
Kate's Travel Agency
Based on 51 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
Being a first time visit to NZ and so far away we thought best to be in the hands of someone that knows the land.Our travel designer was able to put find us excellent flights at a better cost than we could have on our own.A detailed itinerary was presented based on our physical activity level, cultural tastes, accommodation and general interests.Our designer was easy to work altering some of her suggestions to activities and points of interest that we favored . We traveled the north and South Island,for almost 4 weeks and never encountered any problems with reservations for accommodations or tours, they were seamless. Our car rentals were prearranged as well as Ferry tickets, etc. making it stress free and allowed us time to focus on enjoying our sightseeing. It’s a beautiful country with people that couldn’t be nicer, it was a trip of a lifetime.
Show More

Roseann's Travel Agency
Based on 229 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
This was a trip of a lifetime. We worked well together, came up with an awesome itinerary for 6 weeks to New Zealand and Australia. You name it we were going to do it. This truly was an itinerary with planes, trains & automobiles. Let's not forget to include boats, helicopter, camel and kayak. We had such a variety of things planned including wine tasting in both NZ and Australia. I can't say enough good things about our travel company!!! In the planning stages they even spoke to us about where and when to go as far as seasons and which way to go whether it be Australia first or NZ. As it turned out, the recommendation to go to New Zealand first was perfect. We were saved the experience of Australia for only a few weeks and maybe being stuck there! No stone was left unturned, even when the fires occurred in Australia. Our impact was going to be minimal.We left the US on March 9th for NZ arriving on the 11th. No problems with Covid-19, we continued on with our itinerary. Sailing in the harbor in Auckland, wine tasting on a beautiful little island outside of Auckland. On to Queenstown which is delightful and Milford Sound for an overnight on a ship. Absolutely beautiful. Glad we did this vs a day trip or boat ride. We flew back to Queenstown, which I'd recommend because you have a great overview of the mountains. Breathtaking!! Picked up a rental car and drove to Franz Josef to climb the glacier. We're an older couple, but this was an incredible, first-time experience! My husband still marvels! We took a train to Christchurch which is still suffering the after effects of the 2011 earthquake. Again a train up the Pacific Coast which is beautiful to Nelson. Kayaking, hiking and a catamaran in the Tasman Sea. What scenery!! Up to Rotorua for more fun. Well this is where the wheels starting coming off of our fun. Things got cancelled because of Covid-19 and the ever changing environment of new shut downs and what the government was asking of people and vacationers. Starting on the 15th of March our travel agent was continually in contact with us about Covid-19 and how our itinerary was going to be impacted. She made alternative suggestions, we made the decision to extend in NZ. As our trip went along, things kept changing.... NZ decided to shut down on March 25 midnight. Our new flight home was March 29, then March 27. She worked with us so closely and was so helpful she actually got us a flight home on March 25. While we were having fun and enjoying ourselves, this company was working for us behind the scenes. You can't ask for more than that!! By the way, we came home and quarantined. To date, we're healthy.
Show More

Rick's Travel Agency
Based on 132 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
We had the most wonderful 15 days in French Polynesia that I could’ve hoped for! Rick was so helpful in getting us prepared for knowing what to expect across our many islands and excursions. The trip was set up to let us experience a wide variety of things from cultural, historical, water and land excursions. The recommendations for the types of accommodations in the locations were spot on!there was a small service worker strike that had the potential to impact our transitions through the islands and I return home. I reached out to Rick over the weekend as soon as I learned about it. He was so responsive, and very helpful.
Show More

Sharon's Travel Agency
Based on 738 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
New Zealand is amazing country and 2 1/2 weeks wasn't nearly enough time. We planned the trip because our daughter was studying abroad in Wellington for the semester. Our travel planner tailored the trip to our specifications, quickly making any and all necessary changes. Traveling from the South Island to the North, the itinerary was thorough and included maps, directions as well as additional activities to do in each location. We arrived on the South Island, just after a heavy rain storm that closed Milford Sound. This was to be our first excursion and we were a bit disappointed. We contacted our travel planner and her team in New Zealand who were diligent in trying to rebook a modified version of the tour. Due to weather it did not happen, but the customer service exceeded our expectations. The rest of our time went as planned with awe inspiring scenery from glaciers to geothermal sites and relaxing daytrips to wine regions and beaches. The real testimony of our travel company's "above and beyond" customer service came four weeks after we returned home. Our daughter's program was canceled due to COVID19 and she needed to return home before June. Neither United or Air New Zealand would help us with rebooking. We called our travel planner and she immediately contacted the airlines having new tickets issued within a day. When these flights were canceled, she again contacted the airlines and found a flight to get her back. We can't thank her enough for handling this stressful situation.
Show More

Jo's Travel Agency
Based on 23 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
I absolutely loved working with Jo. She knows her islands! She was the only travel agent who actually listened to me and took into consideration my preferences, instead of just sending me a bunch of options and asking me to pick what I wanted to do. The best part of working with a travel agent is that they get to know you and plan the trip just for you. Jo did just that! I highly recommend working with her travel agency.
Show More
Featured Reviews
New Zealand & Cook Islands Vacation Review: Milford Sound Overnight Cruise, 17-Day Trip


New Zealand Luxury Vacation Review: North & South Islands, Doubtful Sound in Fiordland, Jet Boating at Mount Cook


