Six Lessons Learnt on my Worst Ever Shore Excursion...
Three years ago today we were on our ‘worst ever’ port excursion! I wanted to post this as we learnt some important lessons - both about what to ask about when booking a shore excursion and also about what we had taken ashore with us that day. Stick with me - its a long one!!
Wat Po Temple
We were on a Princess Cruise visiting Laem Chabang in Thailand, which is what we call a ‘FOR’ port - a large industrial port labelled as ‘Bangkok’ although it is actually 125km away! We hadn’t intended to visit Bangkok , planning to take a taxi along the coast to the much closer beach resort of Pattaya and visit an elephant sanctuary. However a friend convinced us that it would be worth the journey to see the Grand Palace in Bangkok and because of the distance involved we decided to book an excursion.
Statue at Wat Po Temple
The ships tour seemed to only cover the Palace and lunch before returning to the ship but an alternative, available through Cruising Excursions, visited both the Grand Palace and Wat Po, the Reclining Buddha Temple, with no time wasted on lunch! We weren’t too concerned about eating as thought we would have a good breakfast, pack some snacks to eat on the coach and plan to see more of the city by booking that excursion. The company has a guarantee to ‘get you back to your ship on time’ so we booked with them
When the confirmation arrived we discovered that the entrance fees to the two main attractions of the tour (The Palace and Buddha) were not included and were to be paid directly to the tour guide in dollars. This actually made the ships and private tours pretty similar in cost but we were still happy to go with our choice because it covered more and wasted less time. So LESSON ONE - check exactly what is included before booking - we had never been expected to pay entrance fees separately before and so we didn’t even think to ask!
Wat Po Temple
CAVEAT: Cruising Excursions have an excellent reputation and provide excursions in many ports, but they do not run the excursions themselves subcontracting them to different local tour companies in each port so the service can be variable. There were a few people in our group who had booked a package of excursions for the whole cruise with Cruise Excursions. They had been very happy with the service provided elsewhere. I should mention at this point that when we complained to Cruising Excursions, after our disastrous day, they dealt with the matter very efficiently and gave us a full refund of everything we had paid.
thai roof
This blog is not a complaint about Cruising Excursions as a company, in fact we were very impressed by how well they handled the situation. However it did demonstrate that the quality of a tour is totally dependent on the local operator that they subcontract with and, as you have no way of knowing who that operator is, you cannot check for reviews or feedback. Obviously if you book directly with a local company you can make those checks yourself. I think our main problem was with the individual tour guide, not even with the local operator that employed him, but I want to share this story with you because it was such an unpleasant and stressful experience. It is also a lesson in when you should speak up and not just do what you're told!
Something at Wat Po Temple
On arrival in Laem Chabang we met outside passport control as agreed and were surprised to find that the group was quite large and we were to travel in a double decker coach. Previous private excursions that we have booked have been in a small group of 8 to 10 people so we had just assumed that this would be the same - we really dislike large groups because of the slow pace that they tend to move at. In this case a couple were missing so we had to wait while our guide tried to contact them - they never showed and we were already running half an hour late we finally left the port. So that is LESSON TWO - ask about group size, we should have asked when booking!
Our tour guide ‘Chris’ was quite flustered by this and began the day by spending quite some time explaining to us how dreadful the traffic was in Thailand and especially in Bangkok. He was very concerned that this late start was going to make things difficult for the rest of the day and was very clear that we must leave the city by 15.00 at the latest, in order to get back to our ship on time - otherwise we would all be left behind!
Courtyard in Wat Po - we had lots of time here…
He was an unusual guide, I don’t think I have ever had such a poor picture painted of a country and its inhabitants by the person who was being paid to show it to me! We started with a seemingly random description of how corrupt the police in Thailand were, Chris even gave us a short rundown of how much you would have to pay for each type of infringement including, weirdly, the amount you would have to bribe the police if you killed someone! There followed an interesting explanation of the way to make money from your state provided accommodation, how to defraud a car hire company, how to get around State gambling laws and what extra services were available with various types of Thai massage - Chris did not appear to be aware that he was painting the morality of his fellow countrymen in a fairly poor light. We were given none of the usual information about the country, its people and what we were going to see!
Bangkok - sorry - no explanation, no idea!
Chris then moved on to explaining that although lunch was not included by the company he felt it was essential that we should have it as otherwise someone would ‘feel sick and giddy and have to go to hospital’ - he kindly offered to organise a nice buffet in a hotel that would only cost $20 a head, saying that would be the quickest option for a large group. It wasn’t a popular suggestion most people were prayers to the day with snacks like us or were intending to just grab something as we went around the sights but Chris explained that the local food would be ‘bad for us’ - you have to ‘eat here for a few days before the food doesn’t upset you’. In case anyone was still considering the street food option Chris helpfully explained how Thai people fooled tourists by serving rat disguised as chicken, laughingly he explained that if you ate street food you would spend all afternoon in the toilet. By now a fair few of our companions had decided that a nice buffet lunch would be for the best, those of us who did not want the lunch option were told there was nothing available in the vicinity so that we would just have to sit and wait for the others in the hotel reception ( yeah, right - there was no way a hotel in central Bangkok is going to be more than inches away from a bar or restaurant…)
Chris then announced that because we were so tight on time and how far apart Wat Po and the Grand Palace were (more on this later…) and how hot and strenuous the walking would be, that he proposed the we use TukTuks between them. This would cost about 100 Baht a head but it would save a long walk and add local colour to the day. Everyone everyone seemed happy enough with this idea so Chris toured the coach collecting his US Dollars for the entrance fee, the lunch and the Tuk Tuks (at times using an exchange rate that was frankly astounding! This really wasn’t turning out to be very good value at all!
