Do your own advance research before considering booking any travel or tour with Rick Steves'…read moreEurope. Once you do, you'll likely decide to look elsewhere. Hopefully this review helps others learn what we've painfully learned when dealing with the Rick Steves' tour team. Besides being objectively more expensive compared to our similar tours, unfortunately it's clear Rick Steves' Europe has lost touch with considering their customers' full travel and tour experience. My partner and I, along with two other couples, decided together to book Rick Steves' Scandinavia Tour. Unfortunately, about 60 days before the tour, one couple experienced an emergency medical event that necessitated them canceling their tour reservations. Rick Steves' 2026 cancelation policy, which we learned changes from year to year, states "Refundable Medical or Family Emergency ("Refundable Event"): A Refundable Event must first occur less than 60 days prior to your tour's start date or while on tour. It is RSE's sole discretion to determine if your situation is a Refundable Event." The key words here are "RSE's sole discretion". Before agreeing to grant our friends any refund, they put them through multiple iterations and questions, many private and somewhat personal. Finally, Rick Steves agreed to give them a 100% refund (less their $800 advance deposit). Let's just say Rick Steves' staff didn't show much sensitivity or caring before finally granting them their refund. My partner and my situation is far worse! "Less than 60 days prior" to our tour, my partner learned she needed an urgent medical procedure. At first, we were of the impression that we could still travel on the tour with our other remaining friends on this tour. Unfortunately, 18 days before the tour, we learned my partner's medical situation was far worse than we'd imagined and travel was out of the question - leaving our one remaining couple traveling alone. We'd were hit with a serious "Family Emergency", within 60 days prior to our tour's departure. Once they heard this news, together, we'd identified another couple to assume our place on this Rick Steves' tour. Initially, when I contacted Rick Steves, they said that might be possible for these friends to assume our tour space. A couple days later, Rick Steves' staff called and indicated our space had already been reallocated to their long-standing tour waitlist. Leaving the 1 of 3 remaining couples to travel on this tour alone. Despite Rick Steves' initially staff telling me our tour space was already reallocated, preventing our friend's friends going with them, again Rick Steves made it very difficult on us to receive any refund. Rick Steves' staff showed little to no sensitivity to our difficult medical situation and journey still ahead, or anyone's disappointments. Initially, Rick Steves' staff said simply a dated hospital discharge notice would suffice to secure a refund. Then No, they needed a physican's letter. I opted to visit Rick Steves' Edmond office to deliver this letter and to confirm a refund. Days later, based on their "sole discretion", Rick Steves staff decided to we'd had an emergency, but opted to refund only 50% of our tour expense (again, less our $800 deposit). In that email, despite what they'd indicated previously when we'd attempted to fill/transfer our tour space, they now made claims that they were not able to refill our space, and had incurred lost operating expenses, etc.... Knowing we'd object given the circumstances, assuming we'd simply accept it, Rick Steves' staff went to far to state "This decision is final". Upon questioning Rick Steves' decision and rationale, after waiting, I received an email from another associate with multiple conflicting claims and points - like now saying they couldn't transfer our tour space since one or more of the hotel room on the tour was already booked by another tour company. Hopefully this review helps others. FYI, the one remaining couple that took this tour alone, informed us they were less than impressed.

Everything. We have experienced each phase of Rick Steve's' work: his books:his tours, his store,…read morehis luggage,, his Monday night talks, his political position. One Saturday two months ago we were in his Edmonds store with my daughter, her husband and their two college age kids. We had maps out everywhere! Rick walked in and exclaimed "Wow, 3 generations of travelers. Great "

Go Travel has forever changed the way I, well, go travel. After my experience with this company, I…read morewill never doubt the need for travel agents again. This is the second time we've booked hotels and flights with them and we are thoroughly impressed!! Our first trip was to Las Vegas in December, and Sofia (the lovely, dedicated owner) managed to find a deal for the W in Vegas (a 5 star hotel) for three nights, a concert ticket, and flights to and back from Seattle for under a thousand dollars. Upon arrival, we were greeted with champagne and free appetizers because this was their opening weekend. Apparently, we had gotten a beautiful (new) suite with all the amenities and two coupons for cocktails as well. Not what we were expecting for $150 a night! It was a phenomenal trip, which could not have been possible without Sofia's help. We checked back later, and found that our room would have normally gone for $300 a night! Our second trip was to Cancun in January, and she managed to score another 5 star hotel (all-inclusive, with drinks) for five nights, flights, and two day tours for under two thousand dollars. We had a private beach, beautiful room, and amazing views--but no outrageous price tag! When you book with Go Travel, you eliminate the stress of traveling and just get to enjoy the experience. We simply told Sofia our budget, goals for the trip, and preferences for flight seating and hotel style. Within an hour we had our tickets booked, itinerary ready, and a list of useful suggestions on where to go/eat during our stay. She even sent us reminders, made sure everything was ready upon arrival, and checked in on us during the trip to make sure we had no concerns. We saved at least 50% on travel costs, and a priceless amount of time and energy in booking with her! Never booking without Go Travel again!! Thank you!!!

