There is something to be said about travelling in groups.  You can enjoy the camaraderie of friends and enjoy a destination at the same time.

Normally, a group consists of 10 passengers and 5 rooms.  Sometimes travel companies offer specials for a group of 8 adults and 4 rooms.  There are also concessions for groups buying airfare only, which are usually offered to sports or conference groups or for specific days or dates. With most airlines, your group members must all travel outbound on the same date but their return dates can vary.

I travelled with my friends to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, recently.  Keep in mind that when you travel as a group, you should be like-minded.  Not everyone wants to do the same thing at the same time but if you have a little give and take, everything will work out fine.  If everyone likes to do the same kinds of things, a little discussion usually helps all to decide which way they would like to go.  Our group to Puerto Vallarta didn’t want too many tours just mostly R&R.

We travelled on Air Transat in late March 2016.  We did not pre-book our seats but did not have any difficulty sitting together.  The flight left early in both directions and we were promptly transferred to the Royal Decameron in Bucerias, which is near Puerto Vallarta.  We had requested rooms close together and on a ground floor as one lady was having trouble with her knee.  We got exactly what we wanted.

Transat gave everyone in the group a free city tour.  That was great.  I have been to Puerto Vallarta a number of times and we went to some places I hadn’t seen before.  We also walked to Bucerias central area to shop in the markets.  It was a very enjoyable day.  One day when the others didn’t want to shop, one of the group members and me took the bus into PuertoVallarta.  It was a nice day but very hot for shopping.  The next day was cooler and we spent it at the pool.  It would have been nice to reverse the weather to have it cool for shopping and hot for the pool, but you just can’t control it.

The meals were fine.  We mostly ate at the Buffet. We venture out to the Japanese a la carte, which was disappointing.  Close to the end of the week we went to the Italian a la carte, which was great. Overall, there were no complaints on the food.  The wine did leave something to be desired though.  If someone was a real connoisseur they should consider bringing wine from Duty-Free. 

Our group of friends usually does this kind of get together about every two years. I must say I quite enjoy travelling with friends and look forward to the next trip.  Don’t be afraid to ask your friends if they would like to go when you do.  You might be pleasantly surprised at how many people are just waiting for a chance to travel with someone they know.

To get more information about travelling as a group, get in touch with me,  Marilyn White.