Tropical Vacations
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2001)
- Member Of:
- KPSGA & pack for a purpose
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $450 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
DE
Email Christina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Paid in advance, nowbody showed up in Arusha...until now no refund!
Mathew Adams is a lier and a thief!
He still owes us 630 USD!!!
DE
Email Christoph | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We payed 630€ (half tour price) in advanced on the prefing day nobody showed up at the hotel!
My girlfriend and I booked a 4 day safari via safaribookings.com with http://tropicalvacationsinc.com/ for 29.12.16-01.01.17. We payed 630€ (half of the tour price) in advance. On the evening of 28.12.2016 we were waiting in our Hotel in Arusha for someone to come for the pre safari briefing as agreed before. But nobody showed up or even answered the phone. Bevor we had a lot of contact via whatsapp and email. Next day we still hoped to get picked up at 8am but of course nobody showed up. We couldn't reach the company for the next days any more. Until now I’am in email contact with Mathew Adams and try to get my back. I did not want to make this a police case but I gave him a lot of chances so far and he often promised to pay soon but until now nothing happened. Of course this is the short story and I can proof everything with the emails and Bank transaction.
FR
Email hayann | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid Tropical vacations Inc
Avoid Tropical vacations Inc, his manager Mathew Adams is a lier and a thief, and avoid as well his Tanzanian partner, World Tour Tanzania. Here is the story in brief:
We booked a 4d/3n safari in Serengeti/Ngorongoro with this Kenyan based company. The detailed program has been comunicated to us, we have received photos of the cars we were supposed to use, the price and terms of payment has been agreed, everything seemed perfect.
The day of departure the pick up time was planned at 8h30 by people from the "Tropical vacations "ground office" Mathew wrote to us. At 9h30, no news from anybody, we started calling Mathew Adams, that we could not reach, and later our Landlord in Arusha ( we gave her phone number for more convenience) told us that she received a call from a guy in Arusha, saying that the safary was cancelled (....). After again many sms and attempts to speak with Mathew adams, he sent us an sms saying that things has been solved(...). We indeed were picked up and ended up at 11h30 am in a far away offices of a company called World Tour Tanzania, from which we have not heard about before. They told us that we were going with them in Safari, but they asked us to pay more than what has been agreed and under different payment terms than the ones agreed in written with Tropical vacations.
We refused and asked the Tanzanian guy to call Tropical vacations to solve this problem. The guy said he does not want to spend money calling Kenya from Tanzania, and told us that we have to call ( !!!).
We went back to downtown and again tried to call/sms ( at our expenses of course) Tropical Vacations. At 5 pm, World Tour tanzanian called us back , the price he asked was finally the one agreed with Tropical vacations, but still not the tems of payment. So after loosing one full day of our holidays trying to reach Tropical Vacations and solve the problem, as we coudl not get the terms which has been agreed in written with Tropical Inc and as we had now little confidence in this company, we decided not to go with this company. So Tropical vacations Inc did not respect the terms of its written commitments + was hiding to us the fact that it was just a simple intermediary company + lying to us on the service rendered : we have indeed not seen in the office of this World Tour Tanzania any of the nice cars that we have seen on the fotos sent to us by Mathew Adams. Later Mathew told us that the kenyan cars he showed us were not allowed to go to tanzania ( !!!). And regarding the non respect of the agreed terms he told us that a new regulation has been enacted in Tanzania 6 months earlier, that he was not aware of... while he is claiming to have, I quote " +14 years experience in Safari Tour Operations".
Last lie, back in Europe we proposed to Tropical Inc to reimburse us the paid money and we would forget about this sad story, Mathew Adams proposed to reimburse us 75% of the money we paid, we agreed on that. He was supposed to reimburse us before the end of last year, then he said he would pay us after the 26th of January... we are at the end of February and we still did not get our money back, and now he is no longer answering the mails. Maybe this comment will make him respect at least this last commitment ?
As a conclusion, avoid Tropical vacations Inc, and generallly speaking, I would advise you to use local companies, ie for Kenya kenyan based companies, and for Northern Tanzania, Arusha based companies.
US
Email Caroline Wallace | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beware of Mathew Adams & Tropical Vacations
In my opinion you should NOT use tropical Vacations! Our money was wired in full almost a month prior to our safari. We paid the director, Matthew Adams, $1630 in total for our lodge accommodation, safari drives, and flight to the Masai Mara from Nairobi Wilson Airport.
