HazelBuc

We arranged a private tour with this company for our time in port, arriving in Pointe-a- Pitre.  I received a text stating to meet the driver outside of the exit gates at the port and go to the left.  It took a bit to find the driver, as outside of the exit, there were many parked vans.  The driver didn't have any signage to indicate who we were looking for.  After a few back-and-forth texts, we found him and thought we would be on our way.  However, when we arrived at the van, there was another group already in the van.  I explained we had a private tour for the 4 people in our party.  I was told "private tour means 6-8 people."  There was nothing in the emails I had exchanged with this company about a minimum number for a private tour.  In fact, I had indicated there was 4 adults and would they do a private tour and was told yes, with a confirmation email. The other group, upon us getting into the van also complained, as they had booked and paid for a private tour as well.  We were told " all is good, it will work."  They wanted to go to churches, museums and stop for lunch.  We wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens, Waterfalls, hikes and see some beaches.  A bit different, which is why we wanted a private tour.  We did visit the Botanical Gardens and they were very nice.  

Once we were finished there, I told the drive to take us back to the port, as we wanted a private tour and since that is not what we received, we decided we didn't need to spend the whole day with the other group.  We would let them have their time.   When we arrived at the port, the driver told me I owed 616€.  This was not correct because I had already paid 220€.  I showed him my confirmation email and he called someone (I assume SateVan).  I was then told I owed 300€.  We had a member of our group not feel well that morning and so they opted to stay behind.  I told the driver, I would have paid for the 4 we had reserved; however, we did not have a private tour, so I didn't feel we should have to pay private tour price nor for the 4th person.  The price quoted to me was 154€ per person.  With this amount x 3 the total tour would be 462€ minus the 220€ already paid should have made the remaining total 242€.  He insisted that since he went to the Botanical Gardens and had to come back, it was more.  I didn't unfortunately have EUROs and had been told they would take US in cash.  The driver stated the exchange rate for 300€ to US dollars would be $400.00 cash.  I knew this was not the correct exchange rate and explained it would be more like $340.00 US dollars but should only be around $285.00 since the amount in euros owed should be 242€ and not the 300€ he was stating.  He continued to state, "you pay me, other payment for company."  It seemed like he was not crediting me the down payment because that went to the company.  Not only did we not receive the private tour we reserved, but we also ended up paying an additional 370€ ($400.00 US dollars).  I have sent a detailed email to the company, so we will see if we receive any response.  There were some on these boards that seemed to have a positive experience with this company.  Unfortunately, that was not our experience.  

I am in the early planning stages for a trip to Alaska in 2017. We are planning on taking 7-8 days to spend in the SW part of Alaska prior to doing our cruise. I know this section is more for the cruise ports but thought I would post some questions to see if there is some help out there for my planning. We are planning on the end of August timeframe but could be flexible. We are hoping to see bear activity and have different types of experiences with bear viewing. I would like to be able to fly to Kodiak island, also go to Brooks Camp in Katmai NP and go to Lake Clark NP. So my questions...First for Lake Clark, is it better to go to Port Alsworth and do trips from there or to do the eastside of the Lake Clark NP more across from Kenai? Is it possible to do all three of these, staying a couple of days in each area? Or should I focus on only two and if only two, which two? I have heard a lot about Brooks camp but have also hear it can become crowded. We like to get off the beaten path so we are open to suggestions. It seems most trips are round trip from Anchorage so I am trying to find ways to be able to combine these areas without backtracking to Anc to start over with another flight. If that is what we have to do, then I think only two will work. Thanks for the help and suggestion.