Greece: Greek Odyssey Meets Thread

[sayhello]

Hi there, anyone going on the Aug 12th adventure tour to Greece. We are a family of 3...my hubby, son who is 10 and myself. Greece has been on our bucket list for years and we are finally doing it. It's our first time to Europe and our first ABD tour! We are all very excited. Happy to meet anyone who is on this trip or has any words of wisdom for a newbie family.

Hello, CanadianMomm, and Welcome to the DISBoards and the ABD Forum. Congrats on booking the Greece ABD. I took that trip last year, and it is now the favorite of my 5 (so far) ABD's! Greece is amazing, and the itinerary is wonderful. ABD is a wonderful way to do your first trip to Europe. The food on this trip is really good, too!

Let me (and the others here) know if you have *any* questions!

Sayhello

 

[CanadianMomm]

Thanks for the warm welcome SayHello!!

Looks like there is a fair amount of free time on the trip...how did you, or others, find the pace?

I'm starting to think about what we need to take with us. I always overpack!! Any ideas about this? What is the one item you would make sure you took and the one item you would have left behind?

 

[sayhello]

Thanks for the warm welcome SayHello!!

Looks like there is a fair amount of free time on the trip...how did you, or others, find the pace?

I'm starting to think about what we need to take with us. I always overpack!! Any ideas about this? What is the one item you would make sure you took and the one item you would have left behind?

I found the pace just right. I know a few people thought we had too much free time in Oia, but I spent half of it taking photos, so I appreciated having the rest to shop. In Crete, I spent one of the 'on your own evenings' on my resort balcony, eating room service, and thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a lot of walking on this trip, so I appreciated the down time. There's also an on your own afternoon on Crete where the Guides will help you book a spa treatment at the resort. I *HIGHLY* recommend that!

Definitely bring a good hat -- you're in the sun a lot. It should have a chin strap, because some areas, like hiking the volcano, were very windy. And a rash guard for the kayaking was a life-saver. I honestly can't think of anything I wish I hadn't brought. But I've been "refining" my travel packing for several years. I still over pack, but it's usually the number of a particular type of clothing rather than the types of clothing. I like to have options.

Sayhello

 

[bamagoofy]

Hi,

I am officially booked for the 9/15/15 trip. I'm very excited. Sayhello helped convince me to take this trip when we were on the Scotland trip together. Anyone else going on this trip?

 

[sayhello]

Hi,

I am officially booked for the 9/15/15 trip. I'm very excited. Sayhello helped convince me to take this trip when we were on the Scotland trip together. Anyone else going on this trip?

Ha Ha! I've succeeded!

You're really going to love the Greece trip! (And yes, I really will finish my Trip Report. I'm SO BAD!)

I've added you to the Roll Call in the first post!

Sayhello

 

[rebeccam31]

It's early to be added to any sort of roll call, but I am almost certain that this trip will be our summer vacation for 2016. We have my husband convinced, so we are just waiting for the 2016 rates and dates. I am SO EXCITED about this possibility. We did Scotland last summer (but my husband had to miss due to work committments), and it was amazing. This summer we (my daughter and I) are going with friends to the California Backstage Magic trip (and my family is doing a Disney Caribbean cruise). I can't imagine anything topping Scotland, but I still have high hopes for Greece.

 

[sayhello]

It's early to be added to any sort of roll call, but I am almost certain that this trip will be our summer vacation for 2016. We have my husband convinced, so we are just waiting for the 2016 rates and dates. I am SO EXCITED about this possibility. We did Scotland last summer (but my husband had to miss due to work committments), and it was amazing. This summer we (my daughter and I) are going with friends to the California Backstage Magic trip (and my family is doing a Disney Caribbean cruise). I can't imagine anything topping Scotland, but I still have high hopes for Greece.

I've done both Scotland and Greece, and while I *ADORED* Scotland, Greece still has it beat as my favorite! You will love it!

Sayhello

 

[bamagoofy]

Well, the date I was originally booked for cancelled. I am now on the September 25, 2015 departure. Kevin at Dreams was wonderful handling the change. I luckily have read a article on the "best time" to book travel and had not booked my airfare yet. Still excited to experience Greece.

 

[sayhello]

Well, the date I was originally booked for cancelled. I am now on the September 25, 2015 departure. Kevin at Dreams was wonderful handling the change. I luckily have read a article on the "best time" to book travel and had not booked my airfare yet. Still excited to experience Greece.

So sorry your trip got cancelled, but glad you were able to switch. ABD should have covered changing your airfare anyways, but it's even easier if you haven't booked yet!

You're gonna love it!

Sayhello

 

[DizGirl20]

Hi we are considering Greece for the summer of 2016. Any idea when 2016 dates will be released? Thank you

 

[sayhello]

Hi we are considering Greece for the summer of 2016. Any idea when 2016 dates will be released? Thank you

ABD has announced it will be June 9th, 2015.

Sayhello

 

[DizGirl20]

ABD has announced it will be June 9th, 2015.

Sayhello

Thank you!

 

[rebeccam31]

Please post here if you would like to talk with anyone else who has signed up to travel to Greece with ABD.

You can also share information/ask questions about the Greece Greek Odyssey ABD.

Please try and keep this thread on topic to discussion and questions about the Greece ABD. Off topic posts will be deleted or moved.

