APT Tour & Cruise Reviews

Great trip - Broome inclusions were brilliant, flights good and the APT team were fantastic! Cruise was beyond our expectations- excellent food and service, great accommodation and wonderful crew who looked after us superbly - I could not recommend this trip highly enough!

Our Kimberley Coastal Expedition and 3 Day Broome add on (thanks to APT), was a fantastic trip. We travelled with APT who used the Ponant Luxury Expedition ship the Le Laperouse. We went out each day exploring the Kimberleys on zodiacs and had an expert naturalist with us to share their vast knowledge on this beautiful region. We saw loads of wildlife ...read more ranging from turtles, crocodiles, sharks, fish, birds, as well as aboriginal art and fantastic scenery. The ratio of crew to passengers was 1:1 so service was fantastic. The meals and entertainment on board were great and we really enjoyed our daily briefings in the theatre each afternoon. We would like to thank Rachael from Global Journeys, the APT team of Margie and Lauren, all our naturalists especially Kiwi Ed and the Le Laperouse crew, for making this a memorable holiday.

Spoilt by too much rain, we didn’t actually cruise - APT and ship’s staff were good but the holiday served its purpose - cruising is not for us. Pick-up and pre cruise arrangements were abysmal - in stark contrast to other cruises doing the same thing. On board we found the food was good (but not brilliant), the cabin excellent but the passengers were ...read more all quite old - we felt a bit out of place. Dining was also necessarily hectic and, if you wanted to dine alone as a couple - it was not possible unless you got room service. Many of the excursions felt too rushed (3-hour coach ride for a 2-hour visit) but weather was largely to blame as we couldn’t dock as planned. We found the flexibility of planning yourself and self-driving enabled better use of time. Some of the exclusive visits were excellent - the Sound of Music Show and the Vienna Recital being extremely worthwhile. Overall, staying twice as long at each stop would be our own preference. Global Journeys support throughout was good and we would consider again - but not for another 10 years.

Our 17 day APT Kimberley and Top End trip was fabulous in every way. ‘Bertha’ (22 seater Mercedes coach 4WD high ground clearance) covered 3,750 km with comfort and ease. The scenery was spectacular, the meals amazing and our fellow travellers were great. The stand out was our driver/guide. He had so much knowledge and delivered his commentary with ...read more enthusiasm and passion coloured with anecdotal stories toboot. Leigh was without doubt the key to our successful journey and experiences. This trip was worth every penny and we take away fond memories which we will treasure for a very long time.

The trip was great. We saw the Kimberley in all its glory, as well as snippets of Kakadu and Arnhem Land and the weather was perfect. The APT guides were really well organised and we had a good bunch of people on the trip. There was lots of laughter. The APT accommodation was spot on. It was go, go most of the time, but I guess it has to be, to see ...read more what you've paid for.

What a wonderful holiday we had after being organised by our highly efficient travel agent, Georgie. Our holiday experience with APT was top quality again. Even though the Iconic Italy Tour was hectic, the coach was very comfortable with WiFi. The tours were well organised and informative. It was great to have our tour attraction tickets pre-organised. ...read more The second half of the holiday included the Magnificent 15 day River Cruise. Unfortunately due to the unprecedented wet weather Germany received, we were only able to travel 1/2 the river by boat due to flooding towns and the river flowing too fast. Even though we did not see all the planned itinerary, APT kept all travelers up to date with the river conditions and tried their best to organise alternative day tours. The ship was very comfortable and clean and the food to die for. Considering not being able to see everything we had a great time, made new friends and would highly recommend the cruise to those who are considering doing it.

Each of the 13 days of the APT Kimberley's Complete tour is a highlight and it is the absolute best way for persons particularly of the Baby Boomers generation to experience the real Australian outback whilst retaining some of the creature comforts. From Hannah at Global Journeys and the APT team, the planning and booking process was seamless.The uniquely ...read more designed 4WD air conditioned buses make the 3000km travel in mid 30degree heat over often inhospitable terrain pass effortlessly particularly so due to the tireless efforts of our enthusiastic and knowledgeable APT guide team of Simon and Hils.

