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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Land based and you don’t need to do a tour and why are you planning a vacation 18 months out FFS.[/quote]

DP, but I’ll share why I sometimes book/plan in advance:

1. Better deals on hotels and cruises.

2. Getting the dates on our family’s very busy schedule.

3. Having a trip to look forward to…everyone in our family does their own research and makes recommendations (including our kids who often find great restaurants/cafes/spots thanks to recommendations from their friends or social media or random articles that hit their feed).

PS - This comment was rather enlightening. Apparently the cruise haters aren’t planners. They overpay at the last minute and probably follow a land based itinerary built by Rick Steves or randos from Dcumlandia. [/quote]

I'm going to weigh in here to say that it may feel elite to take shots at Rick Steves, but that's just PP talking to feel good about themselves.

I make all my travel arrangements myself but I have used Rick Steves' itineraries as a starting point for popular destinations that I've been showing my kids for the first time (major European cities).  His guidebooks' scheduling estimates, advice on when to see popular destinations, and indie hotel recs have been useful.

There are also pretty good reader-supplied tips on his website's forums.  I used them a lot when I planned a trip towards the end of the Covid pandemic and I wanted insights from very recent, savvy travelers.  Occasionally he promotes a particular less well-known place (e.g., the castle being built in Guedelon in France) that seems very interesting but is time-consuming or hard to access without a tour like his.  So there are also occasional indie recs among the typical info summaries.[/quote]

I’m the pp who made the snarky comment about Rick Steves…and I watch his videos and read his tips myself. And for the cruise haters: Rick Steves actually has videos and books on cruising the Mediterranean.

Fwiw, we’ve found the best places by simply wandering around or hiring a driver or captain and asking to go where the locals go. [/quote]

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