Testimonials and feedback about Dolphin Hellas Travel & Tourism: year 2001

Hello Esther!
Treven and I had the most wonderful time in Greece. We are absolutely enchanted by the country and the people and cannot wait to return. Treven even found distant relatives in Argos. This is even more of a reason to return to Greece. It was a very special and exciting time.
When we do return, we will make it a point to use you and your services again and to visit you, of course. It may be another year before that is able to happen, however. The magic of Greece followed us home and we are expecting to be first time parents in July. We are very excited.
Lee

Uli,
Thank you very much for your assistance with our trip. You have made the process of reserving travel and accommodations effortless for me. My wife and I are very much looking forward to our first trip to your country.
Thanks--Paul

Uli,

Sorry that this message is late in coming, but I wanted to thank you and your staff for doing such a great job in putting together our travel arrangements. We had a great vacation in your country and look forward to coming back in the future.

Best regards,

Dave and family

Dear Uli:

My son and I returned to the US safely after a wonderful visit to your country.
All the arrangements you made were flawless! We had no problems and enjoyed ourselves immensely!
Thanks for the fine work you did on our behalf!!!!!

Sincerely,
Joe

Uli,

Thanks very much for your timely response. I appreciate all the information on the charges and the airline tickets. I'll wait to hear from the airlines on our refund for that piece. With regard to the hotels, tours, etc., again thank you for your help in getting the amounts refunded. We appreciate all your help through this process, from the excellent recommendations on our vacation plans to helping clear up the refunds in light of our cancellation.

Lori.

Parahin Merja Kansi,
Kiitos kysymästä, menomatka ja koko Kreikan osuus menivät todella loistavasti, eräiden kokeneiden matkalaisteni mielestä kokonaisuus oli
suorastaan parhaita kaikista matkoistamme. Hotellithan olivat erinomaisia, Nauplionin hotelli jopa ylellinen, koska se korjauksen jälkeen oli nostettu I luokasta luxukseen. Useimmat alkoivat jo silloin ymmärtää, miksi hinta oli korkeahko. Agenttinne rouva Kiki oli tehokas ja huolehtivainen, eskorttimme Päivi aivan erinomainen, samoin kuin autonkuljettajamme Vasilis, joka opetti meillekin herrasmiesmäistä auton käsittelyä hyvällä esimerkillään. Aikataulu piti erinomaisesti, ja ateriatkin olivat hyvät ottaen sen huomioon, että kreikkalaiseen ravintolaruokaan alkaa kyllästyä jo viikossa. Voimme todella suositella samaa kierrosta ja ohjelmaa muillekin.
Paluulento sen sijaan oli yhtä painajaista, ja olisi kai syytä alkaa välttää yhdistelmää SAS-Lufthansa. Siellä ei toimi mikään, tai sitten meille annettiin vääriä tietoja jonkin vielä pahemman ongelman peittämiseksi. Rouva Kiki oli sopinut, että lähtisimme Ateenasta kentälle klo 12.30. Lufthansa vaati meitä tulemaan vielä puoli tuntia aikaisemmin, mutta tullessamme ei kenttähenkilökunta ollut vielä valmis ottamaan meitä vastaan muuten kuin yhteisbuukkauksena, mikä ei kaikille sopinut. Sitten odotettiin ja odotettiin, päästiin lopulta koneeseen, jossa paikkani oli myös eräällä toisella. Sain lopulta paikan ja sitten taas odotettiin ja kapteeni ilmoitti 15 min. välein, että 10 min. kuluttua lähdetään. Korjattiin kuulemma matkatavaraosaston
hälyytysjärjestelmää. Lähes kahden tunnin kuluttua kävi selväksi, ettei vikaa saada korjatuksi ja ruuma tyhjennettiin. Meille annettiin mahdollisuus joko jäädä Ateenaan (matkatav. saanti epävarma) tai lentää ilman matkatavaroita Müncheniin (jatkoyhteys epävarma). Valitsimme viimeksimainitun, koska ei voitu taata, että pääsisimme edes seuraavana päivänä takaisin Ateenasta. Istuimme kuivin suin kuumassa koneessa siis liki 2 tuntia, kunnes kone lähti Müncheniin, jossa meidät (vanhukset mukaanluettuina) juoksutettiin maratonin verran ympäri lentokenttää ja sitten saman verran bussilla. Kone joka odotti oli aivan erilainen kuin se, johon meidät oli Ateenassa buukattu, koska Oslosta tullut kone oli kuulemma mennyt rikki (rengas?). Lippuumme merkityt paikat oli varattu tai niitä ei ollut ollenkaan. Lentoemännät eivät sanoneet sanaakaan koneen tyypin muuttumisesta vaan seisoivat ja odottivat kun etsimme mahd. vapaita paikkoja. Onneksi löytyi juuri tarpeeksi. Dieettiruoka oli sama vegaaneille ja laktoosi-intoleranteille, eikä todella parantanut
tunnelmaa. Helsingissä odotti röyhkeä SAS-kenttävirkailija, joka matkalaiseni kuitenkin panivat nopeasti järjestykseen. Matkalaukut tuotiin sunnuntaina aamupäivällä kotiin. En tiedä, pitäisikö noita selityksiä uskoa vai oliko kyseessä jotakin muuta, mitä meille ei tahdottu kertoa. Onneksi kaikki pysyivät rauhallisina, niin että paluumatkaa voitaneen pitää vain onnistuneen matkan välttämättömänä kauneuspilkkuna.
Opastuslupani oli todella hyvään tarpeeseen, koska virallisen oppaan palkkaaminen olisi maksanut vielä vaikka mitä (ns. mykkä opas laskuttaa
kuulemma n. 500 mk päivältä, ja lisäksi olisi tullut hotelli ja päivärahat - hirvittää ajatellakin). Lupaa tarkasteltiin joka paikassa melkein suurennuslasilla, ja Spartassa jopa epäiltiin, että se olisi väärän ministeriön antama. Päivi kuitenkin hoiti asian tyylikkäästi. Hän oli kovin kiinnostunut kuulemastaan ja kehittyy varmaan itsekin pian hyväksi oppaaksi myös arkeologisella puolella, muuten hän jo kertoili bussissa tottuneesti Kreikan nykyoloista - pyydettyään aina ensin luvan.
Autonkuljettajakin oli kai matkaan tyytyväinen koska lahjoitti minulle lopuksi kauniin ikonin. Niin että kaikki hyvin, ja lopussa kiitos seisoo hyvistä järjestelyistä. Parhain terveisin. Paavo C.

