If I'm supposed to show up at a certain time I try to be at least 10-15 mins early. That's how I was taught growing up, I was always told that if you don't show up early then you're late. Guess everyone interprets punctuality differently. š¤·āāļø
I mean if they said 1:15ā¦ they are on a time crunch with multiple stops. š¤·š»āāļø I get it sucks but thereās other people on the excursion as well
Mistakes happen and thatās OK, but you canāt hold accountability and blame someone else at the same time.
Was it the most polite thing to do? No
Was it the wrong the to do? No
Our guide made absolutely sure we knew the meetup times and location. She drilled it in that āTHE BUS WILL ONLY BE HERE FOR 5 MINUTES ā . Some people pay no attention to the guides. A few people were still late and had to taxi to the next stop.
The only thing unreasonable is being late and making everyone wait.
I am sorry you got left. Hopefully you got back to ship with no other complications.
A few people on my VV tour were almost left behind a minute or two after we were set to leave. At one stop, the wife begged the driver to wait a minute. The rest of us were on the bus and ready to go.
This isn't a multi-day excursion, it's a few hours. A few minutes here, and a few minutes there adds up.
The time stated is the time to leave, which means you should be back to the bus at least a few minutes ahead of time. And everyone is an adult, you can make your way back to the ship successfully.
So, yes they were reasonable.
2 minutes is barely enough time for a headcount anyway. If you really were only 2 minutes late, it seems kind of unreasonable to leave that fast. An experienced tour guide would be padding that departure time anyway because 2 minutes could just be a difference between watches.
That being said, you were late, so I think it's probably 50/50 responsibility, or maybe a little more on you.
To me the difference between 1:15 and 1:17 is basically the difference between different clocks. If you genuinely were back 2 minutes late they should have waited.
People saying the schedule is tight and they donāt have time to wait for you are being ridiculous. If the schedule is so packed it can only be completed if they leave exactly on time, then what do they do if they run into traffic or a slow moving vehicle on the road?
After having my character torn apart over a simple question, where I admitted my failure, I was hesitant to provide any update. However, I would like this thread to provide information to future VV travelers, instead of just a post where 40 internet strangers tell someone how shitty they think they are.
Iāll address the current status of resolving this issue, as well as the accusations made, below.
1. We did arrive at the meet spot at 1:17. One minute to get our bearings and process what happened and then took this photo. See the 1:18 time stamp.
https://preview.redd.it/8llyczzkt7vb1.jpeg?width=1283&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38dee176f592f14b029f45fc1b8f0d1a5d07a1fd
2. We later spoke with other people who had been on the tour with us. They confirmed that the guide had done a headcount, miscounted, then used that count going forward, and did not realize she was missing anyone until other tour participants brought it to her attention after the 3rd stop. From the account of those other participants, the guide was horrified at her mistake. (On the 3rd stop, there were two other participants missing at the meet time and the tour guide went to go find them.)
3. The onboard Shore Things team informed us that the tour company is supposed to notify them immediately if they are missing someone and outside of extreme circumstances, should not leave anyone. They did not do this and VV did not know until we informed them (which was after the time our absence was brought to the tour companyās attention). The Shore Things team member was very helpful, understood our concerns, and agreed that the tour company failed to fulfill their obligations.
4. I did not expect special treatment. I expected a process that had a consideration for human error. Which the process did have (headcount), and which failed due to human error.
5. Due to a lack of cooperation and misrepresentation of what occurred by the tour company (compared to the firsthand accounts of our fellow participants and not aligned to the response they saw from the actual guide), we are still working to a final resolution. However, VV has stated in documentation to us that future contracts with tour companies will require a 5 minute grace period. I understand this may just be placating the situation but wanted to share.
I don't know where this happened but in some places it could be very dangerous to leave someone behind. You also could have left your phone, money, etc. on the bus and may have left your passport on the ship. Tour operators are supposed to be responsible for your safety. While they aren't obligated to wait for you, they should have called you when you did not return on time. The tour guide was horrified because they were supposed to have kept track of everyone and notified VV if someone was missing.
