• 4. Faiure to Appear or Late “Return to Bus:  DANGER: If you miss your bus's tight schedule Departure Time, it can be very expensive to catch up to your bus.  Risk: Late bus return. 

    Suggestion: Don’t book more than 1 day tour unless positive you have plenty of time to return to bus on time.

5. Safety & Security: Safer, more secure access to dicey sights/activities. 

Anecdote: Gypsies benign assault: On a Baltic Cruise, for some reason without a guide, we were standing as a group of 8 fellow travelers waiting for The Alexander Palace, in Pushkin to open when we were assaulted by a family of gypsies poking & grabbing at us. I immediately warned everyone to be CAUTIOUS. One person touched me and I intuitively karate-chopped his arm away and he backed off & the band dispersed.

6. Free Time Shore Excursion CAUTIONS:  Your 1^st true exposure to a foreign culture comes on your 1^st in-port day’s Shore Excursions, curated by your Cruise Company for its worthwhileness, quality, safety & reliability.

Your Shore Excursions will travel safely thru the countryside or city to some famous Roman or Greek site or an authentic local cooking class, etc. Your choices are limited only by ship’s in-port hours. 

    a. Rushed shore excursions:  Too little time for too many sites equals a tiring, rushed superficial experience AND risk of ‘late return’. 

    b. Distracting Guide Commentary: large, rushed tour group’s guide commentary at chaotic crowded Tier 1 sites may be boringly ‘canned’, distracts from your reflections, and may not be easily heard UNLESS Tour Earphone System is used. Small group Guides can be more intimate & flexible.

    c. Crowded Tier 1 & 2 tourist sites: long entry wait times & jammed with multiple large, noisy, jostling tourist groups.

7. ’Shop-steering” visits: jlk

8. Authentic Local Culture Visits: May be your 1^st true exposure to a foreign culture, but often faux, Americanized unless Shore Excursions or self-guided walking tour.

9. Local Guides: with deep site expertise: history, culture, & local stories may have greater expertise & insight. Can be highly motivated & respected experts on their local turf.  Cruise  operators may consistently use a tested local private guide to complement your tour guide.

10. “support local economy’: cruise ships inject massive income into ports-of-call: tourist’s local purchases, all sector job creation, port fees & taxes, good local infrastructure. 

11. Eco-friendly: huge cruise ships have a great eco-impact on local areas belching diesel, polluting waters, overrunning resources, infrastructure & Tier 1  tourist sites …despite recent pro-eco agendas                      
BEWARE: Greenwashing:   [jlk: eco-friendly)

~~. LBT free time segments: Many LBT's provide afternoon, evening & ocassionally morning free time segments that allow guests to pursue their own travel agendas including: 1) relaxation, 2) travel sites & experiences NOT already included in your LBT's itinerary. 

1. Relaxation in or near your hotel:  You may relish the relaxation & solitude of a ‘quiet corner’ after a busy day of jump-on/jump-off bus site visits which may be exhausting for some guests.    

Some lodgings may offer diversions or you might poke around a nearby Old Town seeking a quiet cafe. 

2. LBT's Optional Tours:  LBT companies often provide free time segments that allow guests to further enrich their tour experience with a variety of variably priced Optional Tours, at an additional price, meticulously curated for safety, worthiness, guide experience & overall guest satisfaction.  

These Optional Tours attempt to fullfill guest's special interests: cooking class, specialty museums etc. making your overall LBT more fullfilling & worthwhile.    Guest reviews seem to endorse Optional Tours as the “icing on the cake of a LBT lifestyle.                                                                       Dig Deeper

   1st Level 2: Guide's Professional Responsibilities & Skills
   2nd Level 2: LBT’s Tour FACTORS Due Diligence
       3rd Level: Guide's Professional Responsibilities & Skills

LBT’s Tour FACTOR'S 

A. An LBT's Due Diligence Factors: LBTs seek to to provide the most fulfilling & worthwhile tours for the price.
    1. Tour Company's Optional Tours: tour operators meticulously curate their optional tours for:
        a. safety standards,
        b. service,
        c. safety,  
        d. variety & worthiness of sights experience.

An LBT's Optional Tours are often those that historically appeal to most LBT travelers diverse wants & budgets including mobility-access.

               Trafalgar & Globus,  et al: provide 'free time' segments and offers "Optional Experiences"
                     curated for available time, exclusive site access, expert guides etc.

    2. Feedback Mechanisms: after an Optional Tours, tour companies have an extensive customer
        feedback loop to continuously validate, add and upgrade "Optional Experiences". Grok confirms X
        posters approve of most Optional Tours.

