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Tour By Van


gumballz
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We have just returned from our 16 day cruise on celebrity to panama. We had a group of 6 people and wanted to try and arrange our own tours. We did not like the idea of being on a bus with several people trying to see the city. I will not go into all the sites we were able to visit, but there was no sitting and waiting for people. We quickly went to many locations ,stops for pictures, and a great insite to the city. We did not just drive by the big hotels, we saw the back streets and how so many of the people live. It was very impacting. We were with miguel, who is a history teacher in high school. He told us so much about this area and took very good are of us. I would reccomend this tour group to everyone. They will provide a comfortable ,very safe, fun tour, and you will want to come back again.

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Like most of you know, we toured with Rudy from Tour by Van last week while we were in Acapulco. Let me just start by saying we had a wonderful time! Rudy was right where he told us he would be with a sign that had our names on it. We said our 'hellos' and we were off to his van. The van was a large Ford Econoline type van. It seemed to be newer, however I don't know what year. The seats were in excellent condition, the interior was spotless, the A/C was cold and it was a smooth quiet ride. Because so many people on CC have questions about Tour by Van, I did a little extra looking around so I could let CC people know a little more than I usually write about. I watched his speed while we drove around and he kept it at a very reasonable pace. I didn't notice speed limit signs, so I cannot say whether or not he was within the speed limit, but based on motion, we were within a safe limit. The van had a full tank of gas and the temperature gauge was in a low position. He used his signals and respected all street signs & lights. At no time did he put us at any risk of being in danger.

 

Rudy went over the places we had asked to see and inquired as to if there was anyplace else we'd like to visit on our tour. As we drove around the city and from place to place, Rudy told us different things about the history of the city and pointed out historical landmarks. We stopped at a few and drove by a few. The tour was exactly what we had asked for. He didn't try to get us to go shopping, stop at anyone's house, eat at anyone's restaurant, etc. He had a full cooler of cold soft drinks & water (we didn't want beer, but the offer was there) and he asked a few times if we wanted to stop for a bathroom break.

 

Rudy himself was very pleasant. He speaks English very well and his accent is fun to listen to. It's not so strong that we had trouble understanding him, though. He was extremely respectful towards literally everyone he saw. He opened doors for us and took photos of us with our cameras. The photos turned out great! We felt safe the whole time we were with him and would not hesitate to book with his company again. I rate his tour a 10 out of 10. I have nothing bad or negative to say about it at all........except maybe that we wish we could have stayed a few days instead of only a few hours! :)

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

 

Here's a pic of the van we toured in. It was clean and in good condition.

 

van1.jpg

 

Rudy talking & pointing things out as we drive to our next destination.

 

van3.jpg

 

Rudy at Los Flamingos, you can see that he wears his license around his neck (and I looked.....it's not expired).

 

van2.jpg

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For those of you interested, I just posted a review about Tour by Van on another thread. I couldn't post it on this one, since I started the thread. I needed to follow CC rules in order to keep it on the boards. :)

 

The thread the review is under is titled: 'Tour by Van tours of Acapulco'

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GUMBALLZ.....Thank you so much for posting your review of the tour with Rudy in Acapulco. I was already feeling really good about booking with him for our trip there in March, but after reading your excellent review, I am even more excited. This is exactly what we wanted and I know we'll have a great time on our tour of ACA w/Rudy. Thanks again for taking the time to post back about it, and I hope all of your cruise was excellent!

 

Karen

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You're very welcome. :)

 

Wildrob & Karen, I passed on your messages to Rudy.....and gave him little post it notes with the messages as well. He was happy to 'hear' from you both and said he's looking forward to meeting you.

 

Sunny AZ, I'm sad for you that you have to wait so long......but, at least you have something else to look forward to. A great tour in a city full of history!

Edited by gumballz
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You're very welcome. :)

 

Wildrob & Karen, I passed on your messages to Rudy.....and gave him little post it notes with the messages as well. He was happy to 'hear' from you both and said he's looking forward to meeting you.

 

Sunny AZ, I'm sad for you that you have to wait so long......but, at least you have something else to look forward to. A great tour in a city full of history!

 

gumballz,

 

Thank you for relaying the messages for us, and for the report back about your tour. Now I am so pumped for our trip. Unlike Sunny AZ, i will see him in 3 weeks!! I will also post my experience here when our group of 18 gets back.

 

Robert

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gumballz,

 

Thank you for relaying the messages for us, and for the report back about your tour. Now I am so pumped for our trip. Unlike Sunny AZ, i will see him in 3 weeks!! I will also post my experience here when our group of 18 gets back.

 

Robert

OK - quit rubbing it in!!!! I was scheduled to go on his tour in February, but had to switch cruises.:( So it's 2011 for us now!

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Like most of you know, we toured with Rudy from Tour by Van last week while we were in Acapulco.