Uli:

I wanted to make certain to thank you for the kind service and courtesy you provided to my wife and I on planning and arranging our recent trip to Greece. We had an absolutely wonderful time. The memories of Greece and its people will always be among our favorites and we will certainly plan on returning again in the future.
We covered Athens, its history and sights, enjoyed our time in the islands and the trip to Delphi and Meteora was especially memorable. Everywhere we went in Greece, the warmth and hospitality of the Greek people was outstanding.
Please know that we are highly recommending Greece and your services to all our friends.

Thank you,
Bruce

Hello,

I came back from my trip today.
I just wanted to thank you for making all the reservations and helping me out plan the trip. All the hotels were great and I had great time. I hope I can have opportunity (time & money) to contact you for another trip some time.
Thank you.

SukHwan

Dear Matt,

I couldn't find anywhere on your website concerning experiences, but I found your website very helpful for my planing of my trip to Greece including the suggestion of utilizing Dolphin Hellas that I wanted to share with you my thanks for your site as well as just a note at the amazing experience we encountered during a terrible time.
I had been planning my dream vacation to Greece for close to a year. We were all set to go, Athens, Mykonos, Naxos and then Santorini. Our flight was for September 11, 2001 out of JFK airport New York, NY. Obviously we did not leave on that day. Besides our initial shock of what had happened we were also left with many reservations that had to either be canceled or rearranged.
Unfortunately we had no idea which since no one had information regarding opening of airport, safety and the like. Since day one in my e-mail relationship with Uli at Dolphin Hellas she was a pleasure to work with. When I had to call her on the 11th and speak to her for the first time, she was amazing. With no information (since we had none) She was able to cancel all our hotels and ferry's and keep them on hold for when we would be able to leave the US. Her concern and constant updating as well as making herself available at her home for any new information we had was above and beyond and we were grateful. We were finally able to get out of New York (which at that time was needed) and make it to Greece. All arrangements and shuffling that took months to arrange Uli was able to rearrange in a matter of hours.
To Uli at Dolphin Hellas I say Thank you.
I would also would like to recommend to anyone going to the Island of Santorini and would like to stay in Oia and not have to pay the high prices and still experience the amazing sunset and the warmest hospitality you will ever find please look up Ecoxenia Studio Apt located 1km from Oia in Tholos. Our host Christofer Vamvakoussis was amazing. We also had to change all our plans with him and when because of schedule juggling when we showed up a day early he welcomed us with open arms. Sat us down and spent over an hour over coffee giving us the best to see in Santorini from tours, museums, restaurants and beaches. He also arranged for us to rent a car at a great price and managed to make everything we went through to get there go away with a smile and many warm words.
I hope that you can add his studios with a recommendation to your site as I can not say enough amazing things about Christofer or his Studios.
Once again Thank you for your site as it was an incredible resource for us and made Greece a trip I will never forget.

Erin

Uli,

Just wanted to say thank you for taking care of things for us.
We wanted to get over to meet you but the timing wasn't right, and then unfortunately Helen broke her foot in Thera, and so we were a bit handicapped. Fortunately, Dana Villas was situated so beautifully that she was at least able to enjoy the view, and the staff were extremely kind, and that made it possible. We also met many nice and interesting people in our tour of Delphi and Meteora, so we were pleased.
Barbara

Dear Uli,

I just wanted to thank you for all the hotel and travel arrangements in Greece in early September. We had a great time and all the arrangements were fine. Luckily we arrived home on Sept. 8 just before the events of Sept. 11.
We especially enjoyed the Chateau Zevgoli on Naxos. One thing which you might tell the next people about it is to check at the tourist office near the dock to find it. Many people we asked did not know where it was. I think the people at the tourist office are the owners.
Again, thanks for the wonderful prompt responses and all your help. I will certainly recommend you to others for Greek travel.

Jane Metzger

hi uli, we just wanted to thank u for organising our trip for us , we had the best time...we were a bit worried about doing everything over the net but it all went really smoothly and there were no problems, athens is great and we are recommending u to all of our friends.
thanks again and if we come back to greece we will definitely contact u again...

chris and rosie

Dear Uli

I'm sorry I didn't get to say thank you personally - everything this weekend seemed to take much longer than I expected (it must be the heat that I'm not used to). Anyway it was a wonderful weekend and a memorable concert. I have of course seen Dalaras many times before (!) but never at the Irothio so it was like a dream come true. We really liked the hotel too.
Many thanks again for your help.

