The Complete South Pacific

11/19/2024

Review on 11/19/2024

Trip Rating:

Cam was wonderful, knowledgeable, kind and considerate! He cared about each person on the tour and went out of his way to ensure that everyone was safe and happy. 😃. The concierge Tony, at the Rendezvous Grand Hotel Melbourne was the best. The bus driver the morning of departure from Melbourne was a jerk! Our driver in New Zealand, Jaden, like Cam, became part of us. We love him and his driving was amazing. He and Cam were on the same wavelength and worked so well together that they were reading each other’s minds. All excursions were great fun and you should add the captain cook tours in Fiji to your options. The flights went off perfectly and the airport folks were great. The Compass mobile app was awesome and easy to use. Our tour guide in Hobart, Zoe, did a fantastic job. Loved her sense of humor. Thanks Cam, Jaden, and Zoe for being part of our family and sharing your homes (countries) with us. There are so many wonderful memories that it would take pages to share them all!

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

05/29/2024

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

05/28/2024

Trip Rating:

It included all the sites I really wanted to see. Wonderful guide, very well planned, good food nice tour companions. Hard to pick a favorite but I enjoyed seeing so many unique animals and the beautiful, varied scenery. My favorites include dinner with the Maiori, the canoe experience and Uluru. I would have liked more time in Sydney.

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/30/2024

Trip Rating:

The entire trip was memorable, but the Cam our guide made this trip as good as it could be.

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/23/2024

Trip Rating:

the tour was long. many plane rides. many coach rides. as far as money was concerned, you did not have to have that countries currency. a lot of places took credit cards. It was a hard trip but I am 77years old and managed to do it all. I did like the limo service to and from the airport. that was nice. especially when we came home at 1am monday morning.

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Collette Support

04/23/2024

Trip Rating:

Amazing tour! I recommend highly hotel reservations were ok.not great not bad. Hotel locations were good. Tour Manager was great. Food was ok Excursions were okay. Overall it was good. Hobart New Zealand and Fiji especially were great in every aspect. A true bucket list destination.❤️❤️❤️

Great photos! Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/23/2024

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/23/2024

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/17/2024

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/17/2024

Trip Rating:

My most memorable experience was the camel ride at Uluru, "The Rock" at sunrise. This was a FANTASTIC trip, full of wonderful memories. It felt very comprehensive. Our tour guide, Judy, was exceptional. She certainly kept us all on track...what a job! She is very professional. There are too many memories to list here!

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/09/2024

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/09/2024

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

03/26/2024

Trip Rating:

The tour was outstanding. While it is challenging to be always on the move every other day, this is the only way to cover all the territory. From riding camels in the outback, to snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef to boating through the Milford Sound, this trip was an outstanding bucket list exclamation point!

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

02/29/2024

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Collette Support

02/29/2024

Trip Rating:

We flew from ATL to LAX to Melbourne o January 6 and got home February 4. The tour was planned and executed well, and we enjoyed all of the scheduled visits. A sunrise camel ride at Uluru was a special experience.

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

12/05/2023

Trip Rating:

Got to see Australia, New Zealand and Fiji; the trip of a life time. But connecting flights within Australia ate up much valuable time and resulted to two wasted and exhausting days of travel. Food was good but we felt we’d payed for a lot of alcohol that we don’t drink.

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

12/04/2023

Trip Rating:

I rated 4 stars because we saw and experienced all the highlights of Australia and New Zealand.. They were absolutely wonderful! Enjoyed all the excursions and recommend them except for the Meori dinner.in New Zealand. It was.too crowded and the emcee was boring. We disliked all the air flights because of all the extra flights back to Melbourne before flying to another destination. We think that the flights should be more direct. We wasted days and hours going through security and in the air. Most of the hotels were ok, but one , the one in Sydney, had a leaking shower and flooded the bathroom floor. Very upsetting.

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

05/27/2023

Trip Rating:

Great Trip with a great tour manager

We are pleased to hear you had a great time on our Complete South Pacific tour! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, we hope to see you again soon!

Collette Support

04/30/2023

Trip Rating:

Some of the experiences/places were not that interesting to me.

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/30/2023

Trip Rating:

Some of the experiences/places were not that interesting to me.

Thank you for your review! We look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

04/23/2023

Trip Rating:

Tour director didn’t not give information timely Trip was grrst

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Collette Support

04/23/2023

Trip Rating:

Tour director didn’t not give information timely Trip was grrst

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Collette Support

04/22/2023

Trip Rating:

All of the locations we visited were excellent. The tour manager was not very good. He acted like he only wanted to be there for some select people in the group and basically ignored the rest. He was rude and made you feel like you should not bother him. Anytime we were not n the bus he would disappear (including not making sure everyone got thru airport check in and security). I asked him a question a couple times during the tour and he would either give a clipped answer or walk away. There were a couple of stops were we did not have any time to explore (for example in Christchurch- we arrived at approximately 8 pm and left by 9 am the next day). It would have been nice to have at least half a day to do some exploring. All of the drivers and guides we had were excellent - very knowledgeable about their subject.

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Collette Support

04/22/2023

Trip Rating:

All of the locations we visited were excellent. The tour manager was not very good. He acted like he only wanted to be there for some select people in the group and basically ignored the rest. He was rude and made you feel like you should not bother him. Anytime we were not n the bus he would disappear (including not making sure everyone got thru airport check in and security). I asked him a question a couple times during the tour and he would either give a clipped answer or walk away. There were a couple of stops were we did not have any time to explore (for example in Christchurch- we arrived at approximately 8 pm and left by 9 am the next day). It would have been nice to have at least half a day to do some exploring. All of the drivers and guides we had were excellent - very knowledgeable about their subject.

Thank you for sharing your review, we have passed along your feedback to our team.

Collette Support

04/22/2023

Trip Rating:

We visited many wonderful, interesting and memorable locations. There were a few problems encountered along the way, the biggest of which was cancellation of the entire group’s flight out of Uluru! The tour manager was a poor communicator, absolutely rude at times, gave the impression he didn’t want to be bothered and completely ignored the majority of our group while concentrating his efforts to a select few. He accepted our tip on the final evening and did not even express gratitude, shake our hands or acknowledge us at all. However our coach drivers were knowledgeable and friendly, especially Tui, our driver in New Zealand.

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Collette Support

04/22/2023

Trip Rating:

We visited many wonderful, interesting and memorable locations. There were a few problems encountered along the way, the biggest of which was cancellation of the entire group’s flight out of Uluru! The tour manager was a poor communicator, absolutely rude at times, gave the impression he didn’t want to be bothered and completely ignored the majority of our group while concentrating his efforts to a select few. He accepted our tip on the final evening and did not even express gratitude, shake our hands or acknowledge us at all. However our coach drivers were knowledgeable and friendly, especially Tui, our driver in New Zealand.

Thank you for sharing your review, we have passed along your feedback to our team.

Collette Support

04/22/2023

Trip Rating:

The drivers were wonderful! They were on time, friendly, shared information with us abt where and what we were driving by, answered questions and were just plain friendly. Of course everything we saw and experienced was wonderful, beautiful, and thought-provoking!

We are pleased to hear you had a great time on our The Complete South Pacific tour! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, we hope to see you again soon!

