Any idea when ABD will announce add on for Med. Cruises??

[booger73]

Originally Posted by tufbuf

Oh wow! Is this on the DVC website? They didn't offer it before I think.

Not on DVC website.. I had to call in to member services and ask directly... but they do have it (as of Monday)!

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Originally Posted by booger73

So in my mind, 600 more in price, and losing 150 for gratuties
I"m not sure how much the Venice and Dubrovnik tours "cost" but seems like a lot in difference

Great analysis. I did basically the same thing for the Alaska ABD Add-on. Similar to what you are finding, for Alaska they had eliminated items from the itinerary--including the most expensive and highlight of most people's experiences the helicopter and dog sled priced at $699 if you did it without ABD--and kept the price the same! They also seemed to have taken Palo off the itinerary as well. I wrote a letter outlining my concerns, and to their credit they did reduce the price a couple hundred dollars, but not having the dog sledding was a deal breaker for me.

To my mind this has become a disappointing trend with Disney: start a great product and then year by year reduce the benefits until people start to complain. What's the moral of the story? Do something the first time it's offered, LOL!

[Tozzie]

I have been thinking about the add on's since they were announced and I have to tell you I am not loving ABD at the moment.

On my MED cruise in 2011 I did all DCL excursions, I did some of the most expensive ones they had and it cost me roughly $1200. The DCL excursions to the Vatican and the Collesium skipped the lines as well so that isn't' a great selling point for me with ABD. There are 4 sea days and with the exception of an animation class there are no ABD activities scheduled so you are breaking it down to 8 days, not 12, your meals and room are covered by the cruise fare, Palo has been removed.

The other issue I have is I don't want to do the same things I did on my previous Med cruise and there are no alternatives, so my choices for Rome would be stay on the ship (not happening) go see everything I saw the last cruise, or book a excursion on my own, I wouldn't mind but then I am paying for things I won 't use.

Looking at everything I don't think the ABD MED add on is a good thing and I won't be booking it.

[booger73]

Tozzie:

Which Rome DCL excursion did you do if I may ask (in 2011)
How many people were in the group?
How long was the wait?
How was booking it (we'll be Gold (7th cruise)?

I keep waffling back and forth whether or not I'll book the ABD..
Just haven't heard enough one way or another to push me..
Although $13000 (four of us) vs.. possibly 7000-8000 (dcl booked) is the biggie

I think.. if I can just book decent enough DCL excursions and not have too much to 'worry about', I think I'm going to be ok with that..

[Tozzie]

Originally Posted by booger73

Tozzie:

Which Rome DCL excursion did you do if I may ask (in 2011)
How many people were in the group?
How long was the wait?
How was booking it (we'll be Gold (7th cruise)?

I keep waffling back and forth whether or not I'll book the ABD..
Just haven't heard enough one way or another to push me..
Although $13000 (four of us) vs.. possibly 7000-8000 (dcl booked) is the biggie

I think.. if I can just book decent enough DCL excursions and not have too much to 'worry about', I think I'm going to be ok with that..

I did the excursion that included The Vatican, Collesium, Trevi Fountain, and lunch in a very nice Hotel in Rome. We really didn't wait at all, we had a private tour guide and she took us all around. the only issue and this would be an issue with ABD as well is how crowded it was.

I am only silver and i booked it when bookings open, I don't think you would have any problem, there was something like 12 DCL busses for the tour and some did the Vatican first, some the collesium.


I did book the Adult only Departure and there were maybe 40 people on it, however, each bus is a seprate tour with their own tour guide so you won't have to worry about there being 100 people on the tour with you.

I have been on 3 ABD trips, and I love my trips but I don't think they are worth it on the cruise. While while the tour is not ADB it is through DCL so it has the Disney Name behind it.

I didn't book the Med add on last year because I wanted to do different excursions than DCL was doing, after I returned home and thought about it I realized the tours were on par with ABD. Of course there are little added touches with ABD but there wasn't a noticible difference, at least in my opinion.

