2024 Itineraries/dates & new land trips are on the ABD Website

[Mathmagicland]

I hope they choose a very good operator that spoils their animals if that is indeed included on the tour.

Agree. I’d expect/hope that with WDW having Animal kingdom, the operator for this activity was thoroughly vetted for animal care.

 

[Mathmagicland]

In looking at the Morocco itinerary in detail, they do offer an option for those who would not want to ride the camels -

Sunset Camel Ride or Dunes Hike​

Experience a sunset in the Sahara, either on a camel ride or a desert hike. Whichever you choose, this will surely be a moment you won’t ever forget.

 

[Grifdog22]

May I ask what you think overall of the retooling..? It sounds like you think most of the changes (if not all except for timing of punting) are positive, having done it?

I agree with much of what Say Hello says. However, we really enjoyed the ferry ride to Waiheke and the zip lining. I also really clicked with the nature tour - but it was steep hiking and not to the liking of DW. (We are old). This could have easily been a half-day event with more activities in Auckland, which is surrounded by so much to do you could spend weeks there and not do it all. I think this was a mistake on their part. Christchurch was our least favorite part of the tour. I totally agree that the punting should be on the first day - it WAS relaxing after the flight. Perhaps our position was negative because we found so little open or available when we went. Circumstances may have changed.

I still regret they don't include Milford sound, and for those going we strongly recommend the land air sea full day tour as an "add on." When I thought what we had seen and done in New Zealand couldn't get any better...well, we hadn't seen anything yet! Hope you all get to visit. I had an e-mail this morning from Qantas on a flash sale, roundtrip nonstop from New York to/from Auckland at $1599 (starting in June).

 

[sayhello]

A Travel Agent who posts on another group I participate in just posted this:

UPDATE: I'm hearing that some of the dates currently showing as Waitlisted may be due to a glitch. If you are looking for a specific date that is currently showing as waitlisted, my advice is to look again tomorrow or Thursday to see if it is still listed the same way.

Sayhello

 

[Marthasor]

A Travel Agent who posts on another group I participate in just posted this:



Sayhello

I hope this is true! We would love to do Nova Scotia, but all of the September 2024 dates are listed as waitlist only right now - I suppose I could put myself on the waitlist just in case!

 

[Pooh&Minnie]

A Travel Agent who posts on another group I participate in just posted this:



Sayhello

Agreed - ridiculous and very counter-intuitive. The big announcement of dates for 2024, and here are the dates/times you can call to book...... but half are already waitlisted before any one of the categories of customers listed can even call. Not a good look. And maybe it's not a big deal, but it's going to draw a lot of people, potentially, to a particular date/time that IS listed as available, instead of diluting reservations when people want to go over multiple trips around that same time of year (if that makes sense).

My travel agent called ABD and the vacationista she spoke with checked with her supervisor. It confirms what @sayhello reported. It’s basically a glitch and the website shouldn’t say those adventures are “now accepting waitlist”. Here’s hoping it’s fixed prior to bookings starting next week!

 

[sayhello]

My travel agent called ABD and the vacationista she spoke with checked with her supervisor. It confirms what @sayhello reported. It’s basically a glitch and the website shouldn’t say those adventures are “now accepting waitlist”. Here’s hoping it’s fixed prior to bookings starting next week!

Good to know! There's only *one* Adults Only Nova Scotia trip that isn't listed as "Waitlisted"! That's some serious competition if it was real!

Sayhello

 

[abdgeek]

So they have re-done the New Zealand itinerary a bit. Comparing 2022/23 to 2024/25 (I'm comparing the Adults Only itinerary, not sure how much difference there is to the standard departures):

Day 2, the Fish Market tour has been replaced with a "Private Tour of Wynyard Quarter Neighborhood". Otherwise the same.

Day 3, the trip to Waiheke Island for the zipline/winery lunch/visit to Oneroa is gone altogether (no surprise!) and you leave for Rotorua (basically Day 4 of the old itinerary). Evening and dinner is OYO instead of at the Marae (which remains as evening for Day 4 on the new itinerary).

Day 4 is basically Day 5 of the old itinerary (the Kiwi bird hatchery, Agrodome, Rotorua zip-line) with the addition of the Marae experience and dinner.

Day 5 is Day 6 of the old itinerary, with Te Puia back. However the punting on the Avon is moved to Day 6, and Day 5 has a City Tour of Christchurch.

Day 6 is new, with additional time in Christchurch (I like this). There's a sightseeing tour of Christchurch in the morning (sites will depend on the weather), the Punting on the Avon, lunch at the Curator's House that we saw while punting, then evening and dinner OYO. I'm a little sad that the punting is moved from after the flight to Christchurch -- it was a wonderful way to relax after the flight -- but at least it's not gone.

Day 7 is back to matching up. Christchurch, Greymouth & Franz Josef. It looks like there is only Lunch at Monteith's Brewery, and the tour is gone (which is fine by me. A tour where they say "this is how it would work if we were still brewing here" was kind of silly). The rest looks the same.

Day 8 in Franz Josef looks the same.

Day 9 is mostly the same, except instead of the stop at the Makarora Country Cafe for lunch, you have lunch OYO during the OYO time in Wanaka.

