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Looking for good private tour guide

scomar

By scomar,
in San Juan, PR

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alamorazzledazzle

alamorazzledazzle

Posted
Posted

We used Hector Westerband "Venture Puerto Rico". He TAKES PAYPAL!

 

We toured with him 4 days!! Loved it! We did lucquillo beach, ponce (don q castle, coffee plantation, city of Ponce), We stopped for Lucion, We did old san juan, El yunque, we did it all a group of 10 of us.

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Fourseventeen

Fourseventeen

Posted
Posted

Yeah I used albert because so many recommended him last year. He isnt a bad guy its just his business practices arent so great. I was pretty disappointed witht he service he gave us...and im a pretty easy going person, especially while on vacations

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Maere

Maere

Posted
Posted

I agree---we are all easy-going on vacation....the least we can expect is someone in a service industry with 1 opportunity to WOW us and with all of the positive spin from fellow CCers, Albert had a ready-made pool of potential customers. He blew it with enough of us that now others are getting an opportunity.....he had 1 opportunity to honor my confirmed reservation and didn't......I don't get a second chance with him because really, when am I going to San Juan again on a cruise? The great thing about these boards is we get good ideas (ie golf carts in Grand Turk!!!) and we help each other when we have the bad experiences......

 

Marianne

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Walt fan

Walt fan

Posted
Posted

To alamorazzledazzle: Your tag name caught my eye! We are in Bulverde just north of SA, but both DH and I work in SA. I was searching through the threads to find tour guides for next June 2011. Your thread was the first mentioned of this particular tour guide and sounded very interesting. Do you have any more info such as how willing he was to accomodate you, how the tour route was decided, what options were there, etc. My only concern is we get into port at 3:00 p.m. and leave at 11:00. Not sure what we can fit in before darkness falls. Any help is appreciated.

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  • 4 weeks later...
golfadj

golfadj

Posted
Posted

We were going to use Natural Wonders but he is booked up.

 

He told me has a good friend (I did not get her name) who has been a guide for 3 years and would follow him around and we would get an excellent tour.

 

Has anyone else heard of this? Would not use Albert too many problems lately.

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LUVNICK

LUVNICK

Posted
Posted

I have tried several different searches on the web to find out6 how to contact Natural Wonders and have not found the right guy. Can anyone please send a link to there web site? Any help with a very good and reliable tour guide for San Juan would be really appreciated.:)

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  • 3 weeks later...
cruise2010abc

cruise2010abc

Posted
Posted

My boyfriend and I went with Albert back in May and we didn't see him at the port either (even though we were at the port 5 min prior to our agreed meet up time). We ended up calling his cell after waiting for 10 min and he was on his way to the rainforest with other people already! Luckily, he was not far away and actually came back to pick us up. He did apologize and said that he made an error when doing the headcounts before taking off. However, after reading the recent comments, I'm beginning to think that it wasn't really an unintentional mistake afterall.

 

So, if you do go with Albert (and we had a great time with him), at least make sure that you have your cell phone and his number with you. If you don't see him at the port, call him RIGHTAWAY.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Fourseventeen

Fourseventeen

Posted
Posted

ill be back in San Juan again in Jan. I WONT use Albert and Surfcab tours needless to say. BUT I will be looking for another operator to take my wife and I out in puerto Rico so if anyone has had great experiences with someone else or a fun excursion for active people let us know ;)

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DonnaK

DonnaK

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We booked with Victor Balbin (Countryside tours) and he had excellent communication. We had changed our minds quite a few times before the trip, yet he was patient with us and very flexible in meeting our needs and putting together a tour for us.

 

Victor was unable to meet us at the pier due to an emergency, so he sent Edwin Santos of AdvenTours of Puerto Rico (787 233-2126 in his place. Edwin was extremely personable, knowledgable, and gave us a fun, educational tour. He showed us some off-the-beaten path things that aren't often included in other tours.

 

I was very impressed with the professionalism of both Victor and Edwin in the way the last minute substitution was seemlessly handled! Communication from both of them was outstanding! I would highly recommend either one.

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  • 6 months later...
tampabay

tampabay

Posted
Posted

:):)

We booked Albert for a tour of the rainforest and old San Juan during our Holland America cruise the week of March 26, 2011, after reading the Cruise Critic reviews. There were nine of us ranging in age from 70 to 7. Albert was waiting for us at the end of the pier as promised and became our personal guide for the next five hours. He told us about the island's history, current events and we discovered why he loves this island so much. He pointed out berries and fruites you could eat, plants and flowers only seen in the rainforest and made hats out of tree leaves. During his talks we oftened found several additional people joining our group to listen to the knowledge coming from him.

Albert will create a tour around the sights and/or activities you want.

We have been to San Juan six or seven times prior to this visit, but we will not return without Albert waiting for us.