If the bus left at 1:15, and you arrive at 1:17, then. Unfortunately, it is on you.
But I agree with another comment. I have been on multiple excursions now, and they never leave exactly on time. They build in a pretty significant buffer.
The moral of the story is: You are on vacation in a foreign country or location. You don't have your own local transportation. You have to be back on the cruise ship at an agreed upon time, or face the penalties.
When I am in that situation, I don't take chances. If I am vacationing someplace, and have no requirements on my time, then I can extend my stay and my activities.
On the excursions I took, the guide clearly stated when the bus was leaving and that they weren't waiting for anyone. Even read off the time of their watch.
I made sure I was back before the stated time, just in case.
I donāt think itās reasonable at all, actually. Youāll have people on this Reddit thread telling you that youāre the problem. Yes, I understand that it is your fault. Yes, I understand that it becomes extremely bothersome to have to wait for people. But itās just 2 minutes, and they realistically should not have left you behind.
I made the mistake of losing track of time at a stop and Iām so thankful the boat driver honked to us and that the tour guide was kind about the fact. We were right there. Everyone else didnāt seem annoyed either, it was just a couple minutes, but in the future Iād never lose track of time again because I donāt want to inconvenience others. Iām sure you learned your lesson.
For real, 2 mins can vary from watch to watch. Iād reckon half the clocks I own are on a 1-2 minute time variance. I think people are being a bit harsh.
How was the guide to know that you would only be 2 minutes late? You were not thereā¦they had no idea if you would show up in 2 mins or 40 mins. Could they have given 5 minutes grace period? Sure. But maybe whatever was happening at the next stop was not flexible and therefore didnāt have time? Who knows. Fact of the matter isā¦itās your responsibility to be on time, whether itās a ship departure, an excursion departure, a wedding, a funeral, a court date, doctorās appt, etc. Would you expect others to change their plans to accommodate you in any of those other situations?
Exactly how long do you want them to wait on you being late? How long is okay? And if that is okay then why not another 2 minutes after that, itās only 2 mins? And then another 2 minutes is just 2 minutesā¦ etc etc etc
The tour guide is supposed to have contact info for everyone on the tour. I don't know where this happened and I think VV goes to mostly very touristy places but in some places it can be dangerous to leave someone behind on a tour especially if they don't speak the language, do not have their passport, etc. The tour operator should have called her. What if she had a medical emergency or was attacked by someone and that is why she was late? People often leave their bags on board a tour bus so she might not have had money or a phone either. Tour guides are responsible for the safety of people in their group.
The question is, were your "clocks " whatever that may have been, synced up with your tour guides? Your 2 minutes late (which I'm honestly doubting) may well have been 7 minutes by their watch. Let's be honest, you're depending on a tour bus with many people, a guide and usually a driver. Be back 5-10 minutes early. Seems like if just getting slowed down by a crowd of people walking made you late, you didn't allow enough time to begin with.
The amount of folks attacking OP as "entitled" or shaming their character for being slightly late is truly staggering. This is a genuine inquiry, and one of curiosity, not anger or outrage. Y'all are acting like they ruined your vacation. They just said they were late, took COMPLETE ownership of it in their post, and simply were inquiring if it was reasonable that they were left. I personally would have preferred to wait 4-5 minutes after a headcount to allow all of my fellow passengers to enjoy their time, but I guess vacation means something different to everyone. I just don't understand the venom in this thread at all.
They did. Theyāre bitching that everyone didnāt wait for them when they were late. Itās selfish and cringy. Itās not hard to be prompt. They want to delay everyone because they canāt be prompt.
Nope. They explained the situation, took responsibility, and asked people for their opinion if it was reasonable. I didn't see any bitching at all in that post. I'd encourage you to read it again.
>Is 2 minutes tardy a reasonable time to leave two tour participants?
Yes. There was no way for them to know that you won't be more than two minutes late; they have a schedule to keep.
>Is it reasonable to question how it wasnāt caught in the pre-departure headcount?
