private tours

[cbb]

Don't know if this has been discussed but...here goes....

 

We tour fairly independently but I'm pretty sure we're not going to be able to do that in an Asia cruise. Mr Wonderful has been there for business, but he had a shepherd and said the idea of doing Asia independently would be daunting.

 

Has anyone gone on a private tour through roll call and thought, after initial tour, "I'm not going to be able to be with Mr Doe for the rest of this cruise or I'll just freak?"

 

Seriously, I've been in O tours and have met people that within 5 minutes I knew I needed to stay away from. In a bus of 40 people, I can get "lost" in the crowd and do fine. But if I was in a group of 8, how could I get "lost"?

 

Be gentle, I'm in a great mood and want to stay that way!!!

Edited April 6, 2014 by cbb

[wandrr]

You and only you can make the trade-off between potential personality conflicts and the savings with a private tour. If you want to be absolutely guaranteed that you will not have any personality conflicts, then tour by yourself. It is a personal choice.

 

Personally, I try to be tolerant of others, despite being saddled with fools on some tours. On the other hand, some initial impressions turned out to be quite wrong after a while on other tours.

[cbb]

i'm a pretty good-natured person with a live and let live attitude for most things in life. I'm just wondering how people do on small group tours with someone they would otherwise avoid.

 

Independent travel is out for us on an Asian trip; I figure I'm already spending $thousands on O so perhaps a few $hundred for O' tours might not be that big of deal in the grand scheme of things. (thinking out loud now!)

[ronrick1943]

wandrr is right, you know what your like and don't. For us it's a private all the way...We want to see what I we want when we want...If we get bored or just want to go back to the ship early, we have that right-the guide just get's to go home early. We also like to pass on the real tourist stuff, so it works for us. Also if we want a 2 hour lunch, we can do that.

Rick

[robbie21]

You and only you can make the trade-off between potential personality conflicts and the savings with a private tour. If you want to be absolutely guaranteed that you will not have any personality conflicts, then tour by yourself. It is a personal choice.

 

Personally, I try to be tolerant of others, despite being saddled with fools on some tours. On the other hand, some initial impressions turned out to be quite wrong after a while on other tours.

 

I like to think that private, small group tours attract a better class of cruisers:D. We usually join or organize different groups for each port so exposure to the occasional jerk is limited and even in a group of say 8 people it is possible to minimize contact.

 

The fact is you will inevitably find yourself in the company of some annoying people and it is just as likely that some people will find you to be annoying in some aspect. The common courtesies we learned in kindergarten should suffice to get us all through these encounters. And, as wandrr says above, those initial impressions sometimes turn out to be wrong.:)

 

Enjoy, Robbie

[RetiredFL]

As you can see by our signature we have done a fair amount of cruises and on most we set up private tours through cruise critic with 6-8 people. So far we have been very fortunate in that I can only remember one private tour where we did not get along with someone (spoiled teenagers). I assume that anyone on cruise critic who organizes private tours has some knowledge and a world wise demeanor. We usually also look for people who are repeat posters on CC and go with their tours, if possible. We have formed some lasting friendships with people we have met.

That being said, we have also done many Oceania tours. In Japan and Korea the concept of private tour guides seems not to exist. Because we have large OBC due to repeat cruise status and a generous TA we have to do a few ships tours or drink a lot of overpriced wine.

On those larger tours we have encountered a few less desirable companions. We usually just make an effort to avoid them and in a group of 40 or so we usually can. Luckily Oceania seems to attract a group of passengers who seem to have similar interests and get along.

The main secret, I think, for small groups is to have to rules clear before you go. It needs to be made clear, for example, that a 5 min bathroom break will not turn into a 2 hour shopping stop at the local stores despite the need for constant gifts for the grandchildren. Private tours should be spelled out as to itinerary and time frames. (The spoiled teenagers referred to above wandered off to play video games and we waited almost an hour for their parents to find them!!)

Nothing is perfect but if you are a bit laid back it seems to work out.

[tanny18]

Don't know if this has been discussed but...here goes....

 

We tour fairly independently but I'm pretty sure we're not going to be able to do that in an Asia cruise. Mr Wonderful has been there for business, but he had a shepherd and said the idea of doing Asia independently would be daunting.

