Bosuncat
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I know that this subject came up some time ago and I just wondered if anyone else had any more thoughts on it?

I personally have not come across it a huge amount, but I do think that when these groups stick together as a "clique" to the exclusion of other travellers that it can cause problems. There are always quickly formed cliques on any holiday although I did not find it so on the Istria trip and on the last Cilento trip. It was more noticeable though on my last trip.

Most people are very sociable and happy to have a drink or a meal with you but it doesn't always happen. :s

nixon
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I am not sure how many people there have to be to be called a group booking?

The most I have seen is a group of 4 ladies (friends) on a tour. I have not encountered more people than that.

I myself have travelled with two other ladies who I met on a Poland tour and we three went to Austria. One of these ladies I went to Kenya with. I have also travelled 3 times with a lady I met in my very first USA tour.

Whenever I travel with someone we always spread ourselves around, we do not keep just to ourselves.

Cindy

Bosuncat
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It's not something that I have totally come across either Cindy although we keep seeing posts on here mentioning group bookings and I always wonder how people who are booked on that holiday who aren't in the "group" get on if that group are quite "cliquey"

I appreciate totally what you are saying about friends (or indeed people you have met on previous holidays) meeting up on going on holiday together and that is great. I met some nice people on the Tuscany trip who had gone together but were perfectly happy to share a drink etc and a chat, but on the other hand there were people there who were very "cliquey" and usually totally ignored me. It didn't totally upset me except on one occasion in Florence but for anyone who was shy and nervous and perhaps on their first trip it might have been off putting and indeed put them off using JY in the future.

Sue2
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I have now done 10 trips with JY and I have found that on all of them there would be one or two pairs of friends. These very often join up to be a group. In a large tour of 35-40 people it doesn't matter so much but in a small group it makes a difference. The largest group I met was 5 and on the same trip 3 pairs of friends. This was in a group of 25. Men don't seem to form cliques the way women do and on my last trip which was half men and half women the whole group hung out together which was good. JY are not going to question who is with who, they just accept the booking.
janib
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There were 2 ladies on my last tour which was great as the cullin skink that we had in Mallaig was great. Would not have found the fish restaurant if we had not banded together. They had been friends for years, and shared a few tours together.

On my Jordan /Egypt tour in 2010, there were 2 sisters, one widowed, the other married- they enjoyed the single holidays so much that they went on quite a few tours together.

Jan.

Mick W
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Have been on trips where people travel together but like Cindy the most I've seen is one group of 4, see some 3's and quite a few 2's (brother/sister,friends, cousins, mother/daughter,etc). Saying that the vast majority of travellers are solo in my experience.

Most of the time I've found these "groups" have mixed although one holiday I was on it didn't happen which wasn't great. Suppose its down to individual attitudes.

One of the reason I find these singles holidays very good is the making of new friends, and you are correct small groups do form very quickly but thats same everywhere we all tag on to like those with the same interests.

In fact I'm in touch with quite a few people from a lot of the holidays i've done and have met up from time to time if we are in each others area.

As for mixing with the group as a whole i got a great piece of advice from the tour manager on my first JY trip which i always try to do, that was to sit with someone different at breakfast each morning. Its the best time if you get on, likely you spend more time together, if nothing too much in common you'll likely go your own ways on the holiday.

Mick

Asti
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On my last JY trip, out of 29, there were 6 groups of 2 who already knew each other. This didn't really bother me, as in this case, most of them mixed well with the 'singles', and as I have been on a few JY hols, I have more confidence in mixing with new people. I feel though, that for newbies, it is a bit daunting to arrive at the destination and find a lot of the group are not 'on their own'. My concern is that the amount of 'groups' seems to be increasing (and from experience, they don't always mix with the others), and it may come to a point when someone really is on their own - which goes against the idea of JY being a 'single traveller specialist'. Not sure what can be done about it though.
evelynj
(Member)
I have done many holidays with Just You and groups not a problem on the long haul holidays but I have noticed an increase of groups on the European ones. I met a couple of women on the Tuscany trip nearly 10 years ago and we did a couple of Just You European trips together but we had a few negative comments on the last one we did (we did socialise with the group) so since then we have arranged our own holidays. I still travel with Just You on European holidays by myself and I do not find the groups a problem as they mostly socialise with the rest of the group but I can see it could cause problems to a newbie.

I travelled with another singles holiday company a couple of years ago and out of 25 of us there was a group of 10 who regularly met up each year at different resorts! Let's hope this never happens with Just You.

Eve

Sue2
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'Asti' wrote:

On my last JY trip, out of 29, there were 6 groups of 2 who already knew each other. This didn't really bother me, as in this case, most of them mixed well with the 'singles', and as I have been on a few JY hols, I have more confidence in mixing with new people. I feel though, that for newbies, it is a bit daunting to arrive at the destination and find a lot of the group are not 'on their own'. My concern is that the amount of 'groups' seems to be increasing (and from experience, they don't always mix with the others), and it may come to a point when someone really is on their own - which goes against the idea of JY being a 'single traveller specialist'. Not sure what can be done about it though.

