Busybean

I have only just found these posts. I have been monitoring the roll calls where there is little activity but found a few more posts here. Not sure why there are 2 different places to post. I think there is a bit of overlap by members. Is this the place to post rather than under roll calls ?q

Sus

We have just returned from our cruise during which 4 of us used Spencer Ambrose for the day tour to Sugar Beach. We had a great time and cant recommend his company enough for a relaxing day--including a great lunch provided plus of course the homemade rum punch!

For anyone looking to book a private tour from Manaus port i can fully recommend "Manausbooking.com" We have just used them for a half day city tour and a day speedboat tour . The latter was great as it included swimming with pink dolphins optional). short hike to see the giant lily pads at Lake January, lunch, seeing The meeting of the Waters and much more. A great day, they stand at the port entry if you havent prebooked.

the walks are easy with only some rocks and tree roots on the first hike to be concerned about if the weather cooperates. Sturdy shoes are enough and a walking stick is overkill. Most of the walks are on flat ground.

Thanks for that--much as I thought.

[

Busybean Are you by any chance on the 4/3 Val to BA Zaandam ????

Hi

No we are on the Jan 30th Zaandam sailing. There is info re this tour on our CC thread. It has been full for some time so you will have to look at old posts for full details You should have time to do the tour as we only have 6 hours ashore.

We cruised to Ushuaia in December 2014. Ushuaia is a lovely city at the base of stunning mountains. We booked Edgardo's Tierra Del Fuego National Park Tour. We were 18 in a comfortable van with Gabriel as our tour guide. We visited 3 areas where we experienced moderate difficulty hikes. They were easy for those who had no walking issues. The scenery was stunning and it was lovely being away from the cruise ship crowds. Gabriel was quick to spot and point out flora and fauna of interest. We saw a red fox and pileated woodpecker up close. Gabriel told us much about the history of the area and the state of the city today. We had a lovely day in nature and still had time to wander the streets of pleasant Ushuaia. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour .

Thanks for this. We are visiting on Zaandam in February & also have Gabriel assigned to our group of 18. Good to know all went well. Are walking waterproof trainers ok for the terrain--any point in taking walking poles with us or this this a little over the top for these ( and any other short walks we may do) at this time of year?

Hi Steve

If you see this post please e mail me the name of your taxi driver in Lombok and whatyou reccomend for the one day stop. My e mail is karenilene@aol.com. Thanks.

Hi Karen

The E mail addresses for both drivers recommended by Ine & myself (we used Agung) are shown above on posts 5 & 6. During our day we visited the Saski & weaving villages. We spent time on Kuta beach which is beautiful & were taken to a restauarnt for a lovely lunch. A good & varied short day but our ship sailed mid afternoon so we didnt have time for anything else.

Sue

I'm wondering if anyone has done a pre cruise 3 day excursion to Bariloche. Is so, can you please give me the details and which agent/mode of transport you used out of Buenos Aires?

Thanks,

Liz

Hi Liz

We are going to Bariloche in January prior to our cruise around S America. We are flying there from BA with LAN. From Bariloche we are doing the lakes crossing to Puerto Varas and then flying from Puerto Montt to Santiago with Sky. Hope this helps.

Sue

We prebooked a driver in Lombok (I think I might have given his name to Busybean later that year). He was a nice guy, showed us those places we wanted to see. he was waiting for us at the port, we paid the price we agreed at the end of the day. No problems what so ever.

You can tell him what you are interested in and he will give you a nice tour.

 

I copy this, which I posted in 2013:

Lombok: We tried to book Eko:ekomangsit@yahoo.combut he was booked already. He sent a driver called Agung : agung040372@yahoo.com

Very nice man, spoke excellent english. The car is great for 4, but managable for 6 persons. We were not that interested to visit towns etc, so Agung made a tour to the southern part of Lombok with beautiful landscapes and visits to some traditional villages: South Lombok tour programm:

visit poterry village in Banyumulek village, >> - visit weaving village in Sukarare village >> - visit traditional village in Sade village >> - visit Tanjung aa'n beach the best and uniqe beach .

That beach was awesome, miles of white sand, hardly any people, very clear water. Simple restaurant that cooked a fabulous satay for us. We could have stayed there for hours more!.

PRICE : 650.000 Rupiah/day for 2 person extra person 125.000 rupiah per person.

Yes I can confirm that we used "agung" as recommended by Ine & have no hesitation in recommending him. We had a great day with him. Incidentally Ine we used all of your valuable info & had a great & stressfree cruise because of it.

 

Is anyone willing to share your info for private guide in these places, for March 2015.

Hi I see that you have picked up from on thread I started prior to our cruise earlier this year. We used a driver sent to us by "Jooosting" --details as supplied by " Ine" on post no 3 of this thread. I understand that Joosting no longer drives himself & spends much time in Europe due to health issues. The driver he sent gave us a good day out around Surabaya-- we were told that it was too risky to visit Mt Bromo during our restricted time ashore. The driver was obliging & pleasant-- he had made a long journey to Surabaya from his home village to fulfill our booking but had only limited English. We were lucky that we shared with a Dutch couple who could converse with him & give us more info on the places we visited. Based on the experiences of other passengers you should have no difficulty in obtaining a taxi close to ther port area for local sights. This may fulfill your requirements.

