Group Tour or Go Alone?

[BillyB]

There seems to be some benefits to using an agency or going at it alone. I guess it depends what a guy thinks would work for him. For me it's going at it alone. But if a guy wanted to visit  many women, the agency could help you do a better job than go it alone but with meeting too many women, you don't get too many meaningful meetings which could cause a man to have an error in judgement with the little knowledge of a woman he has to go off of. But I don't advocate meeting one woman either, your chances to succeed with the only woman you meet is remote.

[Gator]

Thanks Billy and Darth.  We are all different.  Each man should evaluate the various alternatives and choose the one that is appropriate for his budget, time, and personality. 

Everyone - please do not take me as an advocate of Louie's approach nor an opponent of tours.  To be balanced in my reporting, I will admit that I would never do the Louie approach.  It seems too much like work, and that number of women would confuse me.  And I prefer to select a few women early in my trip for followup dating and intimacy.

Nor would I do the Group Tour, simply because women do not like it and I feel there are too many women, most of which are not for me, even for one evening.

In a way I consider myself successful in meeting women.  I have met two incredible "superstars" and had/have happy relationships with both (one for 3 years), which may/may not continue in the future.  That is another story, a long story.

How did I meet them?

I have taken three scouting trips and have increased my use of agencies with each.

Summer 2002:  30-day trip to four cities.  Used agencies only to purchase addresses, conducted my own correspondence for three months, and made my own travel arrangements.  Visited four cities, stayed in hotels, had a great time, but it was expensive, about $10,000 (remember,2002 so at least $14,000 today). Also, I used my correspondents as my guides thus I had to ignore women who did not speak English, limiting my universe.  Met 6 women, allwere nice to me.  The superstar was the last, and I had planned the trip so she would be last.

New Years 2006 – Three city trip.  Met several women via free personals and local agencies plus two repeats from 2002.  Stayed in apartments and used interpreters for some women.  Much lower cost than the first trip and the results were equal.  First woman I met was a superstar with whom I had a fantastic 4 days.  After her I had trouble concentrating and recall kissing only one new one passionately.


September 2006 - 11 days in two cities.  I met 8 women.  And I was jaded prior to my trip. 

-   5 were from prior correspondence (at a cost of $15 – 40 per woman, three to six roundtrip letters each).
-   3 were last moment fill-ins by an agency when I had some dead time (because one correspondent did not show).
-   3 of the 5 correspondents were outstanding and as the saying goes, “if a RW likes you, you will know it.”  Well, these three liked me, really liked me.   
-   1 of the 5 was also very appealing, yet I did not have enough time or energy to see her again. 
-   2 of the 3 fill-ins were appealing, but again no time. 

And here we are today.  As confused as ever.

[Durk]

          Gator for info. here. Five cities on a First Dream tour a guy would meet
425 possible gals. I consider a party to be no different than a local weekend party
here in the US. Yes the ratio will be more women to men and the girls know why they
are invited, but Jack is concerned about who goes on his tours and how the ladies
will be treated. His tour is not just a body count like some others.
           I would have been in Ukraine on this tour. Waiting for Dept.of State approval
so I must be here at work.

[Turboguy]

I think the reality of it all is that making an individual trip using agency's is a good way to go and will let you meet a lot of women.  Personally I think it is better to not limit your trip to one agency but that is just my opinion    You can use one to set up your apartment and transfer and use others as well in meeting ladies.

I think it is also as true that a small agency tour is also a great way to meet women.  I was totally impressed by the quality and quantity of women I met on my tour with Jack.   The ladies were the cream of the crop.  The guys tried to help each other avoid scammers and bad women, the parties are set up so that everyones efforts are maximixed.   The ladies do not feel like cattle for sale.  Scammers are held to a minimum and there is enough time for follow up as long as you realize that this is not a trip to come back engaged from.

I think it is also true that big agency tours suck.  The women feel it is demeaning, many don't even get to talk to a guy, they are artificial and the quality of the ladies is very low.

I think the decision of go alone or go on a tour like Jack's is a personal one.   I think a mix might be a good solution for many.   Try a tour, make some trips alone.  I think trying to decide which of two possible methods might be a tad better than the other is not too constructive.

Gator, you are not much of a believer in the tour thing.   If you dug back into the archives you will find some discussions between Jack and myself about the way his tours are set up and I was far more sceptical then than you are now.    Jack made a good case for his ideas and the fact that I have heard nothing but good reports about his tour was the deciding factor for me.

