Question What do you expect from a dive travel leader?

[Hoag]

I used to live in Central NY, and have traveled a lot with the group that used to be my LDS. I now live in SW Ontario, so that shop is no longer what I would consider my LDS. The owner of that dive shop organizes several trips each year and they work very hard behind the scenes to give the appearance of the trip being effortless and because of that and because I have several friends in that group, I continue to travel with them.

Having said that, most of the group tend to fly out of Syracuse (SYR). This is no longer convenient for me, so I will make arrangements to fly out of Toronto (YYZ). I do not expect for the dive shop to organize or book my flights. I will do that myself and pay for my flights myself. I do expect, however, that I will not charged for the airfare out of SYR to the destination. Once at the destination, I expect the trip leader to handle any "glitches" that affect the group. I expect there to be accommodations for everybody and if the trip includes meals, I expect everybody to be fed. I also expect that the diving to be as advertised. If any of that gets canceled for some reason, then I expect the trip leader to work on arranging a suitable refund or other compensation for everybody.

If I am looking for something in addition to the trip as advertised, then I expect to not only arrange that myself, but to pay for it myself. If I want to fly in a day or two early or stay a little longer, then again, that is on me. As for things such as getting a room that somebody had smoked in or a meal that I found to be unsuitable, then I would view that as between me and the hotel or the restaurant. I would mention it to the trip leader to avoid the appearance that I had "gone rogue", but I wouldn't expect them to fix the problem.

 

[Centrals]

I used to live in Central NY, and have traveled a lot with the group that used to be my LDS. I now live in SW Ontario, so that shop is no longer what I would consider my LDS. The owner of that dive shop organizes several trips each year and they work very hard behind the scenes to give the appearance of the trip being effortless and because of that and because I have several friends in that group, I continue to travel with them.

Having said that, most of the group tend to fly out of Syracuse (SYR). This is no longer convenient for me, so I will make arrangements to fly out of Toronto (YYZ). I do not expect for the dive shop to organize or book my flights. I will do that myself and pay for my flights myself. I do expect, however, that I will not charged for the airfare out of SYR to the destination. Once at the destination, I expect the trip leader to handle any "glitches" that affect the group. I expect there to be accommodations for everybody and if the trip includes meals, I expect everybody to be fed. I also expect that the diving to be as advertised. If any of that gets canceled for some reason, then I expect the trip leader to work on arranging a suitable refund or other compensation for everybody.

If I am looking for something in addition to the trip as advertised, then I expect to not only arrange that myself, but to pay for it myself. If I want to fly in a day or two early or stay a little longer, then again, that is on me. As for things such as getting a room that somebody had smoked in or a meal that I found to be unsuitable, then I would view that as between me and the hotel or the restaurant. I would mention it to the trip leader to avoid the appearance that I had "gone rogue", but I wouldn't expect them to fix the problem.

Good on you.
Unfortunately, I have came across couple of really despicable persons in the very few occasions that I have to travel with a group. Organised trip with strangers is NOT an option any more.

Tour leader is a thankless job.

 

[Hoag]

Good on you.
Unfortunately, I have came across couple of really despicable persons in the very few occasions that I have to travel with a group. Organised trip with strangers is NOT an option any more.

Tour leader is a thankless job.

Without a doubt I was lucky to get in with such an incredible group of people. The tour organizer would work tirelessly to make it all look effortless. The vast majority of his work was before the trip started or ironing out glitches before they were even noticed by most people. I honestly don't think that most people even notice how hard he works behind the scenes.