Have noticed from looking through some of the threads that some holidays have had very large groups, some over 30 people.

The holiday I went on last year there were 14 of us. My initial thought is that 30+ in a group is too many (from a personal point of view)..........but thought I would get some opinions from folk who have traveled in such a large group.

Is it a good thing or not?? Advantages/disadvantages??

Carol

This is a subject that has come up in the past and there are a good selection of views on this thread:

http://forum.justyou.co.uk/forum/thread-68300.html 

In a very timely fashion, I did receive a message from JY Will yesterday who mentioned that in 2014 our average group size for Just You was 23 travellers. You will find that on some tours there are more (for example our North America trips) but I did think it was an interesting statistic for the community to see.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Such large groups would definitely be a deal breaker for me, so it would be a case of keeping up to date with the numbers before I book.

Regards, Carol

A bigger group size can have its advantages - a greater variety of people to talk to, more options to find dining partners if dinners aren't included and especially if there is the occasional difficult person on the tour, a larger group size makes it easier to avoid them! On some of the smaller group tours I've done - on different occasions there were 14, 15 and 18 - it can feel a bit like cabin fever with the same few faces day after day! I think the ideal size is 20-30 and it's interesting that Julia has mentioned that the average group size is currently 23 - a very good size. Groups tend to be larger on the US tours and some of the most popular European tours such as Andalucia. I only ask for numbers out of curiosity - or if I'm thinking of booking and want to know if a particular tour is nearly full up. Hope this helps!

Best wishes,

Bob

I echo what Bob has written. I've been traveling on holidays for single travelers for a long time and to be honest I think a larger group (20+) is always better. The problem with smaller numbers is that this is when strong personality's can come into play - which can sometimes cause issues.

That said, single travellers are some of the most friendliest people you will ever meet - regardless of the numbers you will always find a group of like-minded people to share experiences with. So don't be put off at the thought of a large group.

Thanks for your reply and appreciate your comments. The average number of 23 I think would be much more to my liking. I also noticed on one particular holiday to Mykonos/Santorini that there is a maximum of 20, another I'm interested in.

Traveling to Rhodes in May with a group of 18 so looking forward to that.

Will play it by ear and see how things turn out.

Regards, Carol

On the subject of cliques, I think some tour managers are better than others at dealing with this. I have had a couple of experiences of looks of horror when I' ve inadvertently sat where somebody wants their friend. I would also be interested in what others think about 2 or more people booking together. I don't have a problem with this in principle but if said people don't want to mix with the rest of the group it can be uncomfortable particularly if they form a large part of the group. My second JY holiday was with 2 people I met on my first trip so I have done this myself but we made sure we mixed with everyone and made them aware they were very welcome to join us..

Best wishes,

Bob

Thanks for the link Julia, it was interesting to read people's view. I've done 12 trips nearly all with groups of about 30 which I think is plenty big enough. I did one that had 40 people and it was a particularly friendly group and I socialised with lots of different people which I enjoyed. However, on a practical level it was too big a group and I didn't think it was fair on the tour manager even though she handled it brilliantly.

On the subject of cliques, I think some tour managers are better than others at dealing with this. I have had a couple of experiences of looks of horror when I' ve inadvertently sat where somebody wants their friend. I would also be interested in what others think about 2 or more people booking together. I don't have a problem with this in principle but if said people don't want to mix with the rest of the group it can be uncomfortable particularly if they form a large part of the group. My second JY holiday was with 2 people I met on my first trip so I have done this myself but we made sure we mixed with everyone and made them aware they were very welcome to join us..

Hello

Reagrding people travelling with friends etc, this to me a a great bonus of travelling with JY that you get to meet people with such similar travel interest on my very first tour 2006 USA I met a lady and we have travelled on JY quite a few time since, Imalso met a couple of nice ladies on a Austrian tour and have travelled with them none of these ladies do I see in between JY tour holidays, when the new brochure comes out we just email and see if we fancy the same tours if so and dates work then we book.

I hasten to say if travelling with someone I know then the deal is we muck in with every one else we might know each other but we are still single travellers, to not mix in would be extremely rude. Like you it does make me laugh if you sit in someone's etc seat on coach or at meal times, at the end of the day your together such a short time every I hope every one can rub along for such a short while..

Cindy

Thanks for the link Julia, it was interesting to read people's view. I've done 12 trips nearly all with groups of about 30 which I think is plenty big enough. I did one that had 40 people and it was a particularly friendly group and I socialised with lots of different people which I enjoyed. However, on a practical level it was too big a group and I didn't think it was fair on the tour manager even though she handled it brilliantly.

On the subject of cliques, I think some tour managers are better than others at dealing with this. I have had a couple of experiences of looks of horror when I' ve inadvertently sat where somebody wants their friend. I would also be interested in what others think about 2 or more people booking together. I don't have a problem with this in principle but if said people don't want to mix with the rest of the group it can be uncomfortable particularly if they form a large part of the group. My second JY holiday was with 2 people I met on my first trip so I have done this myself but we made sure we mixed with everyone and made them aware they were very welcome to join us..

Hi Eljay

Would be interested to know...........did you move seats or stay where you were :huh:

Not sure what I would do in that situation, lol.

Carol

Thanks for the link Julia, it was interesting to read people's view. I've done 12 trips nearly all with groups of about 30 which I think is plenty big enough. I did one that had 40 people and it was a particularly friendly group and I socialised with lots of different people which I enjoyed. However, on a practical level it was too big a group and I didn't think it was fair on the tour manager even though she handled it brilliantly.

