Traveling with a group (veterans)

[chrisn]

OMG Rick! You ARE the group guru! You really know how to put the smack down; down!

Speaking from experience I would have to say traveling with (family) groups is not easy. Since they all know you so well they feel free to whine, annoy, aggrivate, complain and well...just really pi$$ you off in general.

I will never travel with my sister again in life!

I have never had the pleasure however to travel with friends as all our friends are vacation challenged. Really sucks for me. Or does it?

I think the pre-trip party is a great idea and I also really believe in having your own car. I'd be completely miserable without that one little detail. I mean if they want to go, they follow but when they want to leave and you want to stay? Well, need I say more?

[PA Girl]

Rick's advice is so funny and so wise!

I can relate to Jorge's statement about getting burned out. Being the "one's who know" can be very tiring when you are managing a group.

In our group, the planner gets first choice of rooms.

We will be 9 next trip and I am hoping it will go well. I think it will but I already put everyone on notice that I will not be playing cruise director/lost luggage tracker/chauffer.

I am taking Rick's food/booze kitty suggestion.

[Diane]

Great thread. We have spent alot of time discussing bringing another couple to STJ with us and I think many of Rick's suggestions would apply to 2 couples as well as 4 or more.
We have considered going to Mexico with some friends as a "trial" for 4 or 5 days.
For us, STJ is our annual romantic get-away and we might just keep it that way.
traveler22 please write a trip report and let us know how it went. Have fun!
Diane

[Robin in NC]

Last time we went with one other couple who turned out to be completely compatible with our style. For our next trip we're inviting one additional couple that we THINK we know well enough to trust. One of my criteria in selecting villas from which to choose was that the bedrooms had to be equal. I just wanted to avoid that issue altogether. I've already given them the "It's vacation, everyone does whatever they want to do," speech, and we're getting two vehicles for three couples. Loved Rick's guidelines, and I'm definitely going to implement the group kitty idea (I'm the trip planner, and last time the other couple seemed to truly appreciate the effort, which was nice). We'll be having the pre-trip party to remind everyone of the ground rules; now I just wish it would hurry up and get here!

Robin

[traveler22]

Thanks again all,
So far we have picked the villa (Blue Heaven Rendezvous)which has three very equal bedrooms, all
with their own baths. I will bring up the villa kitty which I think should be no problem. The other two couples as well as us are as RickG says "low maintenance" and has "NO Whiners". We will be arriving on the same flight once picked. The pre-trip party is another great idea(Thanks RickG)and is already in the planning stage. The 2 Jeeps/3 couples
works. All I have left is deciding on a private taxi or not and once arriving getting the newbie's acclimated so we can enjoy St. John together or on ones own! But don't be afraid to leave any other suggestion because we can still tweak it a bit with
209 day to go.
Scott

[Chilly in Syracuse]

Scott,

Please post a review of Blue Heaven Rendezvous. That one is on my list for our next trip because it does have equal bedrooms. We also use the kitty system. When it gets low, we all throw in and equal amount more. Any money left over at the end gets split. We use one jeep per couple. We tried 2 jeeps for 3 couples the first year and it was a disaster, but we do have a very diverse group: 2 birders, 2 divers, 1 windsurfer, and one sweet girl who just wants to sit in the sun and read. She's the only one who would go anywhere with anybody. The only times we agreed on a destination is when we were all going snorkeling. So we learned the hard way to rent 3 jeeps and everyone is happy now. We try to get equal bedrooms, but the trip planner gets to choose first, no matter what. That's my fee for all the work.

Anyway, have a great time and I'll be interested to hear about Blue Heaven. We are planning to go back in January of 2009.

Jeanne

[Pia]

Hey Jeanne

I don't think Scott has been to Blue Heaven yet as he had 209 days to go as of July - didn't know if you had noticed the dat or not

Pia

[Chilly in Syracuse]

Pia,

I did notice that he isn't going till Feb. 2008. I should have said "Please post a review after you return." Oops. Sorry.

Cheers,
Jeanne

[Kentuckygirl]

I am another group trip planner. I am in the process of planning a St. John trip for 8 people (4 couples), and I had already cut and pasted many of Rick's previous posts .... some from many months ago! I love Rick's website, and I've sent the link to my "newbie" friends. I love the $100pp kitty, and the "early riser" and "late sleeper" cars! I'm always one of the early ones, and get extremely antsy waiting. I have friends that love sleeping in late and I would never want to bother them in the morning. Thanks for the great suggestions!

[Terry]

I posted the same situation on the "other forum" and Rick G came to the rescue. Rick G...you really need to patent your info on group tours to St. John. The lists on your website are wonderful. It will be awhile before we're ready to let our romantic time away to St John be public and let others in as a group. We're just not ready to be tour guides yet to a bunch of newbies. Maybe in a few more years.

[traveler22]

Chilly
I will post about Blue Heaven Rendezvous after we return, I only found one review myself and it was on the other forum but it looks like a great view the equal bedrooms was the closer!
Scott

[JT]

Traveler22,We also have traveled with groups and it has worked out fine. Rick G's advice is dead on! I have been the planner on these trips and I make it clear before we go, that after the 1st day I'm not the tour guide, and we're not going to be attached at the hip for 2 weeks. I think one car per couple is a non-negotiable issue. Mrs. JT and I are always up early. Sometimes we've had a pot of coffee, have been to the beach,snorkeled, stopped at Island Blues for a tasty beverage and come back to the villa to find some others just waking up. Rick's thing about going out to dinner for 6-8 people on STJ being a royal P.I.A. is also correct.
All of that said,every trip has been great,but I still like it best when we're by ourselves.

[jayseadee]

We haven't done STJ with a group but have done many other trips. Some went very well, others - not so much.

We recently did a family trip (7 siblings/mom/spouses/good family friends) to Colorado; unfortunately we couldn't leave the whiners behind and whine they did

The kitties are a great idea. We had one for food as we did most dinners/breakfasts in (much of the family was split between my 2 brothers-in-law houses) and one for gas (we had a 15 passenger van). We varied the day's activities to accomodate both early and late risers; if the late risers wanted to sleep in - they missed an early day start. yes, the whiner's whined, but all in all it worked out fine.

We've also got a small group joining us on our upcoming cruise. I've done some planning and organizing for tours in port and feeling very much like the cruise director. but have also been very clear with "this is what I am doing - you're welcome to tag along ".

We're still looking for our first non-solo trip to St. John.

janet

[traveler22]

Thanks all, it's getting closer from my original post but never soon enough! We agreed on the kitty for food and drink, each couple is getting their own vehicle and I can honestly say that we have no whiners in the group. We are still deciding on the airfare and two of the three couple want to go down a day early and stay in St. Thomas for a night.
Scott

[SanDiegoMark]

We have traveled with 6 (3 couples) a number of times. We all get along and found that two Grand Vitaras work really well. Since you're the Island Expert and they are all first timers, chances are you will be taking them around to your favorite places anyway.