Quasar ExpeditionsReviews of quasarex.com

Response from Quasar ExpeditionsOct 2, 2018

Hi Barbara, Thank you so much you for your review and your feedback. We are very happy to hear that you had an excellent time on your Patagonia Overland Safari and that our guide Gonzalo, with his fun spirit and great expertise, was able to make your trip a memory for a lifetime! It is of the greatest importance to us that our clients experience a smooth and hassle-free journey from beginning to end, and we are sorry to hear about the logistical challenges you had to face due to flight and transfer delays. While Quasar Expeditions does not book air for clients, we do often refer them to a trusted company that can help with that, and they receive great feedback 9.8 out of 10 times. I am sorry that this was not the case for you and we have been in touch with them to let them know about your dissatisfaction (as we know you have done as well). When flights are very delayed in this part of the world, as was the case with yours, our transfer service provider in Santiago normally adjusts their schedules to work with the new arrival times and welcome clients upon arrival. However, in your particular case there was an error with the new arrival times they were given and this resulted in the transfer issue. Since April 2018, which is when your issue occurred, we have worked very closely with our transfer service provider to prevent and avoid similar situations in the future. If you have any further comments or concerns that you would like to share with us, please give us a call us at any of the numbers found on our website https://www.quasarex.com or you can email us directly at [email protected]. It was our pleasure hosting you in Patagonia! Sincerely, The Quasar Expeditions' Management Team

Response from Quasar ExpeditionsSep 25, 2018

Hi Peter, We greatly appreciate your review. A couple of seasons ago, 3 of the better hotels in Calafate closed for business for different reasons, and the options for good lodging experiences in the area suddenly became very reduced. Today you only have one true 5-star hotel in the area, and while a couple of properties in Calafate label themselves as 5-star hotels (and show the 5 stars on their websites) our experience over the past several years in Patagonia has shown us that they are really 4-stars, at best. Some properties in Calafate have better locations and better views than other properties where we often put our guests, as was the case with your trip we believe. However, our experience over the years has shown us that many of these properties are inconsistent when it comes to food, service, amenities and attention to detail. We have had overall better feedback from other properties that perhaps may not have the best views or the best location, but our guests have been happier with the food, service and accommodations. We feel that this is more important to our clients than the location or views, especially since one spends most of the day outside of the hotels exploring the National Parks. We always put our guest’s satisfaction first, by choosing the best option available at the time of booking, considering the limited availability of good hotels in the area. If you would like to give additional feedback on this matter for future guests, we encourage you (and anyone reading this comment) to contact us at [email protected] so that we may answer all your questions or concerns. We thank you again for having chosen Quasar Expeditions to experience the wilds of Patagonia, and hope to see you back in another one of our destinations soon. Thank you, The Quasar Expeditions' Management Team

Response from Quasar ExpeditionsAug 16, 2018

Hi Rachael, Thank you for your review. While we endeavor to keep the Grace looking in tip top shape with rooms and common spaces cleaned twice daily, occasionally the equatorial sun takes a toll on fabrics and we therefore schedule to change these often to keep the yacht looking crisp. A great advantage of the Grace being originally built in the Golden Age of Travel is all the outdoor space under shade, which gives our passengers a front row seat on that amazing Galapagos climate and habitat. Keeping the size down to 18 means you will have that more intimate experience and not have to vie for photos of wildlife on single file nature trails, or spend time on logistics or lectures, when you could be out exploring the islands. And you experienced the flexibly having a small yacht offers. If we see a pod of dolphins we will often stop and jump in with them. The slow season in the Galapagos is when kids are in school, so couples looking to have less kids on a cruise should look at dates when schools are in session. Many of our families have had an amazing time on the Grace including private charters for family reunions. However, our 32-passenger yacht the Evolution is probably the best family yacht in the Galapagos. I invite you to read my blog on Why the Galapagos Is the Ultimate Family Vacation - https://www.quasarex.com/blog/why-the-galapagos-is-the-ultimate-family-vacation Yes, Quasar recommends all passengers purchase trip cancellation / interrupt insurance. This insures the non-refundable parts of your tour should you need to cancel or curtail your adventure due to unforeseen events such as illness. It is good practice for any travel experience. Thank you for traveling with us! Thank you, The Quasar Expeditions' Management Team

