Tropical Vacations Travel Agents & Reviews

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.

The itinerary was fantastic. With one exception, every activity exceeded expectations and there were so many things we did that were true "bucket list" experiences that it's hard to keep track! I think our travel agency knew the best companies, operators, and vendors to work with. The tour guides were true experts and everything was first class. The one day that didn't work out as well was the first day when our flight was late and we had to rush to the dive shop to get gear fitted, so some of the activities we hoped to do (hiking, kayaking) were canceled or abbreviated, through bad luck more than anything else.Jason was a big help planning travel, making adjustments, and advising on insurance. Thank God I got the trip cancellation insurance because I had to rebook all my flights the day before I left because of cancellations.Some of the activities surprised us with how strenuous they really were. I wasn't sure I was going to make it but with our guide's encouragement I was able to do the big climbs. On one hand, I didn't feel like the strenuous nature of the via Ferrata, Inca Trail trek, and Huayna Picchu climb was fully presented in the itinerary. On the other hand, if it had been I might have been a reluctant and could have missed out on three of the most spectacular experiences on the trip.  

Jack, the Kellers, and I want to thank you for putting together such a wonderful itinerary. After the initial bump in actually getting a flight to Dubrovnik, we thoroughly enjoyed every single day and every hotel – each was beautiful and unique. Everything ran like clockwork once we arrived in Dubrovnik – hotels expected us, the rental car pickups and returns were smooth, and the transfers were on time. Our travel company, and specifically Andrea, made sure that we had a memorable trip.

Traveling to and through Peru as a non-Spanish speaker was intimidating but Veronica and her staff took care of every little detail so that I had a smoothly planned, fun, exciting, and adventurous trip!When extra things were needed (change in dinner reservation, schedule typhoid shot for my daughter, flight canceled by the airline, etc.…) people were there to take us, translate, re-schedule, and explain everything. I cannot recommend Zicasso and this travel agency enough!!!!

What a fantastic trip to Portugal! Working with Filomena at our travel agency was such a pleasure. She put together an itinerary that was better and more comprehensive than we could have imagined. We were able to see so much of the country without feeling rushed. The highlight of the trip was having dinner with a family in the Alentejo area. They were perfect hosts and are now lifelong friends. Just seeing how they live, interacting with several of their children (16, 13, 12), having vibrant conversation and incredible Portuguese food let us experience the “real” Portugal.  Our trip was made of experiences. We enjoyed: the different food tours; visiting a cork farm, a winery and the antiquity of Portugal; seeing rugs made, dolls, pottery and tiles painted. Our excellent guides found us so many special places that are not normal “tourist” stops and introduced us to local foods and pastries. The pastry in Monsaraz, the cataplana in Tavira, the bifana in Porto and the suckling pig in Mealhada were all treats our guides introduced us to.I posted pictures every day on FaceBook and the response was amazing. People who have been to Portugal couldn’t believe how many things we saw and experiences we had. Those who have not even considered Portugal have now put it at the top of their list.Thank you, Filomena, and your whole company for making our trip to Portugal a memorable experience.

Matteo and his staff are absolutely the best! Before our trip even started, they were always available and kept us informed on any new travel restrictions. During our trip we had some changes due to flight cancelations and missed connections. They worked to change transportation and tours. We were greeted by guides at every location that made us feel special! I would highly recommend using them for your travel needs. 6 stars if I could. 

Our travel specialist did a great job in working with us during a difficult time of traveling! COVID-19 certainly provided a lot of roadblocks and extra hassles, but they were able to help us go on a wonderful vacation in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. They did a good job of checking in with us and arranging our COVID-19 tests. The driver and the activities they picked were very good, fit our needs, and there was a great mix of different things in our itinerary that we liked. We also loved our accommodation options. Overall we had a great vacation!Some things that could use improvement: Attention to detail- there were some things that were overlooked. For example, their travel contract clearly said we were responsible to get our own country tourist visas. We used another service to help us with this and when there were delays, our travel specialist seemed upset. When we reached out to them, they said that was a mistake and they were doing our visas and the hold-up was on us because we had used another agency to help us with the visas. Very frustrating communication. We had given them our passport and other information months before the trip. I am a US service member and was deployed and did not have access to email at that time- I usually am on top of details like my passport expiring, but this was an unusual circumstance. We then found out two weeks before our trip was set to leave that my passport expired 5.5 months after our trip and we almost were not able to take the vacation- we then had to rush to get a passport. This is why we pay a travel agent to have an eye for detail and the way in which our travel specialist responded to this issue was less than ideal. During the vacation, we had no scheduled lunches. Every day we had breakfast at the hotel, and dinner was planned at a hotel, but during the day we would sometimes wait a very long time before we were able to have our driver find a place for us to eat. Definitely something that should be considered for the next trip.

Our travel agency provided us an outstanding trip! From the accommodations, to the drivers, to the tour guides, our experience was better than we could have dreamed possible. Seetha, from our travel company, even met us at the airport with our driver to welcome us to Athens and presented us with a gift of Greek goodies. We highly recommend this company, and Seetha, to everyone.