On the subject of cliques, I think some tour managers are better than others at dealing with this. I have had a couple of experiences of looks of horror when I' ve inadvertently sat where somebody wants their friend. I would also be interested in what others think about 2 or more people booking together. I don't have a problem with this in principle but if said people don't want to mix with the rest of the group it can be uncomfortable particularly if they form a large part of the group. My second JY holiday was with 2 people I met on my first trip so I have done this myself but we made sure we mixed with everyone and made them aware they were very welcome to join us..

Hi Eljay

Would be interested to know...........did you move seats or stay where you were :huh:

Not sure what I would do in that situation, lol.

Carol

I'm afraid to say I moved asI'm a bit of a wimp. Would love to have the courage to brazen it out and cause rude people discomfort but what's the point if you can't relax knowing you're not wanted! Fortunately most people are only too happy to mix.

Thanks for the link Julia, it was interesting to read people's view. I've done 12 trips nearly all with groups of about 30 which I think is plenty big enough. I did one that had 40 people and it was a particularly friendly group and I socialised with lots of different people which I enjoyed. However, on a practical level it was too big a group and I didn't think it was fair on the tour manager even though she handled it brilliantly.

On the subject of cliques, I think some tour managers are better than others at dealing with this. I have had a couple of experiences of looks of horror when I' ve inadvertently sat where somebody wants their friend. I would also be interested in what others think about 2 or more people booking together. I don't have a problem with this in principle but if said people don't want to mix with the rest of the group it can be uncomfortable particularly if they form a large part of the group. My second JY holiday was with 2 people I met on my first trip so I have done this myself but we made sure we mixed with everyone and made them aware they were very welcome to join us..

Hi Eljay

Would be interested to know...........did you move seats or stay where you were :huh:

Not sure what I would do in that situation, lol.

Carol

I'm afraid to say I moved asI'm a bit of a wimp. Would love to have the courage to brazen it out and cause rude people discomfort but what's the point if you can't relax knowing you're not wanted! Fortunately most people are only too happy to mix.

Not necessarily wimpish.........probably the most sensible thing to do. Not sure if I'm as sensible as you mind, hopefully I won't have to find out, lol. :angel:

Carol

35 of us on the Heart and Soul of America last November. Few problems soon sorted quickly. Tour Manager Stephen gave us a sheet of paper every night with our seat numbers for the next day. One day I did find myself sitting in the same seat as one of the men :blush:

One main problem was Hancock Tower in Chicago where we were supposed to have breakfast. Not enough food for us all.

Jan

Hello All,

35 of us on the Heart and Soul of America last November. Few problems soon sorted quickly. Tour Manager Stephen gave us a sheet of paper every night with our seat numbers for the next day. One day I did find myself sitting in the same seat as one of the men :blush:

One main problem was Hancock Tower in Chicago where we were supposed to have breakfast. Not enough food for us all.

Jan

Sharing a seat with a very nice man I'll add :angel:

Agree about the Hancock Breakfast, i was near back of the queue and very little left when i got there.

Mick

Hello All,

35 of us on the Heart and Soul of America last November. Few problems soon sorted quickly. Tour Manager Stephen gave us a sheet of paper every night with our seat numbers for the next day. One day I did find myself sitting in the same seat as one of the men :blush:

One main problem was Hancock Tower in Chicago where we were supposed to have breakfast. Not enough food for us all.

Jan

Sharing a seat with a very nice man I'll add :angel:

Agree about the Hancock Breakfast, i was near back of the queue and very little left when i got there.

Mick

I've been on a few tours where seats were rotated. I hated the thought at first but it proved to be a brilliant way of getting to know the group. I think it also helped reduce the issue of cliques which I have mentioned and encouraged people to be more sociable. If you've booked with someone they should automatically be placed with you.

Not enough food in the US of A! The same thing happened to us in Boston last year. I've never been on a tour, even in a large group where seats apart from the front one were rotated. Can I ask if you had to sit next to the same person each day and if not were any people travelling together split up.

No was with a different person each day but will say i believe each tour manager does it diferent. Stephen was very organised and he rotated the front 10 rows and anyone that wanted to opt out had the option of sitting further back.

Thought that was a great idea and worked very well.

I'm a supporter of the seat rotation and find it interesting sat with different people every day.

I knew a couple of others (Steve & June) from my holiday the year before and met two others Jan & Stuart at heathrow the night before. Suspect without the seat rotation may have ended up sitting with some of them each day, nothing wrong with that but its good to meet as many people as possible.

Mick

I have only traveled once as a single traveler last year and hope to book another for September this year..........quite interested in the Andalucia holiday.

Have noticed from looking through some of the threads that some holidays have had very large groups, some over 30 people.

The holiday I went on last year there were 14 of us. My initial thought is that 30+ in a group is too many (from a personal point of view)..........but thought I would get some opinions from folk who have traveled in such a large group.

Is it a good thing or not?? Advantages/disadvantages??

Carol

Hi Carol

I have been on many JustYou trips over the years - probably about 14 or 15. Over recent years I have been on a few trips where there are large numbers and I am not keen on this. I went to Iceland and there were well over 40 people on the trip and I did not get a chance to talk to everyone and found it far too large. Angela