Kate

Dear Uli,

I want to say thank you so much for helping us with our trip. We had a wonderful time. The hotel and tours were nice. The people were nice and the food was excellent.
We did get stuck for an extra five days. But we were blessed because there were still people left to leave a week later.
We did help the economy of Greece, however!!!(smile) We could have kept that extra two hundred and some dollars we used to fly from Santorini to Athens to spend in Greece. But who was to know?
We would like to return after everything returns to normal. Again, thank you so much.

David and Bonnie

Good Morning! Uli:

We want to thank you for taking great care of us in our recent trip to Athens and the cruise on the Royal Olympic's Stella Solaris. Everything was perfect (except the tragedy in New York which occurred our 4th day out in the cruise).
I cannot thank you enough for rescheduling our trip after I suffered a Heart blockage, so if you ever need a recommendation, have them call or e-mail me and I will tell them what a great person and travel agency you represent. We had a wonderful trip and the cruise was the best we have ever taken.
Sincerely,
Ralph & Barbara Kalberloh

Dear Esther,
I am writing this to say thank you for you help with arranging our trip while in Greece. We had a fantastic time in Greece. We met many friendly people and the places we visited were amazing.
Again, thanks and I will reccommend your agency to anyone I know who is going to Greece.
David

Uli,

Thank you again for your assistance. All the arrangements were great, and it was a very relaxing vacation despite world events.
Flight security was tight, but not to be expected. Thanks again for your assistance.

Ted Schmitt

Uli,

Here it's been more than two months since you helped us and I'm just now getting around to saying thank you!
I just wanted to let you know that Joy, Colleen, and I had a wonderful time in Greece due to all your hard work for us. We we're so happy to receive all the detailed information you included in the package waiting for us at the hotel--the maps, the itinerary, and then the fax in Delphi. You really went out of your way to make our visit easy and fun.
Because we had such a wonderful time--and because everyone we met in Greece was so nice and welcoming--I'm trying to convince my husband to travel to Greece with me next spring.
I think your deserve a raise or a bonus or something for your knowledge and helpfulness. That's a rare commodity today (at least here in Ohio, USA), and we really appreciated every bit of your work.
Thank you very much, I hope to work with you in the next year.

Best to you,
Jan

Dear Uli,

We returned from our five week trip to Greece today, and I just had to thank you so much for the FANTASTIC tickets that you secured for us!!!
It was such a treat to have the tickets waiting for us when we arrived at the Electra Palace. The seats (third row center) were awesome, and in fact, the location enabled me to meet and talk with Mikis Theodorakis...which I have to confess, was such an honor and thrill!
The concert was excellent. Maria sang as powerfully as ever.I know that this was a small arrangement for your agency to handle, but please know much I appreciated the extra care that was obviously taken to make this such a special evening for us!

MANY, MANY THANKS!!! :-)

Sincerely yours,
Deborah

P.S. We travel to Greece every summer/early Fall.....so if you know of something that we might be interested in, please do not hesitate to contact me either by e-mail or regular mail. Our next trip will probably be in Late August/September, 2002.

Hi Esther,
I just wanted to thank you so much for all the hard work you put in to getting all of our accommodations together. Our holiday went off without a hitch and Toia and I had the most incredible time in Greece imaginable. I am in major depression now back in the States and can only think of getting back there as soon as possible! Thank you again and I will certainly stay in touch with you for out next holiday in Greece (hopefully next summer!!!).
Dina

Just a very big thank you, Esther. Everything you arranged for us for our Greek vacation was absolutely wonderful. Everything worked perfectly, and I know things would not have worked as well without your help. Our favorite was the Rocabella on Santorini but everything was good, the transfers, other hotels, etc. Thank you so much for all your help.
Many mon. ago when I was checking the web for anything I could find to help with planning a trip to Greece for my family..........I found your site.
Thank goodness. I then used Dolphin Hellas to help me, and it was invaluable. We have just returned from our trip, and everything we arranged through Dolphin Hellas was terrific.
I usually make all travel arrangements myself via the internet and was hesitant to use an agent. But, as suggested by your site, using the Athens agent proved to be the way to go. Thank you.
Judy

Bonjour Kostas,
Tu as raison, pas de nouvelles, bonne nouvelle : ces vacances etaient en effet supers et je tiens a t'en remercier tres sincerement car c'est grace a toi.
Mais je reprends le travail aujourd'hui et, si je pensais bien t'appeler ou te joindre rapidement, depuis ce matin, je n'ai fait que trier mes mails et mon courier.
Donc, revenons a ces vacances : super, geniales, sympathiques, enrichissantes....... d'abord nous etions tres surpris de trouver une region aussi tranquille, accueillante, magnifique... et pas trop touristique : nous avons particulierement apprecie la region autour de tsitsiris castle, certes un peu austere, mais tout a fait extraordinaire, avec a chaque detour de route des paysages a couper le souffle ( apres Vathia notamment ) ; Itilon aussi, mais peu etre plus encore pour l'hotel et aussi les gens que nous avons rencontres que pour la region elle meme, quoique nous y avons vus plein de superbes chapelles byzantines ; Gytion etait bien aussi mais nous y avions peut etre prevu un peu trop de temps.
Enfin, l'Acropolis Select Hotel est absolument parfait et tres confortable.
Donc a nouveau un grand Merci a toi ! Tout le probleme maintenant, c'est de savoir quand nous allons pouvoir revenir en grece !!!!
J'espere que tu vas bien et que tu as (ou auras bientot ) le temps de te prendre des vacances, toi aussi.
A bientot.
Amicalement Philippe

