Like Cindy, as long as I get breakfast, I am very happy to fend for myself for lunch and dinner if pointed in the right direction. As I've said elsewhere, my experience of some of the included lunches and/or dinners is unpalatable!

Regards

Sylvia

I'm fairly new to JY, been on 3 trips so far with 1 booked next year.  My first was to NYC and we only had the first meal included, I think this has now stopped, I was happy with that as on the first night when you're all jet lagged and do not yet know each other it was helpful to all eat together.  After that we all splintered off into groups but I felt this was ok and some people did switch between groups and you felt welcome to join any group if they were going somewhere you wanted and others weren't.  I don't think the tour manager joined us at all after the first night.

My other two trips were to the Arizona ranch (a trip which has now stopped 😞 ) as that was all inclusive and a small group we all ate meals together including the tour manager which was really nice but not easily comparable to other trips for this reason.

My trip next year I am assuming will be similar to the NYC trip, I think we have welcome drinks the first night and a couple of excursions including meals but otherwise I'm expecting to make friends with others and groups going out separately and I'm quite happy with that, a bit like Cindy has said.

Donna

Vickie and everyone!

I have been reading all the comments regarding dinners etc on tours, here are my thoughts!

The tours I have been on approx 12 have been world wide and have been full on tours, on all the USA ones only the one evening meal has been included either the first meal or leaving meal! Somewhere off site, as I have never had a USA hotel that has restaurants some don’t even have a kitchen to provide breakfast on a couple it’s been brought in, and we have been in a conference room!!.When you have a group of say 30-40 you cannot expect places to cater for that amount of people. Also people have different needs so that’s why it works for people to buddy up and go their own ways! I have no problem with this as long as we are near restaurants, I have been on tours where the poor driver has had to take us out again at the end of the day ( I am not sure on the legally requirement of driving hours in a day ) to central eating places and then pick us all up again say 2 or more hours later!

I have been on a couple of tours where evening meals are included Poland, Tuscany, Kenya these meals have ranged from OK to mediocre.

I am not sure how JY can provide meals at the end of the day with out an awful lot of input from the TM and research. very few of my TM have even made themselves available at the end of the day, they normally are no where to be seen once back in resort. The TM on Poland tour was excellent he really did integrate with the group and sat with us and was great fun, whereas the TM on Tuscany tour, sat well away from us and gave the impression he really didn’t want to be anywhere near the group, the TM on Kenya tour I honestly still have no idea why he was there!

So unless things have drastically changed I can’t see the TM doing what you are saying they should do!

My personal thoughts are Breakfast must be included then I am more than happy finding meals while out and about, and as long as someone can point me in the right direction I am happy to buddy up and explore for evening meals!..if I have been in a group all day I am more than happy to then be in a smaller group for evening. I do not feel the need to integrate with the whole group, as long as I can rub shoulders and spend time with a few that’s fine by me, my main reason for travelling is the tour, to meet lovely people and share meals is a bonus.

This is a subject where I do not think JY can please everyone on as we are all individuals and have different needs.

I do not think there is anyway they can promise meals in the evening with a TM being on the ball with all the information a group would need! I hope my thoughts are proved wrong.

Cindy

Hi Cindy and everybody

I can only speak of my own experiences on JY holidays. I have been twice to India and once each to Italy and Croatia, all the groups were large, around 28 people plus and there was never any problem with hotels being able to accommodate us for meals.

Even with the limited facilities of Ranthambore tiger reserve and on the houseboat in Kerala we all were able to eat included dinners together.

My last trip was a couple of years ago so I feel the current lack of evening meals is a new departure.

Kind regards

Angela Bingham

I have been reading all the comments regarding dinners etc on tours, here are my thoughts!

The tours I have been on approx 12 have been world wide and have been full on tours, on all the USA ones only the one evening meal has been included either the first meal or leaving meal! Somewhere off site, as I have never had a USA hotel that has restaurants some don’t even have a kitchen to provide breakfast on a couple it’s been brought in, and we have been in a conference room!!.When you have a group of say 30-40 you cannot expect places to cater for that amount of people. Also people have different needs so that’s why it works for people to buddy up and go their own ways! I have no problem with this as long as we are near restaurants, I have been on tours where the poor driver has had to take us out again at the end of the day ( I am not sure on the legally requirement of driving hours in a day ) to central eating places and then pick us all up again say 2 or more hours later!

I have been on a couple of tours where evening meals are included Poland, Tuscany, Kenya these meals have ranged from OK to mediocre.

