Hi all,

We (my husband and I) are thinking of doing the 'Winter Explorer' tour in November/December 2006 and are wondering if anyone has done this before?

We've not been overseas before and feel that a tour would be the best way to go. We are both around 30, and also wonder what sort of an age group tours attract?

Hope I'm using this BB correctly - go easy as I am a first timer!!

Cheers :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Pickles:
We (my husband and I) are thinking of doing the 'Winter Explorer' tour in November/December 2006 and are wondering if anyone has done this before?

Hi Pickles and welcome to the board.

I haven't done the Winter Explorer tour myself so cannot comment on it but I am sure someone will for you.

quote:

We've not been overseas before and feel that a tour would be the best way to go. We are both around 30, and also wonder what sort of an age group tours attract?

I think you have chosen a good way to start your overseas travel by taking an Insight Tour. Insight generally (but not always) have their hotels situated in better locations than many of their competitors and they restrict the numbers on a coach to 40 thereby giving you extra legroom and greater comfort. Their Tour Directors are first rate and will give you heaps of information as you travel and will generally look after you throughout your trip.

As for the ages on board, this can vary greatly. We have had teenagers as travelling companions and we have had a person who was 94. The majority are probably in the middle age brackets but, irrespective of age, we have found that all are young at heart and mix in together well.

quote:

Hope I'm using this BB correctly - go easy as I am a first timer!!

Don't worry about being a first timer on here. Everybody was at some stage and you will find plenty of people on the Bulletin Board who are always willing to try and help with any questions.

Have a fantastic trip.

Pickles,

Welcome to the board.

First just let me say that taking a tour such as this will become a fantastic memory for you, and you and your husband will be very happy you decided to do it.

There will be a variaty of ages.

I suggest you read all the tips and and journals posted on this board (see phil's posts at the start of some of the topics, in which phil has compiled lists of links) and you will find that it is very useful and helpful.

I highly recommend Insight as well, as a tour company that gives good value for the money.

If you need any of the tips that I have posted emailed to you (it can be difficult to print out the longer ones), just let me know at:

LMarvinB(at)Yahoo.com (just replace the "(at)" with the "@" symbol. I never directly post my email to prevent spam-bot from picking up the email address).

--Marv

Thanks so much for your replies and support - so encouraging to hear from such friendly people! You have really set our minds at ease.

Just one more question... does anyone know what the likelyhood of the tour being cancelled at that time of year will be?? Where would I find out if there are any guaranteed tours in November/December? Would my travel agent be the one I need to speak to???

Thanks again for your support!

Pickles,

unfortunately, the Winter Tours Brochure will not be published until July and although there is information on tour dates in the Winter Tour Preview (2006/2007), there is no information contained in that Acrobat file on guaranteed tour dates. The 'Winter Explorer' tour dates shown in that file are:

2006: Nov 05, 12, 19. Dec 03, 17, 23, 31.
2007: Jan 14, 28. Feb 11, 25. Mar 04, 11, 18, 25. Apr 01, 08.

The Winter season is a difficult time to predict demand for tours since Northern hemisphere travellers often tend to take their vacations during their Spring/Summer/Autumn. My suggestion would be for you to ask your Travel Agent to request Insight to provide you with advice on guaranteed dates as soon as that data becomes available.

phil

Hi Pickles, my husband and I are both 30 and have just come back from our second Insight tour - the Eastern Discovery. We've been on tours with other companies - from a really cheap backpacker tour to another more first class company, and as you can gather by the fact that we've gone with Insight again - would righly recommend them. We have been the youngest in the group, but have never found ourselves left out in any way because of this. We like the hotel locations and the extra legroom on the buses - they are our major reasons for chosing Insight.

Go & enjoy the tour, but in the mean time, if there is anything ele we can help you with - then don't hesitate to ask!!

Di

quote:

JoinWelcome, Affleck [Logout]

Pickles
New Member
Posted 12 June 2006 06:04

Hi,
My husband and I did this trip in early December 2005, with our 4 teenage children.(17,17,15,13), and had a fabulous tour. The contrasting scenery and sights of the countries we visited were spectacular. We found it stress free, great fun, great company, very informative (had a fabulous tour director) and we felt it was a very efficient use of our time. We started our days early, we didn't queue at sights, we were "coached" and well informed beforehand about what we were to see. The first few days were fast paced and it was a relief to slow down in Venice. I think the "shoppers" were a bit frustrated at the lack of shopping time but that can be overcome to some extent if you know exactly what you want to buy.
The December tour is more likely to have a few families as it is the start of the Australian school holidays. (Out of 38 on the tour, 36 were Aussies!), but it wouldn't be a tour for the under 12's so the kids shouldn't be too young. The tour was so popular, that Insight put on a second coach so I can't imagine for one minute that Winter Explorer would be cancelled in Dec/Jan anyway. All 6 of us were so sad when it was finished and could have hopped back on the coach for a repeat tour.

Hi there

My 17 year old daughter and I are pre registered for the Winter Explorer leaving 3rd December and it is our first time overseas and with Insight. Glad to hear from someone who has been on the tour.

Great to hear from all of you - Affleck, you have really set my mind at ease about cancellations etc, and the tour sounds wonderful! As Katwar says, it's really good to hear from someone who has done the trip.

Katwar - how did you pre register? Was your travel agent able to do this for you, even though the winter brochure is not out? Sorry if that sounds silly, but we are real first timers !! Was your TA able to tell you how many others had booked, or whether there are any 'guaranteed departures' at this time of year?

Anyways, thanks again to all - I am really glad we have decided to do an insight tour, after hearing from all of you!

We have just booked a trip for next May, and don't know if it is guaranteed or not. We hope so, since we picked the time of a TG this year, but we won't know till they set the schedule for the 2007 tours in August.