Other Options...

[tgeorge]

I won't be updating as we go, as you know we're very limited on what we can bring with us on the Nat Geo trips and we're not planning on bringing many of our electronics with us so I'll be writing everything down "old style" with a pen and paper while we're there and then posting it when I get home. But I'll make sure to post when I get the blog posted.

I am very excited to hear about this trip also! SE Asia has been on my list for quite some time. It will be nice to see the comparison between the Nat Geo and the ABD!

So, Ireland and Scotland B2B, that sounds amazing! Plus, you save on airfare. Very cool

 

[Bobo912]

Short feedback on our Uniworld Castles on the Rhine cruise. It was just wonderful. It was a mutli-generational cruise and there were 38 kids. Total number of guests was around 110-120, I think. The family cruise included some kid-friendly excursions that weren't listed on the itinerary. One difference between our Tauck cruise (and ABD too) is that this isn't a charter, so all of the crew and staff works for Uniworld. I thought there was more interaction between the crew/staff and guests, since it wasn't guides working for one company and everybody else working for another. And all of the crew and staff were just delightful. Even the captain had several activities with the kids, including a kids-only dessert party. Service was absolutely wonderful. Food was fantastic. And there was food and drink at every turn. If we were sailing during the afternoon, there was tea time and on the day we sailed by the castles there was a sausage/pretzel/beer buffet in the sky lounge (enclosed lounge on the top deck) between breakfast and lunch. I would have taken this cruise just for the dining experience each evening! Excursion were also good. I could have used one or two fewer walking tours and something a little more interactive, but the walking tours were a good introduction to the cities/towns and there was plenty of time to do things on your own. Something I think is fairly unique was that there is room service on the ship and there are washing machines available for guests. Last bit of feedback is related to the itinerary in general and not to Uniworld. My apologies to anyone from the area, but even with the lovely towns and all the castles, IMO the location just doesn't compare with Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, etc. on the Danube cruise. Regardless, we loved the cruise and had a fantastic time

 

[Calfan]

Short feedback on our Uniworld Castles on the Rhine cruise. It was just wonderful. It was a mutli-generational cruise and there were 38 kids. Total number of guests was around 110-120, I think. The family cruise included some kid-friendly excursions that weren't listed on the itinerary. One difference between our Tauck cruise (and ABD too) is that this isn't a charter, so all of the crew and staff works for Uniworld. I thought there was more interaction between the crew/staff and guests, since it wasn't guides working for one company and everybody else working for another. And all of the crew and staff were just delightful. Even the captain had several activities with the kids, including a kids-only dessert party. Service was absolutely wonderful. Food was fantastic. And there was food and drink at every turn. If we were sailing during the afternoon, there was tea time and on the day we sailed by the castles there was a sausage/pretzel/beer buffet in the sky lounge (enclosed lounge on the top deck) between breakfast and lunch. I would have taken this cruise just for the dining experience each evening! Excursion were also good. I could have used one or two fewer walking tours and something a little more interactive, but the walking tours were a good introduction to the cities/towns and there was plenty of time to do things on your own. Something I think is fairly unique was that there is room service on the ship and there are washing machines available for guests. Last bit of feedback is related to the itinerary in general and not to Uniworld. My apologies to anyone from the area, but even with the lovely towns and all the castles, IMO the location just doesn't compare with Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, etc. on the Danube cruise. Regardless, we loved the cruise and had a fantastic time

Great to hear this positive feedback about Uniworld. We are seriously considering a European holiday markets river cruise with them in Dec. 2018. Thanks so much for posting.

 

[BluesTraveler]

Thank you for posting! I confess I hadn't heard of them. This board has been such a valuable source of travel tips and reviews, I only wish I'd discovered it several years ago.

 

[WendyYoung]

Thank you for sharing Calfan. It's so nice to read first hand experience with other travel companies.

Tauck Bridges includes tips. I loved that on our Ireland tour last summer. I'm one of those people who will agonize over whether I over or under tipped someone.

We are leaving Saturday for our second TB tour. Majestic California. After the exhaustive planning of our recent Eastern Med cruise and Greece vacation in June, I'm looking forward to leaving the details to someone else.

How was the bed situation with a family of three? It's my biggest concern re: travel overseas with two parents and one teenage boy.

 

[kaseyC]

How was the bed situation with a family of three? It's my biggest concern re: travel overseas with two parents and one teenage boy.

