Private Adventures

[neurosx1983]

Apologies if this topic has been discussed before, but I was wondering if there’s anyone out there that has had any experience with private adventures with ABD. Honestly, I’m not even sure any of them have run, but in case they have just wanted to know what it’s like for any destination. How much was able to be changed, how customizable was it, what was it like with one adventure guide…

 

[DCPhotoGal]

My understanding of the private adventures is that you only have local guides, and they stay in the city they start in, so they don't move with you. But I could be wrong.

 

[sayhello]

My understanding of the private adventures is that you only have local guides, and they stay in the city they start in, so they don't move with you. But I could be wrong.

Oh, wow! I hadn't noticed that! Here's what the ABD website says:

*Based on the itinerary, you will either have one local Private Adventure Guide who will be assigned to you for the entirety of your trip, or a different local Private Adventure Guide that will be assigned to you per destination city.

That's kind of sad if you have the latter, and don't have one Adventure Guide for the entirety of the trip.

Sayhello

 

[CaliKris]

Oh, wow! I hadn't noticed that! Here's what the ABD website says:
That's kind of sad if you have the latter, and don't have one Adventure Guide for the entirety of the trip.

Sayhello

These reasons are exactly why we decided against a private adventure in Egypt. There are five internal flights on this adventure and we were not intereseted in navigating airports in Egypt on our own.

 

[neurosx1983]

These reasons are exactly why we decided against a private adventure in Egypt. There are five internal flights on this adventure and we were not intereseted in navigating airports in Egypt on our own.

Really good point regarding transfers… I definitely will not book one of these until I see some trip reports to see how they run.

 

[AquaDame]

I'd be surprised if they did not meet you at baggage claim; that is where we are always picked up. Airports are pretty universal up to that point - follow the picture with the suitcase, and then look for the lines of drivers.

 

[sayhello]

I'd be surprised if they did not meet you at baggage claim; that is where we are always picked up. Airports are pretty universal up to that point - follow the picture with the suitcase, and then look for the lines of drivers.

Oh, I'm sure they'll meet you at baggage claim when you arrive, but will they take you into the airport when you're leaving to get to the next destination, get you through check-in, and wait with you at the gate, or will they just drop you off? In China, except for going from Hong Kong to Mainland China, they handled all the passport/check-in/luggage stuff. We just showed up at the gates. That was a huge benefit.

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

FWIW, Peru was a little tricky. They don’t allow non passengers inside the airport at all right now. We had to meet our (non ABD) private guides outside the airport after baggage claim and exiting the airport. Same with entering the airport. They walked us up to the covid security checkpoint and they had to point the way.

 

[CaliKris]

Oh, I'm sure they'll meet you at baggage claim when you arrive, but will they take you into the airport when you're leaving to get to the next destination, get you through check-in, and wait with you at the gate, or will they just drop you off? In China, except for going from Hong Kong to Mainland China, they handled all the passport/check-in/luggage stuff. We just showed up at the gates. That was a huge benefit.

Sayhello

Exactly the trip I was thinking of when deciding we did not want to be on our own in Egypt in the airport. In China, we had gates change and flights delayed with announcements only in Mandarin. We really relied on our guides for communication and making it stress free for us adventureres. One of our fellow travelers got stuck in security with his carry on being thoroughly searched, Joe, our Mandarin speaking guide, came to his rescue!

 

[TravelJunkieHubby]

Has anyone heard feedback on the private ABD experience? My nephew is younger than the minimum age for the adventures but some of the private ABDs do not have any age minimum. We were thinking about a family trip next summer to Greece... curious if anyone has any first-hand or second-hand experiences to share?

 

[sayhello]

Has anyone heard feedback on the private ABD experience? My nephew is younger than the minimum age for the adventures but some of the private ABDs do not have any age minimum. We were thinking about a family trip next summer to Greece... curious if anyone has any first-hand or second-hand experiences to share?

So far, the only thing I've heard is that no tips are included at all, so it can end up being more expensive than it looks because of that. Nothing specific on what the experience was like vs a "regular" ABD.

Is there something in particular you were curious about? I can try and ask that person for an opinion/answer. (It was on a fb group I belong to).

Sayhello

 

[Shadowfan]

Since you mentioned Greece as a potential private trip, I can relay my experience, not in going on the private trip, but just trying to book it.

In May 2022 was it? when 2023 ABD trips were released, the week of release I believe, I asked our travel agent to please check on a private Greece ABD for my family of four. (We wanted to see if we could begin the trip on a date of our choosing in 2023.)

A week after my request to the TA I emailed her for an update, but she had no further info about the private Greece trip.
Some time passed with no communication from the TA, again I emailed, & she responded that the vendors ABD worked with in Greece were not responding to ABD’s requests for scheduling.

In July, about eight weeks after our initial request on the private Greece, we still had no answer as to whether or not this trip was possible. The TA said she had no new information; to us, the lack of communication was bewildering.

We decided on a different trip altogether, a traditional group one, which we booked for 2023.

Maybe I wasn’t patient enough, but I think eight weeks was long enough to see if it were possible to even go.

 

[TravelJunkieHubby]

Thanks - we were just wondering how flexible the itinerary is based on the group's interests? Earlier on the thread, the issue of separate guides in each location vs. one guide for the entire trip came up... just little details that would be good to know before booking something like this.

 

[Marthasor]

Not really an answer to your question, but, after looking at ABD's Greece itinerary, I decided to book Greece on my own - the ABD, IMHO, leaves out so many really incredible sites on the mainland of Greece. I used a tour company that is based in Greece for the mainland portion of our tour and found tour companies on Crete and in Santorini as well to see some of the sites on those islands. I found getting around to the islands via ferry and/or air to be rather easy.

 

[jimmymc]

The ABD website confirms that the Greece trip uses different guides in each city, and gratuities are not included for anybody, including the local guides. So you will probably be tipping multiple people per day in addition to the price of the trip. You will also be on your own during the transportation and responsible for your own luggage during, a big advantage of the normal group trips.