Tauck Bridges Alaska versus ABD versus Austin Adventures?

[twodogs]

We were considering an Alaskan cruise with DCL, but have now decided to do a land trip instead (we are not really cruise people, though we have cruised with DCL before). I am looking at the Tauck and ABD options. Pricing is probably going to be a wash after tips, maybe ABD a little higher but not much. I like the itinerary of Tauck better, as the ABD seems to have too much “on your own” time for me on this type of trip. I love to plan a complex trip and travel independently as a family, but for Alaska, I am wiling and ready to give it over to either Tauck or ABD. So, on your own is not what I had in mind for this trip. Why are you just on your own in Denali? Maybe I don’t understand some element of the trip that makes that a good idea, as ABD has that as the Denali day. There are several other times which is just says on your own in the itinerary?

I read that ABD has 2 guides and Tauck has 1, for the same sized group. So that is a setback for Tauck. I am sure no one has been on both of these trips, but if you have been on either, can you speak to some of the issues above? This is a really expensive trip for us, and I don’t want to make a mistake. We are fit, active and our daughters are 14 and 12. Thanks all!

 

[aggiedog]

I can't speak to either but a good friend used Uncruise, which was on a expedition ship, to Alaska. They have at least one itinerary that overnights in Glacier Bay. It prices around the same as ABD, and she raves about the trip, the service, the food, and all the animals they saw. We looked into it for last summer but ultimately decided on the National Parks instead but it's still on my radar.

 

[TXTransplant]

I've looked at Uncruise, too, and am very intrigued! However, I wanted to spend time at Denali National Park, and you can't do that with Uncruise without an add-on, which was logistically challenging and very expensive.

I looked at Tauck and ABD for our Alaska trip next summer, but their dates just didn't work for us. We are traveling with National Geographic. I don't have any direct experience to compare it with, but I did like the fact that the itinerary indicates we will have expedition leaders and naturalists available to show us around on every day.

 

[DizMagic]

We (2 adults) did the ABD Alaska a few years back. Still one of my best trips EVER. Loved the group - we are all still connected. Loved the guides - also still connected. The itenarary has changed a little since we went, but we didn't mind the OYO time. in fact, found it nice not to have pre-arranged activities every day. Allowed us to do some things we wanted to do that others may not have.

 

[hilarys]

We took the Alaska ABD this summer and it was awesome. It was our fourth ABD trip and while they were all great, this one really was special because of the incredible scenery and the mix of activities. All six of us who travelled (DH, myself, two teens, and my parents (70, their first ABD) still rave about what an amazing trip it was and how well planned out the mix of activities was. I look back at our pictures from some of the days and can't believe how much we squeezed into one day. It actually never felt like we had a lot of on your own time on this trip. For Denali we had about an hour in the visitor center area after getting off the train. The full Denali day, we really weren't free until late afternoon (3:30 or so). It was nice to have this time without a planned activity to allow people to do what they wanted in the afternoon and evening. We took the hotel shuttle over to Denali park and did an easy hike for about 1.5 half and then took a shuttle to Healey for dinner at 49th State Brewing. On the first day of the trip, the guides ran through ideas of things to do that afternoon and evening (many of the activities ran into the nights since it did not get dark) - other tour members did ski plane tours, ATV tours, etc. There was another afternoon in Aleyska where we had a little bit of free time which was used for a mixture of resting and riding the tram to the top of the mountain for a drink with a view. During the larger block of free time in Alyeska, our awesome bus driver took anyone who was interested out to a trailhead at a glacier and picked us up about 90 min later.

I did not write up a full trip report but I did respond to some questions on this thread:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/abd-newbie-considering-alaska-june-2020.3755274/#post-60742663
In my opinion more guides are always a better thing - we in effect had four guides for our group of about 32 because two of the guides were doing a shadow trip before leading their own trips starting the next week. It really helped having four guides especially on all of the active parts of the adventure so that they could split up and stay at the front and back of the pack.

I am happy to answer any specific questions, but I would not hesitate to recommend this trip - in fact I think everyone in my family would happily do this trip again.