I did reply to Bosuncat yesterday but it has not appeared. I agree with Asti. I always travel alone and in the 10 trips I have done I have found more and more pairs and groups coming together. One thing is the men don't seem to do this and in a 50/50 split like on my latest trip whole group hung out together. For someone a bit nervous on their own (not me) it may be daunting.

AnnF
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On my first JY holiday (I've recently completed my sixth) I don't think there was anyone who had met before but by the end of the holiday two women, who had only just discovered that they not only lived near each other but had had children at the same school, had booked up through our TM for their next joint holiday. Since then there have been 2 or 3 pairs, friends or sisters, on each holiday. Like Cindy and her friends, most have joined in with the rest of the group and welcomed singletons like me to go along with them but there have been a couple of holidays where we had pairs who were joined at the hip and disregarded everyone else.

Fortunately on all the holidays I've been on there have been enough of us for the "unsociables" not to upset things but I think it is very much the luck of the draw. However, I don't think there is anything JY can do about it. If someone couldn't make a booking for more than themselves, they'd simply get their friend or other members of their proposed party to do their own bookings - no-one else would know until they (all) turned up at the airport or holiday venue.

katy1717
(Member)
On all the JY trips I have done there have been two or three pairs of friends. This hasn't mattered as all the tours had at least 30 people and, for the most part, these pairs were very sociable with the rest of the group. Many had met on previous JY tours. There has been the odd pair who have been unfriendly and made things awkward at times. Someone new to a JY tour encountering an unsociable pair early on might find things difficult if they were nervous. I have sometimes been irritated by some the cliques that can form and "save" seats at dinner and try to ensure they sit together, I saw one lady upset at being waved away from a table where she thought there were free seats. I haven't yet gone on a JY trip with someone I know, but don't rule it out if a friend and I wanted to do the same tour - but I like meeting new people and can't imagine any friend I went with and I would be so joined at the hip that we wouldn't join in with everyone else.
Bosuncat
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Some interesting comments here. Thanks folks. I agree though that there is very little JY can do about it. I haven't been on any of the holidays except in Europe as I can't do the long haul trips (much as I would like to) because of work issues. And it's not been a problem for me or not something I have thought about as potentially being a problem until this last trip. The majority of the party were fine and friendly so it may just have been me.

Oh, one thing I was surprised about that I didn't know before. The fact that you can book JY through a travel agent? For some ridiculous reason I thought it was only online or phone bookings.

Nelson
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Bosuncat, I think it's a valid worry but not one JY could do anything about.

They may not even know groups are booking together.

Maybe the tour managers could do their bit to make sure genuine single travellers are not alone ?

If , as people say , this is an increasingly common occurence you might just as well book with Travelsphere , and take advantage of the wider range of tours ! I have done that twice myself and there have been several solo travellers on each tour.

Puer aeternus
(Member)
Hi BosunCat!

I was on the same trip, genrally I wasnt bothered, but there were varying degrees of 'inclusiveness' from people who had travelled together. Overall, I thought that people who pre-knew each other were fine and did not feel a problem in mixing, I felt more 'resistance' from groups that had formed a clique straightaway on meeting!

I'm VERY independent and in the daytime, on trips/tours for the most part just like being on my own to go where I want when I want. I'm a wanderer and don't like being tied to someone else's agenda/needs, I like to wander around places on my own (although I did enjoy your company in Pisa Bosuncat!), doing things on a whim. The way I see it, it's my holiday and I shouldn't feel obliged to stay with anyone in the daytime, and restrict what I have planned or not planned to do.

In the evening it is different and I did feel some resistance from people who had formed 'cliques' on meeting each other on the holiday, who then went everywhere toether. It's that 'herding' mentality, safer to stay in the herd! But, there were others on the trip who came togther who were very friendly and I felt no barriers at all from them, they included me in everything, whenever I wanted to be included!

Like others have said, generally men don't form 'cliques' like women do and that was true on the Tuscany tour, I personally tried to meet someone different on most days/nights, and not automatically gravitate to the other men on the tour, but there were problems on having to sit at the same table for dinner where you ended up for breakfast, it caused some arguments amongst people! I found it irratating. I noticed that some of the cliques would ensure that they sat at the same seats on ther same table every day, putting up an invisible 'barrier' to others.

Having said all that, generally everybody on the tour were nice and I had a great time. However, I would prefer it if more people were genuine 'singles' so you get to meet more people and you feel less awkward about approaching people. The whole point of Just Ypu for me is that everyone is on the same level, single and out to meet other people and share experiences, without the feeling of 'intruding' into a group or couple.

Bosuncat
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'Puer wrote:

Hi BosunCat!