Dear Matt,

Many mos. ago when I was checking the web for anything I could find to help with planning a trip to Greece for my family..........I found your site.
Thank goodness. I then used Dolphin Hellas to help me, and it was invaluable. We have just returned from our trip, and everything we arranged through Dolphin Hellas was terrific.
I usually make all travel arrangements myself via the internet and was hesitant to use an agent. But, as suggested by your site, using the Athens agent proved to be the way to go.
Thank you.
Judy

Our trip went wonderfully. All of the hotels that you booked were very nice. You have convinced me to work through a travel agent for trips rather than trying to do it all myself, because we ended up with better accommodations than when I'm trying to do things for myself!
Again, thanks for all of your help! I will be glad to recommend you and your agency at any chance I get!
Kathryn

Dear Uli, Just wanted to let you know how pleased we were with the arrangements you made for our trip to Greece. The Hotel Attalos was well-located and the staff friendly. We loved taking the ferry to and from Lesvos -- and were surprised at the comfort of the sleeper cabin. We thoroughly enjoyed attending the Aristophanes play at Epidavros and fortunately had read the script ahead of time. We will definitely be back in touch when we plan another trip to Greece and will pass your name along to friends who may be travelling.
We are already "homesick" for Greece, if one can be homesick for a place that is not home!! We miss the seafood, ouzo, salads, ancient sites, and beautiful weather, but most of all the wonderful people!

Thanks again. Best regards, Barbara

Uli,
Just want to let you know that we have returned from Greece. All the arrangements that you made for us worked out beautifully. The connections that you arranged were well organized. We had absolutely no problems. We are very impressed with Dolphin Hellas and would definitely contact you again and recommend you to our friends.
Thank you. Lois

Dear Esther,
We had a wonderful time during our three weeks in Greece. Thank you very much for your patience and your good help! We drove to Delfi --very moving! -- and then took the ferry to Patras and drove back toward Corinth, turning down to Nauplia. The Nafsimedon Hotel in Nauplia was a marvelous place to stay! The people there were very friendly, the room was terrific, and they had kittens, a turtle and a very talkative parrot!! We went to Mycenae, Tiryns and Epidauros, attending the "Oresteia" on opening night. Your advice was great on that, too, because the theatre was packed with people! In the third week we drove down to Monemvassia -- the Malvasia had a room there, starting on Monday, so we stopped there -- and then went on via the pass through the Taygetos Mountains over to Kalamata and stopped in Pylos. Our last stop was at Olympia. Then we came back to Athens for our final night. It was the trip of a lifetime for us, just as we had hoped, and we hope to come back many times, God willing! Thank you so much for your help!
Conrad

Dear Uli:

My husband John and I are back from our honeymoon in the Islands and we had a most spectacular time!
Your suggestion of the Celal Sultan hotel in Istanbul was perfect. The hotel was beautiful, and the staff was incredibly kind and helpful. Also the Porto Naxos and Pantheon could not have suited us better.
All of our plans went right according to schedule, and we came to Athens to find our information packet and vouchers waiting for us at the Attalos on schedule as well.
You have been so very helpful in assisting me in my plans for a perfect holiday, one which we will never forget.
I will certainly refer anyone who wishes to travel to Greece to your agency for excellent service and attention.

With our most sincere gratitude..... SUSAN & JOHN HAYDEN

Dear Uli,

After a nice time in Greece, we're at home.
That's not nice, the weather is here cold and rain, but after everything comes a End.
The reservation in Athens, Divani Acropolis Hotel was okay, and special thanks for your Nana articles, I was very glad with that. It was for us not possible to come the next day to your office, because with all the Nana-fans we had spend that day 12 July together, but maybe the next time when Nana shall come to Athens.
Thanks for everything Uli and maybe till the next time.
Best Regards,
Janet

Dear Kostas,
Yes indeed; everything went very well; we enjoyed our holidays and appreciated your professional service (especially warning about earlier departure of the bus to Agios Konstantinos)!
The choice of the hotels fitted very well with what we are looking for: quiet locations, not in the center of the touristic flow but not too far from shops and facilities!
The only info I forgot to ask for was the location of the bus station at Piraeus when we came back from Naxos at about midnight! At the end we were able to catch a taxi which agreed to take all five of us to Athens!

Thanks once again for the service,

E. de G.

Hi Uli:

I know that this is a very busy time of the year for you, but I just wanted to drop you a quick note to again thank you for your flawless arrangements.
With the several "surprises" that we encountered in Greece, it was comforting to know that if you were involved in the arrangements that they would occur as expected. As usual we had a wonderful time!
Whether we are able to return again next year is still uncertain, but if we do you will be one of the first that I contact.

With great appreciation,

Drew Howard & Family

I wanted to thank Kassiani for the great job she did in scheduling my vacation in Greece. Without exception everything went well. The hotels were nice, the rental car company did a great job and the other arrangements went off without a hitch. I will certainly recommend your agency to anyone
who wants to travel to Greece. Thank you.

Jim A.

Dear Aliki,
I thought you might like to hear from someone after their trip. We finished our tour of Greece without a single mishap. The ferries were on time, the hotels were excellent and the rental cars arrived promptly as promised. Thank you for doing the arrangements and offering your advice.
My group of travellers were thrilled.