My wife & I have been on two AMAZING vacations planned by Lexi, but this review is specifically for…read moreour honeymoon. As the groom, I took on "honeymoon planning," and to be honest, was struggling at it. Feeling overwhelmed, I reached out to Lexi, who in the past had planned a vacation for us in Italy (which was stunning). I was on the phone with Lexi within 24 hours, describing what we were looking for in a honeymoon and asking if her service would be a good fit for us. She was honest with us in what her service could provide, and we ended up giving her the keys to our honeymoon. It was perfect. Lexi was careful about respecting our budget, and with that in mind, gave us 3-4 realistic options for trips we could take. We settled on Anguilla -- an island I had literally never heard of -- with an extra stop in St. Martin, and it was everything we had asked for. Side note, if you enjoy beautiful beaches, wonderful people, relaxation and delicious food, go to Anguilla. The BEST part about working with Lexi is that the experience does not end when the planning is finished. Lexi was available to us throughout the trip, from packing and pre-departure, and then during the trip for things as simple as finding us the best rental cars, modifying our reservations while we relaxed at the beach, or finding the coolest little spots to explore. A final note on how helpful Lexi is - there was an unfortunate death in our family while we were on the honeymoon. Lexi was immediately available and helpful in evaluating our options and planning our return home. While I hope that doesn't come up during a vacation for anyone else, if it does, you want Lexi on your team. I cannot recommend her more highly.

Lexi helped us plan and book all transportation, activities and dinner reservations in Florence and…read moreCapri. She gave us plenty of options while planning before we left and was super responsive while we were in Italy, including helping us find new reservations last minute. The planning phase was seamless and Lexi clearly has intimate knowledge of Italy. She was receptive to our ideas and feedback, planning the perfect trip. Would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a similar experience.

So far my experience with Bella Roda has been nothing short of amazing. From getting me extra…read morebonuses for my cruise to adjusting when my cruise was accidentally double booked, working with Rosa and her team has been smooth sailing. LOL. Enough puns and just work with them already

Rosa did suuuch an amazing job booking my Viking cruise she arranged my transfers and my personal…read moreafter stay in Rome! I wouldn't recommend anyone else!

Kelly is an outstanding trip planner. We basically gave her our wish list of what we wanted in our…read moretrip and she made everything happen. She made our trip planning 100% stress free, and was even able to help us make changes to plans while we were out of the country on our trip. She also takes the time to find businesses that are reputable and local which we really appreciated. Can't recommend her enough!

We recently went on the Navigator of the Seas cruise with an organized tiki group through Jim and…read moreChristine Hoover. We always wanted to check out the cruises from Long Beach to Ensenada, because not only was this close by but it was a shorter cruise. Spike's Breezeway cruise was a fun way to cruise with a group and meet other tiki enthusiasts. The communications prior to the cruise were helpful and informative. We appreciated that there were some activities set up to meet the others in the group. While on the cruise, the first day we got to meet some people at the tiki check in area and the had dinner each night with different people from the group. It was fun knowing other people on the boat throughout the cruise. The swag bag was also a nice touch. Thanks for organizing this cruise, we had a good time and met a lot of great people.

Last month my husband and I went on a cruise that we booked through cruise Planners which is owned…read moreand run by Jim and Christine Hoover. Prior to the cruise the majority of our interactions via email and telephone were with Christine, and she was an absolute pleasure to work with. Not only is she very knowledgeable about the industry, she was always available to answer questions, and really listened to us. The cruise we went on was with a group, so Jim and Christine were with us throughout the cruise to help facilitate all of the activities. It is evident that they both love what they do, and they do everything they can to make sure their clients have a wonderful experience. My husband and I will always use Cruise Planners for our future travel. Here we are pictured with them on our cruise, thank you Christine and Jim!

We recently returned from a 12 day private tour of Iceland, couldn't be any happier with Dora Rozet…read moreat Nordic Saga and with our guide (now friend), Kári Haraldsson. We travel a lot but have very rarely used a travel agent. This was going to be a more complicated trip, though, as my wife has difficulty walking and we really wanted something more in-depth than the big tour or cruise companies could offer. I researched a lot of travel agencies that specialize in Iceland and Scandanavia, had in-depth discussions with the four front runners. Nordic Saga was an excellent choice. After discussing what we wanted to see, date options and especially my wife's limitations, she put together the perfect itinerary. I don't think any tour could have given us a more in-depth and satisfying Iceland experience. I was thrilled with Nordic Saga's professionalism and reliability and with Dora's skill and responsiveness. We're especially thrilled to have been able to work with Kári, I can't imagine a better tour guide. His warmth and friendliness, his genuine drive to customize our experience to our liking, his flawless accommodation of my wife's limitations and his comprehensive knowledge of Iceland was far beyond anything that we expected. I would recommend Nordic Saga without reservation for anyone planning a northern European trip, and would give Kári my highest recommendation for anyone interested in a more personalized Iceland experience.

I have been usen Nordic Saga Tours for more than 2 decades for my personal and businesses travels…read more Bobby had saved the day for me many times with booking last minute flights and making reservation changes. He is always going out of his way! He took so much stress out of my business travels, especially in the past 2 years. I do all the business travel bookings through Bobby. Thank you for all of your help and an excellent customer service!

Quite good at assembling custom trips, stuck to our budget and we leave soon! Our ideas and…read moreconcerns are addressed in the plan, we can't wait!1

Shawn has planned multiple trips for us (France, Switzerland, Peru, Norway, Belgium and…read moreNetherlands). Love working with her! She is knowledgeable and friendly. Communicating with her was easy and she was responsive to emails and calls. We hope to work with her again in the future to plan our trip to Spain and Portugal!