Dear Ichiro,
I hope you are well. I just want to let you know that our trip to Japan was very successful. All of the arrangements went according to plan and we had no difficulties. The Shinagawa Prince Hotel was very easy to find when we arrived in the station. We followed your instructions. The hotel was good and its proximity to the station was great. We were able to find our way to Tokyo Disney and elsewhere quite easily. There are many signs in English. This is quite different to my last visit to Tokyo 9 years ago! The person at the information desk in the station also spoke English which was helpful. The coach and English speaking guide to Narita Airport met us at the hotel as planned.
We all had a wonderful time. Thank you very much for your excellent arrangements and service. I was very happy with it.

There was one small thing that happened. One of our students left her mobile phone at the hotel. She did not know until we were well on our way to the airport. The guide telephoned the hotel and they found it in the room. They did not think they could mail it, but perhaps they would pass it on to someone from your company. I was wondering if you have heard anything about this.

Regards,
Lyn, Melbourne VIC

July 2010 Hotel, Tickets, Tokyo, Tokyo Disneyland

Dear JTB,

Thanks for making our trip one to remember. From the first moment we walked in to the Gold Coast Travel Centre we felt very welcome. Our highlight of the trip was at the Gold Coast theme parks in which you helped us get a great value combo.

We will be back next year to do it all again.

The McKenna family.

July 2010 Tickets, Travel in Australia

Hi Kathy,
Thanks for the photos, you did a great job with the trip at such short notice with the change.
You should be very proud of your effort and it was one of the best trips we have been involved in and look forward to seeing you on next years trip.

Thanks heaps

Kind Regards
Mitch,Cal, Scott and Jill

June 2010

Dear Sir/Madam
I would like to express my delight in travelling with your company. My husband and I – John and Leanne went on your 14 day grand tour of Japan which departed on 29 May 2010 and we had a wonderful time!!!
ALL your tour operators/guides/drivers were EXCELLENT and we would highly recommend your company to people wishing to travel to this lovely country
Thanks again for a truly wonderful trip
Regards
Leanne, Mornington VIC

June 2010 Tour

Hi Kathy,
Thanks for all your organizing of the trip to Singapore and Penang. I apologise for not thanking you in person as I was rushed through customs at light speed. Everything went very smoothly from my view, I’m sure there were some iffy moments but you seemed pretty calm for the whole trip. Thanks for all that you did to make the trip a success. I had a great time. Have a great weekend.

Regards,
Adrian

June 2010

Hi Lily,
Just thought I would check in and tell you I enjoyed my recent trip to Japan and, of course, especially the Sunrise tours, which are very efficiently organised and the tour guides and general staff are very obliging and helpful. When they came to the station with us, they stayed and waved us off smilingly and were at the other end in the same way (not the same person of course), so it was very comforting to know we wren’t being left to our own devices, so to speak.

With regard to my worrying about getting the train from Tokyo Station to Shinagawa, it didn’t turn out to be a problem (1) because on the Mt Fuji trip the shinkansen stopped at Shinagawa station and of course, the Shinagawa Prince is just across the road. (2) on the trip to Kamakura the train once again stoopped at “my” station; (3) on the Nikko trip we ended up at a different station (near Tokyo Station but one down towards Shinagawa) and I was able to return to the hotel with a couple from my hotel who were already familiar with the train system, so there was no need to worry about taxis; it might be helpful for you to be able to pass on this info to other people like me who are useless with trains and worry about where they will end up. I probably could have managed with the guide’s instructions because people are quite willing to help you if they understand what you are saying.

Speaking of trains, they are unbelievable compared with ours – and no graffiti, which was marvelous. I vote for sending a delegation to Japan to find out how they do it, apart from the vast amounts of money that must be required. I was even able to take a photo of Mt Fuji from the shinkansen at 300 kph, and it came out. I was also lucky enough to still be able to see quite a number of cherry blossom tress in bloom, for which I was very grateful.

I was also impressed by the taxis and the drivers with their white gloves and spotless cars.

I would suggest you advise people to wear comfortable shoes, without laces, since you have to take them off so much for the temples etc.

The weather was great until the last couple of days when we had a bit of a battle sometimes with the rain, but it was still okay; pity it was on the walking tour in Osaka, but even so; it was a lot hotter than I expected it to be – everywhere.