[BillyB]

Gator, you are not much of a believer in the tour thing.   If you dug back into the archives you will find some discussions between Jack and myself about the way his tours are set up and I was far more sceptical then than you are now. 

TG, I believe Gator is "Bucky" at the other forum. Correct me if I'm wrong Gator. He's been reading the forums for years and formed his opinions just as you've been around the forums for years and formed yours. You both aren't going to change each others minds at this point since you're both set in your ways. But the debate is beneficial to newbies who've yet to decide what's best for them and good points have been made for and against agencies.

[Turboguy]

I agree with what you said Billy.   I don't go to the other forum often but think I have seen some posts from Bucky there.   

I am basing what I am saying based on the fact that I just got back from Jack's tour and was really impressed and really think it was a very effective way to meet women.

I have never used agencys in my approaches.   I came back also much more a beliver in Agencys.  I think for someone who has not worked with agencys much the tour would produce much better results.   For someone with a few trips working with agencys it probably would not be much different and working with agencys directly would save a few bucks.   

I just saw enough that I think anyone taking one of Jack's tours would be likely to come back with some good serious cantidates for the gal they seek.

I agree, I am not going to change Gator's mind and he is not going to change mine.   I also agree that it may help some newbies.   I just hope I don't confuse anyone when I say Jack's tours are great and make them think all tours are great.   Big agency tours suck.

[jb]

Regardless of Gator's real identify, Bucky or not, he makes valid points.

In discussing this with the wife, she makes the point that neither she, nor any of her friends, would ever attend a tour party.  Those affairs used to be advertised in Moscow all the time and the only way you would find her at such a function would be if someone dragged her dead body, coffin and all, into the room.  So you may have a slight quality problem with some of the ladies you would meet in a tour party.

She says she never felt the need for a lessson on how to feel desperate, cheap, and tawdry. 

[jb]

Oh,,, and BTW, if Gator is Bucky,,, welcome Phillip, glad to have you with us.  It will add a lot of class to the place to have you around.

If Gator isn't Bucky, forget I mentioned it.... ???

[groovlstk]

In discussing this with the wife, she makes the point that neither she, nor any of her friends, would ever attend a tour party. 

She says she never felt the need for a lessson on how to feel desperate, cheap, and tawdry. 

JB, the same can be said for agencies. No one here seems willing to talk about it, but without a doubt there is an entire class of single Russian women who would die rather than sign up at a marriage agency. If you pulled 50 single women at random from each group (agency girls and non-agency girls) which would be the more risky dating pool?
 

[Gator]

I know Bucky very well.  See him in the mirror every morning when shaving.

Andrew was the first to blow my cover, followed by Coco, Billy and now the immeasurably wise  and venerable JB.  All fine gentlemen.  Seeing your names prompts some fond memories.

Hello everyone.  I am glad to be here and hopefully I can add something to RWD.

[BillyB]

I am glad to be here and hopefully I can add something to RWD.

I'm sure you can. One reason I recognized you was by your style of writing and the type of wisdom you dispense which is wisdom I have found logical many times. Your name "Gator" also gave me an idea of where you're located. After reading the forums a few years, one can start recognizing other posters by writing style, choice of words, topics they participate in, and how they think. Just as one can recognize a person by voice even though their eyes are closed, one can recognize a person by style of writing even though their ears are closed.


My fiancee, like jb's wife would never go to a tour social or even sign up with an agency. The most she would do was sign up on a dating site. I consider her a fine woman and I understand her reasonings but I won't be quick to judge all women in agencies or those who go to socials are one and the same. I will agree there are many women at socials with not so admirable agendas but I'm sure there are women with sincere hopes and dreams too. There was a time when I thought all people who looked for a mate overseas or locally on the internet had issues. But now I realized that it isn't true, entirely. I have chosen to do what I once ridiculed others doing. There may be a time in my life I would accept going to a social. Not now, but maybe someday. The biggest thing is knowing what you're dealing with. If one chooses to have a relationship overseas, it would help greatly if one is a good judge of other peoples character otherwise one might as well roll the dice going into this blindly hoping he/she chose the right person.

