Port stop, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

[Virginia97]

I took the Island Princess in October and docked in Port Quetzal. We had the best tour of our 15-day cruise with Gus. His website is gowithgustours.com and you will see that on this site, all the tours are all for eastern Guatemala, but if you email Gus he will set-up a tour just for your party. There were 4 of us and we had a private tour of a coffee plantation, Gus showed us Antigua and took us to lunch at a restaurant that I can only describe as something you might see in a movie. We saw the magnificent country that is Guatemala through the eyes of a native Guatemalan. Go with Gus--I promise you will not be disappointed!! :D

[Strawberry]

Is there anything to do right around the port area in Puerto Quetzal that doesn't require a taxi ride? Can we walk around anywhere close by? Thanks

[mringenoldus]

Virginia97

 

I tried the website but didn't see any tour listed that included Antigua or the coffee plantation. Was this a special tour??

[misunseeker]

We were a group of eight and we booked with Gus from Puerto Quetzal on Jan.28. From this port we were not able to do the Humanitarian tour. We went to the beautiful city of Antigua, toured a coffee plantation and saw a lot of the countryside. It was a wonderful day and we would highly recommend it to anyone stopping in this port. Gus is a fascinating person and a wonderful guide. We were also fortunate enough to have his wife with us and his friend, Luis, as our driver. His price includes everything you need, including lunch at a beautiful restaurant. The food was wonderful! We all agreed that because of Gus and his wife this was our favorite tour of the cruise!

[big green]

I would like to do this in November 2008 --what was the cost???

 

 

Big Green

[wisconsincruisers]

Did you book in advance or when you got to the port? I had emailed Gus, but was told that I needed to send 50% in either a check or money order in advance.

 

Not real sure about that method....

 

What did you do?

[misunseeker]

The cost was $95/per person. It is a little less than the ship excursion costs and you have control of your own time and he is very interesting! It includes your admission to all the sites and lunch is also included. We contacted him ahead of time to make the arrangements. We sent him the $50 deposit and there was no problem with it. You will be sending it to his son who lives in Georgia. Gus was born in Guatamala, but moved to the US when he was fairly young and is a US citizen. After meeting him we found him totally trustworthy and would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone.

[Lollygil]

We are a little weary of sending payment to an unk source for advance payment.

[VikkiGarcia]

I was a bit hesitant on sending payment. If you read through the "Go with Gus" posts for his tour out of Santo Tomas you will see many, many people have sent payment for tours. I have yet to read one complaint about Gus not comming through. This is what convinced me he was ligit. His tour from Santo Tomas was great! I am looking forward to Puerto Quezal someday. I will contact Gus and do anything he suggests.

[cruiserssandr]

We are a little weary of sending payment to an unk source for advance payment.

Not to worry about Gus. He is highly respected and extremely reputable. We did the Humanitarian tour on Jan 30 and it was the highlight of our cruise.

[Lollygil]

OK...after worrying about the pre-payment to an unk source, I decided to do some research. Never being one to follow along..."because everyone is doing it." I wasn't going to just be the first to get burned. I called the Lawrenceville, GA commerce dept and the company Go with Gus Tours is a registered and licensed company. They are paid up until the end of March and have not renewed yet for this year. Since I am going in March, I was fine with that. I then called Better Business Bureau and found out no complaints have been registered. So, I then went to the Post Office and mailed my 50% money order and will await my stickers and map!!!

[jp2001]

I had heard so many good things on these boards about ''Go With Gus'' tours that I wanted to go with them but be advised that not all tours are good from this company. We didn't pay in advance, I can't comment on this and my intent is not to bash on them, I just want you to make a well informed decision if you decide to go with them. Here is a section of my cruise review posted on the Norwegian board:

 

I heard many good things on these boards about ‘’Go with Gus Tours’’ but I had a different experience. We worked it out and we finally had a good day but I know it was more expensive than what it should have been.

 

I had e-mailed Go with Gus twice with no answer. I wrote to the other address (there were 2) and explained that I heard good thing about his company on CC but didn’t get a reply (we wanted to go to the Banana Plantation Tour). He replied saying he had already replied (I doubt of this since I check my emails daily, including the junk mail bin just in case). He said he would take us on a Banana Plantation Tour.

