I have been vacation planning at All-Travel since 1990, doing a little of everything. I’ve enjoyed both booking passengers to popular vacation spots, such as Hawaii and Mexico, and working with our diverse group of agents for over 18 years. I mostly work with mid-range cruises and escorted tours but also specialize in booking corporate travel and arranging vacations to Hawaii and Mexico. My favorite vacation is being out at sea on any cruise! Most recently, with Holland America to Alaska – it was absolutely breathtaking.
Alice Always Answers My Emails In A Very Short Time!
Dear All-Travel,
Your main strengths are you agents. They never fail to help and always seem happy to do so. Alice always answers my emails in a very short time.
Thank you,
Maxine
Add a commentAlice was Always Available Whenever We had a Question!
First Name: Josie & Charles
My relationship with All-Travel: Leisure
Travel consultant you worked with: Alice Gomez
Was prompt in responding to me: 5 = Excellent (worth a referral!)
Was knowledgeable of relevant travel product and information: 5 = Excellent (worth a referral!)
Offered competitive fares and schedules: 5 = Excellent (worth a referral!)
Paid attention to detail and accuracy: = Excellent (worth a referral!)
Was friendly with a positive attitude: 5 = Excellent (worth a referral!
What are the main strengths of All-Travel? Always available when ever we have question. Tour coordination was very complete.
In what ways can All-Travel improve? Better explanation as to the definition of "Small" while describing the hotel rooms in London.
Any additional comments? The tour of Omaha Beach was disapointing in that the tour was not scheduled to stop AT Omaha Beach until members of the tour loudly complained. The tour guide expected us to be happy with taking photos from a mile away at the Americian Cemetery. She added that we were not to walk to the beach from the cemetery, as we would have been left behind.
Add a commentThe Westin in St. John, Virgin Islands is Exactly as Advertised
Hi Alice,
Thanks for taking such good care of us.
Everything went pretty smoothly. The flight down and the transfers were fine. The Westin is exactly as advertised – very solid, all the amenities that we expected – the villa was very nice and just the right size for us. Some problems – one of the bedrooms smelled of mildew and they couldn’t do anything about it (we didn’t want to move everybody even if they had an alternative)-- but their staff were responsive. Biggest problem was that after getting up at 4 to make that 7:00 flight, we arrived at the Westin around noon and they wouldn’t let us into our villa until after 3, which was hard on the 2-year-olds. They said the previous tenant didn’t check out until 10 and they needed all that time to clean “such a big place.” We could have cleaned Buckingham Palace in 6 hours.
The island is beautiful – especially the north side, where Caneel Bay is. The storm didn’t affect us much, except raising everyone’s anxiety. Flights home were delayed – didn’t reach JFK until after midnight – but in general logistics were fine. The Varlack car rental was excellent – professional, nice people, good jeeps (we upgraded to four-doors), and in the end less expensive than they had estimated. Don’t hesitate to use them again for other St. John clients.
About half the restaurants on the island were closed – September and October are their down months, largely due to exorbitant insurance rates during Hurricane season. Food is very expensive everywhere but good.
Thanks again for your help – We’ll talk next week.
Kelin
PS - Thank you so much for the beautiful (and very bountiful!) gift basket
that we got "on your behalf," and for all your work to connect with the
Westin people and make sure they were nice to us-- It was very
reassuring to know you were paving the way for us!
Add a commentBeautiful Fiesta Americana Condesa Resort in Cancun
Alice,
We thought Fiesta Americana was wonderful. The room was fine and the service was great. The breakfast buffet was impressive - Steve ate enough never to have lunch! They had a smoothie/green drink station at the buffet (I've never seen this anywhere before), so I gave her my protein powder and flaxseed and she added it to juice and fruit I got from the buffet and threw it in the blender.
The wine and snacks from the Fiesta floor were a nice add-on. Probably the only thing that went wrong the whole trip was that the concierge on the Fiesta floor made a reservation for us for dinner one night and confirmed to us that we were all set. We took a taxi to the restaurant and found out that they were closed on Sundays. We went there another night and found out that the concierge had just left a voice mail for the resataurant and that the restaurant had called Fiesta Americana to say they were closed, but no one at Fiesta Americana knew who called to make the reservations.
