Aventures By Disney Mediterranean Magic Experience

[valbob89]

Yesterday we signed up for our first Adventure tour. We have been on over 10 DCL cruises but need your help with planning for this experience. Are any of you on the June 1, DCL Med cruise and Adventures by Disney? Have any of you done Adventures by Disney in conjunction with a cruise? Any recommendations would be appreciated. I am sure we will have a lot of questions and always appreciate the willingness of the people on this board to offer their help.

 

[abdgeek]

I did the ABD add on in 2011 for the Med Cruise(7 night) and had a great time! We got a free case of water, free photo pass, and free Palo dinner for the adults. Nothing's guaranteed, but I would imagine they would do something similar for you. The ABD guides will meet you in the terminal and let you know what additional perks are included in your package. You are always the first group off the ship and usually the last to return.

The ABD guides make sure you have snacks, water, rain ponchos, bathroom breaks, etc. whenever you go on excursions. It was nice to have someone else do the worrying. I know that I would not have seen all that I did without doing the ABD! Just realize that you won't see everything in each city. I'm going back in 2013 on the 12 night to see what I couldn't see the first time(Nice, Canes, Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii, etc.). Unfortunately, I'm not doing the add-on the second time because the first seven days is the exact same thing I did before.

The Med Cruise is a world wind trip. You will be tired, but it will be worth it!

 

[krispykreme97]

Do you book excursions along with ABD or is that considered an excursion itself?

 

[Poppins2000]

We are booked for the 3 Night/4 Day ABD Barcelona pre-July 25 cruise. We have done one ABD, The Emerald Isle back in May 2008. This is a short one but we are certainly looking forward to it as neith DH or I have been to Barcelona!!

 

[Poppins2000]

Do you book excursions along with ABD or is that considered an excursion itself?

Pretty much considered an excursion itself, ABD will have all your in port days and excursions planned for you, that's a big chunk of the price since your room and board are covered by your cruise costs...

 

[CBEB]

We're doing the DCL Med/ABD in August. Our first ABD was the DCL Alaska/ABD and we were so glad we did it that way - saw and did WAY more than we could have on our own.

Last summer we did the China ABD. No cruise involved but absolutely awesome!

 

[valbob89]

Thank you so much for the great info. Another question, if I may. How is tipping handled? How much do you tip your two guides? Do they give you a recommended amount like they do the other CMs?

 

[tracyz]

We did this in 2011 and loved every minute! I don't recall exactly how much we tipped our guides, but your pretrip info will suggest an amount, and I'm sure someone else here has that info...but your ABD guides should be the only ones you have to tip! ABD takes care of all other tips, including all the local guides and all of the usual standard tipping on the ship.

Something to keep in mind...the photo CD is included with your package! Take advantage of the chance to get the professional family photos! That was a huge bonus for me.

 

[abdgeek]

Thank you so much for the great info. Another question, if I may. How is tipping handled? How much do you tip your two guides? Do they give you a recommended amount like they do the other CMs?

The recommended tip amount is $6-$9 per person, per day, per guide(I think I got that right). I always travel solo so I just have to tip for myself for the two guides. You give the guides their tip at the end, in cash or euros, at the final activity. They give you envelopes ahead of time to put the money in. You can tip more than the recommended amount if you want to. I always set the ABD guide tip aside and bring it with me when I leave home. That way I don't have to scramble to find change, etc. at the end.

 

[WildernessMickey]

I signed up for the ABD package for the Aug 31 7 day med cruise. I am planning to be mostly surprised by it all since one of the reasons I signed up is so that I don't have to worry about researching excursions! I'm confident that Disney will have everything taken care of and we can just enjoy our trip and see lots more than I could have ever planned.

 

[sayhello]

I did the ABD add-on to the Med cruise (12-night) in 2010. It was FABULOUS! It was so nice having ABD make all the arrangements, take care of all transportation and meals, etc. Most days, we did the equivalent of 2 to 3 excursions, which you couldn't do on your own without returning to the ship, or hiring private tour guides. And no lines!

The ABD activities *are* your excursions; nothing to arrange on your own.

I loved it, and would definitely do it again.

You can check out my Trip Report for the Med Cruise/ABD add-on in my signature!

Sayhello

 

[valbob89]

I did the ABD add-on to the Med cruise (12-night) in 2010. It was FABULOUS! It was so nice having ABD make all the arrangements, take care of all transportation and meals, etc. Most days, we did the equivalent of 2 to 3 excursions, which you couldn't do on your own without returning to the ship, or hiring private tour guides. And no lines!

The ABD activities *are* your excursions; nothing to arrange on your own.

I loved it, and would definitely do it again.

You can check out my Trip Report for the Med Cruise/ABD add-on in my signature!

Sayhello

Thank you for posting, very much enjoyed your trip report. Based on your report we will ask our TA to change our dining to early. Also, trying to decide if we want to schedule a separate trip to Pompeii. Thanks again
Update: My TA called DCL to change our seating to main dining but the CM told her all ABD cruisers need to be in late dining because the tours often get back late.