Response from Quasar ExpeditionsApr 19, 2018

When passengers fly to the Galapagos a day or more ahead of our cruises, we have found that the best way for them to meet up with the rest of the group is simply to meet them in the arrival section of the airport, in this case at Baltra Airport. That is why in the final instructions sent to the this party we carefully pointed out that, “You will need to meet the group on Sat Feb 3rd at the Baltra airport near baggage claim. The flight is AV1634 arriving at 11:55 am. Puerto Ayora is an hour away from the airport.” There is only one dock where all the cruise yachts leave from at Baltra Island. The reason we do not mention this to passengers in advance is to keep the instructions as simple possible and because there is no public transportation offered to single travelers, i.e. meet the group’s arrival flight at the baggage claim. We don’t want passengers thinking they need to get themselves to the yacht, which requires special transportation to the dock and then a dinghy to the yacht (which we provide for the group including these passengers). Baltra island is just big enough for the airport and even when passengers get confused we always find them and would not leave them behind. When these passengers arrived on their own in Baltra, 3 days before their cruise, and had to get to a hotel that they booked directly, they took a 5 minute bus to the ferry, a 5 minute ferry ride, and then a 45 minute taxi ride to Puerto Ayora. We don’t understand why it was a surprise that they had to take this journey in reverse to return to Baltra airport. As a remedy we did offer to arrange transfers for these passengers, which they declined. A great feature of a Galapagos cruise is that you cross from one island to the next at night, typically between 11 PM and 6 AM. That way you enjoy a full day of activities and don’t waste time navigating during the day, but typically while you are asleep. When yachts are underway there is always a bit of ambient vibration, just as there is ambient noise on a jet and we make no secret of this. We are sorry that the passengers did not sleep well. On some nights no crossings are necessary and the yacht spends all night quietly at anchor. In case of flight changes we always ask passengers to give us the number of the hotel where they are staying on the night prior to the cruise so we can contact them if there are delays. Having tried calling US numbers in Ecuador, and especially the Galapagos, I can report that the calls to those numbers rarely go through. Unfortunately by the time Avianca decided to delay the flight we were not able to reach these passengers. We very much appreciate this feedback and will look into ways to incorporate what our passengers tell us into continually improve our service. Thank you for traveling with us! Thank you, The Quasar Expeditions' Management Team

Response from Quasar ExpeditionsSep 25, 2018

Dear Jagdip, Thank you for your review and your feedback. We are very happy to hear that you had an excellent time, and that everything went smoothly, with the exception of your tipping experience. We see that you booked Quasar through a third party, and it appears they may not have passed on the correct tipping guidelines to you and we will correct this. We have looked into including tipping in the cost of our cruises, but a key problem is that if we were to do this, tips would be taxed as corporate income, which they are not. Remember that Quasar is an Ecuadorian company. Also, most of our passengers prefer having the discretion regarding what to tip rather than for Quasar to treat this as just another charge. We also think this contributes to the amazing service you and all our passengers receive onboard! While our tipping recommendations are in line with other Galapagos providers, we do emphasize that these are only guidelines. In fact, we specifically say the following in our pre-trip materials. “We are often asked what gratuity is appropriate to leave your guide and crew while in the Galapagos. Of course the quality of service should determine the extent of any gratuity.” We go on to provide recommendations but that is all they are, recommendations. It was our pleasure hosting you in the Galapagos Islands! Sincerely, The Quasar Expeditions' Management Team