 

[sayhello]

We took the Alaska ABD this summer and it was awesome. It was our fourth ABD trip and while they were all great, this one really was special because of the incredible scenery and the mix of activities. All six of us who travelled (DH, myself, two teens, and my parents (70, their first ABD) still rave about what an amazing trip it was and how well planned out the mix of activities was. I look back at our pictures from some of the days and can't believe how much we squeezed into one day. It actually never felt like we had a lot of on your own time on this trip. For Denali we had about an hour in the visitor center area after getting off the train. The full Denali day, we really weren't free until late afternoon (3:30 or so). It was nice to have this time without a planned activity to allow people to do what they wanted in the afternoon and evening. We took the hotel shuttle over to Denali park and did an easy hike for about 1.5 half and then took a shuttle to Healey for dinner at 49th State Brewing. On the first day of the trip, the guides ran through ideas of things to do that afternoon and evening (many of the activities ran into the nights since it did not get dark) - other tour members did ski plane tours, ATV tours, etc. There was another afternoon in Aleyska where we had a little bit of free time which was used for a mixture of resting and riding the tram to the top of the mountain for a drink with a view. During the larger block of free time in Alyeska, our awesome bus driver took anyone who was interested out to a trailhead at a glacier and picked us up about 90 min later.

I did not write up a full trip report but I did respond to some questions on this thread:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/abd-newbie-considering-alaska-june-2020.3755274/#post-60742663
In my opinion more guides are always a better thing - we in effect had four guides for our group of about 32 because two of the guides were doing a shadow trip before leading their own trips starting the next week. It really helped having four guides especially on all of the active parts of the adventure so that they could split up and stay at the front and back of the pack.

I am happy to answer any specific questions, but I would not hesitate to recommend this trip - in fact I think everyone in my family would happily do this trip again.

Can you please (or have you already) looked at next year's itinerary to see if there are any changes from this year's?

We were considering an Alaskan cruise with DCL, but have now decided to do a land trip instead (we are not really cruise people, though we have cruised with DCL before). I am looking at the Tauck and ABD options. Pricing is probably going to be a wash after tips, maybe ABD a little higher but not much. I like the itinerary of Tauck better, as the ABD seems to have too much “on your own” time for me on this type of trip. I love to plan a complex trip and travel independently as a family, but for Alaska, I am wiling and ready to give it over to either Tauck or ABD. So, on your own is not what I had in mind for this trip. Why are you just on your own in Denali? Maybe I don’t understand some element of the trip that makes that a good idea, as ABD has that as the Denali day. There are several other times which is just says on your own in the itinerary?

I read that ABD has 2 guides and Tauck has 1, for the same sized group. So that is a setback for Tauck. I am sure no one has been on both of these trips, but if you have been on either, can you speak to some of the issues above? This is a really expensive trip for us, and I don’t want to make a mistake. We are fit, active and our daughters are 14 and 12. Thanks all!

The Alaska ABD has changed quite a bit since I took it in 2009, but I like the newer itinerary. It's currently the only ABD that I am seriously considering repeating.

Sayhello

 

[pixiepirate]

We did this adventure in August 2018. At the time I looked at the Tauck tour as well. The tours had many of the same activities but the deciding factors for me were the train ride to Denali, being in the National Park and the overall ABD experience. I have travelled with Tauck (New Mexico, not Alaska) and they are an excellent company but you will not have the same interactions with the guide that you get on an ABD. It never seemed like there was too much OYO time. I booked a private photography tour the afternoon in Denali. In Girdwood we took the gondola to the top of the mountain. You can't go wrong with the service provided by either company. Alaska is amazing! I was surprised how much I loved it and I hope to go back someday to see some of the areas we missed.

I'd be happy to share my experiences if you have any questions.

 

[hilarys]

Can you please (or have you already) looked at next year's itinerary to see if there are any changes from this year's?
The Alaska ABD has changed quite a bit since I took it in 2009, but I like the newer itinerary. It's currently the only ABD that I am seriously considering repeating.
Sayhello

I took a look and next year looks pretty similar to what we had this year. I think the Denali afternoon and evening OYO time can vary quite a bit based on when the rafting and the Denali Natural History Tour finish up.

We did this adventure in August 2018. At the time I looked at the Tauck tour as well. The tours had many of the same activities but the deciding factors for me were the train ride to Denali, being in the National Park and the overall ABD experience.

Yes the train ride was amazing. I enjoyed it so much that i would love to go back and do the full train route or maybe the winter version to see the Northern Lights.

 

[disneyphx]

We did the Tauck Bridges trip - for us it felt like a lot of travel time to get to Denali vs time spent there; and DD preferred some of the TB activities. Having only one guide provides a different experience - they focus much more on the logistics. And we were on the first trip of the season so I think she also spent a good chunk of time planning for future trips.
We enjoyed the trip, but it was less active and less animals than we expected/hoped.
For us, I think a more animal focused trip would have been better (we have our eye on one.....)

