Atlantis Beach Tower Nassau Bahamas – December 2011

     Our vacation was one of the best we have had. The hotel was nice and we had an ocean front view which was unbelievable!  The TV did not work so I called housekeeping.  Within ten minutes we had a technician inspecting and ultimately replacing it with a new one.  We were very pleased with the Beach tower and the location and would highly recommend it.  This hotel had the free movies every night and lots of activities.  We found the free shuttle service between the various properties very nice, but walked most of the time. 

     I would let your future clients know that there are no vending machines in any of the hotels and rather than spending $7.00 for a bottle of water in the hotel to go across the street from the Coral where there is a shopping center that has not only shopping for gifts but; a grocery store; a Quizno's and I believe an Italian restaurant. 

We ended up eating at the Market Place (all you can eat) twice, once for breakfast and again for dinner.  The breakfast was around $50.00 for the two of us, dinner was double, but the food was out of this world!! 

     We ventured into Nassau one day to shop. You can take a ferry for $8.00, or a taxi for $10.00, we opted for the Taxi.  The straw market had just opened back up about a week before we arrived and was truly an experience.  I would highly recommend going.  While we were there we saw a Disney Cruise ship pull in.  We stayed within the shopping district and felt very safe.

     The dolphin experience was fun and I would highly recommend it.  Thank you so much for being so good at what you do!

Royal Caribbean Cruise – October 2011 Honeymoon

The cruise was awesome and we hope to do it again soon!  I would highly, highly recommend Royal Caribbean to anyone.  Everything was exceptional.

Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana – Fall 2011 – HONEYMOON!

The honeymoon was amazing! The resort was wonderful, although we heard from other guests this Secrets was their least favorite. The others must be incredible. Upgrading our room was a good decision.  The food was decent, and given that it was an all-inclusive resort we didn't expect it to be anything special. We thought that the steaks we had throughout the whole week were really fresh and delicious, but the seafood typically tasted very fishy - almost like it was on the verge of spoiling. It was really nice staying at Secrets because we were able to take advantage of the food at NOW Larimar as well.  We also loved the adults-only aspect, it was quiet and sophisticated and exactly what we wanted. 

One thing we really enjoyed was the honeymoon package we received. We had a complimentary private dinner on the beach, which was a wonderful experience. The food we had for that meal was the best we had the whole week and we got great service and personal attention. We also got champagne breakfast in bed one morning and a free massage, although we didn't end up taking advantage of the massage.

Overall, I think we would both love to try another Secrets Resort in the future and we were 100% thrilled with everything about our vacation. Your advice about leaving on Monday after the wedding was great, we would suggest every couple do the same. Thank you for everything, Dorie!

Disney’s Beach Club Villas – September 2011

You cannot beat the location.  Just a 5 minute walk and you are in Epcot’s England or France.  The pool must be the best of all the properties. The kids loved it.  We rode Rock and Roller Coaster, Mt Everest, and Star Tours the most.  My favorite, Tower of Terror, was enjoyed by the kids once you get past the "scary hype parts" in the beginning. The weather was great! 

Carnival Pride from Baltimore – September 2011

The cruise was amazing and such a good experience. Leaving from Baltimore definitely took some stress off before the trip. I arrived and boarded the ship with no problem. The ship had plenty of activities and shows to keep me busy. The ports of call (Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau) were all in fine shape even after the hurricane. The only negative was that one of my snorkeling excursions was cancelled because the boat had been damaged due to the hurricane.

Western US Cities – August 2011
Everything went better than we could have expected. Great time, great accommodations.

RIU Cancun – Summer 2011

When you enter the hotel it is beautiful.  You stand in line to check in, then the staff takes groups of people to explain the hotel rules and how things work like your keys, towel cards etc...Very impersonal. 

Once in our room, I noticed mold in the picture hanging on the wall, some on the walls, and it smelled bad. Plus there was a big concrete wall as our balcony that was 5 feet tall. We had to stand on chairs to look over the balcony.  We asked to change rooms and were told we would have to wait until the next day….again very impersonal.

They had a buffet restaurant and several a la carte restaurants that were included; however, to go to the nicer a la carte restaurants you needed a reservation that was made 2 days in advance.  Reservation person was available from 8am to 4pm.  So with arriving late, an early morning excursion the next day it was impossible to eat in those restaurants during our short trip.

