Tour Guides Readily Available at Piers?

[source]

We are embarking on a South American Cruise Eastbound from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires in December 2015 on NCL Sun and would like to know if there are tour guides available for hire at the pier without prior arrangements? Ports of Call include: Puerto Montt, Puerto Chacabuco, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Stanley Falkland Islands, Puerto Madryn, Montevideo? Are there any ports that we MUST arrange tours ahead of time. Any info would be appreciated..........Thanks

[Northern Aurora]

We were on a South American B2B2B set of cruises last spring.

 

While we were on a private shore excursion I did see taxi drivers also available at Puerto Montt offering tours.

 

We did not call at Puerto Chacabuco and our ship missed Punta Arenas due to high winds closing the port.

 

We were at Ushuaia on two of the legs. As you walk down the pier toward town, past the gift shop on the pier, look toward the right. There will be a series of small brightly colored buildings with high peaked roofs; these small buildings are where the tour operators pick up their customers (their offices are located downtown) . At both port calls we had pre-booked trips with Pira Tours, and this was where we checked in. Some folks from our ship walked onto tours offered by one of these companies. There were also taxi drivers was the pier exit offering to do tours. In addition, across of the pier at Ushuaia is a tourist information center.

 

We had a private tour arranged at Port Stanley, and since it departed very quickly I did not note if tours were available to those who had not pre-booked.

 

We also stopped at Puerto Madryn on two of the legs. There seems to be two possible piers for cruise ships. Both times our ship was docked at the very industrial pier to the very north of the bay. This was the pier with a gate controlling traffic and I am not sure that, due to the highly industrial nature of this pier, that passengers were allowed to walk to the end of the pier. We had a pre-arranged private tour on one leg and we were picked up on the pier. Our cruise line offered a no-additional-charge shuttle to the downtown area which we took on the other port call.

 

Our ship called at Montevideo twice (legs 1 and 2), and each time taxis were readily available. Also both times their local tourist board had greeters available to answer questions and provide assistance.

[4774Papa]

We pre-booked all our tours on our Jan 2014 Infinity Around the Horn cruise.

 

In my opinion, it makes far better sense to do the research on each port, find out that you want to see and then book with a private tour from your cruise critic roll call. The cost of tour are relatively inexpensive compared to those in Europe.

 

Some of the sites that you want to see wildlife require some distance from the port. To rely on a local taxi driver that you know nothing about has an element of risk.

 

Here is my review, which details all our tours.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=248878

[source]

We pre-booked all our tours on our Jan 2014 Infinity Around the Horn cruise.

 

In my opinion, it makes far better sense to do the research on each port, find out that you want to see and then book with a private tour from your cruise critic roll call. The cost of tour are relatively inexpensive compared to those in Europe.

 

Some of the sites that you want to see wildlife require some distance from the port. To rely on a local taxi driver that you know nothing about has an element of risk.

 

Here is my review, which details all our tours.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=248878

 

Thank you both for your helpful info. We have already booked several private tours and your input helped greatly,

[Fattony]

Ushuaia is scenic and walkable (well, with some rather hilly streets). Most people who take tours go on excursions to see sea lions or penguins. If you don't book a tour through the cruise line, you can find tours easily right in the central port. Lots of tour outfits. Note that the penguin island tour takes you just offshore from from the island (or at least used to). The only tour that lets you get onto the island requires a long bus ride from Ushuaia, followed by a Zodiac ride to the island and takes more time than is available to most on cruise stops. We walked Ushuaia on our on with a guide book. Lots of gift shops and King Crab restaurants (the crab was very expensive unless you got it in a stew, etc.).