 

Thanks for the review! We'll be using them 3 weeks from Monday! :) Though we won't be with Rudy, it will be one of his partners. I'll be posting how that goes although I expect we'll have a great time.

 

I have a couple questions. About how long did the tour last and was there an extra charge for the drinks?

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Thank you everyone for posting what you have experienced with Rudy. I am in the process of booking a trip with him on 6 January. I am so excited and can't wait. Unfortunetely Rudy is booked with another tour so we will be getting another one of his drivers, but I am sure we will have the same success as the rest of you. 58 days and counting. :D

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For anyone with concerns, I just arranged a tour of Acapulco for 6 of us last week while we were in port and Rudy was absolutely as good as promised. If only there were a "Rudy" in all ports. He was on time, his van was in great condition and I feel like I learned more from him than I would have seen in 4 or 5 tours with someone else. He provided drinks, and truly was open to adapting the tour to what we wanted to see and do. I couldn't have been happier. His in person communication is every bit as good and thorough as his emails - I can say I wholeheartedly recommend him.

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I'm sorry I haven't replied sooner to your question, gargoyle999! The drinks were included in the tour. He had a cooler in the van. We could get in and get a drink whenever we wanted.....and he offered to get us a drink several times. It was very hot and humid the day we were there, and I think he was concerned that we were going to over heat. lol He wasn't pushy.....just making sure we were comfortable.

 

Our tour lasted about 6 hours, I believe. Our ship was a little late arriving and we were delayed, for a bit, in leaving the ship. Rudy was standing there with our sign just waiting patiently with a smile. :)

 

We didn't meet any of Rudy's other guides, but I cannot imagine them being anything but professional and nice. I don't think Rudy would allow anything less.

 

Be sure to take a camera with you on your tour. Acapulco is a very busy city with a lot of interesting sights! It's also very green and lush in a lot of places. Being from Arizona, we especially liked that! lol

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I did a tour for 6 of us with Rudy last week on the Coral Princess - and I couldn't have been happier. He is as knowledgeable and helpful as they come - if only I could find a "rudy" in every port. Here's an important thing - he does not include any shopping on his tour unless you specifically request it - so unlike many other tour guides who are getting paid to make you go to their jewelry store, Rudy just sticks to showing you the sites, and helping you get to know Acapulco better. He clearly loves his city and wants to acquaint you with it too - showing you far more than most tours ever will. He will accommodate your requests and was more than willing to answer questions and spend time where we wanted to. His van is equipped with a microphone so that even people in the back seat could easily hear what he had to say. The van is in good shape and well maintained. Rudy is a gem!

 

Sue

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Rudy is not personally available on the day we'll be in but does have other drivers available. Is the one in particular we should ask for?

 

Also, flight gets in around 1p, ship departs at 8p. We're going to take a short, quick tour with them enroute for airport to cruiseport. I don't think the divers will be diving during this time. Anyone have any other info on them? Thanks.

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We just returned from our cruise and spent a day touring Acapulco with Rudy. It was arranged by someone else on our roll call. We really enjoyed the day, and Rudy was great. He was flexible, willing to make changes on the fly to accomodate our group. There were 6 of us in his van, and he used a microphone, so even though we were sitting in the back, we could hear his comments very well. We were looking forward to enjoying some authentic Mexican food, but the 4 others decided to go back to the ship. We asked Rudy to recommend a restaurant within walking distance to the ship and he dropped us off at Las Canasta. He brought us into the restaurant, and told the staff what type of food we were looking for - Rudy's recommendation was "Filete a la Tampiquena" which is a taco, enchilada, guacamole, beans, rice and steak. My DH decided to have 3 tacos - one chicken, one beef and one pork. The food was good, the staff was friendly, the beer was cold, and we didn't get the "Mexican trots".

 

You will enjoy your day with Rudy. Do not hesitate to use him.

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We had a delightful tour with Rudy on our call in Acapulco. Rudy is a true gentleman and showed us many "arias" (aka areas) of his city. Rudy is knowledgable not only of his city, but of events happening in the world. He speaks English very well, and enjoyed chatting about a variety of subjects. We felt very comfortable and safe during the tour. He does everything to earn your trust, and is committed to making sure your tour exceeds your expectations. (Deb and I enjoyed the cervezas that were provided during the tour.) We had a memorable day in Acapulco. Gracius Rudy for sharing your city with us!!

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Since will will be on our tour Nov 30th I did a final confirmation with him that we are all set. I also sent Rudy a link to this thread to let him know of the positive comments recent guests were posting. He was very appreciative! :)

 

LOL

 

I think Rudy knew about this link already. He referred me to it in an email last week so I could see the positive comments recent guests were posting. :D

 

BTW, we booked him for our visit.

Edited by CarRan
added BTW
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