 

Has anyone gone on a private tour through roll call and thought, after initial tour, "I'm not going to be able to be with Mr Doe for the rest of this cruise or I'll just freak?"

 

Seriously, I've been in O tours and have met people that within 5 minutes I knew I needed to stay away from. In a bus of 40 people, I can get "lost" in the crowd and do fine. But if I was in a group of 8, how could I get "lost"?

 

Be gentle, I'm in a great mood and want to stay that way!!!

If you could tell me exactly where you are going, maybe I can be of some assistance with tour guides. Asia is a big place -you have to be a little more specific. I've been to a great many ports in "Asia" and have great tour guides if you are interested. tanny5258@att.net Arlene;)

[cbb]

We also have a bunch of OBC and since we're not big alcohol consumers, we figured we'd use our credit to purchase ship's tours if for no other reason than to get us from port to city and back!

 

Let's see: Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai, Hong Kong Seoul, Ishigaki, Okinawa, Kyoto, Nagoya, Kagoshima,Tokyo. Taipei, Hanoi, Hue/DaNang, Saigon, Bangkok. We are using O for pre and post excursions to Xian/Beijing and Angkor Wat as well as overnight on junk in Ha Long Bay.

 

We're looking forward to the cruises. People we know who used to live in some of those places have retired back to the States so they're not going to be there for us!!

[wripro]

If you are worries why not stay true to the description of "private" tour and keep it private? Just you and your traveling companions. That way you'll love everyone there!

[cbb]

Hey, i live with Mr. Wonderful 24/7, you mean I have to travel with him in a "private" tour as well? What part of "avoiding" another person didn't you all understand?

[LHT28]

Hey, i live with Mr. Wonderful 24/7, you mean I have to travel with him in a "private" tour as well? What part of "avoiding" another person didn't you all understand?

 

LOL

 

I understand completely :D

[MVPinBoynton]

We have done private tours all over the world including SE Asia. We have found some wonderful tour guides and people to tour with. We always confirm ahead of time that people on our tours don't smoke, since that would be a problem for us and others that we might tour with. I also make sure that there aren't any kids on the tour. We love kids; but they aren't the best tourists.

 

We are on the 16 day Beijing to Tokyo leg of your cruise and have all of our private tours booked already. Some folks on our roll call and some that haven't posted on the roll call are sharing some of our tours. We have talked on the phone and will be Skyping soon to get acquainted with each other before the cruise. That way if we don't want to tour with each other, we will know well before the cruise.

[cbb]

MVP...i don't have anything against private tours and will go to the roll call soon.

 

I've been on some and enjoyed them. They were planned by a TA who was taking a small group with him/her and we filled in at the last minute so they were very professionally organized.

 

I just wondered what people did if they met up with someone they couldn't avoid...especially if they were going to be in those private tours for the next x number of days.

 

Yes, people who smoke would be pretty much of a deal breaker for us.

 

Thanks for the note re: roll call. I really appreciate it. Your response was the kind of information I wanted.

[orchestrapal]

MVP...i don't have anything against private tours and will go to the roll call

 

I just wondered what people did if they met up with someone they couldn't avoid...especially if they were going to be in those private tours for the next x number of days.

 

Yes, people who smoke would be pretty much of a deal breaker for us.

 

Thanks for the note re: roll call. I really appreciate it. Your response was the kind of information I wanted.

 

You can very easily say ,ahead of time,that you would like an only non- smoking tour partners .Nothing will insure that you'll love the people you tour with. You can always do your own tours.

[LHT28]

When organizing a private tour just be clear from the beginning what you will be doing

no smoking, no children are allowed

Limited shopping time (if that is what you planned) ;)

If the tour is fast paced no slow pokes allowed

 

You never know what the other people will be like ..if it is only 1 tour try to go with the flow

If someone tries to deviate from your tour just have a quick word with them & the guide

 

I have done a lot of private tours & very seldom have a problem

 

Enjoy

 

Lyn

[MVPinBoynton]

Lots of good recommendations. I do recommend calling and/or Skyping people before hand that you plan on doing more than one tour with to get to know them. Since we live in Florida, we have been able to meet people ahead of time when they come down our way for a different cruise before ours.

