tours in South America in December

[waterbabies2]

Can anyone recommend any tour guides at these ports? We are going to port stanley, punta del ests,puerto montt,puerto madryn, punta arenas & Ushuaia this December.

 

Thank you .

waterbabies2

[croftonbill]

try portcompass.com.

[sle]

Can anyone recommend any tour guides at these ports? We are going to port stanley, punta del ests,puerto montt,puerto madryn, punta arenas & Ushuaia this December.

 

Thank you .

waterbabies2

 

We are using Francesca in Punta Arenas for the penguin tour. She seems very good. Email is: shoreexcursionspuq@gmail.com

[greatam]

try portcompass.com.

 

PLEASE MAKE SURE you know what you are buying if you use Portcompass.

 

We had a horrible experience with them last December-in fact, they left us at the dock.

 

I had originally contacted them about PRIVATE transport from Valparaiso to Santiago, to arrive at the Santiago airport about 7:00PM. They emailed back "would we mind another couple". I said OK, NO MORE than SIX people. The next thing I knew, we were on their "grow a group" program, with 12-16 people and DROP OFF at the airport between 4-5PM.

 

I was staying in Santiago for business meetings. DH was flying to Lima about 10:00PM to meet friends. Neither one of us wanted to sit around the airport, hence the request to drop off DH about 7:00PM, then take me back to the hotel. Our request was totally ignored and I was told to "take it or leave it" 2 days before we arrived in Valparaiso. When I asked about private transport AGAIN via email from the ship, I was quoted double what I had been quoted initially and told "MAYBE" they could provide private transport.

 

We rented a car in Vina del Mar, drove ourselves around (up and down the hills in Vina, two wineries, the big market and the little flea market in Santiago), dropped the car off at the airport, DH went to his plane and I took a taxi to my hotel.

 

I still have the emails, if anyone wants to see them.

 

They may be good in most ports, but PLEASE make sure you know what you are buying.

[FredS]

We used Port Compass in So America. We were staying at a hotel in Rio and they never showed up to pick us up for an all day tour. This in spite of my having confirmation months ahead of time and just prior to when we arrived there. When I dealt with them on this there was no problem getting my money credited back to my credit card. I was also disappointed in the tour in Punta Arenas to see the Otway penguins.

If you research Port Compass, when I did it, their office is in Florida. They use local sub-contractors for their tours. This may account for the good and bad tours that people have.

[Troy86]

Hi Waterbabies2,

 

We are on the same cruise !! (Infinity leaving Valparaiso on December 22nd)

There is a board for this particular cruise, so I invite you to post there. It is located in the Roll Calls - Celebrity Connections board. This link should get you there: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=434681 (you might need to log in again). This will be our 2nd time doing this itinerary (first time in 2004).

 

I can recommend the following operators:

 

First, the ones we used in 2004 and will use again this time around:

 

1. Ushuaia: Canal Fun - a great company that offers out of the ordinary tours - check out their website: http://www.canalfun.com

 

2. Puerto Madryn: Huinca Travel - offers tours to Punta Tombo (penguins) and Peninsula Valdez (elephant seals) - they have a website, but it is in spanish: http://www.huincatravel.com. However, if you send them an e-mail they will respond in english (info@huincatravel.com)

 

Second, the one we used in 2004 and did a great job, but doing something different this time around:

 

1. Puerto Montt: AlSur Expeditions - offers a photo safari similar to the tour offered by Celebrity and raftings trips. Their website is: http://www.alsurexpeditions.com. We contacted them, but they wanted too much $$ for what they would provide for us. This time we are renting a car on our own and driving around the lake (with a stop at a local ranch for a 2 hour horse ride near the volcano).

 

For the rest of the stops, we are doing new stuff, so I can't endorse any of it yet.

 

Greetings,

 

Noel