Collette Support

04/22/2023

Trip Rating:

The drivers were wonderful! They were on time, friendly, shared information with us abt where and what we were driving by, answered questions and were just plain friendly. Of course everything we saw and experienced was wonderful, beautiful, and thought-provoking!

We are pleased to hear you had a great time on our The Complete South Pacific tour! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, we hope to see you again soon!

Collette Support

04/08/2023

Trip Rating:

The tour manager is horrible (he is not very customer-focused, rather he had been very condescending towards tourists, he is not very knowledgeable about the places where we traveled to. Hotels and flights are very bad.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We have forwarded your feedback to our Traveler Relations team and a member of the team will reach out to you to discuss your specific issues and concerns. Your feedback is very important to us, we appreciate your patience as we work to resolve your issues.

Collette Support

04/08/2023

Trip Rating:

The tour manager is horrible (he is not very customer-focused, rather he had been very condescending towards tourists, he is not very knowledgeable about the places where we traveled to. Hotels and flights are very bad.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We have forwarded your feedback to our Traveler Relations team and a member of the team will reach out to you to discuss your specific issues and concerns. Your feedback is very important to us, we appreciate your patience as we work to resolve your issues.

Collette Support

04/08/2023

Trip Rating:

Great locations and variety of visits, but too many minor issues for a tour company this size. No local tour manager, which detracted from the enrichment on the tour.

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Collette Support

04/08/2023

Trip Rating:

Great locations and variety of visits, but too many minor issues for a tour company this size. No local tour manager, which detracted from the enrichment on the tour.

Thank you for sharing your review, we have passed along your feedback to our team.

Collette Support

03/14/2020

Trip Rating:

Chad Nelson did an excellent job of keeping us on track making sure we had great motel rooms, boarding passes and a great overall experience.
Trip Rating:

We were able to see and experience a great deal of Australia and New Zealand.

02/25/2020

This is a plane/bus trip......you don't actually SEE much

Trip Rating:

The tour was very rushed and we spent more time on planes, and busses, then we did actually seeing any of the itinerary. We were up at 5:30 am and in hotel by 2 pm, and the time in between on a plane or bus. Very disappointed.
Trip Rating:

The majority of this tour was spent on a plane or a bus. When a site is mentioned in the itinerary most of the time it is just driving by or if you do stop you are very rushed. Very disappointed in this trip.

Thank you for contacting us again regarding our The Complete South Pacific tour. We're sorry to hear you were disappointed in this trip. Our records do show that you have spoken with our Guest Relations Team and we will be mailing out a letter of apology and travel vouchers.

Collette Support

02/25/2020

Collete Complete South Pacific Tour well worth it!

Trip Rating:

The trip was enjoyable in everyway. It kept us hopping, but we got to see so much more than I would have ever seen if I had not taken this tour.
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Wasn't one - loved the different animals seen in Australia - koalas, kangaroos, camels, blue seals, the outback dinner in Australia with the night stars, and the beautiful vistas of New Zealand - just to name some of the favorites!

02/24/2020

Professional, helpful, educational.

Trip Rating:

Professional, helpful, educational.
Trip Rating:

Snorkeling on the great barrier reef, riding camels in the outback, feed ing kangaroos, holding a koala, panning for gold. attend an opera in the Sydney opera house, snorkeling on an island in fiji. Touring beautiful new Zealand.

02/24/2020

Trip Rating:

Charlie was the best manager ever!!!!! He puts the travelers first!!!! Highly recommend Collette and Charlie to everyone.
Trip Rating:

My favorite experience was at Penguin Point. Seeing hundreds of penguins coming out of sea on the way to their burrows in the dunes was unbelievable. Also the Maori experience was great.

12/21/2019

Great tour, well organized, excellent tour director.

Trip Rating:

The overall tour was wonderful. The number in the tour was perfect, the people were congenial and on time BECAUSE the tour director had everything so well organized. Charlie, our tour director, went above and beyond to care for details, handle problems, and even went the extra mile to find and have returned several things that were left by mistake in different places. Most of the activities were informative or fun or or a great adventure. The bus drivers added information and took us to some extra places, and the bus driver who toured all through New Zealand was informative and a great driver. It would have appreciated having the pre-tour information sooner.
Trip Rating:

Many great experiences - wonderful history and background information in the Outback and in Darwin, an amazing evening at the Sydney Opera House, loved the steamboat trip and dinner in Queenstown, an evening with a New Zealand family in Christchurch, and the Maori experience and dinner in Rotorua. I would have appreciated more comprehensive information about the extras. Had I seen the video of the extra excursion to the Great Barrier Reef that we saw on the bus, I would have loved to have added that to my trip. All the extras I choose were well worth the dollars spent. I did not enjoy the program at the crocodile place in Darwin nor the hotel there. Most of the hotels were good and located conveniently within the city. The Cairns hotel was my favorite, and The West in Sydney was one of the ones I did not enjoy. Again, the tour manager made it a cohesive and wonderful experience.

12/21/2019

Fantástico ,maravillosa experiencia

Trip Rating:

Felicidades Fue un tour maravilloso Todo estuvo excelente Únicamente ....el tour en Fiji a una isla fue ....Espantoso Éramos mucha gente,casi todos locales,mucho ruido,y no fue un tour agradable Ojalá puedan tener más cuidado en un tour asi
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Todo me pareció FANTASTICO

12/07/2019

Trip Rating:

Dealt with travel agent not Collette
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Tours were excellent, but too many early days. Some hotels were not up to the standards we thought they would be.

12/07/2019

Great tour, saw a lot of sights, but be prepared to travel.

Trip Rating:

Great tour, excellent tour manager and local guides. Nice hotels but we had very few nice views (I eventually paid for an upgrade to get a view). I prefer a tour with fewer people. Forty is too many.
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Some included excursions were less than top notch.

11/25/2019

Great tour

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Will tour with Collette again,
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Tour manager was very well organized and very knowledgeable. Bus driver Marty was very knowledgeable. So many memorable experiences. March of the Penguins. Farm dome show. Could have done without dinner in the bush.

11/23/2019

Amazing trip!

Trip Rating:

This was a very "travel intensive" trip. Seven in country flights, meeting busses, 13 hotels, traveling to specific events etc and everything went extremely smoothly. We were fortunate with excellent weather and every one of the controlable aspects of the trip went as it should have. All venues were expecting us and were prepared to host us. Our tour guide was extremely well versed on the countries,and schedules and preparation information was clear and timely.
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Its hard to pick just one memorable experience. Each place we traveled offered different and interesting information. However, standing on the bow of the ship as we hovered 'almost under a waterfall' in Milford Sound was surreal.

10/20/2019

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We really enjoyed the tour. Very informative and great activities. The only negative is that one of our flights was not in our paperwork, which led to a few sleepless nights.
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Got photo taken w/ a koala

10/19/2019

Fantastic!

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Tour guide was the best. Small group was so good. Covered all highlights for me except the Australia Zoo and Glow worm Caves. Sometimes schedule was too tight - took camel ride and wanted time for damper bread and hot chocolate but bus was leaving IMMEDIATELY so not even 15 minutes to visit and talk and eat before having to leave. This happened couple other times.
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Holding koala - wish weren’t so rushed but understand that others also wanted to do this and couldn’t stress out koala but do wish I could have held her for couple minutes instead of just couple seconds. Seeing native animals was great. Visiting Outback was good and learning about Aboriginal culture was great.