Compared to Dreams Cancun where we stayed last year, Dreams had much better check in, nicer room, no watered down drinks, liquor brands we recognized, staff was friendly and helpful.  The rail liquor was not watered down and had names that we recognized. Not so at RIU.  In the kids club Dreams had 2 persons assigned to group of children whereas at RIU only one. Overall, I would not recommend RIU Cancun to anyone, stay at Dreams Cancun!

Summer 2011

Secrets Maroma in Riviera Maya was the perfect destination for our honeymoon.  From the beautiful beach to the pristine pools, Secrets Maroma was the perfect place to relax after our wedding.  We were spoiled by drinks and hors d’oeuvres delivered to our beach and pool chairs.  The entertainment staff always had some activity for us to participate in if we felt like it.  The amazing service with a smile was like nothing we had ever experienced before.  We could not have had the honeymoon we had without Bay Winds Travel Agency.  Our transportation went smoothly and effortlessly.  The upgraded honeymoon suite you requested was great! It even had balcony Jacuzzi. Thanks, Bay Winds Travel, for making our honeymoon a vacation we will never forget!

Carnival Pride – May 2011 Sailing from Port of Baltimore

I wanted to let you know we had a great time on the cruise. We loved Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay, though Freeport was a waste of time.  We had great weather and seas were fine until on the way back; had 2 days and nights that were a little rocky, people were getting seasick. The crew and food were great.  It was a wonderful experience, but our next tropical vacation will be more on land and we will just have to fly.

Disney Dream Cruise – April 2011 NEW SHIP

The cruise was fantastic!!  If we had to pick between the cruise or Disney World we all (including my 5 year daughter) would choose the cruise. She was able to ride the AquaDuck and loved it - must have done it a dozen of times.  The ship is awesome! The transfers were smooth and timely.  Thank you so much for all of your hard work in planning our trip. We had a wonderful time. 

Sandals Royal Bahamian - February 2011

We all had a great time vacationing at Sandals with our friends. Six couples in all. The place was beautiful and our room was clean. The service was a little slow except for our waiter Ricardo at the Italian restaurant.  He was great!  The day time food was ok. They needed a place where you could just go and grab a snack but it always took so long to sit down and wait. I thought the restaurant food was good though.  Guess we were on island time!  Night time we were the life of the resort :-) It was hard to miss 12 drunken people dancing and singing in the bar. So glad we got the Sandals discounted rates.
Thanks for all your help organizing the trip. All the transfers and accommodations were perfectly set up so there were no worries there!

Short Royal Caribbean Cruise -  November 2010

We had a great time on the cruise; our cabin couldn't have been in a better location. We really liked having the balcony & being 1 floor down from the pool & breakfast & lunch dining. We would highly recommend the Palms Hotel in Miami Beach; service was 1st rate! Nassau was ok, but we enjoyed the private island better. It was very relaxing & beautiful there. Thanks for all you did to put together such a great trip.

Dreams Punta Cana – November 2010 Destination Wedding

Guests share their comments… We had a wonderful time! It is a beautiful resort and easy to figure out. The Dominican people are very friendly. The only thing I would recommend is for future guests to bring numerous one-dollar bills for tipping. It seems that a one dollar bill is much appreciated down there. It was difficult and sometimes impossible to get change without paying a fee at the bank. They did a fantastic job on the wedding! 

The service was outstanding throughout the resort. The wedding was beautiful!

Bride & Grooms thoughts……We had issues with our rooms (they put the kids in a separate building...).  They were unorganized with this and a lot of people seemed to be in the same boat.  It seemed like they had no plan and were just trying to put everybody wherever they could.  They claim we did not make a request for adjoining rooms or for rooms as close together as possible for the kids.  I know we requested this and that Bay Winds followed up as well.  It was a bit frustrating, but it didn't put a damper on our trip.  We did get a honeymoon suite with an awesome view of the sea. Everybody had a great time and they all really loved the place!! You did a terrific job! 