Jim Miner.

Uli

We wanted to thank you so much for making our cruise and land excursion arrangements and upgrading our cabin, etc. That was our first cruise and we all three enjoyed it thoroughly! I'm very glad we chose a relatively small ship. We met lots of very nice people from different countries. Kevin is usually a very picky eater, but he ate like the budding teenager that he is while in Greece!!!! I hope you were able to find our refund voucher at the Hotel Cecil. Do we need to resend our visa information to you? Thanks again for making all these efforts on our behalf; we will definitely recommend you and your agency to any of our friends who travel to Greece.
Some of the passengers on the ship disembarked in Myconos and Santorini for 3 days each. Was that an option we could avail ourselves of next time we go to Greece? Such beautiful islands they both were. Now that we've driven around the Pelopenese, we will want to island hop next time.
We made it home safely and on-time and are still suffering a bit from jet lag. Kevin is already enjoying his week at environmental camp on our cool, foggy coast of Marin County. We are curious to know if he eats better there now that he has learned to eat in Greece.

Thanks again.

laurie

Dear Aliki:
Thank you for an absolutely wonderful experience in Greece! I love your country. We have had very positive feedback from all the people on the tour
about the accommodations, transportation, people, food, scenery. The trip was wonderfully successful.
...
Again, thank you for all your effort to make our visit to Greece unforgettable. I am definitely returning to Greece in the near future. Next time I would like to spend at least a month in Greece alone. You are lucky to live in such a beautiful country!
Thanks for your help,

Keith Lockhart

Dear Uli,

Bill and I want to thank you for all of your hard work and the support that you extended to us during our recent trip to Greece. We had a wonderful trip and were extremely pleased with all of your arrangements and assistance. You were right on top of everything!!! We are happy that we were able to meet you while we were in Athens.
We also wanted to tell you that we absolutely loved the Volcano View Villas in Santorini and hope that you recommend it to future travellers. The service was excellent and the hotel was beautiful, as was the Aegean Palace in Crete. All of your suggestions to us were absolutely the best!
In our entire 3-week trip to Greece, we did not have one bad experience and will always think of the country and the people that we met there with fondness. We have given your name to several of friends here in Riyadh and hope that you will get some new business from them in the near future.

Again, many thanks!

Best regards,
Vicki Keyes and Bill Wunderle

Esther,
We had a great vacation in Greece. Thank you for making it so easy to find and make reservations. The hotels (Rose Bay/Santorini and Royal Myconian/Mykonos) were fantastic!
Thanks!
John

Dear Uli,

I wanted to let you know what a fabulous time my husband and I had on our holiday. It was filled with rest and relaxation, good food, great shopping, and wonderful people... exactly what we had in mind. We were so pleased with our accommodations, each place we stayed at we thoroughly enjoyed, especially Oia Mare Villas which was absolutely breathtaking.
Again I wanted to thank you for all of your hard work and let you know that we will definitely be in touch the next time we would like to visit Greece.

Sincerely,

Danielle and Mark

We loved the cruise very much. The sights were wonderful and the ship employees made us feel like honored guests. We especially liked our dining room steward. We are telling all our friends about our great experience.
Debbie B.

Hi Uli,

Just a quick e-mail to thank you the great job you did in getting me the tickets. The performance was great, as was the rest of my trip to Greece. Again thanks a lot for your help.

Bye
Graham.

Dear Uli
Just a quick note to say a big thank you for all your help in arranging our holiday. We had a wonderful time and loved Sifnos. Back to work now unfortunately!
Thank you again
Kind regards
Michele

Kostas,
Yes everything went well. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Naxos and Santorini were both great choices and uniquely beautiful. The food in the islands was delicious and relatively inexpensive. I thought Athens was overpriced and the food quality and service suffered as compared to what we experienced in the islands. All the flight and boat transfers went smoothly.
Does Dolphin Hellas have a referral program and/or special travel packages that they offer to past customers from time to time? Both my wife and I would like to return to Greece in the next couple of years and we have friends that would also like to visit...

Thanks again for all your help,
Sal

Dear Kostas
Yes, indeed everything went very smooth with the cruise. We certainly enjoyed the "suite" on the Stella Solaris and the short stay on the Apollon. On that last ship, I met a few crew members who were on the Voyager on my Amazon trip this past January. It was sort of nice to see familiar faces.
Saturday, we attended the "Russian Symphony" at the Acropolis, needles to tell you that this turned out to be a very nice conclusion of our wonderful trip to Greece.
We love your country, the people, the food and of course the "gold".
We want to thank you for all you have done in regards to our reservations and of course for the nice unexpected upgrades.
We seem to have taken the wrong taxi for the airport Monday although I told the driver who we were and presented him with the Dolphin Hellas voucher. He said "keep it as a souvenir". While on our way to the airport, he received a call and told us that we had taken the wrong taxi. He therefore asked for the voucher. Hope this did not mess things up for you!!
We were happy to meet with you and we certainly will remain with wonderful memories.

Best regards,

Claire & Susan

Dear Kostas
We are back home safe and bring with ourselves a great memory of Greece. The whole trip was just terrific. Everything was smooth and wonderful.
Thank you once again for all your help to make our dream comes true.
We would certainly recommend our friends to you should they want to travel to your beautiful country.