06/06/2019

Wonderful trip

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Guide was experienced and great. Had problems with all our internal flights in Australia but our guide was able to solve the problem each time with phone calls. Hotels were lovely. We would travel with Collette again and we are next June
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Australia is huge but we learned so much about the diverse culture and different areas. Loved the camel ride. New Zealand was beautiful and my favorite

05/13/2019

Trip Rating:

I enjoyed the trip very much. The tour guide was very informative also all the individ ual guides in each city.
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Holding a koala and feeding the kangaroos.

04/27/2019

Trip Rating:

Choice of airlines for travel to and from the tour were not great.
Trip Rating:

Tour guide was excellent. Hotel dinners were not good.

Thank you very much for your feedback. We have logged your comments and would like to know more details to properly assess and resolve. We will be contacting you directly through email. Again, thank you for taking the time to write us. We will be in touch immediately.

Collette Support

04/25/2019

Trip Rating:

Our flight was suppose to leave St. Louis for Dallas and connect to Qantas. The flight on American was cancelled due to weather and we could not get another flight through American. We got a flight on Southwest that went through Los Angeles but had to pay out of pocket. Found out later it would have been better to book us to Los Angeles in the first place. We have travel insurance and hope to get reimbursed. Also there were too many people on out tour. Caused delays and long waits. Also didn't know we could have gotten tickets at a discount to the Sydney Opera. Colette should have had that as an option. Overall we did a lot and saw many things LOVED everything included in the tour and took advantage of many of the optional tours.
Trip Rating:

Seeing the many animals and flora/fauna was exceptional. The camel ride was exceptional!!! The tour of the Sydney Opera House was terrific.

Thank you for traveling with Collette to the South Pacific. We are sorry to hear about your flight cancellation. We have sent out insurance forms so you can file for reimbursement of your extra flight purchase. If you need any assistance during the claim process, please contact our Guest Relations Team.

Collette Support

04/23/2019

Great on tour support, great hotels, great included activities and access t

Trip Rating:

They provided ,a great pre-tour booklet. The tour manager contacted us before the trip started. There was great support throughout the trip. I would recommend them
Trip Rating:

So many great places on tour, great included activities,a super tour manager,. The buses were clean, drivers were very knowledgeable. Too many people in the tour group for 1 tour manager. Detracted from the overall quality of the tour.

04/21/2019

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I would have given 5 stars but our group was huge! 43 people is way too many. our guide Miggi Cheng was exceptional dealing with this crowd.
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Again, far too many people. This was not a discount company tour! I really enjoyed the home stay in NZ, wish that we had more time in Tasmania, loved petting the kangaroos and wallabies, seeing the Tasmanian Devils and koalas. Skip Kakadu National Park and let the group see Darwin. Too much bus travel there. The inclusions were pricey and the Sydney foodie tour was the same day as an included dinner so it didn't make sense to do it.

04/21/2019

A Great Adventure!

Trip Rating:

I loved the variety of sites and experiences. Our accomodations were very good to excellent, with one exception in Queenstown, NZ. Our tour guide, Migie Chang, had a great deal to do with our satisfaction. Not only was she incredibly efficient, knowledgeable, and helpful, she did it all with a sense of humor. My only critiques are: 1) the number of one-night stays and 2) the desire for more consideration for the needs of the handicapped.
Trip Rating:

Fewer one-night stays and better acess for the handicaped would have resulted in an excellent rating. Great sites, great accomodations and great food. My most memorable experience? There were so many but I think the most memorable was entirely by chance ... the 1000s of waterfalls on the way to Milford Sound on NZ's South Island. It was a wonderland that we would never have seen if it hadn't been raining. Mt. Cook was breathtaking as well and it would have been nice to spend more than one evening there. We far preferred the non-city portions of our trip and the overnight with the NZ family was a definite highlight.

04/20/2019

Miggi was a great Tour Director.

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I booked this trip with Abbey from Avoya travel. She was very helpful and knowledgeable regarding this area. I would book a trip with Collette in the future.
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I thought the trip was handled very well.

04/20/2019

Trip Rating:

Lisa was wonderful, informative and sharing, regarding her own experiences and very responsive. eg. she unexpectedly responded to my husband even though she was busy catching her own flight when we didn't know what to do when our flight out to LA was delayed 4 hours and we were worried about catching our connecting flight. She also spoke to us several times. Other tour members were not as happy with their travel agents such as online AAA.
Trip Rating:

Getting up close with the kangaroos and wallabies, being able to touch and feed them. Loved the camel ride at dawn. The koalas were wonderful. The penguins were so cute and surprisingly small. We were fortunate to be able to see the kiwis active in their darkened enclosure and found them to be bigger than we thought. The Tasmanian Devils were fascinating. Saw an Australian opossum. The rainy day in Queenstown turned out a spectacular show of waterfalls at Milford Sound. Loved the mountains in New Zealand.

04/20/2019

Home run.

Trip Rating:

Very good as always. My 5th trip with Collette....and they always have been very good. Tour director was professional, effective,engaging and just fun to be with.
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This was a very comprehensive and fast moving trip/adventure. You will see a lot of scenery and fascinating things....but you will be very much on the go. I think all the scenery, culture and history are well worth the energy needed for this trip. Hard to think of any negative things on this trip.(maybe the bugs near Alice Spring and Uluru...so have your head nets ready):)

04/07/2019

SouthPacific Fantasy

Trip Rating:

This is the third tour I have used with Collette. The itinerary for Australia/New Zealand is very extensive and exhausting. There are many things to do and ther are many options offered while on tour. The tour managers are very knowledgeable and can guide you where to go if there is free time. The on site tour guides were excellent as well.
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In 25 days there is so much to see and do but you ca't do all of it. The group needed more tie in some cities such as Melbourne, Hobert and Auckland.

03/24/2019

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We had a wonderful time. Saw all that we wanted to see and saw things we never knew we wanted to see. Our guide Chad, took very good care of us and was knowledgeable about what to expect.
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Collette was very easy to work with and kept us informed of any changes that occurred before we actually left for the tour.

03/23/2019

South Pacific tour - good and bad

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pre-tour service was confusing as we booked thru travel agent so Collette could/would not talk to us directly. We had to go thru travel agent. We would get email saying there was an itinerary change with no details on what the change was. We requested changes to the original booked return flight due to change to family plans and also a connecting flight due to insufficient connection time and was not told there would be an additional charge to original airline quote. Had a problem on tour and 2weeks later still waiting for feedback
Trip Rating:

Tour covered a lot of Australia and New Zealand. We saw outback in northern Australia and several cities and many cities in New Zealand. Tour include many cultural museums and tours, nature and wildlife, city sights. It’s a fast paced tour in that there are several one night hotel stays and daily air flights. Frequently lunches were rushed and tour visits too short to keep on schedule. New Zealand required 3-4 hour bus rides to travel to next city. We are glad we got to see as much as we did but were exhausted by the end of the tour.

