How do I reach Oscar Brown?

[bmvcanton]

what did u do in panama we are going in 1 week

 

 

We had to book from the ship (RCCL), we could not get off ship at Gatun without an excursion. We did the hike and canal boat tour. It was a small walk, we'd have liked to stay longer on the hike, however, our guide really made our short walk interesting. Then we went for the boat ride in the canal at the end of the trail. We saw some good wildlife and really enjoyed it.

We got back just in time to see the ship pull up at the dock, so we had a little time to shop at the markets b4 the crowd. We also ate lunch and had some local beers at the end of the market.

The weather was great and no bugs!!

Hope this helps

[LadyDivot]

We just returned from the Panama Canal on the Infinity and had a stop in Puntarenas. There were 8 of us from Cruise Critic and I offered to organize a tour. We were interested in a mangrove tour but no ziplining or canopy bridges since we didn't want a day-long tour and a couple of us aren't big fans of heights. I contacted Oscar Brown and Carol responded quickly with some options for us. For $40 pp Carol arranged to meet us at the ship, take a tour of the mangroves and then a visit to two villages.

 

When we arrived, Marlon was on the dock with a sign with my name on it waiting for our group. We then walked down the long dock and got into an air-conditioned van for our ride to the mangrove boat. The boat was covered and large enough for all of us. We toured the mangroves with Marlon telling us all about them and the other flora and fauna in the area. We saw crocodiles who, according to Marlon, were afraid of us so they would go under as we got close. Imagine - them afraid of us! :) We saw lots of birds, lizards and some great different mangroves. On our last tour of the mangroves we saw a bunch of white-faced monkeys in the wild. They were awesome to watch. There were about 10 of them and a couple of baby monkeys. The captain of the boat did a great job of keeping the boat in such a way that we could watch/photo/video the monkeys. After the mangroves, we went to a macaw sanctuary and saw some beautiful red, green, blue and hyacinth macaws. Absolutely gorgeous! We were able to feed the macaws and interact with them.

 

From there we went to an orchid farm where they have a colony of howler monkeys. They were cool, and made a heck of a racket! After that, we toured the countryside and then went to a ranch that has a colony of white-faced monkeys that we could feed with fruit. That part was so cool, and the monkeys came down to take the fruit from our hands. From there we were headed back to the cruise dock and asked to stop for coffee. We stopped quickly, and made it back with plenty of time to spare.

 

We had an excellent time, and it ended up being the best excursion of all the ones we took for that cruise. You can't go wrong with Carol and Oscar Brown and I highly recommend their tour!!

 

Pam

[Jay_NH]

My wife and I took Oscar's Tour # 1 and # 2

Beware of the time you have in Jamaica. Below is Carol Browns email.

Tour #1

The Tortuguero Canal tour: This is a tour through the rain forest, where as you go comfortable in a boat, you can see all wild life: alligator, monkeys, slots, different type of birds, Then I will take you to the Bamboo trade school, banana plantation, coco beans farm, City tour, a tour at the ANIMAL PRESERVE PLACE where you see while life and get personal contact with them (no snakes), a white sand beach, the rich area, and a surprise stop; witch will take you to the highest part of the city. I include soft drinks along the tour. We have a stop for the purchasing of souvenirs and coffee and it goes for 5 hours.

Tour #2.

The Canopy tour: This is a sieve line where you switch from one three to a another: Hiking in the jungle., I include a stop on a white sand beach are a black sand beach, it is your chaise, a visit to the Bamboo trade school, banana plantation, coco beans farm, The animal preserve place, City tour, the rich area, and a surprise stop; witch will take you to the highest part of the city. This include transportation and zip lining and a stop for the purchase for coffee and souvenirs . I will make the reservation, it is better that way. This tour is for 5 to 6 hours, sometimes more. This is depend on what the group want to do.

 

 

 

We paid 210.00 and receive only the zip line which we had to pay for our of OUR pocket. River boat tour and Panorama look at the city.

 

Nothing else.

Just beware.

Jay

 

 

[Driftwoodgal]

Jay,

 

Oscar is in Costa Rica, are you saying beware of Oscar or Jamaica? I have never heard of Oscar over charging someone for a tour. Please explain yourself further if you have a complaint so others have a clear picture of what happened. I have toured with him several times and he and his relatives have always given us a top notch tour and a great price compared to the cruise ship. They have also been a breath of fresh air as far as tours go. I get so tired of the mundane ship tours. Oscar & company give you a real feel for the country from a local perspective.

