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[Bobo912]

A couple questions about Tauck Bridges:

Do the Tauck prices rise as the trip fills as ABD prices do? No the price remains the same.
It looks like you lose your deposit if you have to cancel your trip, like ABD, but will Tauck allow you to move your trip to a different departure after you book without penalty (assuming availability)? I've never needed to move my reservation, but I know people who have and I don't believe they paid a penalty. I doubt that any company is going to have a policy that allows you to change your date without penalty. ABD specifically says you can't, but we know sometimes they do anyway. Tauck will also place a hold on a trip for you (not sure for how long), if you haven't completely made up your mind yet, or at least they have in past years.
Does Tauck offer any incentives or early booking offers? I've never seen any incentives for first time guests, but returning guests receive a free pre or post hotel night, which is a nice perk. Also, some TAs have incentives, just like some have incentives for ABD.
Do they have the "front of the line access" that ABD has? Yes.

TIA for your feedback!

Answer above in red. As far as cancelling goes, you can purchase Tauck's trip insurance. For the Italy trip it is $275 pp. I believe you only lose the cost of the insurance if you cancel. You may have a travel agent you like to work with and not be interested in this, but if you have a Discover Card, and book a Tauck trip through their travel desk, you get 5% cash back. Another thing to consider, Tauck Bridges tour director gratuities are included in the price of your trip, ABD guide's gratuities are not. The tips for the guides are a big additional expense.

 

[aggiedog]

Interesting. The ABD river cruise states gratuities are included. And interesting the cost of insurance is different for different trips.

 

[Bobo912]

Interesting. The ABD river cruise states gratuities are included. And interesting the cost of insurance is different for different trips.

The river cruise is the only ABD trip where gratuities are included. Since it's a bigger group with more guides, it's probably too complicated to figure out who to tip and have it work out fairly for the guides. That was a good decision by ABD to handle it that way.

 

[kristilew]

kmc33, you said you had the same questions as the OP. Not sure if that includes the ones about the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain, but if so I wanted to share two factors -

Trevi Fountain - not sure when it will be back to normal, but when we were on the Italy ABD in December, the Trevi fountain was drained and covered in scaffolding. Quite ugly. We did have a stop there on our whirlwind walking tour of Rome, and there is a tiny spot where they keep water for you to throw a coin over your shoulder, which our guides provided and they posed us for pictures, but until the fountain is actually working again, I wouldn't let that be a factor in one trip or another.

Spanish Steps - This was the first stop of the day. We were dropped off at the top, posed for pictures, then we walked down to the bottom. We stood at the bottom for a bit, getting information on the embassies in the area, and posed for another photo. It was neat at Christmastime because there was a beautiful nativity scene set up. We were there pretty early in the day and the steps were empty. If you were looking to get the feel of the Steps in their more famous "packed with people" mode, you would have to go on your own anyway.

I know I'm one of the naysayers when it comes to triples, but I have to say that other than that, the Italy ABD was a "Mary Poppins trip" for us - practically perfect in every way. Above all, it was incredibly relaxing. I think it's something to do with how long it's been running, and how often the guides lead this trip. They anticipated every single question or desire we could have (probably because they've heard it all a hundred times) so we really did not have to think about a thing. We felt it was worth every penny. Of course, we haven't yet done a Tauck trip to compare....

 

[laceltris3]

I am thinking of doing the same and would love to hear about your experiences. The problem is when you have a family of 5, that $1500-2K difference per person on some itineraries really adds up, especially when you throw in the additional $800 or so in tips and the way ABD accommodates triples. While we find the markup on DCL to be "worth it" an extra $10K per trip is a bit much. We could do another 7 night on DCL for that!

 

[Rapunzellover]

Just wanna say, re: Trevi fountain, that my ABD guide said it's supposed to be finished later this year. So, if you're planning next year, you should be in luck.

 

[kmc33]

Thank you everyone for the responses and thank you Bobo912 for the answers to my detailed questions. Very useful information!

In reference to the OP's question, it is the overall comparison of the ABD vs TB Italy trip that caught my eye and more specifically, if the cost is so different roughly $1600 per person, is the quality of the trip not as good as ABD? I am a believer in "you get what you pay for" so I am having a hard time accepting that the TB trip may be as good. And I love everything Disney, so it gives me some heartburn to break away.

