"A review of two halves!"

This is a review of two halves. Firstly, the bad:
We booked a multi centre holiday which included a river cruise, more than a year before departure, and asked them to provide a quote to upgrade the flights to business class. They provided a generic quote, we discussed airlines and told them our preferences. They had not decided at that stage which airline they would use but assured us that we could choose whichever one we wanted and they would bespoke the holiday to meet our requirements.
On the basis that generally, the earlier you book flights, the better rate you get, as soon as schedules were available we identified the flights we wanted and called their customer services with a view to getting them reserved. We were told quite clearly that we should delay booking the flights because when Imagine's allocation became available, they would invariably get a better rate than us booking direct with the airline. He did, however, note our preferred flights and said he would get the Concierge team to call us back to firm up.
They called three weeks later - we weren't concerned at the delay, given their previous comments about better rates - and quoted us £1500 more than the cost of the flights we had identified. When we queried this we were told that the Customer Services rep had mis-advised us- he should not have told us that their rates would be better! At that stage, having already paid a substantial non-refundable deposit, we had little option but to bite the bullet and book the more expensive flights.
Needless to say we complained. Customer Services were totally intransigent and despite admitting fault - quote "In this instance, there is acknowledgment that there is room for improvement in the service you have received. Rest assured; this issue has been internally addressed. It is important to note that there was no guarantee that someone would have been immediately available to provide you with the necessary details at that time" - offered us £250 off a future holiday booked through them as compensation. As if we are ever going to book another holiday with them! Which is a real shame because now for the good bit:
The holiday itself was fantastic! The hotels (three) that we stayed in were excellent quality, the numerous transfers between airports/river ports/hotels were really well organised, the numerous excursions were all interesting and varied and the local tour guides that we had were, without exception knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. We really did have the most fantastic time.
Our whole party of about 64 people had booked through Imagine and many of them had similar stories about extra charges being incurred on top of the advertised base price to use other airlines/airports so the moral of this is if you do book with them, ensure that you get PRECISE details of costs before you pay the non-refundable deposit.
Unfortunately, despite how good the holiday was, their shabby treatment of us regarding our booking has left a sour taste and we don't trust them so we shall not book with them again.
I would have given only 1 star, but have to give credit for the organisation and standard of the holiday!

"Efficient & Helpful"

Telephone service was excellent, Joe was very helpful throughout. Quick and efficient booking process and the next steps were clearly explained. Very Happy.

"Great Booking Experience "

Zoe who advised us was amazing very informative and extremely efficient . We are now looking forward to a fabulous holiday and have great confidence in imagine cruising .

"Polite and friendly service"

Agent Rob was polite, knowledgeable and friendly.
Rang back promptly with all my queries.

"Jonathan was very helpful and explained…"

Jonathan was very helpful and explained everything very clearly and knowledgeable thanks

"Chris was brilliant"

Chris was brilliant, so knowledgeable and informative. He answered all my questions and was able to give first hand insight into some of the destinations. This is quite an expensive holiday but Chris's enthusiasm for Japan was infectious abd has made me feel so excited and confident about the booking.

"All the team I spoke to were patient…"

All the team I spoke to were patient and understanding and did there best to help.

"Give up front view of cost so you can…"

Give up front view of cost so you can see at a glance the proper cost of the cruise, rathe6 than phoning talking with staff to get the answers, needed for the correct cost.

"Excellent and speedy professional service. "

Representative could not have been more helpful, professional and tenacious with our booking with Silverseas.
Thank you.

"Easy booking system"

The whole booking system was really easy. The person we spoke to was helpful and made the process very accessible