 

I hate to see a negative post without giving the tour operator a chance to defend her or himself. The boards prevent that so please explain how you had such a bad time with Oscar so he can correct his companies mistake. We in corporate America have surveys and polls that help companies improve via the internet. Lets help the small companies in Costa Rica with our constructive information improve on their tours.

 

I am one of the first posters on the CC boards about Oscar. I can see tremendous improvement from my first tour with him and the last one. The one thing I can't tell the difference in is the true genuine love for his country and showing it to fellow cruisers. He was just as excited the last time he showed us his country as the first time. My next tour in Limon will again be with Oscar. I talked 20 other people to go with me on the last tour. It rained the entire day....... the were still cheering Oscar at the end of the day. He stayed on his cell phone all day trying to keep us as dry as possible. ........ It is a rain forest after all :p

[Jay_NH]

Hmmm Why did I write Jamaica?

I see why you are confused however my complaint is with the Oscar Brown Tours of Costa Rica. What I posted I think it pretty much explains it. I can break it down if you like.

Jay

[Cruise2Fun]

Perhaps I can elaborate on Jay's post as my DH and I were on this tour with him. After meeting at the pier we were introducted to our driver Roger and our transportation. There were 5 adults (2 couples & Roger) cramed into one of the city's red taxi's. This car was similar in size to a Nissan Sentra, at least it had a/c. We learned at the end of the trip Roger was actually a taxi driver. He was a very nice guy but was more of a driver than a tour guide. I don't remember him explaining much about the country as it seemed Oscar would have from these posts. After the zip line and canal tour we were hungry and he said we could eat at the beach stop. We didn't know this was going to take so long. After lunch it was about 2 hours until we had to be back on the ship. We then went to the "surprise stop" took a few photos and headed back to the ship. We felt we missed out on a bunch of the items listed in the description (Bamboo trade school, banana plantation, coco beans farm, ANIMAL PRESERVE PLACE). Don't know if that long lunch prevented us from the rest of the tour but if so Roger should have warned us before eating. We felt the tour was a bit expensive for what we did get.

[Jay_NH]

Thanks Rachel, you explained it very well.

I might add that We paid 210.00 for the tour and we had to pay for the Zip Line for 80.00. That brings the trip to $290.00. Hmmmmm

Shame on us for paying.

It is buyer beware.

Jay

[TCF]

Your experience is really unfortunate...and one of the few negative reviews I have seen about Oscar's tours.

We just got back from a Panama Canal trip last week on Princess and had a wonderful tour with Oscar during our Costa Rica stop.

I know that both Oscar and Carol read these boards...so your message of complaint will have already gotten to them.

I spent an interesting hour or so sitting on the pier wating for my wife to return from her tour talking with Danny...Oscar's Brother-In-Law...who also has a tour business in Limon. He says it is often very difficult for them to know for sure exactly how many people are going to show up for tours from any given ship. On that day he was just sitting waiting for people who wanted a last minute tour...other days he is run ragged trying to find spaces for all those looking for a tour.

Some people email and make a reservation and then never show up...sometimes others email get all the information they need, don't make and reservation, then show up expecting a tour. They are constantly juggling numbers and trying to make sure everyone who comes to them for a tour is not disappointed.

I suspect that what happened to you was related to that problem...too many people showed up that day...and Oscar put the "overflow" in a relative's cab. Not a good business decision on his and Carol's part...but having dealt with Oscar I am sure it was done out of sincere attempt to insure that no one got stuck without a tour.

After having read your post I am sure they will not make that mistake again.

I think it is also very important that they make it clear to customers who will pay for what before the tour starts. Many people make it practice of not taking more than a few dollars for tips and food on tours...you would have been really 'up the creek' if you got to the zip line with $20 in your pocket!!

Just my thoughts

Tom:)

[LadyDivot]

I don't doubt your experiences, but I have to say I am surprised as well. The Costa Rica tour in Puntarenas with Oscar was one of the highlights of our Panama Canal cruise. It was probably one of our most cost effective ever as well at $40 pp. We went with colleagues of Carol and Oscar because they were so busy that day, and Carol called during the tour to ensure we were having a good time and going to all the places we had requested. I would recommend Carol and Oscar to anyone, and if we get to Costa Rica again, we'll go with them again.

