Grand Pacific Tour Reviews

The booking process through Global Journeys was smooth/easy and problem free. The accommodation was very good to excellent for all places. My only gripe: the bathrooms in some places should provide more hooks or towel rails to hang towels etc. (Also at one place the toilet seat would not stay up which made it awkward for me (male). The staff were friendly ...read more and knowledgeable, the coaches were clean and comfortable. There was a good bunch of people in the group (mostly elderly, all friendly) and as time went on we got to know each other well and had interesting conversations.

As for New Zealand, it is an amazing place and it impressed everyone of us. It's natural beauty is abundant both on the South and North Islands. We saw many mountains which still had snow, amazing fiords, many lakes and rivers with crystal clear water, large agricultural enterprises and a number of historic towns and cities. I think the places covered by the tour were all of interest and we covered a lot of things in the time available. I'd love to go back with kayaks or canoes and spend weeks to travel some of those rivers/lakes. We were impressed at how clean the towns/cities and country side were kept (no rubbish, no graffiti) which is a real complement to New Zealanders and tourists alike. I think NZ can be an example to many other countries (including Australia) in this respect.

Even the weather played its part and we had perfect sunny days with max temps in the low 20's on all days except one (when in Wellington it rained much of the day). All in all, our coach tour of NZ left us with many happy memories and I can highly recommend it to any other traveler. Just prey for some good weather (similar to what we had) in order to get the most out of it.

The time of the year was good and we had perfect weather hence really enjoyed the magnificent scenery. Our driver was excellent and the travellers were of approximately the same age which was good. We will definitely go back to New Zealand next time to the north as we did not experience any Maori culture. I have attached the view from our Resort ...read more in Queenstown which was a wonderful surprise indeed.

We had a fabulous trip from start to finish. Global Journeys handled our booking very well and kept us informed and up to date with its progress at all stages. Grand Pacific run a very professional operation and make it quite clear right from the start that we are the most important clients they have ever had and this should be the trip of a life time ...read more for us. Our tour guide was great, full of local knowledge and interesting facts and our group getting the most from our tour was always foremost in his mind. The coaches and drivers were first class. Having never been to New Zealand before we were amazed by its diverse beauty. The over night stay on Milford sound aboard the Milford Mariner was the highlight for us. We also loved exploring the Maori culture.

We both very much enjoyed our tour of the South Island. The coach was comfortable & we liked the introductory dinner in Christchurch. Marita gave us very clear information re the trip. Andrew Brown was an excellent driver. We were very impressed with his knowledge & we liked his jokes. The accommodation was excellent & we enjoyed the meals. We were ...read more lucky to travel with a nice group of people. We both have travelled widely & we have to admit that some other touring companies left a few things to be desired, but our Grand Pacific Tour was excellent. We couldn't find fault with the quality of the tour & will definitely recommend it to others.

An amazing scenic holiday. The tour was very organized and had a great choice of included excursions. We felt very safe with both drivers Steve and Michael and tour guide Paul was very friendly and helpful. The scenery was amazing and diverse. The train journeys were amazing. The overnight cruise on Milford Sound was a highlight. We went in the ...read more end of October and the weather was perfect. Included meals were very good. The people in New Zealand are very welcoming and made our holiday very special. Global Journeys were very good and organized our booking very quickly as we decided to book holiday on two weeks notice.

We had an enjoyable holiday and were well looked after by the driver who was both knowledgeable and helpful. The coach was comfortable and clean, the accommodation was of a high standard as were the meals. We would recommend Grand Pacific small group tours.

The trip was great the tour guide and coach driver provided excellent information. The included attractions provided a fantastic addition with many giving you an understanding of New Zealand life and culture.

The tour was very good value for money the food was excellent throughout and the standard of the included and optional experiences was very high. The coach driver was very professional and gave an excellent informative commentary and the tour guide had a genuine concern for the customer and his or her needs. The hotels were of a very good standard.

New Zealand was much more than we expected. Beautiful scenery. Very friendly people. Travelling in October was pretty good. We got some rain and unexpectedly some snow but we also had plenty of sunny beautiful days. Accommodation was first class. Food choice numerous. Have to be very disciplined not to put on a kilo or two. Could not fault Grand Pacific ...read more in any way. Both the guide and driver very knowledgeable. The coach was brand new and with two doors to exit. Global Journeys have a very good online process for bookings. Very easy and clear to view /edit/follow/download/payment of the booking on their website. The average age group of the travellers was more around 65 and not 55 as promoted by GP. But they were all "fun" people and everyone had a good time on the tour. Highly recommend this tour.

Long story short, the entire south Island trip was fantastic, from airport pickup up - to travel and accommodation, tour guide & bus driver, everything together made it a wonderful experience. Great reason for me to look forward to the North Island option! Loved it!

We very much enjoyed our 10 day trip of the South island with Grand Pacific tours. We left mid April and it turned out to be a great time to go with beautiful Autumn foliage especially in Arrowtown. There waere a good mix of people on board and even though there were 48 of us there never seemed to be any delays. The hotels were very good with the ...read more exception of Twizel which I believe is to be renovated. The meals and inclusions were very good also and the whole trip was excellent value. I especially was impressed when a Grand Pacific manager came and gave a speech at our farewell dinner and also provided a musician to entertain us on our last night together. Georgie at Global Journeys promptly and efficiently handled our booking.

Grand Pacific were great they pay great attention to detail so our tour went without a hitch. They changed our room bookings when we realized climbing into the bath for a shower was going to be a problem which was greatly appreciated. Paul our bus driver was very knowledgeable and supplied details about towns countryside while we were travelling. All ...read more the inclusions were good and as one couple remarked you really don't need to do the extras. Your help along the way with the booking was appreciated and we would certainly use you & and your agency again.