    3. Optional Tour Standardization: consistency of guest experiences & satisfaction; guide’s knowledge
        & personalization, language fluency, & group size. But, some companies customize optional tours
        for small groups or individuals.

    4. Activity Mix: large variety of sites & activities: cultural tours, adventure sports, & relaxation options;    
        something at a price for everyone. 

    5. Training & Quality Control: LBT company required local tour company and guide's training &
        recommendations to ensure service standards. 

    6. Customer Experience Management Teams: constantly developing new optional tours, enhanced
        customer service, and prompt issue resolution to improve future offerings.

    7. Insurance & Safety Measures: all activities may be insuraned with strict safety guidelines protect
        company & guests.

    8. Shop Steering: unlikely if well-curated. Ask to be sure.

B. LBT's Optional Tour's FACTORS:  
    1. Start & End Times:  usually afternoon &/or evenings, sometimes morning, beginning when
        bus returns to lodging at day's end or just before next official LBT touring segment.

    2. Variety availability: wide variety of well-curated optional sites & experiences;  educational,
        environmental, adventure, & more serious agendas.

    3. Customization: Some will 'tailor' personalized & customized Optional Tours for small groups or
        individuals;  

    4. Habitually late tour guests: 
        a) inconsiderate boors reduce everyone’s on-site visits.
        b) Some tours 'warn' boors once. 2nd time ousted as per Booking Agreement.

    5. Exclusive Access: may have exclusive access to sites or services, not publicly available. 

   All Saints Church London attendant's gracious access to crypts

    6. Authentic Local Culture: unlikely, unless Optional Tour's intentional focus or …. your self-guided
        walking tour. 

    7. Pricing Strategy: Fairly priced compared to similar /identical LBT, activity uniqueness & service
        level, site access exclusivity, amenities, group size & dining options.

    8. Back-to-hotel guarantee: usually not an issue because LBT usually depart next in. morning.

    9. Extra Costs: entry fees, meals, other transport, etc. etc. etc.

    10. Price-match Policy: against local tour operators' prices to reassure LBT Guest’s that their prices
          are fair.

    11. Guide: professional, trained, screened, trained expert guide handles everything: logistics, your
          needs & personalized commentary.

                                                                                                 Dig Deeper

        3^rd Level: 

Guide's Professional Responsibilities & Skills

A. Logistics: 1) Transportation, & 2) Food 
   1. Transportation: Shore Excursions vehicles range from very large touring bus to various appropriate smaller vehicles and when appropriate other conveyances : boats, electric rickshaws, etc.

Anecdote:  My Mekong Delta multi-day excursion: included 1) large tour van, 2) ferry, 3) large wooden river cruising boat-hotel with overnight room & meals, and 4) a native’s swamp canoe paddle with multiple authentic riverside experience stops. Masterfull guiding effort.

                            Mekong Delta canoe ride

    2. Food: Most long (4-7 hours) Cruise Shore Excursions may provide dining options, or if a cultural Shore Excursions, authentic local dishes. 

B. Guest’s care/special needs/concerns: 1) monitors guest constantly, 2) bonds with guests, 3) resolves guest issues

SEE [pplk: TRAV KINDs B for detailed ‘big bus Cruise’ vs ‘small bus Cruise’ differences for each of these factors. Remove at some point.

Your Shore Excursions guide is trained & experienced to: 
    1. monitor constantly your safety & security ever alert to pickpockets, lurking thieves, bogus vendors,
        a broken step or a nasty dog.

    2. bond with guests & encouraging a group camaraderie; perhaps even searching out those introverts
        in the shadows.

    3. solve guest issues & questions: 1) guest needs: if pre-arranged & agreed to in advance, and 2)
        unforeseen issues: emergencies, illness, accidents.

    NOTE: Cruise & local Shore Excursions companies should disclose standard of guest fitness etc required before you book, particularly if a demanding, unusual activity to ensure a worthwhile trip for all.

Anecdote: Florence Cathedral’s double dome: The climb up between Brunelleschi’s famously designed Florence Cathedral’s double dome involves 463 steps, through winding staircases, sometimes steep, & narrow corridors. No elevator. Demands fitness & agility. [ytlk: Italy: Dome climb]

    NOTE: Not ethical to complain LBT guide when you ignored company & guides ‘physical ability’ warning advice. You must solve YOUR issue, perhaps, by staying on bus or wandering the surrounding area’s shops etc.

