Booking Excursions dockside in South America?

[Kupe]

Hey gang-

 

My wife and I will be aboard the Jan 28 sailing of Celebrity Infinity from Santiago to Buenos Aires. In the past, we've cruised the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and Alaska. We've never purchased an excursion from any cruise line and always had wonderful experiences with private tours. We've never booked them in advance either- always just interviewed a driver or three dockside and off we go!

 

So, my question for those of you who also favor private tours, did you have any difficulty finding a car and driver dockside at any of the South American port calls?

 

Thanks!

 

Kupe

[JEBurton]

We're doing only one excursion through Celebrity; to see Gentoo penguins in the Falkland Islands. Very expensive but have been told (on this board) that Celebrity has a lock on this tour and it can't be booked directly with a local operator. If anyone knows differently, please post details. Thanks.

 

Other ports:

Puerto Montt - booked with Mr. Gail of GVtours, $65/pp for 6 hours incl. lunch. I'm pretty sure you can do this at the pier if he still has capacity.

 

Punta Arenas - nothing booked in advance; should be something available at the pier.

 

Ushuaia - will use a company at the pier to see Sea Wolves Island area.

 

Puerto Madryn - booked with Whales Patagonia to go on the Punta Tombo tour to see penguins. $55/pp. I'm fairly sure you can do this at the pier also.

 

Montevideo - tours available at the pier

 

Buenos Aires - will use a local company for a 3-hr. city tour - costs $11/pp. You have to make your way to their office, they don't pickup at the pier.

 

If you want details about any of the above please ask.

 

John

[JEBurton]

We're doing only one excursion through Celebrity; to see Gentoo penguins in the Falkland Islands. Very expensive but have been told (on this board) that Celebrity has a lock on this tour and it can't be booked directly with a local operator. If anyone knows differently, please post details. Thanks.

 

Other ports:

Puerto Montt - booked with Mr. Gail of GVtours, $65/pp for 6 hours incl. lunch. I'm pretty sure you can do this at the pier if he still has capacity.

 

Punta Arenas - nothing booked in advance; should be something available at the pier.

 

Ushuaia - will use a company at the pier to see Sea Wolves Island area.

 

Puerto Madryn - booked with Whales Patagonia to go on the Punta Tombo tour to see penguins. $55/pp. I'm fairly sure you can do this at the pier also.

 

Montevideo - tours available at the pier

 

Buenos Aires - will use a local company for a 3-hr. city tour - costs $11/pp. You have to make your way to their office, they don't pickup at the pier.

 

If you want details about any of the above please ask.

 

John

[Kupe]

We're doing only one excursion through Celebrity; to see Gentoo penguins in the Falkland Islands. Very expensive but have been told (on this board) that Celebrity has a lock on this tour and it can't be booked directly with a local operator. If anyone knows differently, please post details. Thanks.

 

John-

 

Thanks! I'd also heard that the Falklands might be a good place to go ahead and go with the cruise line shore excursions. I see two Celebrity excursions that feature Gentoo penguins- Bluff Cove and Sparrow Cove. Which do you favor?

 

Other ports:

Puerto Montt - booked with Mr. Gail of GVtours, $65/pp for 6 hours incl. lunch. I'm pretty sure you can do this at the pier if he still has capacity.

 

What is his itinerary? That is a fair price and we might definitely be interested- do you have an email contact?

 

Ushuaia - will use a company at the pier to see Sea Wolves Island area.

 

That one sounds great. Is that the Catamaran tour that boats out to Beagle Channel and Sea Wolves Island?

 

Puerto Madryn - booked with Whales Patagonia to go on the Punta Tombo tour to see penguins. $55/pp. I'm fairly sure you can do this at the pier also.

 

That one also sounds great. Do you have a contact there as well?

 

Thanks again John! Are you going to be on the Jan 28 Infinity sailing?

 

Dave

[JEBurton]

Hi Dave -

Yes, we're on the Jan 28 Infinity sailing.

Here are the answers to your questions:

 

Falkland Is.: Bluff Cove tour only because X said Sparrow Cove was for active and adventurous guests. I wasn't sure what exactly they meant by that so didn't want to risk something my 60+ body might not enjoy!

 

P. Montt: web site: http://www.gvtours.com email: gvstein@surnet.cl

 

The places that you'll visit are:

 

1.- Frutillar (small german city).

 

2.- Puerto Varas (large german city).

 

3.- Lake ''Todos los Santos''.

 

4.- Petrohue falls.

 

On the trip you will see:

 

-Volcan Osorno

 

- Volcan Calbuco

 

- Volcan Puntiagudo

 

- Volcan Tronador

 

- Lake Llanquihue ( you'll see it on eight percent of the trip )

 

 

So..we will

 

- Show you the lake district.

 

- Take you to Angelmo ( craft market )

 

- Treat you to a nice chilean lunch.

 

- Tell you the region's history.

 

- Get you to your ship on time.

 

If you decide to go with us:

 

- Directions:

 

When you get on the dock, pass all of the taxis and buses, go through the

 

green building to the outside entrance and we will have a sign with your

 

name on it.

 

 

- Payment:

 

After the tour, you may pay Veronica in US dollars.,$65.00EA.

 

 

Ushuaia: we're planning on using Caneoro Catamaranes for the Beagle Channel tour. $32/pp I think.

 

P. Madryn: Whales Patagonia's Punta Tombo tour

http://www.whalespatagonia.com.ar info@whalespatagonia.com.ar

 

Feel free to email me if you want. johnburtonwhs61 at hotmail dot com

 

John

[gpearce]

We were on the South American trip last year and I can highly recommend both of these tours.

We had a wonderful tour in both areas and both of the guides spoke excellent English, were very knowledgeable and loved their country. We booked them both ahead of time and they were right there waiting for us.

[phillipahain]

Please do not use Whales Patagonia

We used them on 27th January 2007 as did another group

 

This was only as a result of lots of recomendations, sadly something has gone very wrong with them and their attitude afterward is appalling

 

Both of their vehicles were basically unroadworthy

Ours had 1 wheel that was smaller than to other 3

The driver did not know how to change a wheel

One of the other tyres had a slow puncture

They took us on a 43 km rough road to Gaiman the Welsh village when they could easily have used the tarmac one

 

The other vehicle had transmission which sounded like it could die any minute

 

Both vehicles had windscreens that were full of holes

 

On the dock there were many other virtually new Mini buses from other companies

 

Punta Tomba Penguins are a long way away and the risk of not getting back to the ship is far too great

[Linda-E]

Hi John,

We were also on the Jan. 27th excursion and the condition of Whales Patagonia vehicles is abominable. We saw 4 service stations before Punta Tombo so we got there AFTER all the buses and other tours. Our time there was cut short to only an hour or so.

 

We considered ourselves lucky to get back to the ship.

 

I highly recommend Sparrow Cove. You tender to another point on the island, and then it's a ride in a 4-wheel drive vehicle to the cove. A little rough, but nothing strenuous. We saw lots of gentoo penguins and three kings penguins. It was a fantastic excursion. I am sure that the Celebrity one is the same as the one we just did with Princess.

 

Hope you are having a great trip,

Linda and Mark

[Frank Burns]

Thanks to the posters for the information about Whales Patagonia. We have booked a tour with them at the end of this month. It sounds like we may need to cancel and find another tour company to take us to see the penguins at Punta Tombo. Does anyone have any suggestions for us on tour companies with vehicles in good condition? There are 5 of us signed up for our current tour and we are paying 55 dollars each. If you've taken this tour recently and had a good experience, please share your reservation information. Thanks, Frank