I am not sure how JY can provide meals at the end of the day with out an awful lot of input from the TM and research. very few of my TM have even made themselves available at the end of the day, they normally are no where to be seen once back in resort. The TM on Poland tour was excellent he really did integrate with the group and sat with us and was great fun, whereas the TM on Tuscany tour, sat well away from us and gave the impression he really didn’t want to be anywhere near the group, the TM on Kenya tour I honestly still have no idea why he was there!

So unless things have drastically changed I can’t see the TM doing what you are saying they should do!

My personal thoughts are Breakfast must be included then I am more than happy finding meals while out and about, and as long as someone can point me in the right direction I am happy to buddy up and explore for evening meals!..if I have been in a group all day I am more than happy to then be in a smaller group for evening. I do not feel the need to integrate with the whole group, as long as I can rub shoulders and spend time with a few that’s fine by me, my main reason for travelling is the tour, to meet lovely people and share meals is a bonus.

This is a subject where I do not think JY can please everyone on as we are all individuals and have different needs.

I do not think there is anyway they can promise meals in the evening with a TM being on the ball with all the information a group would need! I hope my thoughts are proved wrong.

Cindy

Hi Paul and Angela,

That is providing, of course, that the hotel serves dinner (many don't, especially in the US) and sometimes hotel restaurants are pretty poor!  I have no problem with JY including dinner in a restaurant outside the hotel and have enjoyed many good meals this way.  For me, it boils down to either JY providing dinners in the hotel/at a restaurant of a good standard or alternatively, if they do not then for the TM to facilitate us in either offering to book the group (however many wish to avail of this) into a restaurant or bringing the group to an area with a choice of restaurants of a good standard, with menus in English!  Of course, if the hotel is located in an area with many dining options close by, then that is fine - but most of the hotels I've stayed in on JY tours have not been!

Of all the many comments on various threads about included dinners, not one person has said that they want "greater flexibility" to find their own places to eat, which leads me (and many others) to suspect that it is, in reality, a cost cutting measure.

Bob

Hi Paul and Bob

I agree with all you both say, I don’t buy the ‘greater flexibility’ argument put forward by JY. I too believe it is a cost cutting measure.

Angela

That is providing, of course, that the hotel serves dinner (many don't, especially in the US) and sometimes hotel restaurants are pretty poor!  I have no problem with JY including dinner in a restaurant outside the hotel and have enjoyed many good meals this way.  For me, it boils down to either JY providing dinners in the hotel/at a restaurant of a good standard or alternatively, if they do not then for the TM to facilitate us in either offering to book the group (however many wish to avail of this) into a restaurant or bringing the group to an area with a choice of restaurants of a good standard, with menus in English!  Of course, if the hotel is located in an area with many dining options close by, then that is fine - but most of the hotels I've stayed in on JY tours have not been!

Of all the many comments on various threads about included dinners, not one person has said that they want "greater flexibility" to find their own places to eat, which leads me (and many others) to suspect that it is, in reality, a cost cutting measure.

Bob

Yep of course, you can eat together at the hotel if you would like to, it's completely up to you as to what you'd prefer to do and yes, the meal would be added to your hotel bill if not included.

The feedback has come from our customers, we recieve it in a number of ways, from over the phone, to customer satisfaction questionnaires, social media, the community, letter etc. A common theme has been more flexibility which is why we've reduced a small number of meals on some tours.

As mentioned all your feedback is gratefully recieved and I'm passing it all to our holiday organisers for their information.

Thanks,

Vickie

I assume that although dinners may not be included in the holiday for maybe a couple of nights you can still eat together in the hotel restaurant and you don't have to traipse into town to find a restaurant. The only difference being I assume is that it will be added to your final hotel bill. I trust that this meal feedback is ONLY from JY customers and not any of your affiliated companies. I am a little surprised as I have said on other threads that on the 2 holidays I have been on with JY I don't remember anyone saying they wish they could eat out in town. If they do wish to eat out I don't think they lock the restaurant doors !!!

Paul

We've reduced a small number of meals from some our tours based on customer feedback. There are lots of ways we receive your feedback, from Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires, speaking to travel agents, our live chat facility, on the phone, social media and on the Just You Community Forum.

We listen to and value what you tell us, and a common theme has been that you want more flexibility and freedom around meals and excursions. We look forward to hearing your feedback about the new tours, so we can continue to offer unforgettable holidays for everyone.

Thanks,

Vickie