Review: Luxury South Pacific Vacation, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Australia, Cairns, Gaudalcanal, Honiara, Gizo, WWII Sites

We would limit how many places we were trying to see in such a short period of time.  There were several very unique and beautiful locales where we would have liked to stay longer, but could not due to our very tight itinerary.  We did not realize how far distant some of the places we wanted to visit were, which required multiple air flights and very early departures.  We would also emphasize to anyone planning to visit the Solomon Islands that they be flexible with both their attitude and their schedule, as difficulties can and will happen, as they did to us.  However, the people there are extremely friendly and want to please and things can be worked out with patience, perseverance, and a good cell phone plan.

TRAVEL COMPANY COMMENTS:

We are pleased that the clients enjoyed the majority of their 3-week adventure in Australia, Fiji and the Solomon Islands!  It was a complicated trip, with many moving parts, so we were pleased we could accommodate specific requests and nail down an itinerary that touched on all their interests.  We were determined to find the most knowledgeable guides for their WWII site visits, as we knew how much it meant to them, and we were happy to find tours that would still be educational and interesting in such remote areas.  

There were a few concerns noted in the review that we would like to address. We did have to change the itinerary around last minute, but we were able to make the adjustments and create a more relaxed experience so that they wouldn’t have to worry about missing any international flight connections.  Unfortunately, this did cause some worry for the clients.  There was also some miscommunication with ground operators in Gizo about who would be running the tour, so that was a disappointment for both us and the clients. We won’t be offering tours with these local operators in future. It is too difficult to locate dependable guides and guarantee quality of the experience

We’re also happy that in light of the situation, the clients do understand the type of atmosphere that the Solomon Islands provides; and even though it can be a difficult place to travel when you have a complex itinerary, they still enjoyed the people and their time on the islands.