ut_jd

Hi. I am wondering if there was any response for Gus's tour company. I am in the process of trying to research and book tours for next year's Lima to NYC cruise which includes Guatemala, and I am concerned about booking this particular tour after reading your post. I am also wondering if there are any other tours that folks were taking that did not include taking a boat. Just wondering.......:confused:

Keep in mind, the majority of reviews for Gus have been very positive. I just added my review because many individuals on our particular experience with him, felt it was awful. There are a number of other companies that do various tours in that area too.

There is a company called Happy Fish. I believe they basically ripped off all of Gus' tours; this was a big reason I went with Gus instead. However, everyone I spoke with who went with Happy Fish were thrilled with their tours.

Everyone's experience is different, but our experience with Gus was enough for me not to want to do business with him ever again.

We booked a trip with Victor Bodden Tours. As there were supposed to be three ships on the island that day, we actually had an “overflow” driver named Homer(?) who drove taxi 303. As it turned out, the large Carnival ship could not dock due to the winds. Homer was tremendous! He showed us many different parts of the island from the east to the west. He took pictures of us together, bought us local fruits, gave us some of his story as well as the island’s story, and explained and answered any questions we could throw at him. We also got to stop off and play with the monkeys and the birds. We got back to the boat in more than enough time but had felt we had seen the entire island!

By the way, sorry for some of the condensed words, when I copied and pasted this from Word, some of the formatting was lost.

I know many people have very positive reviews for Go With Gus Tours, but I wanted to share a very negative experience for all of you to consider before booking with him.

When traveling to Guatemala in late March, I was looking to these forums to see what would be best for us to do. As I saw a number of very positive reviews of the Livingston Humanitarian Tour from “Go With Gus”, we decided to book that excursion. My initial communication with him was very polite and quick. I submitted full payment and anxiously awaited our cruise.

Upon arrival in Guatemala, I was greeted by Gus’ wife. She was extremely friendly and helpful. She explained what would happen on the tour as well as other tours they offer should we ever dock in Guatemala from the west. In fact, a couple showed up who had paid for the excursion, but Gus had them booked on the wrong day. His wife immediately solved the problem for them by switching them to the current day and fitting them for a boat. So far so good. In addition, the Ryndam’s Captain’s wife and two daughters were on our tour, this will come into play later.

The first sign of trouble was the departure time. We were scheduled to leave for Livingston between 9:00 and 9:15 on the schedule we were given. However, Gus informed us we would not be leaving until 10:15. This made me uneasy as I wondered how we would get everything done in time. After leaving at 10:15, a group of four was missing. We toured around in an area not included in the tour so Gus could give the other people a chance to arrive. I understand giving people a few minutes, but an extra half hour? By the time we began the scheduled trip, we were running about 90 minutes behind.

We traveled over fairly bumpy seas (no fault of Gus, but rather due to the bad weather) until we reached Gus’ hotel, El Delfin, in Livingston. When we got there, we were greeted with four or five local types of fruit, hardly the wonderful spread as described by some on the forums and other sources like Trip Advisor. This stop too far longer than it should have. We were all done going to the restroom and sampling the limited variety of fruit, but were stuck waiting quite a while for Gus. As it turns out, he was handling other business at his hotel instead of tending to us. We left the hotel even further behind.

We stopped at a local village where we distributed some supplies to children who approached us in their canoes. We then went up the Rio Dulce a bit and headed for a school that was not in session (no fault of Gus, it is their Holy Week). Despite having school off and it raining, a number of children and parents came out to greet us. They accepted our supplies and sang a song.

When we left there, we went to watch a woman make fresh flour tortillas over a wood burning fire. To be fair, these were some of the most delicious flour tortillas I have ever had. The problem was, Gus then spent nearly an hour speaking with and explaining various things to the Captain’s wife and her children. This stop was only scheduled for about a half-hour. At this point, a few of us began to get anxious. It was now 2:30and we had yet to receive lunch, go to the hot springs, or do the Livingston walking tour; our ship left at 4:30.

Finally we left for the hot springs. Gus began to realize we were behind schedule and told people we would only be at the hot springs for 15 minutes. The hot springs were dirty and crowded, and the attached bar charged for bathroom use. For once, we actually left right around the time we were promised, about 15 minutes after arrival.

When we got back to his restaurant for lunch, after 3:00,the lunch was still not ready forus. When it was finally served, it was room temperature. As lunch went on, we asked Gus how we could possibly get the walking tour and transportation back tothe ship on time. His only response to us was “In seven-and-a-half years, I have never missed a ship. Your ship leaves at 4:30 my time.” Wrong. The ship left at 4:30 our time. Gus thought he had two hours left, when in fact, he only had one. He kept trying to reassure people that it did not matter that we were late because the Captain’s wife and family was with us and the Captain surly wouldn’tl eave without them. Another few groups on the tour began to ask similar questions about the time.

Finally, Gus responded by saying we were leaving for the walking tour. It is now one hour until the cruise ship leaves, and we are 35 minutes away from the ship. We all went downstairs thinking we would start the quick tour immediately, but we were wrong again. It was now time for the people who only paid their 50% to “settle up” with him. This easily took another fifteen minutes. We then went on a very brief walk of Livingston and boarded his boat to head back to the ship. By the time his boat left the dock, we had a 35 minute ride and it was 4:05 on the button; our ship left at 4:30.

Gus took his navigator from the front of the ship and placed him in the back, we then began to literally race across the water as fast as possible (especially for how wavy it was due to the weather). He had a look of concern on his face that he may be missing his first ship ever. The ride was so rough a little girl looked like she was about to be sick and we were lifting off our seats and slamming back down with every wave. Nobody was enjoying this ride back. When we finally could see the cruise ship, it was a bit past 4:30. We got off Gus’ boat and back onto the cruise ship at 4:35, after the scheduled departure time.

It wasn’t until talking to other passengers that we realized the Captain had stated over the PA that they were going to wait a few minutes for his wife and family, but would have to leave if they did not arrive soon. Ultimately, we got back on the ship, albeit late, but it made for a very stressful port day.

We shared a taxi ride from Costa Maya to Mahahual the next day, and the couple we had just met told us of a previous cruise in which they used Gus for a ruins tour. They said they paid in advance, then were told by Gus that not enough people signed up sotheir tour would be canceled. They protested, and ultimately he sent them on a tour with someone who was not professionally affiliated with Gus and spoke no English (unlike what they were promised). They too were very upset by their Gus tourand said they would never book with him again.

If you set a schedule, you should stick to it. From the start, Gus was running behind and showed little concern for our need to back to the ship on time, rather relying the fact that the Captain’s wife and family was on board. We were supposed to return an hour-and-a-half before departure, instead we arrived five minutes after scheduled departure. I would strongly recommend to anyone visiting Guatemala, not to book with Go with Gus Tours. Perhaps in the future, he should tell people on his tours “In seven-and-a-half years, I have never missed a ship, thanks to the Captain’s wife.”