Heaven - Or Hells Bells…read more.... My wife and I, along with 2 other couples, spent 4 days in Amsterdam...then went on a 15 day cruise to Budapest on the Viking Gymir. With Viking, we've been on 2 prior river cruises and 6 ocean cruises (17 ocean in total). These are our impressions: - Overall: 4 - Ship: 5 - Cabin: 5 - Service: 5 - Staffing: 3 - Food: 5 - Menus: 3 - Excursions: 5 - Housekeeping: 5 - Entertainment: 4 - Embarkation/Disembarkation: 5 - Viking Representative: 2 Pros: - Viking Gymir: The ship is relatively new (first sailed in 2022). Most aspects were fine, but from our previous river experience on Viking plus online comments...the ships are VERY similar. Maybe the furnishings were newer. There were sanitizer stations in all public areas throughout the ship. - Cabin: Since we were celebrating 2 milestone birthdays and our 25th anniversary, we splurged on the biggest cabin...an Explorer Suite (there are 2 per ship). It was 445 square feet and more than met our needs. Our friends had smaller cabins (205 sq ft) which were claustrophobic. The Explorer Suite entitled us to several benefits...including the Silver Spirits package. Not that we're big drinkers, but the best liquors and a special wine list were available. - Service: The staff is unfailingly polite, friendly and helpful. We'd like to applaud May, Minta and Rey in the dining room for their hard work, gracious service and unending smiles. May and Minta were the ultimate sweethearts. Rey was a man-about-town in the restaurant, lounge and helping with supplies/luggage. - Food: Fine, but as with most (all?) river cruises, there's only 1 main restaurant. Lots of meat! No buffets...except a mini one at breakfast. The kitchen is tiny - 650 square feet - which limits the menu, but what they made was almost always very good. - Shore Excursions: We mainly selected from the list of included complimentary tours since they suited our needs. Everything was well organized and the guides were excellent. - Housekeeping: Prompt, thorough and efficient. Suzy, the ship's Housekeeping Supervisor, handled duties for the 2 Explorer Suites. - Entertainment: Minimal as it is on most river cruises. Our Cruise Director, Dominic Mulvaney, did his best with entertaining commentaries and a night where he showed off his Broadway voice. He helped everywhere. We thought there were 3 of him. - Embarkation and disembarkation: Smooth and easy. - Dealing with representatives from Viking: Easy. Since we had an Explorer Suite, we were assigned one person, but I never needed to call him. Cons: - Understaffed: The ship needed more workers...most noticeably in the dining room. Two servers worked together and attended to 40 or 50 people each meal. One or 2 bartenders handled the entire lounge. I was exhausted just watching. Possibly related to understaffing, we had to ask for basic items - nuts with drinks...even drinks. On a few occasions, we took a Viking shuttle. While in Krems, we walked 5 blocks to the bus, but it was a large lot with many such vehicles and nobody offered guidance. - The crowd was old. Anyone in their 60s felt like a kid. I'm 74 and my wife 79, but quite active. The average person was in their 70s and not exactly in the best shape. "Elders of the Country Club". Definitely less going on than an ocean cruise. Of course, that might be an attraction for many people. - No sugar free desserts were available in the restaurant...until we spoke with the chef at dinner on day #2. From that point, he made 1 a day (which was not publicized). Was it served only to our table? My wife is diabetic and I'm sure many of our fellow passengers in the 60s, 70s and 80s were too. - Menus: Full of meat. That's great for some, but not for vegetarians...of which there are many. You can complete a form in advance indicating a "special diet", but the regular menus are mighty meaty. - Towels: Very rough. Tough enough to mop the floor, wash and repeat. All cabins...from small to biggest...had the same ones. - Cabin: The 2 Explorer Suites are at the back of the ship which gives you privacy and a great view of almost everything. Unfortunately, they're also above the engine room. The noise was unbearable at times, especially during accelerations. Our suite often shook like "hells bells" during the night. Are all Viking river ships like that...or does the Gymir need an overhaul? - Our personal Viking representative: Less than impressive. We didn't need one, but our guy left a voicemail on 2 occasions and it was obvious he needed additional training. For all types of vacations, you need to set reasonable expectations. River cruises are not ocean cruises. We've been on 3 of the former and 17 of the latter...so this was a reminder of the smaller scale and slower pace on the rivers. That said, Viking does a good job.

