I think we are of like mind Bobo. I did a cruise (RCL Liberty of the Seas) last year with my extended family, and didn't like it much either. We too had a couple of days of bad weather where we were basically stuck inside, and there was nothing to do! My daughter tolerated, but didn't love the kids club, and it really wasn't active enough for her. (I was SO surprised that it was indoors!) I had thought I might give DCL a chance, thinking it would be different, but from your report, it seems like it had alot of the qualities that I didn't care for on RCL, like the constant "sell" atmosphere. I found there were really no opportunities to befriend other adults or find families that you could spend time with, unless you happened to sit next to them in the wall to wall poolside lounge chairs or be seated near them at dinner - was DCL any different? I think if my daughter and I had been there on our own, I would have ended up spending alot of time alone with my book, which is fine for a little while, but not how I want to spend the entirety of my vacation. That's one reason the ABD DCL add-on is appealing to me, as I believe it would provide the comradarie that we've gotten on the ABD trips, in addition to the great port excursions that you just show up for. Think I'll wait to hear feedback after the first season though...
I am seriously considering the Tauck Bridges N. Calif tour as well for the same reason as your son - I've always wanted to see Yosemite (have been numerous times to S.F, and once to Monterey) and like the itinerary/cost better than ABD. While neither tour gives you a whole lot of time at Yosemite, I think the T.B. tour looks like it provides alot of fun activities that would be right down my DD's alley.
I too still hoping for some kind of promotion from one of the tour groups that will help me decide, but I probably can't book until March/April anyway until I find out more about my summer work schedule.
Feel free to p.m. me directly (I guess that's possible?) if you learn more about the T.B North CA tour and want to discuss.
(p.s. - Hi Gayle!)
See, I'm not that big on cruising, either. The first cruise I was on, the Southern Caribbean, was a last-minute thing when vacation plans for late November fell through. I loved the ports for the most part, but the ship itself --- I felt like I was vacationing at the Mall, and the only people I got to know were the young newlyweds whose table I was put at (I loved them, but I don't know WHOSE idea it was to obligate that young couple like that...)
My second cruise was Alaska, which is really a totally different cruise animal. You're not really doing the pool thing, you're really on an Alaska cruise to see the sights.
The only other cruising I've done were 2 charity cruises last year & this, and those cruises were more about the sense of community than anything else. You
felt like you knew everyone!
So looking at this
strictly as a Mediterranean cruise was not really what appealed to me. One of the things I *DO* love about cruising is moving into and unpacking in your room only once at the start of your vacation, and packing up only once at the end of your vacation. And yet you get to see a LOT of far-flung places. The ship is actually in the Med ports for a relatively long time in most of the ports; ABD outings rarely go later than dinner... So for me, this is actually an ABD sort of on steroids, where I'm visiting more places than I could on a ground-based tour, and where the ship is the hotel. Because of the excellent price on the Cat 12 GTY's the cost of that hotel is really, really low, so the cost per day for this ABD is much lower than most of the land-based ones. And I'm thinking I will have that day-to-day continuity of the 40 or less folks on the ABD, that I wouldn't have if I booked normal excursions through DCL.
I'm looking at this as an ABD on a cruiseship, rather than a source of excursions for a cruise I'm taking. There would be no way I'd sign up for this cruise without the ABD add-on, and I've let both ABD & DCL know that I intend to cancel the cruise if the ABD add-on is canceled. I think my asking was one of the reasons they changed the policy that they won't cancel the ABD add-on less than 90 days before the cruise rather than ABD's (now) standard 85 days, because I can still get a 100% refund on the cruise & ABD 90 days before the cruise sails. A lot of the folks I talked to were surprised by my asking those questions, then a couple of days later, the policy was changed... I think it's still definitely a work in progress.
Sorry for the ramble... I still haven't 100% decided I'm doing the cruise, even though I *have* put the full deposit down on both the cruise & the add-on. Better safe than sorry, and it's 100% refundable until Feb 15.
Sayhello
ETA: I almost forgot to say: Bobo912 & marcemch, you will love, love, LOVE Yosemite! It's an incredible place. One of the most fabulous places I've ever been, and I've been to a few fabulous places! A definite must-see!