Thank you for traveling with Collette to the South Pacific. A member of the Guest Relations Team will be reaching out to discuss your feedback

Collette Support

03/12/2019

Bucket List

Trip Rating:

Well paced trip to Australia and New Zealand with experienced tour manager and great bus drivers who were full of local information.
Trip Rating:

The most expensive trip we have ever taken but worth it with great hotels, flights and buses. Top shelf staff to make our month long trip a pleasure.

12/28/2018

Trip Rating:

Collette did an excellent job from start to completion. Customer Service was always available, professional, and friendly. I will definitely be touring with Collette in the near future.
Trip Rating:

This whirlwind tour was our honeymoon. Collette and Barry Kublin, our tour manager did their utmost to ensure this was a special and memorable experience for us.

12/22/2018

fabulous / excellent tour - so informative

Trip Rating:

The service was excellent - the tour guide Barry was very efficient - he took time to explain the up coming outing - what we had to watch for and anything that might cause us problems. He was confronted with three emergencies of injured tour members and looked after everything very professionally - got them medical attention and assisted them in all ways possible. The tour was fabulous and the tour guide added a lot to the enjoyment of the tour - we also had a very informative bus driver in New Zealand who was continually giving us information about the area we were in plus the country itself - it added so much to the tour.
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I stated my feelings in the first comment area.

12/21/2018

Trip Rating:

The rating would have been a 5star if your department handling airline reservations had allowed enough time (5 hrs. or more) between our flight from DFW to LAX. Due to their lack of allowing enough time between flights, we missed our connecting flight to Sydney and subsequently missed our tour to the Great Barrier Reef which was to be one of the most important activities we had wanted to do.
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I would give 4 and 3/4 stars for the total tour. After the first misstep by Collette Airline reservations, the tour was wonderful

12/16/2018

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Trip was fun loved seeing everything . But on the go way to much . Some places I wished we stayed longer . And I wish we had a guide that was more nicer and helped us more . Other wise the trip was good
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Seeing the kangaroo was amazing because I always wanted see them up close . Holding kola also was amazing because I love anmimals best thing about the trip :)

Thank you for traveling with Collette to the South Pacific. Your comments will be reviewed by our internal department managers so that the necessary improvements can be made. Thank you for sharing your feedback.

Collette Support

11/17/2018

Trip Rating:

Excellent tour. Great tour guide, bus drivers, and destinations. Very fast paced.
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Covered all the interesting and must see places and experiences.

11/10/2018

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Small group of ten on a large coach. Tour manager was great and most drivers very knowledgeable .
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Skyline and train journey and South Island of New Zealand. Would like to have seen more of Tasmania.

10/13/2018

Fabulous trip of a lifetime.

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Tour manager gets 5 stars. The actual trip gets 5 stars. Our hotels get 3 stars. We requested Triple room and most of the hotels had difficulty with that concept.
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The hotels had difficulty ensuring pleasant stays with a triple room.

05/27/2018

Great, busy tour

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A wonderful, organized tour director. Great bus driver who acted as our tour guide. Very knowledgeable and personable.
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Loved Sydney. Cosmopolitan city. Very clean and very safe

05/15/2018

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needed gluten free meals were not arranged. . We were told to inform tour director about gluten allergy , tour directors' demeanor not very encouraging. He is also not very proactive in making sure gluten free items are available unless we ask him about it. He always say it is available during the optional tours but were not. We took the homestay tour and our host said she was not informed about the need for a gluten free meal. we took the extended tour to Fiji at end of tour with 10 other people. all ten people were on the same flight except for me and my wife. the rest of the group were on a direct 4 hour direct flight from Auckland to Fiji while we had to go to Sydney then to Fiji making it a 10 hr flight. We were not informed before booking that we were flying separately from the rest of the travelers.
Trip Rating:

Itinerary was excellent. but very hectic. needed more days

Thank you for traveling with Collette to the South Pacific. A member of the Guest Relations Team will be reaching out to discuss your feedback.

Collette Support

05/03/2018

Very good

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The tour and service were very good. I would recommend Cpttette and I will very likely use them again.
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Very enjoyable and memorable tour. My favorite part was interactions with the Australian animals.

04/27/2018

Fantastic.

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Our tour was excellent. Our tour guide, Eddy Davidson was fantastic. She cared about everyone and was so helpful. Drivers and other guides were good also.
Trip Rating:

Excellent tour. The only thing is that it was quite expensive. That might make a difference for us in the future.

04/21/2018

Collette made our trip to Australia and New Zealand a truly awesome trip.

Trip Rating:

My girlfriend and I found Collette to be a great company to work with as we planned the trip of a lifetime to Australia and New Zealand. We were booking the tour later than we should have and Collette worked to make sure that all of our requests were met, from airline reservations to optional additional tours. When we ran into a travel problem on the way to Australia we called their emergency number and they advised us on how to proceed. When our travel plans were interrupted due to weather they diverted us to another location and made sure that our trip continued to be enjoyable. Marion, our tour manager was awesome in keeping everyone informed about the schedule and upcoming events. She really helped make our trip of a lifetime truly the trip of a lifetime. I cannot think of anything that Collette could have done to make this a better trip.
Trip Rating:

We experienced so many memorable experiences that it is difficult to choose just one. We enjoyed everything from having champagne at sunset at Ayers Rock to participating in the optional tours such as doing the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb and taking the Shotover River Jet Boat ride. The reason for 4 stars is I feel that there were to many people on the tour and we were not able to spend as much time in some locations as we would have liked. This is the first tour of this nature I have ever taken and understand the necessity of a schedule. But having traveled extensively on our own for many years I was not prepared for the rigid schedule. This is not a negative reflection on Collette. They did a great job.

04/10/2018

Trip of a lifetime. Simply awesome!!!

Trip Rating:

The tour was well organized and the itinerary was awesome. We saw so much. There was enough down time to recharge a bit, but the coordination and the timing of all the stops was outstanding.
Trip Rating:

Our tour director, Jim, was very experienced and knowledgeable of all area we visited. Tasmania was awesome with the taz Devils and feeding the kangaroos. Koala preserve was also neat. We could almost reach out and touch them. Australia was great but New Zealand was spectacular...Queensland, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, the Maoris....the list goes on. Very tiring schedule but that is the only way to see all that we saw. Fantastic trip in all respects.

03/27/2018

Trip Rating:

Excellent - Every detail was taken care of.
Trip Rating:

Wonderful trip - Had a great time and saw many sights

03/26/2018

Trip Rating:

Our trip to Australia and New Zealand was wonderful. It is a fast faced trip that gave us a good feel for these two countries. ***** *******, our Tour Director, was extremely knowledgeable--we were unable to stump him with any of our questions. We were pleased with our hotels and the quality of the meals. Our local guides and bus drivers were very knowledgeable and entertaining. Thank you for a memorable trip "down under."
Trip Rating:

It is hard to pick out a favorite. We did so many fun things. We enjoyed our time with the family in New Zealand, my husband loved walking the Sydney bridge, New Zealand was breathtaking--such a beautiful country. The harbor in Tasmania is the most beautiful harbor I have ever seen. It was fun being in the cities and spending time exploring them. In short, we loved it all.