SEE [pplk: TRAV KINDs B for detailed ‘big bus Cruise’ vs ‘small bus Cruise’ differences for each of these factors.

C. Guide’s Commentary Quality: Your guide’s goal is to expose a site’s Charisma of Place.

Charisma of Place, is a term that implies a compelling emotional admiration inherent in a tourist site or person that the world has long revered or that you learned about in school. [jlk: Charisma of Place]

Anecdote: Standing in the drizzling rain in the ancient Roman Forum: I saw, “…. a small mound which was the altar, a few bits of the walls, and not much more, covered by a modern roof.” (Trip Advisor) — one of billions of nondescript mounds in the world, BUT, this is the site of Julius Cesar’s cremation.

I was emotionally overwhelmed by its Charisma of Place. The emotional awareness of standing so near to Caesar absent the transparent glass of ‘time passed.” Awed from youth by Rome's 1000 yr history somehow, Caesar’s Imperial power and his assassination felt very real.           Not religious, but spiritual.

Your LBT guide’s narration hopefully will re-ignite your research-inspired, pent-up excitement for a site by summarizing a site’s cultural importance, exposing its unique history & today’s relevance with bristling exciting & intriguing insights adding to your original curiosity & anticipation. 

Presumably, you are visiting a site because you researched it or have been intrigued since school, a movie or a book you read.  Something about this ‘travel bud’ [jlk] tickled your imagination AND now you are REALLY here. 

NOTE:  Smaller-sized LBT Guide’s commentary:
          PROs:
    1. More personalized & intimate
    2. Mix of humor & confidence with entertaining insights.
    3. Tailored info to guest’s interests 
    4. Greater depth & detail of information
    5. Encourages guest-guide interactive discussion.
    6. Usually guest’s language although English often added

         CONs:
    1. May distract from your contemplation, but hopefully tour is relaxed enough to allow you to
        roam a bit on your own with guide’s approval.

3. Guest Booked Local tours:
Most large bus tours offer additional local tours thru local guides & tour companies or through national online booking companies (think Air BnB-like). to fullfill passenger's free time segements.

Such local guides, tour companies etc. may offer more numerous, diverse, special focus & less expensive tours than the Bus Company.

A. Guest’s Booked Local Tour FACTORs:  
    1. Pre-trip Google Search: makes Local tours & experiences research & booking almost as easy as booking thru your LBT company.

    2. Convenience: Less convenient than LBT extra tours, BUT Internet search (Google, Grok ChatGPT, etc) minimize inconvenience with more leisure to decide. CAUTION: Late Return issue

    3. Greater Site/Experience Variety: 3^rd party local tour companies may offer greater variety &/or lower prices, (ShoreExcursions.com

a. All Tier 1,2 & 3 tourist Site & Experience Classification: The travel industry often classifies travel sites & experiences as:
        Tier 1: …. usually globally recognized & revered sites:
                      Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Peru’s Machu Picchu & Beijing
                      China’s Forbidden City….

        Tier 2: …. lack the global prestige, but are nevertheless
                   significant sites in their regions or country:
                      - Italy’s Herculaneum buried at same time as Pompei
                      - Esoteric Reykjavik, Iceland’s Penis Museum (really?
                                             Really!!! 😀 

        Tier 3: IMO, are either uninteresting, very minor or very niche
                            & not worth the average cruisers time & money. 

b. Specialized Experiences: (French cooking class, hiking trails)

c. Esoteric interests: (Edinburgh Penis Museum)

    4. Authentic Local Culture: unlikely, unless tour is focused on the authentic (SEE above right YouTube video) .... OR ... you plan your self-guided walking tour.

Anecdote: Albania’s Kruja’s Castle: [NOTE: not an official guided tour] Arriving early before tourists I roamed the castle grounds and, then, I entered the original preserved residential area. Soon I was met by a gracious young man who ... uninvited ... accompanied me … tossing out tidbits of local history. He & his aged mother actually lived there.      
                                    Doesn’t get much more authentic.!        

    5. Group Size: Super travel season demand PLUS Tier 1 & 2 site popularity equals large tour group size.

    TIP: Purposely select small or private-guide tours with: 1) priority access tickets, 2) nimble movement, & 3) silent/private Tour Guide Audio System …. or immediately after hotel arrival, grab a Uber & go to Tier 1 site before others.