The cost difference between the Italy trips is more significant than some of the other comparable trips. Our first ABD was Ireland. I did a good bit of research at the time and looked at Tauck Bridges, but the cost of the their Ireland trip and ABD's was very close; the cost was also close between the Grand Canyon trips, our second trip, so we stuck with ABD. With a larger cost difference this time, we are thinking this might be the time to give Tauck a try. I just hope on the trip I would not be constantly feeling like they weren't doing things as well as ABD.

So, final question, for those of you who have done both ABD and TB, did you feel like TB was second place compared to Disney?

Thank you so much for all your help.
P.S. If the OP is still hanging around, I would love to hear your feedback on the TB Italy trip.

 

[Bobo912]

Thank you everyone for the responses and thank you Bobo912 for the answers to my detailed questions. Very useful information!

In reference to the OP's question, it is the overall comparison of the ABD vs TB Italy trip that caught my eye and more specifically, if the cost is so different roughly $1600 per person, is the quality of the trip not as good as ABD? I am a believer in "you get what you pay for" so I am having a hard time accepting that the TB trip may be as good. And I love everything Disney, so it gives me some heartburn to break away.

The cost difference between the Italy trips is more significant than some of the other comparable trips. Our first ABD was Ireland. I did a good bit of research at the time and looked at Tauck Bridges, but the cost of the their Ireland trip and ABD's was very close; the cost was also close between the Grand Canyon trips, our second trip, so we stuck with ABD. With a larger cost difference this time, we are thinking this might be the time to give Tauck a try. I just hope on the trip I would not be constantly feeling like they weren't doing things as well as ABD.

So, final question, for those of you who have done both ABD and TB, did you feel like TB was second place compared to Disney?

Thank you so much for all your help.
P.S. If the OP is still hanging around, I would love to hear your feedback on the TB Italy trip.

I've done 5 ABD trips and 2 TB and the TB trips were every bit as good as ABD and in some cases better. One of our TB trips was a riverboat cruise, so not exactly comparing apples to apples when comparing with a land trip, but as far as tours goes it is my #2 favorite (after our Lindblad trip to the Galapagos at #1). I haven't done the trips to Italy with either ABD or TB, so can't comment on those. I would say that the accommodations and food are generally better on the Tauck trips. The VIP treatment is the same. And there are as many or more pleasant surprises. One reason ABD is more expensive is because on the land trips there are 2 guides vs 1 with TB (on the TB riverboat there was a cruise director and 4 guides). I don't find having one guide to be an issue. I think the major difference in the price is the Disney name. ABD charges more because there are people willing to pay a premium because it's Disney.

 

[carpenta]

I have to agree with Bobo. We did the Italy trip with Tauck Bridges two years ago. Tauck does an outstanding job. There hotels are top notch where you stay in Westin properties and in Florence you stay in one of the top 50 hotels in the world according to Conde Nast.We stayed in a suite with two rooms and we had a king sized bed while our daughter had a pull out couch. Oh did I mention we had a two French balconies that opened to view the Duomo? What a view to wake up to while in Florence. The food is better and when you eat in resturants you get to order off the menu. One guide stays the whole trip and in each city the group is met by two local guides that are experts on what you are touring at the time. You get the VIP treatment as ABD offers at all the tours . Bags are always taken care of and extras are offered such as snacks and special requests. I think TB is better overall than ABD and since our daughter is getting older we are planning more trips with TB in the future. Next year we are doing another TB river cruise on the Rhine because we had such a great time on a TB Danube trip. When you travel a second time and there after TB pays for a pre or post night stay in the hotel in the city your trip begins or ends respectively.Any specific questions I will be happy to answer.

 

[Calfan]

We are planning to do Ireland with Tauck Bridges in 2017. As with our decision to go with Thomson Family Adventures to China next summer, we just like the itinerary better than the ABD itinerary. So great to read this positive feedback about how TB compares to ABD as we begin to branch out. I'm sure we have more ABDs in our future, but as long as we find that our experiences with the other tour operators are positive and compare favorably to ABD, we will probably put the most emphasis on which itinerary we like versus our loyalty to a particular operator for future trips.

 

[Rapunzellover]

I think itinerary is key. I chose ABD over Tauck (non-Bridges variety) cause I just like the itinerary better. Same with London/Paris.

