[QUOTE]

Katwar - how did you pre register? Was your travel agent able to do this for you, even though the winter brochure is not out? Sorry if that sounds silly, but we are real first timers !! Was your TA able to tell you how many others had booked, or whether there are any 'guaranteed departures' at this time of year?

Hi Pickles
We had booked in December 2005 so that we could receive the 10% discount. I think Insight hold a list of pre registered travellers but we will not know whether the tour is guaranteed or any further information until the brochure comes out and then there will probably be a cost adjustment. I too was concerned about cancellations as we are travelling to the states first and this is the last leg of our holiday but after hearing from Affleck I feel more at ease.
Hope that helps

Hi Katwar & Pickles,

Make sure your travel agent is on the ball. In our case, there was a small window of opportunity to get on our tour. When I paid my deposit I was the first booked on 3rd Dec tour.(approx June05) Two weeks later, the brochure was out, our coach was full and another coach was being planned! As everyone says, the first coach does get the original itinerary.
Also Katwar, I'm from Brisbane also - call me on 3394 2991 if you wish. We had 14 from Brisbane on our tour - we also had a couple of mums travelling with 17 year old daughters. All up, there were about nine 17 year olds - many of us had the same idea, - treating our kids to a well-earned holiday after year 12 !

Hope it all works out for you both.

Thankyou Katwar and Affleck - you've been a great help

Hi Affleck, Katwar and Pickles,

Firstly, a special hello to Affleck and all the Afflect kids who were on the Winter Explorer tour in early Dec 2005. Kathy forwarded your email so I knew you were on the Bulletin Board. I concur completely with Affleck. We found the Tour to be really, really, enjoyable. The Tour Director was extremely informative and the even though it was fast paced, we must have seen every sight worth seeing all over Europe!! The bunch of people we travelled with, including the kids, all got on very well. We too, were very sad to leave everyone behind when the tour finished.
After booking through our travel agent, I asked them on numerous occasions to call Insight to ask whether the tour would definately be going ahead as we were flying to Finland after the tour finished and I was also concerned that the tour would be cancelled. The travel agent was told that the tour could not be guaranteed (as it was not a guaranteed tour)but it was almost fully booked. For peace of mind, just get your travel agent to keep checking with Insight. Also, we didn't receive our tour paperwork until 3 weeks before the tour started so I relaxed after that!!
My husband and I, and I know I speak for many of our fellow travellers, found the whole experience to be a fantastic one. I certainly hope you end up with Tour Director Gary - it will be a most memorable tour! Enjoy!

Hi Katwar,

Just wondering - my travel agent said that you can book your flights through Insight as well - did you do that? Or did you book your flights independantly?

Cheers

Pickles

quote:

Originally posted by Armer:

My husband and I, and I know I speak for many of our fellow travellers, found the whole experience to be a fantastic one. I certainly hope you end up with Tour Director Gary - it will be a most memorable tour! Enjoy!

Hi Armer,

Great to hear such it was such a positive experience! Do you find out beforehand who your tour director will be, or do you just find out when you get there? Also, how did you find the weather - was there much rain? I'm not worried about the cold (can rug up!), just more about it raining all the time!!

Anyway, great to hear about your experience - thanks.

Pickles

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pickles:
Hi Katwar,

Just wondering - my travel agent said that you can book your flights through Insight as well - did you do that? Or did you book your flights independantly?
Hi Pickles

We booked our flight through Insight as it was a good deal. Get a price both ways and see what comes back.

Cheers

Kat

Hi Pickles,

We didn't know who our tour director was until the morning of the tour. It didn't occur to us to ask
It rained a lot of the way from Calais to Amsterdam while we were in the coach, but it cleared later that night after dinner when we went for our tour by foot. It also rained when we went to visit the Trevi fountain but if you go prepared with raincoats and umbrellas then the rain doesn't matter. Apart from that we had fine weather except maybe a few more showers while we were in the coach. It was cold, but then again, the trick is to go prepared. Europe is beautiful in winter - i'm sure the rain won't spoil it for you.

Armer

Thanks Armer