The accomodation was great and the quality of the meals served in the remote stopovers, the biggest surprise of all.Impossible to detail all the favourite walks, gorges, rivers, waterfalls, flights and cruises as each day was a new adventure. APT as a bonus even flew the group to and from the Mitchell Plateau when the road in remained closed. The helicopter trip back from Mitchell Falls to base camp was both picturesque and welcome after a long hike and enjoyable lunch with the tour group who at all times blended perfectly.

Our advice to fellow travellers is don't be deterred by the age on your passport as all walks are graduated at a pace that persons with a reasonable level of fitness will manage. Also don't be hesitant (as we were) to use the aid of a walking stick as it helps with balance on the rough terrain. No need to carry warm clothing in May at least as the temperatures remain mild overnight.

Amazing to experience so much of the history of Europe as well as beautiful scenery. Spring was a perfect time to travel. Highly recommend APT river cruise - everything included, professional staff and excellent accommodation and meals in the ship and hotels. Global Journeys booked and made changes very efficiently - thanks again Tracey.

Land content with the small group pre and post cruise met all expectations. The places visited and the experiences were memorable. The service provided by APT on the ship was outstanding.

A nine day tour of the bucket list of NZ spectacular scenery including the Tranzalpine train to Arthur’s Pass, Queenstown steamer lake cruise and dinner, a spectacular scenic drive to a cruise on Milford Sound, and then on to Mt Cook Lake Tekapo and back to Christchurch. A journey worth every minute of enjoyment. Well organised. Efficient tour guide. ...read more Very knowledgeable and accommodating driver. Large coach and a small group of like minded tour companions. Excellent accommodation and meals to remember. Hats off to APT, a wonderful experience. Thank you.

APT booked a very good hotel in Adelaide - The Mayfair & The Novotel in Barossa were excellent as was the Glamping tent in Flinders Ranges at Wilpena Pound. Dinner at the restaurant in the camp was mostly tasty but a bit hit & miss at times, although when you consider how remote it is they did an excellent job with the variety of food presented. Staff ...read more there were friendly at all times. The scenery was beautiful. Our Guide & Driver Kym was wonderful, so careful with all driving, always looked after us all & was very knowledgeable, friendly & patient. A definite asset to APT in every way.

There were some guests (only 10 of in total so heaps of room on the coach) that did not enjoy the grazing plate meals but we thought they were fine. The food itself was very good, the wine tastings were well organised, the dinner at Seppeltsfield was great (beautiful grounds & buildings). St Hugo’s lunch was also a highlight but I think the dinner at Mt Lofty was too much food, still good but perhaps slightly pretentious. Very expensive wine, over $70 for 2 standard glasses of red wine (public holiday loading & c/c charges). The cooking class at Maggie Beers was very interesting & we enjoyed our time there, perhaps again too much food after eating the meals cooked in the demo. The drive through Brachina Gorge was amazing! Lunch in Parachilna was a standout too.

All in all the whole 7 days were filled with very interesting activities, different places to see, food was of a good standard & the group got along very well. Highly recommend the whole trip to anyone interested in seeing those parts of SA, but remember there is quite a bit of coach travel involved so not for everyone.

From the time we arrived in Amsterdam , the APT Group looked after us like VIPs, our flight was delayed ,however APT team stayed back an hour to transfer us to the APT luxury ship, we where lucky enough to have a cabin upgrade on the ship, this was provided and appreciated and was good. We made new friends and many fond memories from the trip and would ...read more recommend APT. As Diamond Members we will again book with Global Journeys and travel with APT group on our next holiday.

We had a perfect trip on APT luxury river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest then on to Prague. From the flight with Singapore airlines, the luxurious accommodation on board the AmaVenita, the delicious food at every meal, the caring service and staff, the meticulous transfers, the amazing signature tours and knowledgeable guides…. And much more, made ...read more this memorable and most enjoyable holiday. Thanks to Global for coordinating our trip as well. Look forward to planning the next one!