03/24/2018

Enjoyable, we saw so much

Trip Rating:

Well planned. Very good tour guide.
Trip Rating:

Well organised. Very good tour guide. Lots of included excursions

03/18/2018

Excellent service ,would recommend

Trip Rating:

Very good communication . Very smooth throughout
Trip Rating:

From start to finish ,it was interesting and well run. Our tour manager was excellent in a calm and organised way.

03/04/2018

Trip Rating:

Well paced tour with lots of new discoveries every day. Excellent tour manager who kept things flowing.
Trip Rating:

What was included for the price was incredible.

03/04/2018

Excellent tour guide, great itinerary

Trip Rating:

The tour was amazing, very well organized, and the countries were beautiful! Our tour guide, Jim, was knowledgeable and fun!
Trip Rating:

Collette had arranged the tour stops and sights perfectly.

02/26/2018

Well managed journey

Trip Rating:

The itinerary was well planned and executed. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and organized.
Trip Rating:

A very (too?) ambitious itinerary. Tour guide was always available to help as complications arose.

02/24/2018

Educational and tremendous fun!

Trip Rating:

Excellent guide, David Cornier, wonderful locations, very educational, good hotel with great locations within the various venue. Trip was very educational and tremendous fun. I would recommend it to all. I would suggest dropping the one night stays though; they do not do the locations justice and they are too hectic regarding unpacking and packing.
Trip Rating:

Subject area and guide were stellar. Time was frustratingly short in Melbourne, Hobart, Mt Cook and the one night locations. Packing, and staying 12 - 15 hours at a location you fly or ride hours too is just frustrating and not worth it. It would be way preferable to drop a couple of stops like Alice Springs or Darwin and add elsewhere. Flight excursion at Melford Sound was AWEFUL. Plane was very cramped and view was obscured by the propellers and landing equipment RIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW. It was so loud even with the ear plugs it was painful. I think the co was MCI or something similar. Pilot was not responsive. Not worth the $350 per person or anything at all actually. We saw far better planes on the tarmac that fly for other companies

12/16/2017

Great trip

Trip Rating:

Very interesting, well organized tour! I would have liked to see fewer people on tour 40+ was high I thought. **** was awesome. He made arrangements for many of the ill to get medical help. He made it easy and comfortable to back out of the home visit in New Zealand, that I was uncomfortable with from the time our itinerary was sent to us. I had called Colette and tried to cancel, but was told by the rep that it was too late even back then...weeks before we departed. The hotels were all very nice..my only complaint was the few that didn't supply free internet. The coaches were top notch and food wonderful. I would travel Colette again in a smaller group.
Trip Rating:

Snorkeling great barrier, watching penguins leave ocean, Ayers Rock,..so many more...would not do train ride again

11/25/2017

Very busy but interesting.

Trip Rating:

Would recommend or buy again. But the website is deficient. I could not get an invoice online. I complained of this before and will go with Gate 1 which has a better website. The tour itself was very good.
Trip Rating:

Provided on the written survey done at end of tour. Please read that

11/25/2017

Fabulous trip. Glad I did it

Trip Rating:

I had an absolutely wonderful trip. Everything went off without a hitch and the tour guide was excellent. Would definitely recommend Collette and will use them again
Trip Rating:

It was a wonderful trip. I don’t think I can pick just one thing. It was trip of a lifetime

11/22/2017

Fair at Best - Not a good deal

Trip Rating:

Their service was OK I didn't have much to interact with them about but the tour itself could only be rated as fair
Trip Rating:

Over priced for what we got from Collette - their tour director was only mediocre at best

Hello, Gregory. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We appreciate your feedback as it helps us to improve the tours for future guests. If you'd like we can set up a call with a member of our guest relations team to learn more about your experience.

Collette Support

10/23/2017

Could have been a lot better.

Trip Rating:

The guide was very good, as we're the dinners. The breakfasts left a lot to be desired. The hotels all needed a new mattress, with the twin beds being the exception. And on that note, I enjoy sleeping with my wife..... so why the twin beds? My backside is still numb, is there anyway to relieve the pressure there? Too many stops for too few days, arrive at 4 pm and leave at 8am???? How do I see any sights???
Trip Rating:

Queenstown, going from flat Australia to beautiful snow capped mountains

10/19/2017

Trip Rating:

Travel documents were delivered in a timely manner. Any questions I had were completely and accurately answered
Trip Rating:

Both the included and optional tours were fantastic. I had no idea so many partial and full days would be travel days, however, with the size of Australia its understandable. Having all home visits be with Maori families would have been a true cultural and educational experience

05/22/2017

Trip Rating:

Yes, we would recommend Collette and vacation with them again
Trip Rating:

Attention to details. Great itinerary.

05/20/2017

I would definitely recommend Collette CA!!!

Trip Rating:

Excellent planning from beginning to end. I love that our vacation began at our front door. No worries right from the beginning!!!
Trip Rating:

This tour included Hot-air ballooning which I have wanted to do for quite some time!!!

05/13/2017

Our best trip!

Trip Rating:

15 flights went well! Hotels were overall excellent. I wish the family stay in Rotorua would have been explained that the places were more like a bed and breakfast. All raved about the places. The places visited between countries were varied, beautiful, and wildlife excellent! Holding a koala, feeding a kangaroo, and seeing the Penguins was so fun! NZ is breath taking! Fiji was so much fun! Our trip manager was very good, and *Personal Details removed by Feefo* at the Sofitel was so friendly and excellent! This is one of the best trips we ever took! So glad we went!
Trip Rating:

The beauty and majesty of Milford Sound in NZ was breath taking! Seeing and holding/feeding penguins, koalas, and kangaroos came in second!

05/13/2017

Don't let Collette make the air arrangements.

Trip Rating:

We saw a lot of great and interesting sights. I must say that the logistics of the trip left a lot to be desired. First off, the flights that Collette made were not great. We flew business class on the long part of the flight from the U.S. to AU. then home from N.Z. to the U.S. Collette first gave us a quote of twice the fare that I was seeing on the internet. After numerous phone conversations they found a fare that was $500 more than the internet (I choose to have Collette make the flights because if they make them the trip insurance is cheap and excellent). Leaving from Portland,OR. they wanted to fly us through Chicago then to L.A. Alaska Air flies to L.A. every 2 hours. I choose to make my own reservations to L.A.! I allowed Collette to make the rest of the flights. Didn't notice the last return flight from L.A. to Portland, they made it on Alaska Air and had us with a 10 hour lay over in L.A. That is after a 15 hour flight from N.Z. to the U.S. and a 5 hour lay over in Fiji. I decided to not use that ticket and purchase another on Alaska Air that had a lay over of only 4 hours (Colllette would not refund the cost of that ticket since it had already been issued). I notified Collette of change but they failed to notify the airlines and upon leaving N.Z. I was issued the original ticket with the 10 hour lay over in L.A. This caused a good bit of confusion when I had to change the ticket back to the one I had purchased. The tour itself was good except for a few scheduling problems. Collette had us booked into Sydney on Good Friday when nothing was open. We had to get up at 3 a.m. to catch a plane from Tazmania. Upon arrival in Sydney we found that Collette had nothing for us to do so we had a 4 hour bus tour of the city until our hotel rooms were ready. The second problem I saw was: we were given a booklet with suggested things we should do to make the trip go well. One of the suggestions was tipping the bus drivers, guides, and tour guide. On our trip there were a number of British that were also given a booklet but their's stated that the tipping had been taken care of.
Trip Rating:

Getting up at 3 a.m. then finding out that once we arrived in Sydney they had nothing for us to do and it was Good Friday and everything was closed.

