New Zealand Luxury Vacation Review: Queenstown, Wellington, Picton, Greymouth, Christchurch, 16-Day Vacation

Review by traveler

AJAY C & ANGELA S.

11.27.2023

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

New Zealand

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

The trip was well planned. The response from Zicasso’s travel agency was prompt and helpful while planning and during the trip.

Our driver/guide was awesome; very knowledgeable in all aspects of travel and photography, well mannered and very helpful.

The ferry from Wellington to Picton was in awful condition. Most of the toilets did not work and the scenery was nowhere near as profound as described by the agency.

The three nights in Queenstown for senior citizens like us (65+) was too long if you are not into bungee jumping, rafting, kayaking, etc. Instead, it would have been nice to spend a day or two in a place like Wanaka, or one night in Te Anau near Milford Sound.

While the train trip from Greymouth to Christchurch was great and scenic, the agency should have booked the seats on the left side (facing the front of the train) as most of the nice views were on that side.

The hotel in Christchurch was way below the four- to five-star accommodation requested by us.

Overall, however, we had a great trip!

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

The beautiful scenic drives, great restaurants, wonderful people, fantastic driver/guide, and very comfortable car.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

See above.

Travel Company Comments:

Hi Ajay and Angela,

Thank you very much for your feedback and I am so happy that you had a wonderful time and enjoyed your driver/guide and his knowledge on travel and photography.

I am sorry to hear that you felt the ferry journey was not worth it. I do see that you travelled on the Bluebridge ferry due to availability on the Interislander and this boat is unfortunately a little older and we do only use it when we absolutely have to. I do hope that you enjoyed some of the stunning views through the Marlborough Sounds as this is the area that is most special and what everyone talks about. Sometimes there are even dolphins!

I take on board what you state about Queenstown but we do have to weigh up the benefits of moving between locations or staying in one location and taking day trips so you do not need to pack up constantly. I see that you did only have one free day in Queenstown and one day for a journey into Milford Sound so this is fairly standard but I will keep your feedback in mind when planning for senior citizens in the future and discuss this with them. The scenery is usually worth at least a 2-night stay in Queenstown.

I am sorry about the accommodation in Christchurch and we have already discussed this review with you so it has been noted that this specific accommodation is not of the 4* rating that it has and we will not be using it for 4* requests anymore.

Once again, I am so pleased you had a great time in New Zealand and I hope that we can help you with any further plans for a visit to New Zealand.