Indigenous Trails in New Zealand

[SueSails]

Has anyone used this compnay? Can you give me first hand information about them? My husband and I are looking at their 'Four Shore Excursions of Distindtion' and are interested in feedback anyone has about the company.

 

We will be on the Volendam sailing out of Sydney on 3 February, 2010. Thanks.

 

Sue

[Waynetor]

I'm sailing on the Princess Star out of Sydney in Oct. A group of about 50 cc members have booked them for all 4 NZ ports. Can't comment yet on what is was like but they do come highly recommended.

I'm doing a 60 day B2B that ends De 23 so will not post a review until after then. There is a lots of discussion about them on the roll call Sydney to LA.

Wayne S,

[CRUZGAL53]

Has anyone used this compnay? Can you give me first hand information about them? My husband and I are looking at their 'Four Shore Excursions of Distindtion' and are interested in feedback anyone has about the company.

 

We will be on the Volendam sailing out of Sydney on 3 February, 2010. Thanks.

 

Sue

 

Sue,

We are also on the October cruise with Wayne and I am the one who arranged the Indigenous Trails tours in all 4 NZ ports . I have been working wirh Des and am VERY impressed with his service and follow-up. He arranged tours to fit the needs of our group and was very flexible.

Although we have not actually been on the tours, I'd highly recommend them based on their promptness in responses and their great service. Hope this helps you!

[SheilaNC]

We had a wonderful tour with Indigenous Trails out of Tauranga last year. Suggest you search for older threads that evaluated tours in NZ - there are many and you can best make up your mind by reading a variety of recommendations.

[azmimi]

We are on that cruise too. Have you signed onto the Feb. 3rd rollcall?

We are looking at private tours also, I have sent out several e-mails asking for info and prices. Indigenous Tours seems to get good reviews from what I have read.

[atlanta99]

Although we have not taken the trip yet, I have been working with Des at Indigenous for an upcoming trip based on good past reviews. I am also very impressed with his courtesy, responsiveness and flexibility so far in tailoring a custom trip.

[rdowney]

We used Indigenous Trails to Rotorua last winter and were very pleased. Brian was our guide, and he made the experience really memorable.

[SueSails]

We used Indigenous Trails to Rotorua last winter and were very pleased. Brian was our guide, and he made the experience really memorable.

 

Thank you for the response. We want to make the most out of our first trip to New Zealand and hate to book with a company that doesn't do what they promise. Research still going on :)

 

Sue

[Ontario Cruiser]

Please read the March 15 2009 rollcall on the Millie for comments on this tour when our cruise was cancelled one week before sailing. Make sure you check out the cancellation policy. We ourselves booked Awesome and because we agreed to pay cash on arrival but gave him our credit card info we were not charged when we cancelled just a few days before the tour.

Mind you it doesn't happen very often that a ship can't get into port.

Ontario Cruiser

[krigaren1]

Please read the March 15 2009 rollcall on the Millie for comments on this tour when our cruise was cancelled one week before sailing. Make sure you check out the cancellation policy. We ourselves booked Awesome and because we agreed to pay cash on arrival but gave him our credit card info we were not charged when we cancelled just a few days before the tour.

Mind you it doesn't happen very often that a ship can't get into port.

Ontario Cruiser

 

Ontario Cruiser - were you refering to Indigenous Trails cancellation policy or Awesome's policy??? In which case wouldn't you have been better to refer to the current policy? which is on their web-site and I believe this was altered to mitigate unforeseen 'events', which you state don't happen often.

Reservations & Payments:

Indigenous Trails DOES NOT REQUIRE A DEPOSIT to confirm your booking, THOUGH CONFIRMATION TO SECURE YOUR PLACE ON ANY TOUR MUST BE MADE IN WRITING to Indigenous Trails NO LATER THAN 45 days BEFORE commencement of any tour. FAILURE TO CONFIRM your booking MAY RESULT IN THE CANCELLATION OF YOUR RESERVATION by Indigenous Trails. Full and final payment of all tours and holidays must be received by Indigenous Trails no later than 14 DAYS prior to COMMENCEMENT DATE OF YOUR TOUR, UNLESS OTHERWISE MUTUALLY AGREED BETWEEN PARTIES, though this will need to be made in writing to Indigenous Trails. If full payment is not received by this date, we reserve the right to cancel the booking.

Those customers looking to purchase tours directly through our online booking system on this web-site and requested to provide their Credit Card details, can be assured that the system used is safe and secure and meets the all requirements.

Methods of payment:

Paying by Credit Card or Bank Transfer

Payment for any tour can be made by Bank transfer or Credit Card. In the event of paying by Credit Card, Indigenous Trails will draw the total amount of the tour cost 14 days before the commencement date of any tour.

