$4,000 more!!!

[wdhinn89]

I guess everyone has different wants. My kids will be 20 and 16 1/2 next year so we prefer heavy on the history and sites. Even though they are older I prefer to go on a family friendly tour vs a tour were most people are in their 60's and up and have a hard time doing activities. Tauk and ABD seems to fit the bill.

Personally, I just can not understand the huge price difference. It does not make sense. Believe me, I love Disney. Just came back from the World but I just do not see anything that justifies a $4,600 dollar difference. A few hundred, or $1,000, yes but not $4,600

 

[Bobo912]

I guess everyone has different wants. My kids will be 20 and 16 1/2 next year so we prefer heavy on the history and sites. Even though they are older I prefer to go on a family friendly tour vs a tour were most people are in their 60's and up and have a hard time doing activities. Tauk and ABD seems to fit the bill.

Personally, I just can not understand the huge price difference. It does not make sense. Believe me, I love Disney. Just came back from the World but I just do not see anything that justifies a $4,600 dollar difference. A few hundred, or $1,000, yes but not $4,600

Did you check out the Tauck Culturious trips? It might not be what you're looking for but they target a younger clientele, but not families with children.

 

[sabrecmc]

It’s funny that you mention the historical aspect of the trips, because I intentionally stayed away from Europe trips (including the ABDs) for several years because they were so heavy on history and we did the ones with more outdoor activities instead. I know my DS is not interested in history – he likes rafting, ziplining, etc. and animals. But when we finally did a European trip he loved it. There were a lot of activities in addition to the historical tours, but even the historical tours were fun for the kids. The local tour guides made it entertaining for them.

I haven’t done the Italy trip with either company, so I can’t speak to that. The first TB trip we took in 2010 was the Northern CA/Yosemite trip. It included kayaking, biking, visiting the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, etc., a lot of activities that were fun for everybody. The kids did rock wall climbing and a junior ranger activity at Yosemite and the guide came up with games and contests (with prizes) for the kids throughout the trip. Last year we did the Danube cruise, which I remember in more detail since less time has passed. There was a scavenger hunt for the kids in Bratislava, a bike ride into one of the small villages for ice cream, a visit to the Vienna Prater where the tour directors challenged the kids to a bumper car battle and rode other rides with them, as well. They had a race with prizes through the maze at Schonbrunn Palace. They baked and decorated cookies. There were contests of some sort every day where the tour guides gave play money as prizes and the kids could use it to buy things at the gift shop. The tour directors purchased and assembled kites for the kids to fly on the deck of the boat, which was really cool. They had a dance party with refreshments on deck for the kids (no adults allowed except the tour directors), which gave the adults a chance to have a quiet dinner or a visit to the spa. We had an activity near the end of the trip where everybody made a sculpture of a face out of marzipan. The guides took all of the kid’s sculptures (and there were probably 40 or more kids) and made up a funny, personalized award to present to each kid along with a prize. They bought a lot of stuff for prizes and everything that was left over, the kids “bought” with the remainder of their play money. I’m probably forgetting some things, because there were so many extra things the tour directors did for the kids. But aside from the surprises, all of the activities that weren’t geared specifically toward the kids were still a lot of fun for them. I’ve been on 4 ABD (#5 booked for next summer) and 2 TB trips and my experience has been that TB has as many kid friendly activities as ABD. I will definitely be taking more TB trips in the future, as well.

Thanks! That sounds really fun. Maybe it is a Europe versus North America thing, which kind of makes sense, activities-wise. Sounds like a really great trip!

 

[ennuiphobe]

Did you do one of the trips that has the fun activities? I'd definitely be interested in hearing more about that.

I guess I see lots of guided tours with historians mentioned, though it says family-friendly, and, while that may be super interesting for some kids, it just doesn't sound as exciting for my DD. Lawn games, olive oil making, folk singing group, mask-making, a masked dinner with Venetian dancers, detective game...Maybe that is just a personal preference knowing my girl, or the way ABD describes things on their website (if so, kudos for marketing), but that sounds loads more fun! Not sure if that makes up for the price difference, and I'm sure each tour and each company has its benefits, but it certainly sounds more fun for a child. I've seen this stuff, so for me, it is really about exposing her to the world and having fun as a family. I'm not against TB, particularly for the price, I just really want her to have fun, even if that costs a bit more.

Having just gotten back from TB Italia Bella, I'd say it does sound like the ABD tour has more planned activities. But I think this goes back to my earlier comment that ABD provides more handholding, a more cosseted experience. TB has fewer planned activities but more freetime, and thus is more for the traveler that wants to occasionally escape the tourist bubble and pursue individual interests and directly engage the visited culture.

Neither type of trip is better than the other, and in different circumstances and destinations I might prefer one over the other. If I'm going somewhere where there are things I want to do on my own, TB is probably the better choice. If it's somewhere where I'm content to sit back and leave everything in the tour director's hands, ABD is probably best. As I've said, both get the important things right: luxurious accomodations, seamless travel and logistics, good local guides, line skipping and special access, etc.

