changes in 2018 Itineraries

[west&east]

I am spying several changes for 2018
* Costa Rica- Tortuguero is out and instead the initial internal plane ride takes guests over to Arenal. I know a lot of folks on my trip last year wondered why we were not flying to Arenal, so I guess this is a trade off.

*Arizona/ Utah- one night is now at Golding Lodge in Monument Valley.

*Central Europe- 2nd hotel is now Sheraton Grand Salzburg. Mixed feelings about this one...

 

[Cousin Orville]

Germany - goes to Berlin rather than Heidelberg and Waldeck.

N. Europe & Switzerland - hotels have changed in Stresa and Zermatt.

Scotland looks very different.

 

[sayhello]

Germany - goes to Berlin rather than Heidelberg and Waldeck.

N. Europe & Switzerland - hotels have changed in Stresa and Zermatt.

Scotland looks very different.

You're right. Scotland is *very* different! I guess it's no longer a "Brave" Adventure.

No Isle of Skye!! I am SO glad I took this adventure before they removed the Isle of Lewis, and especially before this change. It doesn't look like a *bad* itinerary, but those were 2 of the best parts.

Sayhello

 

[OKW Lover]

N. Europe & Switzerland - hotels have changed in Stresa and Zermatt.

Disappointed in the change to the Zermatt hotel.

 

[Kez250]

Ireland trip will change quite a bit from the one we took this April. No Guinness Storehouse visit or Jeannie Johnston - EPIC and walking tour instead. No more Irish national stud farm (which we thought was awesome) Kurling instead. No more Muckross, a chocolate experience instead, no more Kate Kearneys cottage, Irish farm dinner instead with scone making. Burren Smokehouse and Brewery instead, no more medieval dinner, no more Blarney Castle.

 

[RebelHawk]

The Peru trip has one minor change. On the first and last day of the trip when in Lima it is now the Westin Lima Hotel instead of the JW Marriott. The Westin is more into the center of town vs the JW Marriott that is out on the coast. We did enjoy the view from the JW Marriott hotel looking out on the coast but we can't compare it to what might be in the areas around the Westin as we didn't spend much time exploring Lima.

 

[White Rose]

Germany looks very different. Starts in Munich ends in Berlin. Goes to a concentration camp, no steiff. Concentrates on WWII stuff. Trip is in the reverse order. Very different feel completely. We are on the last trip of 2017. We would not have booked this new trip.

I understand many people must be interested in such an itinerary, but this new one is not for us.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Ireland and Scotland changes look good. I'm seriously gonna Scotland again, the changes are so significant. Ireland hasn't changed enough, but almost.

Very disappointed no castle for Germany trip now. That was a big selling point for me. I had London/Paris and France only booked for this year, but had to cancel them before final payment due to some uncertainty with my summer schedule. Glad to see they haven't changed, as l'll probably rebook for 2018.

Iceland looks great, but....

 

[mouselike-harrier]

San Francisco long weekend. Looks like they took out the lobby tour at Lucasfilm and now are limited to taking pictures on the grounds. Disappointed in this. I know you didn't get to see much, but at least it was something. Also it looks like they took out the tour of Chinatown and only left the dinner. They also changed a visit to Silverado vineyards to simply a vineyard. It's these little changes that cheapens the quality of the tours.

 

[WDWmom08]

I can't imagine doing the Costa Rica trip without going to Tortuguero. The turtle walk was one of my favorite parts of that trip.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

*Central Europe- 2nd hotel is now Sheraton Grand Salzburg. Mixed feelings about this one...

I never understood why they weren't staying in Salzburg in the first place. On our trip 90% of our activities were in and around Salzburg, not Germany so staying in Germany and then having to drive back, sometimes up to an hour, into Austria seemed like such a waste of time to me.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

I really enjoyed the stay at the castle on the Germany trip. I would miss that, but am excited to see Berlin and Nuremberg. I'm not really into the factory tours, so I don't care if it's pencils or bears. We added a couple of days at the end of our Germany trip to visit Salzburg and Vienna and stayed at the Sheraton. It was a very nice hotel.