Alternatively, and if mutually agreed upon between Indigenous Trails and the customer, we will NOT DRAW on the customers Credit Card until arrival in New Zealand, however, the customer must provide and state to Indigenous Trails written notification of this transaction.

Regarding Bank Transfers, please contact Indigenous Trails for these details. Indigenous Trails does not provide these details online due to security reasons.

Cash

In some cases cash payment can be accepted for tours by Indigenous Trails on arrival in New Zealand, though this is to be determined through negotiation and mutual agreement between Indigenous Trails and the customer. However, a Credit Card will be required to secure confirmation of the tour, though this WILL NOT BE DRAWN, but HELD until the day of payment agreed between both parties.

Cancellations:

Having accepted your booking, should it become necessary for you to cancel your reservation, this MUST be made in writing to Indigenous Trails. Cancellations made within 14 days of commencement date will incur the following charges:

• 14-1 days prior to commencement date - 20% of tour cost

  
  

• Reservations cancelled 24 hours before commencement of any tour, AND secured by Credit Card, will incur a charge of 50% of the tour cost, UNLESS notification in writing to Indigenous Trails has been received by fax or email within this time period and before commencement of the tour. In this case, a resulting 20% charge of your Credit Card will be incurred.

  
  

Indigenous Trails considers these conditions reasonable as any tour arranged has included months of preparation, whereby organising logistical services, attractions and activities could result in minimum numbers for these services being compromised and/or extra fees incurred to Indigenous Trails due to late cancellation or no-show occurances.

Refunds:

No refunds will be made on commencement of your tour, nor will any refund be available in respect of any tours, accommodation, hires, services or inclusions not utilised.

Cruise Ship Tours Cancellation Policy ONLY:

Regarding pre-booked Cruise ship excursions, Indigenous Trails will refund ALL monies according to the following;

• Should your vessel miss any scheduled Port due to bad weather and Cruise Ship missing Port location of call

  
  

• Unforseen mechanical failure of the Vessel

  
  

In any other circumstances than those mentioned above, the normal cancellation policy applies.

[Ontario Cruiser]

Yes not Awesome. That is great news I was just mentioning what happened in March 2009. I know that they have a good tour.

Ontario Cruiser

[krigaren1]

Yes not Awesome. That is great news I was just mentioning what happened in March 2009. I know that they have a good tour.

Ontario Cruiser

Cheers OC, I read in a forum that one or two didn't receive a refund due to the then, cancellation policy they had at the time, which was part of the 'terms & conditions' upon booking, though didn't cover missing a Port, but of the majority that were affected, they received a 'Cruise Ship' excursion 'On Wheels' of both North and South Islands (see post below).I think that any tour excursion operator needs to make it quite clear on their web-sites for consumers what the 'Terms & conditions' are regarding bookings and cancellation policies.

 

 

High Praise for Indigenous Trails

Des Harris and the people from Indigenous trails saved our vacation to New Zealand when the March 15, 2009 Millenium Auckland to Sydney cruise was canceled. Through Des' close ties to other native tour operators he was able to create an awesome last minute North Island itinerary for us. That along with his caring attitude and great sense of humor ensured that we had a trip that will long be remembered. I can't tell you how many times we (and others on the tour) said we were glad that the boat broke! (That coming from my brother-in-law who had never been on a vacation that wasn't a cruise!)

 

Some highlights of the tour

 

-Waitangi treaty grounds

-Waka trip on the Waitangi River and lunch at a Marae/replica post European Maori village with Hone and the people of Waka taia-mai Tours (The experience felt more like they were sharing their culture with us rather than giving us a tour)

-Amazing night walk in the Waipoua Kauri forest in Hokianga with Bill from 'Footprints Waipoua' (He talked about the medicinal uses of native plants and we saw the huge Kauri trees that are found in the North Island of New Zealand.)

-Whakawherewhera Thermal Village (a living Maori village)

-Kiwi Encounter a Kiwi conservation center in Rotorua at Rainbow Springs

-Kiwi360 in Te puke(great gift shop)

-Jade Factory in Rotorua for a good selection of quality jade jewelry

 

If you are going to be in New Zealand before your cruise begins I would highly recommend going to the Bay of Islands with Indigenous trails and though I was unable to attend their 'cruise ship' day tour (I had booked one from a recommendation on this chat board), I am sure it would have been of the same quality.

[SheilaNC]

I'm glad to hear that your experience mirrored ours last year. I do agree that all cruisers should be sure that they understand payment expectations and cancellation policies before booking a tour. We had a wonderful experience with a company on the Cook Islands when we were unable to disembark and visit an island due to high waves. Very professional and just sorry that they couldn't show us their beautiful island.

