Other Options...

[Birdie dog]

I want to book a Christmas market cruise with my daughter and granddaughter. Due to our jobs, we can't do Christmas week, and it looks like most river cruises won't allow my granddaughter so we're booking Tauck and hoping there will be other children aboard.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I want to book a Christmas market cruise with my daughter and granddaughter. Due to our jobs, we can't do Christmas week, and it looks like most river cruises won't allow my granddaughter so we're booking Tauck and hoping there will be other children aboard.

I'm doing a solo Christmas market trip with my ds. We were supposed to go to Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Salzburg and Munich. Due to the current situation and testing requirements in Prague, I have cut out the first 2 destinations. I am getting excited for our trip -- we leave on December 5th!

If you are thinking of going this year, it's super easy to get between cities on the train and probably less expensive than booking a river cruise.

 

[emilymad]

For anyone who has done Tauck and Tauck Bridges which did you prefer? We are in between the age ranges for the trips. We are in our low 40's, no kids. We don't mind being around kids, people younger than us, and people older than us. It seems that the Bridges trips are a little more active which we would prefer. There isn't much information out there on real experiences.

 

[aggiedog]

Are you looking at river cruises or land trips? There is a LOT of info comparing various river cruise companies on CruiseCritic.

 

[emilymad]

Are you looking at river cruises or land trips? There is a LOT of info comparing various river cruise companies on CruiseCritic.

Land. The river cruise that would have been our choice is already booked for next summer.

 

[Marthasor]

Has anyone traveled with National Geographic Expeditions? I've been looking over some of the North America tours and they look quite interesting - I just have no experience with this company nor do I know anyone who has traveled with them. Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

[Calfan]

Has anyone traveled with National Geographic Expeditions? I've been looking over some of the North America tours and they look quite interesting - I just have no experience with this company nor do I know anyone who has traveled with them. Any info is greatly appreciated!

I have done 3 hiking trips with NatGeo ((England Coast to Coast, Ireland and Patagonia) and one family trip (Peru). Highly recommend.

 

[Aelin1977]

Has anyone traveled with National Geographic Expeditions? I've been looking over some of the North America tours and they look quite interesting - I just have no experience with this company nor do I know anyone who has traveled with them. Any info is greatly appreciated!

We have done 3 trips with them. One Actuve Adventure to South East Asia and 2 private. After the last experience with them we will never travel with them. Horrible experience.

Also, just an FYI, if you don’t want to travel with Disney, don’t travel with Nat Geo. Disney bought Nat Geo when they purchased Fox. Nat Geo is now owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company.

 

[sayhello]

We have done 3 trips with them. One Actuve Adventure to South East Asia and 2 private. After the last experience with them we will never travel with them. Horrible experience.

Also, just an FYI, if you don’t want to travel with Disney, don’t travel with Nat Geo. Disney bought Nat Geo when they purchased Fox. Nat Geo is now owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company.

Any chance you could go into detail of what was horrible about your experience?

Sayhello

 

[WDW Lover]

My husband and I are not tour people. We just figure out where we want to go on our trips and do research online and just go to those places. It ends up costing a fraction of any of those tours and transportation around Italy is inexpensive and easy! Basically just need to make sure you have a credit card with a CHIP on it, and that you have a PIN set up for that card! Other than that, not knowing the language wasn't a problem and we travelled all over the country. We don't do roller bags to make it easier to get around in the older parts of cities and just carry everything in a large backpack on our backs. We tend to travel light and can wash things in the sink overnight if we are staying more than 1 night in places - or if we have time a laundromat can sometimes fit into the schedule (I think we did that in Cuzco once). But things IN ROME are super easy to get to on your own! We have stayed in Venice, Florence, Naples, and a bunch of smaller places as well. Done day trips from Rome and Florence and Naples - saw Pompeii, etc. It honestly is pretty easy. If you are dead set on a tour, go with the cheapest one and then you can add on other things either before or after your tour starts and do them on your own if the tour doesn't include it. More than likely it is something inexpensive and fairly easy to figure out how to do on your own. My brother hired a driver for $75 for a day in Rome and the guy took him all over the place. My brother, of course, thinks he saw way more than we did on our trip....but he didn't... we saw all the same things on our own. He just felt more comfortable having a guy who spoke Italian taking them all over and showing them everything. Anyway, I got off subject. I would go with whichever tour is cheapest and then pick and choose things that maybe they didn't include to do on your own.

 

[Aelin1977]

Any chance you could go into detail of what was horrible about your experience?