 

[twodogs]

You all are the best!! You have really answered some of my questions without me even knowing that I had them! We are very active and my DDs want to see a lot of animals on this trip. I usually plan all of our trips (Costa Rica, Hawaii, Bermuda) for a 3 generation trip, and I enjoy the planning. However for Alaska, I am a bit overwhelmed by the logistics and travel time/distance. So I am going to try to give in and do a tour. I am not usually one for group tours at all, but I am trying to wrap my mind around it for this trip.

It sounds like many of you liked the ABD trip and felt it was a good level of activity and adventure. For my ages of kids (12 and 14), do you feel the other kids will generally be around the same age or younger (ie will there be a lot of 6 year olds who slow the group down potentially on some of the activities)? It seemed to me that ABD was more geared to younger kids versus TB, but that could be a wrong thought on my part?

For the free time, do you know about that weeks ahead of the trip so you can book other things or do you have to book/decide what to do on the fly when you are on the trip? Did you book the photography trip via ABD or on your own?

Thanks again all and I look forward to your replies!

 

[twodogs]

More questions: Some of the days and evenings say that adults will do one activity or have a meal and that “junior adventurers” will do a different activity or have a different meal. What age is a Junior Adventurer? I was not planning on splitting up from my girls this trip since the idea is that it is a family trip. Any experience here? Again, if most of the kids are younger, will my girls be bored on the Junior Adventurer stuff?

 

[pixiepirate]

For the free time, do you know about that weeks ahead of the trip so you can book other things or do you have to book/decide what to do on the fly when you are on the trip? Did you book the photography trip via ABD or on your own?

Thanks again all and I look forward to your replies!

I can't speak to the junior activities as we were on an adults only tour. We actually saw more wildlife on our recent trip to South Dakota than we did when we were in Alaska but that may have more to do with the fact that we were on the last tour of the season than anything else. If you decide to arrive one or two days before the adventure starts you can easily choose from a variety of days tours out of Anchorage. I wanted to do a Prince William Sound day cruise but we did not have enough time. We did a city tour of Anchorage instead. I booked the photography tour on my own. The itinerary gives you a good idea when you will have OYO time and you can always check in advance with your vacationista. The photography tour offered morning, afternoon and evening tours. Since I was not sure what time we would return in the afternoon, I booked the evening tour.

 

[twodogs]

Any experiences with Austin Adventures to Alaska? They have smaller groups 12-18, a shorter trip 5 nights and do mostly the Kenai (?sp) peninsula area. I am looking at all of the options and it is making my head spin!!

 

[hilarys]

You all are the best!! You have really answered some of my questions without me even knowing that I had them! We are very active and my DDs want to see a lot of animals on this trip. I usually plan all of our trips (Costa Rica, Hawaii, Bermuda) for a 3 generation trip, and I enjoy the planning. However for Alaska, I am a bit overwhelmed by the logistics and travel time/distance. So I am going to try to give in and do a tour. I am not usually one for group tours at all, but I am trying to wrap my mind around it for this trip.

It sounds like many of you liked the ABD trip and felt it was a good level of activity and adventure. For my ages of kids (12 and 14), do you feel the other kids will generally be around the same age or younger (ie will there be a lot of 6 year olds who slow the group down potentially on some of the activities)? It seemed to me that ABD was more geared to younger kids versus TB, but that could be a wrong thought on my part?

For the free time, do you know about that weeks ahead of the trip so you can book other things or do you have to book/decide what to do on the fly when you are on the trip? Did you book the photography trip via ABD or on your own?

Thanks again all and I look forward to your replies!

On our trip (which was the first one of the season) the "kids" skewed older - mostly teens and young college. There were only two of them that were technically in the "Junior" Adventurer age range (I think it is 12, but the teens are always welcome to join) and they were a middle schooler and older elementary schooler. I only remember two times when the options for JR Adventurers to split off was offered - one was dinner at Talkeetna which all the teens decided to dine with the adults and the other was a separate tour at the Native Heritage Center - all the teens stayed with the adults on that one too.

For the free time the only time I really think you could book an outside activity would be the afternoon of the full Denali Day - you could probably get an estimated time of when you could book something by calling ABD ahead of time. On our trip the guides met with us on Day 1 when we checked in and said on that particular day we would have free time if we wanted to book an outside activity - gave us a start time range (I think they said 4:00 - remember it does not get dark so many of the different activities had 6pm start times) and a few recommendations, but they do not book the outside activities.

