Tropical Vacations & Tours

Zicasso’s travel company provided an excellent experience for our trip. Prior to the trip, they provided descriptions of what to bring and how to deal with every step of the trip, e.g., normal ranges for tips, packing lists for clothes, currency use, etc. The descriptions were very clear about how to meet our transportation and guides. Every step of our trip occurred on time, as scheduled. The guides they selected were experienced, with excellent English communication abilities.

Our guide in Monteverde was clearly the dean of the guide community. Other guides would ask him questions when we encountered them. He used his experience with bird sounds and other animal hints to allow us to watch two quetzals building a nest, taking turns with one quetzal on lookout while the other dug out a hole in a tree. We learned that it was very unusual to even see one quetzal at all, let alone two for an extended period. Our guide in the Arenal volcano area was also extremely knowledgeable about the plants and animals. We enjoyed getting to know them, as well as the driver who took us from Monteverde to Tamarindo.

The selection of guided tours and related events gave us a varied look at the many different things that Costa Rica has to offer in the northern part of the country. Working with the travel company on our itinerary gave us what we were looking for. It also allowed us to fly in and out of Liberia airport, which minimized our travel on the ground. During the course of our visit, we were in touch with a representative of the travel company on numerous occasions. He provided restaurant recommendations when we wanted to venture outside of the hotel. They were excellent. He also assisted in our determining proper tipping for particular legs of the trip.

The roads of Costa Rica can be challenging, especially at night, but our guides and drivers were very safe and skilled in dealing with the roads. The travel company used some of its people, but also engaged some who were independent. Their choices were very good and always on time. It was clear they are a well-run operation that knows how to support the traveler at every step of the vacation. Thank you for offering this travel company to us. It was our first experience with Zicasso. We were quite pleased and will definitely think of you for future trips.

We had a wonderful time on our trip. Zicasso’s travel specialist was responsive to what we wanted to do and adjusted our trip to fit our budget. He included our interests and took the research out of it for us. We asked him to plan on a tight time crunch of less than a month and he made it with ease.

Costa Rica had so much to do and he kept us active, which we wanted. I appreciated how the travel company had a travel app for all of our itineraries and tickets, as well as an emergency contact to make adjustments during the trip. We used this several times to book things we discovered during the trip and it was a breeze.

Our favorite adventures from our trip were ziplining, the river tour, and the waterfall in La Fortuna. We also enjoyed animal tours, which says a lot, as I'm not an animal fan, but the adventure was wonderful and felt very safe. I would consider the Monte Verde night tour next time.

We enjoyed our resort in Manuel Antonio and the beach at Manuel Antonio. The view was incredible.

Our whole tour flowed seamlessly and Costa Rica was beautiful and full of adventures. We'd happily return and use the travel company.

The coffee and chocolate tour in Don Juan was wonderful. Additionally, all of our hotels were great. I'd highly recommend this experience.

Overall, the trip went off without a hitch, besides a cyclone that hit the North Island in New Zealand. It ended up not being a factor for us as we flew in and out of Auckland on time.

There was a potential strike at Air Tahiti when we were supposed to fly to Bora Bora, but we managed to avoid that as well. The only excursion we didn't get to do was the jet boat tour, as high amounts of rain caused the river to get so high, they had to cancel.

We didn't get to do the helicopter flight from the cruise at Milford Sound because not enough folks signed up for it. We knew that going in though and weather wouldn't have allowed it anyway. We were able to schedule our own helicopter tour later that day and had an enjoyable time.

It was absolutely beautiful. Our first hotel was great and our second hotel was even better.

While my family and I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of Tahiti, I regret to say that our experience with Zicasso's travel agent did not meet our expectations. We entrusted her with planning our 10-day vacation for a group of six, including four young adults in their 20s and early 30s, and unfortunately, several issues impacted our trip.

Of the ten days we were in Tahiti, only two excursions were arranged by our agent. Prior to departure, she sent us a finalized itinerary, and based on that schedule, we booked additional activities for the open days. However, on the second day of our trip, she informed us we had missed an excursion in Moorea. I referenced the itinerary she had provided, which listed that excursion for the following day. She claimed that the schedule had changed, and I was looking at an outdated version, despite never receiving an update or notification. She then placed the blame on airport staff for not informing us of the change—something that should have been her responsibility.

Additionally, the selection of one of the hotels for four nights did not align with the preferences we discussed. While the island and hotel are beautiful, the location was extremely isolated and better suited for honeymooners or older couples. The concierge offered little support in finding local activities, and we were disappointed to miss Easter Sunday services, which we had hoped to attend but received no assistance arranging.

Another major concern was the lodging setup. Our agent booked three rooms, each with a king and a single bed. This configuration was excessive for our group, as we could have comfortably managed with two rooms. This was an unnecessary expense, especially given the already significant cost of the trip.

Due to these issues—lack of communication, poor alignment with our group’s interests, and inefficient planning—I would not recommend her services, nor would I book with this travel agency again.

Zicasso’s travel specialist was great to work with. She anticipated our needs and was quick to respond with information and to answer questions. She set up a great trip for us and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Australia. We had a couple of issues with the tours that were set up for us and they were quickly resolved, with great results.

On our visit to Kangaroo Island, the small-group tour subcontractor mishandled our connection on the island; their recovery was to send a personal guide to spend the day with us and also provide us with dinner! It ended up being one of our best tours. Many of our small groups were just my wife and myself, sometimes with one or two others.

We also had a very rainy and windy day the day we were supposed to go out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a weekend and the travel specialist was on vacation. That said, the on-call person was amazing in rearranging one of our other small-group tours for that day and we were still able to go to the reef two days later.

All in all, I would highly recommend the travel specialist and her company. They were great up front and great during the trip.