RV Tours

We never have done a caravan because of everything mentioned above. But having watched these caravans in motion over the years it just added to our reasons not too. Love seeing them leave a park at in the AM at a certain time, getting into a park at a certain time. When we did Alaska in 2014, they pull into rest areas at the same time. If meals that day are provided by the tour, we all eat at the same time. And a lot of the parks they use are certainly OK, but they sure can vary by site size and the price of the tour doesn't reflect that. We saw a good one at Indianapolis 500 one year. There was a tour/caravan in the same park as we were. Well as luck would have it, the race rained out on Sunday and was postponed to the NEXT clear day. Well it turned out that if the race didn't get run that Sunday you were on your own the next day! Another thing we ran into in Denali National Park in Alaska. We went into the park visitors center to check on an all day bus tour back as far as they can go in the park. A private vehicle can only go so far as the road is very narrow after that and that is why we needed the bus. We looked at the overhead reader board in the visitors center, it listed tours available, times of departure, etc. but NO prices. We asked a very nice gentleman about the price of the ride we wanted and he told us what it was and we bought the tickets. Then as "inquiring minds want to know" I just had to ask why the prices weren't posted and you had to ask what they were. His answer, "because bus tour and caravan people come in here, if the prices are posted, they immediately notice the tour/caravan company prices on their brochure they were given, showed a higher price than if you bought it yourself. If you need your hand held I guess this is the way to go, but I personally believe that the folks really enjoy wearing name tags and the BIG caravan decal on their rig!

See what route and stops the trip makes and do it yourself. Unless you are really into all that group stuff, you can take the money you would spend on a caravan and enhance your trip so much more. Think about what you are really going to get vs what it costs

I have just looked at 3 websites and so far the prices are from $8,900.00 to 11,600.00 :E

I went on one caravan. Never again. It was way too social for me with silly "get to know you" games, always eating together, etc. Then there were activities that I paid for and participated in that I had no interest in. Other activities that I wanted to spend more time on were rushed through. When traveling in safe areas like the US and Canada, there is no need for a caravan. I did a trip to Egypt this Spring, and there that was the only safe way to travel. So there are places where organized tours make sense. They just don't make sense RVing in the US and Canada...maybe Mexico, yes.

We eventually want to take a trip to Alaska. I looked at the "Caravan" options out there and was also SHOCKED at the cost. I do understand that there are a lot of perks in going with the Caravan option. ( on site mechanic, tour guide, meals, other RV folks etc...). But the cost is way too much for us at this time. I like the idea of having those perks listed, but again... So much $$$$$!

I once thought about a caravan. I ordered the brochures and was shocked at the price. I looked at the itinerary and figured the cost if I went solo and found that I could do about the same for a lot less.
Granted, the caravan cost included some meals and a few other things.