When it rains ...

Today was scheduled for an Anse Vata beach tour for two groups.  The first tour group was 33 tourists and boarded the bus at 9:05 AM. Everything went well, they were dropped off at the Nouvata hotel stop at 10:10 to begin their 90 minutes in the Anse Vata beach aera.  They were told the bus will return at 11:40 to pick them up and continue the tour around Noumea. The second tour group of 31 people boarded the bus at the ship terminal at 10:35, in the rain and with mild dissatisfaction. The tour went well timing-wise however, during our first two stops several people expressed their concerns about having to spend 90 min out in the rain. By the time we we arrived at the Nouvata hotel stop, it was pouring rain.  After listening to several complaints, I asked the folks from the second tour group if there is a single person on the bus who would like to spend some time on Anse Vata. The answer was unanimous and overwhelming: they all wanted to return to the ship. They all said they were not ready to walk out in the rain without rain coats, umbrellas, with small children, etc.

And this is where things started to go wrong (for me). I told them that there was not room on the bus to take everyone back as the first group, which was waiting at Anse Vata, had to be returned to the ship.  I then told them that if this second group wanted to to back, 11 people from this second group would have to remain behind.  The group eventually agreed to this when 12 people volunteered to stay.  I told those 12 that I would return in about 40 minutes to pick them up to go back to the ship.  I returned to the ship with a bus completely full of passengers, all of them happy to be out of the rain.  I was not following protocol but I was doing my best to make the clients more comfortable =- the weather situation had put everyone in a bad mood and their only desire (unanimous) was to return to the ship - all understanding that this did not mean the tour cost would be refunded.  The group of 12 that had remained behind were quite anxious for the bus to return ... only to be told that due to "rules", they could not be returned early to the ship but rather at the originally scheduled time.  this meant they had to wait in the bus outside the port for the better part of an hour with nothing to do.

In hindsight, I realize now that I should have called the cruise ship tour operator and ask what to do in this situation.  My intentions were good but going off schedule like this made things a muddle all the way around.  In the end, I wrote a letter explaining my actions (in fact, this story is based on that letter) and I faced no other consequences other than a bit of a lecture.   Anyway, that's definitely the last time I let the passengers be in charge in anyway of my tours!