Best regards
Sandra, Joanna and Catherine

Dear Uli: We have just returned from our trip and I wanted to thank you for the fabulous job you did arranging everything, especially at the last minute. We esp. loved Santorini (of course) but also Sifnos (in hindsight, Naxos was a bit touristy for us, though also great). Demetrios and Katarina at Cyclades Villas were lovely and their spot was idyllic--being in the “country" a block from the beach. Even the Athens hotel was great--much better than that Athenian Inn my husband found through the New York Times.
Just in general, you made everything easy and wonderful. I will write Matt telling him the same. Will definitely tell my friends about you! In the meantime, be well, and thanks again!
Beth

Dear Esther,
I just returned from Greece last night and wanted to thank you again for all you assistance. We had a wonderful visit and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, due in large part to your excellent services. Best wishes.
Jeff

Dear Kostas,

We just got back today. Everything went great! We had a really good time and all of the information and reservations were perfect! We ended up staying at the Pelican Bay Hotel on Mykonos instead of Petossos Beach, but it was a beautiful hotel and the beach was great. Thank you for everything that you have done.
...
Once again, thank you for all of your help and recommendations. It was a wonderful trip and I'll pass your name on to my friends who want to travel in Greece.

Christi G.

Esther,
We're back home again.
We were worried if our hotels would really be as described in your information. We were not let down in any case. Every hotel we chose was even better than described.
Our trip was wonderful - especially the islands, the food, and the Greek people. We have great memories that will last our life-time.
Thanks again,
Robin

Thank you Uli for your help with the Rigoletto tickets, the performance was great.
How funny that a [someone with the same last name] was staying at the Electra Palace at the same time, glad she didn't get our tickets!

Risa

Dear Uli,

Our heartfelt thanks for all your efforts to make our holiday enjoyable. God has surely put you in a career that you are outstanding at. Thank you, thank you.
Special thanks for helping Mr and Mrs. Collins with their traumatic experience getting out of the US. By the time they got to Santorini (bags to follow two days later) they were so upset. One day on Santorini and the nightmare they had been through seem to fade and they began to enjoy their surroundings. Talking to you helped them make sure sense of things.
Doing Santorini and Sifnos suited us perfectly, both a pleasure in their own way. This is NOT a complaint, but so you will know for the future- The Grotto Villas location was spectacular, and thats what was important for us ,but the gentleman that owns it seems to be getting quite grumpy. The bathrooms smelled strongly of urine. Broken glass was on the floor when we checked in and stayed there even after we asked for assistance. His staff is friendly but he seems put out by his guests. Just something for you to keep in mind.

Again, we owe you so much. God bless you and keep you.
Sincerely,
Tom and Dorothy

Uli,
Our trip in May was perfectly wonderful - just too short. All of the arrangements which you made for us were very nice and in good locations. We are already planning to return in 2005 with a bit more command of the Greek language I hope. We look forward to working with you (and/or Dolphin-hellas) again.

Thank you very much, Gayle and Jack Thompson

Hi Kostas!
Sorry I have been so slow in replying to your e-mail. Our trip was absolutely fabulous and I have to thank you for all of your help in setting it up. We had such a wonderful time that I just didn't want to leave. (I actually got all teary-eyed when the plane was taking off from Athens back to Saudi Arabia) I have been really on the go since returning here and haven't had any time to update my web pages yet, but I will be doing so next week.
I felt so sorry for Gerry having to leave a day early from Naxos. He had planned on being at the beach and sailing all that next day, but had to catch the high speed ferry back to Athens instead. He also had to arrange for a car since the busses and cabs weren't running and thank goodness he was able to get a hotel room at the Hera for the night. We didn't get your e-mails though. I guess we were lucky to bump into a fellow that was leaving the next day as well, because we didn't find out about it until the last minute. Gerry would have been stuck otherwise. I took his unused airline ticket back to your office when I returned from Santorini and was able to get the paperwork processed for a refund and thanked the fellow who helped me.
I just want to thank you again for all of your help with the trip. I will post more details on the web as I'm sure that you will want to see pictures as well. There are a couple of funny ones and also some that are gorgeous. I had no idea that the view from the roof garden of the Hera was so gorgeous until Jane and Rob arrived. I spent my last evening up there sipping a brandy and enjoying the site.
Talk to you again soon,
Kathy Atkin
[Check us out at http://www.geocities.com/atkinoasis/ and please feel free to look at our new photo site at http://communities.msn.com/AtkinOasis]

Ms Uli:

Thank you for all your help, I hope we could travel again with your company and meet you some time
If you decide to come to our country please let me know, We will help you

Thank again

mravard

Hi Esther!
Thanks again for doing such a great job at making this a wonderful vacation. Everything just went as planned with no problems at all.
We enjoyed Greece so much that we plan to return to see even more, if not next year then the year after
We will be telling our friends about the trip and sharing our pictures so you may be getting requests from them to set up their vacations.
In the meantime, Thanks again for all of your fine work in making this a most memorable vacation. We just fell in love with Greece and its people.
Arnold

Dear Aliki:

We are just back from a wonderful trip. Thank you for all the work you did and all your help. Chania, in particular, was absolutely spectacular and a high point of the trip -- the hotel, both the physical facility and the people, was terrific and we really enjoyed the town, the Samaria gorge hike and the Elaphonesi and other beaches.
...
For your future reference, we would highly recommend the Porto del Colombo and Iria Beach hotels to anyone. Both the facilities and the staff were wonderful in both places. We also found another beautiful hotel further out of town by Plaka Beach, which had a wonderful garden and a friendly owner: for someone interested in something a bit more remote, that would be spectacular as well..