 

We saw Gus near the Terminal entrance and he said we were the only ones for this tour and he would try to find other people. At this time, I told him that if he couldn’t find other people, we were open to other tour suggestions. We came back to his booth 15 minutes later, as agreed and we had to wait about 15 minutes more. During that time, I realized that they advertised the Banana Plantation Tour at 35$ per person (while we were asked 45$ per person, as per their internet rate). I asked for a 10$ pp refund but then he told me that it was another Banana Plantation, not the same quality tour as we would get (Yeah, right…. I didn’t believe this one). He didn’t find anyone else to go with us. I told him we could go on another tour, that we are not difficult people but he said it was alright, that he would give us the tour anyway (then, I felt that the 45$ pp was OK if we got a private tour instead of a group tour.

 

Here is the exact description of the tour, directly from his website:

Banana Plantation Tour

See how the Chiquita bananas that are enjoy in the US

are grown, harvested and packed.

2 1/2 hours tour

Price per person including entrance fee $45.00

 

The driver didn’t speak lots of English but enough to get by so it was ok for us, we thought the tour would be held by the plantation people… WRONG. We drove about 20 minutes, we stopped on a small street near banana trees and the driver wants us to take a picture of him and then we walk around for about 10-15 minutes (more 10 minutes I think) and he shows bananas and bags, and a guy in a tree but there were no real tour or any explanation given and he drove us back to the pier. I told him the tour was supposed to take 2.5 hours but he said Gus told him only the Banana Plantation and back since we were only the 2 of us).

 

When we came back to the pier, I was pissed off but Gus was gone with his Humanitarian Tour. His staff was very nice though. One guy couldn’t believe we were back already. I was very emotional (I can’t help it) and told him how much I was disappointed. I told him we were not difficult people and asked if he could arrange something so we have something to do that day, I said a ride to a nice beach and back later in the day would be ok, or almost anything else he could offer. He made a arrangement with another company that sells tours (it cost him only 5$ pp, nothing to us) and we had a boat ride to a resort. There was the bay view, a pool, food and beverage service (overpriced… 8$ for a burger with fries).

 

The banana plantation driver came to the resort and offered a city tour for 30$ for the 2 of us (we refused) and then for 20$ and we accepted (Catherine really wanted to go – if it were me, I wouldn’t have given one more cent to this company).

 

The city tour was nice and the guide very, very knowledgeable (I don’t know from what company but they operate a small white and red boat next to the ship). People in the van had paid about 40$pp to go to some falls and the city tour. They definitely took advantage of us when we compare but it’s ok, it’s a learning experience and we still had a good day in the end. The City tour included some very poor areas, the guide was telling us about the good and bad things about his country. We even saw 2 little girls handling coal with bare hands and no mask; poor girls… I wonder if their parents know they will probably die in their twenties suffering from lung problems.

[jp2001]

I got an email from Gus regarding my posts about him on this board. He appologizes for the problems we had on our tour and offers a refund (I'm still thinking if I will accept or decline the refund) but, to be fair to him, I wanted to let you know that he followed up.

[trek520]

My wife and I toured with Gus (and his lovely wife Ira) when we stopped in Puerto Quetzal. We felt as if we were traveling with longtime friends. While in Antigua I heard a voice call out "Gus". Someone who had toured with him the previous week from the Caribbean side wanted to say hi. He looked at me and said, "you've got the best guide." I already knew that. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant at which Gus's son is getting married next week. There were so many personal touches to our tour. Both Gus and Ira are incredibly friendly, warm and interesting people. He is truly an ambassador for Guatemala. My time spent in Guatemala with Gus and Ira was the hightlight of our two week cruise. :D

[Gingee]

That's great. Did you feel safe during your tour?

[cruiserssandr]

We toured with Gus on Jan 30, 2008 and felt completely safe the entire day. He is a true gentleman and so very proud of his country. He is well respected every where he goes.

[trbarton]

I've emailed GuatemalaReservations 2x with no response. Anybody have any experiences with emailing to them?

 

Thanks!:)

 

Tom....San Francisco

[dhdr]

Check out Bob's post from Nov 2006 about Jeremy and his tour of Antigua.

We just returned from Princess' Panama Canal cruise. When in Puerto Quetzal, I called out for Jeremy on the dock in the midst of the other taxi drivers. He was there with Manuel and the Mitsubishi van with BMW in the license plate!

Six of us toured all day with the two of them. We paid $35US each. It was a great day.

If you utilize his services, tell him Dave and the group from Pennsylvania says hi.

[mrsshebu]

Check out Bob's post from Nov 2006 about Jeremy and his tour of Antigua.

