Annette Ducharme – South American Cruise – Holland America – March 2008
 
About the cruise, overall everything went well, and we are happy that we did it. My husband discovered that he's really a "land-lubber" though. Although he never got seasick, he never felt quite himself on board ship. We met fantastic people on the ship and saw some wonderful sights on our journey. We were surprised to see how developed these South American countries are (well the major cities, at least), especially Chile. The world is starting to look like a very homogeneous place!
 
I'll be in touch with you before long regarding plans for Africa in 2009.
 
P.S. Thanks for taking the time to calm me down when I called you in my state of panic on February 28th!

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Shannon Burdick – Egypt – March 2008

Everything was wonderful. I appreciate all the help I received. I think this was a perfect balance of guidance and independence/flexibility. I will recommend A-Z to others. Thanks again!

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Deborah Coltun – Egypt – March 2008

Carol, everything was wonderful. You helped me make my dream trip come true and Egypt is now on my preferred list. Didn't get to dive either Straits of Tiran (drift diving) or Ras Mohammed, in fact only got in three dives because of Egypt Air foul up, but still had the time of my life. Glad to have gone but glad to be home!!! Truly, thank you again. 

Carol, I'll definitely be passing your information on to other travelers. With so many of us baby boomers getting ready to retire, having confidence in what we get for our money traveling to new places, especially solo, is important. You and A-Z are GREAT, the service was wonderful and fulfilled my every wish better than I believe I would have gotten elsewhere (from past experience). Thanks

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Cordelia Hwang – Egypt – January 2008

Egypt was fantastic. The pyramids are truly one of the great wonders of the world, and we were able to enter both the Chephren and the red pyramids! The Nile cruise, the temples - especially the more remote sites, made the trip was an experience of a life time.
Everything went smoothly and the guides gave a human side to Egypt. I've learned so much.
Thank you for arranging everything.

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Doug Matthews – Egypt – February 2008

The trip was wonderful. It went off without a hitch. I must compliment you and all members of your company team in Egypt, particularly the main guides I had, Mr. O, Dr. A, and Mr. A. They were extremely knowledgeable and very courteous throughout. They put up with my endless questions and managed to get me where I was supposed to go in spite of the crazy Cairo traffic and long distances in Upper Egypt. The drivers were also really competent. I don't know how they can do their job, especially in Cairo, without going completely insane.
 
All accommodations, without exception, were first-rate. You have obviously done your homework in choosing the good hotels. The cruise ship, Sherry Boat, was well-appointed, the food was very good, and the staff totally competent and friendly.
 
In short, I was very impressed with your level of service in everything, from the very first contact I had with you. I have found few companies with this level. I appreciate the concern you have shown for my interests and for striving to get my tour exactly right. I do not make these comments lightly, as I have travelled a great deal and have been in the hospitality industry myself from 1985 to 2004. As a leading-edge "baby boomer" I am in the middle of doing extensive travelling both alone and with my wife. We, as a generation, are very demanding and I am personally willing to work with a company that gives me the service I demand and takes a personal interest in my well-being. I believe you have such a company and I would like to make more travel plans with you.
 
Upon reading your evaluation form in Egypt, I noticed that you asked about my future plans for travel to a number of different areas of the world. My wife and I are planning to visit many of the areas in the near and distant future. Obviously, because of my experience with your company on this trip, I will be recommending you to our friends as often as possible.
 
Thanks again for all your great service. I look forward to having you help us plan future trips.
 
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John Werry – Egypt – February 2008

Overall, the trip went well. All the A-Z Tour people were excellent and quite necessary when being surrounded by desperate and aggessive Egyptians.

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Ralph Jackman – Egypt – February 2008

Yes we are home safe and sound. We had a wonderful trip. The sights and sounds of Egypt are firmly etched in our minds. The flights, Lufthansa, were very good.
 
The care taken of us at 03.30 at Cairo airport was wonderful and we were very courteously and carefully taken to the Mena House. Mena House, a wonderful hotel where sadly we only stayed long enough to enjoy a breakfast. Afternoon visits to Papyrus Institute, Perfumery and Bazaar in the care of B and M were fascinating
 
Transfer to Aswan, very smooth arriving at Moven Pick just after midnight. It appears to be a wonderful hotel, but as we had to leave at 03.30 for the visit to Abu Simbel it was difficult to tell.

Abu Simbel visit, wonderful. Our guide was excellent. She is a very charming, quiet young lady with a great deal of knowledge which she shares in a very friendly manner.
 
Sonesta Moon Godess Cruise, very enjoyable. The boat is very clean and comfortable and all members of the crew were very helpful and tried hard to make our cruise memorable and enjoyable. Dinner was not of as high a standard as we would have expected from a boat claiming to be the best on the Nile. Lunch and breakfast were fine and the barbecue was also very good. The dinner menus sounded excellent, but the food just missed the mark!