Thanks!
Sayhello

Roll Call:

Current:

• Jul 25 - Aug 6, 2015 - Diane0977 (Diane), hubby (Shawn), & kids (7 & 9)
• Sep 25 - Oct 4, 2015 - bamagoofy

Previous:

• June 22 - July 1, 2012
  • - WeLoveABD, DW, DD 11 & DS 18
  • - meflick, DH, DD 16 & DS 15
• July 3 - 12, 2012
  • - ropinglawyer, wife, son (14), daughter (18) & son (22)
  • - Ranlil, wife & two daughters (11 & 13)
• July 20 - 29, 2012
  • - abdalums, DH, DD 15 & DS 13
  • - runtabella, husband, son & his wife (25)
• May 24 - June 2, 2013
  • - NoraG & DM
  • - Sayhello
• Jun 11 - 20, 2013
  • - richflour & daughter (9)
  • - ungartefamily, husband, her mom, & daughters (21, 19 & 15) & son (12)
• Jun 20 - 29, 2014
  • - brinalyn530 (Bree) & son (13)
  • - DawnieP (Dawn) & her 2 nieces (13 & 12)
• Jul 18 - 27, 2014 - mbferruggia & daughter (15)
• Aug 12 - 21, 2014 - CanadianMomm, hubby & son (12)
• Sep 26 - Oct 5, 2014 - Bronxboy52 & wife

We are booked for July 22-31, 2016. It will be myself, my husband, and our then-14 year old daughter. Hopefully the country will be stabilized by then. :/

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

We hope things stabilize, too! We just switched our River Cruise reservation to Greece for 6/28/16. It's me, DH, DD16 (at the time), and DS19 (at the time). Thanks!

 

[Ralphlaw]

Yup, we just booked for June 10, 2016--Me, wife, 17 year old son and 9 your old daughter. Can't wait. It will be our 4th ABD. Dumb questions, if we arrive a couple days early, will they transport us from the airport? Also, will ABD help take care of booking our hotel for that extra couple of days?

Thanks.

 

[sayhello]

Yup, we just booked for June 10, 2016--Me, wife, 17 year old son and 9 your old daughter. Can't wait. It will be our 4th ABD. Dumb questions, if we arrive a couple days early, will they transport us from the airport? Also, will ABD help take care of booking our hotel for that extra couple of days?

Thanks.

You need to check with ABD for availability, but if there is, they'll book the hotel for you for your pre-days, and transportation *is* included to the hotel. In general, booking through ABD is more expensive than you can book it on your own, but I remember that it wasn't that bad for the Greece hotel, at least in 2013.

If you book the pre-days yourself, ABD will still provide you with transportation, but it will be to the ABD hotel. If you book at another hotel, you'll need to get yourself from the ABD hotel to your hotel. But it's quite a distance from the Athens airport to the Intercontinental hotel, so it's worth getting there, and then a quick taxi ride to wherever you book your pre-days.

Sayhello

 

[Jenncram]

Starting to get excited about our trip! We have 2 sons ages 14 and 12 and this is our 3rd ABD trip. We're signed up for Aug 5-14, 2016 though were arriving in Athens on the am of the 3rd. Trying to figure out what to do for our free days!

 

[DisneyKevin]

Starting to get excited about our trip! We have 2 sons ages 14 and 12 and this is our 3rd ABD trip. We're signed up for Aug 5-14, 2016 though were arriving in Athens on the am of the 3rd. Trying to figure out what to do for our free days!

We are going to Greece just after you depart. (8/15 - 8/26)

We are going on a RCCL cruise out of Venice that travel throughout the Greek Isles.

Looking forward to this greatly!

 

[sayhello]

Starting to get excited about our trip! We have 2 sons ages 14 and 12 and this is our 3rd ABD trip. We're signed up for Aug 5-14, 2016 though were arriving in Athens on the am of the 3rd. Trying to figure out what to do for our free days!

I *highly* recommend going out to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon. It's an easy drive from the hotel in Athens, and a really nice drive (you go along the coast for quite a bit of it) and the Temple itself is very cool! If you can time it to get out there just before sunset, do it! Sunset there is gorgeous. But they close the gates just before sunset, so be sure to find out what time that is, so you can manage to already be up there before that! We hired a driver to get us there, but you could do it either with a driver or on your own easily.

I also highly recommend touring the Ancient Agora in Athens. I downloaded a Rick Steves walking tour on his app, and it was a really great way to see it, and understand what I was looking at. A really amazing site.

Also, the Museum of the Acropolis is a beautiful & fascinating museum, with an amazing view of the Acropolis from the cafeteria. A nice place to get a snack or a meal or just a drink, and sit and admire the view.

You are so going to love this trip! I've done 6 ABDs, and Greece is my favorite so far.

Sayhello

 

[Jenncram]

I *highly* recommend going out to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon. It's an easy drive from the hotel in Athens, and a really nice drive (you go along the coast for quite a bit of it) and the Temple itself is very cool! If you can time it to get out there just before sunset, do it! Sunset there is gorgeous. But they close the gates just before sunset, so be sure to find out what time that is, so you can manage to already be up there before that! We hired a driver to get us there, but you could do it either with a driver or on your own easily.

I also highly recommend touring the Ancient Agora in Athens. I downloaded a Rick Steves walking tour on his app, and it was a really great way to see it, and understand what I was looking at. A really amazing site.

Also, the Museum of the Acropolis is a beautiful & fascinating museum, with an amazing view of the Acropolis from the cafeteria. A nice place to get a snack or a meal or just a drink, and sit and admire the view.

You are so going to love this trip! I've done 6 ABDs, and Greece is my favorite so far.

Sayhello

Thanks so much Sayhello. I've already planned Sounion and the Museum of the Acropolis based on your trip report! Thank you so much for posting that. Now trying to figure out where to eat!