[disneynme]

I am paying close attention to everyone's input. I am also having a hard time with the price of ABD. The whole reason we booked the Med cruise in the first place is because we really wanted to go to Europe and had started to look at Knights and Lights and could not deal with the hefty price. When I saw that DCL would to a Med cruise and that I could book for all three of us for $3600, I signed up. Now if we add on the ABD, we're looking at close to the price of K&L.

I think we'll be doing some of our own ports (Monaco, Villefranche, and possibly Tower of Pisa) and some DCL excursions in other ports (Rome, Naples) and I think we'll come out way ahead.

[pxlbarrel]

Originally Posted by Tozzie

I did the excursion that included The Vatican, Collesium, Trevi Fountain, and lunch in a very nice Hotel in Rome. We really didn't wait at all, we had a private tour guide and she took us all around. the only issue and this would be an issue with ABD as well is how crowded it was.

I am only silver and i booked it when bookings open, I don't think you would have any problem, there was something like 12 DCL busses for the tour and some did the Vatican first, some the collesium.


I did book the Adult only Departure and there were maybe 40 people on it, however, each bus is a seprate tour with their own tour guide so you won't have to worry about there being 100 people on the tour with you.

I have been on 3 ABD trips, and I love my trips but I don't think they are worth it on the cruise. While while the tour is not ADB it is through DCL so it has the Disney Name behind it.

I didn't book the Med add on last year because I wanted to do different excursions than DCL was doing, after I returned home and thought about it I realized the tours were on par with ABD. Of course there are little added touches with ABD but there wasn't a noticible difference, at least in my opinion.

Your reasons are the same reasons why we'll not be doing the ABD add on. The clincher was the 4 days at sea with no ABD activities. If anything, this ABD tour should be only slightly higher than the excursions. I can under an expensive ABD tour because hotels and food cost money and the hotels they pick cost a lot of money but we're already paying for food and lodging and paying twice as much for the Med cruise as last year and the ABD is still so expensive?

I looked at the add on last year but they didn't do Pompeii and that was the one place I really wanted to go to .... so that was a head scratcher too.

It's too bad. I really do like the little ABD touches and the comraderie...but not at that cost.

[sayhello]

Originally Posted by pxlbarrel

Your reasons are the same reasons why we'll not be doing the ABD add on. The clincher was the 4 days at sea with no ABD activities. If anything, this ABD tour should be only slightly higher than the excursions. I can under an expensive ABD tour because hotels and food cost money and the hotels they pick cost a lot of money but we're already paying for food and lodging and paying twice as much for the Med cruise as last year and the ABD is still so expensive?

I looked at the add on last year but they didn't do Pompeii and that was the one place I really wanted to go to .... so that was a head scratcher too.

It's too bad. I really do like the little ABD touches and the comraderie...but not at that cost.

Boy, am I glad I did the ABD add-on the first year they had it, at $2399 for 11 nights. That year it was worth it, cost-wise. Like you, I'm surprised at the price, at the lack of Sea Day activities, the removal of the Palo night, etc. It's too bad, because it was a wonderful way to do a cruise. (Although the fact that we didn't do Pompeii was my one regret. But the day in Sorrento & Capri *was* wonderful.)

Sayhello

[k5jmh]

That price is way to rich for us because of the sea days and because I can do a full ABD adventure in great hotels for that price. The package does not justify the $$.

[queenmother]

iDid I read the Pre-Stay cost correctly?
3-Night Pre-Stay Barcelona

Adult - $1899.00 per person

Child - $1799.00 per person (Ages 4-11 but recommend children 6 and older)


So my Family of 4 with 12 and 14 year old would cost $7,596 for the three night stay? Does that seem outrageous??

[Tozzie]

Originally Posted by queenmother

iDid I read the Pre-Stay cost correctly?
3-Night Pre-Stay Barcelona

Adult - $1899.00 per person

Child - $1799.00 per person (Ages 4-11 but recommend children 6 and older)


So my Family of 4 with 12 and 14 year old would cost $7,596 for the three night stay? Does that seem outrageous??

Yes and what really boggled my mind is the 4 night add on is $1000 more, for a total of $2899 for 4 nights

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Originally Posted by Tozzie

Yes and what really boggled my mind is the 4 night add on is $1000 more, for a total of $2899 for 4 nights

Wow, that just seems crazy high!