05/01/2017

Trip Rating:

The itinery was good. We covered a great deal of territory during our tour.
Trip Rating:

It met my expectations! I enjoyed New Zealand more than Australia.

04/30/2017

Good trip and we saw a lot of interesting things.

Trip Rating:

I thought the tour itinerary was good. I thought that communication from Collette got fuzzy just before we were to leave from home, and we were unsure on when and where we were to meet with our tour guide when arriving in Cairns? I thought our tour guide droned on a little too long about our next day's schedule - so long that he sometimes changed times and details as he proceeded. That left us a little confused.
Trip Rating:

See my comments before this.

04/25/2017

Trip Rating:

Our tour guide, *Personal Details removed by Feefo* took care of every detail which allowed us to thoroughly enjoy all aspects of our journey!
Trip Rating:

We had a full understanding of the variety of climates, geography and history of both Australia and New Zealand because of the in-depth touring and optional opportunities to further enhance our trip.

04/22/2017

Great service and Tour Manager

Trip Rating:

Surprisingly excellent service, primarily due to an incredible, experienced, personable Tour Manager who handled all the potential problems and left us to enjoy the trip. The only annoyance was the necessity to tip drivers and the tour manager. However, the latter almost certainly got a lot more money than he would have if it were included, and he well deserved it. Transfers, flights and bus tours were amazingly coordinated and efficient. One person got a serious leg infection and the tour manager not only took him to the hospital, but staying with him and got only 2 hours sleep before taking the group out again, while arranging a one-day later flight for that person when he got out of that hospital. They take care of you.
Trip Rating:

Nobody else does a tour this complete. Most of us noted including Darwin/Kakadu in the north and Tasmania in the south of Australia were what sold us, and they were indeed highlights, especially Tasmania. Using flights in Australia and the same bus in New Zealand was absolutely the right way to go. The activity level was as described, but the pace was unexpectedly more intense. Note that Tauck rates both activity and pace, but Collette only rates activity. I felt that we had the right amount of time in each location, and the right choice of included and optional tours.

03/27/2017

Collette is a perfect Company to place your trust!!!

Trip Rating:

Collette Just is there for you every minute, while you are having the special time of your life, your tour director is taking care of the next day events, making sure in a restaurant, that everyone, has received what was ordered, or helping organize the luggage. getting flight boarding passes.and every other detail.. Now your Department that deals with booking everything, inside of Collette Dept. pure amazing!! and never treats me like I am not important!!! That is why I keep coming back...
Trip Rating:

Hiking Sydney Bridge, Feeding the Kangaroos, I am a diver, so to be over, on, and under the Great Barrier Reef, was fantastic!!! Milford Sound, Mt. Cook, and staying there with the perfect view!!! Many, Many great things

03/25/2017

Fabulous vacation, a lifetime of memories

Trip Rating:

Overall All my expectations were met, especially in Australia. I felt our Tour Manager did an excellent job, and was always focused on the tour, and making sure we were well taken care of. There is always room for improvement, some parts of the New Zealand itinerary could be improved. But given the time we had, it was fabulous!
Trip Rating:

To many wonderful things to list! Many of the excursions were so fun, and the "added" touches that Collette thru in, made the trip fun and exciting.

03/04/2017

A trip of a lifetime!

Trip Rating:

This was a trip of a lifetime!
Trip Rating:

I enjoyed Queenstown the best, the scenery was the best!

03/04/2017

Excellent service by Collette

Trip Rating:

Excellent service throughout.
Trip Rating:

Excellent, Queenstown was superb.

02/23/2017

Too many people were on the tour and it was geared to couples.

Trip Rating:

There were 41 people on the tour. In my opinion that's too many. The tour guide was very good-*-Personal details removed by Feefo*--and she's made the trip to Australia/NZ probably more times than she can remember. I was very sick on the tour and had to drop out partway through the tour--In Christchurch. So, there are going to be gaps in my evaluation of the tour. I had pneumonia and a chest infection that would not clear up. PS: I can't get Your Purchases to open.
Trip Rating:

Did you read the above comment? I missed ca. 1/2 of the tour because I was so sick.

02/21/2017

Our trip took us to many exciting and interesting places.

Trip Rating:

We had a great time. I knew up front that it would be very tiring with so much air travel, but it was the only way to see as much as we did. It was a good mix of culture, history and geography. Our "together" meals took too long.
Trip Rating:

A great trip to high lite these two countries. Since I am a outdoor person, My favorite stop was the Un Zoo. That entire day was my favorite. It would be very hard to pick a favorite city.

02/20/2017

Awesome Trip!

Trip Rating:

A great trip to see a good portion of Australia and New Zealand. This trip kicked our butts though especially the first two weeks. We flew on 11 flights in the first two weeks. We were on the move constantly with very little down time.
Trip Rating:

Feeding the kangaroos at the Unzoo on the island of Tasmania.

02/18/2017

Overall, a good itinerary

Trip Rating:

The itinerary was good; that's why I chose this trip. The only disappointment was that there was no optional for the glow worm caves in New Zealand, and we had to endure another sheep shearing and herding demo instead. That morning was a waste of our time, and we missed a highlight of New Zealand.
Trip Rating:

Overall, a good itinerary makes this trip enjoyable. The only disappointment was that there was no opportunity to see the glow worm caves of New Zealand, a national highlight, while enduring a second sheep shearing and herding demo instead. That was a wasted morning for us.

02/18/2017

Trip of a lifetime

Trip Rating:

We could not have covered the sights and planned hotels, etc. without Collette. This was a complex trip and we appreciated the trip management. The hotels were excellent and the meals were good. Our flights were without issue and the logistics, flight times, etc. were well done. Our tour manager was an organizing genie and was up to all challenges. Unfortunately, there was a serious illness circulating throughout the bus for the entire trip. While unavoidable, it did cause a lot of stress to everyone. A highlight for the tour, for me, was the contact with the aboriginal and Maori cultures.There was plenty of opportunity to learn about local plants and animals, as well. If I travelled with Collette again, I would avoid the city tours in a large bus. Unless you are in the front, you can't really see the sights, and the bus driver/narrator has to concentrate on driving while showing the sights. Maneuvering a large bus through cities called for a lot of circling. We would have got more from taking a jump on/jump off local tour. For the most part, the local shopping stops were not that interesting and we are inclined to find our own interests. Our New Zealand driver, however, was excellent. His knowledge of NZ was quite amazing and he had a very pleasant personality. We liked most of our optional tours. I was disappointed in the Lord of the Rings, Journey through Middle Earth 4WD jeep tour. There were 6 passengers and then, due to mechanical breakdown, another passenger joined us, which meant that 2 or 3 people were in the jump seats with no opportunity for photos and a very uncomfortable ride. We spent a lot of time in the back of the jeep. Showing us a photo album of movie shots was pretty outdated. A snack and a drink provided did not make up for the lack of value on this excursion. We wished that we had hired a local cab instead of taking this tour. The panning for gold was entertaining, though, so it was not a total waste of our time. The Hobbiton tour was excellent, however, so we did get our interest in Lord of the Rings satiated. Our rural home and farm stay was not successful, due, in part, to the mix of personalities in our group, and the lack of experience of the farm resident. I would have preferred a hotel stay. Other groups enjoyed their stay immensely, so I am aware that it could have been an awesome experience. The weather could have been better, but again, that is not controllable.
Trip Rating:

*Maori Culture *Geysers! *Te Papa Museum *Koalas, Kangaroos, wallabees, etc. *Billabongs, Fjords, Waterfalls....

