ABD or Rick Steeves?

[sayhello]

Look at river cruises. Tauck has family river cruises. AMA, I'm told, skews a bit younger and had a few cabins that hold 2 adults and a kid - very unusual on most lines. ABD does their river cruises on AMA, but you can also just go thru AMA and skip the Adventure Guides, photos, etc cost. Upside, no lugging luggage around as your hotel travels with you, meals are mostly on the ship, most excursions are paid for already. Downside is there's not nearly as much chance to go out OYO, as port times are rarely set in stone and the ship sometimes drops you off in one town and picks you up in another. It might be a way to combine an "easier," less planning on your end part of the trip with a shorter DIY land trip.

AmaWaterways has those cabins that hold 2 adults and a kid because they designed that floorplan on the new ships they collaborated on with ABD. Obviously, on cruises with those ships that don't involve ABD, they still have those suites.

AmaWaterways ships are beautiful, and their staff and crew are fabulous. But I don't know if all of their sailings would be "child friendly". I'd definitely check with them to find out which ones are & which aren't.

Sayhello

 

[LovesTimone]

Thank you for this! I really think we'll end up doing this on our own and making the trip what we want it to be. You've made a great point about food - I'm not the most adventurous eater, but eat more than chicken nuggets and pizza. I worry about eating peanut butter and crackers if we travel with a group!
[/QUOTE]


Everyone thought we were crazy not going the tour route... Once we got back and started talking about our trip and people saw all the pictures and everything... They were like wow you got all that done... one friend said how did you get to go into Notre Dame, I said we just went inside, she said the tour group, just walk around the outside and then moved on... she was shocked that we went inside... Another was shocked at everything that we saw and did while there, they said we did more in 5 days in Paris than they did in 2 trips with the tours...

With your little guy, I would think that you would be better off traveling on your own... This way if you need to stop, or go back to the hotel you can, with a group/tour that's not possible... As well you can plan things that he will enjoy to...and the family as a whole. Getting your family involved will help you plan on the whole...

I wrote a trip report on our trip to Paris - I am going to try and link it so you can take a peak... Instead of a daily diary, I broke it up into sections. This might help you when you start to plan, looking at breaking it up into sections, no matter where you decide to go to.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...ris-and-dlp-adventure-completed-7-10.3681409/
I am a super planner, and by breaking up things like transportation for example by looking at all the transportation that we would need, to and from the airport, to Disneyland Paris and back to the airport, sightseeing transportation. There alot to check out...then price fall into the mix - then pick and choose what works for your family... making sure how the transportation works, like the hop on hop off buses, or trains work out better... things like the tickets for the hop on hop off bus are for consecutive days, not any days of your choosing... Someone here brought that to my attention, which was sooo very much appreciated, so we planned accordingly... and I think it saved us around 50.00 euros just that one tip.

Being a super planner. I have a notebook, and a folder that I keep everything in Yep! old school, then I have a file on my computer so that as things progress and the must see and do's come to the top of the list... I print out the whole thing and take it with us... I know what we want to see and do, and I do have another list things that we would like to do, if time allows, or if something falls through... having several back up plans, B and C maybe even D, is always a good thing, so that you don't waste that precious vacation time, trying to find something else to do.

 

[ewoodall79]

Yes, the pricetag of ABD can be a hard thing to overcome. You really need to sit down, see what they give you vs what they don't, what those things cost, and just decide if the extra is worth it for you. For a first time trip, ABD is a really excellent way to go. You can always back off and do something more economical with less hand-holding after you've got that first trip under your belt. But I'll warn you. ABDs can be addictive!

Greece is fascinating. Wonderful history, WONDERFUL food, lovely people.

Just FYI, although you'd probably figure this out once you started Googling, but it's spelled Tauck, not Tauk. And Tauck Bridges is their family-oriented branch. The regular Tauck tours skew towards older folks.

Sayhello

I did notice that it was Tauck. After looking at what they offer, and the prices they charge, we'll stick with ABD if we decide on that large of a price tag.

Look at river cruises. Tauck has family river cruises. AMA, I'm told, skews a bit younger and had a few cabins that hold 2 adults and a kid - very unusual on most lines. ABD does their river cruises on AMA, but you can also just go thru AMA and skip the Adventure Guides, photos, etc cost. Upside, no lugging luggage around as your hotel travels with you, meals are mostly on the ship, most excursions are paid for already. Downside is there's not nearly as much chance to go out OYO, as port times are rarely set in stone and the ship sometimes drops you off in one town and picks you up in another. It might be a way to combine an "easier," less planning on your end part of the trip with a shorter DIY land trip.

I want to do a river cruise as well! I just don't think this will be what we do first. I like the idea of the same room each night, like what you'd get from a river cruise!

Everyone thought we were crazy not going the tour route... Once we got back and started talking about our trip and people saw all the pictures and everything... They were like wow you got all that done... one friend said how did you get to go into Notre Dame, I said we just went inside, she said the tour group, just walk around the outside and then moved on... she was shocked that we went inside... Another was shocked at everything that we saw and did while there, they said we did more in 5 days in Paris than they did in 2 trips with the tours...

With your little guy, I would think that you would be better off traveling on your own... This way if you need to stop, or go back to the hotel you can, with a group/tour that's not possible... As well you can plan things that he will enjoy to...and the family as a whole. Getting your family involved will help you plan on the whole...