Dreams Cancun – October 2010

The resort was good & the view was beautiful & we did receive a complimentary bottle of champagne.   I liked the location, being in the heart of the touristy down town area.  We enjoyed downtown Cancun, which we visited often using cabs.  The satellite TV was limited so we purchased a movie on the TV for $15. Expensive by US standards. Unfortunately the weather, although warm, was windy so the beach activities were limited due to waves.  We loved to food at the Sea Side Grill and buffet at World Cafe Restaurant.  The other restaurants were OK.  They had a good entertainment crew that had activities going on all day if you wanted to get involved - which we did when we were at the hotel. But most of the time we were not there.  My husband said it reminded him of a cruise because you saw the same people, had the same entertainment, crew etc. You could stay right there and not leave. The room echoed the hallway activity because they do not have carpet or wall hangings to absorb the sound. Other Mexico hotels we have stayed were the same with no carpet. Overall, I would not hesitate to try another hotel if I went again, but would not be upset to stay at Dreams again.

Secrets Maroma, Riviera Maya

HONEYMOON COUPLES

Two Couples – Two Reviews - One Resort 

Fall 2010 

Secrets Maroma was AWESOME!!!! This place was everything you said it was and more.  I can actually say that I have never experienced the type of service that we experienced at Secrets Maroma.  Every single person there was polite and helpful, if they couldn't help you they "b-lined" it to someone that could.  We are everyday people that got treated like royalty.  So amazing.  The scenery was second to none, the place is visually stunning, and the room was huge and seemed very clean and organized.  The pool area was awesome, so many different options for lounging.  There was the infinity pool, the regular pool and this little wading pool area which you could drag your chair into and lay in.  You could basically roll right out of your chair into about 10 inches of water for a quick cool down and then hop right back into your chair.  It was sweet.  The beach area was perfect with sand so fine it almost felt like some sort of thick pudding when it was wet.  The water was extremely clear and clean, as soon as you got waist deep there were a school of white fish swimming around you checking you out. There were plenty of different food options and I think some were better than others.  That’s about as close to criticism as you might get from us. The concierge, and other various labor type positions were always polite, always helpful and almost every single person there would say “it’s a pleasure” in response to you saying “thank you” for something that they had done for you.  It was such a wonderful experience and we are both so thankful that you recommended it because it was worth every penny.  You have outstanding customer service!

RIU Aruba - September 2010 Honeymoon

Our honeymoon was fantastic! We really enjoyed every moment of it. The food was very good, and the Riu has specialty restaurants with excellent food that you must reserve in advance. We spent two dinners outside the resort, at El Goucho and Texas de Brazil, and both we highly recommend.
We took an island tour with De Palm Tours which included lunch and snorkeling. That was a lot of fun. We also went jet skiing and para-sailing. And the resort staff were very nice, and they figured out we were honeymooners and started making cute, little sculptures with the towels and flowers!
The weather was great, and the two thunderstorms were not an inconvenience. The nature of hurricane season meant that the surf was a little rough, but we did enjoy the beach immensely.
Thank you so much for orchestrating everything! It really was a trip of a lifetime!
PS - My only regret is that I didn't look through that travel booklet thoroughly until we were at the resort! That is a very good idea, the tear out information pages and everything. I really liked the travel bag, very useful!

Italy, Amalfi Coast – September 2010 – HONEYMOON

Our 10 days spend on the Amalfi Coast were absolutely blissful.  The car service that picked us up in Naples was wonderful and that's important when you're weaving and winding around the roads and cliffs of the coast.  The hotels in Positano and Sorrento were gorgeous.  In fact, at the Excelsior Vittoria hotel in Sorrento, we found that they had upgraded our room to one with an ocean view and amazing balcony.  We even had champagne and chocolates waiting for us in our room.  Many thanks to our travel agent who notified them that we were on our honeymoon! Everything about the trip went smoothly, from the flights, to the day trips, to the hotels.  My husband and I are counting the days until we can go back!  You made our honeymoon dreams come true!

Disney Cruise Lines – Two Families, Similar Comments – Summer 2010

My family enjoyed the cruise and we had a great time. Disney does a great job. Everything went smoothly.  Interplex Transportation did a fine job.  They were there when expected and I would use them again.

It was an A+++++ trip.  We loved the cruise.  I have nothing bad to say about the whole vacation. 