I'm considering a 2016 itinerary that would have us in Hong Kong during the New Year and when the ship ports near Ho Chi Minh it will still be the Tet holiday.

 

If we did this itinerary we would probably fly into Hanoi separately ( and perhaps revisit Saigon, and go onto Cambodia) after the cruise.

 

Has anyone been in Asia during the various New Year celebrations that can comment whether the timing of this trip would be a negative or positive????

Hi We wre in Saigon via a cruise on the night of chinese New year 2012. We booked an overvight tour for this reason. The atmosphere was great --a highlight of our holiday especially seeing the decorations in Flower Street & having a drink at the Rex Hotel with entertainment & the view from the top floor. We also caught sight of the decorations before & after TET in both in Singapore & Hong Kong--these made our holiday extea special so go for it if the itinerary works to enable you to do this.

Has anyone been to these two ports of call ?? Can not find anything about them except bad traffic

 

THXS Steve

Hi Steve

We visited Jakarta & Lombok earlier this year via an Indonesian Islands cruise with HAL.

Traffic in Jakarta is awful especially at the weekend so I would suggest any tour out of the city is with the ship. We had a good day visiting the Safari Park & Botanical Gardens but it was a Sunday & even with a police escort our 5 ship tour buses got back 2 hours late & we had to cut down the length of the visit to the gardens. It was a very long day. Some people took taxis into the old town with mixed reports with regard to the success of doing this.

In Lombok we prebooked a driver who gave us a lovely day seeing the Saski villages/Kuta beach etc. There were plenty of taxis available by the port area but again we heard mixed reports as to these. Some were aggresive and/or wanted a high fee. I wouldnt hesitate to recommend the driver we prebooked-- he was great. We shared the cost with another couple on CC.

Does anyone know of a good reliable tour op in Siem Reap? The tour op that we used in January of this year is to be on holiday when we return is already booked. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hi we used Travel Cambodia for 4 days last year-- they booked us a small boutique hotel & arranged tours for all days + ariport transfers

We did this tour in 2013 and also used Stephen of "Best Tours" --now renamed as "Private Vietnam Tours". We had lots of traffic issues on the way to Hanoi but were still back in plenty of time. Stephan also arranged tours for us on Halong Bay & in HCMC & everything was brilliant. We didnt stay overnight in Hanoi but if possible would recommend you do this to get maximum time in the city on day 2 .

We are going to Bali Jan 2015 on a Celebrity cruise. We have 2 overnights (3 days) on the cruise docking in Benoa. We want to stay at the Elephant Safari Lodge for one night and visit the Monkey Forest. Do you have any other suggestions of things to do?

 

Can I arrange to have Freddy pick us up at the ship in Benoa, take us to the Monkey Forest and leave us there for a couple of hours and then take us to the Elephant Safari Lodge or do you know how far the Lodge is from the Monkey Forest. It might be safer to have him drop us off at the Lodge so we can leave our luggage there and then take us to the Monkey Forest so that our luggage isn't in the car.

 

The next day we would want a pick up at the Elephant Safari Lodge and maybe some touring around...... any suggestions? I think I saw that Uluwatu is nice? We have never been to Asia so we are open to any suggestions.

 

On day 3, the ship leaves at 2pm so we will have to go somewhere close to the Benoa harbour, any suggestions?

 

Is it too early to book Freddy now if we aren't going until next Jan? Did you have to pay in advance?

 

Thanks

Angela

Hi Angela

I cant answer all of your questions as we only had 2 days in Bali & didnt see some of the places you mentioned. We also overnighted on the ship.

We booked Fredy approx 6 months before our trip so I dont think its too early to contact him. He will be honest with you as to what its feasible to do in your time frame.

Ubud & the surrounding artist village is well worth a look & very close to the Monkey Forest.

The rice fields at Uluwatu are lovely & Fredy took us there via a bumpy road as an alternative to the main route so that we could see the villages around it. We went to another lovely rice terrace area but I cant recall its name + the Branaton Lake area, a local market & saw lots of other out on the way places. Fredy is very attentive as to whether you want to see the more tourist parts of the island or the local places. we largely chose the latter.

You will probably be offered a chance to see Balinese dancing which we did. A shortish tour from Benoa is to Tanah Lot which thought quite busy is beautiful. This could be done quite easily on your final morning.. Hope this helps.

Thanks I will check them out. Will need transfers from airport,3 days of touring (one of days will be embarkation day the other is a docked day plus 2 days before embarkation) for 3 adults. Do these drivers have cars big enough for 3 adults (I'm fluffy:o) and 3 suitcases/3 carryon? Usually I try for a van because cars are tiny in other parts of the world and I, sigh, am not.

 

Where do you like to stay in Bali? How far from the airport? How far from the pier?