If a person decides to go to a social, he needs to understand some women are there to get free food, free dates, free shopping sprees, or get hooked up with a sponsor at a higher percentage as if he met women at dating sites or met them in an agency do to the fact many sincere women wouldn't go to socials for whatever reason. Insincere women have no problems going to a social and as a matter of fact, probably attracts them in greater numbers for the potential gain they could achieve. Knowing what you're up against can improve one's odds in finding a sincere woman after swimming around the sharks. Although more difficult due to the higher percentage of GCG and pro daters, I'll admit a sincere woman can be found in a social. My advice to those that choose socials is to understand what you're up against and more importantly, understanding your ability to decipher a woman's agenda.

[Turboguy]

Not sure if you wanted your cove blow or not Gator/Bucky but I am glad you are here. I guess we all have some times we want to be blown.

[jinx13]

 I already made some comments about this issue in Turbo's trip report, but What strikes me is just how commited Turbo is to these Tours, even after repeated failures. I know, Jack has a much better way, but I will be curious to see if he get's any real prospects from this.

 The amount of money it costs just seems rediculous to me, maybe i'm cheap!    I used Lucky Lovers and met many, nice, real girls, and none of them would be caught dead at a Tour, but I think some would join an agency. Lucky Lovers costs $19.99 a month, and I met way more quality type women there, than I did when I used an agency. My current g/f and I met there, and then she moved to the U.S. (visa lottery)  It's a great website because you chat in real time, most of the girls speak English, and have computers in their house, which makes for easy communication.

 So if any newbies read this, do what you feel comfortable with, but don't believe the hype that you need to spend thousands of dollars to find quality women, somebody said here that you get what you pay for, if that's true than I got one hell of a deal! Not all of us have seemingly unlimited income to make trip after trip after trip. Make them count, meet good girls, normal girls, the type that don't even know what a tour is.  Ok, sorry, maybe thats harsh on the women Turbo met, i'm sure they were decent enough, but I personally think it's a risky, and somewhat sleazy way to meet women. Just my opinion, different strokes as they say.  -  David

[Turboguy]

Jinx,  We all have different ideas and are entitled to them and to express them so I appreciate your thoughts and your ideas.

I would have to agree with your comments completely in referring to big agency tours.   I have done three.  The big problem is the way the recruit the gals.   They use newspaper ad's, sidewalk signs and even TV ad's.   They take anyone who walks in off the street.

With Jack's tours the ladies are selected by the guy from the agency's that he works with, usually 3-4 agencies per city.   Most of the gals I have talked to consider the big agency socials demeaning.  Most any gal who will join an agency and is interested in meeting a husband will attend the parties.   There are no gals off the street.  Most all the gals are known by the agency owners and have been screened by them.   To me, if I have to spend even double the money but can meet two times or more quality gals it is a bargain.   Yes, I can take time to go and I can afford to go but I sure don't want to make more trips if I don't have to.

If you have followed my TR you will see that there is a possibility that I will never follow up on any of these gals.   I knew that going into the trip.  I am also not about to put too much faith in my future with a gal I have never met.   I had about a dozen gals that I met that I could be perfectly happy with.  I don't want to make follow up visits to a dozen gals so if I make a follow up trip it will be the last two weeks in November and I will follow up with probably 4 gals.   There are two of those that are leading the pack so I will spend a little more time with them.

During my 4 city tour I had about 35 gals +/- that I spent usually at least two hours with a few times maybe only one hour and in some cases perhaps 8 hours with.   I was quite happy with the quantity and quality of the gals.

I am not meaning this in a negative way, but I believe you said you had never done a tour.  I have done three big agency tours and agree they suck.   I have done Jacks and felt it was great.   I am giving my comments based on first hand experiences.   You are giving your comments based on thoughts and ideas and no first hand experience.   I have never said it is the only way to meet gals.    I have just said it was a darn good one.

[Manny]

In discussing this with the wife, she makes the point that neither she, nor any of her friends, would ever attend a tour party.  Those affairs used to be advertised in Moscow all the time and the only way you would find her at such a function would be if someone dragged her dead body, coffin and all, into the room.  So you may have a slight quality problem with some of the ladies you would meet in a tour party.

She says she never felt the need for a lessson on how to feel desperate, cheap, and tawdry. 

Reluctant as I am  , I must agree with JB here. My lady and I were talking of tours recently and her comments were very similar to JB's wife.