01/23/2017

Excellent guide

Trip Rating:

Our guide, (Personal details removed by Feefo) was excellent. Itinerary was very good
Trip Rating:

(Personal details removed by Feefo). Would suggest adding an additional day or two in Melbourne to make the trip even better.

01/17/2017

A nice time in Australia and New Zealand.

Trip Rating:

The hotels we stayed in were excellent, the included meals were generally very good. (Personal details removed by Feefo) our guide, as well as the local guides were very good and knowledgeable. The places we visited were very pertinent and representative of my notions of what the countries were all about. I do have a problem with the idea of gratuities, the guides should be reimbursed by Collette adequately so we do not have any expectation of these. After spending for the trip, then being expected to provide gratuities on top of this is a sore point with me on any tour I have taken.
Trip Rating:

The visit to the outback and learning about the aborigines of Australia was one of the highlights of the trip

Hello Donald,
We're happy to hear you had a great time visiting Australia and New Zealand. We have also passed along the information about the tour guide reimbursement to our tour manager team for review. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to traveling with you again soon.

Collette Support

01/07/2017

Overall, thorougly enjoyable, especially with a guide like removed by Feefo - a real kee

Trip Rating:

Great tour,need more time in Melbourne and less in Darwin, Queenstown Hotel a little out of the way, should provide bus tickets
Trip Rating:

Uluru, outback barbecue, Sydney, Unzoo in Tasmania, Milford sound

01/02/2017

Excellent!

Trip Rating:

(Personal details removed by Feefo) was by far the best Tour Manager/Director we have ever had with Escorted Tours. His knowledge of Australia and New Zealand was better than most Australians and New Zealanders. (Personal details removed by Feefo) was very organized.Need more time in Melbourne.
Trip Rating:

(Personal details removed by Feefo) was always willing to share his knowledge of Australia and New Zealand. He had great contacts at all airports, hotels and sites visited. Airport checkin within Australia could not have easier!

12/31/2016

It was the worst experience we ever had with Collette.

Trip Rating:

Starting with the Customer Representative wrong information or no information on the personalized brochure. Misinformation on the optional tours. Unqualified people as Customer Representative. Car service on the return trip was a mess, waiting 1/2 hour on a 20deg.F windy weather outdoor and being lightly dressed. Itinerary description on various sites are overblown over reality. Optional tours some of them interfere with peoples program who did not subscribed to those tours, by wasting time waiting for the optional tour participants. It was the worst exp experience
Trip Rating:

Not many memorable experiences.

Hello Mihail ,
Thank you for your feedback about this tour! We apologize for the experience you had with the customer representative. We've passed this along to our customer care team so that they're aware. We have also shared your feedback about the tour with our product team for review.
Your feedback is extremely valuable to us as we use it to improve tours for future guests. If you have any additional feedback that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to reach out.
We hope to travel with you again soon!

Collette Support

12/31/2016

Excellent service by Collette

Trip Rating:

The trip was wall planned. The director was wonderful
Trip Rating:

It's hard to say. Each stop was a new esperience

12/10/2016

Complete South Pacific- a thoroughly memorable experience!

Trip Rating:

Had a marvelous experience throughout the trip.
Trip Rating:

Each day had so many new and valuable experiences. It was a trip of a lifetime to visit three countries and interact with the people. I took advantage of most excursions and found them value filled. The homestay on a New Zealand farm was most endearing.

12/07/2016

Very thorough! Everything was so well coordinated & on schedule! Kept us bu...

Trip Rating:

Very thorough! Everything was so well coordinated & on schedule! Kept us busy to see all that we did but still left some spare time to enjoy the sights occasionally on our own(shopping!!!!!!!)
Trip Rating:

All of it! Can''t pick out just one!

12/03/2016

Collette has put a fabulous trip together!

Trip Rating:

Our bus drivers, generally, offered us information that we could not have attained from someone who was not a resident. Our tour director was fair. He took care of business and led us in the right direction, taking care of changing plans when needed. He did not, however, go above and beyond as I have experienced with other trips. The tour itself, and all that it contained, was excellent.
Trip Rating:

This was truly a trip of a lifetime, including a new adventure every day~~from snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, learning about how children hundreds of miles from anyone attend school, to feeding a kangaroo, finding out about the disease that is killing the Tasmanian Devil, and viewing awesome mountains and landscapes. The only downside was that the group was too large.

12/03/2016

Excellent service by Collette US

Trip Rating:

Always were able to provide answers to the questions asked.
Trip Rating:

The parade of the penguins and the Sydney harbor bridge climb

12/03/2016

Outstanding

Trip Rating:

Well organized and the pace of the tour was just right. We saw a lot of beautiful things and have many many memories. Loved the fact that we got to meet so many people from all three countries
Trip Rating:

Loved the Great Barrier Reef. I took the optional Reef tour. This tour should be planned for everyone even if the entire triip costs a little bit more. The "platform" we connected to was like a city. One didn't even have to go into the water to enjoy the experience. The Outback experience was fantastic. I did the camel ride at sunrise. Great adventure!!!! I loved everything about the outback even having to wear a net because of the flies... I did not enjoy Darwin and the national park. It was too long of a trip both flying and the bus ride. I strongly suggest eliminating this and either go to Perth or add on days to Melbourne or Hobart. Loved loved loved everything about New Zealand even being in the 7.8 earthquake. Since they have so many, may I suggest that you give traveler a notice of what to do in an earthquake. We added on Fiji and are so glad we did. Beautiful people and country and a great place to unwind after an awesome trip.

11/26/2016

You obviously have worked very hard in putting together this tour which inc...

Trip Rating:

You obviously have worked very hard in putting together this tour which included everything possible to enjoy a trip to Australia and New Zealand. The meals that you arranged were always topnotch and extremely interesting. The hotels were all clean, accommodating and perfectly located to do many things during our free time. All the bus drivers were extremely friendly and knowledgeable of the areas where we toured. Enough cannot be said about******** our tour leader. He was friendly, courteous, knowledgeable, funny, helpful and highly communicative. He shared everything to help us prepare each day, informing us days in advance to be sure we could make our plans. I thank you for this fabulous experience.
Trip Rating:

Too, too many fabulous things on this tour: Loved the Great Barrier Reef, The Penguin Parade, Mt. Cook, The Opera House of Sydney, Ayers Rock and the Bush, the UnZoo and all those great towns: Melbourne, Auckland, and Sydney.