Thanks again for your assistance Lily and I hope this finds you well. God bless, Kind regards,
Gail

June 2010 Hotel, JR Pass, Nature, Osaka, Sakura Cherry Blossoms, Shinkansen Bullet Train, Temples and Shrines, Tokyo, Tour

Hi Kathy,

I’m glad to be back!
The trip did go well and I was happy with the arrangements. It was great to be met at the airport and taken into the YH at Iidabashi (great location). I wouldn’t exactly rave about the food at the YH, but having breakfast and lunch provided was convenient. Next time, I think I would prefer room at the YH with a smaller capacity (like 4 or 6 to a room).
I’m glad we started at the lower end of accommodation and went to the higher end last in Kyoto. I would maybe go to Kyoto before Hiroshima.
I would definitely do all those locations again.
It was good to have use of the Japanese mobile and having the bus pick us up in Osaka to take us out to the airport was excellent.
Having now done my first trip in charge I would certainly have more confidence to do another one in the future.

Thanks for all your work and help to make the trip as smooth as possible.

Kind regards,
Jenny

Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka

“Your Escort was outstanding throughout the tour.”
Ron, Canberra

“Please accept our thanks for all your efforts to make our holiday so very special. We had a wonderful time in Japan and your knowledge, organisation skills and sense of humour have made our stay relaxing, very informative and totally enjoyable.”
Michelle and Russell, Melbourne

“Riki was a great asset to this tour. He was very patient, courteous, and of enormous help.”
Keanne, Melbourne

“So very enjoyable.”
Frank and Eve, Western Australia

“I think and estimation of meal costs not included, lunch JPY1,000 and dinner JPY1,500 to 2,000 would assist in budgeting for the tour.”
Peter, Melbourne

“Thank you for a beautiful holiday.”
Gizell, New South Wales

“The optional tours should have been smaller. The tours with Explore Japan by Rail were all very good.”
Amanda, New South Wales

“I enjoyed the tourist friendly atmosphere of Japan. The cleanliness everywhere and the friendly and helpful people. The only thing I would like to recommend is more use of credit card transactions in Japan.
Pauline, New Zealand

June 2010 Skiing and Snow Boarding, Tour

Dear Noriko

Just an e-mail of thanks and to tell you how much we enjoyed our holiday, Re-your itinerary you customised for us.
We would jump at the opportunity to do it all over again!. Unfortunately the expense would not enable us to do it again so quickly!. The break between City life at Hakone and to enjoy the onsen (Volcanic spring baths) was an awesome experience, and at every opportunity we indulged in the experience, not to mention the view of Mount Fuji and lake Ashi from the Hotel. There is so much of the wonderful experience of Japan I could mention but time does not permit. But on that point, also thanks for acquiring us hotels close to the Rail Station which helped considerably cost wise and time!. Although for your notification the Hotel in Osaka, New Hankyu, the bedroom was so small & uninviting compared to all the other hotels we were happy with only having to stay only approx. 15hrs so it could only go down as a temp. en-route stay prior to departure!.
Anyway! again thanks for your assistance in compiling an unforgettable experience for us.

Yours sincerely

Keith & Sophie

June 2010 Hotel, Mount Fuji, Onsen Hot Spring, Osaka

Hi Olivia,

Just a quick belated note to thank you for the organisation of our trip to Japan in April.

We had the most wonderful time, experiencing all the wonderful things Japan has to offer, the extremely helpful and courteous people, tasty and interesting food and the amazing cultural experiences.

We found the use of the train and buses to be very straight forward and efficient to use (once you understood how the systems worked). Language was certainly not a difficulty.

During our travels we met another couple (from Melbourne) in Takayama who were singing your praises as you had organised their entire trip including accommodation etc.

Olivia we would have no hesitation in recommending anybody to utilise your services. We look forward to hopefully going to Japan again in the not too distant future to enjoy other areas North of Tokyo that we did not have the time to do on this occasion.

Once again, thank you for your very professional help and advice.

Kind regards
Greg & Kathy

Food, Tokyo

Hi,

Thanks for organising our Gold Coast Theme Parks passes. We had a lovely time in the Gold Coast and at all the theme parks with the kids. We will be sure to book through JTB again!

Thanks

Tim & Sarah

May 2010 Travel in Australia

Dear Clem

Thank you for your assistance with my trip. I have returned and I just wanted to say thanks, it all worked out fine.

Italy was absolutely FREEZING but wonderful. Both Venice and Florence are special places. I once spent 6 weeks in Florence and would have happily done that again, just walking around and going to look at all the art. We found a couple of lovely places to eat there to. We also got to go to the Chianti wine region and to one of the wineries, which was special.

Osenkaku Ryokan was special and Michael loved it, as of course did I. He was a bit doubtful until we got there, complaining of the travelling, but then he got in the water and he was sold! The staff were wonderful too, as was the food. More of the staff speak a few words of English now than before, and I think it was a deliberate move on their behalf.