However, Turbo has been on several and he sees use in some of them so who are we (who have never been on one) to slate that? Personally I think they seem a bit expensive when compared to the options available and I would also question the quality and/or intent of ladies at such an event - BUT as long as men are happy to pay for them and as long as women are happy to attend, why not?

Does anyone know of a marriage that resulted from a tour meet?

[jinx13]

I also had the same type discussion with my girl, she actually read all of Turbo's trip report, and she was even getting upset about it. She thinks it's a terrible way to meet a girl, and thinks the guy must have a big ego to need all those women at one table. I tried to tell her noooo, Turbo seems like a good guy to me, I have read a lot of his advice here, but yeah, she was actually offended by that type of behavior.

 Turbo, I hope you don't think I'm harping on you, I'm just participating in this debate thats all. I can understand why Jack's tour is better, the way you explained it made more sense to me, you're basically just saving yourself time and letting Jack contact all the agencies and bringing the girls all to one place, right? For example my first trip was to Volgograd, and I did use an agency, if I used Jack's tour, he would contact all 3 agencies from that area and request the best candidates for me to meet. Seems to me like the lazy way out    not to mention not in the least bit romantic. Turbo, you are in business right? Haven't you ever heard the term "eliminate the middle man"? I have nothing against Jack, he sounds pretty smart to me, why not cash in where you can, but I don't think this is a good recommendation for newbies to meet women in the FSU, there are far cheaper and better ways.

 Turbo, may I ask what you do for a living? Are you a millionaire or what?! 

[PeeWee]

Are there not organizations or clubs right here in the US where men and women meet in groups, seems the term "power dating" comes to my mind? If so then how is that group structure, one that is designed to allow many men to meet many women all in one very short time, any different than a group of men meeting a group of women with the setting in Russia, rather than the US? It seems the same to me and correct me if I am wrong but the US version is very popular these days.

Whether jb's wife or Manchester's wife would have to be dead before they attended isn't really revelant anyway because those are but two opinions expressed in a sea of many, both pro and con. The social function of a tour serves as an introduction. The opportunities made by those introductions are only as good as the people that opt to take advantage of them. That is how I see it anyway. The pitcher only serves the ball up it is up to the batter to smack it out of the park. Opportunity given, opportunity taken or not.

Peewee

[Turboguy]

First off prior to taking Jack's tour there are probably not too many people who are more anti tour than I was.   somewhere around a year ago I got into some pretty lengthy anti-tour discussions with Jack and did a lot of negative questioning about his methods and the concept of his parties here.   Actually he did a pretty good job of answering my comments.

As far as the big agency tours, I would have to agree totally with jb and Manchester.   I have done enough of them before I got smarter and have enough friends who have to realize that the quality of the ladies is as low as you can go.  Yes, some seem attractive and educated.  Smart like a fox might be a better description.  They are looking for something alright but it is not a husband.

The first thing that started to change my mind was that I noticed the comments from everyone about AFA, Anastasia and the former EC tours like I did were almost 100% negative.   The comments from the guys who did one of Jack's tours were overwhelmingly positive.   I began to believe that Jack's tours were probably a good thing.

I was happy with the methods I was using to meet women.  Probably happy enough that I would not have tried one of Jack's tours.   However I had another problem as I have talked about in my TR.  My son's romantic life seemed to be in really bad shape.   He had a knack for finding bad women in the USA and was about to the point where he was ready to give up ever having a wife again or a meaningful relationship.   I had made some attempts to get him writing to FSU women without much luck.   A few scammers he met on Match.com had also raised his interest level in FSU women a bit but I could still not get him conviced to start trying to meet any through more honest methods.   That was when I started to think more about Jack's tour.   I felt it was my best shot at changing his life in a positive fashion.   I also felt that if I offered to send him on Jack's tour he would probably not go alone so I asked him if he wanted to go with me at my expense.  He jumped at the chance and really got into it.

Jack has different programs for meeting the gals.  One of Jack's programs is you pick your two top gals from each city and he has your letter, your photo and a rose hand delivered to the lady and they wait till she reads the letter and lets him know if they are interested.  He used that method, I just picked the gals i wanted for my meetings.   For the last 3-4 weeks before he went he was writing to several of his top choice ladies, one from Sumy and one from Lugansk were his two favorites.

