Ocean & River Cruise Vacation Specialist

Lia is very kind and helpful. Quick to answer questions, guidance and getting all the reservations done. I felt very supported during the preparation of our Disney Trip. I had no worries when time came for the trip to start and every part of our trip went smoothly, I credit Lia for that!

Very helpful, we did an overseas trip and a cruise in the past year, the first time for us so we are newbies! She helped us a lot and had answers for all of our questions (and we had a lot)!

Lia did an amazing job of getting to know us and our preferences for our trip to Mexico. She gave us options of resorts that would meet our needs and then let us choose our preference. She made sure that we had transportation, travel insurance, adjoining rooms, entertainment, a variety of food options, etc.
On Christmas Eve we had a cancellation on our flights due to weather. She gave us a personal call, that morning, and helped us get our family vacation rescheduled. She touched base with us before we left, during our stay and afterwards to make sure that things went smoothly and that we had a great time. Lia went above and beyond to make sure that our trip went smoothly.

Lia was very helpful and professional, which gave us great confidence that our trip would go well and it did!

Working with Lia removed all the stress of planning and worrying about the details. Communication was detailed and quick responses. I was able to tell her about my wants for our trip and she took care of every detail.

Absolutely pleasure. Lia was very helpful and responsive. She helped us plan the perfect cruise. We will definitely go to Lia again for our next adventure!

Very helpful, listened carefully, made good suggestions, very prompt

Lia, was very , caring and pleasant to work with! She tried her best to answer all our questions about our trip ahead of time. She is detail oriented. We would work with her for future trips!!

Lia worked with a our group (6 people) to help us find a great vacation. She was patient and helpful as we changed our minds several times.

Lia was engaging, experienced, organized and strong in follow up, so my wife and I had a great experience working with Lia. We had a lot of options on location to choose and made several changes as we got closer. Lia handled those changes perfectly and timely. She rocks!

Very thorough and timely with any questions we had. Very knowledgable about the destinations. Super easy to work with.

Lia was helpful and kind. Responded quickly with answers to our questions.

We had an amazing time in California. Flights, car, hotel and Disney tickets were all taken care of and easy to follow directions. Lia was great to work with and helped with all of our questions and changes

Lia, has provided outstanding travel planning for our dream vacations. Panama, Hawaii and looking forward to our next adventures. Lia provided her knowledge and expertise to make sure we were taken care of every step of the way. Thank you Lia!

Lia was very helpful and friendly!! Being first time cruisers, Lia answered all of our dumb questions.

Lia worked hard to find travel options to meet our needs and ensure we got to see everything on our list. She worked through a number of options and dates to make things fit for us. We had a small travel window and some must-see items...most notably the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. She was able to find a tour that fit our dates, included the Tattoo and almost all of our other items on the list.

She then planned a small add on for us that included several cities and hotels and a rental car.
She was also patient when dealing with our flight arrangements, finding us a great itinerary despite issues with high demand in our departing city.

Finally, she has, in past, been a literal "trip-saver" helping us mange missed connections and finding an alternative solution to get us to our destination when the airline could not.

I wouldn't plan a major trip without her.

We had the most amazing experience working with Lia on our 10 year wedding anniversary trip to Italy! We wanted to move a lot during this trip and she was up for the ask! She set up all of our transportation (train and transfers to and from the airport, hotel, ect.) hotels, excursions, ect. Our trip wouldn't have been what it was if it wasn't for her expertise and planning. She was also super friendly :) We've never taken a trip like this before, and she made it smooth and easy. We would HIGHLY suggest working with her. We are already talking about wanting to go back and explore a different part of Italy, when that happens, she will be the first person we call.

Thankful for Lia’s patience and diligence while planning our trip to Tanzania. I gave her a tall order with a very short turn around time and she came through in spectacular fashion.

I was looking for a relaxing beach vacation. Lia suggested I add an ocean encounter with whale sharks. It was the highlight of my vacation. Thank’s Lia for pushing me!

Lia was awesome to work with. We had a tight timeline and she was very responsive and helpful with all of the different options. She also passed along information regarding “things to do” in Italy, which was great. We will definitely return to Lia when we are ready for our next adventure!

I reached out to Lia to help me plan my family's first trip to Walt Disney World, and she exceeded my expectations! She's very knowledgeable about all things Disney and her planning/tip sheets really made a big difference for us. Lia was quick to answer ALL my questions and even helped with an issue while we were on our trip. I will definitely use her in the future.

She was kind, efficient, and took the headache out of planning a last minute vacation.

