Sharing tours with folks on roll call

[NatalieWood]

I am planning my first European cruise and see a lot of people book private your companies and share with people on roll call. How does this work? Do you pay the organizer on the day?

 

Any tips on organizing this or finding reputable tour companies? What are the pros and cons of going private? I know about the ports of call pages so I will check there for specifics. I guess I am looking for general advice as I've never gone this route before.

 

If it matters, I'm going on NCL Spirit's 12 day med cruise in July stopping in Greece, Turkey, Italy, France and ending in Barcelona.

 

Thanks, Stacey

[SuiteTraveler]

You each pay the tour guide at the end of the tour and tip the tour guide as well. Never send money to an organizer of a group tour.

 

I've done this for 3 Med cruises and it always works out extremely well. Doing private tours:

is less expensive

you get to see more in a day - about 50% more since you are not slowed down by a large ship's tour group and the slowest person in the group - often someone on a walker

you get to see what YOU want

the small buses can drop you in the middle of the action instead of having to walk blocks from a big bus parking lot

 

It is a whole lot better to do private tours in every way I can think of. I cannot think of any downside at all. In terms of what to see, you might look at the Ports of Call for the Med and see what various people do. I can fill you in on some specific ports if you have some idea what you want to do. I have not had any trouble with any tour company I've hired. They meet us at the ship and we're off for a fabulous day! Sometimes I get the names of possible tour companies from there, sometimes, I just find them myself online.

Edited December 8, 2015 by SuiteTraveler

[cherylandtk]

You will find lots of information on providers in those Port of Call boards, both good and bad.

 

As for how to handle, that is up to the organizer. I've seen a wide variety of scenarios. Important to consider are cancellation policies (both of your tour provider and whatever you as organizer want to set for your Roll Call group), payment types and dates and generally anything where you could be left holding the bag if someone cancels or does not show up.

 

Some people only book with providers that charge no or minimal deposit. Some reserve spaces, but ask each person or couple to contact the tour provider directly so they don't have to act as a middle man. Others put it all in their name and pay it all upfront and get payment later from the other participants. However you do it is up to what you are comfortable with.

 

One last bit, if you do end up taking payments for the group tour, do so in private, not in a public location on the ship, especially not at the Meet and Greet sort of meeting.

[lisiamc]

We've joined many tours organised by people on the roll call for our cruises. Most of the time, I've paid our share to the tour company directly on the day. On a recent cruise, I made an exception and paid the passenger organising the tour before the cruise. He's a long time Cruise Critic member, and the amount was small enough that I was willing to take a risk. There was no problem, but as SuiteTraveler says, it is a much better idea not to do this.

 

Taking tours with others on your roll call is a great way to get to know some of your fellow cruisers, and do things outside the scope of excursions offered by the ship.. We've had lots of good experiences doing this, and made some long-term friends. Even the least successful private tours we've done have been more fun than most of the ship's tours we've taken.

[LHT28]

If you can get to pay the tour guide directly on the day of the tour that is best way

Lately some popular guides are requesting payment or a deposit in advance ( I guess it cuts down on no show's)

 

One tour company I had to pay 60 days in full in advance ..I had 10 on the tour so it was not cheap

I collected from the others on the ship

 

check the cancellation terms in case the ship does not make port some will refund only 50% some will refund 100% but better to know in advance then you can make an informed decision whether to use that guide or not

 

The popular guide book up early as much as a yr in advance

[Kartgv]

We've done both ship and private/Roll Call tours - there are pros and cons to each. Private tours are usually (but not always - do your homework!) cheaper, and usually smaller groups. There can be problems, such as one of our tours in the South Pacific. The small bus broke down in the middle of nowhere and the operator had no backup bus. Luckily a local pastor with a church bus happened by and saved our day. We had good friends on a roll call whale watching tour in Mexico where the boat operator violated many rules (overloading the boat, chasing the whales and getting much too close, making dangerous sharp turns); the person who organized the tour hadn't done enough research on that particular operator. Though most private tour operators know that their livelihood depends on a good reputation with the cruising public, if something does go wrong on a private tour, you have little recourse.

 

If I'm in an unfamiliar area where I don't speak the language and the tour is an 8 hour tour in a port where the ships is only docked 9-10 hours, then I'd do a ship's tour, especially if it's a tender port.

[navybankerteacher]

The first step is to be active on your roll call - possibly trading email addresses - to determine if there are common interests. If someone lives near you, you might even meet. Once you feel that you have enough in common, and have similar interests, you can't alk particular tours. You usually have to put down some deposit (you can't expect the tour provider to trust you any more than you want to trust him). One person has to be the point person to confirm pricing and set up details with the tour provider.

 

It makes a lot of sense, we have don it several times for pre-cruis tours as well as getting to the port (Civita Vecchia) from Rome - sharing tours, rides, etc. is a good way of saving money as well as getting to know fellow passengers..

[Talisker92]

We have done both, but had some great private tours, sometimes by ourselves, and sometime with other passengers.

