Other Options...

Does anyone know of any comparable options for Australia? The ABD date I wanted/needed is already in waitlist status for summer 2020, I was on hold for 4 hours today and didn't get it :-( Seems like Thomson and Tauck don't have Australia Family options. Is Nat Geo a good option, or Butterfield? I will have a 9 year old and an 11 year old then, so I don't want something that's too adult... Anything other companies I'm not thinking of? We could also go custom, but we've done that before and I feel like there's more pressure on us to be "on" all the time when we are 1:1 with our guides all day.

You should really try the waitlist first - As Say Hello has already mentioned, some folks drop when they find out they didn't get the EBD; sometimes they also add dates. They have 12 trips that are not adult exclusive - we usually come into these with four or five preferred dates - try a different date if you can't get your first choice. Australia is an amazing country and many parts of this trip are spectacular. Read some of the trip reports on this as well, and don't be shy about using OYO time - plan ahead.
 
You should really try the waitlist first - As Say Hello has already mentioned, some folks drop when they find out they didn't get the EBD; sometimes they also add dates. They have 12 trips that are not adult exclusive - we usually come into these with four or five preferred dates - try a different date if you can't get your first choice. Australia is an amazing country and many parts of this trip are spectacular. Read some of the trip reports on this as well, and don't be shy about using OYO time - plan ahead.
Crazy news - I called back, wait time was only 5 minutes (compared to hours earlier in the day) and it turns out that the person I talked to was wrong about availability. We are booked on the August date that I was hoping for. Thank you for your advice!
 
Crazy news - I called back, wait time was only 5 minutes (compared to hours earlier in the day) and it turns out that the person I talked to was wrong about availability. We are booked on the August date that I was hoping for. Thank you for your advice!
I think they pull in people from other groups to help out on high-volume days, and they don't actually know that much about ABD or their systems. SO glad it worked out for you! Persistence paid off!

Sayhello
 
I was browsing Nat Geo Family trips last night. I noticed that the 2020 trips have changed. The price has dropped significantly and are now listed as "casual" level of service vs "premium". The hotels are different (assume less high end?) Gratuities are no longer included. The trip size is now capped at 20 guests (vs 25....surprised by this!) Interesting changes.
 


I was browsing Nat Geo Family trips last night. I noticed that the 2020 trips have changed. The price has dropped significantly and are now listed as "casual" level of service vs "premium". The hotels are different (assume less high end?) Gratuities are no longer included. The trip size is now capped at 20 guests (vs 25....surprised by this!) Interesting changes.
I think they have actually doubled their offerings, and now half of them are "premium" (higher end hotels, more full itineraries) and half of them are "casual" (less high end hotels, more on your own time in the itineraries). They have added a bunch of new ones for 2020, including a France trip that looks very similar to the one ABD used to do. I'm sort of irrationally-first-world-problem-sick over that, because we just took our kids to France over spring break on our own and Adventures-by-Mom is not nearly as fun as Adventures-by-Someone-Else. We would have done that Nat Geo trip in a heartbeat, but now too much overlap with what we just did.
 
I think they have actually doubled their offerings, and now half of them are "premium" (higher end hotels, more full itineraries) and half of them are "casual" (less high end hotels, more on your own time in the itineraries). They have added a bunch of new ones for 2020, including a France trip that looks very similar to the one ABD used to do. I'm sort of irrationally-first-world-problem-sick over that, because we just took our kids to France over spring break on our own and Adventures-by-Mom is not nearly as fun as Adventures-by-Someone-Else. We would have done that Nat Geo trip in a heartbeat, but now too much overlap with what we just did.

What BluesTraveler said...there are more trips, ranging from premium to casual (the "journeys") trips. The trip I am looking at to Alaska for 2020 is a premium expedition and gratuities are included. And it's definitely not lower price ($7k per person). But, I also looked at one of the journeys trips as an option. The dates we want/need would be only $3800 pp vs. the $7000 pp, But, it's a very different trip. Out of 16 different Alaska trips, only two are not "premium."
 