NOW Jade Riviera Cancun – June 2010

The weather was ugly, yet we still had a good time. No rain, but overcast and very windy. The resort was okay.  I thought there was a lack of activities compared to other all-inclusive resorts that I have been to. Our ratings out of 10: Room- 9- very big.  Level of service- 6 - There were too many people at restaurants for the staff, at the bar the staff knew very little English. Food- 7- buffets were excellent; the other restaurants were very average.

Italy by Escorted Tour, June 2010

Going on a tour was awesome.  We did not want to leave - we were gone 9 days but could have easily done more.  We really enjoyed being with the other 22 people on the tour.   That part I didn't expect - walking around cities in Italy and running into people you knew (from our group).  Our tour guide was fabulous.  I didn’t expect that either - but really learned a lot about Italy from him. He taught us everything from the history of Italy to how to cross the street (seriously, the drivers in Rome are NUTS).  He also told us when to watch out for pickpockets, what to do for dinner, how to read the street signs in Venice, etc. 

Of the three major cities we saw, Venice was my first favorite, Rome a close second.  Both were awesome.  Florence didn’t do much for me though.  We saw all kinds of stuff that was over 2,000 years old.  Can you imagine??  The food was 'eh'.  They eat a lot of pasta - I'm more of a meat and veggie person.  We went to mass at St. Frances of Assisi on Sunday, the English version.  I took almost exactly 1,000 photos.

Ocean Blue Golf & Beach, Punta Cana – February 2010

Romantic Getaway

The beach was beautiful, the room was comfortable, the food was good, the people were friendly, and most importantly, the weather was fabulous - no SNOW!  Anyway, we enjoyed our trip immensely and appreciate all you did to make it possible.  We are not frequent travelers and so it was reassuring to have your invaluable support as we negotiated unfamiliar territory.

Iberostar Tucan, Riviera Maya – December 2009

Iberostar Tucan has so far been our favorite all inclusive get away.  The setting of the resort is wonderful.  We spent a quite a bit of time just wandering around, checking the different types of animals and trees.  It was exactly the setting we've been looking for. Our beach was the best and the staff was the friendliest.  There were plenty of umbrellas and space to spread out on the beach.  The gym equipment was older but then the breakfast buffet was wonderful with French toast and more egg and omelet choices than we could have imagined! We spent the rest of the day laying on the beach, swimming in the pool and playing sand volleyball.  The food was really good and it was the first vacation we didn't need any medicine to calm our stomachs! We didn’t think the nightly entertainment was very good.  It seemed like a good resort for families, too.  Even with the faults, we were definitely really happy with the resort and got everything out of it that we wanted. 

Iberostar Grand Bavaro, Punta Cana – November 2009  Honeymoon!

We really loved Punta Cana and the resort was the best!  Very nice, clean, great staff!  The Food was good - although some of it we didn't know what it was and there was a little bit of a language barrier...especially in the restaurants.  The suite was gorgeous - new, modern, and great. 

When we arrived in our room we were presented with a free pictured frame, fruit bowl, champagne on ice and a voucher for a free couples 1/2 hour massage in the hotel spa.....we were very impressed!  The restaurants were very good and the dance show was fun too - especially the 70's dance night.  All in all a wonderful, tropical, romantic honeymoon spot and we owe it all to you! Your suggestion was perfect for us and what we were looking to do on our honeymoon. 

Secrets Silversands, Riviera Maya – August 2009

Two different reviews for the same all inclusive resort

Secrets Silversands Resort is new and clean and the rooms and bathroom were amazing!  We loved the food and they had 7 restaurants for us to choose from.  It was definitely the best food we’ve had at an all inclusive.  The staff was friendly and provided great service, they were definitely under staffed but with a little bit of patience it was OK.  We had a little trouble at check in as they didn’t seem to want to give us a king bed that we had requested.  After a few minutes and some complaining we were able to get the correct room however.  We played golf once using the $35 reduced fee which is a great value, but the course was 50 minutes away and a $40 cab ride each way.  I can’t complain too much though because we knew that before we left.  Overall I would recommend the resort to anybody else looking to give it a try, it was exactly the relaxing trip we were looking for.  Thanks again for all your help, hopefully we can do it again soon!

We had a great time and would give the resort 7 out of 10.  The resort only seemed to be at about 40% capacity which would have been ok but I’m guessing the staff was only at 40% as well.  Service at the restaurants and bars was extremely slow as well.  The staff was very friendly but a little overwhelmed.  The food was very good.  We would recommend the Asian Restaurant above all others.  Thanks again for all of your work putting this trip together.

