Greetings to our Travel Agent
Colleagues!A barge trip along the canals of France -- or
through Holland at tulip time, or along the Thames River and its
upper reaches, or in the highlands of Scotland or the Shannon River
in Ireland -- these are experiences that clients come back from, saying
it was the best vacation they have ever had in their lives. From the
cuisine, to the rural countrysides, to the fascinating, customized
excursions led by knowledgeable and so very accommodating crew members
... this is one of the most gratifying travel experiences you'll include
your clients in.
At Special Places Travel, we focus exclusively on
canal and luxury river cruises -- in France,
Holland, Belgium, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and Italy.
Special Places Travel is the travel agent's best source for ALL the
canal and river barges in Europe, with a unique and exceptional
collection of services to support you and your clients in their
travel decision.
We invite you to take a look at our
updated web site at: http://www.bargesinfrance.com. We have added a new capability to the master list of barges on
our website -- you can now sort all of the barges by the number of passengers,
price, departure day, and category as well as the cruise region. We now have
on-line barge brochures for nearly
all of the barges, with many pictures of the barges taken during our barge
trips. We are very interested in working with you to provide
this type of unique vacation to your clients.
The website cited above contains current prices for all of the 60+ barges in
France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland,
Belgium, Germany, and Italy, as well as special offers from several barge owners (see: http://www.bargesinfrance.com/specials.htm.)
In addition to commissions on all sales of barge
trips to clients, we offer a full package of free services that is ONLY
available from Special Places Travel, including:
This level of
agency support is unique in the travel industry, and not available from any
source, except Special Places Travel.
One of the best
things about booking clients on barges in France (as well as the rest of Europe)
is that your clients really have the time of their lives, and come back to tell
you so ... Here are some of the comments we received from our clients this year
about their barge trips:
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"The cabin was better than some 5 star hotels we've stayed
in. Luxurious describes it. They even had a heated towel rack and cleaned our
bathroom 2 or 3 times a day. I took a long, hot bubble bath while cruising down
the canals! The service was outstanding! We really felt that we were
special people, even royalty! Everyone tried their very best to please us. On
the first morning I felt like a bit of cheese from the previous night's dinner
for breakfast. From then on, there were morning cheeses out just for me without
my asking. The food was incredible! Never have we been so consistently
surprised at taste, presentation, and variety. The staff was consummately
informed about the origins of the food, cheeses, and wines and shared
information about such in an authoritative, yet "unstuffy" and friendly
manner. The wines were very impressive and perfectly matched with the food
for each meal. The captain not only took us to the most interesting
places, but he also gave us time to wander around the little villages and towns.
We were grateful for his wealth of historical facts which he shared with aplomb
and humor. We even spent a morning with an 85 year-old Contessa who inherited a
winery that she still operates. We toured her cellars as we learned about a
vintner's life. We drank her wine, ate her pate and cheese puffs, and listened
to her stories about growing-up in Nuits St. George and surviving the war
years." -- D.G. Pinehurst, NC "We credit the crew with making what would have been a great vacation, an extraordinary one. They were wonderful, professional, fun, and supremely accomodating. All the food and drinks were excellent - really 5 star. The presentation, variety, quality of selections were of the highest caliber. The barge route was breathtaking. It was a fabulous combination of natural scenery, small villages, larger villages, and towns. I knew the barge would be wonderful but it was so much more. This was one of the most delightful trips we've ever had. We look forward to our next barge experience!" -- A. D., Frederick, MD "The excursions were really a huge hit with my wife and myself, to a large degree, because of the incredible knowledge and humor that the crew possessed. They were a big hit with their presence and attitudes. My wife and I were both surprised to see the good size of the cabins and the size and furnishings of the living room and dining room, which were more than adequate. The high points of the trip were the excursions and the eating, eating, eating and drinking, drinking, drinking. Thanks again for your help on this trip." -- R.E., McKinney, TX "The service was just the best. The crew are wonderful people. The food and wine were great - we had fun learning about the wines, cheeses and special dishes - every meal was a treat. The excursions were good - they handled well our splitting up and sometimes going in different directions - they knew what we were seeing and made it interesting. The barge route was beautiful, restful, and fun." -- A.D., Bronxville, NY |
And some comments about Special Places Travel:
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"The service from Special Places was perfect and very
responsive and I would recommend anybody to your firm. The quality of the
pre-trip info was more than adequate and I could not think of anything else that
could be added." -- R. E., McKinney, TX "Your service was excellent in every way: Communication, timely and complete receipt of documents, insurance recommendation, even extra tidbits of general travel info (that we found others who booked through someone else had not been given)." -- D. G., Pinehurst, NC "Everything you did was great, especially the last minute help in changing our arrival time and place." -- K. K., Eastlake, OH |
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See also the following web sites for more information about barges in
other areas: |
About this Web Site:
Web site creation by Don Dillin of www.specialplacestravel.com.
Questions? Call 1-877-64-BARGE, or send an email to
info@specialplacestravel.com
The contents of this web page are Copyright © 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006 by Special Places
Travel, LLC. All rights reserved. The contents of this web page as well as all linked barge pages (including photography and text may not be
reproduced without permission. "Barges in France ... for the experience of a
lifetime"™,
"Barges in France, Barges in Europe ... for the experience of a lifetime"™
are service marks of Special Places Travel, LLC.