    6. Booking Tips: book through reputable local tour companies or use independent booking platforms like Viator which can offer both quality, safety & savings, …. BUT MUST GUARANTEE return times unless a free afternoon or evening free time segment before next morning's departure.  and  NO Shop Steering

                         My Review of world-wide booking platforms
                   Note: After ONLY 15 minutes of online research & from personal experience:  
       
        a. Get Your Guide: mostly positive  
        b. Tours by Locals: mostly positive except for full group prepay requirement;  
             “… think Viator, but a lot better run…”, with both clients & guide support
             , & dispute resolution service that works. Guides are curated before
             being listed.
        c. Shore Excursion Group: mostly positive; smaller, more intimate group size,
             can be tailored, maybe lower cost, On Time Rerturn guarantee.
        d. Trip Advisor & Viviator (TripAdvisor company): AVOID, unreliable &
             overpriced.
           TIP: read a page or 2 of reviews on these organizations, BUT NOT reviews on
                   their sites.

    7. Late Return: Reputable Local tour operators usually guarantee “on-time return”, but usually not an issue for bus travelers because normaly don't depart until next morning.

    8. Pricing: Often competitively lower priced to compete with LBT free time tour's similar or identical offers.

    9. Local Guides: Local folks-turned-guides & local tour companies may have a highly developed knowledge of everything local — sites, history, culture, & local stories & can offer specific & unique Itineraries or will craft one for you. May also guide LBT's shore excursions

    10. VIP Site Access: private access:

                       Guide's access occupied Painted haveli

    11. Safety & Security: More reliably safe than solo access to dicey sights/activities. 

    12. Dining: included if necessary (e.g.: lunch on 6 hr tour)

    13. Peer-to-peer local private host & guide:  Peer-to-peer is a relatively new option rapidly growing as travel demand has shifted from ‘destination’ to ‘experiential’ based vacations. 
                        Reuters Events:  destination to experience-led vacations,           Dig Deeper.

Visit to authentic family farm in Nalwalgarh.

B.How to choose your ideal Optional Local Tours:  

I chose many of my travel sites from a lifetime of education, public media, reading, videos, & even the news. Each tiny bit of interesting travel site or activity info was what I now call ‘Travel Buds’. 

Like tiny rose buds, this near-infinite numbered ‘Travel Buds’ were potential travel ideas lying asleep in my mind 'under the snow' waiting for me to turn them into Spring’s travel targets. Same is true for you!

So how can you resurrect those Travel Buds? This can be an exciting personal research adventure in itself.

Very few Travel Buds that you can’t safely visit. You only have to discover them & decide how & when to make your travels a “genuine probability rather than just a mere day-dream fantasy”

Please re-read “Large Bus Tour optional tours"  above.          

      1st Level 2:   My simple 7 step process
      2nd Level 2:  LBT Categories: Luxury levels to Adventure, etc

1. My simple 7 step process : 
                                                                      Dig Deeper

       2^nd Level:   (2^nd Level) (3^rd Level).  (Ishould provide links to existing text

         My simple 7 step process

1. If you already know what Country region or city you want, then skip to 3) below

2. If you DON’T already know what countries or cities you want, follow these suggestions:
    a) Create a simple Potential Site LIST, written or computer , with 3 columns: See  Future Travel List 
         1) region or country, 
         2) cities,
         3) the Travel Bud sites or experiences you have always dreamed of.
                 Your mind is filled with your own Travel Buds, if you look for them.  Throughout our lives each
                       of us have been exposed to Travel Buds. 

Anecdote:  some of my Travel Buds:
      Audrey Hepburn’s “Two for the Road’ romantic European travel movie; European travels. 
      Russel Crowe’s “Gladiator's Coliseum; my Rome visits.
      Brad Pitt’s “Seven Years in Tibet.”; triggered 3 months in China .
      Art History class: exposed Athen’s Parthenon's intentional optical illusion of slightly
              bowed steps & bulging columns. 

    b) Watch some TV or Netflix travel shows:    
          “50 of the Best Travel-ish Shows to Watch”: https://www.going.com/guides/best-travel-shows

    c) Explore some Travel blogs. (Don’t search “Travel websites” yet cuz mostly advertisements)
               “FeedSpot”: ”100 Best Travel Blogs To Read”: https://travel.feedspot.com/travel_blogs/

As you build your list, some country, region, city, sites & activities
will truly speak to your interest.
It will happen. Trust me.

3. Confirm your continuing interest in your list of Travel Buds with Internet Search (Google, Work, etc). You may have changed your opinions. Eliminate those that you have less interest in.

4. Internet Search (Google, Work, etc) your desired countries & cities for all tourist sights & experiences that you didn’t know about … that excite you enough to add to your list.

