We were on a group trip (every one or two years) and had plenty of time for socializing with the 13 companions. ("Captains" table at back of dinning room for our large group) as well as the included excursions. These bus trips were adequate but had the usual competition for the locations from the other travelers so did not stand out like some itineraries. The food was good and they even got us in to the specialty locations which have private dining rooms for large groups. Since we are already booked on the same ship for November in the Med I guess I can say we'll be back (just not as a large group). Crew was great and we even found one who was with us last August (different ship). unfortunately we did have to skip the Shetlands stop reportedly due to the heavy winds but we had also been under under a reduced power at the time.