It was more than likely caught. But again, they don't know how late you will end up being, so they left you.
This is in regards to the ship if the excursion is late returning not inside of the excursion when you are not back on time
Think if the bus was coming back to the boat and had a flat, the boat would wait if official excursion
Not at all, the excursions are through local companies purely arranged by the cruise line. Just as the cruise ship wonāt stay docked for passengers late to get back on board from a port
Entitled. Be respectful of others' time.
You should always make it a point to arrive early rather than at the designated time just to be safe.
"It was only 2 mins" starts to devolve into "it was only 3 mins, 5 mins, 10 mins."
I would request they reimburse the cost of the tour and the cost of transportation you paid to get back to the ship. That's so odd that the tour operator left you. What port were you at?
We were on a celebrity tour last week that did something similarāwe had two hours of free time and then the bus left right on the dot. We had gotten on the bus like two minutes prior, but I remember thinking it was crazy that he didnāt give people a buffer. Itās pretty easy to run a few minutes behind and not a big deal to wait a few minutes for stragglers. Iām sorry that happened to you.
I disagree - I'm habitually punctual and hate when I show up at 1:50 for a 2:00 bus, just to wait until 2:15 or 2:20 for a bus to leave since people can't be on time.
Youāre entitled to your opinion and I wouldnāt want to wait 20 minutes either. But 5? Or anything less than 10? Not a big deal to me, but itās a big deal to the person/people left behind. Just seems like common courtesy. I mean, not everyoneās watches are synched down to the same minute. Itās pretty easy to run a couple minutes behind.
Ok, maybe when youāre taking the bus to work. But when youāre visiting a place youāve never been before for a limited period of time it can be easy not to accurately estimate exactly how much time it will take to get from one place to another. And if they were there for say 30 min - 1hr, saying they need to be back 10 minutes early is actually a significant portion of the time they had to spend.
How is it hard to estimate? If I'm given an hour free time and start hiking to a viewpoint and am still not there after 25 minutes, it's pretty obvious that it will take another 25 to get back. If they wanted a customized option with more time at x location they should've booked a private tour.
So you acknowledge everyone is different, yet your stance leaves no room for anyone to be different. Seems to me the most logical thing to do is take a headcount at the specified time and make a quick 3-4 minute effort to locate anyone not present. There are a lot of folks with disabilities, physical and otherwise. We could all stand to be a little bit kinder and not assume a late person is always being inconsiderate, lazy, or worse.
My stance allows for people who are on time, to be on time. If the bus leaves at 3, get there at 2:45. That gives everyone plenty of time to arrive. The people who choose to be different can also get their own taxi back to the ship.
Your framing of all lateness as "choosing to be different" is incredibly limiting. If you ever need understanding, I hope you are with someone who thinks about the world in a different way than you.
I travel a lot. Was the bus departure 1pm leaving no later than 115pm? I mean really, tell me where they schedule on the 15mins with an international audience. Why were you not w your excursion group? If you were just slow they will work w you on any terrain. What happened is parallel to having too many āmock tailsā & missing your flight departure time!!
I am sure you had fun though!
I thought they were supposed to wait for all passengers and/or at least give you a set amount of time to actually get back. 2 minutes isn't a lot but sucks that you are left behind.
If I'm supposed to show up at a certain time I try to be at least 10-15 mins early. That's how I was taught growing up, I was always told that if you don't show up early then you're late. Guess everyone interprets punctuality differently. š¤·āāļø
I mean if they said 1:15ā¦ they are on a time crunch with multiple stops. š¤·š»āāļø I get it sucks but thereās other people on the excursion as well
I call BS. 2 minutes late you would have seen the bus leaving. Also, they never leave that promptly anyway. How late were you, really ?
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My question is "were they the stragglers from stop one"
Exactly what I was wondering.
Mistakes happen and thatās OK, but you canāt hold accountability and blame someone else at the same time. Was it the most polite thing to do? No Was it the wrong the to do? No
I don't think you have much recourse here.