Last edited:
I think they have actually doubled their offerings, and now half of them are "premium" (higher end hotels, more full itineraries) and half of them are "casual" (less high end hotels, more on your own time in the itineraries). They have added a bunch of new ones for 2020, including a France trip that looks very similar to the one ABD used to do. I'm sort of irrationally-first-world-problem-sick over that, because we just took our kids to France over spring break on our own and Adventures-by-Mom is not nearly as fun as Adventures-by-Someone-Else. We would have done that Nat Geo trip in a heartbeat, but now too much overlap with what we just did.

Nat Geo's France itinerary looks great. It includes the Loire Valley which is critical.

I kind of feel the same way. We're doing Morocco on our own this Christmas with a private guide. I'm a little embarrassed to say what we're spending, but it's a lot more than Nat Geo's. If I were planning a family trip to Morocco from scratch, I'd give this strong consideration.
 


I think they have actually doubled their offerings, and now half of them are "premium" (higher end hotels, more full itineraries) and half of them are "casual" (less high end hotels, more on your own time in the itineraries). They have added a bunch of new ones for 2020, including a France trip that looks very similar to the one ABD used to do. I'm sort of irrationally-first-world-problem-sick over that, because we just took our kids to France over spring break on our own and Adventures-by-Mom is not nearly as fun as Adventures-by-Someone-Else. We would have done that Nat Geo trip in a heartbeat, but now too much overlap with what we just did.

What BluesTraveler said...there are more trips, ranging from premium to casual (the "journeys") trips. The trip I am looking at to Alaska for 2020 is a premium expedition and gratuities are included. And it's definitely not lower price ($7k per person). But, I also looked at one of the journeys trips as an option. The dates we want/need would be only $3800 pp vs. the $7000 pp, But, it's a very different trip. Out of 16 different Alaska trips, only two are not "premium."

Oops, I was referring to the FAMILY trips for 2020...they are now Casual Service. Yes, Signature Land trips are still available (just not Family specific). Anyway, it looks like the Nat Geo Family trips will now be more in line with their Journeys offerings rather than their Premium Expeditions. Thought it would be good info for those looking at alternatives to ABD....they are no longer comparable in the accommodation category....but are still a great alternative! The low group size is definitely a plus!
 
Nat Geo I believe will still have family signature land trips available. I read it to say that they were giving people options - signature level or casual level, although the trips are not identical, different itineraries, etc.

Blues Traveler - I love the "Adventures by Mom" thing. You are right, Adventures by someone else are definitely more fun for this mom!
 
We are doing Portugal in June with "Adventures by Mom"! lol After doing a number of Tauck Bridges Tours and our recent Disneyland Short Escape ABD, my heart's just not into planning the way I used to be. With 3 daughters (ages 23, 18 and 16), I have to make sure there is at least one activity or tour planned each day or we'll be standing around looking at each other or they'll be whining about being bored.
 
Oops, I was referring to the FAMILY trips for 2020...they are now Casual Service. Yes, Signature Land trips are still available (just not Family specific). Anyway, it looks like the Nat Geo Family trips will now be more in line with their Journeys offerings rather than their Premium Expeditions. Thought it would be good info for those looking at alternatives to ABD....they are no longer comparable in the accommodation category....but are still a great alternative! The low group size is definitely a plus!
That’s interesting, I didn’t notice that there were no 2020 dates posted for the Family Expeditions. I wonder if they’re getting rid of those, or just haven’t posted new dates yet.

The Family Journeys are new for 2020. They’re a partnership with G Adventures, who also run a handful of their own family tours. Dates for those are posted through 2020 as well. They’re definitely lower end than ABD/Nat Geo Expeditions though.
 
I love the France itinerary but I am not sure if it is too low end for the way we like to travel.
 
We are doing Portugal in June with "Adventures by Mom"! lol After doing a number of Tauck Bridges Tours and our recent Disneyland Short Escape ABD, my heart's just not into planning the way I used to be. With 3 daughters (ages 23, 18 and 16), I have to make sure there is at least one activity or tour planned each day or we'll be standing around looking at each other or they'll be whining about being bored.

