Has anyone taken a RS tour where RS comes along as a tour member? In your opinion, has that had a positive, neutral, or negative effect on the tour? Would you have gone on that tour if you knew he was going to be a member?
Was his name listed on the roster you received prior to the tour? How may RS tours have you taken (for comparison)?
Posted by
Houston
3517 posts
Not yet. I almost did, but had to change my travel dates so missed him.
When he does go on a tour, he does not use his name. Since almost everyone knows him, I doubt he can slip in without someone noticing fairly quickly especially at the meet and greet the first evening of the tour.
I would think that if you were on a tour with him the tour guide would do everything strictly by the book. That might take some of the fun out of the tour. On the other hand, having him along might mean there would be extras thrown in that he is thinking of adding to the tour. Could go either way. It would not stop me from going on that tour if I knew in advance he would be on it also.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8938 posts
Well, he is posting on FB that he joined the tour in Portugal, which means that he is already done as those posts don't get posted until the tour is finished. Keeps people from trying to follow them/him.
Posted by
Fremont CA
20 posts
I only have a little to add- based upon several RS presentations and some friends who have taken RS tours (without Rick) as they asked guides about the practice, how shows are filmed etc.
At travel presentations Rick has said he goes on 1 and sometimes 2 full tours a year- and often pops into a group dinner with others if he is in town. For the full tours he registers under a false name—even the guides are unaware until he shows up on day 1. He doesn't wear a disguise so when he arrives, everyone knows. There are no changes of hotels etc...the tour operates as they all are suppose to operate.
As for the guides..... it bugs some. The reason is obvious..regardless of what is being said, they are being graded. I have no info but it would be safe to bet that the “name game” is not being skipped on those tours. The guides noted that it is also a split with tour members- some liking it and some not. Obviously some are star struck while others object to the group getting “bigger”- no the tour group doesn't increase in size but the smallish group attracts more attention as Rick is well known and a lot if the touring public will want to hang with the group, follow them, etc to talk to Rick for a bit.
On the other hand- if Rick had been in England (Rebeca’s tour) I suspect the Indian dinner would have gone down differently, in a good way.
Without having walked in those shoes I would hazard a guess that the pluses would outweigh the negatives. I’m planning for 4 tours in 2019 (South Italy and Sicily in the spring and then England and Southern England in Sept) maybe I’ll get lucky on one of them.
Sid
Posted by
2527 posts
Rick would be a very welcome addition to a future tour I make take. While guides may be a little nervous when he joins a tour...surely they are professional enough to happily and properly perform their jobs and if that’s the biggest challenge they’ve faced leading tours, then they are fortunate.