Chania was a peak of the trip, with city and accessible beaches all spectacular; you may wish to suggest the Ela Restaurant and the Elephanisi beaches in particular to future clients. The hotel staff had great beach, restaurant and Samaria Gorge recommendations and we had a great time all around (the Gorge hike is not as long as advertised, and quite beautiful and the kids enjoyed it tremendously, despite the crowds at the narrows).

In contrast the Byzantio seemed run to old East European standards and probably should be removed from your list altogether: you'd do better to send people to one of the local pensions or to someplace further afield. The building was both uncomfortable and charmless and the staff had an attitude problem.

Cavo Grosso had a nice facility with a serious mosquito problem -- we didn't sleep at all -- and was too far from Monemvasia to be a base for the trip there. The proprietor, however, was quite nice, and we found some beautiful beaches not far away (the hotel's own beach is not terrific).

Thank you again for all your help in arranging this wonderful trip!

Carol and Dan Greenwood

I would like to say thank you to you again!
I've already back to Hong Kong and it's really nice trip in Greece! The place is very beautiful, blue sky, white house, people is nice, very relax......And I really appreciate your help, it saves me many troubles. I will ask my friend to contact your agent if they go to Greece.
Tinky

We just wanted to thank you for your assistance in planning our trip to Greece. We had a great time and enjoyed every minute. Thanks to your help, we could relax and enjoy ourselves knowing that we could contact someone throughout our itinerary. We appreciated your help and will not hesitate recommending your travel agency to our friends and family.
I would like to echo my wife's comments from yesterday: our time in Greece was absolutely wonderful and every leg of the trip was perfectly organized. Thank you once again for your excellent work. As we mentioned to you in previous correspondence, we tend to react somewhat poorly to unknowns. For this trip, there were none, thanks to the exemplary care we received from Dolphin Hellas.
Genevieve and Steve

Nina and I would like to express our warmest thanks for facilitating our experience in Greece. We just returned today and were very happy with the trip. You made everything work so smoothly. While in Athens, we attempted to come by your office and thank you personally, but were unable to fit it into our schedule. Rest assured that we will recommend your services to all who ask about our trip.
Hari

Dear Uli,

I wanted to write you a note to tell you that Roger and I had a wonderful time in Greece and we returned safely to the US. All the reservations you made were excellent and things went very smoothly.
The only hotel we weren't completely thrilled with was S. Nikolis - the one we made reservations with on our own. Nikolis and his wife are not the nicest people we encountered, and despite the fact that their rates are already high, they kept adding charges for other incidentals (breakfast, beach towels, etc.). We should have booked another Rhodes hotel with you.
Anyhow, we wanted to thank you for all your wonderful help and for making our travel seamless. We hope to visit Greece again in the future and will definately make arrangements through your agency again and will refer all our friends and relatives to you and your company.

Our very best regards to you,

Natalie and Roger

Hi Aliki,
I just wanted to tell you thank you for all your help. I also wanted thank you for making those last minute accommodation arrangements while I was on holiday. I am going to recommend you to all my friends and contact you again next time I go to Greece.

Thank you,
Tina Fusari

Santorini is like nothing else on earth, I'm sure. The Esperas was a WONDERFUL choice...the walk to reception was incredible -I was glad that someone helped us with our luggage - he lifted it all onto his shoulders like nothing. He got a BIG tip. We have rented scooters, both in Lesvos and here - that is the way to go. We have already planned to come back to this spot in Santorini -I even know what room number I want next time.
Again, thanks for everything you did for us - this was the trip of a lifetime thanks to you.
Ellen

Dear Kiki:
Thank you so much for providing us with such a memorable visit to Athens. We will never forget the beauty of your city, the hospitality and friendliness of the people and our experiences with Chef Dimitris, Alexandros, at the winery and of course Nicos, our guide. Nicos made history come alive for us as we toured the ancient and modern sites. He is a fabulous guide -- one to be treasured.
Speaking about treasures, you, yourself are a treasure. I have told all my friends about you and your expertise in creating tours that have never been done before. You might be getting some off the wall requests in the near future since all my friends don't just cook.
Once again, thank you. It was such a pleasure meeting you. We look forward to visiting Athens again and contacting you in the near future.

Sincerely, Catherine and Walt F.

Dear Esther,
I just wanted to say thank you for all your help on my recent trip to Greece. All of the arrangements you made for us worked out perfectly and allowed us to really relax and enjoy your beautiful country.
Thank you so much!
Steve

Dear Ms. Aliki

Thank you for your all arrangements about our wedding. Thank you - we are very happy.
We came back to Japan in this morning at 8:00am.
I sent a gift to your office. I didn't think you came to pick it to our hotel. sorry--- I found the message in my hotel.
In future, if I see my friend wants to have a wedding in Greece, I will tell you...
Also, Mr. Gorege was so nice to us.

Thank you
Teruko Fujikawa

Dear Kostas
Greece was just the start point of my journey. From there I went to Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. That´s why I took so long to reply.
I enjoyed the cruise very much, it was a pitty we couldn´t stop on Mykonos, but the other island were also great.
We didn´t expect the weather to be so cold but we survived. Athens was also a surprise for me! It´s a very nice city, very open and more modern than I expected.
Thanks for all your help
Claudia B.