We just returned from Princess' Panama Canal cruise. When in Puerto Quetzal, I called out for Jeremy on the dock in the midst of the other taxi drivers. He was there with Manuel and the Mitsubishi van with BMW in the license plate!

Six of us toured all day with the two of them. We paid $35US each. It was a great day.

If you utilize his services, tell him Dave and the group from Pennsylvania says hi.

 

That's great to hear - we're there next month and have been trying to figure out what to do. So you didn't set up anything ahead of time with him??

[JudeeJim]

Yes, his van seats 9 passengers ( 3 rows of 3 ) using fold up jump seats with the driver and guide up front.

Manuel's english is very limited but Jeremy's speaks english very well and is employed by Manuel so you may be able to arrange something through him. His # is 53711079 ( why 8 digits I don't know ) and 502 is country code for Guatemala. If you can't, there were plenty of large taxi vans offering tours at the port.

All we spoke to felt safe whether on a ship's or independent tour. Other doing their own independent taxi tours were also satisfied. Like I said the police were present in Antigua and keeping track of all ship tour buses and independent taxis along the route to and back from there. I believe Princess's ( Carnival ) takes advantage of the security concerns here since this port had the highest priced ship's tours and the lowest priced independent ( Taxi van ) tours. Go figure!

We paid for our tour in $US and even used them in the local supermarket, restaurant and with venders. In stores they convert to local currency and give change in that currency. I couldn't tell you what that currency was since I didn't handle any.

In Huatulco we were going to do a independent cruise of some of the nine bays there since the marina is right beside where the cruise ships docks. There are large commercial local cruise operators with very nice boats, probably the same ones the ship's tours are offered on.

When we saw the beautful beach at Santa Cruz ( where we docked ) we decided on a beach day and went snorkeling and swam to the small wreck in the shallow water on the east side of the next beach north of the one the Regal was docked at.

The Regal is still a great and beautiful ship. Too bad she is going to P&O Austrailia next year.

First make sure you are very careful about who you make reservations with. DO NOT HAIL A TAXI ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY. And as the telephone # question. Since you are already in the country you can eliminate the country code 502.

 

I have been on medical missions to Guatemala and when the medical team is there we are always escorted by the military or local police. I never felt afraid or nervous. The Guatemalans are wonderful people. Every country has it own crime problems. The word is be cautious and don't wear lots of expensive jewlery, handbags, clothes etc. If you go to my web site you will see some beautiful pictures of Antigua and Lake Atitlan. Judee's space - Windows Livet

[ocmd]

Check out Bob's post from Nov 2006 about Jeremy and his tour of Antigua.

We just returned from Princess' Panama Canal cruise. When in Puerto Quetzal, I called out for Jeremy on the dock in the midst of the other taxi drivers. He was there with Manuel and the Mitsubishi van with BMW in the license plate!

Six of us toured all day with the two of them. We paid $35US each. It was a great day.

If you utilize his services, tell him Dave and the group from Pennsylvania says hi.

 

 

Is it possible to get hold of him prior? We will be ther end of Mach and looking for a private tour to Antigua...thanks! also from eastern PA!!

[casavaha]

Is it worth it to exchange money in Guatamala? I generally use the ATM to get

local curency.

[elcuchio24]

Is it worth it to exchange money in Guatamala? I generally use the ATM to get

local curency.

 

Guess it depends how much you are going to buy.....

There are pleanty of ATM's there that take debit and credit. Gives you the same exchange rates as any bank. Exchange at the port is not at such a good rate. Banks have long lines so ATM is the way to go. Look for about 9Q/$1 exchange.

[ibfern]

Is it worth it to exchange money in Guatamala? I generally use the ATM to get

local curency.

 

Use American $$ and save time, you are so limited on that from a cruise ship! Its rarely worth changing a days spending money because of the fees you pay. Charge stuff on the right credit card and you can get a good exchange rate.

 

Amelia

[azippy]

Check out Bob's post from Nov 2006 about Jeremy and his tour of Antigua.

We just returned from Princess' Panama Canal cruise. When in Puerto Quetzal, I called out for Jeremy on the dock in the midst of the other taxi drivers. He was there with Manuel and the Mitsubishi van with BMW in the license plate!

Six of us toured all day with the two of them. We paid $35US each. It was a great day.

If you utilize his services, tell him Dave and the group from Pennsylvania says hi.

 

This is an older post and this thread seems to end in 2010

 

anybody have updated info..there in two weeks and have no set plans as of yet

 

thanks