Meal times during ABD

[xiphoid76]

hi there,
We are hoping to do our first ABD next year and our biggest concern is with meals. We typically eat fast and don’t want to waste a lot of time with meals, especially if there is so much to do and see. Is this a problem on ABD? Can you excuse yourself from a meal if it takes too much time or are they strict that everyone eat and stay together?
Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Jess_S]

I would imagine this really varies by itinerary and I have only done one ABD. But ABD does make meal time more efficient by having you preorder a lot of your meals on day 1 so that they just bring the food out to you when you are sitting down. I personally did not feel like there was too much time spent on meals and there were many where you could just go off and continue exploring once you were done. But there were also some where you could not because you were heading to another location after by coach and wandering off would slow the group down.

I would suggest reading some reviews to get a sense of how ABDs work. On many of the itineraries, there is a ton packed in. Rather than viewing the meals as a waste of time, you may well be thinking, "finally, a few minutes to sit down."

 

[BluesTraveler]

Agree with Jess_S, above. Meals are usually pretty efficient or a nice break. They are often a resting place between activities, so most often best if you don't wander off. The only time we've had meals go on too long was in Iceland, where they're just not set up to deal with the large crowds, and even that was only a couple times. I think you can cross this off your worry list!

 

[xiphoid76]

Thanks for the responses. This makes me feel better. I have spent the last hour perusing different reviews - so much fun.
Food is just such a non-issue for us. We usually grab a sandwich at a grocery store or convenience store and go on our way. Neither one of us are foodies. I could eat a peanut butter sandwich for every meal and be happy.
Looks like there is variety on each of the ABD trips and I am sure they will be accommodating for us
Food does seem to take up a lot of time on these trips though with breakfast, lunch and dinner together as a group...just not sure if that is something we want to do on our adventure. We will keep looking at reviews and decide.

 

[Jess_S]

What itinerary are you looking at? Even where meals are included, it does not necessarily mean they are group meals. For example, all the breakfasts in Scotland were included, but breakfast was the hotel buffet at whatever time we chose to go and eat. My son and I actually sat and ate. My husband would run in and grab something 5 minutes before the meetup time so that he could sleep more.

And there are on your own lunches and dinners in almost all of the itineraries.

 

[lpm23]

I agree with Jess_S. We have been on 5 ABDs and breakfast is generally on your own. For the other meals even some of the ones that are included are at your leisure. That being said some meals do take a little bit because they are trying to feed 30-40 people. Typically if the kids start to get bored we will take a little walk around or check out a gift shop. Usually everyone stays for the whole meal unless it's getting late at night and some families will skip dessert etc

 

[Cousin Orville]

You will spend a decent amount of time at the group lunches and dinners. Breakfast really isn't an issue as you can show up as early or late to breakfast as you like before the morning meeting time. But even with the set lunches and dinners, ABD is an extremely efficient way of traveling. We travel on our own all the time, but ABD typically packs more experience into a day than we're capable of on our own. Also most guests find it nice to take a break for lunch and dinner and have a chance to chat with fellow guests. That really is one of the advantages of group travel rather than a disadvantage.

 

[Chirple]

hi there,
We are hoping to do our first ABD next year and our biggest concern is with meals. We typically eat fast and don’t want to waste a lot of time with meals, especially if there is so much to do and see. Is this a problem on ABD? Can you excuse yourself from a meal if it takes too much time or are they strict that everyone eat and stay together?
Thanks for any feedback.

Hi @xiphoid76; nice to see you in this forum! We've only done one ABD so far (AZ/UT 3 years ago) and have our next one (Backstage Magic) this August. As everyone else mentioned, breakfast can be done at your own pace. For group meals I didn't find that we were in any one place for too long (and AZ/UT locations can be pretty isolated). I think our longest meal was our welcome dinner when we made our initial introductions.

Side note: I don't think you'll need to worry about dressy footwear. I'm sure your dressier tennis shoes will be fine.

 

[xiphoid76]

What itinerary are you looking at? Even where meals are included, it does not necessarily mean they are group meals. For example, all the breakfasts in Scotland were included, but breakfast was the hotel buffet at whatever time we chose to go and eat. My son and I actually sat and ate. My husband would run in and grab something 5 minutes before the meetup time so that he could sleep more.

And there are on your own lunches and dinners in almost all of the itineraries.

Looking at Egypt for next year. Thank you for the feedback - that makes me feel better!

 

[RebelHawk]

For both our Peru and NYC trip we had some times when we broke away from the group and just did our own thing. We wanted to check out something that was nearby or it wasn't on our itinerary and if it wasn't a travel day we just met up with group later. The guides can even help with recommendations or in one case arranged for transportation to a local town we wanted to go to in Peru.

