We are 4 seasoned, high end world travelers from both coasts of the USA…read more Tor planned a trip to Iceland for us that fulfilled our dreams. He did not ask for money up front and edited our itinerary as needed. You have to put on your "big boy pants" and tell Tor what you want and don't want in a tour, and he delivers! You of course must proofread your itinerary and ask questions by text, phone and email and that is how you get a life changing adventure. He obviously picked the best hotels and restaurants, but what was stellar, was his careful selection of people and places that we were so hospitably treated to. We were guided by an architect and outdoorsman, named Waldi, who is one of Iceland's many, especially beautiful people, who date their Icelandic families back to the original 7! We flew by private helicopter to the top of E15, the world famous volcano that erupted and sent ash veiling Europe in 2010. Gisli Gislison, our helicopter pilot, a friendly modern day Viking, soared us through a visual extravaganza in the sky! He made our tour a personal and mind blowing trek onto a cloud ringed glacier with fresh perfect snow in the stratosphere! We shuffled through a pristine white field on a volcano peak glacier in the sky to the edge of everything...where blue snow and the bluest horizon met in silence and purest sunlight . He deftly soared us over the island as if we were riding in a convertible on a Sunday afternoon, laughing and pointing at his favorite childhood spots for a view of boiling streams, frolicking Rams, smoking vents, hot rivers, and sea lions basking in azure waters (who dived and rolled for us when we buzzed closely over head). He pointed out his favorite sea side lobster restaurant, GIANT ELVES, Icelandic horses, lava fields and treated us to a colossal mosaic of colored ice, land and sea creating unimaginable art that we had never heard described and that was a sparkling spectacle forever indelible in our memories. Tor sent us into the wilderness of "SNIFFLESNEEZE" as we fondly called the Icelandic name for a national park, on the western peninsula. We stayed in a fantastic small gourmet hotel featured in a mystery on the NETFLIX series "THE LAVA FIELD". The food was amazing, the SUMMER sun never set on this iddillic country manor , with freely roaming sheep, fields of wild flowers that put Monet to shame, and an antique church with its quaint and beautiful graveyard that told stories of struggles love and loss in a small heroic community. We took a space aged trek into the world's only man made ice caves, burrowed by industrious farmers and colored by hidden lights. Our guide was a singing performance artist whose angelic voice echoed Icelandic ballads off the dripping catacomb. The vehicle that conveyed us was a ginormous converted Russian Missile launcher with 5 foot wide deflatable wheels (they have an app for that!) Should you book a tour with Tor? I SAY YOW BEST OF ALL, we sat at our hotel 101 window and cheered with the joyous country as they clapped and stomped their war cry approval to a world first victory cup over Great Britain in football.

We could have done better with Expedia. He found no better flights than we found. When we asked…read morehim about booking connections for transportation from airports to hotels or from Rome to Florence. He said he could do that . . . for a price. And the hotel he booked for us in Rome was a $30 cab ride each way between the hotel and any of the major tourist attractions. When we got there, we contacted Tor, who told us it was our fault for not checking in advance. What did we need a travel agent for, if not for things like making sure we were well located?!

KEEP IN MIND: They are LUXURY travel planners. They don't do "cheap". They can work within your…read morebudget but will try to do so comfortably and conveniently so you receive the best impression and services at your destination. FOR CONTEXT: We started planning our trip to Australia/New Zealand from LA in 2015. We spent about $9K for two people including several flights (internationally and 4 domestically), lodging, excursions,some food, and some souvenirs. Laura was our planner and she was great! We are so grateful to have found and gone with DUE for planning. At first, we were unsure of the value we were getting through going with them. We've seen friends plan their vacations through their own research and on a budget which made us second guess what we were doing. But during and after this trip we realized and appreciated the service provided. We know that we wouldn't have chosen some of the hotels or excursions we stayed/did based on individual price if we planned ourselves-- our Queenstown helicopter ride for example which we LOVED. Having land and airfare bundled together for 2 people didn't sound as "bad" and we felt like the price was worth was we got. I'm sure we were saved significant money, getting us the best value for our dollar, through their partnerships and discounts Third, they are the experts! We wouldn't have known what to REALLY do or how to order the trip, etc. It saved the stress of booking/confirming/logistics and allowed us to just enjoy traveling from place to place, checking in/out, and ensuring we were on time for our appointments. DUE made it EASY! Plus we were not stuck with the typical sightseeing, walking aimlessly, shopping.. we had experiences-- unique ones! Lastly, communication was great. Very responsive, especially to my changes and questions. Overall, we are very happy working with DUE and highly recommend them for any travel to their destinations. They also have partners that work in Asia/Africa. Like I said-- LUXURY travel so it's perfect for honeymooners, retirees, and any family willing to splurge a bit. NO CHEAP here.

