hotel casa rosada tour info needed

[sr5242]

I contacted hotel casa rosada and was quoted (by I believe Javier) $350 for the day's tour, plus extra for lunch. If anyone has taken this, or will take, this, would love to hear info.

 

We have two 4 yr olds, 4 adults. He told us his maximum was 6 people.

 

Thanks for any help!

[flashdog_1]

I have posted this elsewhere on this thread and on our Veendam 3/11 rollcall. i have had a lengthy correspondence with javier.

 

Is he going to pick you up in Puerto Barrios after you take a cab there? That's what our plans are. He told me the price for minimum of 7 people would be $280, and if we don't have 7, the ones that do go will have to divvy up to make $280. We are having lunch there, but it will be at an additional charge.

 

When I talked to him via email he originally made some suggestions for licensed launchas to get to Livingston to save time (but each had its own rules like how many people were needed etc), but I was worried about getting BACK from Livingston to Puerto Barrios and felt more comfortable staying with Javier all day. If we had gotten ourselves to Livingston, he was to have charged $140 for the day. Something is strange. Tell him you are quoting Phyllis Gauker re 3/11/06

 

He has not indicated there was a price hike, but then I haven't talked to him in a week or so.

 

When is your cruise? Which ship?

 

I'm assuming your trip is for high season and ours is low season, or you have made arrangements for a different tour, to explain the difference in price. The tours they show on their website are for people who are already in Livingston and touring out of there. So he arranged a special tour for us. I told him I'd tell people on cruise critic know about it (really, looking for other people to join us on 3/14). I don't want to repeat everything because you can find all the info on our roll call.

[tchrchgo]

Hi Phyllis,

 

I tried searching your other posts but did not see some info I was wondering about:

 

how far in advance did you book with javier? did you correspond with him in english or spanish? did he require a deposit? how big of a party did he say your group would be? would it just be your group or others as well? what lunch options did he outline for you? did you need to tell him what times your ship would be in port?

 

I have emailed him and in his initial email the timeline he gave me seemed awfully tight i.e., leave ship at 8:30 and grab cab to be by him by 9am. from what I've read getting off the ship might not be that smooth.

 

thanks in advance!

[flashdog_1]

Hi Phyllis,

I tried searching your other posts but did not see some info I was wondering about:

how far in advance did you book with javier? did you correspond with him in english or spanish? did he require a deposit? how big of a party did he say your group would be? would it just be your group or others as well? what lunch options did he outline for you? did you need to tell him what times your ship would be in port?

 

I have emailed him and in his initial email the timeline he gave me seemed awfully tight i.e., leave ship at 8:30 and grab cab to be by him by 9am. from what I've read getting off the ship might not be that smooth.

thanks in advance!

 

We wrote in English, but I stuck in some Spanish, too. We chit chatted for several days before he came up with the tour we wanted maybe 6 weeks before our ship arrives in Santo Tomas. I think the prices on their website are way outdated. I have not had to make any deposit. He can take cash or with a 10% surcharge, a credit card.

 

Sounds as if he is trying to get you to Livingston in time for his hotel tour that leaves at 9 and returns at 2:30 to Livingston. I told him our group could not get off the ship until 9 (allowing for the people who have booked ship's excursions),so he special arranged a shorter trip for us, not all the way to the castle/Fronteras. We only go to the Rio Dulce Nat Park: Bird Island, hot springs, Rio Tatin, thru the canyons to El Golfete? I think yours goes further, and is much longer 5 1/2 hrs to ours of 3 hrs. I'd have preferred the trip to include the castle, but it doesn't stop there, anyway and I did not think we'd hve enough time to do the whole trip. He said there is nothing new or different between El Gofete and the castle, so thinks we will be pleased with the shorter tour. He says some people want the trip to Fronteras to catch a tour of Quirigua. You see, his usual tours are just for people staying in Livingston, and some do not do a round trip.

 

Yes, I had to strongly emphasize that we were taking no chances on getting back to the ship in time and told him what time it departs and what time we have to be on board.

