Peru???

[cemb]

Hi ... advice appreciated ... I have looked at the ABD trips for a few years now, specifically the South American adventures (galapagos, Peru). They always seem high when compared with similar "kid-friendly" trips I have found through other reputable companies. Why the premium, and is it worth it? We are looking at Peru with two boys, ages 13-14 and 8-9, depending on when we take the trip.

 

[kjd469]

I can tell you that the ABD Peru trip is absolutely worth every penny!! We have travelled extensively and with many different companies, and that trip remains as one of our favourites. While there were no children on our trip (it was in October), others have reported that their kids enjoyed this trip also. You should look up Kristilew's trip report...she is quite active on this board and did this trip a few years ago with her husband and daughter.

 

[cemb]

Thanks.

 

[Bobo912]

If you compare with some comparable companies like Classic Journeys, Lindblad or Thomson Family Adventures, the ABD Peru trip is actually less.

 

[cemb]

Thanks again ... I was just comparing Abercrombie, Thompson, as well as Row and ActiveSouthAmerica. Row and ASA are a little less, but like you said, the others are quite a bit more! Does anyone know of discounts on ABD, like with Disney Cruise lines?

 

[sayhello]

Thanks again ... I was just comparing Abercrombie, Thompson, as well as Row and ActiveSouthAmerica. Row and ASA are a little less, but like you said, the others are quite a bit more! Does anyone know of discounts on ABD, like with Disney Cruise lines?

There's no discounts right now, but there is a webcast for ABD scheduled on April 19th and 26th, and they say there will be "a special offer" for webcast attendees.

Here's a thread about the webcast, along with the link to register.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2691610

I'd suggest you attend if you're looking to book an ABD any time soon!

Sayhello

 

[cemb]

Thanks for the webcast link. Just registered and submitted my questions. Hope there is a nice "something"! Would really like to do a Peru trip, but need to keep the budget in mind and the airfare is now crazy priced!

 

[Bobo912]

If you check the sticky (just below the trip reports) DU is offering a $450 gifit card for 6/14 Peru trip. Or if that date doesn't work for you and you're a Costco member, you can get a Costco Cash Card by booking through them. I've booked 3 ABDs through Costco. This year's SWS cash card was $450 (that is for 2 people - the amount is higher if you're booking more). SWS is similar in price to Peru, so I would expect the amount per person to be about the same. When you call the Costco number, it goes directly to ABD.

 

[WeLoveABD]

If you check the sticky (just below the trip reports) DU is offering a $450 gifit card for 6/14 Peru trip. Or if that date doesn't work for you and you're a Costco member, you can get a Costco Cash Card by booking through them. I've booked 3 ABDs through Costco. This year's SWS cash card was $450 (that is for 2 people - the amount is higher if you're booking more). SWS is similar in price to Peru, so I would expect the amount per person to be about the same. When you call the Costco number, it goes directly to ABD.

We booked the Aug 1 Peru trip through Costco, very easy working with them. This will be a great trip--our 5th, but we didn't do an ABD in 2010--so looking forward to the comforts/storytelling/details of an ABD trip!

 

[cemb]

Thanks again! I will look into DU ... and Costco too! But also going to wait for this webcast to see what they offer before I take the next step. To the person who has been on 5 ABD already, where have you been? I take it you think they are very much worth the premium? Any specific reason why. I am curious?

 

[Bobo912]

Thanks again! I will look into DU ... and Costco too! But also going to wait for this webcast to see what they offer before I take the next step. To the person who has been on 5 ABD already, where have you been? I take it you think they are very much worth the premium? Any specific reason why. I am curious?

Just FYI...the gift/cash card is in addition to any incentive ABD offers. So if something good comes from the webcast, you can get both. For this years trip, I received a $300 Visa gift card from ABD and $450 cash card from Costco.

 

[gayleaboone]

My 11 yr old daughter and I have taken 4 ADB trips, one each in the last 4 summers (costa rica, germany, alaska and peru) Peru was my favorite!

A&K has great tours, but they are certainly more expensive. And, I think ABD is more kid-friendly in understanding the attention spans and needs of kids, without "dumbing down" the experience. In general (although I haven't compared the trips to Peru) A&K has more activities that separate the kids and the adults, and ABD schedules more activities together, so it is something of a personal preference there.

 

[WeLoveABD]

Thanks again! I will look into DU ... and Costco too! But also going to wait for this webcast to see what they offer before I take the next step. To the person who has been on 5 ABD already, where have you been? I take it you think they are very much worth the premium? Any specific reason why. I am curious?

When our DS was in middle school, we decided to start traveling to show him and his younger sister the world--and went to Ireland with Insight. Nice tour, great guide--but they were the only kids on the trip and we were nervous the whole time that they would be disruptive; they were frequently bored (I did the "we didn't travel all this way for you to sleep on the bus and miss the scenery" lectures daily). Happily, they were very well behavied and at the end the guide noted that and the passengers applauded. Then we heard about a new Disney travel company--ABD.

We did ABD to Italy in 2007 (Rome, Tuscany and Venice) and just loved the experience--I actually relaxed on the trip, as the kids all hooked up and made fast friends (and took over the back of the bus), and the guides were great with them (two guides--one from the region, the other American). Details large and small were taken care of by the guides, and on our own time they were very helpful with maps, suggestions etc. And Disney has loads of surprises on each trip--as an example, at the Colliseum, a gladiator took the kids on a separate tour leaving the parents to walk about at their own leisure.
(We went ahead and then did the med cruise with Disney Cruise Line while there--also a great trip, but that was a long time to be traveling so I'm not sure I'd do that again)

We were hooked. Trip 2 was China--our favorite to date--in 2008, a month before the Olympics. As with our other trips, we got there a couple of days early to get over jet lag, see things on our own and get acclimated. If you do pre-days through Disney they arrange for the airport transfer to the hotel, and breakfasts are included. Highly recommended--and they have tweaked the trip to now include the terricotta warriors.

We killed our budget by then signing up (with then-in place early booking discounts) for Christmas 2008 on the Knights and Lights trip. We experienced a bit of a let down--had nothing to do with the guides or the sights--which others have noted on the boards. I think the first trip or two is filled with surprises, and you get used to it--so some of the magic from the surprises was just slightly diminished. (However, in retrospect, that was a great trip--London and Paris at Christmas, with Christmas day spent at Disneyland Paris!). My son will always remember being at the top of the Eiffel Tower, arms stretched out and the wind madly blowing--sorta Titanic King of the World sort of thing. (At the end of the trip we had planned on a couple of days at DLP, but since we went there Christmas Day our guides arranged for an evening hotel pickup--most left in the AM--so we stored our bags and had another day in Paris to take in more sights).

The holiday trip became a fond memory so we did that again, with Germany in 2009. It was the first time ABD went to Germany at Christmas--due to comments by past guests that they wanted to see the Christmas markets. So we did that--and had a lot of snow. Wunderbar! (My DD had a school friend who moved back to Germany, so we spent a day with them post-trip in Munich; our guides also helped us buy advance train tickets from Munich to Salzburg, which was a great day trip--Sound of Music in snow!)

Other guests had similar help/guidance from our guides--and they work very hard to make your experience full of stories, and as stress-free as possible.

Hope that answers your question!

 

[soccerbabies]

 

[ludari]

I've planned my own trip to Peru for July, however this has nothing to do with ABD. I took the advice of a friend and booked my own airfare and used the same trekking company he used.