100 Baht tickets - about 3 US dollars - we paid 10$US
On arrival at the Reclining Buddha Temple we were escorted to the gate and given instructions on where to meet in an hour. Chris wandered around with us but gave us no information about the history or about what we were seeing, there didn’t seem to be any sense of urgency at all and to be honest it all got a bit boring. I would normally expect information either from a headphone system or from a guide not just to be taken to something and shown it but I suppose that is LESSON THREE - ask how you should expect to be given information on the sights - through a map, a headphone system or by the guide? The entrance fee quoted by the company and collected by Chris was higher than the entry fee that our tickets showed - there was actually a higher priced entrance that included headphones... I suspect Chris pocketed the difference.
Would love to know why one Black statue???
On leaving the Reclining Buddha the Tul Tuk idea appeared to have been abandoned as there was ‘no time’ now we were going to have lunch - even though money had been taken for both at the same time!! We set off in the coach, drove straight past the Royal Palace and through the Bangkok traffic to the Nuovo City Hotel, twenty minutes away! We arrived to find that, exactly as we had expected, it was surrounded by extremely nice local cafes and restaurants. My husband and I declined Chris’ suggestion that we should sit in the foyer and wait for the rest of the group and we went out to find somewhere close by where we could keep an eye out for the coach returning. Another couple joined us who had demanded their money back from Chris because he had lied about the inaccessibly of alternative food. Those who ate the buffet said it was fine and but overpriced - luckily the four of us who ate local (for less than the cost of one persons eating at the buffet) survived our experience and did not require hospitalisation!
Our river trip
On leaving the Hotel at 1.30 Chris announced that it was a ‘very long way' back to the Grand Palace through the heavy traffic and that although he had wondered if we should use Tuk Tuks this was a bad idea because it would mean splitting up the group and someone would get left behind and lost - he really was very good at playing on peoples fears! ‘Luckily’, he announced, he had ‘just realised’ that his friend had a boat nearby and he could arrange for that boat to whiz us straight to the gates of the palace. Amazing! That would save a lot of time and it would be just another 100 Baht a head. The only thing was that we shouldn’t tell others on the boat what we had paid as they would have paid $10 a head…
A temple from our river trip
There followed a perfectly pleasant river trip - we saw the barge museum and fed cat fish by a temple, but it was not what we had booked and it certainly wasn’t quick!! We dropped the other group at Wat Po and doubled back to the pier for the Grand Palace. We disembarked and walked to the entrance - it was now 14.45. and had taken an hour an a quarter from the hotel to do a journey that had only taken twenty minutes by coach. Why had we believed him when he said it would take much longer to get back? By now we had wasted two and a quarter hours going for a ‘quick’ lunch and we were back at a point only actually only about 5 minutes walk from where we had been at 12.30. Large groups seem to develop a herd mentality and lose the ability to think straight which is fine if you’re not being lied to….
Chris - our wonderful tour guide
View from boat
Although the Grand Palace was supposed to be the main focus of the day Chris had chosen to leave it to last. So now we were faced with the choice of only seeing it briefly or of not visiting it at all, in order to be certain of being back at the ship for 18.30. A small group of us said that we thought we should leave and head back to the ship but Chris literally walked away from us and refused to discuss it - even though it was him that had stressed at the start of the day that we should leave by 15.00. LESSON FOUR - we should have insisted on the tour arrangements we had booked and paid for, and not been coerced into lunch or the boat trip.
Catfish feeding
It was obvious Chris was rattled by now but he did not want to lose face, then little things started to go wrong and we began to lose even more time. Two people were refused entrance due to their dress, Chris was striding off ahead so he then had to run back and tell them where to meet us, brushing aside an offer of a cover up from one of the ladies in our group. He bought the entrance tickets but was one short so had to go back again. He gave us maps and marched us off on a breakneck speed tour - he kept telling us to meet somewhere in five minutes sections but twice didn’t ensure that everyone heard where and when that was so we ended up with people getting lost and wasting even more time… After an hour we left the palace having seen very little and understanding even less.
Grand Palace
It was obvious that Chris was now seriously concerned, he was striding ahead without checking that we were keeping up. Luckily one of our youngest and fittest members ran back to walk with two of our slowest - Chris just got on the coach - we all refused to join him until we were sure that everyone was there. I checked on Google maps and realised that with an estimated two hours twenty minutes journey time we were going to miss the boat by ten minutes….
Now there is nothing like knowing that you are potentially going to miss a ship to concentrate your mind on the resources you have with you.
