TourDeForce.travel

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Bella:

I am just a happy customer and wanted to tell the world how very pleased I am, but do not know where to post this comment.

We very much enjoyed our visa-free trip to Russia via Princess Maria (Helsinki, SpB and back to Helsinki), primarily because we did not have to worry about anything. Everything in the itinenary run smoothly.Your staff took care of all our needs and anxieties. Transfers and drivers were right on time. At first we were skeptical, but then felt a lot better after getting to know you and your Team. We looked into other tour companies in the internet, but chose your company because of your responsiveness, and also because I did some research - which trickled down into trust factor. Very knowledgeable, helpful, full of wonderful ideas that I would not have thought of, and agreeable....everybody in your office and your guides certainly did a professional, outstanding job!    

Susan Kintanar, skintanart (at) yahoo.com
October 30, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Bella
I just wanted to thank you so much for the delicious chocolates and lovely postcards that you arranged for me on my birthday. Thank you also for organizing the ballet tickets, we absolutely LOVED the ballet – what a treat. Even my husband is still raving about it.
Also, I just wanted to let you know that we found Marsha to be an absolutely outstanding guide and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with her. She is so knowledgeable and generally so nice.
Many thanks for everything
Kind regards

Martine, martine(at)capeunionmart.co.za
October 5, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

We really enjoyed the tours. Mischa and Vladimir were very helpful.
Thank you for arranging the ballet tickets.

Martin and Gary Vogelman
October 4, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Bella, I am writing to tell you what a wonderful day both my daughter Jenni & I had in St Petersburg on Tuesday 14th September 2010. Every thing went like clockwork.
Your two guides, Svetlana in the morning & Victoria in the afternoon were lovely ladies. They were helpful, informative and very interesting. We enjoyed the city trip, the boat trip & the lunch immensley.
In the afternoon we chose to go to the Peterhof Palace  because I didn't think I could manage the walking in the Hermatige Museum. The palace was stunning!.  Victoria made the afternoon very intersting and the best part was that she went at my pace which was brilliant.
We got back to the NCL SUN  exhausted after a very long day but I enjoyed every moment . I couldn't have had a better day.
Thank you to "TourdeForce", Svetlana & Victoria, your two excellent guides.   
If I hear of one else doing a trip to St Peterburg, I would thoroughly recommend your excellent service. Kind regards to you & also the lovely Svetlana & Victoria.

Kristine & Jenni Bowers, kristine (at) bowers17.freeserve.co.uk
September 21, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for organizing everything so efficiently without any problems.
I will recommend you on tripadvisor.com.

Elizabeth Le Brocq, elizabeth.lebrocq(at)det.nsw.au
September 28, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

I am now back in Canada and I really enjoyed our Russian visit. I was specially pleased to have a private tour with my daughter. Our guide was wonderful and very knowledgable. Rosemary will be in contact with you to talk about our group. The only thing I found tiresome was the city tour as most buildings seemed the same. The rest was amazing and very thoroughly thought out. We will certainly want the three day tour for our group. Thank you again. 

Bob Bulloch, bullochmuskoka (at) gmail.com
September 12, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Great day from start to finish!
Also, we appreciated the "live chat" on the Internet. Bella is absolutely wonderful, a true gem and a lovely person, who made the trip perfect!

Barry Shulman & Allyn Shulman, barry(at)shulmans.com
September  11, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip with our Guide Jennie. She was so informative. A beautiful city; so much history.

Peter Adamek
August 30, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Dimitri,

please allow me to convey our groups' thanks for the way your company planned, and carried out our day tour of St Petersburg. It was well organised, and also the leader was so well in formed. Her English almost perfect, and she was a mine of information. We were all very pleased about the way that the tours were conducted. Bearing in mind that we are all senior citizens, even the pace was accounted for. The icing on the cake was when we arrived for the Folk Show to be greeted with our National Anthem, it was so moving for us. Perhaps the only thing which could have been better is the transport. Although we had more than enough room, we felt slightly crammed in the buses provide, and I think that if you can better this, the tours will be perfect.
 