 

On one cruise we did have a problem with a very nice couple whose husband had a body odor problem. :eek: No way to know about something like that until you are touring with them.

[pacheco18]

I only do private tours and we have made some lifelong friends as a result -- one couple actually moved from California to Arizona and is building a home in our community.

 

Others I have toured with have become CC friends, folks I hope to cruise with again, or people I reach out to via email from time to time. Some I get to meet if we are visiting their home towns.

 

Some of the people I toured with or will tour with have already posted on this thread.

 

Have I met a few lemons along the way? Yes. It happens from time to time (rarely). The absolute worst was the guy who wanted to cut all the tours short so he wouldn't miss Happy Hour on the ship. It was embarrassing more than anything else -- and needless to say he did not get his way.

 

But let me tell you about the bunch of lemons I met on the ONE ship's tour I took on Oceania.

 

The upside FAR outweighs the downside.

[Pet Nit Noy]

... In Japan and Korea the concept of private tour guides seems not to exist.

 

Our experience apparently differs from yours. My husband and I cruised from Beijing (Tianjin) to Hong Kong on Nautica four years ago. We began our vacation with land trips to Tokyo and Beijing before meeting up with the ship. We hired private guides in both Tokyo and Beijing prior to the cruise, private guides in Kyoto (Kobe), Okinawa, and Taiwan during the cruise, an private guides in Hong Kong after the cruise.

 

We found our guides a variety of ways: For Tokyo, we went to a site like the Viator site below. WE liked being able to read the list of all the guides and evaluate their thumbnail bio of each guide. (Guides who are licensed are clearly identified.)

 

We contacted Chris Rowthorn Tours to arrange for our guide in Kyoto and Nara. And we used Chris Rowthorn's guides once more in Hong Kong. Chris's company still offers the same choice of tours: a tour of the Kowloon side and a tour of the Hong Kong side. (There's also a tour of the outer islands, but we didn't do that. )

 

We really struggled to find a guide in Okinawa. The web site we used listed only one guide -- a male -- and he was already booked. We asked him to contact a colleague. He did but the arrangements might not suit everyone. The licensed guide turned out to speak no English but she was accompanied by a friend/colleague who spoke reasonably good English. The guide drove and narrated, pausing while her colleague translated. Ultimately we were satisfied but there was a lot of confusion until the situation sorted itself out in our brains. I wish the pair had been more straightforward with us when we booked the situation.

 

Finding a private guide definitely takes commitment and time, but we thought the results were absolutely worth it. We never listed our private arrangements on the roll call board. My husband and I went on our private tours as a two-some, but I doubt we would have even filled a group since we included a fair amount of time focusing on the ceramics traditions of Japan and Taiwan, not necessarily the most popular topic.

 

Here are some web sites for the OP to check out. There are more web sites that individual guides have created, but I didn't include those.

 

http://www.privateguide.com/tokyo/

(No licensed guides for Kyoto through this company)

 

http://tourguidetokyo.com/index.html

(This company limits its guiding to Tokyo)

 

http://tourguides.viator.com/Listing.aspx?Country=Japan&Region=Tokyo&City=Tokyo

 

Kyoto guides through the above company:

http://tourguides.viator.com/Listing.aspx?Country=Japan&Region=Kyoto&City=Kyoto

 

http://www.chrisrowthorn.com/tokyo_tours.html (Tours in Tokyo, Kyoto, and other Japanese cities.)

[tanny18]

When we travel and I plan tours, just as my friend Laraine does, we investigate, get recommendations and then choose the guides who mostly likely will be as accommodating as possible. The rule is - It's our tour, we plan where we go!! I keep an extensive listing of guides all over the world (and as I said before in all of China, Japan, Viet Nam, Phuket, India to name a few places) and have shared them with numerous cruisers. The difference between a private tour and a ship's tour is not only twice the cost and the 40 other passengers, it's where they want to take you. The threat is always there - we will wait for you if you are late. There isn't a reputable tour guide in the world who will get you back late for a sailing. If they do, they are toast!! Again if you are interested in the guides in that part of the world, let me know! Arlene;)

[RetiredFL]

You were luckier than we were. We found many of the guides were just that, guides and they did not provide transportation, admission, etc.