I think Michael now has the travel bug, so we have to pay for this holiday so that we can travel again. Certainly, I plan to go back to Japan later this year! I have to start planning it. That is the only way I can cope with being back after a holiday, to plan the next one!

Best wishes and thank you for taking an interest

Judith

May 2010 Ryokan

Dear Rie

Belated Happy New Year to you.
I meant to email you soon after we returned but time has got away from me!
Our trip was fantastic and we would like to thank you for all your assistance in organising the trip for us and providing us with very useful information and tips. The JTB people we met were excellent and all very keen to help.
Thankyou so much. We will be recommending you to all our friends and colleagues looking to travel to Japan.
Japan is such an amazing place and the people so interesting and so helpful. What a wonderful culture.
Thankyou again.
Kindest regards and Family
Janette Tavelli

Hi Clem

Well, I’m back!! Japan was fantastic!!

All the accommodation was great. Good to be back to a soft bed now though, that’s for sure. They were all in really good locations – even the Tokyu Hotel in Kyoto was only a 10 min walk from the station so we only caught a taxi once when we arrived.

Takayama Ryokan was amazing. Hubby loved it, and was mega scared to try the onsen, but after much encouragement he attempted it and then I couldn’t get him to stop raving about it. He was first to go back the next morning (may have had something to do with the fact we were the only ones in there both times in each of ours, which made it easier).

The only thing that was a bit crappy was My Fuji. We left Takayama at 9.30am (you had suggested 10.30), and caught the train back to Odawara via Nagoya, but by the time we got there it was 3.30pm even though we caught the bullet trains where possible and all the trains connected perfectly (love the rail over there!!). By the time we transferred to the little train to Gora, cable car etc, it was quite late and we had the basically race through everything, and literally run from train-cable car-ropeway-pirate ship to make the last departure at 5pm.

The weather was really crappy that day, and we didn’t see anything (no Fuji-san), and it was really cold and overcast, so we just got on the train straight away back for Tokyo. We were gonna skip it altogether, but decided at the last minute to go for it, but was kinda a waste of money, then we couldn’t be bothered going back and doing it all the next day again even though the weather was perfect (of course).

So, of course not blaming you for that, but just a handy bit of feedback for next time that it takes much longer to get there, so prob wouldn’t advise people do it in one day as you don’t have time to see anything.

Other than that one day of craziness, we had great weather. The cherry blossoms were amazing, and it was so great to get back after 10 years (can’t believe I could still speak & understand some Japanese). Thanks for planning everything!!

Cheers
Sal.

Hotel, Kyoto, Nagoya, Nature, Onsen Hot Spring, Ryokan, Sakura Cherry Blossoms, Skiing and Snow Boarding, Tokyo

Hi Kathy,

Thanks for your email.
The trip was amazing! Everything went to plan and ran so smoothly – we kept calling it the lucky trip.
Our luck finally ran out at the airport though – as our flight was delayed 5 hours! We didn’t end up departing until 2:20am!! The kids were incredible though – no whinging at all!
The weather was also great – 20 degrees in Hiroshima – we all wore t-shirts at Miyajima!
Cherry blossoms were in full bloom and we actually got to see Mt Fuji!!
The school visit was a huge success too – we are now officially sister schools! Yeah!!

Thanks so much for all your hard work too – things went well due to your organisational skills and attention to detail. We all very much appreciate your professionalism and genuine love for your job

The Monterey was a beautiful hotel – great breakfasts. Quite good location – we walked everywhere from there, and the staff were very helpful. The Starbucks across the road certainly benefited from us being there!

One student hurt her knee while we were there and we had to take her to the Doctor. Not sure what the problem is but I think she will be claiming insurance for physio back here in Australia.

A friend of mine stayed at an inn in Kyoto and hired a maiko to come and entertain the group. She also agreed to answer questions at the end. They said it was a real highlight and as the Inn was near Kawaramachi it was very handy. I think we’ll look into that accommodation for our next trip – which will be in September 2012.

The bags were good – a very good size, but the front pockets fell apart when kids put things in there – the mesh parts came away from the zip area. We saw another group with the same bags the day we went to Miyajima!! I thought of you that day : )

So happy to be home with my babies – who are now TWO! I missed them heaps, but I also appreciated having time just for myself too!

Thanks again Kathy. I’ll certainly be in touch before our next trip as we will definitely go through you again.

Cheers,
Leanne

Hiroshima, Hotel, Kyoto, Nature, Sakura Cherry Blossoms, Skiing and Snow Boarding, Temples and Shrines