I would like to thank you again, and please forgive me if I was a bit weary of your company at the beginning. You will appreciate that I did not know you, and I was handling other people's money. In the end, we were more that satisfied with what you prepared for us. We will be certainly be recommending your company with any one that we know will be visiting your nice country.
 
Best regards,
 
Alfred, accha.accha (at) gmail.com
August 29, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Katya was extremely knowledgeable and articulate at all rites. She is extremely friendly and presentably. I throughly enjoyed our lunches and small intimate restaurants... the food was great. Kata's got great command of the English language. Vladimir was friendly as well. He knew how to speed up our tour around St. Petersburg. I couldn't have been more pleased. Best tour I've ever been on! Katya is a wonderful guide. She is very pleasant and well informed. She answered all questions and made the tour a most memorable experience.

Vicki Rinehart, Olga Antonopoulos, olgamarie (at) sbcglobal.net
August 24, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

St Petersburg - a city of endless stories. And Eugenia tells them endlessly!!!Our guide was most knowledgeable, helpful and got us truth the lines very quickly, would be the the last guide I have ever had.

Kenneth & Moira Britton, moibrit (at) hotmail.com
August 18, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Bella
 
We are back from our holiday and we had a wonderful time.  I am glad that we saw St. Petersburg in pleasant weather.  I would like to congratulate you and the company for the prompt and excellent service that we received.  Our guide, Katherine, was an absolute pleasure and an asset to your company.  I will not hesitate to recommend your services to friends.

Kind regards.
Debbie Vlok, debler (at) ybersmart.co.za
August 22, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Julia - just a few words to say 'thank you very much' to TourDeForce for two very busy and interesting days in St Petersburg 4/5 August.  Our guide was Elena who was fantastic - so knowledgeable with such good English.  I am pleased to say that all the arrangements worked perfectly and I have left appropriate feedback via your website.
 
Kind regards,
 
Neil and Carolyn Lofthouse, cmnl19 (at) sky.com
August 16, 2010
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Dmitri,
We are back home in South Africa and just wanted to say how much we enjoyed our tour in St Petersburg with Jenny our very interesting and informative tour guide.
We learnt so much about Russia and we both have come home with a resolve to read up more about the history in detail. We loved the architecture of the buildings, the fascinating Hermitage Museum, and all the other interesting sights.
Please pass on our best wishes to Jenny and thank you for this wonderful insight into your beautiful country. Next time – Moscow!
Kind regards,

Peter and Sharon, sacheson (at) mweb.co.za
August 9, 2010
_______________________________________________________________________________________

We returned to Durban on the 3rd.
Firstly & most importantly we loved Jen our guide - she was wonderful, articulate & a fountain of information. I think my daughter's in laws Michael & Leora Sternberg from Cape Town are using your firm for their St Petersburg days - they are also doing the Baltic cruise sometime this month. Try to allocate Jen to them. Could be Tuesday & Wednesday next week.
We were amazed at the heat & humidity but luckily we have that in Durban in our summer so are used to it. We loved every second in St Petersburg & wished we had more time there. Jen managed to fit in everything which was a miracle, even the fancy upmarket shopping centre in which our wives would have liked to have spent more time!!
Looking back through all my notes, I could not relate the Jewish Centre I'd seen on internet with the place we visited. The Peterhof Gardens are unbelievable, as are too the Palaces we visited. I found myself just standing there gaping with mouth wide open. Max Stange does not like going into churches so we did not enter the Church on Spilled Blood - obviously a huge mistake from what I saw in our beautiful book we bought on the city.
Please give both Bella & Jen our best regards, & thank you for playing a big part in making those 2 days most memorable.
I sincerely hope we return one day & to include Moscow too.
 
Kind regards
 
Anthony Berman, bershav (at) iafrica.com
August 9, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Elena was excellent, full of information, always happy what a great asset you and her country. Many Many Thanks Tour De Force + Russia. But most of all, Elena for making us feel special. XXO

Salt Philip, dannyjames121 (at) hotmail.com
August 5, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Elena is a very special guide - friendly, extremely knowledgeable, accommodating. Lovely person. We were very fortunate to have her as our guide. Thank You!!!!!!! The driver, Sergei, was also excellent.

