Palermo excursion on ABD med cruise add-on

[Colezoo]

Has anyone heard what the Palermo excursion will be for the med cruise ABD add-on? Tunisia was cancelled eight weeks ago so I was hoping to see an update this week. Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[carpenta]

Having been in Palermo in 2007 with Disney Cruise Line and we loved it. We had taken a overview excursion that traveled throughout the city and saw the historic as well as local markets. Last year we cruised Disney again and stopped in Tunisia. IMHO I wished we had returned to Sicily. Great wines and foods on Sicily and I hope you enjoy your cruise. Malta is fabulous.

 

[sayhello]

Well, I called ABD, and, no surprise, they referred me to DCL. I didn't really think I'd get through to DCL (they just started booking the new 2012 itineraries for the Wonder & the Magic today) but I tried. I gave up after half an hour. I'll try to get you an answer some time next week.

Sayhello

 

[Turtlemom]

Looks like there will be no med cruises on Disney next summer (2012). (
Maybe they will return? but it seems like they are focusing on their new ports of NY and Galveston.
Wonder if there will be any ABD add-ons anywhere, except for Alaska.

 

[WeLoveABD]

We were very disappointed about the DCL (Magic) not going back to Europe--we had hoped for an Eastern Med cruise in 2012. But it looks like Disney is working on developing more US customers (and more customer loyalty) before going back out into the world. So now we are hoping for great new ABD adventures (we called ABD this week--same story, announcement in August--but a hint of new adventures and the likely continuation of the Eygpt tour).

Maybe in 2013 the Magic will be back out into the world, and ABD will have established itself in new port areas so they can continue to develop the ABD/DCL partnerships!

 

[Colezoo]

I am so frustrated by the disconnect between DCL and ABD. We are eight weeks out from our sailing and do not know what the ABD excursion will be in Palermo. I know that the port changed in February, but I would think two months time is enough to plan the excursion. I am spending over $16K for my family to do the ABD add-on and have not received any printed information about what to expect, what all is included, etc from either DCL or ABD. I ask you all, is this disconnect an indication of what I should expect form this experience? I hope not!! THis is a lifetime trip for my family and want it to be very special.

 

[sayhello]

Looks like there will be no med cruises on Disney next summer (2012). (
Maybe they will return? but it seems like they are focusing on their new ports of NY and Galveston.
Wonder if there will be any ABD add-ons anywhere, except for Alaska.

Well, the Galveston cruises are going to the same old ports, so nothing new there. And NYC is mostly the same old ports, too, except for the Canada trip. But that one only has 2 ports. It seems like doing an ABD add-on for a 5-day, 2 port cruise would be a bit of overkill. I can't imagine it being priced to be worth it. Although I really love Nova Scotia & Halifax, and would love to see Newfoundland, I'm not sure the add-on would fly. But I would REALLY love to do a NE Canada ABD! Especially if they'd include Quebec City! My first escorted tour was with Backroads to Nova Scotia, and I really, really loved it!

We were very disappointed about the DCL (Magic) not going back to Europe--we had hoped for an Eastern Med cruise in 2012. But it looks like Disney is working on developing more US customers (and more customer loyalty) before going back out into the world. So now we are hoping for great new ABD adventures (we called ABD this week--same story, announcement in August--but a hint of new adventures and the likely continuation of the Eygpt tour).

Maybe in 2013 the Magic will be back out into the world, and ABD will have established itself in new port areas so they can continue to develop the ABD/DCL partnerships!

It will be interesting to see what ABD does for 2012. I'm really hoping for Hawaii. My ideal would be an ABD at Aulani, which I could follow (or preface) with a week on Maui or Kauai. Greece/Turkey would be very cool, also, but I'm not sure I want to fly that direction 3 years in a row! I'm really hoping to do Hawaii next year, and doing it with ABD would just be a bonus!

However, if they do NE Canada, I may just totally change my mind!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

I am so frustrated by the disconnect between DCL and ABD. We are eight weeks out from our sailing and do not know what the ABD excursion will be in Palermo. I know that the port changed in February, but I would think two months time is enough to plan the excursion. I am spending over $16K for my family to do the ABD add-on and have not received any printed information about what to expect, what all is included, etc from either DCL or ABD. I ask you all, is this disconnect an indication of what I should expect form this experience? I hope not!! THis is a lifetime trip for my family and want it to be very special.

There is *DEFINITELY* a disconnect between DCL and ABD. From what I have seen, I would say that the disconnect is really DCL's fault, not ABD's. I agree, the communication is horrid, but it's totally out of ABD's hands, they have to defer on that to DCL, who is "running the show". All the communication has to go through DCL.

HOWEVER, once you are on the ship, it's ABD and the Adventure Guides who are running things, and I can totally tell you that you will be in FABULOUS hands once you are being served by the Adventure Guides. They are AMAZING. I don't know if Tina & Robyn will be doing the add-ons again this year, but I know there was really fierce competition as to which Guides got to do the add-ons. We got some of the best of the best. And when you're talking about ABD Adventure Guides, that's really saying a lot!

It really will be well worth it, and the vacation of a lifetime. It *will* be special, because the Adventure Guides make it that way. I understand your frustration over the lack of info, but I'm sure that whatever they come up with for Palermo will be great. None of the excursions we did on last year's Med add-on was a disappointment. A few varied a bit from what I expected, but they were all wonderful experiences.

If you haven't read my Trip Report for last year's Med add-on yet (link in my Signature) please do. I think it will give you a feel for what the trip will be like.

Also, it takes them a LONG time to set up the excursions for the ABDs. They thoroughly research & check out the locations & local providers, and do several "test runs" of the trips. I'm not surprised it's taking them this long to get it right. It *was* rather short notice for them. But I still understand your frustration!

You *should* be getting more information about 45 days before the cruise.

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