Here is list of some we have done:

Our wedding on Santorini

Giverney and Rouen by ourselves

Nazca Lines by plane by ourselves

Lima Culinary tour with a group

Falklands tour at half the price of the ships tours

Petroche Falls in Chile with a group.As we left the ships buses pulled up and were so crowded they delayed sailing by hours

Lisbon, Estoril and Cascais with a group

Cornwall for 6 days

You can read all about them on our website

http://www.stevekathytravels.com

[nolatravelgirl]

You should check out my review for the Spirit Med review. (See my signature) I highly recommend sharing private tours. The tours are much more personalized and move at a better pace than ship sponsored tours. Our 3 Italy stops I was the organizer for our Italy stops and Rome In Limo was great. We had WAY more interested parties than spots available for people able to participate. I loved being the organizer. Sharing is a great way to ease the cost. I would not hesitate to share/organize again.

[SPacificbound]

We have shared private tours on every cruise but our first cruise.

 

On our last three cruises we did about 50/50 between sharing the tours, and just doing private tours on our own.

 

It has been my experience so far that only a small portion of the tour operators expect the payment up front. Out of all of the recent October/November tours I only had to pay up front for one tour.

 

I don't have a problem with paying the organizer of the tour our portion once we are on the ship, but in most cases we were asked to put our portion in an envelope and give to the organizer the day of the tour. If the payment is done on the ship it needs to not be at the Roll Call. Or at any event on the ship.

 

Be sure to do your due diligence when taking a private tour. The organizer will post the information about the tour on your cruises Roll Call page, usually with a link to the tour operator's website. Be sure you look the tour operator up online, read their reviews, usually they will be on Trip Advisor, and make sure the tour operator has received excellent reviews.

 

We have had amazing tours with groups of eight or so of our fellow cruisers.

 

If you have not located your roll call yet go here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=354

scroll down and find your sailing date.

 

You are going to some beautiful places. :)

Edited December 9, 2015 by SPacificbound

[Keith1010]

There are many tour guides that are recommended on the Cruise Critic European Ports Of Call Boards.

 

Also, we make good use of Trip Advisor.

 

Keith

[TMLAalum]

Via the roll call...

 

I've organized 2 private tours for our British Isles cruise and DH & I are participating in others. All companies are requiring downpayment at time of booking + most want payment in full prior to sailing!

 

In Ireland, the tour operator allowed each party to submit their downpayment directly to him with remainder to be paid on the tour. In Scotland, I paid 25% downpayment for a group of 16 and will be expecting full prepayment from participants before the cruise, since the operator wants full payment 30 days out. We will be paying the organizers of our Inverness tour and Tattoo transportation in Edinburgh beforehand as well.

 

On our upcoming NZ/OZ cruise, I've also organized 2 private tours. "Wicked Wanders" out of Tauranga NZ will collect full payment the day of the tour, and "EyeSeeTasmania", which allowed individual deposits from participants, will collect the remainder when we arrive.

 

On previous cruises, only "Tours of Puglia" out of Bari required a deposit which was minimal so I didn't ask for reimbursement ahead of time.

 

So to the OP, don't rule out a tour just because the organizer needs the $$ ahead of time. Just request copies of communications from the tour provider from the organizer. Personally, I cc provider communications to all participants so they understand my liability and the reason I am requesting their payment to me since I've put my $$ out as the provider requires.

Edited December 9, 2015 by TMLAalum

[CallyCruzer]

Roll call is a wonderful way to join others on private tours. We have had situations where we mailed checks to the organizer since the tour operator required payment up front - and times when we paid the operator directly the day of the tour. I have only had once bad situation in which I was the organizer of the tour to Florence - I had two other couples joining us - the morning of the tour I received a voicemail from one couple that said they decided not to go - and that they were sure I could find someone else.....Really, at the last minute I can find another couple. So since the trip was prebooked - the couple and myself had to take up the "slack" and pay their part. Not cool! Even if I became ill, etc I would certainly pay my committed part of a tour!

[hubofhockey]

As others have said, the right answer is, "it depends". We have been on three cruises in Europe (two in the Med, one Russia/Baltic, and one British Isles). It depends on the country you are visiting. Typically, on Med cruises, payments are made on day of the tour. The Russian companies require each person on a tour to get in touch with and pay them directly because they need your passport information for visa purposes. Many vendors in Scotland and Ireland require deposits as well. Anyone going on a tour, should check for reviews of the vendor on cruise critic and trip advisor.

 

Private tours are usually less costly, run with smaller groups, and can do more in the same amount of time. There are many ports where it makes sense not to use tour excursions or private tours. Some ports are best off doing on your own. You should read the ports of call boards for that advice.

[buggins0402]

There are many ports where it makes sense not to use tour excursions or private tours. Some ports are best off doing on your own. You should read the ports of call boards for that advice.

 

Ditto.....and pick up a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Ports Guide. He gives great information on what you can easily do on your own and when an excursion might be better. Most mass market Mediterranean cruise ports are covered in the book. Also Google Tom's Port guides and see if he has done your ports. A warning on the latter, it is not continually updated for new or changed information.

Edited December 12, 2015 by buggins0402