 

i told him we were open to sharing the tour with others to reduce our per person price. He limited it to a party of 10 so everyone would pay $40 each. We have 4, and if you happen to be on the same date with 6 that would fill the boat and we could get the low rate. If we do NOT get the minimum 7 people we have to pay more per person.

 

I just received an email from Javier about your $350 price, and he said there has been another gasoline increase so he raised the price. But we can't compare your trip to mine, unless you are going March 14th and can be included in our group for $40 each plus lunch, plus taxi to and from Puerto Barrios.

 

You did not tell me the date of your excursion or which ship you will be arriving on. Is it NCL's Sun or Veendam?

 

I specifically asked if we could have the dinner menu and he responded: Tapado, (a Garifuna shellfish soup with coconut milk),

or Grilled Shirmp, or Grilled Filet of Robalo or Lobster rather than the tuna fish sandwich that is offered on the lunch menu.

 

let me know if you are March 14th.

[tchrchgo]

phyllis,

 

I have no idea which tour he has booked for us. He told us with lunch we'd be back at 4pm, without lunch 3pm. We are actually planning WAY far in advance- we travel on the NCL sun 12/31/2006.

 

we are in a minisuite so I am wondering if we get priority disembark- does it really take until 9am to get off the ship?

 

thanks in advance!

[flashdog_1]

Better ask on the NCL board about suite perks, & if that includes priority disembarkation.

 

I believe your ship gets into port an hour later than Veendam does, and the "rule" is that people who have booked tours thru the ship get off first. Even if the ship arrives at 8, it may not clear until after that, and even if you have priority disembarkation that would allow you to get off with the people who are taking ship excursions, it would be very tight schedule wise. This is why I did not attempt it.

 

If you did not get off in time, I'm sure he'd wait for you, but it would just delay the entire day's routine.

 

I think you need to discuss the logistics in detail with Javier to be sure the timing is correct, and ask exactly where you will be going.

 

Your trip IS during high season, and does appear to be longer than ours, hence the higher price. He will answer every email every day, so ask away.

[tchrchgo]

you are right, javier is very prompt in responding to email, and also very considerate in his responses. He stated he understood that it takes time to clear the boat and he would wait for us and that he would adjust our private family tour to accomodate our time needs. Everything sounds very nice, so hopefully it will all work out. It is so hard waiting the next 11 months for our cruise!

[flashdog_1]

i wrote him yesterday concerning your group etc. and he responded that you all are booked for Jan 3, 2007 and gas prices having gone up again, he is anticipating a higher cost for doing a tour by january, and that's why the price he quoted me for Mar 14 is lower than yours. He will be giving you the same tour he is giving us. He gave this tour last week to someone who was recommended to him in the states. They were on the Sun and he got them to the port in Puerto Barrios at 4, as promised.

 

I have asked him for the prices for the various lunches and if last week's tour people mentioned what they paid for a cab from the ship to Puerto Barrios.

 

He specified that in order to enjoy ourselves, he likes to keep groups small. Ours so far is only 4 people, although 4 more people have just joined our roll call, so we may get as many as 8, who knows.

 

naturally, if you are just traveling with your family it will be easier to unload the boat, rather than wait for 30 strangers to disembark etc.

 

I'll also post a review when we return.

 

I also asked him if we will play it by ear about disembarking his boat at the various places we will see, or if we will just cruise the river with no stops. I'll pass on to you anything I learn.

[tchrchgo]

Phyllis,

I eagerly await your post-trip report! I hope the next few weeks go quickly for you, and hope you have a safe and fun trip!

[flashdog_1]

I heard from Javier today. He said the Tapado, shrimp and one of the fish dishes are $10 US (and according to the website, I think that includes salad etc since he's giving us the dinner menu). Lobster is per lb $12.50 I think.

 

He also said that we can stop where we want to in the vecinity we'll be traveling. Said the government sponsored Mayan schools are both on the way, and there'd be sourvenir shopping at either of them while we see what they do environmentally etc.

 

In other words, if you choose not to stop to swim at the hot springs, you might want to use up your time stopping at other places etc. I think we will be very pleased.

 

he also will not put other people with your group unless you want it that way. He wants to keep small groups for more enjoyment.