The only other time you might be able to book something would be on the last day before the farewell dinner. If you decide to do the ABD, I would recommend flying in two nights early (we only flew in one night early). Use your first day there to do one of the full day trips to Resurrection Bay (you can take the train from Anchorage) - seeing the coast and all the marine life would be a great addition to the ABD itinerary. Unfortunately the timing to go two days early did not work for my family, but I researched those tours quite a bit. Another family on our trip had done just that and said that it was easy and a great tour. On your second day there (the first official day, but nothing starts until dinner) you could do an outside excursion closer to Anchorage.

 

[Calfan]

I can't comment on the Austin Adventures Alaska trip, but we did their Winter Yellowstone trip in 2018, and it was fantastic. VERY active (hiking, snowshowing, cross country skiing) and we saw lots of wildlife. This was technically a family trip, but my kids (teens) and two college aged kids were the only *children* on the trip. Austin also has smaller groups than ABD (I think there were 13 or 15 on our Yellowstone trip), which I really prefer, but others might skew the other way.

 

[twodogs]

@hilarys that is SO helpful!!! I really appreciate the advice about going in a few days early. Like you, we may not be able to swing that with our work schedules, but it is worth looking at since we are coming all the way from Texas!

Good info on the ages of the kids. I would be happy if all the kids were around my own children's age just so that they would have some connections with those kids as well. Great to hear that they could eat with us and do the adult activities!

@Calfan, thanks so much for the insight on Austin Adventures. The smaller tour size really appeals to me, and it is a short trip (5 nights) which would make my DH less insane about missing so much work, but they don't go to Denali and I wonder if I will feel like we missed something big by not doing that?

 

[BluesTraveler]

I would also encourage you to look at Backroads family trips for Alaska. We have traveled with both ABD and Backroads and both are fantastic in different ways.

We did this trip with ABD 4 years ago, so the itinerary has changed quite a bit. We loved it - it was our first ABD and our first experience with group travel. We went on to do an additional 3 ABDs. That said, I would not characterize our Alaska trip as particularly active. I loved how seamless it was and how I didn't have to worry about logistics. Our kids had a great time. There was a wide age range, but the guides were able to get everyone enjoying the trip together. If you are looking at it for this coming summer, ABD will tell you how many other kids are on the trip and their ages for each departure.

 

[sayhello]

The only other time you might be able to book something would be on the last day before the farewell dinner. If you decide to do the ABD, I would recommend flying in two nights early (we only flew in one night early). Use your first day there to do one of the full day trips to Resurrection Bay (you can take the train from Anchorage) - seeing the coast and all the marine life would be a great addition to the ABD itinerary. Unfortunately the timing to go two days early did not work for my family, but I researched those tours quite a bit. Another family on our trip had done just that and said that it was easy and a great tour. On your second day there (the first official day, but nothing starts until dinner) you could do an outside excursion closer to Anchorage.

I forgot they removed the Resurrection Bay cruise from the ABD. That's SUCH an amazing activity! I agree that adding it on is an excellent idea!

Sayhello

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

We’ve traveled twice with Austin, though not to Alaska. They do a fantastic job overall and the smaller group is ideal for more active adventures. We had a group of 18 with 3 guides in Yellowstone (a magical trip) and a group of 9 with 2 guides at the Grand Canyon. A family with older teens on our GC trip had been on 5 Austin trips and said they’d repeat Alaska with them in a heartbeat. It’s a trip I have on my list for when DS is a bit older. I definitely encourage you to consider Austin!

 

[hilarys]

@hilarys that is SO helpful!!! I really appreciate the advice about going in a few days early. Like you, we may not be able to swing that with our work schedules, but it is worth looking at since we are coming all the way from Texas!

Good info on the ages of the kids. I would be happy if all the kids were around my own children's age just so that they would have some connections with those kids as well. Great to hear that they could eat with us and do the adult activities!

@Calfan, thanks so much for the insight on Austin Adventures. The smaller tour size really appeals to me, and it is a short trip (5 nights) which would make my DH less insane about missing so much work, but they don't go to Denali and I wonder if I will feel like we missed something big by not doing that?

I certainly understand not being able to miss work, I really can't ever do trips more than than 10 days or so and always need to be connected, however 5 nights seems to short for all the things there are to do in Alaska - unless you plan another trip You could very easily take the train up to Denali NP and book several different excursions on your own.