I'll mention a couple things that may not show up on the Tauck site:
- Tauck pays the wifi charge at the hotels, so free wifi during the trip
- Tauck will arrange pickup at the airport even if you book your pre-arrival hotel reservation yourself. I believe ABD will only pickup if you book through them

Finally, I will say that after having gone on four of these types of tours, I no longer worry about my son staying engaged or having fun. Kids will be kids. They'll bond and find ways to have fun.

 

[ennuiphobe]

Last year we did the Danube cruise, which I remember in more detail since less time has passed. There was a scavenger hunt for the kids in Bratislava, a bike ride into one of the small villages for ice cream, a visit to the Vienna Prater where the tour directors challenged the kids to a bumper car battle and rode other rides with them, as well. They had a race with prizes through the maze at Schonbrunn Palace. They baked and decorated cookies. There were contests of some sort every day where the tour guides gave play money as prizes and the kids could use it to buy things at the gift shop. The tour directors purchased and assembled kites for the kids to fly on the deck of the boat, which was really cool. They had a dance party with refreshments on deck for the kids (no adults allowed except the tour directors), which gave the adults a chance to have a quiet dinner or a visit to the spa. We had an activity near the end of the trip where everybody made a sculpture of a face out of marzipan. The guides took all of the kid’s sculptures (and there were probably 40 or more kids) and made up a funny, personalized award to present to each kid along with a prize. They bought a lot of stuff for prizes and everything that was left over, the kids “bought” with the remainder of their play money. I’m probably forgetting some things, because there were so many extra things the tour directors did for the kids. But aside from the surprises, all of the activities that weren’t geared specifically toward the kids were still a lot of fun for them. I’ve been on 4 ABD (#5 booked for next summer) and 2 TB trips and my experience has been that TB has as many kid friendly activities as ABD. I will definitely be taking more TB trips in the future, as well.

Bobo: on your Danube cruise you mention tour directors (plural). Was that Tauck Bridges and did they have two directors or were those local guides?

 

[Bobo912]

Bobo: on your Danube cruise you mention tour directors (plural). Was that Tauck Bridges and did they have two directors or were those local guides?

We had a cruise director and 4 Tauck tour directors. And there were also local guides whenever we visited an attraction.

 

[pihanettie]

Having just gotten back from TB Italia Bella, I'd say it does sound like the ABD tour has more planned activities. But I think this goes back to my earlier comment that ABD provides more handholding, a more cosseted experience. TB has fewer planned activities but more freetime, and thus is more for the traveler that wants to occasionally escape the tourist bubble and pursue individual interests and directly engage the visited culture.

Neither type of trip is better than the other, and in different circumstances and destinations I might prefer one over the other. If I'm going somewhere where there are things I want to do on my own, TB is probably the better choice. If it's somewhere where I'm content to sit back and leave everything in the tour director's hands, ABD is probably best. As I've said, both get the important things right: luxurious accomodations, seamless travel and logistics, good local guides, line skipping and special access, etc.

I'll mention a couple things that may not show up on the Tauck site:
- Tauck pays the wifi charge at the hotels, so free wifi during the trip
- Tauck will arrange pickup at the airport even if you book your pre-arrival hotel reservation yourself. I believe ABD will only pickup if you book through them

Finally, I will say that after having gone on four of these types of tours, I no longer worry about my son staying engaged or having fun. Kids will be kids. They'll bond and find ways to have fun.

Well said and I agree. Thanks to you and Bobo I will more strongly consider Tauck for my next trip. Nice to see there is some healthy competition out there. Better than a monopoly.

 

[sayhello]

Having just gotten back from TB Italia Bella, I'd say it does sound like the ABD tour has more planned activities. But I think this goes back to my earlier comment that ABD provides more handholding, a more cosseted experience. TB has fewer planned activities but more freetime, and thus is more for the traveler that wants to occasionally escape the tourist bubble and pursue individual interests and directly engage the visited culture.

Neither type of trip is better than the other, and in different circumstances and destinations I might prefer one over the other. If I'm going somewhere where there are things I want to do on my own, TB is probably the better choice. If it's somewhere where I'm content to sit back and leave everything in the tour director's hands, ABD is probably best. As I've said, both get the important things right: luxurious accomodations, seamless travel and logistics, good local guides, line skipping and special access, etc.

I'll mention a couple things that may not show up on the Tauck site:
- Tauck pays the wifi charge at the hotels, so free wifi during the trip
- Tauck will arrange pickup at the airport even if you book your pre-arrival hotel reservation yourself. I believe ABD will only pickup if you book through them

Finally, I will say that after having gone on four of these types of tours, I no longer worry about my son staying engaged or having fun. Kids will be kids. They'll bond and find ways to have fun.

