KDub91

I began using Rome in Limo in 2003, and it had been a love affair ever since! This company is hands down the very best in Italy, and probably anywhere in Europe. The level of service they provide is superb. From all of the pre-planning done with Jany in their office to the final driver drop off at the end of a holiday, no detail is missed and no question is left unanswered. And always with lots of patience and grace! This particular trip, my group of 6 adults traveled to Rome pre-cruise, then sailed Celebrity Edge from Civitavecchia. When we arrived at FCO, we used a fast-track concierge service to breeze us through immigration (highly recommend.) Our first driver was waiting at the pick up spot with a name sign (BTW, in the 20+ times I’ve had a RIL driver waiting on me, not once have they been late, or not positioned right in front with a sign waiting on me.) He assisted us with a porter to get the bags to the vehicle, got everything loaded in the van and had cold bottled water for us. All of RIL vehicles are new, clean Mercedes vans and sedans, air conditioned and extremely comfortable. He took us straight to our hotel, and we paid him his fee and gratuity. (All fees were pre-arranged with Jany for all of the booked services, I knew exactly the euros required for each and every transfer and tour and had pre ordered all of my euros in the US.) That evening we had an evening tour of Rome at night and our guide Luca was wonderful. He was funny, charming, knowledgeable and also knew we were a bit jet-lagged, so he navigated us through the city to some main sites: Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Forum, and the Vatican (amazing at night!) then some gelato and a skyline view of the city before retiring for the night back at the hotel. The next day, Luca picked us up and gave us a grand tour of his city: Coliseum, Pallentine, Forum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus, a real Sunday Supper in his own neighborhood and a trip to the Catacombs. His insight and historical knowledge was the highlight of this day. (There is no doubt after my years with RIL that owner Dumon seriously vets his guides...they are the best, English speaking, always charming and hospitable.) The next morning our transfer driver Gary picked us up right on time and we enjoyed a great ride to port, discussing all types of topics about life in Italy. Gary is also a huge Prince fan as am I, so we shared concert stories as well! 

Thanks for the great review.

Question... you said "We got off the ship at 7:30 am and took the first free shuttle bus to town (about 8 minutes)." Did you tender in near Old Port or New Port? Trying to figure this part out...if you tender in to Old Port, you're basically in Mykonos Town and if New Port, then you must ride the shuttle or it's about a 40 min walk?

THANKS!

Need some clarification from anyone who has been on a Cuba sailing already.

As we all know, this cruise is an all-inclusive alcohol cruise; however, bottled water is not included. (such a scam!!) I understand I can have 12 1-liter bottles delivered to my cabin on Day One for $36. (There goes most of the $50 onboard credit, lol!)

I do also realize we can bring refillable water bottles onboard and fill them ourselves...but that's really not our thing. Apologies to the environment.

Does anyone know the cost of an actual single bottled water if ordered at the bar etc? We are big water drinkers. Guess we will have a huge end of cruise non-bar bill...now that's a FIRST! :):mad::):mad::):mad:

I echo your concerns and it disturbed me a bit to hear some of the "oh how cute and quaint" chatter back on the ship from folks who'd gone on tours who clearly had not seen some of the same things we did.

 

Our first day we saw a lot less of the "off the beaten path" areas and while our driver did drive past a couple of regular neighborhoods, he seemed slightly less comfortable showing us anything that might expose the less touristy side of Havana. On our second day, once our guide realized we'd both traveled a lot in emerging economies and countries with transitioning political systems, we were suddenly able to deviate from the normal path and he took us into some back areas where we saw a very different Havana that will haunt me for some time.

 

I'm still mentally and emotionally processing this trip. If I take it just on the surface as a tourist trip then I'd say "awesome, beautiful - go see Cuba before it gets commercialized and ruined". If I go deeper and think about the people-to-people aspect of it, I'm no less glad I went, but my emotions are different.

Thank you for these thoughts. Regardless of any and all politics and political affiliations, traveling the world always reaffirms to me personally how incredibly blessed I feel to be an American.

I think it's because you're in a suite. