ABD Announces Private Adventures for 5 Countries

[Cousin Orville]

I'm in for joining a small group for the Egypt trip if the timing works. @Cousin Orville have you given any thought to joining / forming a group for this trip (hint, count me in!)?

LOL. Not planning any 2022 trips yet. I'll have to wait to see how Spring of 2021 goes. We have a rescheduled private tour to Peru/Bolivia and rescheduled ABD to Egypt set up. Those could very well turn into 2022 trips!

I like the idea of ABD offering private tours so that families or friends can shrink down the group size. I'd like to hear a trip report on how it goes and how much customization is allowed. The private tours we've done include a decent amount of flexibility and more hands on concierge work. For example, they'll set up difficult restaurant reservations or customize an itinerary. Unfortunately, I don't see ABD doing that even though that's what the target audience for these private trips would probably want.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

LOL. Not planning any 2022 trips yet. I'll have to wait to see how Spring of 2021 goes. We have a rescheduled private tour to Peru/Bolivia and rescheduled ABD to Egypt set up. Those could very well turn into 2022 trips!

I like the idea of ABD offering private tours so that families or friends can shrink down the group size. I'd like to hear a trip report on how it goes and how much customization is allowed. The private tours we've done include a decent amount of flexibility and more hands on concierge work. For example, they'll set up difficult restaurant reservations or customize an itinerary. Unfortunately, I don't see ABD doing that even though that's what the target audience for these private trips would probably want.

Funny that you should mention that. I was wondering if people might explore any of the other companies offering private tours in addition to ABD. We had such a good time with you and your family in Japan, would love to travel with you guys again!

 

[sayhello]

How do you Adventurers feel about having so few included meals on these trips? Italy, for instance, is 8 days and has 9 meals. Seven of the nine are breakfasts (breakfast is often included anyway when you stay at a hotel), one is lunch, and you get one dinner. OK with that?

That's a big turn off. Almost no meals, no gratuities included, that kills a lot of the benefits of this kind of travel.

The same sort of situation for Greece (although not quite as bad as Italy) 10 days, 16 meals. 9 are breakfasts at the hotel, 5 lunches, and the only dinners are the Welcome dinner and the Farewell dinner.

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

This was exactly my thought. I'd also worry about being in some of these countries if the virus peaks again. Some Americans didn't get out of Peru for a long time when the pandemic broke in March and shut downs started.



It would keep me from doing one of the trips. I *hate* when ABD starts pulling meals and other previously included items.

I have about zero interest in doing any of these with ABD. Frankly, given the way they handled the pandemic in March/April I wouldn't travel with them again if I didn't already have a trip booked with them (Oct. 2021 river cruise, which I"m hoping they cancel). Not cancelling trips until literally the last minute (or in one case when people had already flown to Australia) when it was very clear what was going on was unconscionable IMO.

I know this has been discussed at length, but since we're now at the end of 2020 I'll give my thoughts. I had 4 ABD's scheduled this year, and I got my money back on all of them with no drama. I had 2 private tours scheduled of which I received no money back - only travel credit. I'm not sure I'll be able to use that credit, and it was expensive. I've had one private trip last year that the company went bankrupt. These groups were highly recommend in major travel magazines including Conde Nast. Many had travel awards. While I think ABD could have made better decisions, in my experience they did ok with the hand they were dealt.

Yeah, I wouldn't schedule any new trips next Spring. I have one rescheduled ABD to Egypt in April. Fingers crossed! I'll probably hold off booking anything else overseas until the end of all this mess is in sight.

 

[Cousin Orville]

How do you Adventurers feel about having so few included meals on these trips? Italy, for instance, is 8 days and has 9 meals. Seven of the nine are breakfasts (breakfast is often included anyway when you stay at a hotel), one is lunch, and you get one dinner. OK with that?

For a private trip, I'd rather plan my own dinners. I usually have better luck with my meals. Sometimes ABD picks winners, but they struggled in Paris last year. Granted not many bistro's can accommodate 40 people. When you're on the ground, the guides often have good restaurant recommendations for meals on your own. What ABD needs to do is have a concierge service to recommend and book restaurants before the trip.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I know this has been discussed at length, but since we're now at the end of 2020 I'll give my thoughts. I had 4 ABD's scheduled this year, and I got my money back on all of them with no drama. I had 2 private tours scheduled of which I received no money back - only travel credit. I'm not sure I'll be able to use that credit, and it was expensive. I've had one private trip last year that the company went bankrupt. These groups were highly recommend in major travel magazines including Conde Nast. Many had travel awards. While I think ABD could have made better decisions, in my experience they did ok with the hand they were dealt.

Yeah, I wouldn't schedule any new trips next Spring. I have one rescheduled ABD to Egypt in April. Fingers crossed! I'll probably hold off booking anything else overseas until the end of all this mess is in sight.