 

[smile750]

I just wanted to add that after doing extensive research online that included "upscale" tours, my family decided to go with a Queenslander tour (Italy's great cities). No more than 16 people on the tour, we ate in restaurants where we could choose whatever we wanted off of the menu. We had a dedicated tour director and local tour guides with all front of the line passes, gratuity included for local guides, etc.. Hotels were top notch and located right in the heart of each city. We started in Venice, moved on to Florence where we were steps from the Duomo, stayed in Cortina (Tuscany) steps away from where they filmed "Under the Tuscan Sun" with Diane Lane. Toured a private winery where we had a private lunch and wine tasting - all the bells and whistles on a wonderfully intimate trip. In Rome, we were directly across from the Pantheon within the square. I wouldn't hesitate to ever book with them again - it was wonderful! Age of participants was also great for us - most on our particular trip (only 8 of us!) were about the same age as us (40's and 50's).

The go all over the world - those that enjoy Tauck and ABD should definitely consider them too - my 2 cents

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Thanks to all for posting such great information. I'll definitely be keeping this all in mind as we look to future travel plans.

 

[Cousin Orville]

...since our daughter is getting older we are planning more trips with TB in the future.

Is this because you find Tauck Bridges attracts families with older children/teens rather than younger children or just that you'll be doing more foreign traveling? Yesterday, in Copenhagen I saw a Tauck tour (presumably non Bridges) and everyone on the tour seemed to be in their late 60's and 70's. At my age, I would not be comfortable on an adults only tour, but how is their Bridges tour? I'm sure everyone is much younger, but do they have pre-teens or are most kids older than that?

 

[Bobo912]

Is this because you find Tauck Bridges attracts families with older children/teens rather than younger children or just that you'll be doing more foreign traveling? Yesterday, in Copenhagen I saw a Tauck tour (presumably non Bridges) and everyone on the tour seemed to be in their late 60's and 70's. At my age, I would not be comfortable on an adults only tour, but how is their Bridges tour? I'm sure everyone is much younger, but do they have pre-teens or are most kids older than that?

Carpenta's experience might be different, but on our TB trips, there is a fairly equal mix of young kids and teenagers. I've only been on 2 TB trips, but from my own experience and the kid counts that are often on the Tauck forum, there are typically a large number of kids on each trip. A couple of our ABDs only had a few kids. In Alaska we had only 4 children out of 30 guests, so it was almost like an adults only trip and on our Ireland ABD there were quite a few teenagers, but only 3 younger kids. I think there is consistently a high percentage of kids on TB trips, since adults who want to travel with Tauck have the Culturious and World Discovery itineraries as options.

 

[carpenta]

Is this because you find Tauck Bridges attracts families with older children/teens rather than younger children or just that you'll be doing more foreign traveling? Yesterday, in Copenhagen I saw a Tauck tour (presumably non Bridges) and everyone on the tour seemed to be in their late 60's and 70's. At my age, I would not be comfortable on an adults only tour, but how is their Bridges tour? I'm sure everyone is much younger, but do they have pre-teens or are most kids older than that?

On our TB trips we found that most of the kids were teenagers. The split was about 50/50, kids to adults.There were some extended families where the Grandparents were taking their grandchildren. ( I wish I had "those" grandparents) The focus for the kids was on the history rather than pins and movies. There was a "kids' night" where the parents got to dine together while the guide had the kids much like ABD. I am in my mid 50's and most parents were in that spectrum (45-55). There was only a couple pre-teens on our trips. I think that since our daughter has grown out of the princess age we choose TB for it seems to be a better fit for our daughter's interests. TB's has a whole different feel I suspect than the usual Tauck tours for much like ABD it is family centric. Prices also help where the base price is less while all tips are included for the guides. That frees up more cash to spend on more travel.

 

[kmc33]

This feedback has been so very helpful!! Thank you very much! I really appreciate all of you taking the time to share your experiences and thoughts. I am convinced for many reasons this TB Italy trip is the right one for us (DH was sold as soon as I showed home the price difference). I like the itinerary slightly better, I like the location of the Venice hotel a lot better, and now that our son is getting older, it sounds like this may be a better fit.

We will not be going until June 2016, but I will share our experience for others who may be interested.

 

[walnut611]

Quick question on what age Tauck considers as a child, AFAIK Disney considers all 12+ to be adults and have to pay that price. TIA!

 

[Bobo912]

Quick question on what age Tauck considers as a child, AFAIK Disney considers all 12+ to be adults and have to pay that price. TIA!

Tauck is the same. There is a discount for anyone under 12.

 

[emilymad]

Thanks for all the great information! On the TB trips are there ever just couples? We are in our mid 30s with no kids and feel that the regular Tauck trips would skew a little old for us.