Michael Mccourt

Hi Ulla,

I just got this nice email from happy clients, the McCourts. Thank you for all the great planning.

Anne Kennedy, CTC

Just wanted to thank you for all your help planning my trip with Mike to Scandinavia. We had a wonderful time and we were so impressed with how well organized everything was. All the arrangements were perfect and we've recommended that my parents take the exact same trip next summer (if they can)!

Laurie Jacobs

Hi Tom,

This is Alice Frye. You (and perhaps others) arranged a trip for me and my sister and mother to Norway which we just completed last week. I'm just writing to say thanks. We had a wonderful time and we were delighted with the hotels and all the travel arrangements. We were especially pleased with the Hotel Augustin in Bergen.
Thanks again for pulling it all together for us!

Alice Frye

Barry Oehler

Scenic Norway + Stockholm & Helsinki Tour

Hi Berniece,

I thought I would fill you in on my impressions regarding our trip.

The entire tour was as perfect as it can be. We had good weather while in the cities when touring/walking around (cool and either cloudy or sunny) and excellent weather in the Fiords (sunny and cool). That was very lucky as I know it is unusual to get so many sunny days in a row in the mountain areas. The scenery was truly spectacular. We also were lucky with the other customers on the tour. No one was late, complained or was generally a pain. Everyone got along just great together.

Hotels: All the hotel were top notch. The service and food was excellent at each property.

Bus: A very nice, comfortable and clean bus. The driver, Michael, was super and could not be more accommodating.

Local Guides: Generally speaking, all were very good.

Tour Guide: Stephanie was great. She is very personable, highly knowledgeable and showed excellent enthusiasm throughout the tour. She could not have been more accommodating or helpful with the customers. We liked her commentary and never got tired of listening to her. She is very well organized and is careful to double check all the little details that can cause problems like forgotten luggage, dinner reservations, ferry schedules, etc. Due to her persistence, all went like clock work. That is partly luck but mostly skill and experience. Her command of the English language was excellent. We loved listening to her talk about all the details of Scandinavia. I have been on many tours and she certainly ranks one of the top guides I've experienced.

Our group of 6 had a super time and I'm sure the other passengers did as well. We will certainly recommend and sell your product. Robinson Tours did an excellent job.

Thank you for all your help. Please feel free to forward this to whomever may be interested.

Yours truly,

Barry Oehler
Owner
RMA Tours
Denver, CO

Robert Bianchi

Greetings Tom,

Bob and I wanted you to know how much we enjoyed the Kristina Cruise. The
ship staff were uniformly pleasant and helpful and the arranged shore
excursions were well-planned. All-in-all it was the restful sort of low-key
tour we had hoped for.

Thanks for your help!

Julie and Bob Bianchi

Kirstin Ostrat

I would like to thank you for your help in putting together my recent trip
to Estonia and St. Petersburg. I was very pleased with my drivers and
guides. My driver in Estonia was extremly helpful in dealing with the
cemetary upon my arrival in Tallinn, I needed to have some work done on a
headstone. I felt that in both countries the expense was well worth it. I
will not be going back to Russia but that is just a personal preference. I
do look forward to using your companies services in Estonia in the future.
Is it possible to use just a driver? There are still places that I would
like to visit where I will need a guide since they are very knowledgeable in
the history of the area but for example my driver in Estonia was very easy
to talk to and for just going to places where I do not need a guide anymore
such as going back to the museum in Viljandi just a driver would be helpful.
Does your company put together any packages for the Song Festival in
Tallinn? If so I would like information regarding that. Also if you do am I
able to choose my hotel. I have been VERY pleased with the Domina Il Marine
both times I have stayed there and it is a very convenient hotel. Please
extend my thanks and appreciation to the tour companies that provided the
drivers and guides in both places as I said before I was VERY pleased with
the service.
Thank You

Kirstin Ostrat

Joan Ehrenfeld

Hi Ulla,
Heres some comments about the Denmark bike tour I also sent this directly to Bike Denmark (they were really great the person who gave us the bikes, etc. was very helpful and informative!).