 

We've endured unanticipated rain and change of itinerary (with Indigenous Trails) with a wonderful substitute tour and other uncontrollable issues with our high quality tour companies. One of the wonders of Cruise Critic is the opportunity to ask questions and receive detailed answers from other members.

[sayaguru]

Des is fantastic.

I was worried about our tour as my mum was 71 but he tailored it to us and it was fantastic. He did everything bar stop the rain.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his company.

[CRUZGAL53]

We just returned from our Sydney to L.A. cruise and had Des from Indigenous Trails do our tours in Dunedin, Wellington & Auckland (unfortunately we could not get to Christchurch due to heavy winds). We had a FANTASTIC time and Des did a wonderful job!!

Since we missed Christchurch, he suggested we go to Rotorua while in Auckland and we had a wonderful day!

We would highly recommend Indigenous Trails and Des...we'd use them again in the future!

[CRUZGAL53]

I would NO LONGER Recommend Indigenous Trails. Although the tours were okay, they don't seem to respond to emails or on-line requests sent to them any longer. I have sent numerous notes and NO ONE has responded. Their level of customer service has diminished to a very low level!

[BBMom]

We had a terrible experience with Indigenous Trails last year in Dunedin. It was one of the most expensive and the worst tour we have ever been on. They were highly reccommend on these boards. It was Boxing Day and you could tell our guide was less than happy to be working on a holiday. We will be using another company when we return this year.

[LawsonHillRow]

I guess this topic hasn't gone away yet. I saw this a few days ago and wanted to post but to be perfectly honest I was too scared to. I honestly fear retaliation (I have not had my trip to NZ yet), so I decided to just stay quiet.

 

But now that I see the topic back again today, I have gone over, created a new ID, and am posting as much as I can, hopefully without him being able to identify me.

 

He admitted he has someone here on Cruise Critic who sends him copies of our posts, so I'm sure he'll get a copy of this. I'm trying to stay as anonymous as I can.

 

It started when I sent an inquiry e-mail to Des. Not only did he respond in under 2 minutes, he sent me 5 separate e-mails within the first hour and a half. That seemed a little over the top, but I let it go.

 

Then, the next day, without any provocation from me, I got an incredibly sickening e-mail from him. Seriously, it was the worst communication I've ever received in my life, from anybody. I was shocked. And I realized I must be dealing with someone who was unbalanced (or who knows what).

 

I went investigating on Trip Advisor, and found someone who said he was cheated out of a refund, and that Des would not answer his e-mails. I also read a few posts from others who were not at all pleased with their tours - they said the tour guides were very bad. And I also read the reviews of one of the places that Des takes his tours, and I read some very unsavoury things about that place. All in all, not a pretty picture.

 

I don't know what is going on with this guy, but I don't want any part of it. All I can say is to dig a bit deeper on some other travel sites, and to be extremely cautious if you do decide to go ahead and use this guy.

 

I know "if you can't say anything good, then don't say anything at all", but part of me really wanted to at least offer some sort of warning.

 

I am finally posting this because I have received so much benefit from reading the reviews of others, and I know that if others hadn't opened up (with both positive and negative comments), that I might have made some mistakes in some of my travel/tour choices. So I am grateful to others for their reviews.

 

I'm hoping, though, that others have a better experience with Des than I did.

[Jkrossel]

Has anyone used this compnay? Can you give me first hand information about them? My husband and I are looking at their 'Four Shore Excursions of Distindtion' and are interested in feedback anyone has about the company.

 

We will be on the Volendam sailing out of Sydney on 3 February, 2010. Thanks.

 

Sue

We booked the 4 tour package in October for the Sapphire Princes. Our guide for the first 2 tours was difficult to understand, and got lost in town driving us the wrong way on a one way street. (Not to mention that the web site at that time promised all Maori guides, and we never had one.) To be fair he has since been let go, and Des has promised us a 60% refund on the first 2 tours, (which we have not yet received) We were expecting the tours to be as stated on the web site, but there were a number of differences. Auckland: We did not do Kelly Tarkington, in fact we did 2 tours that were not listed on the site that were way out of town. One of these was a sheep sheering which we also did in Christchurch.

Wellington: This was a rainy day and poorly planned, but the worst was a lunch in the van in the rain with greasy fish and only 4 plates for the 8 of us. Christchurch: This tour was great. We loved Akura Bay where we are a great lunch, and the farm we were taken to was wonderful. We also had some short, but nice stops in town. This was also the best guide we had. Dunedin: Another rainy day. Not a bad tour, but again the itinerary was changed without consulting us. Lunch was at a pub and quite nice.

If you decide to book with Des make a copy of the listed itinerary on the site, as he changed the site as soon as we were done with our tours. Also be aware that he may bill you for the tours long before the actual tour dates, which happened to most of us.