Day 10 the Dart Valley horse back riding is gone. You instead have an OYO morning in Queenstown. Lunch is still at the Glenorchy Hotel Pub & Restaurant, and then the afternoon has the Dart River Jet Boat or a seemingly different 4-wheel drive experience as an alternate to the jet boat. Includes panning for gold. Dinner & evening still OYO in Queenstown.

Days 11 and 12 appear unchanged (Arrowtown, e-bike ride or more time in Arrowtown including the museum, Gibbston winery & wine cave tour, TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak Farm for Dog herding demo & Farewell dinner.) Then home on Day 12.

Sayhello

You pretty much hit on all the changes to the 2024 New Zealand trip. The changes are pretty similar with the regular itinerary. I’m glad they took out Waiheke Island and the fish market. However, I’m not sure what they would be touring in the Wynyard Quarter. Unfortunately, they are still traveling over the same dates as last year so some of the itinerary items still might not be available during the holiday trips.

 

[Pooh&Minnie]

Good to know! There's only *one* Adults Only Nova Scotia trip that isn't listed as "Waitlisted"! That's some serious competition if it was real!

Sayhello

Yes!

 

[AquaDame]

Edit: I misread... I still remember when SE Asia was around 6.5K per person instead of 8. It jumped another grand for '24/'25.. Now its $8,600 (if you don't get the early booking discount). Plus another thousand per person to do it over Xmas. May now be too rich for our blood.

 

[Jess_S]

I noticed the huge price jumps for some of the trips too. Seems risky when they had so many cancellations this year due to airfare prices. That suggested to me that guests for these trips are more price sensitive than one might think.

The new itineraries do look good though.

 

[Theta]

Edit: I misread... I still remember when SE Asia was around 6.5K per person instead of 8. It jumped another grand for '24/'25.. Now its $8,600 (if you don't get the early booking discount). Plus another thousand per person to do it over Xmas. May now be too rich for our blood.

At that price, I will be doing Tauck.

 

[Eastridge]

Some quick observations on the 2024 trips:

• The increase in opening day pricing varies quite a bit, from a couple hundred to over a thousand. Italy Amalfi and Italy Switzerland increased by about $1500
• I don't see 2024 listings for Montana/Wyoming, New England or Spain
• The Japan trip hotel in Tokyo is now the Shangri La rather than the Peninsula. I don't know if they are comparable, but few ABD trips include a Peninsula hotel

 

[Mathmagicland]

The Japan trip hotel in Tokyo is now the Shangri La rather than the Peninsula. I don't know if they are comparable, but few ABD trips include a Peninsula hotel

Had not picked up on the hotel change. That Tokyo Peninsula is still the most “Wow” hotel I’ve stayed in, Shangri La will have to be a lot to beat it, in my opinion.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Had not picked up on the hotel change. That Tokyo Peninsula is still the most “Wow” hotel I’ve stayed in, Shangri La will have to be a lot to beat it, in my opinion.

I noticed that, too - I don't think it's going to beat it! But it still looks pretty nice. They also are including less meals - not a huge difference, but definitely some very subtle 'cutbacks' on some of these trips in 2024 - not shocking.

 

[lpm23]

Agree. I’d expect/hope that with WDW having Animal kingdom, the operator for this activity was thoroughly vetted for animal care.

I just called regarding so many waitlists. They said it is just they haven't finalized all of the details for the other dates yet. They said the majority of them will open up to the public. Only a few are being held by travel agents etc. It just sounds like they are getting them organized in batches.

 

[sayhello]

Had not picked up on the hotel change. That Tokyo Peninsula is still the most “Wow” hotel I’ve stayed in, Shangri La will have to be a lot to beat it, in my opinion.

Yep, it will take a lot to top the Tokyo Peninsula! One thing I did notice on their website is that they are located adjacent to Tokyo Station, and since you travel to Tokyo via train now, that could be VERY convenient!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

Well, it looks like some of the "Waitlisted" date issues have been "fixed", but, at least for Nova Scotia, it's not that the departures are now listed as available. There are now far fewer dates listed, period, and some of them are still listed as "Waitlisted". There is still only one Nova Scotia Adults Only trip that isn't waitlisted! But instead of the 10 dates that were listed yesterday, there are only 5 dates listed! I didn't look at any other trips, but I wonder if that happened to all of them?

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

Well, it looks like some of the "Waitlisted" date issues have been "fixed", but, at least for Nova Scotia, it's not that the departures are now listed as available. There are now far fewer dates listed, period, and some of them are still listed as "Waitlisted". There is still only one Nova Scotia Adults Only trip that isn't waitlisted! But instead of the 10 dates that were listed yesterday, there are only 5 dates listed! I didn't look at any other trips, but I wonder if that happened to all of them?

Sayhello

I was randomly looking at a few other trips just to see what waitlisted dates showed up, some look a little better today while others still look the same with several still waitlisted. So maybe not all fixed yet? Hopefully it will all be adjusted as needed by the weekend for those who want to try to book next week.

 

[chuff88]

I'm very surprised that they aren't going to Spain in 2024, I'm guessing it wasn't a popular itinerary? I know this was touched on a bit earlier, but it's just catching up with me that it seems odd that they'd cut that and the New England trip.