Alaskan Family Cruise, August 2009

All went very well.  Air flights, transfer to the ship, private transfer to Anchorage, stay at the hotel, everything went very smooth.  The trip was very relaxing.  Embassy Suites hotel was very nice.  Love the happy hour & morning breakfast. Thank you for getting this together for us. 

Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun, June 2009 HONEYMOON !

We had an awesome time in Mexico.  Not a drop of rain the entire time we were there, the resort was awesome, food was great, service was extraordinary, etc.  I’d definitely recommend Secrets and Riviera Maya to friends and family.

Sandals Regency, St Lucia – June 2009 Honeymoon!

It was wonderful, the trip of a lifetime for sure!  Our room was great, our patio was right outside the main pool and pavilion, we loved it.  We did visit the other Sandals as well.  We LOVED the layout of The Grand.  They had a ton of tiki huts to layout under, a great beach, and the pools were great.  It was our favorite layout of all of the Sandals, although we never ate there to share our opinions on the food.  The Regency did not have any huts to lay under, and very few umbrellas, it was the only downside.  We went to Halcyon for dinner at the Pier.  We had one of the best dinners and the best service there out of anywhere.  A side note, the Halcyon had more locals on the beach trying to sell stuff.  We went at night but it seemed as though one may be harassed by them anytime of day.  We had none of that at The Regency.  All in all it was a perfect trip and we loved it!  I would recommend St. Lucia to anyone.  Thanks so much for all of your help in making our honeymoon perfect!

St Lucia, Rendezvous Resort, May 2009  Honeymoon!

The honeymoon was fantastic.  There were no issues whatsoever.  We were greeted at the Rendezvous with some of their famous Rum Punch, great way to start relaxing after traveling for many hours.  The room was clean and comfortable.  Food was wonderful.  Each night on the buffet there was a different theme, Mexican, Italian, etc.  We also tried the fancy restaurant one night, and that was also wonderful. They had live entertainment.  We did do several excursions.  Shopping Tour, Deep Sea Fishing, Horseback Riding, and the Conveniently Late Boat Tour.  They were all very interesting.  It is definitely a lot different down there.  My husband loved the fishing, and I loved the Horseback riding.  Sabina helped to set everything up and she was very helpful with scheduling the excursion and our ride back to the airport.  Thank you for all your help!  

Viking River Cruises, Danube River and Salzburg, May 2009

We had a wonderful trip! Our stateroom was perfect, the food was good (although smaller portions than in the US), and the Sprits package we purchased was a great investment.  Viking took care of everything including our luggage on that first day so we could explore Nuremberg.  The train to Salzburg went well. The hotel was beautiful and the breakfast was very good.  Our pre arranged excursions were great especially the 48 hour pass that got us into so many attractions in Salzburg and it included transportation.  Now we want to cruise the Rhine River!

Riviera Maya, Grand Sirenis, January 2009 Romantic Getaway

     The vacation was wonderful.  The resort was about 1 hr 20 minutes away but the driver was good and the roads were smooth.  The resort was very nice.  It was clean, the staff was attentive, friendly and spoke great English.  The room great!  There was a balcony (not a great view but we didn't want to spend the money for an upgrade) a small lounge area and a king size bed.  The TV had a few American Channels.  The resort even had a room in the business area set up with a projector that showed the playoff games last Sunday!  The evening entertainment was pretty good, too.  I think it was better than the resort we went to in Punta Cana (Dreams).  The resort itself was very modern looking.  We did the day trip to Chichen Itza and when we picked up other people for it we drove through ones that were more tropical looking, which we may would have preferred. We drove through the Grand Palladium and Barceló and both looked very nice and had great reviews from the guests.  The only disappointment was the food. We were unaware that we were only allowed three dinners in the restaurants. When we went to make reservations on Monday we found one was booked until Saturday!  We had some trouble getting the restaurants we wanted at the times we wanted.  The food wasn't that great in the a la carte restaurants or in the dinner buffets.  Breakfast and lunch were ok though.

Norwegian Caribbean Cruise, December 2008

The cruise was wonderful. We had a great time, the food was great and so was the service. Thanks for all of your work on this. Happy New Year.