I think they eventually came around for the later trips, but I was referring to the trips early in the pandemic--should have been more clear. I would not have wanted to be booked on the Paris/England and Australia trip that they refused to call even through it was clear the situation was horrible. I was on the ground at the time in the UK, and it was obvious those trips had no business going, but they allowed people to travel. IMO that was horrible CS and not what I would have expected from Disney. I hold them to a higher standard, mostly due to the price point, but also due to the CS that they hype so much. I used to be one of the biggest ABD cheerleaders around her, but my enthusiasm has waxed and waned over the years. The early response to the pandemic left a bad taste in my mouth that has lingered.

But to be fair, I look at organized travel companies much differently now across the board. One of my favorite high-end small cruise lines also didn't have a stellar response, and I'll be much more cautious in traveling with them going forward. From those early posts, it seems as if Tauck really stood out in their handling.

I have traveled Internationally a couple times since March, and I'm traveling again in December, but the trips weren't/aren't group travel. I did do a hike with a local company in the Cotswolds last month, but it was self-guided. I think the first group travel trip I have that I think will go is in May. It's a hiking trip in Scotland with a local company so I suspect it will go if things are somewhat open. The issue there will be the UK quarantine. Some movement on that recently, so I'm hoping a testing regime will be in place soon.

 

[Marthasor]

How do you Adventurers feel about having so few included meals on these trips? Italy, for instance, is 8 days and has 9 meals. Seven of the nine are breakfasts (breakfast is often included anyway when you stay at a hotel), one is lunch, and you get one dinner. OK with that?

It really doesn't bother me. As PP noted, I find the restaurants ABD chooses to be hit-or-miss. I actually enjoy researching restaurants prior to our trips and picking places I think my family will enjoy. I also find getting info from locals (concierge, etc.) once we arrive has panned out quite well. I would actually prefer to have a bit more freedom in picking the restaurants in each location although I understand it adds to our costs.

LOL. Not planning any 2022 trips yet. I'll have to wait to see how Spring of 2021 goes. We have a rescheduled private tour to Peru/Bolivia and rescheduled ABD to Egypt set up. Those could very well turn into 2022 trips!

I like the idea of ABD offering private tours so that families or friends can shrink down the group size. I'd like to hear a trip report on how it goes and how much customization is allowed. The private tours we've done include a decent amount of flexibility and more hands on concierge work. For example, they'll set up difficult restaurant reservations or customize an itinerary. Unfortunately, I don't see ABD doing that even though that's what the target audience for these private trips would probably want.

I'm totally with you on this point. For a variety of reasons, I would be interested in doing the private Egypt ABD, however, some of the other locales can easily be done with local private companies who have far more flexibility and charge much less. We did a 3-week tour of Greece a few years ago with a private company and they offered an enormous amount of flexibility and the cost for the three weeks was about equal to what ABD is charging for far less time seeing far less of the country. Certainly, if all you want to do is pick up a phone and book a trip, ABD may be the way to go. If you want to get into more in-depth, flexible touring, ABD might not be the right pick. I am glad they are looking for more revenue streams, however, and are offering more ways to tour. This may be the way to get back to touring sooner rather than later if they need to keep their tour group numbers down. I would certainly love to see tours happening again and people being employed!

 

[neurosx1983]

Seems like ABD will not allow us to change hotels because I guess that would alter the price significantly. Maybe I’m in the minority but I’m OK with losing meals. Our experience in Italy was that most of the ABD included meals were mediocre at best. And I heard in Paris the welcome dinner is at le pain quotidien (a chain you can find all over nyc)

and as far as customer service goes, my impression at the end of this year is that abd was completely caught off guard in March and could’ve been way more proactive. It took a lot of haggling and complaining to managers for me to get a refund on my England Paris trip that was canceled. I know things have gotten more streamlined now. Which is good I guess.

 

[lovetotravel]

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[lovetotravel]

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[neurosx1983]

Thanks for pointing out the meal differences. I haven't had a chance to closely examine it. I do like how efficient the ABD meals are. That they can feed 40 people rather quickly with little to no wait to be served and the food just comes out right away. I have enjoyed most breakfasts at hotels with ABD, I would really miss that as it is a great value. Peru meals were amazing, I could not imagine that trip without it especial at Sol y Luna. And that fact that they are skipping Sol y Luna in Peru is a disappointment.

I might be mistaken but I believe the breakfasts are still included (because they're at the hotels) right?

 

[sayhello]

I might be mistaken but I believe the breakfasts are still included (because they're at the hotels) right?

Correct. As far as I've seen, breakfasts are all still there. It's the lunches and dinners that are missing.