Response from Quasar ExpeditionsSep 25, 2018

Dear Dalit, Thank you so much for your review. The Quasar team loves to hear the word ‘wonderful’ from our passengers, as our aim is to provide you with wonderful memories to last a lifetime. We agree that our trips to the Galapagos may just be the world’s ultimate family vacation. Where else can all 3 generations do the same things at the same time and have the same amount of fun? We have written a blog about this with more details as to the reasons why at this link - https://www.quasarex.com/blog/why-the-galapagos-is-the-ultimate-family-vacation and you can also read Martha Stewart’s blog about her trip to the Galapagos with us with her family at this link - http://www.themarthablog.com/2016/07/a-trip-to-the-galapagos.html It was our pleasure hosting you in the Galapagos Islands! Sincerely, The Quasar Expeditions' Management Team

Response from Quasar ExpeditionsJan 10, 2018

While Quasar owns and operates two amazing yachts, the Grace and the Evolution, we are not yet in a position to operate our own airline flying 737 Boeing Jets, or their airbus equivalent, required to make the 2-hour flight from the mainland to the Galapagos. As we send so many passengers to the Galapagos it is in the interest of our passengers that we find the airline that is the most reliable, offers schedules best suited to mesh with our yacht itineraries (arriving at the right time and serving both airports in the Galapagos), as well as other factors such as connecting with flights to Peru for Mach Picchu, offers good value and will allow us to do things like ship over the fresh produce with our passengers that makes our menus so inviting. To that end, and based on these and other factors, we have chosen to work with Avianca. Avianca is equal to or better than one of the two other carries and far better than the third. We know this from over 30 years of experience. As mentioned, we of course don’t own the airline and therefore cannot manage factors such as delayed flights due unexpected airport closings, but we have found that Avianca is the most reliable for our purposes and those of our passengers and when problems arises, Avianca is also the most accommodating and flexible. Typically, we ask passengers to arrive at the airport an hour and a half prior to departure. Again, based on 30 years plus of experience, Quasar has found that it is the ideal time to begin arriving prior to departure, given that passengers must pass through a Galapagos agricultural inspection, in addition to regular security inspection, as well as getting checked on by our staff with their luggage. Of course we also leave enough time for a buffer to be able to assist passengers to get to the airport in case of breakdowns and traffic. Keep in mind that once our group arrives in the Galapagos, our yachts must set out on their prescribed National Park itinerary. Therefore it is essential that passengers arrive at the airport in time to make their flight, as catching up with the yacht once it leaves can be extremely difficult and sometimes not possible until a number of days have gone by. We know airlines are not perfect, and we have all had our experiences with them, but based on Quasar’s long experience, we don’t think there is currently a better alternative serving the Galapagos for our departures. Thank you for traveling with us! Thank you, The Quasar Expeditions' Management Team

Response from Quasar ExpeditionsNov 16, 2017

We greatly appreciate your feedback, Adrian! It sounds as if all your Galapagos cruise and the pre-trip preparations went very well. One comment is that we do have check lists at the start of each section in our pre-trip information to make reminders a bit easier, but perhaps we can emphasize that better. Regarding your mainland Ecuador arrangements. Once our passengers are within a couple of weeks of their departure, we like to have our local staff in Quito send out a welcome letter with details. They typically do an excellent job and passengers tell us they enjoy being in touch with the people who will be taking care of them in Ecuador. We encourage any passenger who feels that something is not clear to contact the same staff you mentioned as being very helpful so that we can clarify any issues as our goal is for everything to go more than smoothly. Yes, weather conditions, elevation and fitness all effect hiking in the Andes and we encourage hikers to communicate with their guide if they feel they wish to simply turn around or shorten a hike. Our travelers are pleasantly surprised at the freshness and variety of foods they encounter in Ecuador, the benefits of a year round growing season on the equator with many different climate zones. The vast majority of our travelers enjoy very healthy trips and we take great care to ensure this by way of the ingredients we use and how they are prepared as well as places we take passengers to dine in the mainland. However, we are very sorry to learn of what happened to your wife! Every now and again, travelers may experience an upset stomach due to the new foods or climate change during a trip abroad. We urge all of our passengers to follow the CDC guidelines as well as consult with their physician. Thank you, The Quasar Expeditions' Management Team