13 Day Family Tour of Europe June 28-July 10....anyone out there on this tour?

I hope someone on your tour sees your question.

My experience with 5 RS tours is that out of all those people only 1 person was aware of the forum, most had not heard of it and booked based either on the PBS shows or Rick's guidebooks. The funny thing was the 1 person actually works for Rick, lol! He had better know about the forum.

In any event you all are going to have a wonderful time and will make lasting memories from this tour.

Thanks Pam. I was hoping that the RS tour folks would be able to connect the families together prior to the tour and I even gave them the ok to share my email and phone number but I guess it's against their policy, and sure, that makes perfect sense. It seems like good fun to connect prior to the tour so we could begin the sharing and communications process. I am sure many are as anxious about this trip as I am.

We will see but we are very excited about the trip and even took a few extra days in England up front and another few days on the back end to enjoy some of Rome before we head back to Maine.

Bill

Bill when I took my kids on a RS Family tour about 5 years ago.. I contacted office to see what the make up of the tour was .. I was told there were going to be 14 kids on our tour,, ranging from 8-17.. but that bulk of kids were 10-14 yrs old. A good mix of boys and girls..
And it worked out great.. I had my 11 yr old daughter with me,, she befriended a 12 yr old girl and boy, and there were several other kids in her age range.. and the best part was.. ALL the kids.. from the youngest one to the oldest one , got along great.. the kids took over the entire back of bus.. leaving us parents the peace and quiet of the front.. !! They were able to play and socialize in a few of the hotel lobbys we stayed at.. played in the yards and pools of the more country hotels. etc.. My daughter thought it was like the best summer camp ever.. without the camping!

I also suggest you post this on the Rick Tours forum.. I see other people posting there tryig to connect wih other tour goers.

I can't help you with specifics for your family tour but I can add our experience from last summer. We took our children ages 8, 12, and 15. We received a list of family names a few weeks out but no ages. My children were a bit nervous - especially my 15 year old daughter who thought there would be all 9-12 year old boys. She was happy to find out that she was wrong and there were many friends. There were 14 children - ages 8-17. My 8 year old was the youngest and did not have the peers that the older kids had-but had an amazing time.

The kids all got along instantly - perhaps too much so. We struggled with them all socializing a bit more than we would have liked (talking, hanging out, and listening to music instead of soaking in the local sights and activities). I wish I had anticipated that and we had set up guidelines before the trip.

Like a previous poster's experience, I was the only person on our tour who had ever visited (or heard of) the forum. Perhaps RS is better about getting the word out and you will find some other tour mates online ahead of time. I know that they have changed the family tours this year but I would be happy to try and answer any questions that you have.

Thanks so much for your response. I was just hoping to get a feel for who else may be going, kids, ages, so on. Seems to me that they could set up a forum for each tour itself and allow the participants to connect on their own if they want. Curious if you have any tips/issues on what surprised you or anything along the way that you didn't know that you wish you had? My kids are semi-excited to go but I think it's a bit abstract at this point and they don't know what they don't know, if that makes sense. It won't really hit them until we are on our way and onto foreign soil. I have been to Europe a few times but it was for business so I was in a much different mode.

Thanks

Bill

We are booked the same trip but later in July. I e-mailed RS and they gave me the #of families and the #of kids (with age ranges) that are booked on our trip. We will be arriving London a few days before the tour and planning on staying 3 more days after to visit Rome and possibly Venice. All still in the planning process.

Annie

Thanks for your reply Annie. Not sure why they weren't as forthcoming with my request but maybe I asked the wrong question, lol. I guess it will just have to be a surprise. Funny, my kids are "kind of" excited about the trip but i think it's still so far out there for them that its hard to fully engage in the excitement like I am. Anyway, If I do learn anything worthwhile and eye opening on my trip I will let you know.

Thanks, Bill

Ifyou are a Facebook user, you might try setting up a Facebook group - I know many tour groups end up doing this after (or during) their trip. You never know - you may find some hits that way...

Bill.. my daughter was only 11.. so she had no idea what she was getting into.. but thought any trip would be fun..
I was surprised that the group had so many great kids.. I mean.. the kids were all great.. the older ones were nice to the younger ones.. no one was whiny or mean etc.. no bullies, no prima donnas.. I think this is in part because RS tours in themselves make it clear to adults that the type guest they cater to is the non whiney not prima donna type.. so the parents set the example for the kids.

I also liked how the tour was non ageist.. meaning young and old all got along.. we had one child who was as young as 7 and one who was as old as 18, we also had some grandparents, some younger parents, some middle aged parents, some with single( well one widow, one divorce and two of us who were married but travelling without spouses and with kids) parents, and one young single fellow ( mid twenties.. his parents bought him the tour as a gift and the Family Tour was the only one that fit his dates from graduation to work.. so off he went with a bunch of families with kids,, and he had a great time) .

Your kids do not know how much fun they are going to have.. but trust me.. unless there is something terribly strange about your kids,, I think they will have a great time.. I envy you .. I have been to Europe for hundreds of days.. all independently( this was my first tour ) ) , sometimes visiting family.. sometimes solo, sometimes with a friend or my kids.. but I can honestly say the RS Family Tour I took with my child was a highlight..

Don't worry if you can't hook up with another family ahead of time.. within a day and a half your kids will have found someone to talk to.. the tour starts right off the back by making everyone have a buddy .. and the buddys can not be in same travel group.. so each one of your kids and yourselves will be buddied up to another person.. its only for head counts.. but right away it breaks the ice..

Youll see.. its going to be so fun.

I am very excited and if for no other reason it's for my kids. I've been to Europe for business on several occasions but it's been many years and there is nothing like having a new travel experience with the family. It will certainly be out most adventurous vacation and one that takes us all out of our typical comfort zones which again is part of the value of the European tour. I'm excited...

Thanks for the reply Pat. I appreciate you sharing your experience with me.

Bill