We thoroughly enjoyed this trip. New Zealand is an amazing country and the scenery, especially within the mountainous and volcanic regions, is just mind-blowing. We were very fortunate with the weather, snow and ice in the South Island mountains and whilst we were on the North Island the rain seemed to be mostly a couple of days behind us, leaving us
...read more with mostly sunny skies and low 20s.
The description of the trip was misleading and we expected far more train and a lot less coach. On the positive side the coach driver (Trent) was exceptional and also kept us entertained with his commentary and jokes. We were however disappointed that on two occasions we were given a short train ride experience and then spent hours on the bus following the train line rather than riding the train. That said the TranzAlpine and other train experiences were in general exceptional.
On the negative side we felt somehow excluded from the rest of the group which significantly detracted from our holiday. On more than one occasion we did not receive the tour communication that all the others in the group did, and we even spoke to the Tour Director (Sharon) and suggested she should make certain that all the group paperwork was received by all the tour participants.
Sharon should really have been more communicative with her commentary also, frequently advising the coach of objects and places well before they were visible and also talking far too much about herself and her own circumstances rather than the more generic explanation. She also abandoned the standard coach seat rotation after the first 2 days leading to the same people seated in the front part of the coach and others in the rear part. Not important except that photo opportunities are much better through the front than the side windows. We also felt that on two occasions Sharon changed the tour itinerary largely to suit her own purposes, resulting in an afternoon free in Dunedin, and much reduced time at Mt. Cook exchanged for over 3 hours walking around Christchurch waiting for our hotel to be ready. These changes were made without consultation and, we suspect, so that Sharon could meet with her contractors and other friends.
Described as 4 star accommodation most of the hotels were of a reasonable to good standard with the notable exception of two. The Rydges Rotorua was abysmal. Our room was really dirty and with furniture that simply did not work. Filthy carpets and broken fittings were also a feature. Old, we can live with, but there is no excuse for dirty! The food was not good either and far from the standard expected. We experienced similar, although not so obvious at Te Anau where the hotel room had cobwebs in the corners and the bed sheets were not clean (hairs in bed- yuk!). Again the breakfast was very poor and the dinner the previous evening was also a big disappointment. We were asked to stagger our mealtimes to allow the chef to better cater so we chose to go a little later, however the food was the same as at the start of service, just now congealed and cold.
I have already conveyed these comments to APT/Travelmarvel and I believe they will take them on board, however it is clear that if you advertise a rail tour it should not be 80% by coach! To leave the entire group to fend for itself in Christchurch on the last afternoon for 2-3 hours is not acceptable. Fortunately it was not raining but there were less able individuals in the group who were less than impressed. Finally to ask for a donation to the coach driver's expenses was not in my view acceptable. We had already decided to have a whip-round for a tip for both of them anyway without a subtly disguised hint!
We will likely tour again with APT/Travelmarvel as they did a good job generally, next time we will be more world wise and careful however.