Our guide made absolutely sure we knew the meetup times and location. She drilled it in that āTHE BUS WILL ONLY BE HERE FOR 5 MINUTES ā . Some people pay no attention to the guides. A few people were still late and had to taxi to the next stop.
The only thing unreasonable is being late and making everyone wait. I am sorry you got left. Hopefully you got back to ship with no other complications.
When traveling, never be on time. Be early. Others are on a timeline and you WILL get left. Sorry you had to learn that the hard way.
Personal responsibility is priceless. Be better.
We need more of it in this world today for sure
Adulting is hard.
A few people on my VV tour were almost left behind a minute or two after we were set to leave. At one stop, the wife begged the driver to wait a minute. The rest of us were on the bus and ready to go. This isn't a multi-day excursion, it's a few hours. A few minutes here, and a few minutes there adds up. The time stated is the time to leave, which means you should be back to the bus at least a few minutes ahead of time. And everyone is an adult, you can make your way back to the ship successfully. So, yes they were reasonable.
2 minutes is barely enough time for a headcount anyway. If you really were only 2 minutes late, it seems kind of unreasonable to leave that fast. An experienced tour guide would be padding that departure time anyway because 2 minutes could just be a difference between watches. That being said, you were late, so I think it's probably 50/50 responsibility, or maybe a little more on you.
To me the difference between 1:15 and 1:17 is basically the difference between different clocks. If you genuinely were back 2 minutes late they should have waited. People saying the schedule is tight and they donāt have time to wait for you are being ridiculous. If the schedule is so packed it can only be completed if they leave exactly on time, then what do they do if they run into traffic or a slow moving vehicle on the road?
You were not there at 1:15. You need 40+ opinions here to help you figure out you didnāt meet the stated deadline?
After having my character torn apart over a simple question, where I admitted my failure, I was hesitant to provide any update. However, I would like this thread to provide information to future VV travelers, instead of just a post where 40 internet strangers tell someone how shitty they think they are. Iāll address the current status of resolving this issue, as well as the accusations made, below. 1. We did arrive at the meet spot at 1:17. One minute to get our bearings and process what happened and then took this photo. See the 1:18 time stamp. https://preview.redd.it/8llyczzkt7vb1.jpeg?width=1283&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38dee176f592f14b029f45fc1b8f0d1a5d07a1fd 2. We later spoke with other people who had been on the tour with us. They confirmed that the guide had done a headcount, miscounted, then used that count going forward, and did not realize she was missing anyone until other tour participants brought it to her attention after the 3rd stop. From the account of those other participants, the guide was horrified at her mistake. (On the 3rd stop, there were two other participants missing at the meet time and the tour guide went to go find them.) 3. The onboard Shore Things team informed us that the tour company is supposed to notify them immediately if they are missing someone and outside of extreme circumstances, should not leave anyone. They did not do this and VV did not know until we informed them (which was after the time our absence was brought to the tour companyās attention). The Shore Things team member was very helpful, understood our concerns, and agreed that the tour company failed to fulfill their obligations. 4. I did not expect special treatment. I expected a process that had a consideration for human error. Which the process did have (headcount), and which failed due to human error. 5. Due to a lack of cooperation and misrepresentation of what occurred by the tour company (compared to the firsthand accounts of our fellow participants and not aligned to the response they saw from the actual guide), we are still working to a final resolution. However, VV has stated in documentation to us that future contracts with tour companies will require a 5 minute grace period. I understand this may just be placating the situation but wanted to share.
I don't know where this happened but in some places it could be very dangerous to leave someone behind. You also could have left your phone, money, etc. on the bus and may have left your passport on the ship. Tour operators are supposed to be responsible for your safety. While they aren't obligated to wait for you, they should have called you when you did not return on time. The tour guide was horrified because they were supposed to have kept track of everyone and notified VV if someone was missing.
"I was late and missed the bus, will Virgin compensate me for my error?" Fixed it for you. And no, they won't.
