on tv reports , they were very reluctant to do anything on their own as they might be mugged or pick pocketed,

And as a consequence we felt a bit like having a couple of small children along for the trip .