The giude for the temple and tomb visits was excellent and again very knowledgeable.M picked us up and took us to the Sound and Light show at Karnack and once again charmed us with her manner and efficiency.
 
Transfer from Luxor to Cairo was again managed smoothly and efficiently with drivers and greeter doing a splendid job.
 
Le Meridien, Cairo. Another very good hotel, but not of the same standard as the Mena House. The room, the security and the facilities around the hotel were excellent. The individual eating places for dinner within the hotel were good.
 
The guided visits in Cairo, with M, were excellent. Once again we were delighted to have a guide who was knowledgeable, efficient and courteous. His command of dates and the ability to put each artifact or place into context was very important in helping us to fully understand the wonders of Egypt over a period of 5000 years, from the earliest tomb up to the modern day city of Cairo. We were very grateful that the programme was adapted to enable us to see all the major sights.

Sound and Light at Giza was excellent.

Nile Dinner Cruise was not to our taste, but again we were grateful for the way in which the guide and drivers worked to enable us to be switched from one vehicle to the other at the end of the tour of old Cairo in order to be at the cruise on time.

We would have preferred to have paid more and had a more luxurious dinner with waiter service and a quieter environment. Of its type I think it was very good, but it was not what we were looking for.
 
Pick up for transfer to the airport to catch return flight. Again managed smoothly and efficiently with our guide even finding time to present Linda with a small Valentine's Day posy.
 
I hope this brief summary of our holiday will show you that we really had a wonderful time. We have been very pleased with the service of A-Z Tours, the organisation, the guides, the drivers and will be delighted to recommend the company to our friends and, if the opportunity arises, to use the company again. Thank you for all your work in the early stages.
 
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Leilani Wardle - New Orleans – February 2008

You ROCK - thank you so much for all of your effort! I must say that I normally do my own traveling arrangements online but you and Carol have really changed my mind on travel agents.

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Joy Gulick – Egypt – February 2008

I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed our experience. Everyone one was absolutely fabulous.

I think booking with you was one of the best decisions we could have made regarding this trip and we would recommend you to anyone traveling to Egypt. Thanks again

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Jan Mun Yee Shirley Lam – Egypt - January 2008

I enjoyed my trip in Egypt very much. Everything went smoothly as planned. The program was well designed. It allowed me to explore the major sites in Egypt and yet gave me time to relax and refresh myself before moving on to another city. The greatest surprise was that I even met Avril after the Giza light and sound show! 
 
I have to thank you and your colleagues in Egypt. They had tried their very best to make me comfortable during my stay in Egypt. There are so many memories I have brought back home from this exotic country. Thanks very much again to you for helping me in planning this trip!

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Kavitha Jain – Egypt – January 2008

We had a wonderful time in the cruise. We actually went to Hurghada and Cairo after the cruise and got back last week.

Thanks so much for arranging all this, and I'll definitely get in touch with you for our next trip :)

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Hassen Ashok – Egypt – January 2008

All in all it was a very good trip except for some minor incidents.
 
Here are the good part of the trip:
- The hotel at all locations were very good. I especially like the Shephard hotel at Cairo. Its a happening place!
- M our tour guide at Cairo was very good knowledge of Egyptian history and explained things well.
- The restaurants they took us for lunch at Cairo were good
- Our tour guide in training.. O was very nice and courteous at Cairo. I think he should be promoted to be a full blown tour guide. I strongly recommend!
-  The places covered in a day was ideal (especially with kids) and the transportation provided was good.
- My special thanks to our tour guide M at Luxor and Aswan. He is a perfect gentleman. Really went out his way to do things for us. The little extra things that they do counts a lot. He was like part of our family. Kids liked him a lot too.
- No complaints on the food at Luxor or Aswan. It was excellent.
- M our tour guide at Cairo was very inflexible.
- On the way back from Aswan we reached Shephard hotel at around 9 am after 14 hours of journey. The hotel would not give us a room immediately.
 
But we really enjoyed the trip and I will not hesitate recommending this to my friends.
 
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Hideki Koyanagi – Egypt – January 2008

First of all, Thank you very much for your great help. I could really enjoy Egypt very much.

Especially, the guide who went together during Nile cruise was very reliable and helpful.

I could enjoy this travel very much. If I can have next chance to go to Egypt, I want to ask you again. Thank you very much.

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Jason Paul – Egypt – 2008

The trip was amazing. Heatherann and I had such a wonderful experience, with so many great memories. The guides were wonderful, especially M.Z. He was unbelievable, and if I ever go back to Egypt, I would certainly want him as a guide again. Thanks for all your help throughout the process. I would enjoy working with you again if you are involved in trips outside of Egypt for A-Z.