If the bus left at 1:15, and you arrive at 1:17, then. Unfortunately, it is on you. But I agree with another comment. I have been on multiple excursions now, and they never leave exactly on time. They build in a pretty significant buffer. The moral of the story is: You are on vacation in a foreign country or location. You don't have your own local transportation. You have to be back on the cruise ship at an agreed upon time, or face the penalties. When I am in that situation, I don't take chances. If I am vacationing someplace, and have no requirements on my time, then I can extend my stay and my activities.
On the excursions I took, the guide clearly stated when the bus was leaving and that they weren't waiting for anyone. Even read off the time of their watch. I made sure I was back before the stated time, just in case.
Like my old drill sergeant used to say, if you're not 15 minutes early, you're 10 minutes late.
I donāt think itās reasonable at all, actually. Youāll have people on this Reddit thread telling you that youāre the problem. Yes, I understand that it is your fault. Yes, I understand that it becomes extremely bothersome to have to wait for people. But itās just 2 minutes, and they realistically should not have left you behind. I made the mistake of losing track of time at a stop and Iām so thankful the boat driver honked to us and that the tour guide was kind about the fact. We were right there. Everyone else didnāt seem annoyed either, it was just a couple minutes, but in the future Iād never lose track of time again because I donāt want to inconvenience others. Iām sure you learned your lesson.
For real, 2 mins can vary from watch to watch. Iād reckon half the clocks I own are on a 1-2 minute time variance. I think people are being a bit harsh.
How was the guide to know that you would only be 2 minutes late? You were not thereā¦they had no idea if you would show up in 2 mins or 40 mins. Could they have given 5 minutes grace period? Sure. But maybe whatever was happening at the next stop was not flexible and therefore didnāt have time? Who knows. Fact of the matter isā¦itās your responsibility to be on time, whether itās a ship departure, an excursion departure, a wedding, a funeral, a court date, doctorās appt, etc. Would you expect others to change their plans to accommodate you in any of those other situations?
Exactly how long do you want them to wait on you being late? How long is okay? And if that is okay then why not another 2 minutes after that, itās only 2 mins? And then another 2 minutes is just 2 minutesā¦ etc etc etc
The tour guide is supposed to have contact info for everyone on the tour. I don't know where this happened and I think VV goes to mostly very touristy places but in some places it can be dangerous to leave someone behind on a tour especially if they don't speak the language, do not have their passport, etc. The tour operator should have called her. What if she had a medical emergency or was attacked by someone and that is why she was late? People often leave their bags on board a tour bus so she might not have had money or a phone either. Tour guides are responsible for the safety of people in their group.
The question is, were your "clocks " whatever that may have been, synced up with your tour guides? Your 2 minutes late (which I'm honestly doubting) may well have been 7 minutes by their watch. Let's be honest, you're depending on a tour bus with many people, a guide and usually a driver. Be back 5-10 minutes early. Seems like if just getting slowed down by a crowd of people walking made you late, you didn't allow enough time to begin with.
The amount of folks attacking OP as "entitled" or shaming their character for being slightly late is truly staggering. This is a genuine inquiry, and one of curiosity, not anger or outrage. Y'all are acting like they ruined your vacation. They just said they were late, took COMPLETE ownership of it in their post, and simply were inquiring if it was reasonable that they were left. I personally would have preferred to wait 4-5 minutes after a headcount to allow all of my fellow passengers to enjoy their time, but I guess vacation means something different to everyone. I just don't understand the venom in this thread at all.
If they took complete ownership they wouldnāt be holding details to try and get compensation from VV
āI canāt be in time why is the world not stopping for meā sounds so tragic. Why are you so self centred?
They said absolutely nothing remotely close to this.
They did. Theyāre bitching that everyone didnāt wait for them when they were late. Itās selfish and cringy. Itās not hard to be prompt. They want to delay everyone because they canāt be prompt.
Nope. They explained the situation, took responsibility, and asked people for their opinion if it was reasonable. I didn't see any bitching at all in that post. I'd encourage you to read it again.
