El Pedral Patagonia PenguinTour-Puerto Madryn

[cruisetimeusa]

We had a tour booked with El Pedral Patagonia to see the penguins for  our December 6, 2020 cruise stopping in Puerto Madryn.  We have since cancelled this cruise and rebooked for Dec. 5, 2021.

 

I have written to them twice without a response which is very unusual for them.  They have always responded within a day or two.  Has anyone had contact with them within the last 2 months?  Maybe they are closed now because of the pandemic, but I would think they would have access to their e-mails.

 

Thank you.

[AryMay]

Not sure if they are open or not, but I follow them on Instagram and they have daily posts. Perhaps you could inquire through social media? 

[cruisetimeusa]

39 minutes ago, AryMay said:

Not sure if they are open or not, but I follow them on Instagram and they have daily posts. Perhaps you could inquire through social media? 

Thank you.  Will try that.

 

[Budget Queen]

Did your booking terms have a. cancel policy?     There may be a different contact?   

[cruisetimeusa]

10 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

Did your booking terms have a. cancel policy?     There may be a different contact?   

No cancelling policy that was ever given to me.  I assume that everything will remain the same just like the other tour company's that I have organized a tour with.  They all just switched the tour dates to next year.

[Budget Queen]

10 minutes ago, cruisetimeusa said:

No cancelling policy that was ever given to me.  I assume that everything will remain the same just like the other tour company's that I have organized a tour with.  They all just switched the tour dates to next year.

There had to be a cancellation policy.   At the least look on the website.    Isn’t it on your invoice.  
 

why-  do you think a different company has anything to do with this one?     It doesn’t.      Your assumptions have no connection.      Each vendor operates independently.     

[cruisetimeusa]

5 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

There had to be a cancellation policy.   At the least look on the website.    Isn’t it on your invoice.  
 

why-  do you think a different company has anything to do with this one?     It doesn’t.      Your assumptions have no connection.      Each vendor operates independently.     

There was no money paid upfront and we don't have an actual contract.  Just e-mails back and forth with the itinerary and pricing.  I didn't say it had anything to do with the other company's, just that that that is what they all did.  Of course each vendor operates independently.  They have always been great with  getting back to me within a day or two in response to my e-mails and I just wanted to make sure they were safe because of the virus.

[cruisetimeusa]

Finally heard from El Pedral and all is good.  Contacted them on facebook.

 

Thanks to all who responded.

[AryMay]

3 hours ago, cruisetimeusa said:

Finally heard from El Pedral and all is good.  Contacted them on facebook.

 

Thanks to all who responded.

Glad you were able to get things worked out.  We had a wonderful day at El Pedral in February 2019...one of our favorite tours! 
 

[cruisetimeusa]

10 hours ago, AryMay said:

Glad you were able to get things worked out.  We had a wonderful day at El Pedral in February 2019...one of our favorite tours! 
 

Thank you AryMay.  Great suggestion to contact them on social media.    Did you go from Buenos Aires to Santiago?  If you did , can you tell me is it better to be on the starboard or port side for the scenery?

 

Thank you.

[AryMay]

3 hours ago, cruisetimeusa said:

Thank you AryMay.  Great suggestion to contact them on social media.    Did you go from Buenos Aires to Santiago?  If you did , can you tell me is it better to be on the starboard or port side for the scenery?

 

Thank you.

 

Our cruise went in the opposite direction...from Santiago to Buenos Aires and included Antarctica. 

 

Not sure which ship you are on or what your specific itinerary is, but for the most part, I don't think it would matter which side you have a cabin. We did not have a balcony so spent a lot of time out on deck and would go from side to side. This was especially true in Antarctica where the scenery was 360º!

 

When the ship is sailing through the smaller channels, there will be scenery on both sides. Otherwise you will probably be too far from shore to see anything anyway.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. I am in "cruise withdrawal" mode right now and miss having a trip to plan. Also, there is a link to my blog in my signature. The daily posts from our cruise might be helpful in your planning or just give you something to help pass the time until you cruise!

[cruisetimeusa]

2 minutes ago, AryMay said:

 

Our cruise went in the opposite direction...from Santiago to Buenos Aires and included Antarctica. 

