Review: Luxury Family Trip to Bali, Indonesia & Australia, Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, Mt Batur Hike, Scuba Diving

I would have not gone to Australia as everything there was kind of a mess and we have already been! The whole reason we went back was to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef and everything kept getting cancelled due to weather.  I would have made sure that our correct luggage amounts were taken care of through the travel company as well as hotel details.  

TRAVEL COMPANY COMMENTS:

We are pleased that the clients enjoyed much of their trip, particularly in Bali.

We’d like to address the issues experienced in Australia, as providing a high-level customer experience is a top priority for us. Unfortunately the weather was a big factor, as scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef was the main impetus for the clients’ visit to Australia, but all diving was cancelled during their stay because of a storm. We had discussed the weather risks at the outset, so the possibility of weather interruptions was a known risk. Fortunately we had scheduled some diving in Bali as well, which did happen and was a great experience for the divers of the family.

This was a family of 3 adults sharing a triple room, and unfortunately a couple of the hotels were not prepared for triple occupancy, despite our clear booking and reconfirmation. Understanding that this was an important comfort issue, we immediately remedied the situations with phone calls to the hotels…in one case, we secured a second room; in the other case, we upgraded them to a larger family villa. Of course we are reconsidering our future relationships with those properties.

We handled only the internal flights, as the clients booked their own international flights. The standard baggage allowance of one 50lb checked bag per person applied to those flights, and additional bags were charged at the airport. Since the flight itinerary that the clients were referencing during their trip did not state the baggage allowance, they were not prepared for the fees; as we accept responsibility for the lack of clarity, we paid for their extra baggage on subsequent flights.

Despite the issues, we understand that the clients were happy with our services, as they had advised that they would be contacting us again to plan their third try for the Great Barrier Reef!