We did "Adventures by Mom" for Alaska last year. I built our schedule using the itineraries of ABD, Tauck, & Nat Geo as a guide. My kids were 17, 15, & 13...I encouraged them to read up on the guide book & itineraries and give input on things they wanted to do/see. They helped a lot and we had a fabulous trip!
 
We are doing Portugal in June with "Adventures by Mom"! lol After doing a number of Tauck Bridges Tours and our recent Disneyland Short Escape ABD, my heart's just not into planning the way I used to be. With 3 daughters (ages 23, 18 and 16), I have to make sure there is at least one activity or tour planned each day or we'll be standing around looking at each other or they'll be whining about being bored.
Have them plan it! Give them a Portugal guide book and tell them to decide what they want to see/do. If they can’t agree on things, assign each girl a certain number of days to plan. Maybe they’ll be less inclined to whine about being bored if they do some of the planning.
 
I called Nat Geo today - and the woman I spoke with said they are not discontinuing the Family Expeditions and replacing them with the Journeys - they just don't have 2020 dates for the Family Expeditions yet. They'll have both offerings next year.

This is consistent with our experience last year - we were waiting for them to post their 2019 dates before we made a final decision and as I recall they 2019 dates were not up until July 2018.
 
Last edited:
Update - Nat Geo just called me back to say...they don't actually know for sure about the family expeditions (the higher end). She very politely told me they're not sure internally. Maybe they are discontinuing those so as to not compete with ABD since they are now the same company??
 
Update - Nat Geo just called me back to say...they don't actually know for sure about the family expeditions (the higher end). She very politely told me they're not sure internally. Maybe they are discontinuing those so as to not compete with ABD since they are now the same company??

That's what I was thinking. It would make sense. Glad that they've added the Journey-type trip, though! Great to have yet another option for all levels of traveling style!
 
We did "Adventures by Mom" for Alaska last year. I built our schedule using the itineraries of ABD, Tauck, & Nat Geo as a guide. My kids were 17, 15, & 13...I encouraged them to read up on the guide book & itineraries and give input on things they wanted to do/see. They helped a lot and we had a fabulous trip!

I'm working on an Adventures by Mom Alaska for next summer and I've poured over all of the group itineraries that I could find. My kids (12 and 15) will never read the guide books, but I do ask them a lot of questions.

I'm also working on a trip to DC and I did give them a survey to complete with different categories (Smithsonian museums, monuments, governmental buildings, other things) and had them rate their top things in each category so that I could plan our limited time to make sure that we hit the things that were important to the group.

Family Journey trips - I was looking at them the last few days. Definitely lower end accommodations, which I think I could live with. However, in some parts of the world, I think that I'd like more structured time and less on-your-own.
 
Update - Nat Geo just called me back to say...they don't actually know for sure about the family expeditions (the higher end). She very politely told me they're not sure internally. Maybe they are discontinuing those so as to not compete with ABD since they are now the same company??

I noticed that there were no 2020 dates up for the "family" version of the Alaska trip that we are looking at. If this is true, then it seems like they will have to be much more open about allowing kids of all ages on the premium expeditions.

What's funny is, I would have considered ABD for Alaska because of the significant price difference between ABD and Nat Geo, even though I like the Nat Geo itinerary better. ABD is offering special pricing of $4889 on the June 1, 2020 departure - but it's an adult only trip :/
 
We did "Adventures by Mom" for Alaska last year. I built our schedule using the itineraries of ABD, Tauck, & Nat Geo as a guide. My kids were 17, 15, & 13...I encouraged them to read up on the guide book & itineraries and give input on things they wanted to do/see. They helped a lot and we had a fabulous trip!
Have them plan it! Give them a Portugal guide book and tell them to decide what they want to see/do. If they can’t agree on things, assign each girl a certain number of days to plan. Maybe they’ll be less inclined to whine about being bored if they do some of the planning.

Thanks for the suggestions. :goodvibes I do include the girls and my husband in the planning and it was their choice for our family summer vacation this year. I have some great private tours and activities planned that will be educational, active and fun. But it's also nice to leave the planning to someone else at times.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top