 

Not sure which ship you are on or what your specific itinerary is, but for the most part, I don't think it would matter which side you have a cabin. We did not have a balcony so spent a lot of time out on deck and would go from side to side. This was especially true in Antarctica where the scenery was 360º!

 

When the ship is sailing through the smaller channels, there will be scenery on both sides. Otherwise you will probably be too far from shore to see anything anyway.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. I am in "cruise withdrawal" mode right now and miss having a trip to plan. Also, there is a link to my blog in my signature. The daily posts from our cruise might be helpful in your planning or just give you something to help pass the time until you cruise!

Thank you for helping us.  I have read your blog and it has been very helpful.  I think you did El Pedral . If you did, was the walk to see the penguins difficult?  Thank you for always responding.  I did also put a post about which side for our route on cc.  No responses yet. 

[AryMay]

12 minutes ago, cruisetimeusa said:

Thank you for helping us.  I have read your blog and it has been very helpful.  I think you did El Pedral . If you did, was the walk to see the penguins difficult?  Thank you for always responding.  I did also put a post about which side for our route on cc.  No responses yet. 

 

I can't remember the exact distance, but the walk from the van to the beach was fairly long. I would estimate maybe a mile and a half round trip? The path was covered in gravel and level. It was extremely hot the day we were there (upper 90's) and being in the hot sun maybe just made the walk seem longer! 

 

On the other hand, there were penguins the entire length of the trail so we walked slow taking lots of photos. Most were huddled under the small bushes seeking shade. Once we reached the beach we had plenty of time to just sit and watch the penguins lined up along the shoreline.

 

The only negative to our tour was that I was worried that we were going to get back to the ship late. Our all aboard time was 3:30 pm and it was exactly that time when we got back to the ship. The drive to El Pedral is pretty long so if we would have had any type of delay, we would have been in trouble. 

[cruisetimeusa]

So about 3/4 to 1 mile each way.  Not too bad.  I don't do well in heat and humidity, so will take a cool scarf with me.

 

Our ship doesn't leave until 5:30, so we plan to be back around 4:00.  We dock at 7:00 a.m. so hopefully we will get an early start.

[Sea42]

On 6/10/2020 at 9:05 AM, AryMay said:

 

.Also, there is a link to my blog in my signature.

Thanks for the link to your blog! I just started reading it and I have a question about your room at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco in Santiago. Did all rooms have the outdoor sitting area? I find no mention of it in their room descriptions. I hope you don't mind the somewhat off topic question!

 

[AryMay]

22 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Thanks for the link to your blog! I just started reading it and I have a question about your room at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco in Santiago. Did all rooms have the outdoor sitting area? I find no mention of it in their room descriptions. I hope you don't mind the somewhat off topic question!

 

 

I'm not 100% sure, but from looking at photos of the exterior of the hotel I think the rooms that had the outdoor space were all on the same level as ours facing the front of the hotel.

 

Here is a photo I found online and I've drawn an arrow pointing to where our room was located. Our  sitting area was behind the bushes and the flags.

 

 

And this is one of my photos showing what the outdoor space looked like from inside our room. As inviting as this photo may look, it was in full sun and the weather was way too hot to make use of this space when we were there. 

 

 

I had booked a room with a king bed, but we agreed to take a room with 2 twin beds just so we could check in early. Our friends had the corner room next to ours (which also had twin beds) but was a much larger room.

[Sea42]

5 hours ago, AryMay said:

 

I'm not 100% sure, but from looking at photos of the exterior of the hotel I think the rooms that had the outdoor space were all on the same level as ours facing the front of the hotel.

 

Here is a photo I found online and I've drawn an arrow pointing to where our room was located. Our  sitting area was behind the bushes and the flags.

 

 

And this is one of my photos showing what the outdoor space looked like from inside our room. As inviting as this photo may look, it was in full sun and the weather was way too hot to make use of this space when we were there. 

 

 

I had booked a room with a king bed, but we agreed to take a room with 2 twin beds just so we could check in early. Our friends had the corner room next to ours (which also had twin beds) but was a much larger room.

Thanks so much for the information!

[MikeyD30]

I was hoping to book with them for a SA cruise in 2022, and the booking function on their website was not working. I was able to connect with them via e-mail. For additional information and to book a tour, contact Mariana at diadecampo at pedral dot com dot ar.  They responded within 2 days of my initial request.