HMSDingy Posted February 5, 2015 #1 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Has anyone taken this tour with Johan and Sandra lately? Apparently it is similar to the one with Princess but at almost half the cost. I saw a not so good recent review on Tripadvisor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PekingeseLady Posted February 5, 2015 #2 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Has anyone taken this tour with Johan and Sandra lately? Apparently it is similar to the one with Princess but at almost half the cost. I saw a not so good recent review on Tripadvisor. No sure exactly which tour this company offers you are talking about. The negative review could be on the particular tour your looking at verses the company offering the tours. I have used Johann and Sandra's tours many times for PV, Mazatlan and Cabo. They are very reliable and offer great deals. Feel very comfortable using them. http://www.puertovallartatours.net/cruise-shore-excursions.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted February 5, 2015 #3 Share Posted February 5, 2015 What tour? Where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMSDingy Posted February 5, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted February 5, 2015 What tour? Where? Stone Island Beach getaway. Mazatlan Tours. http://www.mazatlantours.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSN-Travelers Posted February 5, 2015 #5 Share Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) Johann and Sandra are online tour brokers, they don't actually operate any excursions. They do enjoy a good reputation with their customers, especially with cruisers due to their "no port, no pay" warrantee. Be aware that some excursion operators are under contract to the cruise lines that also sell their tours. Under the terms of the contract, cruise passengers can only buy the tours through the ship. As an example: Vallarta Adventures and Cabo Adventures are the actual excursion operator for many of the ship's excursions. Under the terms of the contract, VA & CA are not allowed to sell excursions directly to cruise ship passengers it that same excursion is sold by the ship. This includes selling the excursion to a cruise passenger through another third-party tour broker. You may be successful in booking a ship's excursion through Johann and Sandra's Web site but don't be surprised when they come back days/weeks later with a cancelation notice and refer you back to the ship. Enjoy! Edited February 5, 2015 by MSN-Travelers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted February 5, 2015 #6 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Stone Island Beach getaway. Mazatlan Tours. http://www.mazatlantours.org Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PekingeseLady Posted February 5, 2015 #7 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Stone Island Beach getaway. Mazatlan Tours. http://www.mazatlantours.org This excursion is real easy to do on your own. You can walk like 5 blocks to the water taxi, pay $3 fee takes you across to stone island. The tour offered here, I believe requires a bus ride to a boat ride that takes a 45 min to 1 hour scenic viewing including sea lions. Do a search here on the Mexican Riviera thread. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=203 Search for Stone Island :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNA7744 Posted March 15, 2015 #8 Share Posted March 15, 2015 After reading many great reviews about Johann and Sandra Mazatlan tours we decided to book a city tour in Mazatlan on our recent cruise. BIG MISTAKE! I guess you really cannot believe everything you read on the internet! The tour operator trucked us around in an non air conditioned "bus" with open windows...the tour guide gave us many examples of where to buy property or jewelry in Mazatlan (even took us thru a gated community)...not the old city tour we were expecting. And, the fumes from the bus and city traffic were so bad my wife and I and our friends abandoned the tour midway and took a taxi back to the ship. Once home...I contacted the sales person via email asking for a refund...got a quick response (promising) that she would contact the tour guide and have a response in a few days. Now no response back...big black hole of email apparently. This was my first and LAST time booking a non-cruise ship directed tour. VERY BAD EXPERIENCE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedish weave Posted March 16, 2015 #9 Share Posted March 16, 2015 (edited) After reading many great reviews about Johann and Sandra Mazatlan tours we decided to book a city tour in Mazatlan on our recent cruise. BIG MISTAKE! I guess you really cannot believe everything you read on the internet! The tour operator trucked us around in an non air conditioned "bus" with open windows...the tour guide gave us many examples of where to buy property or jewelry in Mazatlan (even took us thru a gated community)...not the old city tour we were expecting. And, the fumes from the bus and city traffic were so bad my wife and I and our friends abandoned the tour midway and took a taxi back to the ship. Once home...I contacted the sales person via email asking for a refund...got a quick response (promising) that she would contact the tour guide and have a response in a few days. Now no response back...big black hole of email apparently. This was my first and LAST time booking a non-cruise ship directed tour. VERY BAD EXPERIENCE! Welcome to Cruise Critic. When was your tour ? Edited March 16, 2015 by swedish weave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNA7744 Posted March 16, 2015 #10 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Welcome to Cruise Critic. When was your tour ? The tour was Tuesday March 3rd at 10 am..."City Tour" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudechuck Posted March 16, 2015 #11 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I've used Johann and Sandra twice. Once in Cabo for whale watching (Ocean Riders), and once in PV for a private boat to Yelapa. In Cabo we were late for our tour because I had not changed my watch from ship time to port time (100% my fault), but they graciously put us on the next tour. In PV, we waited over an hour for the boat to pick us up at the marina and they never showed. I called Johann & Sandra and they refunded our money. It took about three business days. We ended up taking the water taxi to Yelapa the next day instead, so we did eventually get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedish weave Posted March 16, 2015 #12 Share Posted March 16, 2015 The tour was Tuesday March 3rd at 10 am..."City Tour" It is a shame you didn't find Cruise Critic before your trip. Many good tips and much good information here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNA7744 Posted March 26, 2015 #13 Share Posted March 26, 2015 An update...after contacting the tour group about our problem tour...they did issue us a refund! Much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JF - retired RRT Posted May 8, 2015 #14 Share Posted May 8, 2015 This was my first and LAST time booking a non-cruise ship directed tour. VERY BAD EXPERIENCE! Don't give up on non-ship excursions. We have had some great experiences. Just do your research before you book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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