I was on the same trip, genrally I wasnt bothered, but there were varying degrees of 'inclusiveness' from people who had travelled together. Overall, I thought that people who pre-knew each other were fine and did not feel a problem in mixing, I felt more 'resistance' from groups that had formed a clique straightaway on meeting!

I'm VERY independent and in the daytime, on trips/tours for the most part just like being on my own to go where I want when I want. I'm a wanderer and don't like being tied to someone else's agenda/needs, I like to wander around places on my own (although I did enjoy your company in Pisa Bosuncat!), doing things on a whim. The way I see it, it's my holiday and I shouldn't feel obliged to stay with anyone in the daytime, and restrict what I have planned or not planned to do.

In the evening it is different and I did feel some resistance from people who had formed 'cliques' on meeting each other on the holiday, who then went everywhere toether. It's that 'herding' mentality, safer to stay in the herd! But, there were others on the trip who came togther who were very friendly and I felt no barriers at all from them, they included me in everything, whenever I wanted to be included!

Like others have said, generally men don't form 'cliques' like women do and that was true on the Tuscany tour, I personally tried to meet someone different on most days/nights, and not automatically gravitate to the other men on the tour, but there were problems on having to sit at the same table for dinner where you ended up for breakfast, it caused some arguments amongst people! I found it irratating. I noticed that some of the cliques would ensure that they sat at the same seats on ther same table every day, putting up an invisible 'barrier' to others.

Having said all that, generally everybody on the tour were nice and I had a great time. However, I would prefer it if more people were genuine 'singles' so you get to meet more people and you feel less awkward about approaching people. The whole point of Just Ypu for me is that everyone is on the same level, single and out to meet other people and share experiences, without the feeling of 'intruding' into a group or couple.

Yes we found the Roman Baths together didn't we? :thumbup: It was a huge pleasure meeting you and I agree totally with most of what you say. I agree totally with what you said about having to stay on the same table for evening meal as you had for breakfast and yes it COULD be irritating.

I consider myself to be fairly independent and have no problem usually on finding my way round places although Italian traffic scares me a bit, and I am not a great map reader 😃 but what happened in Florence with this VERY insular "couple" could have really have upset me if I had let it.

Interesting to read your thoughts on "cliques" and some of the people on the trip freezing others out. I TOTALLY agree. As a smoker I know when I go on these trips that I will spend a certain amount of time on my own at night (as I certainly don't want non smokers having to put up with my smoking), but I didn't anticipate spending nearly all the time on my own. It was just the luck of the draw I guess as most of the people WERE friendly whether they had formed instant friendships or not.

Pleasure to have met you!! :thumbup:

JanJan
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Hi

I haven't booked my first trip yet (waiting to get leave agreed as I am hoping to jump in the deep end and travel to Australia) and as it's my first solo trip for many years, I have read the above posts with interest.

I'm relieved that there appears to be interesting people who will mix with everyone and who don't feel the need to stay in the same group, excluding 'outsiders', all the time. Although I like my own company, I am looking forward to meeting new people and I don't mind where I sit for meals as long as the company is good!

Jan

BGray
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Hi Jan I really wouldn't worry about the "groups" thing which in reality is more of a "pairs" thing of two friends travelling together. I've been on six JY hols and 1 Travelsphere, ranging from 14 - 44 people and there have been pairs of friends travelling on each one and it has never been an issue. The vast majority of people were travelling singly and on each of the tours, where there might have been three or four pairs, I've found them to be friendly and outgoing on the whole. I can only think of one holiday where the pair were related and they kept themselves away from the rest of the group.

I always get a bit nervous as I set out, but have always met some fellow travellers at the gate or in a restaurant beforehand (those JY luggage tags are great for helping us to recognise each other) and by the time we reach the baggage carousel after landing, people are generally chatting away. It might take you a day or two to find some folks to click with and some people tend to pair off as the holiday progresses whilst others mix with everyone; but the best way is to talk to as many people as you can - and I find breakfast is a great time to mix with different people. For meals that aren't included, it's easy enough to find a few folks to eat with and it usually happens quite naturally. So please do go and book that dream holiday and have a brilliant time!

Cheers,

Bob

Mick W
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Agree with what everyone is saying here and we shouldn't blow the issue out of proportion the vast majority of travellers are single in my experience.

I'll add to what Bob says that I've met others at the airport and the night before by using this forum.

On my recent America trip 3 of us that were staying over met for a meal the night before and on the morning of the flight 8 of us booked the executive lounge, the forum certainly helped.

Mick

Puer aeternus
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I agree with Bob, generally its all fine and the effort in plucking up courage to talk to people is worth it in the end. I've been on a few hols, and I'm still nervous until the first meeting, but invariably its usually fine and you meet people you get on with.
Bosuncat
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I am sorry if I may have gone OTT here and out of the 4 trips I have done this was the first time I have ever come across it. Didn't want to put any newbies off!! :s
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