Hi, I'm Denise, and Rainbow Travel is my agency. I opened it in 1995 after nine years at a big downtown agency where, more than once, a client came in with his partner to book a honeymoon and got asked which one of them was the groom's brother. I decided there should be a place where nobody has to explain anything. So: a storefront on the corner, two desks, a wall of brochures, a very good coffee maker, and a simple promise. You tell me where you want to go and who you're going with, and I'll find you the best way to get there, at the best price I can, with the fewest surprises. That's the whole business.

Most of my clients are gay and lesbian couples, singles, and groups of friends, and I've spent four years learning which hotels, which cruise lines, which resorts and which whole towns are genuinely welcoming and which ones just put a rainbow sticker in the brochure. That knowledge is what you're paying for (though mostly you aren't paying for it; see below). Straight friends and family are, of course, entirely welcome too. My mother books through me. She has no choice.

Every winter I put together a group on a regular sailing, and we take over a block of cabins and a table or two at dinner. This year it's seven nights in the eastern Caribbean, departing from Florida the second week of February, with stops at three islands and two days at sea, which are the best days. The block is about forty people so far and I can hold up to sixty.

• Inside cabins from about $899 per person, double occupancy; ocean-view and balcony cabins available at higher rates. Port charges and taxes are extra and I'll quote them exactly, in writing.
• Airfare from Los Angeles to the port can be added; I'll shop it.
• Group extras I've arranged: a private welcome-aboard cocktail hour, our own dining room seating, and one shore excursion as a group (a catamaran day; bring sunscreen and a sense of humor).
• Deposit of $250 per person holds your cabin; balance due in December. Travel insurance is available and I recommend it, always, for everyone, no exceptions, and I will say so again when you book.

Cruising is a wonderful way to travel as a couple, and a group cruise is a wonderful way to travel as a single, because you're never eating alone and you're never the only one at the pool bar. Ask me about the singles who came on last year's trip. Two of them are coming back this year as a couple.

Every June, and increasingly in other months too, cities all over the country and the world throw a Pride celebration, and every year the hotels within walking distance of the parade route fill up months ahead. I hold blocks of rooms in a handful of cities early, so my clients don't end up in a motel by the airport.

A Pride Weekend package from Rainbow Travel usually includes:

• Two or three nights at a hotel I have personally stayed in or personally vetted, in the neighborhood, not out by the freeway.
• Round-trip airfare, if you're flying, on a schedule that doesn't make you miss the Saturday.
• A one-page sheet I put together myself with the parade route, the festival hours, the good brunch places, and the bar that's fun versus the bar that's just loud.
• Options on request: a rental car, a spot on a group dinner, or a few extra nights before or after so you actually see the city.

Cities I do packages for: San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Palm Springs, Key West, and Toronto, plus a couple of European cities in the summer for those who want to go bigger. Prices depend entirely on the city and the hotel, so write and ask. For June 2000, book by March. I mean that. The good hotels in San Francisco are gone by April, every year, and every year somebody calls me in May and I have to break their heart.

Commitment ceremony, wedding, union, anniversary, or "we've been together twelve years and never took the trip": whatever you're calling it, this is the trip you don't want to leave to chance, and it's the one I love planning most.

How it works: you both come in (or e-mail me; we can do it all by e-mail if you're not local) and we talk for an hour. What you like. Beach or city or mountains. Do you want to be around other couples like you, or do you want to be alone on a hillside somewhere. Budget, honestly. Then I go away and come back with three itineraries, priced, with the reasons behind each one, and we build from there.

Places I've sent honeymooners this year that they've come back raving about: Hawaii (Maui, and the quieter side of Kauai), Provincetown in the fall, a small inn in the wine country a few hours north of here, Puerto Vallarta, Paris (of course), and one very happy pair who went to Alaska by ship and saw whales from their balcony.

Every honeymoon I book gets a little something extra in the room when you arrive. I won't say what. It's a surprise, and it's from me, and it's my favorite part of the job.

Planning a ceremony too? Talk to Karen and Dana, who put up a lovely page about theirs, and then come see me about afterward.

I started putting this trip together in the summer of 1998, because I could see what was coming, and I'm glad I did. Four nights in Hawaii over New Year's, December 30 through January 3, at a resort on Maui, with a private group party on the beach on the night itself: dinner, a band, a bar, and fireworks at midnight over the water. The resort is holding our block; we have the lawn.

As of this week there are six rooms left out of the thirty I held. Rates start at $1,795 per person, double occupancy, including the four nights, the party, airport transfers and the welcome breakfast; airfare from Los Angeles is extra and, I'll be honest, not cheap this particular week, so book it now if you're going to. When the six rooms are gone, they're gone; I've asked the resort for more and the answer was a very polite no.

A few notes for the worriers, and I say this with love because I am one:

• Yes, I've asked the airline and the resort about Y2K. Both have sent me letters saying their systems have been checked. I'll have paper copies of every confirmation for every client in the group, and so will you, in a folder, before you leave.
• Yes, you should bring a little more cash than usual that week. Not because anything will happen. Because it's a holiday and the lines at the ATM will be long.
• No, the world will not end, but if it does I'd rather be on a beach in Maui with forty friends and a mai tai than in my apartment with a flashlight. Come with me.

If the trip does sell out before you get to me, I have a shorter list of other New Year's options, in Palm Springs and in Puerto Vallarta, that still have a little room. Write soon.

People ask me this more and more, now that you can look up fares on the computer at home. Fair question. Here's the honest answer.

• I know things the screen doesn't. Which hotel's "ocean view" is a sliver between two parking garages. Which cruise line's staff will roll their eyes at two men holding hands at dinner and which one's won't. Which airline connection through which airport will make you miss your ship. I have stayed in the rooms, walked the streets, and taken the calls from clients when it went wrong, and that goes into every recommendation I make.
• I do the work. Comparing, calling, holding, confirming, re-confirming, getting the seat assignment, requesting the king bed instead of two twins (this one matters to my clients more than most), noting the anniversary so the hotel does something nice. You get a folder with everything in it. You don't spend your Saturday on hold.
• I'm there when it goes wrong. Flight cancelled, hurricane, hotel overbooked, lost passport. You call me. I fix it. That is the difference between an agent and a web site, and it's the reason I still have a job.
• You almost never pay me. Airlines, cruise lines, hotels and tour companies pay agents a commission on what they sell. So for most bookings, my service costs you nothing at all. For a few things that pay no commission (some cheap airfares, some complicated custom itineraries), I charge a small service fee, and I'll tell you what it is up front, before you say yes.

The office is on the corner of Santa Monica and a side street I won't name here, in West Hollywood, with the rainbow awning. Walk in anytime during hours; if I'm with someone, help yourself to coffee and a brochure and I'll be right with you.

The fastest way to reach me is e-mail: [email protected]. I check it first thing in the morning, at lunch, and before I close, and I answer every message within one business day. Tell me where you're thinking of going, roughly when, how many of you, and a rough budget, and I'll come back with ideas.