We loved our holiday from start to finish. Our tour Guide (Saul ) and Bus driver (Andrew ) were excellent and went above and beyond to keep us happy, informed and entertained throughout our trip. Most of the hotels were lovely and of a high standard and the meals provided were more than satisfactory. I loved nearly all of the included tours and only ...read more once did we make a bad choice - not that anything was wrong with the tour itself, it just didn't suit us - my error in choice only. I would definitely recommend APT and would travel with them again in the future. Global journeys were great at organising all this for us and I would definitely use them again to help me plan a holiday.

Georgie and the team at Global Journeys once again delivered on everything we asked of them during the booking of our New Zealand adventure. We cannot thank them enough for answering all our silly questions and ensuring that we had the best time possible. We will always choose Global Journeys as our travel agent for tours.

Would definitely book again through Global Journeys. The river cruise was good but not quite what we thought it would be. Most day trips were only 2 - 3 hours in length. Fellow passengers were enjoyable company and the entertainment, Tori & Dave, were excellent. Maybe we are too young to be going on river cruises!!

The APT river cruise was fantastic. Went in Autumn and the scenery was incredible with lots of beautiful colours. The staff on the ship were great. Would recommend it.

The cruise itself was excellent, but wish that we had been informed that it was the rainy season. At least 3 day tours were spoiled by constant rain. The fellow travellers were great company, mostly from Australia, like us. The cabins were a little small. Had we known that you could upsize, we would have done so, but we were not told beforehand. The ...read more food was excellent, staff excellent and cruise director excellent.

The main drawback was the lengthy flight home. We left Wednesday 8th November 11 am, endured 3 lengthy unpleasant flights with Singapore Airlines to arrive in Sydney 10th November 10 am. We had upgraded to Premium economy, but there was very little difference between this and Economy. The Singapore staff were unpleasant and at times very rude. The plane was old and in need of repair/upgrade. The seats were uncomfortable and worn. There was water leakage from above on occasion. The food was not good quality. On the middle trip home of 13 hours, Joy fell asleep and missed 2 meals. When she awoke and asked for a cup of tea, having not drunk anything in 10 hours, she was told NO!!!!!!!!! When Joy later got up to go to toilet, she was told to sit down, even though 2 other people were lined up at toilet. On 2 of the flights we were in the same seats, which were opposite a large double cupboard, which was constantly being opened and slammed shut by the staff as they shuffled paraphernalia backwards and forwards with constant noise and disturbance. We would never travel with Singapore Airlines again.

APT tour was excellent. Overall rating on Tour was excellent. Overall rating on flights was TERRIBLE.

We completed this same itinerary seven years ago with Viking at the same time period in mid October. There were obvious differences between the operators. Viking cruisers were predominantly from the USA whereas this cruise was mostly from Australia and to a lesser degree the UK. The Scandinavian design of Vikings ship was much preferred to that of both ...read more of the APT ships. This cruise was impacted by low water which we were aware could be a problem. As a result we were placed on a Travelmarvel ship after a two hour bus ride from our starting port of Budapest.

Unfortunately for many guests the planned activities for Budapest did not happen. APT did arrange for guests to travel by coach to have a lunch cruise the next day (6 hours of road travel) The staff on Travelmarvel tried very hard but it was obvious more training is needed. The food and wine advertised in APT’s brochures emphasises fine wine and food. The wine was far from fine and food was bland. Viking also excelled in this area. Passengers had no other wine option made available to guests. One house white and one house red and a sparkling. When off ship we purchased wine. APT’s advertising promotes that passengers will not need to spend any more dollars once you are aboard. Viking’s offering in this area was far superior!

We did approach a senior staff member about these issues and were told we should expect better when we changed ships. APT had ample time to upgrade wine and food menus prior to commencing the cruise .
The wine offerings continued to fall short on quality though you could purchase from a short list of wine around the 30euro mark.
Staff on the Amastella were more proficient and the cabin were meticulously cleaned. Viking was also rated highly in this aspect.
The off ship excursions were very good on both cruises. We have traveled on 3 Viking river cruises and have experienced high quality cruises. We cannot say this about our most recent APT experience.

Trip was fine, APT typically provide great service and support. River component a little long and some short tours repeated. Global Journey's support was excellent.