Allison Ward & Benjamin Broudy
August 4, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Natalia,

On July 16-17 our group of six was hosted in St. Petersburg by Katya Shurukhina of your company. She was a wonderful tour guide in all respects, as noted in my email to her below.  Would you please pass this commendation on to her supervisor.  She is a great asset to your company and a very effective ambassador as well.  The tour experience you provided was far superior to anything we received through our cruise ship tours, and I have already highly recommended TourDeForce as a tour guide company to some friends planning a visit St. Petersburg next year.

Jerry Dutcher, gldutcher (at) verizon.net
August 3, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Anastasia is a happy and knowledgeable guide. The tour was all the better fer her presence. Dmitri drive safety and we were very comfortable. Excellent guide and tour. Very nice and informative day.

Ricky Cetin, rickycetin (at) hotmail.com
July 28, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

An outstanding tour. Anastasia and Dennis are the best guide/driver I've ever had. Anastasia is warm and knowledgeable guide. Shi did fabulous job. We will recommend your company as well as Anastasia and Dennis. Thank you!

Ellen Kinberg, kinberge (at) verizon.net
July 27, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Just a note to thank you for making this a trip of a lifetime. All of your arrangements were simply perfect. We were picked up punctually at the airports and every morning after that. The guides were exceptional. I know you sub contracted out the  guides and van in Moscow but wanted you to know that Lydia was excellent. Felix, the Jewish specialist was so articulate and had so much knowledge to share with us. despite the fact that he is not Jewish he was so informed.

In Saint Petersburg the 2 Elenas were fantastic. The were so friendly and filled with enthusiasm. They were fun to be with and they had so much to share with us. The itinerary that you prepared for us was exceptional and I wanted you to know that.

Again thanks for all of your input.

Jon Kantor, jkantor (at) videotron.ca

July 26, 2010

Nickolas Chipeska, nic.chipeska (at) verizon.net
July 23, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Excellent value, well organized + knowledgeable. Definitely will recommend to our friends.

Peter Ottavio, kottavio (at) bellsouth.net
July 20, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

I will use again. I will recommend to other travel agencies that I work with. Very professional.

Ken Porter, kenutah (at) gmail.com
July 20, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Elena Puzyriova was very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful guide and we would recommend her.

Simone Debra Brick
July 9, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Olga was a brilliant guide! Her knowledge of St.Petersburg is amaizing! She is the best guide I have seen in a long time. Slava was a great driver. Everything was excellent!
Olga was a wonderful tour guide! She was very kind and knowledgeable. What a beautiful city! Slava was a wonderful driver, too. Thank you for everything!

Jennifer Leslie Culbertson
July 9, 2010
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Julia,

We would like to say thank you for our guide. Elena was very friendly, patient and polite we had a very nice trip.

Juan Carlos Blanco Carrete
July 6, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Katya was fantastic. Her knowledge of the city was perfect, she moved us through the crowds with ease, kept a comfortable pace. Her English is excellent too.Everyone was on-time. The drivers new how to manipulate through the traffic very effectively.Actually Good +. I liked the fact that prices were quoted in US $ although I became concerned when I was completing the payment and the payment value was in Rubbles. I would suggest that you inform customers of this fact up front so they don't get cold feet.Catherines Palace and Peterhoff. The Hermitage was very crowded (not under your control) and with so much to see, there wasn't much time to take it all in.Peter & Paul Fortress, although it was a good place to visit to begin the tour as it sets the historical context. I would have liked to visit the interior of the Church on the Spilled Blood.I don't recall exactly how I found your company on the internet but I'm very glad that I did. My only concern was that I could not find any real testimonials from happy customers, but my husband and I booked anyway because your website was well organized and the payment process was handled by a reputable source. We had selected a group booking on our cruise port dates, but we weren't sure if you had sufficient people to run the tour. When I emailed your company ahead of the cruise I was assured that we would be serviced. And that we were! You met your commitment even though you had only one additional couple on the first day, and we received a private tour on the second day. Our guide and drivers were fantastic too. We felt very special and we sincerely thank you for a memorable experience. We have already recommended your company and will continue to do so.