11/12/2016

Trip of a lifetime

Trip Rating:

The materials Collette provided were very helpful in preparing for our trip (clothing). Some of the flights had rather long layovers and it wasn't always clear to us when we had to walk between domestic and international terminals.
Trip Rating:

Scratch this one off the bucket list. We saw a lot of Australia and New Zealand. Each day was packed with new sights and experiences. There were also optional tours that enabled us to individualize our trip.

05/29/2016

Tour Excellence

Trip Rating:

The tour guides have been excellent (with the exemption of the mandatory tour guide of The Vatican, who was useless, and inconsiderate.) Our recent tour of Australia and New Zealand had also and excellent tour manager. (Previous tours the tour guide was the tour manager).
Trip Rating:

WE arrived in Cairns in the late afternoon, and it was 105 F. It rained that night and we thought surely the rains would cool things down. The next morning, when we arrived in the bush to spend the day with the aborigines, it was 105 F. and steaming. , And yet, this was a great educational experience. Even 78 years old and overweight, I survived the experience in good shape.

05/27/2016

Trip Rating:

Very efficient, delivered as promised
Trip Rating:

Our tour manager, Caryn Cook, was exceptional. She was professional, well organized, and personable. She made the tour a great success. Overall, everything was very well done and thought-out. A few of the optional tours could have been better explained ahead of time (i.e. in the literature we were first given before booking the tour) and some were not mentioned. Specifically, we were confused by what was included in the possible reef experiences in Cairns and also the Middle Earth tour in Queenstown. As seniors, we appreciated the frequent rest stops. The buses were very comfortable and well-equipped, with great drivers all around. Some of our favourite experiences were Milford Sound, Ayers Rock, Penguin Parade, Maori Cultural evening, Dinner in the Bush in Alice Springs.

05/27/2016

Very thorough - took stress off us.

Trip Rating:

All information was timely and thorough. We knew what to expect in all aspects of the experience in terms of money, electronics, food, culture, etc. That was appreciated. Only suggestion - the Great Barrier Reef experience was disappointing as we only saw the inner reef and only for a short boat ride. Your explanation of the reef experience led me to believe we would see more of the reef. I optional tour seemed to be geared for scuba divers, which I am not, and would have liked to had seen more of the reef included in the tour. However, the Green Island tour was enjoyable, although the snorkeling experience was very rushed (20 min) as we had to get back for our scheduled lunch. Would have liked more time for snorkeling and more room for changing into snorkeling garb (especially for women). After lunch, we spent a lot of time just sitting around waiting for our boat. A better plan would have been to wear our bathing suits to Green Island and stay in them. That should have been explained.
Trip Rating:

Favourite experience - the Bush Dinner in Alice Springs.

04/28/2016

This tour was very inclusive of all of Australia and New Zealand. I would recommend this to anyone, it was fabulous.

Trip Rating:

Having never done a Collette tour before, I can say I was satisfied the tour as a whole. I appreciated the prompt refunds given for various reasons. The hotels on a whole were good, breakfasts were to asian specific, but that was understandable due to Chinese New year. I would recommend Colette to other people and would probably book again with Collette. Our Great Barrier Reef excursion was not good, too many people not the best reef.I was compensated as this was an added expense and the trip included was reported to be much better.
Trip Rating:

I loved being able to hold a Koala, which wasn't really given as an option but we found out about it on our own. I also felt that our tour leader wasn't a people person, difficult to speak with or as questions of. He wasn't awful, but I'v been on other tours and they were most gracious. I loved the camel ride and hot air balloon and would recommend both. The Sidney Bridge climb was another fabulous experience. Hobart, Tasmania was beautiful and would go back there, as well as Queenstown, New Zealand. I did feel that we did not have enough free time to explore sites we drove past as we wanted. I took the Fiji extension, which was relaxing and important I felt after this vigorous tour. I would not however recommend the Sleeping Giant Gardens. Not what I expected.

04/27/2016

Trip Rating:

The tour was excellent. We believe this was largely due to our tour guide Jim E.

04/23/2016

Trip Rating:

Service was friendly and prompt.
Trip Rating:

Tourr manager was knowledgeable, organized but not particularly personable. I have been on many tours with other companies and the tour managers were always part of the group. They would go the extra yard to make every experience wonderful. On this tour- it seemed more like just a job and not a personal interaction. The trip was still very enjoyable- a dream trip for me. Optional tours were great except the Great Barrier Reef extension. The boat was packed with about 400 people and the floating platform was packed. The reef was brown and gray- an indication of its dying condition. The Stopover River ride was great as was Hobbiton. I especially enjoyed the interaction with the Aborigines and Maoris. Our bus drivers were excellent and very helpful. They enjoyed sharing information about their countries with us. Our guide Joe- in Fiji was also great!

04/22/2016

Trip Rating:

Very good guide, itinerary. Good, knowledgeable drivers. Most hotels were fine. In discussion with the group most felt we should have had more dinners included, and 2 nights in particular were poorly organized...too many groups dining at the buffet at the same time. Also discussed was the feeling that we were being "nickel and Dimed" with respect to meals, or lack thereof.

04/22/2016

Well organised , knowledgable tour manager

Trip Rating:

Well organised tour, excellent knowledge of tour manager. Would have preferred a smaller group, as 42 people in the group.

04/22/2016

wonderful

Trip Rating:

Wonderful
Trip Rating:

We had a wonderful time!! Our tour guide, Carin Cook, did a wonderful job, was informative, very personable efficient, and made everything soooo easy for us. She met all our needs and requests. Our driver, Scottie, in New Zealand was awesome. We would recommend this trip to anyone who wants to see the lower continent.

04/22/2016

Can't believe we saw so much. Been on several tours with different companies, this ranks with the best.

Trip Rating:

Great. We had a wonderful time
Trip Rating:

Queenstown, New Zealand. Very picturesque town with amazing attractions nearby.

04/21/2016

Trip Rating:

Exceptional tour guides and itineraries.
Trip Rating:

Wonderful and fun tour guides. Favorite experiences include: snorkeling on Great Barrier Reef, singing with Australian bus driver/ tour guide; star gazing with expert in Outback, tour of Sydney Opera House, watching arrival of penguins from sea, feeding wallabies, gorgeous scenery and gardens.

03/10/2016

A lot of wasted time. Kakadu was a complete waste of time along with Mt. cook. Too much time was spent on the bus.

Trip Rating:

Jim Eldrich our tour director was absolutely fantastic. His knowledge, organization and wit helped our trip make it memorable.
Trip Rating:

Penguins, bush dinner, dinner in Sydney. Cable ride in Queenstown.

03/09/2016

Trip Rating:

An excellent tour guide guide led an excellent tour. We had a ball.

03/08/2016

Trip Rating:

Jim was outstanding. He was the best and most knowledgeable guide we have had on our 10 or more global tours. Thank you

03/08/2016

These words express my true feelings.

Trip Rating:

The service provided by our tour leader was excellent. Jeffrey Scott went out of his way to make certain that all went well. We would recommend this tour to our friends.
Trip Rating:

Our hot air balloon ride in the Australian outback highlighted our tour experience. Also, we enjoyed the camel ride, even though it was tough to get up in the very early morning.

03/08/2016

Trip Rating:

Took excellent care of us.

01/01/0001

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The Complete South Pacific From $11,199 pp*

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