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SANJOSEGAL

SANJOSEGAL

Posted
Posted
:):)

We booked Albert for a tour of the rainforest and old San Juan during our Holland America cruise the week of March 26, 2011, after reading the Cruise Critic reviews. There were nine of us ranging in age from 70 to 7. Albert was waiting for us at the end of the pier as promised and became our personal guide for the next five hours. He told us about the island's history, current events and we discovered why he loves this island so much. He pointed out berries and fruites you could eat, plants and flowers only seen in the rainforest and made hats out of tree leaves. During his talks we oftened found several additional people joining our group to listen to the knowledge coming from him.

Albert will create a tour around the sights and/or activities you want.

We have been to San Juan six or seven times prior to this visit, but we will not return without Albert waiting for us.

 

How do I find Albert :confused:

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  • 3 weeks later...
bbbradk

bbbradk

Posted
Posted

I was all ready to book this guy after the first page, but then wow, it sounds like he WANTS some bad reviews lol.

 

We had similar issues last year in Egypt.

People here raved about a particular tour company, we booked with them months in advance, and they were horrible, worst tour ever.

 

Anyways, I will keep looking for a tour guide.

Part of our issue is that we don`t get to port until 3:00 p.m. and leave at midnight.

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SANJOSEGAL

SANJOSEGAL

Posted
Posted
I was all ready to book this guy after the first page, but then wow, it sounds like he WANTS some bad reviews lol.

 

We had similar issues last year in Egypt.

People here raved about a particular tour company, we booked with them months in advance, and they were horrible, worst tour ever.

 

Anyways, I will keep looking for a tour guide.

Part of our issue is that we don`t get to port until 3:00 p.m. and leave at midnight.

 

I'm confused :confused: what are you referring to as far as this guy wanting bad reviews?

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SANJOSEGAL

SANJOSEGAL

Posted
Posted
this surfcabs person (Albert) the reviews start off fantasic, then get worse and worse.

There is no way I wuold entrust my one day in any city to anyone less than perfect .

 

Is this Canadian humor? I missed the bad reviews :cool:

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bbbradk

bbbradk

Posted
Posted
Is this Canadian humor? I missed the bad reviews :cool:

 

 

there are a few bad ones.

 

It sounds like if you do get the tour with this guy it is great, but a confirmation is worthless since several members were left stranded at the pier

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SANJOSEGAL

SANJOSEGAL

Posted
Posted
See posts #55, 59 & 73...

 

:(

 

Oh my goodness Mary Ellen thank you so much I guess I needed to read back a few pages. I would never take a risk of booking with Albert Aguirre. Just too hit and miss with this guy. We are traveling all the way from California and spending only one day in PR I'm not willing to take a risk that I will be one of the lucky ones. Thank you so much fellow CC posters for following through with replies and reviews.

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CruisinEars

CruisinEars

Posted
Posted

After reading through page 1 I contacted Albert for our upcoming cruise. He responded within a couple of days and advised of his tour contents and pricing. We do have 6 in our group so I hope it will just be us for a private tour. Now that I have read page 2, I am concerned. I just contacted him back to secure his services. We will see what happens. Should I be checking on some others? hmmm...what to do?:confused:

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SANJOSEGAL

SANJOSEGAL

Posted
Posted
After reading through page 1 I contacted Albert for our upcoming cruise. He responded within a couple of days and advised of his tour contents and pricing. We do have 6 in our group so I hope it will just be us for a private tour. Now that I have read page 2, I am concerned. I just contacted him back to secure his services. We will see what happens. Should I be checking on some others? hmmm...what to do?:confused:

 

Jennifer heck yes I would make back up plans if I were you if there is one thing you should have learned by reading this thread is he will confirm over and over with you and non of it will mean squat once you are standing there ready to leave on your tour in a bus with others or worse yet he's gone and left you. Sorry to be so blunt with you I just hate to see bad things happen to people after they've saved for a great vacation.

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CruisinEars

CruisinEars

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Jennifer heck yes I would make back up plans if I were you if there is one thing you should have learned by reading this thread is he will confirm over and over with you and non of it will mean squat once you are standing there ready to leave on your tour in a bus with others or worse yet he's gone and left you. Sorry to be so blunt with you I just hate to see bad things happen to people after they've saved for a great vacation.

 

Yvonne, I appreciate your bluntness. ;) He is so mixed it is just hard to tell. I can't seem to find another private tour guide that might meet our needs. I am searching the others mentioned in this thread as well. Just not sure of those either. I have never done a private tour, so I really don't know what my expectations should be (other than having the tourguide actually show up :D).

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SANJOSEGAL

SANJOSEGAL

Posted
Posted
Yvonne, I appreciate your bluntness. ;) He is so mixed it is just hard to tell. I can't seem to find another private tour guide that might meet our needs. I am searching the others mentioned in this thread as well. Just not sure of those either. I have never done a private tour, so I really don't know what my expectations should be (other than having the tourguide actually show up :D).

 

Jennifer I've only done private tours on all our cruises and have luckily never had a problem. The way I chose our private tours is through the recommendations on cruise critic. Check out this website I hope it helps

http://www.toursbylocals.com/San-Juan-Tours?gclid=CNP1irW31qgCFaRl7AodDmShiA

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