But honestly, the breakfasts at the hotel, while quite pricey, are probably the easiest thing to arrange on your own, because 99.9% of the time, it's just the hotel's buffet breakfast. I'd much rather have ABD arrange most of the lunches/dinners.

Sayhello

 

[lovetotravel]

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[SingingMom]

The "group meals" included are a lot of fun - if you have a nice group. That's how we got to know so many new friends. But, I don't find the food always that great at these pre-picked spots. Some amazing experiences and some eh.

I do NOT like the gratuities not included. We travel with ABD so we don't have to worry about luggage & service tips. Once spoiled like this, we can't seem to travel any other way!

The only way we would possible try the "private" trips would be if we were able to gather our own traveling group.

I think we will stick to the regular ABD trips, but not until at least 2022.

 

[Sakura1017]

I've never had the chance to go an ABD trip, but I will say them not providing meals would be a turnoff for me. Especially if you are going to a country and you don't speak the language, it would be hard getting a meal/table. I would have to rely on the local guide to recommend a place. I also don't think that ABD should be providing meals that are breakfast either since that's usually the cheapest and majority is pastries. If they were going to pull the meal card as breakfast at the hotel, and lunch is sandwiches I would be definitely looking at other companies.

 

[CaliKris]

From what I can tell, the Egypt private adventure has the same number of meals as the regular Egypt ABD. I am sure it helps that part of the trip is a Nile River cruise.

What turns me off is that if someone from your private adventure cancels, you are still responsible for the full price of the original trip. At least, that is what I heard on FB. How could this possibly be true? @DisneyKevin can you confirm?

 

[BluesTraveler]

I love the idea of private tours, and would book these in a heartbeat for our family. Lack of meals do not bother me - we generally prefer to eat lighter and quicker than ABD's typical meal when traveling. I'm fine to coordinate that piece myself.

That said, we aren't booking any travel at all until a vaccine is available. The lack of certainty + lack of desire to be around crowds, eat in restaurants, etc. makes it pointless for the moment for us.

 

[vakamalua]

Why not book a private tour with a company that make suggestions but will allow you to craft your own itinerary tailored to your family and interests. ABD's itineraries are very generic and mainstream. The price would be about the same. In addition, many other companies have far more experience and local staff than ABD, especially in places like Egypt where it really matters.

 

[WeLoveABD]

I've never had the chance to go an ABD trip, but I will say them not providing meals would be a turnoff for me. Especially if you are going to a country and you don't speak the language, it would be hard getting a meal/table. I would have to rely on the local guide to recommend a place. I also don't think that ABD should be providing meals that are breakfast either since that's usually the cheapest and majority is pastries. If they were going to pull the meal card as breakfast at the hotel, and lunch is sandwiches I would be definitely looking at other companies.

Generally the hotels you stay at with ABD offer high end breakfast buffets, although that may be one of the many things changed post-Covid. For us, the meals on our own have been great experiences-- nice to break from the group, and we tailor it to our own preferences. We keep coming back to ABD (and we haven't traveled exclusively with them over the years) because of access, knowledgeable and fun guides, and attention to detail. But as is evident from some posters, some don't like large groups, or want higher end travel without the expense, or just say you can do it all on your own. But I like the ABD product, and find the trips to be engaging, fun, worry-free and worth every penny, and I believe they are doing their best to steer through these rough waters. So Bravo for trying out something different-- and I know we all look forward to getting back out in the world!

 

[sayhello]

From what I can tell, the Egypt private adventure has the same number of meals as the regular Egypt ABD. I am sure it helps that part of the trip is a Nile River cruise.

What turns me off is that if someone from your private adventure cancels, you are still responsible for the full price of the original trip. At least, that is what I heard on FB. How could this possibly be true? @DisneyKevin can you confirm?

What I read is that if you had, say, the 6-7 person rate for your trip because you had 6 people, and one person cancels, so you now have 5 people, ABD reserves the right to charge you the 4-5 person rate instead of the 6-7 person rate.

The verbiage from the ABD website is:

In the event of a participant cancellation, we reserve the right to increase the price per person. We shall notify you if the price per person increases and you agree to pay the increased price prior to the start of your trip. In the event you add one or more participants to your Private Adventures trip, we reserve the right to reduce the price per person.

And I can understand this. If the price per person were locked when you book, someone might get 4 friends to sign up with their family of 4, and they'd get the 8-12 person rate. Then the other 4 could cancel prior to 14 days, and get their deposits back, but the price per person is locked. Since the rate is tied to the number of people (NOT a price for the entire group), I totally understand that ABD would do this. They're just trying to protect themselves.

Personally, before I signed up for anything, I'd ask to get it in writing from ABD how that works. I would never give them carte blanche to charge whatever they want if someone cancels. They need to be more specific as to how that increased price would be derived, and what the limitations on the increase would be.

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