On this occasion we had chosen to go ashore with just a little cash and no credit card due to the many warnings about pickpockets in Bangkok. The photocopies of our passports that we normally carry were in the wallet so we didn't have those either, in fact we had no ID other than our cruise card. Idiots!!
The other thing I learnt was that you should take a means of charging your phone ashore. After a day taking photographs and checking our ETA for the ship my phone was getting dangerously low - I hadn’t even taken the emergency power pack ashore - it was sitting uselessly in our cabin! others on the coach were getting concerned about essential medication that they did not have with them. So this is LESSON FIVE- always keep id, a credit card, a charger and a small supply of essential medication with you, especially on a long excursion.
IMG_0024
Now things got very difficult - a member of the Royal Family was expected back at the Palace so all the traffic in our area of Bangkok was at a standstill - our ETA crept later and later. Eventually we started to move and once we were free of the city we asked Chris if he could contact the ship - he disappeared off to the lower deck of the bus and didn’t come back. Everyone was getting very concerned and the driver was going faster than really seemed safe - suddenly there was a flashing blue light and the coach suddenly stopped - but in less that thirty seconds we were on our way again. We asked Chris what was going on - he mumbled ‘police’ - it seemed to have resolved very quickly if so! Or was it related to that mornings discussion on bribe tariffs? Suddenly it all seemed to fall into place - if we had been a bit late, running tight on time rather than being seriously in danger of missing the ship would Chris have concocted a story about having to pay the police off? Convinced us that otherwise they would hold us up ?? And collected a bribe from us all?? I turned out later that the driver was actually sharing his position with the Port Agent so that they could track us so any stop would have been noticed. I couldn’t swear that I was right but the odd behaviour and money making activities, that Chris had been treating us to all day, do make me wonder…
IMG_4278
One of our group was struggling quite badly with a panic attack by now so after some serious prompting from another passenger Chris finally came upstairs to talk to us. Whereupon he actually thought to share the information that the Port were tracking our positionand that the ship was intending to wait for us if they could. After an outburst of angry comment from passengers who were not impressed that he had not thought this worth mentioning before, Chris said that he was not prepared to speak to us any more!
The Grand Palace
We finally reached the ship an hour and ten minutes after all aboard time! I have never been so relieved to see a ship in my life! As we disembarked Chris was holding out his hand for a tip….
Something at the Grand Palace lol
So LESSON SIX - is that when you are in a large group tour, the cruise will wait as long as they can for you as long as they can, provided they are receiving communications from the tour company about your position and ETA. Obviously sometimes other factors such as tide or weather will make this impossible. We were obviously getting close to some sort of deadline as they had already prepared for the possibility that they would have had to leave us behind - sitting by the gate was an officer in full uniform with his overnight bag at his feet and a box containing all our passports which had been brought ashore from the Pursers Office. Apparently he was ready to accompany us to the next port - this was because we were such a large group - normally our passports would have been left with the Port Agent. I spoke to the Purser the next day and he told me that they would have moved us as a group, our costs would probably have been paid for by Princess and then reclaimed from Cruising Excursions due to their ‘guarantee’ , although in the event that the money wasn’t refunded then we would have been liable for it. I suppose being in a large group had worked in our favour on this occasion, leaving thirty-five people behind is probably harder than leaving eight! One of our group spent the next twenty four hours in the medical centre due to symptoms brought on by anxiety and stress but had no long term effects as far as we know.
So there we are, the whole day was appallingly badly handled and we gained very little understanding of Thailand, its history or its culture. The whole day appeared to have been being run as a moneymaking exercise for Chris who we estimate made approximately 500 Bahts a head extra. This would have been significantly more if I am correct about the fake police stop!
Oh the relief of seeing the port appear….
The effect of his moneymaking activities was that we wasted over two hours in a day with a tight schedule and then only spent a very short time in the place that we all wanted to see. We had no information or guidance other than what was in free tourist maps. In reality most people paid significantly more than they would have done on the ships tour.
Cruising Excursions told us that Chris is no longer working for the tour company that they used and they gave us a full refund, as they did to other members of the group who complained .
So my lessons learnt were....
1. CHECK exactly what is included before booking. If no meal is included check that one is not going to be added later.
2. ASK about group size and transport type if this is a concern for you.
3. ASK if you will be given any information on the places you will be visiting, either by the guide or a headphone system.
4.STAND up for yourselves if you feel that the tour guide is making a mistake or changing parts of the tour. Demand to know what is happening and document things if you are concerned. Phone pictures have date and location stamps which are very useful when complaining.
5 TAKE a credit card no matter how concerned you are about its security, stick it in your shoe or bra if necessary. Also a phone charger and an absolute bare minimum of medication needed to get you to the ships next stop.
6 CRUISE ships try not to leave you behind and will always make sure they have left you your passport if they have to depart. This will either be with a ships officer or with the port agent.
There are a couple of Live videos from our day on the Facebook page if you want to take a look..... Lunch and Back on Board
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this - its not written with any intention to scare you but to show you how things can go wrong for any of us - and to warn you that there are some real characters out there! I would love to know what you think so it would be great if you commented below!
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Happy portExploring!
Cathy
xx
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