I wrote a trip report on our trip to Paris - I am going to try and link it so you can take a peak... Instead of a daily diary, I broke it up into sections. This might help you when you start to plan, looking at breaking it up into sections, no matter where you decide to go to.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...ris-and-dlp-adventure-completed-7-10.3681409/
I am a super planner, and by breaking up things like transportation for example by looking at all the transportation that we would need, to and from the airport, to Disneyland Paris and back to the airport, sightseeing transportation. There alot to check out...then price fall into the mix - then pick and choose what works for your family... making sure how the transportation works, like the hop on hop off buses, or trains work out better... things like the tickets for the hop on hop off bus are for consecutive days, not any days of your choosing... Someone here brought that to my attention, which was sooo very much appreciated, so we planned accordingly... and I think it saved us around 50.00 euros just that one tip.

Being a super planner. I have a notebook, and a folder that I keep everything in Yep! old school, then I have a file on my computer so that as things progress and the must see and do's come to the top of the list... I print out the whole thing and take it with us... I know what we want to see and do, and I do have another list things that we would like to do, if time allows, or if something falls through... having several back up plans, B and C maybe even D, is always a good thing, so that you don't waste that precious vacation time, trying to find something else to do.

Thanks for the link! You've given me a ton to think about and I bet I go this route! I've ordered some tour books from Amazon and have a 4-day weekend coming up. I hope to put Christmas stuff away and dive into this. I know it's still 18ish months away, but I need a bit of something to look forward to.

 

[sayhello]

one friend said how did you get to go into Notre Dame, I said we just went inside, she said the tour group, just walk around the outside and then moved on... she was shocked that we went inside...

That's where you have to know what the different tour companies do and what they do/don't include, and use that as a part of your choice-making. They just obviously didn't choose the right tour company! We went inside of Notre Dame as well as climbed to the top of the bell towers on my London/Paris ABD. Maybe some tour groups just walk around the outside and move on, but not all.





Sayhello

 

[LovesTimone]

That's where you have to know what the different tour companies do and what they do/don't include, and use that as a part of your choice-making. They just obviously didn't choose the right tour company! We went inside of Notre Dame as well as climbed to the top of the bell towers on my London/Paris ABD. Maybe some tour groups just walk around the outside and move on, but not all.

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Sayhello

Yes... total agree with you, no matter how you decide to travel, you really need to know what your buying and/or spending for.... This is where you really have to dig in and find out what is really all included in tours.... drill down. Lots of time comparing...
My friends did not do this, and they were very disappointed in the tour company that they choose, basically they spent more time on the bus, or waiting in line... than actually being present and viewing each of the stops...He said the price seemed like it was so good, that they thought they were getting the same trip as the others that they compared it to...in the end that did not happen.

 

[Jess_S]

I have done one ABD and no Rick Steves trips, but I recommended Rick Steves to my parents and they have been on several of his trips. (I based the recommendation on feedback from a friend who had done his Eastern Europe trip for her honeymoon). If you have specific questions about Rick Steves tours, I am happy to ask my parents for their input. I do know that he has handled the pandemic very well. They got good communication about the trip they were supposed to do last summer and a prompt refund. I also know that families with kids are not his primary dynamic. If you read his books, he actually recommends not taking your kids to Europe so that you can enjoy it more as an adult. On the other hand, he also took his kids to Europe every year when they were growing up.

On his adult trips, the age range tends to skew 50+. But he does have a couple of family itineraries where the age would skew lower. My parents haven't done the family trips, so I can't get their input on what the dynamic is like on those trips.

I will check in with my mom to see if she has some photos I can share with you from one of their past trips so that you can get a sense of the accommodations and such.

Sayhello is so right that you need to make sure that a tour company actually visits the places on the itinerary, rather than just drives past them. I always feel bad for the people I see being herded past sights when I am out actually looking at them. ABD and Rick Steves both fit the bill in that respect as far as I have seen. You obviously can't see everything in a given place, but we did actually spend time enjoying every place on our ABD itinerary -- no drive bys. And my parents would say the same about RS.

 

[aggiedog]

A good friend of mine and his wife, ages 50, used RS a couple years ago and spoke highly of it. As an aside, not only did RS do well by his patrons, but I've heard he's also been paying his staff out of his own pocket this whole time, since they're not making any money on travel.

 

[sayhello]

A good friend of mine and his wife, ages 50, used RS a couple years ago and spoke highly of it. As an aside, not only did RS do well by his patrons, but I've heard he's also been paying his staff out of his own pocket this whole time, since they're not making any money on travel.

Not only that, but Rick Steves donates a portion of his yearly profits to various charities to try and offset the carbon footprint/impact of his company's travels. This year, even though he basically made nothing, he is still donating 50% of the amount he gave last year. I don't remember the amounts, but it's significant.

Sayhello

 

[pjacobi]

The Rick Steves' philosophy is to teach you to travel Europe on you own like a temporary European. He provides plenty of lessons in books, videos, in person lectures, and tours. Does this method of travel appeal to you?

Would you prefer a more luxury travel experience with AbD?

The choice is yours!


-Paul

 

[Mathmagicland]

but I've heard he's also been paying his staff out of his own pocket this whole time, since they're not making any money on travel.

yes - he’s paying his employees to volunteer in their communities whilethe travel industry is on hold.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/...emic/281-2d411758-2da2-469d-a9cd-5eed5a1d23b7