Journey Beyond Reviews

I travelled in a gold single cabin on the Indian Pacific train journey. Wonderful staff who are extremely helpful and friendly to the extent that when the air conditioning deteriorated in our dining car they went above and beyond and offered us 3 options of dining on the 2nd night: we could still eat in the extremely hot dining car; have room service ...read more in our rooms or the most popular option was "have a party in the lounge carriage": the staff brought out platters of everything on the dinner menu in bite sized portions, including servings of salad and vegetables, with normal whole servings of desserts.

The customer service manager for our 4 carriages arranged for the musician to perform an unscheduled set for us and she raided the Platinum bar and provided many bottles of Bollinger champagne. They well and truly created a party atmosphere - we didn't go hungry and the champagne flowed! All carriages were very clean and tidy, the food was fabulous - great variety, very good quality and great service. The bed was comfortable but I found the noise of the train made it difficult to sleep. I think as well as the chocolate that's placed on your bed each night they should also provide ear plugs.

A quick stop in Adelaide where I enjoyed the opportunity to visit Adelaide Central Markets. The Blue Mountains off train experience was great - skyway, cable car, the world's steepest passenger train and lunch. The evening stop in Kalgoorlie was a waste of time as we couldn't see anything in the dark. We got off the train some time after 9pm and didn't re-board till 12.50am! I hope to do another train journey in the future but will definitely source ear plugs!

Fellow travelers were an interesting mix of Aussies and overseas. Food was satisfactory. Some commentary on the scenery would have made it more interesting. The staff were wonderful. Sleepless nights and required early mornings left us feeling very exhausted. We expected a smoother ride. Overall not value for money. Global Journeys as always were h ...read moreelpful.

It was a wonderful trip, particularly when compared to the old narrow gauge Ghan that I traveled on some 50 years ago. A big, big change. I did fill in the survey supplied on the train and have already complimented our carriage hostess and the staff in general. Negatives was the breakfast at Marla which kept all the passengers in a restricted area ...read more (considering it was the Outback). I was denied walking 50 meters to get a side on shot of the locomotives (as I did with the old locomotives 50 years ago) and some German tourists were not happy in not being allowed to walk to the surrounding areas as it was regarded as "too dangerous". A little bit of overkill. That aside, a good trip with wonderful staff.

We have been very happy with the service from Global Journeys in this and previous trips booked. While we enjoyed the people we met and the staff and service on the Ghan, the Gold Class cabin was old and outmoded. For the cost we don’t expect to be in 1950’s era rail sleeper. It really needs a major upgrade. The carriage is very noisy including the ...read more aircon which is near your head on the top bunk. Teensy and old shower/toilet bathroom, albeit functioning. Side trips very well organised and enjoyable. Dinner under the stars very enjoyable and food and wine good. Journey Beyond coped extremely well when our journey got delayed after the cattle train crashed into the Ghan north of Alice Springs.

Pre Ghan stay in Adelaide at Mayfair Hotel situated metres from famous Rundle Mall was great way to commence our trip. Barossa Valley winery tour/lunch a real highlight. Picked up from hotel taken to the Ghan, welcome champagne and canapés. Welcoming staff showed us to our Gold cabin settled in, then to bar/lounge area. Beautiful food throughout out ...read more journey accompanied by great wines and super staff looking after us like we were the only travellers on the train! Off train tours were fabulous as were staff as always. 10/10

We have just recently returned from our Indian Pacific journey. Overall it was a truly amazing experience - once in a lifetime . The stopover in Kalgoorlie was a little disappointing as the tour was at 9pm until midnight and because of this you didn't really get a good picture of the open cut mine, but I believe this is going to be changed next year. ...read more Our tour of Adelaide was enjoyable finishing up at the Oval for brunch .The tour of the Blue Mountains was breathtaking as we were fortunate enough to get a sunny clear day it was stunning. The food and beverages on board were faultless. The organisation of all off board excursions were like clockwork and everything flowed seamlessly. Booking with Global Journeys was very easy and professional. Last but not least, we cannot speak highly enough of the staff on board the train, nothing was a trouble and every task was carried out with a smile. All in all an amazing experience.

Our first leg from Perth to Adelaide was very good and warm-hearted. The crew provided clear instructions, were welcoming, attentive, calm, composed, engaging, interactive and present. Very special mentions to the following staff: Lee, Esther, Caleb, Andrew (he made great coffees). I would give it 5 star ratings all round. We missed the Karlgoorlie ...read more stopover but was given a refund. So we spent most of our days on the train except for Cook and Adelaide. We decided to give the Blue Mountains a miss as we had already been there many times.

We thought we would enjoy the rest of the journey on the train but we were very wrong to do so due to the changeover of staff at Adelaide that made the train journey very lack-lustre. The changeover of the crew from the Adelaide to Sydney leg was surprisingly and very significantly very poor and different in comparison. In the second leg, Nick was the standout staff for initiative and engagement with the guests. The poorest service came from Jessica - very disappointing. She was curt with very little eye contact with us and also was curt with the staff. The second batch of staff did not run smoothly and did not have the camaraderie and morale observed in the first leg. In taking our breakfast orders, Jessica interacted mostly with the other couple seated at our table and not with us… she took their orders and half-heartedly took my order (only when I asserted myself with an 'Excuse me, I would like to order!) and totally ignored and overlooked my husband’s orders although he was seated next to me.

We found this extremely strange behaviour. When she brought the shared toast for our table, she only spoke to the other couple at our table ‘this is for you’, no eye contact whatsoever with us. It made me quite uncomfortable and awkward. From this experience when the actual food arrived, the scrambled eggs were merely a torn-up omelette (it was very lack lustre and dry).
It was quite obvious in my observation that many in this team were merely functional and lacked the zest and joy of professional hospitality service compared to the first team.

Bed bunks also weren’t put back after breakfast, we had to wait and then look for a crew member to help us put it back up otherwise we were not able to sit in our rooms after an awful breakfast experience. The 2nd leg is a 2 out of 5 rating. This brings my overall travel experience rating down significantly as this is the final part of our journey.

After having experienced the Top End and the Kimberley with APT, I also booked the Ghan Expedition via Global Journeys. Again, I was very happy with the handling of my trip considering that I live overseas. Georgie from Global Journeys was first class, responding quickly at all times even by phone considering the time change.

For me, one of the ...read more highlights was the helicopter ride over Katherine Gorge which I had done by boat on the Kimberley tour. The ultimate highlight was the flight to Uluru including lunch and a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide at the rock. It brought back lots of memories back in 1978 when I visited and climbed Uluru, then still called Ayers Rock. No doubt, worthwhile spending the extra money. The dinner at the Telegraph Station at night was a wonderful end of the amazing day.

The staff on the train were so lovely, friendly and cheerful at all times. The single cabins are somewhat small but that can't be helped. We were a happy bunch of people in the carriage. The food including all free drinks was remarkable considering the kitchen facilities. All off train excursions were very well organised with plenty of opportunities to explore the outback of Australia.

I did the trip in July which meant that the nights were chilly. So remember to bring along warm clothes for the mornings and evenings during excursions. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, felt well looked after and want to express my sincere thanks to the organising agencies.