Leaving excursions early

[Travelcat2]

Agree that Destination Services is not very helpful (unfortunately). Also find "bus tours" to be pretty much what you would expect from "bus tours". There is no way to predict how many buses will be doing the same excursion that you are doing. Therefore, 4-6 buses could stop at the same restroom stop and the line for the "Ladies Room" will be extremely long. In this case, IMO, you get what you pay for.

 

Also agree that most of the time people return to the bus on time. However, there is no way to predict whether this will be the case. If there is a concern about people returning to the bus on time, I would consider the port. If you are in the Middle East, parts of Asia or South America, you can pretty much guarantee that people will not decide to leave the tour to "do their own thing" (BTW, Regent excursions in these areas are generally wonderful). However, in the Mediterranean, Caribbean or Alaska, there is a tendency to want to use Regent "free" excursions as a way to get some place that you are interested in and then go out on your own. Most of us tell the tour guide and that we are leaving the tour (and tip the tour guide). Then there are the occasional "others" that are not considering the consequences of leaving the tour without having the courtesy of letting someone know.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Travelcat2

[OctoberKat]

But, you see, I'm not a fan of buses, waiting or sharing.

[Travelcat2]

But, you see, I'm not a fan of buses, waiting or sharing.

 

You and I posted at the same time (see my post above). Unfortunately, bus excursions requires sharing and waiting (especially in the theater while you await the time when you can obtain a bus ticket so you can make your way to the bus -- only to find that some people didn't wait and are already on the bus):(

[nana541]

Hummm well my huge Mercedes bus had 12 people on it! Go figure :)

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

Hummm well my huge Mercedes bus had 12 people on it! Go figure :)

 

 

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Wish we were on your excursion:) what port and excursion were you on? We have had a few like yours but mostly 25 - 30/bus.

[nana541]

I'm thinking April 2012 it was in Florence, don't remember the name but we have actually hired that guide for private tours he was so so good!

 

He even negotiated the price of a purse after he stopped me from paying :) apparently I was about to pay too much and he was not going to have that happen on his tour :)

 

Still getting wine from a wine shop he took us to!

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

I'm thinking April 2012 it was in Florence, don't remember the name but we have actually hired that guide for private tours he was so so good!

 

He even negotiated the price of a purse after he stopped me from paying :) apparently I was about to pay too much and he was not going to have that happen on his tour :)

 

Still getting wine from a wine shop he took us to!

 

 

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Sounds like a really great guide:) We did have "sort of" a small tour on our October cruise. The port was Gibraltar - the excursion went to a cork farm (very unusual). We learned a lot and also had wine and muchies. It was quite unpopular which was great for us. Only one bus - about 25 passengers. We had to pass through the border of Spain that required us to change buses on the way in. For some reason we could stay on the same bus when we returned to Gibraltar. Nice bus - good tour guide -- so glad that we took that excursion (note: we cancelled every other excursion that we originally booked and did our own thing).

[Hambagahle]

We left a tour in Palma once because the guide was utterly dreadful. You can be sure we did not tip him. On the other hand we left a tour somewhere in the Chilean fjords - we were in the rainforest. The guide had been superb and the rain forest walk fascinating and when we left we certainly tipped her. (Reason we left that one was nothing to do with the guide - there was a "folklore dancing" thing which the tour sprang on us with no warning and we hate those things! It certainly wasn't the guide's fault.)

[magooatsea]

We'll be going on the Cape Town - Hong Kong sailing. We're very excited of course. This will be our first on Regent and our first time with excursions included. Normally we do things on our own. As a general rule how much does one tip the guide? That is if everything goes well and you're generally pleased with the experience? Also since we'll be experiencing 14 different countries, is it acceptable to pay in dollars? Many thanks for any help.

[Hambagahle]

We usually tip the guide $5 and the driver $1 UNLESS there has been exception service and /or terrible service. And that is per person. I would imagine they would appreciate being tipped in a "major international currency" and in notes not coins. (Coins are useless as you cannot change them or you get a nasty rate). USD, EUR, GBP or CHF would be OK I would think if you cannot manage their national currency.