Cozumel, Iberostar, December 2008

I really enjoyed my trip!  I couldn't have been happier with the Iberostar resort and my room was wonderful.  I was in 1102 in the building right next to the beach.  I couldn't have been any closer without being in the water :)  I did meet a group from PA and went downtown with them and explored a little which was perfect.  The staff was very friendly and accommodating and my room was clean and nice.  I really have nothing bad to say at all.  I should mention that one of the ladies in the group I met had one of the blades from her room's ceiling fan fall off when she turned on the fan and another room flooded when the shower clogged.  But my experience was absolutely wonderful! I'm tanned and ready to bring in the New Year. 

Carnival Cruise Lines, October 2008 Wedding Guests

The cruise was fun and we saw some interesting people J The wedding was nice and they had a great time spending the week with family and friends. They all felt the same way that Carnival is lacking in service and quality and tries to nickel and dime you for everything but it was the best way to get all their family/friends together from 7 different countries. It is what it is, but we all still had fun. Live and you learn I am still glad that we went! Thanks again!!

Las Vegas, Paris Hotel, September 2008 

We're back. What a great time we had. Paris Hotel was very nice. Great shops. Slots though were very tight. You're coordination was perfect. Thanks again for a great trip.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, July 2008 Family Vacation

I wanted to say that the cruise was ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!  And the Mariner of the Seas was beautiful!  Everything fell right into place, the adjoining rooms were great, and very spacious....the window facing the Promenade was so nice......Thanks again!!!!!

Disney Cruise and Grand Floridian, May 2008 Honeymooners!

 We had a blast!  The cruise food was fantastic, the entertainment was fun, and our balcony cabin was perfect!  We loved Disney Cay and ate at Serenity Bay when there because it was more peaceful and no children.  We purchased the 2 for 1 pass that included bikes, tubes, and snorkel gear.  We even got to keep our bikes all day even though it was only supposed to be an hour.  We bought the Paradise Island Water Adventure package with climbing wall and the climbing wall was alright, but not so sure if it was worth the money.  The water adventure was fantastic.  The Grand Floridian could not have been any more perfect.  We were on the lost floor that is used for famous guests and our room had a king size bed.  Everyone knew we were honeymooners and were treated as such.  We always had plenty of food with the dining plan and the Concierge room.  That was definitely the way to go and making all our dinner reservations before we left with Disney Dining was perfect.  On Sunday, we ate at the California Gill on top of the Contemporary so we could enjoy a sunset dinner.  Ordering the most expensive things at each restaurant was great!  In our room we were given champagne and things for being honeymooners.  The concierge level had all kinds of beverages and snacks all day.  We went to all the parks and used our water park pass at Blizzard Beach.   

This was a perfect honeymoon for us. Thanks so much for all your work.  Disney does things right. 

Barcelona, Spain, March 2008

We had a wonderful time visiting our daughter. Thanks for all your help with the trip you did a wonderful job also that’s for the extra info on the flights it was definitely needed. 

Walt Disney World at Saratoga Springs, April 2008 Accessible Travel

Disney sure knows how to handle all situations and traveling with Mom was very easy.  The full kitchen at Saratoga Springs was great and having the rental car made things very easy to get around.  The complimentary wheel chair fit easily into the trunk. We were glad we decided to forgo the scooter delivered to the resort and instead rent a scooter at each park.  (Get there early!) Eight hours at Epcot and she was moving along and I was exhausted!  At the parks handicap parking is plentiful (and free since we stayed at a Disney Resort) and when we went out to dinner, valet parking was free with the handicap tag.  All the Disney buses are handicap accessible too.  Mom has avoided traveling with her limited mobility issues, but she loved this trip and is ready to go again!  

Lake Louise, Canada, Fairmont Resort, February 2008

What a beautiful winter wonderland.  We took a horse drawn sleigh ride, our friends went skiing, my husband went snowmobiling, and I went to the spa!  We were in awe of the beautiful scenery and the quaint town of Banff.  The air travel time was excessive due to many weather delays. I would love to return to that area of Canada in the summer and spend some more time exploring and taking pictures.  Like when the 5 FEET of ice melts on the lake!! Overall it was a relaxing vacation.