Our Ultimate New Zealand tour was Ultimate all the way! The coach is very comfortable and the envy of other coach passengers. This has spoilt us for future coach travel with other companies! Hopefully other companies will consider this style. Our small group (20) were fun & happy, always on time departing etc. Our coach & tour guide Paul was excellent, ...read more full of knowledge and a very safe driver. All the hotels were excellent quality, though personally did not like the Millennium Hotel in Queenstown. Found the customer service lacking in a number of areas & a very busy buffet breakfast area. The staff at Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands went out of their way to provide great customer service, as did The George in Christchurch. The highlight of our trip was the optional helicopter ride to the Fox Glacier - spectacular! Would love to do another Ultimate tour with Grand Pacific. Special mention goes to Michelle from Global Journeys for her exceptional customer service. It has been a pleasure to deal with Michelle and will certainly be in contact with her for future holidays. Our questions were all answered promptly and prices are very competitive! Will certainly recommend friends & family contact Global Journeys.

I joined Grand Pacific Tours for a 16 day Affordable Highlights tour in March/ April 2016. Everything about the tour was wonderful starting with being met at the airport by their Rep & transferred to my hotel. Russell was our driver/tour leader through the South Island & made our tour enjoyable, was ever cheerful, always on time, very knowledgeable ...read more about the history of the places visited & went out of his way to make our holiday effortless. So too was Kevin our driver/tour leader in the North Island. He too was excellent, always on time & imparted a wealth of knowledge on the history of the places visited. Driving through the South Island is one picture perfect moment after another with exquisite scenery, amazingly high mountains & stunning fiords. The tour included cruising on the Milford Sound & also The Bay of Islands both of which were simply awesome! I thoroughly enjoyed this trip, travelled with a great bunch of people, stayed in great accommodation & enjoyed the bountiful meals included. All in all a great trip & highly recommended.

Had a great holiday seen some beautiful places ,would use Global Journeys again and have recomended them to other family members.

Great itinerary. My only suggestion would be to stay in Tongariro National Park (as I did on a previous trip), rather than two nights in boring old Wellington - typical of any big city world-wide. Had very good weather in the South Island but mainly wet conditions in the North Island. I cannot recommend the optional day trip in the Dart River wilderness ...read more of Mt. Aspiring N.P. (ex Queenstown) too highly - simply superb! The South Island hotels (esp. in Christchurch - Heartland Hotel, Cotswold) were generally better than those in the North Island where rooms & bathrooms tended to be small, but were very good otherwise. Having a second access door on the coaches was very beneficial. Both driver/guides, Peter & Linda, were very knowledgeable and pleasant, but were overworked, not having a tour guide with them.

Those who had been to NZ previously were a little bit "Maoried-out" with our itinerary, especially if adding the Bay of Islands, but we expected that to be the case. Five of us hired a people-mover in Auckland to travel the length of Northland. The highlight here was Harrison's Cape Runner from Kaitaia - a 7 hour trip to both sides of the peninsula in a 4WD bus for only $NZ 50 incl. a picnic lunch. We visited Houhora Heads, Rarawa Beach, Tapotupotu Bay, Cape Regina, 4Wdriving through Te Paki Stream, sand tobogganing, and driving along 90 Mile Beach. Very, very worthwhile! As usual, the organisation at this end by Global Journeys from Georgie Walpole was superb - as we have come to expect! All in all a great trip (my 4th to NZ, the previous being a North Is;and Rugby trip(!!!); calling in on a cruise; and the South Island with the superb 6-day hike through the Greenstone and Routeburn Tracks (when I was much younger (58) and had a pair of knees that still worked!!) Many thanks to all concerned!

I was very impressed with the overall selection of the places we visited and the accommodation. However, I would like to add that, even though I rated our last hotel (Copthorne Hotel, Auckland) highly as we had been impressed with all other places and needed to hand in our report, I feel that I rated this place too soon as we were very unimpressed with ...read more this hotel and feel that it was not deserving of all Grand Pacific's other accommodation. It was definitely out-dated and tired but I would question the cleanliness of our room (eg we stayed 3 nights) and the house keeping didn't give us clean glasses, cups etc, we had to ask for more tea bags and even our bath seemed unclean as the bath mat had not been taken out of the bath which other hotels had done for cleaning. I could not recommend this hotel, but Grand Pacific's other selections were spot on. I would also like to give a high recommendation to our last driver 'Linda' whose service, attitude and friendliness plus exceptional knowledge of the area should be applauded.

Being our first coach tour, we were a bit apprehensive, spending many hours comparing Tour Operators and tours. We feel we hit the jackpot, with Global Journeys. Hannah Campbell our consultant was a pleasure to work with, answering any queries promptly, We had perfect weather, (early Feb), John Taylor our Driver was excellent, enhancing our journey ...read more with his informative commentary as was his humorous guide Garey Deutsher. We had a wonderful group of people on our tour & made some life long friends. Couldn't be happier, we will return but this time no hours on computer, straight to Global Journeys for sure!

We were impressed with Grand Pacific Tour's itinerary and the knowledge and expertise of the driver/tour leader. The earthquake as we were leaving Christchurch was a surprise!

Our holiday was well above our expectations and had a fabulous time. The others on our trip were easy to get along with and ended up being good friends. We have already been in contact by e-mails. Everything we did and saw was excellent and we will recommend it to others. There were a couple of things we would have liked a little more time at, but we ...read more know we had a schedule to keep. The accommodation was brilliant with 1 a little under the others standard . The coaches were clean and comfortable and the drivers were polite and knowledgeable. Special praise to our tour directer, Peter Talbot. Nothing was a problem and we became one of the family. The whole tour was well organised and ran like clockwork. Meals were excellent (maybe too good I put on a little weight). Brilliant holiday.