I'm out of town, so not able to multipost like I want (iPads aren't the best for cut-and-paste! . )

I know that a part of the price difference between ABD and TB is that ABD is Disney, so they can. (Just look at DCL). But might not some of it also be 2 Guides vs 1 Guide, more hand-holding, more planned activities, less time when you're on your own, etc? Absolutely, whether this is a plus or minus is up to the traveler, but I can understand why the "handholding" trip would cost more.

I took an Alaska cruise tour with Princess a few years back. There were two versions of the tour. They both went to the same places, stayed at the same (princess owned) lodges, but one of the tours was a "fully escorted" tour, and included more activities, a tour director, more meals. And was *far* more expensive than the one I took. Those things do cost money. Doesn't make one better or worse than the other. . Just depends on what you want and how much you can or will pay for that trip.

Sayhello

 

[Bobo912]

I'm out of town, so not able to multipost like I want (iPads aren't the best for cut-and-paste! . )

I know that a part of the price difference between ABD and TB is that ABD is Disney, so they can. (Just look at DCL). But might not some of it also be 2 Guides vs 1 Guide, more hand-holding, more planned activities, less time when you're on your own, etc? Absolutely, whether this is a plus or minus is up to the traveler, but I can understand why the "handholding" trip would cost more.

I took an Alaska cruise tour with Princess a few years back. There were two versions of the tour. They both went to the same places, stayed at the same (princess owned) lodges, but one of the tours was a "fully escorted" tour, and included more activities, a tour director, more meals. And was *far* more expensive than the one I took. Those things do cost money. Doesn't make one better or worse than the other. . Just depends on what you want and how much you can or will pay for that trip.

Sayhello

I think you hit the nail on the head when you say Disney can do what they want. I haven't taken the trip that ennuiphobe took, but on my two Tauck trips there was no more time on our own than on the ABDs we've taken. I kind of feel like there may have been less, so it probably varies from trip to trip.

 

[wdhinn89]

Just a little update. We finally were able to pick a date for our Italy tour. By the time we did this, the price difference between ABD and Tauck Bridges was $10,000 Tip: If you really, really want to tour with ABD, book as soon as tour dates are released

For us it was a no brainer, we went with Tauck. Tauck also had an airfare sale. $1190pp round trip, non-stop, which we took. Right now the same flights booked on our own is $1692pp round trip so we are saving another $2000.

So to some this up, by booking our tour with Tauck, the price of our Italy trip now includes airfare and travel insurance for 4 people ( as well as a $2,000 savings on the airfare - not included in comparison) PLUS 1 night pre tour hotel in Venice and 2 night post tour hotel in Rome . The total cost of all these items would have been the price we would have paid for ABD for the tour only. But the down side is we have 1 less tour guide and we are missing out on a Disney backpack and some pins and I guess the Disney experience as well. I think we made a good decision. I will let you all know in July

 

[RSM]

congrats on booking your trip, wdhinn89. Good friends of mine took this Tauck trip last June and had nothing but good things to say. They were blown away by the experience Tauck provided. Hope you have as good a trip as they had.

 

[Bobo912]

Just a little update. We finally were able to pick a date for our Italy tour. By the time we did this, the price difference between ABD and Tauck Bridges was $10,000 Tip: If you really, really want to tour with ABD, book as soon as tour dates are released

For us it was a no brainer, we went with Tauck. Tauck also had an airfare sale. $1190pp round trip, non-stop, which we took. Right now the same flights booked on our own is $1692pp round trip so we are saving another $2000.

So to some this up, by booking our tour with Tauck, the price of our Italy trip now includes airfare and travel insurance for 4 people ( as well as a $2,000 savings on the airfare - not included in comparison) PLUS 1 night pre tour hotel in Venice and 2 night post tour hotel in Rome . The total cost of all these items would have been the price we would have paid for ABD for the tour only. But the down side is we have 1 less tour guide and we are missing out on a Disney backpack and some pins and I guess the Disney experience as well. I think we made a good decision. I will let you all know in July

Tauck sends backpacks for the kids that are much nicer than the current ABD backpacks. And they are packed with travel games and some other nice items. I'm not sure at what point guests become too old to receive the backpack. My DS has two, but he was 9 and 12 when we took our TB trips. You'll also save a bit more, since the guides tips is included with the price of the TB tour. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[wdhinn89]

congrats on booking your trip, wdhinn89. Good friends of mine took this Tauck trip last June and had nothing but good things to say. They were blown away by the experience Tauck provided. Hope you have as good a trip as they had.

Tauck sends backpacks for the kids that are much nicer than the current ABD backpacks. And they are packed with travel games and some other nice items. I'm not sure at what point guests become too old to receive the backpack. My DS has two, but he was 9 and 12 when we took our TB trips. You'll also save a bit more, since the guides tips is included with the price of the TB tour. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Thank you so much for the good wishes. I am sooooooooooooooo excited!!