[Jkrossel]

I guess this topic hasn't gone away yet. I saw this a few days ago and wanted to post but to be perfectly honest I was too scared to. I honestly fear retaliation (I have not had my trip to NZ yet), so I decided to just stay quiet.

 

But now that I see the topic back again today, I have gone over, created a new ID, and am posting as much as I can, hopefully without him being able to identify me.

 

He admitted he has someone here on Cruise Critic who sends him copies of our posts, so I'm sure he'll get a copy of this. I'm trying to stay as anonymous as I can.

 

It started when I sent an inquiry e-mail to Des. Not only did he respond in under 2 minutes, he sent me 5 separate e-mails within the first hour and a half. That seemed a little over the top, but I let it go.

 

Then, the next day, without any provocation from me, I got an incredibly sickening e-mail from him. Seriously, it was the worst communication I've ever received in my life, from anybody. I was shocked. And I realized I must be dealing with someone who was unbalanced (or who knows what).

 

I went investigating on Trip Advisor, and found someone who said he was cheated out of a refund, and that Des would not answer his e-mails. I also read a few posts from others who were not at all pleased with their tours - they said the tour guides were very bad. And I also read the reviews of one of the places that Des takes his tours, and I read some very unsavoury things about that place. All in all, not a pretty picture.

 

I don't know what is going on with this guy, but I don't want any part of it. All I can say is to dig a bit deeper on some other travel sites, and to be extremely cautious if you do decide to go ahead and use this guy.

 

I know "if you can't say anything good, then don't say anything at all", but part of me really wanted to at least offer some sort of warning.

 

I am finally posting this because I have received so much benefit from reading the reviews of others, and I know that if others hadn't opened up (with both positive and negative comments), that I might have made some mistakes in some of my travel/tour choices. So I am grateful to others for their reviews.

 

I'm hoping, though, that others have a better experience with Des than I did.

 

I wish I had read your review before I booked. Thanks for being honest! I finally got Des to promise to issue us a partial refund for two of our tours, but I have yet to see it. His emails were a bit paranoid and difficult to understand. I did find out from a friend that I can use the letter he sent promising a us a refund to send to our Visa company. They will give the refund if he does not, and deal with him themselves. Again, thanks. When you make one trip there in a lifetime and feel like you missed seeing the best of the country you really feel cheated. So good of you to save others what we went through.

[LawsonHillRow]

I wish I had read your review before I booked. Thanks for being honest! I finally got Des to promise to issue us a partial refund for two of our tours, but I have yet to see it. His emails were a bit paranoid and difficult to understand. I did find out from a friend that I can use the letter he sent promising a us a refund to send to our Visa company. They will give the refund if he does not, and deal with him themselves. Again, thanks. When you make one trip there in a lifetime and feel like you missed seeing the best of the country you really feel cheated. So good of you to save others what we went through.

 

Thank YOU TOO for coming forward, and in such great detail. I know it's sometimes hard to talk about these types of things, but I'm sure many will benefit from what you've just shared here.

 

I sincerely hope you get at least a partial refund, though it seems that in many cases he has simply stopped all correspondance once someone has asked him for a refund. However, I've had to get a refund through my VISA company before (non-travel related), and it was a very, very smooth process, so I'm hoping it goes as easily for you.

 

I understand what you mean. For many of us a trip to that part of the world is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We want so much for it to be great. It is a shame to have to miss out because of someone else's lack of integrity.

 

I hope though, that after you get your refund, you can put this negative aspect behind you, and just focus on all the wonderful things you experienced during your cruise. Don't let thoughts of what Des has done sour all your good memories. And know that even though parts of your experience were less than pleasant, your experience can be extrememly helpful to many in the future. Thank you so much for sharing.

[bobhsv]

Hi,

 

Just another idea......When we went to Dunedin we pre-booked with a company called "Elm Wildlife Tours". This tour was one of the best we have ever been on. We saw more than was advertised, the driver and guide were absolutely fantastic, a very professional and informative group. I highly recommend them to anyone. They only take small groups of 6 to 8 people. We will never forget this tour.....wonderful! Well worth the money.

Jen

[northwestbear]

Was going to book a tour through this company - glad to have the warning. I will look elsewhere.

[CRUZGAL53]

I have to say our tours with Des and Ingidenous Trails were good (everyone in our group enjoyed themselves). I just had a problem with customer service however I finally received a response and apparently there has been some restructure of the company....hopefully this means things will improve.

[Jkrossel]

I wish I had read your review before I booked. Thanks for being honest! I finally got Des to promise to issue us a partial refund for two of our tours, but I have yet to see it. Again, thanks. When you make one trip there in a lifetime and feel like you missed seeing the best of the country you really feel cheated. So good of you to save others what we went through.

Just an update. I have received the refund to my Visa in the amount that Des promised to make up for our 2 unsatisfactory tours.