New Zealand & Cook Islands Trip Review: North Island, Farm Stay in Levin, Sunrise at Cook Islands, Stars & the Night Sky
New Zealand, Australia, & Cook Islands Trip Review, Luxury Honeymoon Tour, Catamaran on Lake Rotoiti, Fiordland Park Heli-Tour
We have used Zicasso three times in the past 3 years and have always been satisfied with the excellent service of Zicasso’s travel consultants. That being said, this travel agency stood out as the best travel consultant we have ever worked with as they went over and above to ensure we had a lovely honeymoon. From the beginning we felt like the travel planner and his team took care and attention in trying to understand our needs. The team developed a lovely itinerary for 18 nights across Australia, New Zealand, and the Cook Islands. They handled all our reservations (including restaurants where requested) and also acted quickly to reschedule two of our tours that had to be rescheduled on short notice just before the start of our trip. We could not be happier with the travel company’s recommendations and we thank them for planning a wonderful honeymoon for us.
Julian and Whitney W.
Travel Review: Luxury Cook Islands & New Zealand Honeymoon Trip, 2-Week Tour
Cook Islands & New Zealand Travel Review: Auckland Tour, Rotorua , Wine Tastings, Volcano
Fiji, Australia, New Zealand & Cook Islands Trip Review: WhitSunday Excursion, City Walking Tours, Blue Mountains
Review: Australia, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Bird Sanctuary, Aboriginal & Maori Culture, The Great Ocean Road, Uluru
Our trip was spectacular! The travel representative nailed our itinerary. She really listened to our needs and wants. We saw everything that we wanted to see at a pace that was good for us. The accommodations were lovely. We were able to immerse ourselves into the culture of the countries we visited.
Travel Review: Honeymoon in New Zealand & The Cook Islands, Auckland, Queenstown, Waiheke Island, Hobbiton, Scuba & Snorkeling
Very responsive, friendly and helpful when it came to a big change in our departing flight plan.
Did not feel that our opinions regarding the ideas for the trip and our preferences were initially taken into account or considered, we had to request a lot of the fine tuning of the trip and do a lot of the legwork regarding research of the country.
Would have been nice if there were more options for the trip given from the beginning without us having to request and adjust each of the details, especially when it came to issues regarding the weather and time of year being on the cusp of fall/winter. For example, we had been scheduled for the Dart River JetBoat, which ultimately, would have been a waste of an experience and quite miserable considering the local weather in Queenstown typical for early June, we noted this and requested it to be cancelled from or itinerary, but would've expected this to be researched by the travel company as well.
Disappointed by a couple of the accommodations, in Auckland and Taupo, while decent, but dated facilities, they were a 10-15 minute drive or taxi from the central or restaurant districts of town, would have preferred a more central location, with consideration to neighboring activities, again this was not discussed or asked of us during the booking or planning process.
We also had no communication and the local company did not touch base with us on a single occasion during our trip - this is in great contrast to our previously experience with a Zicasso company in another country, from the time we left, we felt that we were out of their hands and left to figure out the details of our trip based solely on separately emailed documents, no welcome packet with hard copies, etc, which were later requested at nearly every ticket operator, tour company for confirmation requiring local cell service, internet etc - again, this was not a consideration. Lacking on the details.
Review: Luxury Anniversary Trip to Australia, New Zealand & Cook Islands, Sydney, Queenstown, Nelson, Rotorua, Milford Sound
As a primer, my wife and I planned this trip to celebrate our 5th year wedding anniversary. This travel agent and his team did an absolutely outstanding job in brainstorming, planning, and executing on delivering our trip! Our trip consisted of Sydney, Queenstown, Bleheim, Kaikoura, Nelson, Rotorua, Auckland, and Cook Islands.
Probably one of the best part of this experience was our travel agent's knowledge in the area and his ability to get to know my wife and me; out of all the other agencies we spoke to, he crafted a unique agenda that matched our likes/dislikes substantially better than any other. We both felt a connection to our travel company because they seemed to get us the most and didn't try to do the 'cookie cutter' Australia/New Zealand approach. As we went on our trip, more and more of his thought process and patience in helping us select the cities, means of travel, hiking, and excursions seemed perfect for us.
Once booked, our travel company was pretty good about getting us information and responding to us. We had a little bit of follow-up we had to do on our end, but ultimately, the agent provided everything they said they would and with high quality.
When we were abroad, everything went fairly smoothly. The only hiccup we had was when we first arrived in Sydney, the driver was not there and we were not sure how/where to find them. We had about a 30 min. wait before they arrived and were unable to get a hold of our Australia contact initially. However, it all worked out; they called to make sure we were OK and the driver was trying to figure out when our delayed flight was actually arriving. At the end of the day, if that's the only item to impact us, I'll take that all day!
We did have an excursion that was canceled in Rotorua, which were bummed about. But there's nothing the agent could really have done for us; and they quickly reimbursed us once we returned.
In closing out the trip, again, this company wanted to make sure we had a great time, were fantastic to work with, and really spend a lot of time getting to know you. They also found a few 'trip enhancers' that helped make it a more unique experience compared to what we could do on our own. The only reason I'm giving this agent a 4 instead of 5 is that two other agents we had previously worked with on special occasions (honeymoon, anniversary, birthday) to other destinations (Africa, Thailand) proactively reached out to lodging that we were at and made us feel 'extra special' for our special occasion with some amenity of sorts. To us, that truly is the extra mile, but this company was not too far off! Highly recommend working with them!!
