HAL's excursions

[lawyerrose]

We're sailing on a TA/Med cruise in October and have been looking at ways to see Rome for the day we're there. At first I thought HAL's excursion that includes the Vatican and St. Peter's was very expensive until I priced some of the outside tour guides/drivers. Now it's looking good. But I've heard sad stories about "cattle cars" and being hearded with a large crowd, etc. etc. Can someone with some first hand experience tell me what to expect with a HAL excursion? Are they handled well? Worth the $$? Thanks.

Rose

[eh2zed]

HALs excursions are like most others where a full highway coach is involved. They are normally are cattle calls in our opinion. You will have 45 or so people on the bus with a diversity of interest in the day and physical ability. Inevitably there can be delays due to some fellow passengers tardiness or need for pit stops. Lunch periods tend to be overly long. You will see more and in less time on a private tour. However the tradeoff in the case of a day in Rome is the distances involved and your willingness to risk getting back late. This really shouldn't happen but the ship only waits for their own excursions. You can cut costs on a private tour by joining your roll call and getting a few others to share your tour if you wish. We have done this often. If it were us we would either go private or do an independent using the train. We are very conservative on returning to the ship on time but even so we will have seen more for less than the ships tour.

[jtl513]

Crowds at the Vatican are terrible anyway, and I don't think it would make much difference if you had a private guide or not. Our pre-cruise tour group of 24 people got up early and got there at 7:15a, and the line was already about a 1/2 mile long! (It was a Friday morning in June.)

[yankeejim]

Went on the European Tapestry cruise on the Vdam June 07. Took the HAL tour to Rome. I thought it was excellent. Great tour guides and great lunch. Yes it was a busload of folks but we all had a great time together.

[jhannah]

Crowds at the Vatican are terrible anyway, and I don't think it would make much difference if you had a private guide or not. Our experience was that it made a BIG difference. Our guide/driver took us to the Vatican and found a special Vatican guide he knows. This was a fiesty, knowledgeable lady in her eighties, who had been guiding people through the Vatican for over 50 years. She didn't wait in line for anybody. She just poked her way (with us in tow) through the queue, past the guards who let her right through, and went right inside. Doing this as a private tour definitely made a difference. We shared the car with two other couples, so the cost was quite reasonable ... cheaper per person than what the cruise line wanted.

[Mollynme]

We're sailing on a TA/Med cruise in October and have been looking at ways to see Rome for the day we're there. At first I thought HAL's excursion that includes the Vatican and St. Peter's was very expensive until I priced some of the outside tour guides/drivers. Now it's looking good. But I've heard sad stories about "cattle cars" and being hearded with a large crowd, etc. etc. Can someone with some first hand experience tell me what to expect with a HAL excursion? Are they handled well? Worth the $$? Thanks.

Rose
Over on the Mediterranean discussion board - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=234 - I've seen several suggestions/testimonies for private tours. You might want to check that out.

[Jim Avery]

Our experience was that it made a BIG difference. Our guide/driver took us to the Vatican and found a special Vatican guide he knows. This was a fiesty, knowledgeable lady in her eighties, who had been guiding people through the Vatican for over 50 years. She didn't wait in line for anybody. She just poked her way (with us in tow) through the queue, past the guards who let her right through, and went right inside. Doing this as a private tour definitely made a difference. We shared the car with two other couples, so the cost was quite reasonable ... cheaper per person than what the cruise line wanted.
This was Maria. We used her in October. Read about it on the SeaDream board, October SeaDream 1 review. The only way to go. Use Stefano at Rome Cabs and definately hire Maria. You will be back to the ship on time.
Jim.

[lawyerrose]

Thank you all for lots to think about!! If we went with a driver, we'd have to pay entrance fees to Vatican. And probably get a guide if we wanted to get right in. What am I looking at as far as extra costs for that? I really appreciate y'all passing on your knowledge and experience!:)

[Jim Avery]

I expect you will pay entrance fees regardless of which way you go. If you hire a private driver, he will be waiting at the pier as you get off the ship. You will drive directly to all the sites and, believe me, these people have permits to drive where no one else can. We parked directly alongside the fountain of Trevi, The pantheon, and the Colisseum. You will have a great time and learn a lot. At the Vatican, especially with Maria, you will see and learn things the groups just go by. You will bypass all the lines. Lunch will be where you want with local knowledge. All this cost us about $1,000 for 4. Save a few bucks on your trip to Rome and ride a bus with the slowest of the slow, park blocks away, and stand in a mile long line. Your choice.
Jim.

[yankeejim]

I must have been on the magic bus because we did not experience what has been written on this thread. As stated before there is always a line to get into the Vatican. If you want to push and shove your way to the front, feel free, but everybody has to go through the detectors. There is no secret entrance. Oh by the way, walking is good for you........

[Jim Avery]

Yes, there is a "secret entrance". The guides take you through a side door and to the head of the ticket line. No "pushing or shoving", you are hiring an Italian to do things for you the Italian way. As I said, the choice is yours. You can always make up time on your next trip to Rome next month.

[jhannah]

This was Maria. Yes, indeed. We LOVED her. She really has a passion for what she does, and it shows in her tour.

We booked a car through www.driverinrome.com (http://www.driverinrome.com) and were very pleased.

[grsnovi]

We did the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's in Oct.'06 on our own. The line for the Vatican Museum was unbelievable. I know that throughout Italy you are usually able to get reservations for various venues. The reservation line is short and fast while the folks who just show up wait on long lines.

St. Peter's is free and it was awesome. I had seen Michelangelo's Pieta at the NY World's Fair in '63/'64 and seeing it again in St. Peters was great. While the Vatican Museum is a "must see" you will feel like cattle no matter how you get in. The Sistine Chapel is also a must see however after being hearded for hours it felt anti-climatic and I was happy to exit out into St. Peter's Square.

We spent several days on foot in Rome before we set off on the Eurostar for Florence and eventually Venice (on foot once we arrived in both cities).

We loved Venice...