5. Prioritize your FULL ‘List’s of most desired sights & activities (maybe with colored circled numbers next to site or activity.

     TIP: I use a different color, often making circled numbers to left of list items. Examples: 

     Tier 1: (1) Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, (2) Vatican, St Peter’s Basilica, Trevi Fountain & Spanish Steps.

     Tier 2: Baths of Caracalla, Trastevere neighborhood, Galleria Borghese museum, (3) Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Basilica di San Clemente and so on.

You NOW have a condensed checklist you can use as a screen when researchingt through Cruise company internet LBT packages.

6. Choose your ideal LOcal Tour: seeks a Local Tour with your desired quality level & style that includes your top desired sites & experiences.  Note: Be careful that slected tours will fit easily into your free time segment.                                                                                                 Dig deeper

             2nd Level:

           Local Tour Categories: Luxury levels to Adventure, etc.        

Before you wade into the gargantuan pool of available Local Tour packages, select the Local Tour packages style that most suits you and, THEN, focus 1^st on those package offerings.

8. Shore Excursions Packages: NOW start combing thru available Optional Tours for the Category you like. You may find  so many exciting Optional Tours, it may be like “deciding’ which child you love the most.’    BUT YOU MUST choose.  😃

FYI, Again! : Site & Experience Classification: The travel industry often classifies travel sites & experiences as:
    Tier 1: …. usually globally recognized & revered sites:
                Paris’ Eiffel Tower
                Peru’s Machu Picchu
                Beijing China’s Forbidden City….

    Tier 2: …. lack the global prestige, but are nevertheless significant sites in their regions or country:
               Italy’s Herculaneum buried under volcanic flow at same time as Pompei
               Esoteric Reykjavik, Iceland’s Penis Museum (really? Really!!! 😀) 

    Tier 3: IMO, are either uninteresting, very minor or very niche & not worth average cruisers time & money.

V. Guest designed ‘self-guided walking tour’ of sights & activities. [jlk: Free time]

Anecdote: Tallinn, Estonia: Bus or taxi can whisk you quickly from your cruise ship to Tallinn’s Old Town Square where you can either wallow in tourist kiosks or immediately start exploring surrounding streets for Tallinn's historical flavor & a local’s cafe.

Click link to go directly to FULL discussion of Local Shore Excursions: [jlk:].  ???

A. Self-guided Walking Tour FACTORS:  
    1. Freedom’s flexibility: pre-plan itinerary or just wander with whimsy.

Anecdote: Tallinn, Estonia: Walking from your lodging to Tallinn’s Old Town Square where you can either wallow in tourist kiosks or immediately start exploring surrounding streets for Tallinn's historical flavor & a local’s cafe.

    2. Full personal responsibility: Try getting 'lost': kinda hard nowadays with a cell phone & Google Maps in hand. Fun to try. 

    3. ‘On-time Bus Return: Not usually an issue if afternoon or evening's free time segment before
         next morning's bus departure.

    5. Navigation: on cellphone use guidebook maps, GPSmyCity app or plot yourself on Google
            Maps/Apple Maps. TIP: wise to research & plan before you leave home, then be flexible walking.

Rick Steves Audio Europe (free for many cities). Local tourism sites (e.g., visitlondon.com, rome.info)

    6. Sites & activities: Pre-home departure, research site/activities not on your LBT itinerary.

    7. Local Cuisine: ask locals for non-tourist, more authentic café or restaurant. 

    8. Route Strategies: Best: a walking or taxi loop out from lodging & back, 2) taxi to farthest point &
        wander back, 3) "hop-on, hop-off" bus route; many buses running same route.

 Anecdote: Yangon, Myanmar: I took at taxi several miles out to a Chaukhtatgyi Buddha Temple visit,  then wandered the streets back thru a historic market area, deep diving into Shwedagon Pagoda, thru old British colonial residential area back to my hostel.

    9. Walking Tour Websites/apps: e.g. GPSmyCity smart phone apps,

    10. Less expensive: little, if any, necessary expense; cafe lunch, window shopping, etc. 

    11. Curious Cultural Immersion: Cultural immersion, by definition.
Ancedote: Self-guided walking tour: In Asia I often realized I was an invisible Caucasian wandering amongst the Asian multitude’s buying dinner at local outdoor markets  & poking into antique shops, etc.        I relished that.

    12. Miscellaneous: comfortable, broken-in shoes, hat, sun glasses, of course, 

    13. IMPORTANT TIP: always carry Safe 5: Soft Crime.  hidden emergency USD & local currency for snacks, etc.  pplk: money