Maybe things have improved since we went. China seemed to be much better organized and we had good private guides in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, etc. We had a good guide in Okinawa but I no longer have the info. I just googled and found them but I can no longer find them and unfortunately tour companies come and go.

[Pet Nit Noy]

You were luckier than we were. We found many of the guides were just that, guides and they did not provide transportation, admission, etc.

Maybe things have improved since we went. China seemed to be much better organized and we had good private guides in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, etc. We had a good guide in Okinawa but I no longer have the info. I just googled and found them but I can no longer find them and unfortunately tour companies come and go.

 

Chris Rowthorn's agency still exists although the web site doesn't list the individual guides so I can't tell if either/both our Kowloon and Hong Kong guides still work for this organization.

 

Our guide on Taiwan, is still touring. She's listed in the Viator site for Taiwan.

 

Even when we're working with private guides, we try to balance the convenience of private transportation with the congestion level of the place we're visiting. We used public transportation in Tokyo. Ditto for Kyoto, although we rode the Bullet Train to get from Kobe to Kyoto. (That was neat in of itself.) In Taiwan, we got around via car with driver. This was an extra expense, but one, especially on the second day of our port call when we visited Yingge, that was essential.

 

What do you mean about providing admission? Free admission for us because the guide was wearing his/her license around his/her neck? Advance purchase of our admission tickets?

[BillPizzaiolo]

We"ve cruised extensively iin the past over 5 or more years. Over that time we used small group tours arranged using CC most of the time. There was only one negative experience when we were in Argentina a person in our group was obnoxious. Generally speaking on Oceania we"ve found like minded folks that were very easy to get along with. We still correspond with many people from time to time or even invited or visited after the cruise.

[MVPinBoynton]

Chris Rowthorn's agency still exists although the web site doesn't list the individual guides so I can't tell if either/both our Kowloon and Hong Kong guides still work for this organization.

 

Our guide on Taiwan, is still touring. She's listed in the Viator site for Taiwan.

 

Even when we're working with private guides, we try to balance the convenience of private transportation with the congestion level of the place we're visiting. We used public transportation in Tokyo. Ditto for Kyoto, although we rode the Bullet Train to get from Kobe to Kyoto. (That was neat in of itself.) In Taiwan, we got around via car with driver. This was an extra expense, but one, especially on the second day of our port call when we visited Yingge, that was essential.

 

What do you mean about providing admission? Free admission for us because the guide was wearing his/her license around his/her neck? Advance purchase of our admission tickets?

 

We are using a guide in Tokyo that was farmed out by Chris Rowthorn. He used Chris as a reference. We have skyped with him and he should be a great guide.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

I have arranged many tours privately.

 

I had a guide not show up in Lisbon. We took a cab - there were 5 of us. The people did not come back at the appointed time and we waiting a full hour because they went shopping. The women sent back the husband to tell us. RUDE!

 

We had a 12 night Baltic Itinerary and there were 10 of us. We planned excursions for every port. We had a few compromises since most of the others were fine eating lunch quickly. We love to dine and literally at at a 7-11 one day. The group was very congenial and many of us are still in touch 7 years later. The camaraderie really made the trip. We often dined onboard together. It was one of the best trips we've taken. Several of the group are still cruising together.

 

You never know. We just did 26 days with shared tours in each port. Different people. Some we liked and some were not our cup of tea. We had fun. When we were not with the guide we did our own thing. I did interview everyone with the expectation we were active and we would be respectful. No one was late.

[LHT28]

I have arranged many tours privately.

 

I had a guide not show up in Lisbon. We took a cab - there were 5 of us. The people did not come back at the appointed time and we waiting a full hour because they went shopping. The women sent back the husband to tell us. RUDE!

 

 

If you were just sharing a taxi I would not have waited longer than 15 min

 

In Bruges we had the return time set ..people were told be there at the specified time or make your own way back to the ship

 

Everyone was on time