She found us a wonderful cruise through the Great Lakes and later helped me with paperwork when my husband was unable to travel.

Lia did a wonderful job booking are vacation. She was very friendly and helpful. We will definately contact her for our next vacation.

We had a wonderful experience working with Lia. She listened to our needs and requests and we all of our excursions were professional and fun and our hotel was very nice with a few extra perks. She suggested a private car vs taxi from the airport (same price) and we were so impressed with the service they provided. We will definitely have Lia plan our next trip!

My son, daughter in law, and I were recently in Alaska. We’d never been there. We wanted to see some major highlights on land. We wanted someone to guide us in what to see and do in a relatively short period of time. Lia did all that with all of her many Alaskan experiences. She gave us several examples of things to do. She was flexible, patient, and very responsive in planning our trip.
She also took care of our accommodations and transport. There was never a problem. Everything was first rate. She even made it possible for us to see Mount Denali in its entirety for two days in a row!!😀 The helicopter ride to the glacier and the boat tour seeing whales and other sights were incredible!
Thank you, Lia!

Lia is thorough, knowledgeable, efficient, patient, and will research questions no matter how basic they might be. If she has not personally taken the trip, she knows and consults people who have. I never waited very long to hear back from her and she often consulted Viking before doing so. We have booked another trip with her. In addition, she is so fun to chat with!

We have done several cruises with Lia making the arrangements for the cruise, pre-cruise lodging and tours and post-cruise lodging and tours. She has made transport arrangements from airports to hotels to excursions/tours. Lia makes traveling virtually stress free. She has extensive travel experience and offers great suggestions for improving our travel experiences.

We had five in our party, and Lia did a great job getting us the tours and tickets we wanted. Our pre extension in Rome was packed with experience and excitement! We couldn’t have done all the things we did if we didn’t have Lia working on it! The Viking Mediterranean Cruise was so wonderful. Lia jumped in early to get our excursions and reservations! Anytime we had a question, she was very quick to answer. We want her to help us with our future adventures.Thank you Lia for all your patience, help, and encouragement in making our trip so fabulous!

Lia made the travels plans a breeze! Worked with us when we needed last minute changes and excelled in providing all the information we needed!

Lia helped us get the most out of our trip in a relatively short time. Very easy to work with.

So many great memories, new friends, and it was all made possible through Lia and travelleaders.

This was an incredible trip. I’d always want to see Alaska and this trip was amazing! I’d recommend it to anyone. Don’t forget to add on some excursions to make it truly yours.

I recently returned from my first cruise. What a wonderful time! Everything went very well, thanks in part by our travel agent and cruise expert, Lia Pontarelli. Always a phone call, email or text away for any questions. I see another cruise in my future!

We recently traveled to Vancouver to catch a cruise, and just hours before departure, one member of our group realized her passport was missing. We were panicked and unsure if she’d be able to travel at all. That’s when Lia, our travel agent, stepped in like a true hero. She worked tirelessly to secure a same-day passport replacement appointment in Seattle—an absolute miracle given the time constraints. Thanks to Lia’s quick thinking and resourcefulness, our friend had a real shot at joining us. If it hadn’t been for a weather delay, she would’ve made it to the cruise from the very beginning. Lia’s calm demeanor, deep knowledge, and unwavering dedication turned a travel disaster into a manageable hiccup. We’re so grateful for her help and highly recommend her to anyone planning a trip—especially if you want someone who can handle the unexpected with grace and efficiency.

Lia Pontarelli and her team at Destinations Unlimited did a fantastic job in planning our family vacation to Spain. The flight times and train schedules were great, the hotels were very nice, and overall, the trip went super smooth. We only had one minor issue on our last full day in Spain, and Lia did work to try and help us solve this. Lia put together a great itinerary with all the details, answered all our questions promptly, and assisted us with tour recommendations in each city. Lia answered all our emails in a timely manner leading into the trip - we appreciated her prompt and informative responses. We initially were not going to use a travel agency, but I'm so grateful we made the decision to do so and work with Lia - it made the trip so much easier for us and less stressful, which made it a more fun experience for our family while overseas in Spain! Knowing we had a resource on standby to assist us with any problems, should they arise, is also worth the investment of wo

It was a three generation family trip on Holland America Cruise Lines to Alaska. Lia organized the trip for us and she took care of every detail - flights, transfers, hotel, and cruise. All we had to do was pack! Alaska was beautiful! We are looking forward to planning our next adventure with Lia’s help!

Lia was extremely helpful in planning our trip. She did all the research and gave us numerous options and advice based on our interests and budget. Her response time was exceptional and she kept in touch even while on the trip.