John and Janis Miller Brampton, Ontario Canada, jmiller0429 (at) rogers.com
July 4, 2010
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The guides are lovely, well-informed, flexible, enthusiastic and delightful!

Ivan Kapelus

June 29, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

We enjoyed the wonderful trip and we will advice to all our friends.

Elke Sutcliffe, elke1333(at)bellsouth.net

June 26, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Tour guide is very  knowledgeable in all aspects. I will recommend the company to Friends.

Martin Ramirez, mramirez_2(at)yahoo.com

June 22, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Good morning Natalia!  
Very positive experience. All staff seemed warm and excellent at their jobs. Possibly have a stylish uniform that other tourists would recognize for high visibility tour days - Hermitage. I would be more than willing to help/view website - add photo album section to website so guests can pass website personalized trip info to friends.
We had a great trip.  The night train, followed by long airline flights was pretty taxing.  If I do it again, I would likely break that up somehow.
Of the 500 plus pictures that I took, these are the ones with either Patty or I in them.  Since I took most of the pictures, Patty is in most of the pictures.  It was a great trip.  I am working on my brother to see if I can convince him into participating in a return trip sometime in the future.
Hopefully, there is something that TourDeForce can use in their promotional efforts.  I am sending them in multiple submissions due to email limitations.  Let me know if there are any problems with the files.  
 
William Bloom, billthered2000 (at) yahoo.com
June 22, 2010

Both drivers and guide are very competent and informative. Very pleasantly surprised that we were just a party of 5 people, what made a day even more enjoyable.

David Smith, david.smith48(at)ntlworld.com

June 19, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Both driver and guide very competent and informative. Very pleasantly surprised that we were just a party of 5 people,what made day even more enjoyable.

John Negus
June 18, 2010
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Bella,
I would like to thank you again for the organisation of our visit to St Petersbourg.
We came back to France with sparkling in our eyes : beauty of the monuments visited,
warm visit to the Jewish community - we will never forget Kiddush in the Synagogue,
excellent food, perfect weather during our visits - even if we have had some rain on Shabbat -
and so knowledgeable guide !
I don't know if you have contact with travel agencies in Paris? Can I give to some of them
Tour de Force information?
I do hope to welcome you very soon in Paris.
Warmest regards
Maguy, maguy.zenou (at) novair.fr
June 14, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 

This was the best tour we have taken, all choices were perfect. Best guide, driver and the best tour ever! Thank you!

Morton Donald Jacobowitz

June 13, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

We wish to thank Tour De Force. You organizing the most delightful and informative 3 day down of St.Petersburg.Our tour guide Eugenia was very knowledgeable and full of derful stories. Our driver was very competent. The best restaurant was Demidov.

Felix Barda
June 11, 2010
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Everything was very good. Thank you very much.

Polina Vainer
June 10,2010
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Julia,
I am Pat Vlah's sister and we met at the pier when we landed in St.
Petersburg.  It was so sweet of you to come all that way to meet us.  Thank you so much for organizing two wonderful great tours, both in Berlin and St. Petersburg.  Both Wolfgang and Katya were phenomenal and so knowledgeable and such a pleasure to be with as they were so accommodating in making sure we saw as much as possible.  
We will certainly recommend your company and yourself to anyone who is coming to the Baltic area.
Again, thank you so much for outstanding service.
Sincerely,
Helen and Jerry Baur, helen.baur (at) totes.com
June 3, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Julia,
We are back home. We were delighted to meet you after all of our email exchanges. Thank you for coming to the ship to greet us.
Our Berlin and St. Petersburg tours were outstanding. The tour guides were very informative and personable. We would highly recommend Tour De Force to anyone we know sailing the Baltic.
Our special thanks to Wolfgang in Berlin and to Katya in St. Petersburg as well as the drivers.
Warm wishes,
Pat and Dick, Pvlah (at) yahoo.com
May 28, 2010

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Katrina was exceptional. We waited nowhere, she knew the short ways and was very knowledgeable on a subjects. A great asset to your Company.Thank you!!!

Stuart Hamlett
May 14,2010
_______________________________________________________________________________________