The ironic thing about the trip was that it was lots warmer in L.A. when we were gone. The water was so cool that we never got to go snorkeling or jet skiing.
We would definitely go back to Fiesta Americana!
Thanks again,
Karen
Add a comment"Treasures of Mexico" - Colonial Mexico Tour
Insight Vacations will have a new itinerary offered in their 2009 USA & Canada brochure.
This will be their only Mexico offering called "Treasures of Mexico", an 11 day itinerary, starting and ending in Mexico City.
Our specialized fam. was an abreviated 6 day version, excluding just a little of the brochure itinerary.
This trip really caught my eye, as I have always wanted to visit the colonial cities of Mexico, and a organized tour would be my most effective method of covering so much territory. So I eagerly applied for this opportunity.
We travelled with a group of 33 travel agents from all over the U.S.A., which made for an interesting journey, as always making special friendships.
Our flight on Alaska Airlines, nonstop from LAX to Mexico City, was nice, smooth and uneventful. Pleasant service was offered by our flight attendants, with a complimentary snack, and "no charge" for first piece of checked baggage. I would say we made out very well, after talking with other group members upon arrival in Mexico.
Our first night was at JW Marriott Hotel, in the (upscale) Polanco district. Just to give you an idea, there was a cadillac/hummer dealership and a Starbucks across the street. Next door was the "W" Hotel and Planet Hollywood. This area is right next door to the beautiful Chapultepec Park. Needless to say, the JW Marriott was lovely.
We had our first dinner at a local restuarant, "Villa Maria". This was very close to our hotel. The food was fine, but the specialty was the fabulous Mariarchi's. They came by to especially serenade our group -- fun, fun, fun.
Next morning we started our bus ride to Puebla, southeast of Mexico City, after our tour of downtown Mexico City. Puebla is quite a large city and I was impressed. Our hotel stay was something quite different than our first night. We stayed at Camino Real Puebla. This was a 16th century convent, converted into a 4 star hotel in the historical center of the city. Again we dined at a local restaurant within walking distance, Fonda De Santa Clara.
In each city we had excellent guides that knew their history & culture backwards and forwards. Upon our departure from Puebla the next morning, enroute to Morelia, we needed to travel back thru Mexico City. Because of the clear and beautiful day, off to our left, we witnessed the 2nd largest active volcano in Mexico. This was an incredible sight to see so clearly the white clouds coming out of the top of the volcano. This was a highlight for me, the name of this volcano is Popcatepetl.
Our third night was in the lovely city of Morelia. Here we stayed at the Villa Montana Hotel & Spa. This was a favorite hotel of many in our group. It was like a private residence with beautiful views of the city from a hill top. Our dinner was at the hotel's gourmet restaurant.
Next day our bus ride continues to Guanajuato, with a short stop in Patzcuaro. Guanajuato is a univerisity town built on 7 hills, with underground tunnel roads. We stayed at the Camino Real. Our walking tour allowed us to go to a photo exhibit at the University and also the Diego Rivera home with a museum upstairs on the 2nd & 3rd floor showing his works. He was an artist all of his life, from childhood. It was interesting to see so much of his work displayed. This evening we dined at a local restaurant, "La Casa Colorado" that offers a "tequila tasting" before dinner.
Our next day we travelled to Queretero with a short stop at San Miguel de Allende. It was nice to see San Miguel, kind of reminds me of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Abundant with art galleries, boutique shops, neat little restaurants, many of the residents are US and Canadian's. Our overnight was at Hacienda Jurica, another Spanish hacienda from the 16th century. Our local restaurant offered a very European feel, with outdoor patio dining. This is a vibrant city with alot going on. In just the short time we were there we could see so much activity.
What a wonderful experience to see all of these colorful and historic cities. On this itinerary, there were 5 UNESCO, World Heritage sites.
I often hear that clients are reluctant to travel to Mexico due to the travel advisories regarding the illegal drug wars. However, our group did not observe or encounter any negative problems. As always, we were greeted warmly and graciously thru out our trip. I would encourage any interested clients to travel with Insight on this unique itinerary.
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