We just returned from the Best of Northern Sealand bicycle tour (June 17-22), and wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed the trip. The hotels were all excellent, both the rooms and the food! The bikes were also great perfectly suited for the roads and paths, and very comfortable. The route was also fantastic a wonderful mix of towns, farmland, forest, coast and magnificent castles. The directions were very clear and easy to follow. Altogether, it was a great way to see the country!
We do have a few recommendations, however, for improving the trip. First, it would be very helpful if the directions include more information about where lunch can and cannot be obtained. On the Hillerod-Roskilde trip, and also the Roskilde-Copenhagen day, we ended up not having lunch until we reached the final destination, because we didnt realize there was no place to buy anything during the second half of the route. It would have been helpful if the directions had told us this! Second, on a related note, it would be great if it were possible to have the option of paying each hotel an extra fee (say, 50 kroner) and be able to fix a picnic lunch (for example, a cheese sandwich and some yogurt and fruit) from the breakfast buffet. This would have made it both easier to get lunch, and also, as there were some beautiful places to stop and eat, easier to enjoy the landscape. Third, the directions should include some information about nature reserves and natural areas, in addition to the information about castles and museums. We passed a nature reserve (after Veksas?) on the way to Roskilde, and then another trail to an archeological site (??) at a rest stop on the highway into Roskilde, but because we hadnt had lunch, we just went on. Had we known about these sites, we would have planned better so that we had time to stop at them. I would guess that many others would also be interested in stopping at natural areas and nature reserves. Fourth, the directions should mention that museums and castles, etc., all close at 17:00, and actually start closing by 16:30, and often dont open until 10 or later, again so that it is possible to plan better. We spent a leisurely time walking around the Blixen house site, and arrived in Helsingor shortly before the Kronborg castle closed, and we didnt want to wait until 10:30 the next day to start seeing the castle, and then get a late start on the next days ride. So we only saw a small part of the castle.

Finally, there was one point at which the directions were unclear: Leaving Helsingor, after passing the Marienslot and riding along the path, one turns left and goes up the hill. At this point, the path breaks up into at least 4 dirt tracks: it was not at all clear which was the one we were to follow, as the description didnt correspond to what was visible from that point. We figured it out OK, but the directions here could be improved. Other than this point, the directions were really great!

Thanks again for a great trip, and feel free to quote us!
Joan and David Ehrenfeld

Robert Reverman

TOM,

I wanted let you know that we really had a great time in Norway. It is a awesome Country. We enjoyed every minutes of our time.
Your instruction was excellent, a very well organized travel agent. I look forward to visiting Norway again with my Grandchildren and my son when my Grandson graduates high school.
I have been to many European countries and other part of countries in the last 40 years, I was a flight attendant for KLM in 1960s, Norway is my favorite place to visit. Simply fantastic. I wished that we avoided the cruise, and spent more time in Norway.
Thank you very much for your perfect arrangement.
Yoshi and Bob Reverman

David Gormley

I returned home from Scandinavia last night. Everything turned out very well, and I had a great time in all three countries that I visited. I think that my favorite city was Oslo, and I really enjoyed the bike trip in Denmark.

A few general items for you . . . .

The folks at Scandinavian Airlines were very pleasant. My luggage got lost this past Friday night when I flew back up from Copenhagen to Gothenburg, so I had no overnight supplies that night or fresh clothes yesterday. Fortunately, a helpful gate agent yesterday learned that the bag had just arrived in Gothenburg that morning, and she made sure that it was retagged and was loaded onto my Gothenburg-to-Copenhagen-to-Dulles-to-Columbus flights just minutes before my flight took off from Gothenburg for Copenhagen yesterday. The retagged bag did make it all the way to Columbus. Phew.

The Norway hotels that you found for me were all great. I especially liked Kvikne's in Balestrand. The dinner buffet there was amazing.

The Bike Denmark program was really relaxing and was very well organized. Everything worked out great at all of the hotels along the way during those five days.