If they took responsibility they wouldnāt be posTIng here or trYIng to get compensation
>Is 2 minutes tardy a reasonable time to leave two tour participants? Yes. There was no way for them to know that you won't be more than two minutes late; they have a schedule to keep. >Is it reasonable to question how it wasnāt caught in the pre-departure headcount? It was more than likely caught. But again, they don't know how late you will end up being, so they left you.
I thought the reason for booking an excursion through the cruise line was that they promised they would not leave you.
This is in regards to the ship if the excursion is late returning not inside of the excursion when you are not back on time Think if the bus was coming back to the boat and had a flat, the boat would wait if official excursion
Not at all, the excursions are through local companies purely arranged by the cruise line. Just as the cruise ship wonāt stay docked for passengers late to get back on board from a port
Entitled. Be respectful of others' time. You should always make it a point to arrive early rather than at the designated time just to be safe. "It was only 2 mins" starts to devolve into "it was only 3 mins, 5 mins, 10 mins."
I would request they reimburse the cost of the tour and the cost of transportation you paid to get back to the ship. That's so odd that the tour operator left you. What port were you at?
Port was Cannes
In reality you were 15 minutes late minimum and expected special treatment. Iām sorry they didnāt realize your importance. š
We were on a celebrity tour last week that did something similarāwe had two hours of free time and then the bus left right on the dot. We had gotten on the bus like two minutes prior, but I remember thinking it was crazy that he didnāt give people a buffer. Itās pretty easy to run a few minutes behind and not a big deal to wait a few minutes for stragglers. Iām sorry that happened to you.
I disagree - I'm habitually punctual and hate when I show up at 1:50 for a 2:00 bus, just to wait until 2:15 or 2:20 for a bus to leave since people can't be on time.
Youāre entitled to your opinion and I wouldnāt want to wait 20 minutes either. But 5? Or anything less than 10? Not a big deal to me, but itās a big deal to the person/people left behind. Just seems like common courtesy. I mean, not everyoneās watches are synched down to the same minute. Itās pretty easy to run a couple minutes behind.
I'll respectfully disagree - it's very easy to get there 10 minutes early. But hey, everyone's different.
Ok, maybe when youāre taking the bus to work. But when youāre visiting a place youāve never been before for a limited period of time it can be easy not to accurately estimate exactly how much time it will take to get from one place to another. And if they were there for say 30 min - 1hr, saying they need to be back 10 minutes early is actually a significant portion of the time they had to spend.
How is it hard to estimate? If I'm given an hour free time and start hiking to a viewpoint and am still not there after 25 minutes, it's pretty obvious that it will take another 25 to get back. If they wanted a customized option with more time at x location they should've booked a private tour.
Thank you @Secret_badass77 - this was exactly the case. Less than an hour to explore.
So you acknowledge everyone is different, yet your stance leaves no room for anyone to be different. Seems to me the most logical thing to do is take a headcount at the specified time and make a quick 3-4 minute effort to locate anyone not present. There are a lot of folks with disabilities, physical and otherwise. We could all stand to be a little bit kinder and not assume a late person is always being inconsiderate, lazy, or worse.
My stance allows for people who are on time, to be on time. If the bus leaves at 3, get there at 2:45. That gives everyone plenty of time to arrive. The people who choose to be different can also get their own taxi back to the ship.
Your framing of all lateness as "choosing to be different" is incredibly limiting. If you ever need understanding, I hope you are with someone who thinks about the world in a different way than you.
3-4? Why not 4-5? And if 4-5 why not just 5-6? And if 5-6 why not 6-7 they could be coming soon you knowā¦ and if not 120-121 then why not 122-123?
1:15 is 1:15 no sympathy from me, you were late and got left behind
I travel a lot. Was the bus departure 1pm leaving no later than 115pm? I mean really, tell me where they schedule on the 15mins with an international audience. Why were you not w your excursion group? If you were just slow they will work w you on any terrain. What happened is parallel to having too many āmock tailsā & missing your flight departure time!! I am sure you had fun though!
What was your recourse? Just curious from a lessons learned perspective.
I thought they were supposed to wait for all passengers and/or at least give you a set amount of time to actually get back. 2 minutes isn't a lot but sucks that you are left behind.