Sayhello

It was a major bucket list trip for me to Australia. Our trip coordinator changed like 4 times during the planning process, the last change coming about a week before our departure to Sydney. When we got there no one was there to meet us, then walking tour we were supposed to do the first afternoon was never booked. When I tried to contact our trip coordinator she was away on vacation and wouldn’t be back until the day before we returned home. When we complained to Nat Geo when we returned they brushed it off. Last trip with Nat Geo since it was shortly after this they were bought by Disney.

 

[sayhello]

It was a major bucket list trip for me to Australia. Our trip coordinator changed like 4 times during the planning process, the last change coming about a week before our departure to Sydney. When we got there no one was there to meet us, then walking tour we were supposed to do the first afternoon was never booked. When I tried to contact our trip coordinator she was away on vacation and wouldn’t be back until the day before we returned home. When we complained to Nat Geo when we returned they brushed it off. Last trip with Nat Geo since it was shortly after this they were bought by Disney.

That does sound horrible! How was the rest of the trip once you got started? Still chaotic?

Sayhello

 

[Aelin1977]

That does sound horrible! How was the rest of the trip once you got started? Still chaotic?

Sayhello

There were highs and lows as with any trip but it did smooth out after the initial chaos in Sydney. We did however feel very unsupported by Nat Geo even though the poor girl who was forced to deal with the trip issues because of the absence of the trip coordinator did try her best to make it up to us. She got us a dinner upgrade at Uluru where we got to dine under the stars and our room at Thala Beach to one that overlooked the Coral Sea.

 

[Marthasor]

It was a major bucket list trip for me to Australia. Our trip coordinator changed like 4 times during the planning process, the last change coming about a week before our departure to Sydney. When we got there no one was there to meet us, then walking tour we were supposed to do the first afternoon was never booked. When I tried to contact our trip coordinator she was away on vacation and wouldn’t be back until the day before we returned home. When we complained to Nat Geo when we returned they brushed it off. Last trip with Nat Geo since it was shortly after this they were bought by Disney.

Wowzers. Well, I was looking at their private Arizona trip, but I think I will keep looking. We may actually end up doing the ABD Arizona trip.

 

[sayhello]

Wowzers. Well, I was looking at their private Arizona trip, but I think I will keep looking. We may actually end up doing the ABD Arizona trip.

The Arizona ABD *is* a really great trip.

Sayhello

 

[Calfan]

Totally different experience with us for NatGeo, but that was before Disney purchased them. Our trip coordinators and guides were all fantastic and we were treated pretty much like royalty on our Peru trip since it was our 4th trip with NatGeo and they seemed very focused on making sure we were happy.

 

[pjacobi]

Basically just need to make sure you have a credit card with a CHIP on it, and that you have a PIN set up for that card!

A Chip and PIN credit card is not required for Europe! All hotels, shops and restaurants will accept the US- style Chip and signature credit cards.

The only time that I had seen that a PIN was required was at an automated bus ticket vending machine. I simply switched payment method to cash and inserted Euros.


-Paul

 

[Woodview]

Chip and PIN credit card is not required for Europe! All hotels, shops and restaurants will accept the US- style Chip and signature credit cards.

The only time that I had seen that a PIN was required was at an automated bus ticket vending machine. I simply switched payment method to cash and inserted Euros.
[/QU

NOT TRUE ..... CHIP & PIN is Normal in Europe

OR TAP your Card OR Your Card is Scanned from your Smart Phone

 

[Magnum_PI]

A Chip and PIN credit card is not required for Europe! All hotels, shops and restaurants will accept the US- style Chip and signature credit cards.

The only time that I had seen that a PIN was required was at an automated bus ticket vending machine. I simply switched payment method to cash and inserted Euros.


-Paul

I had this experience in Italy as well. US chip and signature was no problem. It’s not the norm there, but it was no problem in Italy anyway.

As you mentioned, the only exception was at automated pay stations where an actual person is not present. In that case you will want cash.

 

[WDW Lover]

A Chip and PIN credit card is not required for Europe! All hotels, shops and restaurants will accept the US- style Chip and signature credit cards.

The only time that I had seen that a PIN was required was at an automated bus ticket vending machine. I simply switched payment method to cash and inserted Euros.


-Paul

Yes, bus ticket machines AND trains are the same way. We tend to not carry cash much... but you would need a Chip and PIN for that card for those machines. We were in several small towns where that was our only option. As we don't tend to carry a lot of cash and put most on our cards, it was a necessity.