Dear Uli,
It was truly a pleasure to meet you in Athens. Thank you so much for all your efforts in our behalf.
We enjoyed all of our experiences in Greece and turkey. The people were delightful!
We appreciate your expertise in making our travel arrangements.
We came home to all the snow being gone! However, it is snowing this morning :( Boo!! Hiss!! It isn't tremendously serious though.
The fellow who did our tour at Ephesos did a great job and he is someone who we could recommend. He also helped us find the bus station and get our tickets...
Robin plans to write more in depth of our itinerary with comments.

Fondly
Joy

Thanks, Uli.

Al and I dropped by on May 1st to see you but did not realize it would be a national holiday. Thank you for making our honeymoon a memorable experience. Everything was wonderful, beautiful, and the people were so friendly. I am truly glad we did rent the car for Crete as the landscape was amazing.

Sincerely,

Judy and Al

Aliki,

Hello from the Ratajczaks in Atlanta, GA.

We are home safely from our trip to Greece which you helped to plan. We had a very good time (except for the weather on the weekend we arrived March 31st).
We thought our hotel, Athens Cypria, was a very good value with a great location and we were glad we had the family room arrangement. We also liked our 4-day cruise on the World Renaissance, though we found ourselves feeling a little rushed on the excursions. On the other hand, we can understand why
they were scheduled that way. I'm glad we were on a ship like that rather than one of the big, new fancy ones.

One piece of advice you gave certainly did not apply in our case. The cruise we were on had about 400 people with only about 60-70 of us not in groups. The groups were loaded first while the "English speaking individual travelers" were almost always last. It may be that getting in line early for a number is important on other ships, but it wasn't on this.
...
Finally, we thought the private car and driver situation for Delphi worked very well. The driver was extremely knowledgeable and courteous. His van had somewhat inferior air conditioning, so I imagine this might be an issue in the summer. But, otherwise, we would certainly recommend him.

This was the perfect trip for our 14 year old daughter. She has been very interested in mythology and she actually won the shipboard contest on Greek mythology.

Thanks for all your help. We were sorry to have to leave and come back home.

Dear Uli,
I just wanted to say thank you for your recent help on our trip to Greece. My daughter is there going to school if you remember. Your plans and reservations were great. The Hotel Loucas in Santorini was wonderful and we wished for another day there. We did have some delay with Olympic Airlines, but apparently that is typical. The Ilissia was good too and easy walking distance to my daughters apartment.
At Meteora the Hotel Kastraki was probably the nicest and again we wished we could stay longer. We rode the express train up and back and that was nice. However, the reception person did try to put us in one room instead of 2. He said we were family and would not need 2 rooms. However, there were only 2 beds in the one room. When I protested after looking at the size and bed situation he quickly gave us the other room. Of course I had already paid for 2 rooms and I doubt he was going to refund me any money. But the hotel is extremely nice. The rocks ! and monasteries were awesome!
Again, thanks for all your help.
Beth

Dear Uli,

Thank you for all your help, arrangements, and advice for our trip to Greece. My mother and I had a wonderful visit in Athens, the Peleponeses, on Crete and Santorini. The arrangements for ferries, taxi, and hotels were seamless. As a result we were able to enjoy each place rather than agonizing over hotel choices, schedules, etc. Probably the best thing we did on our own was to rent a car in Crete for a day at the beginning of our week to drive to Phaistos and for a day at the end when we drove to Mycenae.
Seeing the countryside was an excellent complement to our visits to museums and historical sites. The greatest surprise was the food. I'm still trying to create the feeling of being in Greece by making "Greek salad" with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, feta, oregano, and olive oil with vinegar. I noticed, however, when we ate at a restaurant that attracted young professionals from Athens and very few tourists the menu was sort of French-international cuisine. It made me wonder if the terrific Greek salad was a tourist dish! I don't care; it seems to have the fresh scent of the countryside in it or perhaps it is the breeze off the harbor in Iraklion....
Anyway, thanks again. I've already recommended your services to a number of people. Hope your tourist season is not too hectic.

Sincerely,
Virginia

Dear Uli,
We had a fabulous time in Greece and will definitely return. Thanks so much for your help with our hotels.
Linda

Dear Uli,
I was delighted to hear from you with our final arrangements. Everything sounds wonderful. My wife and I are very excited and are looking forward to spending two weeks in your lovely country. I would like to thank you, not only for making the arrangements, but also for making it extremely easy and trouble free.

Gratefully Yours,
Ed

Esther,
Many thanks for your help in making, what was, a great holiday for us.
We are hoping to come back later in the year / early next year to tour the Islands - so we will be back in touch.
Thanks again - you really helped us!
Jenny

Hello Uli!,
I just returned to the states last night after a LONG plane trip! I just wanted to tell you that my trip went really great; it was everything I hoped it would be and more! I owe a large portion of thanks to you and your company; you actually made me feel special like you cared about my well-being, something that sadly does not come by very often. I thank you very much, you could not have done a more superlative job. I will be returning to Greece, that I am sure of. When I do, you can be guaranteed that Dolphin Hellas, and you in particular, will be who I go to.
Thanks for a great experience; this is only the beginning...
Yours,
Andrew Armbruster

Dear Aliki,
We've regrettably ended our vacation, and are now back home, trying to remember our jobs and other mundane details of everyday life. Heidi and
I wish to express our appreciation to you for helping to make our stay so enjoyable and memorable. All accommodations and other details worked
out wonderfully, including those you arranged on such short notice while we were in transit on the Peloponessos. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to your beautiful and fascinating country. Should we be so fortunate as to return, be assured you will be hearing from us!
Many thanks, and a very happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Gary R.