[Jay_NH]

I guess I should have just showed up at the pier and asked for a tour instead of setting this up with Carol three months in advance.

Smooth it over all you like and book with them. Hopefully you wont have the same experience as we did.

My advice.

Stay away from Oscar Brown Tours.

 

Jay

[IrisBob]

We also had a negative experience with Oscar Brown tours. The tour was supposed to include Poas Volcano. La Paz Waterfall and the butterfly gardens and included lunch. The price was $85. We set it up months before and confirmed a week before we left. Carol said "see you on the pier". When we arrived in Puntarenas we were met by a young man who said he was our guide. I will say that he was very knowledgeable. But the first thing he told us was that we could not go to La Paz Waterfall. It was too far and we would have to pay extra. We were disappointed and since we didn't want to waste the day, we went with him. When I contacted Carol after returning home, her reply to me was that since we were only 4 people it wasn't worth her while to take us, since Puntarenas was so far, so she contacted another company to take us. At this point she also said that the Waterfall visit would be $45 more. In her original email to me this was never mentioned. She did offer us a free tour next time we were in CR. I doubt if we will be back there any time in the near future.

 

I just wish that she had given us all the information before we committed to touring with her company. At least then we could have made the necessary decisions before about what WE wanted to do.

 

We enjoyed our day despite the problems, but I cannot truthfully say I could recommend their services to anyone.

[mobius107]

For all of you who asked how Oscar BROWN IS HERES THE ANSWERS

 

We just returned and had a wonderful tour, with Oscar the tour guide/driver how lucky we were. 5 of us total.

We started out with the city tour then drove through the country to a friends house we stopped as others did too....we held a Sloth and played with his pets, they looked like racoons we very friendly. He should use different plant life stopped to taste or see them as we drove by the different trees, one fruit smelled just like parm cheese.

next we drove to the ranch to zip line. what an experience and yes we were in the 34-40ish age group and had a blast....

after that we were going to stop pff at a beach but weather was not the best so we drove by it saw the waves. next was a stop at the banana plantations. Oscar gave us a personal tour and he even put 2 large stalks of banana on the roof of the van for his famly.

What a wonderful day this was a private tour we cant say enough nice things about him and he was so personal too. any questions or needs of info email

pruittcruises@yahoo.com

[ChattTenn]

I guess I should have just showed up at the pier and asked for a tour instead of setting this up with Carol three months in advance.

Smooth it over all you like and book with them. Hopefully you wont have the same experience as we did.

My advice.

Stay away from Oscar Brown Tours.

 

Jay

 

Hi Jay,

 

We had almost the same experience.

 

On March 2004, we organized Tour #1 The Tortuguero Canal tour for our CCs group with Oscar Brown. We had a wonderful time and the best tour of our Panama cruise.

 

For our 2005 Panama cruise, we again contacted with Oscar (Carol actually) about our future trip to Puerto Limon indicated that since we were on the tour #1 last year, this time we would like see other part of Costa Rica, see pineapple plantation, Blue Morpho (spelling) butterfly etc. The recommendation was Costa Flore, pineapple plantation, butterfly farm etc. and the price was 80 pp with a promise that Oscar will take us himself since we are his repeat customer.

 

We (2 of us this time) showed up at the pier, Oscar was late because the ship time and local time was different (his excuse). He told us that he would be the guide for another group (larger one) and he would get for us another person (after the promise).

 

After waiting about 45 minutes (while the car got washed - found out from Roger later), we were told to go outside the vendor area to see ROGER with a RED CAR.

 

We found out too that Roger is a cab driver. He had never been to Costa Flore before so we lost a few time but managed to get there. Then he took us by a small free butterfly place along the highway on the way back to Puerto Limon. We never did get to see the pineapple platation but viewed a field of pineapple from the highway (because it would cost us money to see the place).

 

We felt let down. We could have showed up at the pier and get a same thing through the pier side service not setting this up with Carol in advange and ended up with a cab with a driver whose did not have a clue on what we wanted to do or see.

 

Our advise - find out if Oscar has more than 1 group on any particular day, go with other tour provider. Stick to a more popular tour such as #1 or #2 with a large group and likely you will get a better service.

 

Regardless the experience, we think Costa Rica is a beautiful place and would love to have a land vacation here eventually.