 

[xiphoid76]

Hi @xiphoid76; nice to see you in this forum! We've only done one ABD so far (AZ/UT 3 years ago) and have our next one (Backstage Magic) this August. As everyone else mentioned, breakfast can be done at your own pace. For group meals I didn't find that we were in any one place for too long (and AZ/UT locations can be pretty isolated). I think our longest meal was our welcome dinner when we made our initial introductions.

Side note: I don't think you'll need to worry about dressy footwear. I'm sure your dressier tennis shoes will be fine.

Yaaa! For the tennis shoes So funny you would remember that! I do love my sneakers. I just got new ones with multi colored Hickeys!
I can’t wait to try this Egypt trip. As a gay couple, Egypt scares us a bit since they don’t exactly like the gays; but on a ABD we figure this would be a very safe way to explore this country!

 

[xiphoid76]

For both our Peru and NYC trip we had some times when we broke away from the group and just did our own thing. We wanted to check out something that was nearby or it wasn't on our itinerary and if it wasn't a travel day we just met up with group later. The guides can even help with recommendations or in one case arranged for transportation to a local town we wanted to go to in Peru.

Perfect! That is what we were hoping. Sounds like ABD guides are very accommodating.

 

[Jess_S]

Looking at Egypt for next year. Thank you for the feedback - that makes me feel better!

I asked because I was hoping that someone who had done the trip would be able to tell you how the meals were -- but not in this case.

(On an mostly unrelated note, the one area where I do think that group travel slows you down is waiting for everyone to use restrooms. But I think it will be a fair trade off for having the security of group travel given the destination).

 

[Chirple]

Yaaa! For the tennis shoes So funny you would remember that! I do love my sneakers. I just got new ones with multi colored Hickeys!
I can’t wait to try this Egypt trip. As a gay couple, Egypt scares us a bit since they don’t exactly like the gays; but on a ABD we figure this would be a very safe way to explore this country!

I will always remember the shoe situation because my husband rarely strays from his sneakers. Your situation reminded me of him

We're going to Egypt, too (at least that's the plan right now). Are you looking at an Adults Exclusive or a Family trip?

 

[xiphoid76]

I will always remember the shoe situation because my husband rarely strays from his sneakers. Your situation reminded me of him

We're going to Egypt, too (at least that's the plan right now). Are you looking at an Adults Exclusive or a Family trip?

We are looking at October, most of them seem to be adult only. I am fine with either. My parents took me to Egypt as a young kid, so I think that is so cool that some kids will get to experience this! What about you?

 

[Chirple]

We are looking at October, most of them seem to be adult only. I am fine with either. My parents took me to Egypt as a young kid, so I think that is so cool that some kids will get to experience this! What about you?

We're looking at the October 20th Adult Exclusive trip. We don't have children, and this will be our only Adult Exclusive of the three ABDs. Considering we've done 13 DCL cruises, we really don't have an issue being on a family trip.

 

[xiphoid76]

We're looking at the October 20th Adult Exclusive trip. We don't have children, and this will be our only Adult Exclusive of the three ABDs. Considering we've done 13 DCL cruises, we really don't have an issue being on a family trip.

We are looking at the same one!! Do you think it will sell out quickly? We haven’t been on one before so can’t book early and we are on a DCL when the bookings open. Don’t think we can book on board. Super excited, those dates work perfect for us if we could get it! Do you know how many people they take?

 

[sayhello]

Dinners with the group is one of my favorite times on these trips. You catch up with each other, get to talk & chat with the Adventure Guides, learn about the places you're at, enjoy the food. Many times, you'll take the motorcoach to the dinner spot, so if you wanted to leave early, you'd have to manage your own transportation. (Although the Guides will likely help you arrange that). But I agree with the others about treasuring the brief down time.

Sayhello

 

[Chirple]

We are looking at the same one!! Do you think it will sell out quickly? We haven’t been on one before so can’t book early and we are on a DCL when the bookings open. Don’t think we can book on board. Super excited, those dates work perfect for us if we could get it! Do you know how many people they take?

I believe as a platinum DCL cruiser you will get a little head start for booking than the general public. I agree with the other posters in letting a travel agent do the reservation for you. I have used Dreams Unlimited for our past and upcoming trips but am using a different TA for Egypt so that we can be on the same trip as our friends (same TA).

Since there are a number of Egypt trips scheduled, booking non-summer might be an advantage. I don’t know the max number of people for each Egyptian adventure.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

One advantage that you get by participating in the included meals that hasn't been mentioned yet: Disney thoroughly vets each restaurant which is included on the itineraries, which may include inspecting the kitchens for food safety. While this may not be a big deal in the US, it is a great reassurance in countries like China and Peru.

I would NOT recommend skipping out on the included meals. You've already paid for them, and you may miss important details about the next activity on the trip, since these are sometimes shared at the conclusion of the meal. Also, you don't want your fellow adventurers waiting on you, if you don't make it back in time.