This review is for the Viking Ocean Cruise. We just finished our second Viking Ocean Cruise, which…read morewas the Atlantic Ocean Passage route aboard the Viking Mars. Five stars for the food, wine, service onboard the ship and the included excursions. In particular the service at the World Cafe was amazing, they really took care of us from the galley team to all of the wait staff. Food and wine were delicious and included lobster nights and a wide range of delicious items, so good that I gained 5 lbs from this trip! But it was worth every calorie. Also really enjoyed the Chef's Table and Manefredi's, and also the sandwiches and desserts at Mamsen's. The service aboard the entire ship is exceptional, they really roll out the red carpet for you. The staterooms are quite spacious compared to other cruise lines. There are plenty of activities for those who like to keep busy or they also have an amazing spa facility if you're here just to relax. Despite the multiple days at sea on our recent itinerary nothing was ever overcrowded, I was always able to workout whenever I wanted in the fitness center or grab a table with a nice view when dining. WiFi was great and I was able to get work done if needed without any weak signal issues even in the middle of the Atlantic! The only thing that was not five stars was our experience with the transfer team when we were departing at Barcelona airport. The associate leading our group lacked verbal communication and walked too quickly losing half the group and we also got a bit nervous not knowing when we would be reunited with our luggage at the airport due to her lack of communication. I reported this concern though to Viking and they were so responsive in acknowledging the feedback which we are sincerely grateful for. You can tell they take the feedback seriously and really care about making sure their customers are satisfied, at least based on my own experience. So despite the one slip up with our transfer process at the airport the rest of our experience more than makes up for this. We love Viking Ocean Cruises and look forward to future trips with them!

Five Stars for Luis and Simone! The best think about AAA…read moremembership is not the towing services - it is the DMV items they can help with. Walked in on a Monday morning and was helped within 5 minutes. Try that at the DMV!!! Luis was so helpful and thought ahead 2 steps to make my life easier. Simone went over and beyond while helping me. Kudos to AAA for hiring these two.

Great news! They still suck! I tried to get a TipPak, which is advertised on their amusingly…read morearchaic website. After waiting 45 minutes with no info from the sullen teen at check-in, I was told that if I request funds under $750, I have to pay for expedited shipping. I am done with AAA. Between my last visit and my recent $60 tow ($15 per extra 4 miles), it provides zero value. I would cancel now, but there is no way AAA knows how to do that.

The Lionsgate Travel agency is a fraud. My Church congregation booked a trip to Israel in…read moreNovember-2023 for this April 2024. As we all know that, there is War in Israel and entire region which is dangerous and not safe for travelers & tourism. Nonetheless, Lionsgate is REFUSING to refund the congregation their money. The church congregation are disappointed and we are demanding a full refund or credit.

Just got Back from My First Israel Trip Organized by Lions Gate Travel.. from an Evangélical Church…read more I had a Pleasant Tour , The first hotel was very cheap looking Food Fantastic , and last hotel Luxury Hotel food ahhh ok ? Ups and down But as far as Tour Guides they're where in total 4 out of the 9 day Tour they where all Fantatic Lions Gate Travel Organized Every Detail .. overall had a Pleasant Experience. Would recommend Them . Annat is Great ,she is the Person who organizes Trips with Them . Have Many Memories from My Israel Trip that I will never forget .

I am writing to thank Mr Parsa for the well planned travel to Canada …read more We had a great time and great experience with a large group of people visiting Toronto and Niagara falls. This was the most organized and well planed guided tour. Thank you again

The most unorganized cheap tour! I only traveled with them…read moreonce and for the last time, cheapest hotels far from the cities, poor restaurants for welcome dinner and unorganized pick up from the airport!

Great travel agency and staff. They have been booking my travel for years and I wouldn't use any…read moreother Travel Agency.

I booked a cruise with Deborah Deming that leaves in a couple of months. She works alongside her…read moreson Erik. Since booking my cruise a few months ago, my travel partner and I have both made several attempts to ask questions via email and phone call to both Deborah and her son to book side trips and excursions and received no response each time from either of them. I have given up trying to use their services and have booked hotel and flight accommodations myself. And all the while I receive promotional emails for the various cruises she is promoting. ???? Cruising without a guide, Gary

Marina was a joy to work with and she got my friend and I the best deal for our vacation! I would…read moredefinitely recommend anyone to travel with them to get a wonderful experience. We stayed at the Riu Palace in Cancun with all the bells and whistles, which was amazing. Most importantly, this was all within my budget that I set out for. Marina and her staff were very professional and were patient with me even though I needed to update some last minute preferences. Overall I'm very happy with my experience here and will be back. Check this place out, you won't be disappointed!

Booking through Kosmos Travel is extremely smooth and easy. Milana is fabulous , helpful and very…read moreprofessional. She is prompt with call/e-mail replies to ensure you could have preferred dates and the BEST available prices . Seamless booking and fabulous prices . THANK YOU , truly appreciate the effort to fulfill my request *****

This unfortunately is a review for an experience I tried to have with them but never did…read more I contacted them through their site as we are planning a long trip and wanted some assistance. I got the usual auto reply thanks for your inquiry and we'll be in touch. Then from that they subscribed me to their marketing emails. I kept getting those but never a reply to my inquiry. So, I replied to the marketing email which was I saw the sender was steve@ and see here he's the owner. HE didn't reply either! They must be so busy with business that I guess they don't have time for mine! Interesting that there haven't really been any reviews here for close to 3+ years.