Shannon planned our "Lord of the Rings" tour in New Zealand and we could not have asked for a…read morebetter experience. The accommodations were perfect for our family and her suggestions for food and activities made it easy for us to enjoy this journey on our own comfort level. This trip was truly a dream come true! We fell in love with Queenstown and were even able to get a private lesson at New Zealand's tallest bouldering wall. All of the expenses were clearly stated and the holidays were communicated so we knew what days businesses etc. would be closed. I highly recommend Shannon at Down Under Endeavours.

John Conenna from Venus Travel is an expert on travel planning. He is truly AMAZING. Planning…read moreyour trip with John makes traveling a breeze. He is with you (WhatsApp) every step of the way. He follows up with reminders on tours and making sure you are totally happy with your hotel experience. He organizes all your travel documents (transports, flights, hotels, train tickets, and tours) and you leave his office feeling ready for your vacation. He gives you reminders the night before for scheduled tours (meeting points) and if there is a question you have he is available 24/7. He is the BEST!!!! Whether you need a whole package (flights, transportation, hotels, and tours, etc) or just hotels, transportation and tours, John is the go to person. Give him a call the next time you are planning a trip. John is very knowledgeable, friendly and personable and you will not be disappointed. He is truly AMAZING. John, thank you for making our trip so wonderful and memorable! We are so happy we found you. We will definitely go back to see you for our next trip. Cheers! Alice R.

I can't say enough about John. One of my wife's co-workers referred us to John after John planned…read morehis trip to Italy. We had already planned 2 cruises for Italy and Greece. John worked on our airfare, hotels in Athens and Rome as well as tours in Athens and Rome and Italy transportation. The hotels in Athens were both fairly small "boutique" hotels. The pre-cruise hotel had stunning water views from our room and the 3rd floor restaurant. The tween cruises hotel in Athens had a rooftop restaurant that overlooked the Acropolis. The staff at both hotels were incredibly accommodating for all our needs. Heading to Rome for 4 nights pre-cruise John set us up with private transportation to the hotel and to the cruise port. Perfect. The Mascagni - wow - it didn't hurt that the hotel upgraded our room. Again. Wow. Such wonderful staff. As an aside - John confirmed each and every hotel, tour, car and flight with the companies the day before we got there. And that ends all of John's plans for us....or it should have. The last 2 nights after the Italy cruise we relied on my brother-in-law to book an Air B & B for the 6 of us. BTW - welcome to Venice - the city with no cars and the canal bridges all have stairs. So they booked a 3 story walkup. So...who comes through and finds us a porter and private water taxi for our 9am flight by talking to the Air B & B owner (in Italian) and making the arrangements that saved our butts? No it wasn't Superman. It was John C. John - from the bottom of my heart - thank you for the memories.

Meg is fantastic! She answers endless questions efficiently and courteously. She responds…read moreimmediately and always offers great suggestions.

BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!! If I could pick zero stars I would. Someone at work referred them and I…read morethought why not let someone else do the leg work on my trip while I sit back and not stress over it....it turned out to be quite the opposite! This agency is incompetent to say the least! I could have done better if I had booked it myself and had way less stress!! They do not return calls or emails. They changed my original agent to another because the first was "too busy" to reply. This is a $10k trip with a 2 bedroom suite on a cruise and they couldn't be bothered to follow up or give me reminders of upcoming payment dates. Instead they called me the day before the balance was due and said we need it now. I had to email several times to get airfare booked as prices were just going higher and higher, that took a month for them to book! Finally after being fed up, I got thru to them this morning and asked them to release my reservations so I could make changes it to it myself as it would be faster. My dog sitter fell thru so I needed to change the flight day out to LA, it cost me $200 with the airlines to do so because they did not release my reservations. They told me thats not their problem it's an airline rule. I am still currently working with the cruise line to take them off my reservations as well. I had to hang up the phone as Mike was literally yelling at me into the phone. I could go on and on with the horrible details but bottom line....they are rude, incompetent, ignorant to their clients needs and basically think they are doing you a favor by taking on your travel needs. Please do not use this agency!

Gerry and Margaret are wonderful to work with! We booked a cruise to Spain prior to covid. After…read morecanceling and rescheduling a few times, we finally used our cruise credit for a cruise on Celebrity's Beyond. Gerry and Margaret were always available to answer questions or help with any requests that we had. We will definitely work with them again to book our next trip. So glad we found Cruise Planners!

Margaret booked our spring break to Paris & London. My husband and I have two boys (9 & 5), and we…read moreall had a FABULOUS trip! We didn't have to worry about our flights, getting to/from places, and had a seamless trip on the Eurostar from Paris to London. She also set up our trip to Versailles. We all had an amazing experience. It was definitely a trip to remember, would definitely recommend Margaret for your next European vacation!

Ashley did what I thought would be impossible - she made me a cruise lover!! I'd never been on a…read morecruise before and had a lot of negative preconceptions.. but she made EVERY single step of the process of an absolute breeze AND picked an absolutely wonderful ship for us. She answered every text and call immediately and went above and BEYOND. She was so patient with all of my many anxieties, I was worried about missing our boarding time due to airport craziness so she recommended we get in the night before , and she booked us the hotel to spend the night before at, and it was an A+ for both proximity and quality. She handled the parking reservation for our rental car while we were to be at Sea, and the shuttle to get us from the lot to the ship and back. She booked us an amazing ocean facing balcony room on Royal Caribbean's new Icon of the Seas ship for their 4 day Orlando -Bahamas route. You guys, this ship was SO COOL. The food was great, the staff were wonderful, and the shows were truly spectacular. She also got us the Key package so that we got priority seating and reservations. By the end of the trip, I was actually sad it was over... which again, never in all my life would I think I'd feel that way about the cruise! Having someone so qualified and communicative help iron out all the details was such a blessing and my family and I will be using her for all our future travels.

Joe and Rose provide the best advice and service when it comes to booking travel. Over the 20 years…read morewe have been utilizing their services, they have stayed attune to our changing expectations as our lifestyle changes and have never disappointed. I have relied on Joe and Rose for traveling throughout Europe including not only popular spots like Italy and France, but off the beaten track like northern Portugal. They also recommended and booked the best cruise of my life, to Alaska. I had been on other cruise lines before that we had booked with friends utilizing other agents and had sworn off cruising until Joe booked us on Regents to Alaska for my daughter's high school graduation. I can't say enough about how they listen to your wants and always have great recommendations.

I received my passport within a week of applying through this service. John is a true professional…read more Would highly recommend to anyone who needs a passport!

John is amazing and the real deal. He has gotten both my passport done, and my daughters extremely…read morequickly. Both less than two weeks.... Even in the middle of the pandemic for mine and with an issue on my daughters. When I was trying to get my passport renewed, it was the middle of the pandemic, and John gave me advice to wait, hoping that they would real open expedites in the later part of the summer and then I could get it in a short period of time versus the 4-6 month period that was being cited at that time. John is extremely lovely to work with, reasonably priced, and make some thing that's normally a huge headache extremely easy to do. He's worth every penny. I recommend them to every single person that I know, and we're not hesitate to use him again.