We got to Wilson airport at 14:15 to check in with Air Kenya. When we checked in the lady informed me that there was a problem with our ticket, and she sent us to the reservations office. When we went to the reservation office, we were informed that our tickets had not been paid for. An agent, Mary Anne, helped us to attempt to communicate with Matthew.
Matthew said that he was waiting on the refund from Sarova, and said that we just need to pay for our plane tickets, total of $644 for Casey Parker, and myself, Caroline Wallace. He said, and I quote, that he would "sort us out tomorrow". We told him that we could not do that, we can't afford that. We asked him to give Mary Anne his credit card number. This is when he began hanging up on us, talking in circles, and he never gave us an answer.
We had to pay for our plane tickets, which was an additional $580, that we had already paid for well in advance. I am exteremely dissapoointed in the service I have recieved. Matthew Adams said that he would sort us out the next day, well unforunately that day has come and gone. He has turned off his phones, and has been dodging our calls and e-mails.
I do not want this to happen to anyone else. Please do not use Tropical Vacations!
Reply from Tropical Vacations
Posted on Sep 21, 2014There was a problem with this booking as a result of a cancellation by a third party supplier. We're very sorry that this happened and take full responsibility as we are the ones who selected the third party supplier as the only available alternative by then. We had to change accommodation in order to make sure the safari proceed as scheduledd. As a result the clients paid $290 per person too much since the alternative accommodation was more expensive compared to the initial choice (total $580 for 2 persons). We have refunded the full $580 to the client as we agreed and promised. Again, we are bery very sorry that this happened. It was unfortunate and regrettable. Customer satisfaction is extremely important to us, as our other reviews show.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good guide but Unfortunately the accommodation and food were really bad
We had a good guide and the team tried hard. The masa mara was stunning and even though we only saw 1lionness and a cheetah it was a magical moment. However the food was particularly bad (and we are based in Ethiopia so we are not spoilt) and the accomodation was old and tired.
MA
Email Mehdi | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent reactivity
You can ask all the questions you have, someone will answer immediately... very good reativity and good service delivered
ES
Email Nuria | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a very nice experience.They tried us to see as many animals as possible.This is also a lucky
Despite having had a little misunderstanding with the trasnfer from Tanzania..they tried us to enjoylooking for animals in different National Park.
They are good professionals and know many things about animals.
The service was very good...although I would like to have seen more nimals..but it is a lucky question..because they are wild.
I recomend the experience.It is definitely worth it and people are helpful and lovely.
PH
Email Bernt | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A solid budget experience
We spent 3 days and 2 nights in Masai Mara, including travel from Nairobi. If seeing the animals is your priority, this tour had everything, although we thought being the rainy season would limit what we could see. During the second day with all day game driving we had 5 encounters with lions, really close - we could almost touch them from the bus. We also spotted all of the other Big Fives, except the rhino. Comfortable travelling and game viewing with only 4 passengers in the bus. Be aware though that accomodation in tents and all the meals are the budget variety, but enough. Jacob, our driver/guide brought us back and fortht and around the national park safely and had good knowledge of the park and the animals.
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience and a wonderful 9 Days Kenya Safari !
I and my 2 friends had booked a 9 Days Kenya trip with Tropical Vacations starting with a night in Nairobi on arrival, then to
Masai Mara game reserve, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasaha , Amboseli National Park and finally drop off a at
Watamu.The tour was well organized. Our flight landed at 8 p.m. and Mathew and the driver met us with a car as agreed for a transfer to our hotel in Nairobi.
The car was a mini-van. It is quite decent, the seats are comfortable and there were no major breaks. Wilson could use the maximum the car can provide! :))
and we must say everything was excellent from planning to execution....first of all, our emails were responded to in time,
with all the answers we sought and at some point we had to change our initial itinerary..but it still worked out perfectly.
The Guide Wilson was a nice professional who was keen to show us around and drove carefully...he was also punctual on time
...the accommodation options we chose were booked and were perfect, staying in lodges, (Amboseli Sopa Lodge was nice, but a little far from the park!)
We were lucky to see most of the wildlife, with at least 4 of the Big 5 and to sum it up, Mount Kilimanjaro!
We were generally happy with the services and would for sure use this company again...also recommend to our friends....
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
great safari and city tours
I felt very well taken care of and had a great time on safari. Some problems with car and traffic but that is not the operators fault. They went above and beyond in making sure I was comfortable and safe; and since I was a woman traveling alone that was very important. Great guides, funny, informed and open.