He met the gal from Sumy and spent a day with her and seemed like that was going to be his choice.  Then we went to Lugansk and he spent three days with the gal there and seemed to be in love with her.  I began to think he was going to fall in love in every city but those two stayed his favorite.  He came back with the Lugansk gal his favorite but we have all been pushing him toward the other.  Now he seems to be leaning toward the Sumy gal.   (She has better English and no kids and seriously wants to find a good man.)  The other has nearly no English, has a two year old that the dad may not allow out of the country and is not as sure she wants to leave Ukraine but would like to marry him and have him move there.)  He has two others that he also liked a lot but he is keeping them on the back burner.

Before the trip in a conversation with Jack I said that I was going to give it my best shot but the trip to me was really in the hopes that my son would find a good gal.   I added that if I never met a woman and he found a good one I would be happy but that I would do my best on my own behalf too.

For me, I feel I met more good quality women on that tour than I did all my other trips put together with a few left over for spare.   There were easily a dozen attractive, nice women that were very interesting and maybe more.   If I make a follow up trip in about 5 weeks which is a possibility but depends on my Russia trip in 10 days, there are probably 3 that I will follow up on.   They are the three that really have stuck in my mind since my return.  I would be quite happy with any of the three.   There are also two I met in other ways on the same trip that would be in the running.   I will likely narrow it down between now and then if I do make another trip.

The results I saw with the other guys were mostly excellent.   The guys all seemed happy and like they had all met a lot of good women.   The big agency tours attract a lot of newbies who would not know a good woman from a scammer.  A lot of the guys are not the greatest of husband material.  The guys on this tour were all experienced.  I am not saying we can't be fooled but they know their way around and most were good catches for any ladies interested.  Jack does a good job of screening his guys.  

All I have to go by is the fact that I went and it was great, far better than I ever expected.   I would recommend it to anyone and have said to a few guys who were thinking of going that they definitely want to find some way to do it and they will never regret it.  I believe that.   If someone is thinking of an AFA tour I would tell them they will be wasting their money.  

I had never worked with agency's before this trip.   I was not much of a believer in that either but I have changed my opinion on that.  If someone wants to just go on their own and work with agencies I am sure they will meet a lot of good women.   I just think they will meet a lot more on Jack's tour and the extra cost will be worth it to them.   Both methods will work.    With Jack, you can do as many or as few cities as you want.  I chose to do a 4 city tour.   Yes, that cost me about 2 grand for each of us.   There are savings in transportation and with the agencies so I probably saved $ 4-500 over going alone.   When you factor in that I did not have to spend time finding the agencies, organizing my meetings and arranging my trip it was not that expensive.  

Jinx, you asked what I do for a living and if I were a millionare or what?    I own a small manufacturing business that makes landscape equipment.   It runs pretty smoothly and I have people that are quite capable of running the day to day operations so I can take off a lot of time if I want and not even call in.   The salary I take is probably a lot less than many others here.  I do think I am a pretty good money manager and I have no personal debt.   Everything I own is paid for so my cost of living is very small.  That gives me a lot of disposable income.  I also don't have expensive tastes.   My business is run the same way.  No debt whatsoever.

Right on PeeVee

[Gator]

PeeWee,

"Power dating" or "speed dating" in America is not the same as a group social.  It has equal number of men and women rotating among themselves. 

The lopsided ratio between men and women is why Russian women dislike socials.  One woman told me she felt like a horse for sale and needed to show her teeth to compare with the other horses.  Another said she felt like an orphan among orphans being reviewed by an adopting mother, knowing that only one of them will be chosen.  A social reminds women of their plight.  It is akin to an insult.  And if you know RW, you know they are not short of pride.   They are too proud to admit such a plight and certainly do not wish to be reminded of it.

If the shoe were reversed, how would you feel?   What would you say if the "nose" was the only woman at your table and sitting next to you are Jinx, Albert and four other bachelors, all listening to your conversation?  Could you answer sensitive questions about feelings and dreams?  A couple of pushy men may fare well, but most men would have problems communicating.

That is why I prefer one-on-one meetings.  I work better in such and the woman feels more comfortable.  The information shared can be broader and deeper.

[Turboguy]

In the case of big agency tours I agree with you.  In the case of Jack's tours they are sitting at a table with 3-5 guys and get to meet 12 men.   Doesn't sound that lopsided to me and even if it does they realize that they came three metro stops and we came half way around the world.