Great to see Adam from our London/Paris trip headlining the Iceland trip!!!

Laurie

 

[BluesTraveler]

We loved Alaska last year, and the changes to next year make it look even better. I have a little bit of itinerary envy!

 

[Cousin Orville]

You're right. Scotland is *very* different! I guess it's no longer a "Brave" Adventure.

No Isle of Skye!! I am SO glad I took this adventure before they removed the Isle of Lewis, and especially before this change. It doesn't look like a *bad* itinerary, but those were 2 of the best parts.

Sayhello

I'm sad to see the Isle of Skye go. I was less interested in Scotland after the loss of the Isle of Lewis. This probably kills it for me. Scotland was my DW and my first overseas trip together, and I'm looking forward to going back. But it was the Highlands and Isle of Skye that I really fell in love with and must see again. We're leaving on our Iceland cruise soon and one of the ports is Inverness. I was about to arrange a private tour until I saw a Port Adventure to Kyle of Lochalsh and Eileen Donan Castle. I was so excited to see that.

Disappointed in the change to the Zermatt hotel.

Yep. The Zermatterhof is full of such history, is so quaint, and the view of the Matterhorn from your balcony was the greatest thing ever. Not the most luxurious hotel, but one of my favorites on any ABD. On the other hand, Stresa looks better. Glad to see that hotel upgraded.

Germany looks very different. Starts in Munich ends in Berlin. Goes to a concentration camp, no steiff. Concentrates on WWII stuff. Trip is in the reverse order. Very different feel completely. We are on the last trip of 2017. We would not have booked this new trip.

I understand many people must be interested in such an itinerary, but this new one is not for us.

Very disappointed no castle for Germany trip now. That was a big selling point for me.

I enjoyed my Germany ABD. I'm glad I had a chance to see Waldeck and Heidelberg. I'm happy to see ABD keeping Rothenburg which was my favorite part of the trip. And more time in Munich would be nice. That felt rushed at the end of my trip. It seems to skew older now with the addition of Dachau, fewer castles and Berlin. I really love Berlin. I got a chance to take a brief Port Adventure there for a day and would love to return. So, I actually prefer this newer itinerary.

 

[sayhello]

Great to see Adam from our London/Paris trip headlining the Iceland trip!!!

Laurie

Are you talking about in the photos?

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

Well Scotland is back on the radar for me with the new changes since we did it during the inaugural year.

We wound up booking China ... finally. I am looking forward to seeing trip reports for the new Scotland itinerary.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Are you talking about in the photos?

Sayhello

Yes and he posted that he will be guiding them.

Laurie

 

[sayhello]

Yes and he posted that he will be guiding them.

Laurie

Oh, cool!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

I'm sad to see the Isle of Skye go. I was less interested in Scotland after the loss of the Isle of Lewis. This probably kills it for me. Scotland was my DW and my first overseas trip together, and I'm looking forward to going back. But it was the Highlands and Isle of Skye that I really fell in love with and must see again. We're leaving on our Iceland cruise soon and one of the ports is Inverness. I was about to arrange a private tour until I saw a Port Adventure to Kyle of Lochalsh and Eileen Donan Castle. I was so excited to see that.

I totally understand. The loss of those Island excursions is really just so sad to me!

Have you been to Eileen Donan Castle? You're going to love it. I can't believe that's not part of the ABD itinerary any more, either!

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

I totally understand. The loss of those Island excursions is really just so sad to me!

Have you been to Eileen Donan Castle? You're going to love it. I can't believe that's not part of the ABD itinerary any more, either!

Sayhello

Yes. We went in the winter time about 15 yrs ago. Yes it was cold! We loved every minute of it. So, it will be very nostalgic going back.