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