After seeing the 5 star review by Marco...just days after I left my 1 star review (he says he has…read morebeen using this agency for 17 years....but only now decided it was worthy enough to review it...ok...sounds fishy) I decided that you shouldn't just take my word on it. So I have included photos of the outrageous price discrepancy: Our invoice in which we were charged $1,669 for a $799 inside cabin cabin: http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=4wmPwVbVdf5NJTnCXkVoNg&userid=FcdKOJBmez810jR6aaOIbQ The Brochure price (not the online price. This is the price they put in print, in a catalog...so it is the highest price): http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=MQjUf1xOJEwucYmVso2NtQ&userid=FcdKOJBmez810jR6aaOIbQ And, since the owner/manager STILL has not tried to contact us to offer some kind of explanation, or adjustment, my review stands: Absolutely HORRIBLE experience with this agency. When they hire brand new agents (with no experience), they clearly give zero training, support or guidance in how to properly serve their clients, or even the most basic of customer service. Having never planned a trip for our family before, my husband hired them to purchase a cruise (I normally do the vacation planning, but I was too busy to do it this time, and my husband was sweet enough to try and do it on his own as a surprise), with two cabins. He specifically asked for either 2 balcony rooms or 1 balcony and 1 ocean view. My husband was giving this trip to me as a surprise gift. The travel agent emailed him and confirmed IN WRITING that she was booking a balcony and ocean view for us, along with payment requirements. Since the email contained confirmation from her of the type of rooms she booked for us, and a payment request was in the body of the email as well, my husband did not think it necessary to go over the invoice with a fine tooth comb. He just made the payment. Well, when we arrived on our cruise, and went to our rooms, we discovered that although we were charged for a balcony and an ocean view, we in fact were given an inside cabin and a balcony! To sum up the rest of this experience, what transpired from that point is this: 1) I called/texted/emailed and FaceBooked the travel agent to find out what the heck was going on, with no response from her, until days after the trip started. 2) Another agent (manager?) emailed me and told me essentially that I should not be complaining, since I at least got the one balcony room (even though we did not get the ocean view room we paid for) 3) Once on the ship, and realizing we were pretty much screwed, I went to the cruise workers themselves, to try and figure out what happened. They basically said "We have no idea why you were given the inside cabin, since it looks like you were grossly over charged for the entire trip... you actually paid more for the inside cabin then for the room with the balcony...and in fact, it looks like you could have almost gotten a suite for the price you paid here". 4) After coming home we thought for sure the agent or agency would contact us to offer some sort of apology or explanation....NOPE 5) After pointing out that we did not get what we asked for, and we were charge about 40% higher than the actual brochure price, I was told that the president/owner? basically refused to discuss this with me, and said it was OUR FAULT that the agent booked the wrong room and that we should have double checked her work (even though she EMAILED US confirming she bought us what we asked for)...it's OUR fault. Aside from the outrageous lack of customer service/ethics/scruples this agency seems to embrace, they do not even attempt to teach the poor agents that they hire on how to properly book a trip, or treat clients. Very sad. Funny thing...a sincere apology owning the mistake, WITHOUT trying to blame everyone else, with perhaps some attempt to explain what happened, and assistance with trying to have the cruise line adjust the error would have gone pretty far.

the service great and good responsibility for customer care!!read more

hi sky travel is unprofessional and i have court date with at this month me and my friend spent…read moreover $10k with them for our vacation ,our hotel was sucks and airfare , and we complain in hotel manager ,they only tell us your agency made a mistakes , we did reserve 2 adult room and pay it , in turkey and hotel give us small room for 2 person ,then we went to Greece same thing our small and bed , they lie to customer , and when we file small claims court , the clerk told us your the 2nd person today to file small claims , i hope customer purchase any tickets or hotel ,check with other agency too

Switzerland was my first experience with Amiri and I was pleasantly surprised at the organization…read moreand the knowledge of the tour leader. We had a friendly group and had fun in the bus and many locations throughout the country. Awesome beauty

Everything they promised they delivered. You also meet…read moreincredible people with wonderful ta oh ends in the tours and they encourage that.

We were extremely pleased working with Sandy to plan a trip on very short notice after a previous…read moretrip we had planned ourselves was cancelled. Sandy helped us with the decision-making, put together a great package, and booked our hotel and transfers. She is knowledgeable, patient, and quick to respond to questions. Her experience in the travel field is evident, and we would highly recommend her! We had an incredible trip, thanks to Sandy, and knew we were in good hands every step of the way.

Sandy is a great travel agent! We have used her several times, and she has come through with great…read moredeals and discounts. We recommend Let's Go Travel (on Faust Ave.) for your travel needs.