Our whole trip was planned perfectly. Flights, hotels and transportation were completely booked and had no problems. Had time at each destination to do our own thing if we wanted or just set and relax. Saw so many things and made great memories. We were in the 30% of people that got to see Mt Denehli!!

Lia was so great to work with. She helped us plan our family trip to Costa Rica with the perfect balance of adventure and relaxation. She provided us with various options of accommodations and activities to choose from. We split our trip between the Arenal area at the Arenal Manoa Hotel which was a beautiful resort near the town of La Fortuna and Guanacaste at the Riu Palace Hotel. Lia arranged our transportation and activities and all experiences were great! She was great about communicating with us and checked in ahead of the trip to ensure all questions were answered and we were ready to go!

Lia was extremely helpful! She came up with great accommodations and excursions to experience. She was timely in always following up. She was great in every way!

I did not know where to begin looking for 2 condos in Kauai for a family vacation. Lia stepped in with a thorough questionnaire about what I was looking for, gave me 2 options to start, and then created a package for flight, housing and car that worked perfectly for us. When I went back to her with further questions and requests, she always answered promptly and with complete explanations. We made our own reservations for adventures, but Lia was also willing to do this for us. Lia was just what I needed to get this vacation up and running!

The resort was wonderful. Beautiful views, nice restaurant and exceptionally friendly staff. The flights were well spaced out, with no issues.

We were very pleased with the services Lia provided. She was thorough in asking our preferences on resort styles, amenities desired, location, etc. She provided us with multiple package options and seamlessly booked a beautiful vacation to Maui and Kauai for us! We highly recommend Lia for assisting in your vacation planning!

We had a terrific time and felt very safe, secure and confident with ALL of the travel arrangements. She was willing to go above and beyond for any/all of our needs and wants!

Lia booked excellent and reasonably priced hotels. She listened to our preferences and interests. She made interesting and fun recommendations. Lia was responsive to all our inquires. We had a fabulous time in the Umbria and Tuscany regions of Italy. We will call on Lia again for our European travels.

My daughter is going to be 16. To all of my friends that have a daughter I highly recommend taking a trip just the two of you. We had an amazing week in the Caribbean. Lia, helped make it a stress free trip. She scheduled private transportation to and from the airport and planned a few excursions.

Lia found us an amazing place to stay, lined up flights, rental car and even took care of frequent flier miles for us! We will definitely be connecting with her for our next trip!

Lia was fantastic to work with when booking our cruise! She listened to what was important to us and came up with several options for us to choose from. She handled everything for us including the flight, hotel, and all shuttle transfers. She was always very responsive and happy to answer any questions we had. She made the whole process very easy for us! We will definitely work with Lia again to book our next trip!!!

Lia has helped with our trip to the Outer Banks of NC and then a couple airplane reservations to cities that did not have direct flights. From navigating airfares to booking hotels, Lia was super helpful and knowledgeable to get us to the right neighborhoods, best airfare prices, and any local tourist info I desired. From the beginning to the end, Lia was a good communicator either by phone or email and followed up after our trip. Would highly recommend her to anyone not wanting to navigate online Bookings and all the time/effort it takes. She takes the guesswork out of the travel process!

My family and I wanted to go on a tropical vacation, but I haven’t traveled in many years. I reached out to Lia and she exceeded all my expectations. She was very responsive, friendly, easy to work with, and took all of my thoughts and wants to consideration. She was very quick to respond, even late at night while we were on our vacation and having problems getting a boarding pass. She went above and beyond anything I could’ve expected and had everything planned and organized so I didn’t have to worry about anything other than what to pack. I would recommend her to anybody and will definitely plan any future trips we make with her.

Did a good job

Lia was exceedingly helpful and knowledgeable.

Lia listened to our wishes and put together a itinerary based on things we didn't fit in our 2015 trip with a few tweaks. We flew into Fairbanks and from there took the train to Denali, Anchorage, motor coach to Seward and train back to Anchorage where we flew out. We had to rely on taxis and shuttles to get to most places. We enjoyed the excursions in each place and the people involved, making it a fun experience. The full day fishing was great!

She is outstanding in her profession and went out of her way when we encountered travel problems

Lia was great is explaining how a cruise worked, how to get transportation to the hotel and ship and coordinate the logistics for our flights.

During our trip, my husband experienced a medical emergency and we needed to cancel a portion of our vacation plans. Lia took care of the cancellations, new hotel reservations and rearranged the flights home. She also assisted with the travel insurance claim. We are very grateful for her help and will request her assistance again for future trips.