Sistine Chapel Private Tour canceled :(

No, it looks like our tour of the Vatican is on a Tuesday.

Even if it were a Vatican thing that night, don't they usually mix the schedule around to accommodate things like that? We have one, possibly two, other nights they could do it.

When you called them did they give your a partial refund or did they tell you something else was going to be added. If they don't I would file a complaint with the BBB and tell them that was false advertisement.
 
My guess? ABD has an agreement with Vatican to do private, after hours tours. But when they added that perk to the Rome Escape, Vatican realized they were giving ABD too much time. They have other groups to serve. Ergo, they kept Private tour on Italy trip but took off of Rome escape. They also removed dinner at Vatican. I was booked and switched out and I am glad I did. Without those two perks, Rome Escape isn't worth it at all.
 
When you called them did they give your a partial refund or did they tell you something else was going to be added. If they don't I would file a complaint with the BBB and tell them that was false advertisement.

OP is unfortunately not entitled to any refund. Nor is ABD on the hook for false advertising. All contracts like this have built in stipulations that Itinerary is subject to change. They promise only to do their best to provide the written trip, but there are never any guarantees and every travel company puts this sort of clause in to cover their butts and avoid liability. Sure, you can call and ask, "How you gonna compensate for this? because my trip is now technically not worth what I paid." But you will get nothing, most likely.

OP, do let us know if ABD does anything to make up for this. I'd be very surprised if they did. Especially given my interactions with them, I find it highly unlikely.

But my advice? be vocal as possible about your displeasure anyway. And tell them flat out you will not be doing business with them again due to this. Tell them your faith in the Disney name/product has been irreparably damaged, and that you don't want that and they don't want that, so they should do what they can to restore your faith.

And above all, if they give you any compensation, thank them. They really aren't legally obligated to.
 
It looks like dinner at the Vatican is now also changed that night to dinner at a local restaurant. :( I thought that part had remained but now that changed too. So private after-hours Vatican and Sistine chapel tours were switched to guided during the day and now we are at a regular restaurant as well. Anyone done the Vatican dinner? Maybe a regular restaurant will be better? What are the chances ABD does something totally amazing for dinner, after switching out the tours on us?
 


It doesn’t sound like ABD cares. They just say, “We’re at the mercy of the Vatican.” So I don’t think there will be any compensation or great alternative. But it seems so strange (suspicious?) that they would cancel the private tours for all the short escapes but not the regular ABD’s. It’s just frustrating when that event was absolutely the selling point for the 3-day trip and right after we locked in it was pulled from the agenda.
 


I don't think that this has anything to do with the Vatican. I think it has to do with promoting the full ABD trip and not just the short escape. This was the premiere event of the full ABD trip, hands down.
 
OP is unfortunately not entitled to any refund. Nor is ABD on the hook for false advertising. All contracts like this have built in stipulations that Itinerary is subject to change. They promise only to do their best to provide the written trip, but there are never any guarantees and every travel company puts this sort of clause in to cover their butts and avoid liability. Sure, you can call and ask, "How you gonna compensate for this? because my trip is now technically not worth what I paid." But you will get nothing, most likely.

OP, do let us know if ABD does anything to make up for this. I'd be very surprised if they did. Especially given my interactions with them, I find it highly unlikely.

But my advice? be vocal as possible about your displeasure anyway. And tell them flat out you will not be doing business with them again due to this. Tell them your faith in the Disney name/product has been irreparably damaged, and that you don't want that and they don't want that, so they should do what they can to restore your faith.

And above all, if they give you any compensation, thank them. They really aren't legally obligated to.

I totally get that concept of they don't owe anything. But I recall when I booked a private tour of the vatican during my time in Rome it was more than the regular day tour. I am sure Vatican charges more for the after hour tours. So therefore, if ABD was paying 30 a head and is now paying less they should owe the difference. But that is me being a stickler and feeling disappointment. Let's be honest when you are paying several thousands of dollars a difference of 15 dollars a person is nothing.

In my past experiences with ABD, the guides are aware of this and try to make it up in other ways.
 
I totally get that concept of they don't owe anything. But I recall when I booked a private tour of the vatican during my time in Rome it was more than the regular day tour. I am sure Vatican charges more for the after hour tours. So therefore, if ABD was paying 30 a head and is now paying less they should owe the difference. But that is me being a stickler and feeling disappointment. Let's be honest when you are paying several thousands of dollars a difference of 15 dollars a person is nothing.

When I went to Spain there was a plane issue that significantly lowered the trip value. No Parc Guell or Picasso museum as a result. The guides gave tixs to those staying late and a hop on hop off tour which would cover transportation, if wanted. But the majority were left hanging. There's just no refunds for this type of thing. That's the nature of a package tour. And the nature of travel in general.
 
Here's another instance in which ABD's policies lag at least some competitors.

From Tauck's policies: "Itinerary Changes & Price Flexibility – Tauck pledges to make every effort to operate all tours as advertised. Tauck reserves the right to alter or curtail the itinerary, or substitute sightseeing, ports, hotels, and / or conveyances as deemed necessary. Any savings realized by these changes will be refunded to passengers. Any resultant added expense will be covered by Tauck.

While no tour group can guarantee that a tour will operate as planned, basic fairness regarding changes goes a long way.
 
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Here's another instance in which ABD's policies lag at least some competitors.

From Tauck's policies: "Itinerary Changes & Price Flexibility – Tauck pledges to make every effort to operate all tours as advertised. Tauck reserves the right to alter or curtail the itinerary, or substitute sightseeing, ports, hotels, and / or conveyances as deemed necessary. Any savings realized by these changes will be refunded to passengers. Any resultant added expense will be covered by Tauck.

While no tour group can guarantee that a tour will operate as planned, basic fairness regarding changes goes a long way.

Tauck has much better pricing policies, for sure.
Much better company to deal with overall and will probably become my go to. There's really only 2 ABD itineraries that look better to me thannTauck at this point: Scotland and Egypt. And the Egypt one is only better because ABD is actually cheaper. If I get a deal, that may change.
 

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