 

[abdgeek]

Thank you for posting, very much enjoyed your trip report. Based on your report we will ask our TA to change our dining to early. Also, trying to decide if we want to schedule a separate trip to Pompeii. Thanks again
Update: My TA called DCL to change our seating to main dining but the CM told her all ABD cruisers need to be in late dining because the tours often get back late.

You definitely need to have late dining with the ABD. Most nights, we got back to the ship about an hour or so before our dinner time. I didn't even see any of the shows on this trip. I had seen them before on the other cruises, but that will give you an idea of how packed the trip will be.

There are several things you won't see on the ABD. Mind you, you see more than you would see on your own; however, you won't see Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius(except from afar), and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. If these are important to you, you would need to miss the ABD that day and do your own thing. I wouldn't recommend this if it is your first trip. Just plan on going back and doing the things ABD doesn't do the next time.

 

[meajuly5]

To the op who did Alaska with abd add on, did your excursions go as scheduled? I am hesitating bc the Ketchikan excursions don't thrill me with the abd and if Juneau get replaced bc of poor weather I will wonder if I got my money's worth. Would love your input

 

[CBEB]

To the op who did Alaska with abd add on, did your excursions go as scheduled? I am hesitating bc the Ketchikan excursions don't thrill me with the abd and if Juneau get replaced bc of poor weather I will wonder if I got my money's worth. Would love your input

Our excursions did all go as scheduled.

Of course the helicopter ride and dog sledding were beyond awesome. We were told that if the helicopters were grounded, we would go to the dog sledding "summer camp" - not sure what that would have been like.

Ketchikan COMPLETELY surprised us - we thought for sure that would just be a ho-hum day. That rain forrest consists of a wooden walkway up in the air (strung between the trees) so that you can easily see the bears and other wildlife without them being able to eat you! That visit was our #2 highlight behind the dog sledding. We took a zillion pictures here - mostly of bears (including cubs).

The George Inlet lodge was also a lot of fun even for the non-crab lovers like my DH. I'd tell you more about why this was so much fun, but that would spoil one of the many ADB surprises you'll do a long the way that aren't listed in the itinerary!

 

[meajuly5]

Oh you are selling me! I know nothing us a guarantee with weather etc but I really want to see bears! And the dogs! Did you enjoy the Skagway day?? How were the onboard adventure perks? We have three kids under 10 traveling with us and my mother so it's hard to
Please all of us!

 

[CBEB]

Oh you are selling me! I know nothing us a guarantee with weather etc but I really want to see bears! And the dogs! Did you enjoy the Skagway day?? How were the onboard adventure perks? We have three kids under 10 traveling with us and my mother so it's hard to
Please all of us!

We had lots of little ones and 2 sets of grandparents so no worries there!

Skagway was great, primarily for the train ride. While the "others" were crammed into rail cars, we had our very own complete with refreshments. Easy to move around and get just the right pics as the view changed. The suspension bridge was "okay" - fortunately we didn't stay long. Jewell Garden was another pleasant surprise to us - really enjoyed this stop.

On board, we (just 3 of us) felt like a big family. Really was fun to get together for activities and ABD surprises. Also, we all sat together at dinner so could compare notes on what everyone like best about the day. And since we were on the ABD package, we took LOTS of photos with the ship photographers as all of those are included. Usually we don't do this as they can be pretty expensive.

It was really hard to write that check the first time - just about doubled the trip price. It was most definitely worth every penny we spent to do it. Hence we're now signed up for ABD #3!

If you've never done an ABD before, then you don't know about all of the surprises along the way. Hopefully, no one will chime in and tell you as being surprised is half the fun of it! None of them are super big deals, just really makes the experience more fun for everyone.

Book it!

 

[sayhello]

Our excursions did all go as scheduled.

Of course the helicopter ride and dog sledding were beyond awesome. We were told that if the helicopters were grounded, we would go to the dog sledding "summer camp" - not sure what that would have been like.

I did the "summer camp" dog sledding in Skagway. It was fun, as we got to meet the dogs (and puppies!) and learn about the Iditarod race. We got to ride in their wheeled carts that they use to keep the dogs in shape when there's no snow. It was fun, but I cannot imagine that it would in any way compare to actually dog sledding on a glacier. But nobody controls the weather...

Sayhello

 

[meajuly5]

Thanks for the input! It Ll sounds good...

 

[valbob89]

So we've taken the plunge and put a downpayment on the ABD Med inconjunction with DCL cruise. Thanks to all of you for your input. Now to decide if we sign-up for the Port Adventure Amalfi Coast and Pompeii Ruins Tour and skip the ADV Naples visit to a farm for pizza making and boat tour of Capri. Can't decide if we will really regret missing Pompeii and should just bite the bullet and pay the extra. Input from any of you who have done both would be greatly appreciated.