Arctic Birding Trips & Packages Tours & Trips

What travelers are saying

"My wife and I were on the Smithsonian Journeys Splendors of Australia and New Zealand between April 13 and May 2, 2018. Smithsonian is rated by this site as Luxury travel. However, Smithsonian "farms out" the logistics for their trip to Odysseys Unlimited. Odysseys booked within country air travel with the lowest cost air carriers. Flights were cancelled from Ayers Rock to Sydney and from Queenstown New Zealand to Rotorua. Another flight was significantly delayed so that we did not arrive at our Christchurch destination until 2:00 am, making for a really tired next day. Odysseys Unlimited compensated us $400 per person for missing a day in Sydney and paid for an excursion in Auckland for missing Rotorua. This was wholly inadequate, given that these were highlights of the trip. In addition, our tour guide was rude to several people on the trip. If Smithsonian Journeys is truly a luxury travel outfit, as we had believed, then they would not be farming out travel logistics to such a chinch company as Odysseys Unlimited. We will think twice about traveling with Smithsonian again, and so should others."

What travelers are saying

"We used Jacada to organize a father/daughter trip to Patagonia. They did an outstanding job from the moment we landed to Chile to our departure 12 days later. Everything was taken care of. We can't wait to go back."

What travelers are saying

"Horrible horrible customer service! Or should I say non-existent?! As a world traveller, I have encountered all types of crappy, parroting, cookie-cutter, idiotic answers from customer services over the last decade; however, I have never EVER had a company ghosting customers let alone one whom we have paid tens of thousands of Euros! The pre-booking phase was just fine and smooth, the laid-back attitude of welcoming on the ship without x-ray machines and asking for passports was amazing. But the nice part ended there. The meals, lectures and general service was mediocre at best. The more important thing is the missing of Kvitoya, which was the main point of the cruise for us. Basically the captain did not want to go there, they used the weather as an excuse because the way the expedition leader put it was: “It would be very uncomfortable and we'd be missing a day and a half of activities.” ! So it wasn't that the weather made it impossible, it was a “choice” by the captain. Mind you, it's no longer possible to visit Kvitoya from January 2025 on due to new regulations, so there is no way to make up for this. So it is a huge huge loss for us. Then, comes the worst part. They wrote a logbook with NO MENTION of missing Kvitoya at all! The only place you find Kvitoya in the logbook is in the name of the voyage! Incredible... Then of course comes the even more incredible part: As Kvitoya was the highlight and the main reason why we booked this voyage, we asked for a partial refund. Mind you, the cruise without Kvitoya is much cheaper than what we have paid for. And what did they do?? They basically did not answer at all! After two weeks, I wrote reminding them our request. We were told that we'd be getting an answer, but within 6 weeks. So we waited six weeks, nothing. 7th week, still nothing. In the end, I wrote again and got an apology from the reception desk “for the inconvenience”! Still 5 more days passed and the Arctic Director deigned to answer. It probably would have been better if he hadn't! It was an indignant answer saying how rightful they were, how it took time to “investigate” (as if they're investigating a murder case!), that the trip was overall successful apart from not getting to Kvitoya (Duh! That's the point of the voyage, it's in the name: “Around Spitsbergen and Kvitoya”), apologizing “nevertheless” (implying there was no need for an apology but he was still apologizing!) and offering us a 20 % discount on a future trip stating specifically that it was valid only for “non-discounted” voyages, that is basically trying to sell us yet another trip which would get money in their pockets, not compensating us the least! Not even offering the difference between the voyage without Kvitoya, that is the one we paid for and the one we got. I naturally replied with a refusal of their offer, and legitimately criticized the response. Well... It's been a week now and no answer. So basically, we are ghosted! Never in our lives did such a thing happen that the customer service did not get back to us after 2 months, not even with small companies let alone a company who has charged tens of thousands euros! And being ghosted??! STAY AWAY from Oceanwide! It's easy to be a good company when things go fine. The calibre and quality of a company shows in the proactive way they solve problems and Oceanwide failed miserably on this!"

What travelers are saying

"Horrible horrible customer service! Or should I say non-existent?! As a world traveller, I have encountered all types of crappy, parroting, cookie-cutter, idiotic answers from customer services over the last decade; however, I have never EVER had a company ghosting customers let alone one whom we have paid tens of thousands of Euros! The pre-booking phase was just fine and smooth, the laid-back attitude of welcoming on the ship without x-ray machines and asking for passports was amazing. But the nice part ended there. The meals, lectures and general service was mediocre at best. The more important thing is the missing of Kvitoya, which was the main point of the cruise for us. Basically the captain did not want to go there, they used the weather as an excuse because the way the expedition leader put it was: “It would be very uncomfortable and we'd be missing a day and a half of activities.” ! So it wasn't that the weather made it impossible, it was a “choice” by the captain. Mind you, it's no longer possible to visit Kvitoya from January 2025 on due to new regulations, so there is no way to make up for this. So it is a huge huge loss for us. Then, comes the worst part. They wrote a logbook with NO MENTION of missing Kvitoya at all! The only place you find Kvitoya in the logbook is in the name of the voyage! Incredible... Then of course comes the even more incredible part: As Kvitoya was the highlight and the main reason why we booked this voyage, we asked for a partial refund. Mind you, the cruise without Kvitoya is much cheaper than what we have paid for. And what did they do?? They basically did not answer at all! After two weeks, I wrote reminding them our request. We were told that we'd be getting an answer, but within 6 weeks. So we waited six weeks, nothing. 7th week, still nothing. In the end, I wrote again and got an apology from the reception desk “for the inconvenience”! Still 5 more days passed and the Arctic Director deigned to answer. It probably would have been better if he hadn't! It was an indignant answer saying how rightful they were, how it took time to “investigate” (as if they're investigating a murder case!), that the trip was overall successful apart from not getting to Kvitoya (Duh! That's the point of the voyage, it's in the name: “Around Spitsbergen and Kvitoya”), apologizing “nevertheless” (implying there was no need for an apology but he was still apologizing!) and offering us a 20 % discount on a future trip stating specifically that it was valid only for “non-discounted” voyages, that is basically trying to sell us yet another trip which would get money in their pockets, not compensating us the least! Not even offering the difference between the voyage without Kvitoya, that is the one we paid for and the one we got. I naturally replied with a refusal of their offer, and legitimately criticized the response. Well... It's been a week now and no answer. So basically, we are ghosted! Never in our lives did such a thing happen that the customer service did not get back to us after 2 months, not even with small companies let alone a company who has charged tens of thousands euros! And being ghosted??! STAY AWAY from Oceanwide! It's easy to be a good company when things go fine. The calibre and quality of a company shows in the proactive way they solve problems and Oceanwide failed miserably on this!"

What travelers are saying

"Great job! The tour was better than we could have imagined. Your guidance by gesture and smile was perfect."