Need Info on Local Tour Operator in European Ports

[serendipity1499]

Does anyone know of tour operators who deal only in local city tours in various Southern European Ports..We're on the Nov 12 Westerdam Sailing & want to either book some of our tours locally (on the dock) or through a discount operator, rather than the ship...Last year we booked several tours with Port Compass in South America & were pleased with their service..We found out about Port Compass from posters on the old CC boards destination threads... Now can't find any threads that deal only with destinations...Am I looking in the wrong place? Also can no longer find the Port Compass WEB site on-line....The cities that we are interested in are: Tarragona & Cadiz (Spain) Funchal, Madeira (Portugal) & Lanzarote, Canary Is. (Spain)...Will take the ships tours in Casablanca & Gibralter..Thanks in advance for your help.

Betty

[shmabbies]

I've been e-mailing Port Compass regarding an upcoming South American excursion and their website is still portcompass.com and you can e-mail them at info@portcompass.com. I had recalled many postings about satisfaction with them in South America but I'm not overjoyed with their "pay in full in advance" policy as we have NEVER done this with any of our European guides. I think you may be looking for the "ports of call" section of Cruise Critic and if you click on "Europe" I'm sure you'll find many guide recommendations for the ports you'll be visiting (I haven't been to any of those particular ports or I'd stick my two cents in!). Hope this helps and if you can reassure me about this Port Compass payment in advance policy I'd be happy to hear it!

[Aussie Gal]

Betty,

Go to the Ports Section of the C.C. Board and look up Europe. You will find many postings of operators who are reliable and good.

Jennie.

[serendipity1499]

shmabbies...Thanks for your reply...Perhaps it was my typing, as I put in Portcompass.com & came up with nothing..Have a new PC & all my favorites went with the old one..We used Port Compass for three of our tours last year when we were on the "Amsterdam"...Rio by night(dinner & Samba show) Ushuaia (Penguin & Beagle channel) & Punta Arenas (Penquin Colony-Otway Bay)...Like you, I was not comfortable at first paying in advance, but was assured that they were reliable by other CC's & we were pleasantly surprised.. Found their local tour operators to be very good....We particullarly enjoyed the Ushuaia boat ride on the Beagle channel, as the local operator's boat was docked right in front of our ship...They were right on time & we thoroughly enjoyed the tour..At Punta Arenas, there were 8-10 of us & we had to walk approx 1/4 mile out through the gate to meet our local tour guide due to very high security...Other tour operators were permitted to come right to the ship, but I suspect that was because the ship had them cleared ahead of time..In any event that was no problem..The guide was knowledgable & we arrived at Otway Bay at least 3/4 hr before the ships tours did..That was great! In hindsight we probably should have booked our RIO by Night tour directly with the Hotel as we were on a bus with lots of Hotel stops anyway...The place was crowded but dinner was good & the show was great..In Stanley we booked at the dock for $10.00 US, to go out to the small penguin colony, which was nice but next time will book the ships tour or take a cab out to see the King Penguins..In BUE we booked the dinner show directly at the dock as Port Compass would have had to charge extra for pick up at the ship or we would have had to take a cab to a hotel to pick up the tour....MVD we did not take a tour (walked to town) You probably will be dealing with Sue at Port Compass & they will send you confirmation as soon as you send them payment..We compared prices & destinations & decided to book on the three with Port Compass..Hope this helps & if this is your first time in South America, guaranteed youll want to go again! We hope to do it again sometime.......Good Luck

Aussie Gal..Thank you also for your reply..I delveloped a case of CRS for a bit & finally did find the destination threads...However I found only the threads I that dealt with the Med. ports & Norther European Ports..we'll probably just have to play it by ear & book on arrival at the dock in those cities..Thanks again & Happy Cruising

Betty

[shmabbies]

Hi Betty, Your post couldn't have been more timely. I'm on my laptop in front of the tube watching PEOPLE'S COURT, the topic of which is NEVER PREPAYING for something like like this. Simultaneously the e-mail from Port Compass arrives requesting my credit card info, and because I'm freaking out about all of this I decide to see if anyone has responded to my post and I found your message. Talk about being torn! We have been to Ushuaia before and so we are doing a relatively expensive custom day tour, described in the booking document only as "custom private tour" and this has me concerned too. I do appreciate your comments and they do make me feel better! I wish you luck with your European guide search. P.S. I've had problems on occasion typing in portcompass.com and getting the website also, isn't that strange?