With Tauck Bridges for Ireland last year since they booked us into Junior suites with a rollaway, The Conrad in Dublin had 2 doubles plus the roll away, Castlemartyr in Cork had a King, a sofa and a rollaway and Dromoland castle had a 2 doubles and a rollaway.

We also travel quite a bit on our own in Europe as a family of 5 and we usually book apartments or apartment style hotels. Since our girls are now older we have also booked a triple for the 3 girls and a double for me and my husband.

 

[kmc33]

Has anyone done a river cruise with 3? It sounds like the cabins are not that large. ABD and Tauck both offer some cabins for 3. On Tauck I noticed that the price per person for the cabin that accommodates 3 is higher than getting 2 cabins in the category that does not charge a single supplement. But not sure if that is the best thing for a family vacation... for DS to be by himself in a room. For the family Uniworld sailings, ABD or Tauck, could anyone who has gone tell me if there were many older teens? DH thinks our DS (high school junior) would be bored. If there are other teens, he would enjoy that more than spending the whole trip with just DH and me
Thanks!

 

[Bobo912]

Has anyone done a river cruise with 3? It sounds like the cabins are not that large. ABD and Tauck both offer some cabins for 3. On Tauck I noticed that the price per person for the cabin that accommodates 3 is higher than getting 2 cabins in the category that does not charge a single supplement. But not sure if that is the best thing for a family vacation... for DS to be by himself in a room. For the family Uniworld sailings, ABD or Tauck, could anyone who has gone tell me if there were many older teens? DH thinks our DS (high school junior) would be bored. If there are other teens, he would enjoy that more than spending the whole trip with just DH and me
Thanks!

There were a lot of teens on both our Tauck and Uniworld cruises. None of them seemed bored. My DS was 12 on first cruise and 16 on the one we took this summer. He loved them, but of course, it depends on the kid. With Tauck anyone under 18 has to be booked in a cabin with an adult. I'm not sure about Uniworld. I don't remember reading that, but it could be the same with them.

 

[carpenta]

We did the Danube Tauck Bridges river boat cruise and was in a three person suite. It is a huge room as far as river boat rooms go and the bath has a large shower as well as a bath tub. Really nice room. Our cruise there were a spectrum of teens from 12 through 17. Everyone got along really well and there was special teen activities.

 

[Ava]

Has anyone here been on a Rick Steves tour? I used to love his TV show on PBS and only recently discovered that he has a tour company as well. They are budget tours (older non-chain hotels, you carry your own luggage, etc.) and they only have a couple of family tours, but it seems like an interesting option at a lower price point than ABD & many of the other companies mentioned here.

 

[aggiedog]

I'm looking at doing a trip with a friend, and don't need family style activities, or even the level of luxury my dh prefers, though I'm definitely over the hostel stage in my life. I do like the idea of being at least partially guided, with travel organized by someone else. I'm looking at the Rick Steve tours and also Road Scholar. I'm 48, and have no problem traveling with old folks if the pace is not sedate. (Road Scholar has some mountain hiking trips I couldn't begin to do!) I was hoping the travelers here would have some recommendations on companies in the mid range market. We'd like to go somewhere in Europe, sometime between January and April, preferably not too cold and wet, so I'm open to country specific agencies as well.

Mostly we just want to travel somewhere, without breaking the bank.

 

[Woodview]

It will be Winter. & Snow weather in a lot of places.

BUT

Check out The Netherlands & going to Belgium & along coast of France .

Spain & Portugal And the coast From France to Italy

Check out Holland International

 

[aggiedog]

That's where I was leaning, the Med area, though we're open to anywhere that isn't dismal. It looks like Holland International is associated with Thomson Travel. The Holland site is all in Dutch, and the UK Thomson site originates all flights from the UK for package trips. Otherwise, it's just hotel or resort reservations. Am I missing something?

 

[sayhello]

I know folks who have traveled with Road Scholar, and really love it. But I don't know too much detail, and they are on the elderly side of things.

Sayhello

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I have now traveled with ABD, CIE, and Tauck. (Not the Tauck Bridges program.) We're doing a trip next year with G Adventures (co branded through National Geographic), but we're also doing an ABD next year.

I like comparing trips and trip providers.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

G Adventures is partnered with Nat Geo on their "Journeys" trips, which is their least formal level of touring. You would have some guided touring in the morning after a group breakfast and then they would let you go off on your own. They also are the least expensive of the Nat Geo offerings.