Their cars can take 6 passengers + the driver. We had 4 of us travelling on the 2 days we used Fredy. Luggage should be no problem for 3 of you.

we didnt stay on the island just overnight on cruise ship.

Bringing this post up again as the link is not working. I need to find a tour company in Indonesia that can help with tours in and out of Jakarta, Bali and others before a cruise from Bali to Osaka Japan. I have not come up with much in the line of tours or guides with private cars for 3 adults.

If you want an excellent car/driver in Bali I came fully recommend Fredy of "Drivers with Distinction". Nothing is too much trouble for this young man.There is a link a link to him on the company's Website. Not sure what you need in Jakarta-- we were there for only 1 day as a cruise port but if you want to leave the city --especially at weekends --traffic is horrendous so be aware of time issues.

We are booked on the Southeast Asia cruise ending in Bangkok. Please recommend a tour company for private post cruise tour to Seam Reap (Angkor Wat) from Bangkok. Anyone had a good experience with an Angkor Wat tour on their own?

Hi

We did a pre cruise tour from Singapore last year. We arranged our own flights to Seam Reap & booked a tour called "Angkor's Secrets" through "Travel Cambodia". We were met by their reps at Seam Reap airport & had 4 brilliant days touring the area with a guide & driver. E mail address is "sales@travelcambodia.com".

We have used Dean from Drivers with distinction before and he is wonderful. He speaks very good english and will tailor a tour to your liking. His other drivers are very good also and get good ratings on trip advisor. They are a little more than some of the other drivers but they are pretty professional. If you use Google you will find them.

We have just returned from a SE Asia cruise which included an overnight stay in Bali. We used Fredy of Drivers with Distinction on both days . He was brilliant--nothing was too much trouble for him & he showed us the more out of the way places. He will tailor his tour to meet your needs. We also met Dean who does the same -- you cant go wrong with this team of drivers.

Hi All,

 

This is my first post on Cruisecritic.com so please be kind!

 

I am looking for info on booking a combined Vietnam/Cambodia 16 day tour with the Vietnam Private Tours Company (http://www.vietnamprivatetours.com).

 

I've emailed the operator of the Company and so far he has been great. He's been really responsive and the itinerary looks well balanced and reasonably priced.

 

So, I wanted to ask the forum:

 

1) Has anyone used this Company before and what has been your experience?

2) How did you find the price, service and quality of the tour?

3) How did you pay and was it trustworthy?

 

Thanks in advance for any help I can get.

Really appreciate it.

Hi

We used Stephan's company for an overnight tour in HCMC & a boat tour of Halong Bay this time last year. I can confirm what you have already been told he was efficient and everyone in the group had a wonderful time.

Three yaers ago I booked the tour from Semarang to Borobudur. The whole way up and down we where escorted y the police to give us a free ride wether on the left of the road or on the right or on the shoulder without stopping at one of the 100 traficlights. I still have that trip on video. The trafic is more than hectic and the trip without police takes some 4 hours one way. When they did not construct a highway with 6 lanes I don't think it can be done quicker now. I thought of it to do it in private as well but just for a second......... Good luck. I think I do the HAL tour... Are we on the same cruise?? I think so....

Hi Donald

Sorry for this late reply--we have just returned home after 4 weeks away. We are on the HAL cruise leaving Singapore Feb 28th 2014. Is this the one you are on? If so I will be happy to send you a current update re the Borobudur tour etc.

Did you try your roll call? That is usually a wealth of information.

Hi thanks for your reply.

There is no indication on our roll call yet to suggest that anyone is considering booking a private tour for this port. The main purpose of my post on this thread was to try & get recommendations of any suitable ( or otherwise) tour operators from anyone who has done private tours on previous cruises.

I have found a number of companies who offer tours for cruise ship passengers but can find little or no reviews for any of them.

Thanks again for your response. Should anyone who has already done such a tour have any input I would appreciate this.

I am still considering whether to book a private tour from Semarang port to Borobudur Temple. After much research I have found a few tour operators which look promising and can offer police escorts. Reviews on CC and Trip Advisor are few & far between. Can anyone who may have used a particular company for this tour on a previous cruise give me any input--good or bad please to enable me to make my decision.

Hi busybean, the company is called indo global tours. Its actually a buddy of mine who is on the same cruise that has organised this trip.

 

The plan is be off the ship by 8am (possibly sooner), 2 hour drive with police escort, Borobudur visit, lunch at local restaurant, drive 1 hour to prambanan with visit, return to ship @2.5 - 3hrs. Total round trip around 11 hours, and we should be back around 7pm for a 10pm embark.

 

I appreciate that this type of "risk" isn't for everyone, but given the time we have onshore, we believe its doable and worth it. i believe we have 8 or 9 folks on this tour which is the max.

 

David

Hi Thanks for the info

You have longer ashore than we have 09.99 until 20.00hrs) so dont think we could fit this in.

Thanks for both responses. Can you please tell me which private tour operator you have been recommended & are using. How many people are on your private tour?