I don't think it is that much worse than when a gal gets all dolled up to meet a guy from 2-3 knowing that someone else met him from 1-2 and that another will be meeting him at 3-4   Getting dressed up one time and meeting a dozen guys sounds better to me than doing the same to meet one.

[jinx13]

Sounds like you have a good thing going with your business Turbo, it's nice when things run smoothly even when your not around. I'm still trying to get to that point with my business.

 I own a couple retail stores and it's difficult for me to be away too long, although I did take off for a month last year to go to Ukraine and Russia. It's just tough to find employees that care about the business as much as you do, I'm sure you understand what I mean.

 I'm still struggling to become debt free, it's not easy in this current economy. Hopefully one day I can get away, and travel the world while my business runs like clockwork, I will be sure to fly "Turboflot" when I do   

[Bruno]

Hmmm... in these topic, we have speak about tour with big agency and medium one like these of Jack...

But do you know that little agency organize tour... it is more a tourist tour where social are more "familial"... no great hotel, no buffet, no champagne... all more simple...

How so tour work ? Simply you select some women in the catalogue of agency, make the trip and during mini social, you meet these girls... for example, i go use picture from a Kyrgistan agency : Svetlana's bride ( www.svetlanasbrides.com )



The agency owner is on the right... the other women are potential bride...



Be careful, these women are hungry 



The man with army trousers is the guide... the other man is the foreign one...

PS : These agency can seem very cheap, almost free... it is not true, simply, you pay more in case of success...

On arrival Svetlana will meet you at the airport. Transportation from the airport to downtown in the day  will cost $20.00 and $30 at night. Svetlana will arrange for an apartment at $30.00-40.00 per night for a short period of staying (1-2 weeks) or $400-500 if you stay for a month or more...If you need Svetlana's services, she will help you as much as you need. Translation is $30.00 a day fee or $8.00 an hour. She can also arrange confidential meetings with each woman if you prefer. The cost of arrangements of services is $100.00. If you should find someone you like and make a match then there will be a $300.00 finders service fee. Please note that Svetlana will take care to see that you have a pleasant trip and keep costs to a minimum.

Only $100 for organize the several meeting... add $300 if you find a bride... seem that these little tour ( called excursion ) are interesting... you pay for result... in some way, it remember me the local agency in Belgium : 250 euro fee for membership, 1000 euro when you find the bride... you pay only when you have a resultat...

[Turboguy]

It works about like this Bruno.   Jack works with about 30 different agencies.   Each city you go to will have 3 or so of the agencies located there.   Before you make the trip you go throgh and pick out gals that you feel are the gals you feel would really have potential to be the right ones for you.   You then rate them.   This isn't really the rating system but for simplicity lets say top choice, second choice, etc.    With your number one choice Jack will try to set up a dinner meeting.   With your number two choice he will try and set up a lunch meeting.   The next ones down will be two hours apart and the lowest ones will be invited to the party.  At the party you get to meet everyones choices and there are usually no women off the street.   The agencys may send a few that they feel are good choices but the bulk of the party are ones at least one of the guys are interested in. 

Of course with the big agency tours it is anyone off the street and finding a good gal who is of interest is not easy.

[Bruce]

For Ukraine it always sounded to me like Jack's party system could have good results for meeting quality women.  The cities guys visit are relatively speaking close and the agencies providing women tend to have a small number of members.  Any single guy would have to admit Jacks party system sounds like a blast.  If you like moving on and do not like spending alot of time in one particular city it is great.  What is there really to see in most of the small Ukrainian cities then the girls anyway?  It also is a way to do a great first pass personal screen of alot of women.  It would then be up to the guy to go back to the girl / girls he made an initial connection with what could become a meaningful relationship. 

Now, what percentage of girls in Ukraine have quality character and are really open to meeting an American for the right reasons is a totally different discussion  .

[Gator]

Turbo,

My description of women's dislike of socials applies to the typical tour of past years.  Such are impersonal.

Your tour, and the one described, by Bruno seem friendlier.  That should temper a woman's aversion.  Also, she has seen your photo and letter (with a rose - nice touch), so her interest in you is stirred, and she is just "dying to meet you."  Does she know she is number 5?

Meeting women invited by other men is potluck unless the men have similar preferences other than large tata's.

So what you describe may work.  Nevertheless, I still would not go.  Perhaps that is just my nature - I abhor group travel of any type.  I am there to meet women and see the sights, and have fun doing it.  I have enough men friends already.