 

[acndis]

We are looking at Austin Adventures for Scotland. Their trip is 7 days which would allow us to do Edinburgh and London on our own at a lower price. I have run the gamut on this. I am not crazy about the ABD itinerary. It looks like a lot of touring and travel. I really liked the Nat Geo itinerary but it is now more expensive than ABD w/o the Edinburgh add-on. I've been really impressed with Austin Adventures. They were really responsive and even though I am looking at Summer 2018, they are looking into prices and dates before their release for me. The AA groups are only 18 for the family adventures and they seem to not have as many of the cultural experiences the ABD offers (those were the kind of things we were okay with missing) but instead has lots of activities. I'll post as I find out more! The prices are pretty great if they have a destination you are interested in!

 

[carpenta]

We are doing Nat. Geo Family to Iceland next year and then Tauck to Costa Rica at Christmas. Maybe ABD in 2018.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

We are doing the Rhine River Cruise with ABD in June. If I hadn't already booked it before we left for our China trip we wouldn't be doing it. I had some issues with ABD in China (nothing to do with the guides, rather ABDs policies pertaining to assisting guests after the official tour ends -- which is, btw, no help at all, even if a category 5 typhoon is tracking to cross your intended flight path; you are ON YOUR OWN, even if you book additional nights with ABD) and other issues, to a lesser extent, on the Italy / Switzerland trip (which were no fault of the guides, who were AMAZING).

Dd and I are flying from Amsterdam (where our cruise ends) to Johannesburg to do our own safari / Cape Town trip (ds has to fly home from Amsterdam as he works full time and can't get additional time off). We will spend 3 nights at King's Camp in the Timbavati (famous for the rare white lion), then fly to the western section of the famous Sabi Sands Game Reserve for 4 nights at Leopard Hills. From there we will fly to Cape Town and stay for 3 nights at the amazing One & Only resort on the V&A waterfront. We will have 2 days of private guided tours with a driver and guide; one day will be a half day shopping (my request) and half day in wine country (dd would be bored to tears if I did a full day wine tour), the second day will be Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope, Boulder Beach, etc. (not Robbens Island because this is a 3 hour tour that, while interesting, I didn't think we had the time for). This is a luxury trip (all 5* lodges with upgraded accommodations), including internal flights and all meals (and laundry on the safari portion) and costs $2,000.00 less than the S. Africa ABD. I didn't like the ABD itinerary (Kapama is a fenced reserve that doesn't border Kruger NP) and all the S. Africa tours were sold out before July 1st of this year. I hope dd won't be bored since we won't be traveling with other families, but the lodges we are staying at are all family-friendly. Frankly she wouldn't have had a good time on the Italy / Switzerland trip since there weren't any teenagers close to her age (the oldest by a few years was 12 and dd is 14).

A few of the major things I like about planning my own travel: business class seats for all internal flights if possible (I can't stand being crammed into economy class), we always upgrade our rooms a few categories and having complete control of the itinerary.

On the river cruise we have one of the few cabins for 3 people. I am hoping that it is big enough for us as we are all tall and used to large, open spaces. It will be nice to travel with both of my kids together as well.

Another small thing about ABD that bothers me a bit is that we aren't staying a night in Basel before the cruise (there is really nothing to do there, so we are flying into Zurich a day ahead, touring there, staying in a very nice suite at a lovely hotel (the Schweitzerhof across from the train station), then taking the train to Basel the day the cruise starts); I asked ABD if we could take the shuttle from the hotel to the ship. They said that since we aren't paying the exorbitant price to stay at the hotel in Basel we couldn't take one of the shuttle buses to the ship. Not a huge deal, but it leaves me scratching me head wondering why they would have an issue with that. We can just as easily take a cab from the train station to the ship, but it still seems strange to me, especially since we are paying a small fortune for the cruise. Oh well.

I think we are done with ABD, at least for the foreseeable future. We are planning on doing Antarctica with A&K in December, 2017 and returning to Africa (to Tanzania for the great migration and the Ngorongoro Crater) in 2018 -- again on our own. It was a great product for us for a few years and we had some memorable trips, but it is time for us to move on.

 

[carpenta]

............as far as pre night hotel stay there are other companies that offer this free if you are a returning guest. It is funny how it is usually the "little things" that bother people.