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Adele Kaneda – Egypt – January 2008

In general, we had an enjoyable trip. The sites were incredible. A was a fabulous guide, our drivers were skilful  and our greeters so friendly and courteous. 

I have several friends who are planning a visit to Egypt and are waiting for my evaluation of our tour. I appreciated working with you, Carol. You were efficient and responsive.
 
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Nadean  Dooner – Egypt – January 2008

Our trip was outstanding. From the minute we arrived at the airport (and were greeted) to the trip back to the airport, everyone was friendly, knowledgeable and willing to go the extra mile to make our trip special.

On the evening of the Nile Dinner Cruise, our driver and guide were there even though the driver's wife was quite ill. He was unable to pick the 3 of us up after the cruise (he took his wife to the hospital). The guide immediately hailed a taxi - he didn't call the local office until we were already in the taxi. I found him to be proactive rather than reactive.

Put me on the list of very satisfied customers!

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Uriel Avron – Israel to the Canadian Rockies – October 2007

We are home now after five weeks and boy, what five weeks we have had :-) First we had the tour to the Rockies. It was breathtaking... well, I don't have to describe to you the beauty of the land, you are more than likely fully aware of it.

The organization of this tour was perfect and our guide, Serena did a very good job. She was very informative, did her best to explain the different things we have seen and in general kept very well to the timetable. It was a difficult job with so many people on board, so she definitely deserves a lot of applause at the way she has handled the job. All in all the 13 day Rockies tour is a good introduction to this wonderful place and it definitely leaves a taste of "more" after it is finished... :-)

After the Rockies we continued to Saskatchewan, to the "Rut is on" eco lodge adventure. I had only a very faint idea about what to expect, based on a previous eco lodge adventure in the Amazon Basin in Ecuador and initially treated this whole trip as a fill-in to kill some time before flying to Churchill to see the Polar Bears. Well, in short it was a HUGE success!

First the organization of the flight and the hotel in Saskatoon (The Saskatoon inn) was perfect. Special thanks to you for that :-) On the next day of our arrival Maureen arrived to take us to their home where we have spent a day, to get used to the area, learn how to walk on the hunting trails and to generally familiarize ourselves with the environment. After a fun day at the home of Dave and Maureen that included some dog sledging, playing with the animals on the farm and rearranging our gear, Dave has taken us to Sawyer Lake where the real fun took place.
Every day we would wake up very early in the morning and walk some 10-15 km to see the wildlife his estate offers. And we did indeed see a lot of it!

Some of the big game like moose, elk, deer (a lot), smaller animals like hare, coyote, beaver and also some rare ones that are rather elusive, like otter and even wolf! I can't even count the number and types of the birds we have encountered. In the afternoon we would go canoeing, ATV driving, or just walking to a different part of the estate, there was always something to see...
Add to that the friendly hospitality of Dave, Guy and Maureen, the best home cooked food made by Sharon and you really have a winning adventure :-)

Actually I was a little worried that after such a great experience the polar Bears of Churchill would be real hard pressed to top our Saskatchewan trip... ;-) The Sawyer Lake adventure has some limitations though. First, it requires some physical fitness. It is not very difficult, but walking 10-15 km daily is not a simple task especially for those with some physical handicaps.

The other "problem" is that the hunting cabin in Sawyer Lake is not a 4 star hotel. It is very convenient and very well taken care of with big nice rooms, but the water for bathing is collected rain water and the toilet is of the composting type.... It might be problematic for people who are looking for the Ritz in the middle of the prairie...

These shortcomings are of course fully offset by the wildlife, the Aurora Borealis we have seen, the canoeing in the silent lake, the dog sledge and all the fun the site has to offer. All in all it was a smash hit and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is interested in  seeing REAL wildlife in its real environment and those who want to learn how the people of the prairie live their lives.

After returning to Saskatoon (Maureen took us herself back) we have flown to Winnipeg and after four days we have continued to Churchill to see the polar bears.

I would heartily recommend it. The actual tour was carried out by Natural Habitat and they did a wonderful job. The organization of the tour, the guides, the hotels, everything was just superb. And the polar bears did their part to make the visit to Churchill an unforgettable one...

Well, that's about it, I hope I haven't bored you too much with my long-long letter. It is also the time to thank you for the excellent professional (and patient!) treatment I got from you throughout the planning and the execution of the trip, and the enormous help you have been.

Thank you very much and I will definitely recommend you and your company to anyone who asks me. With your permission, I'll send you an invitation to visit my on-line albums of the pictures from Canada when I upload them. You are welcome to use my letter for advancing your company's sales as you find fit. You are also allowed in advance to use any of my pictures from the public domain for the same end. Thanks again and all the best (http://community.webshots.com/album/562021583CjvsHF)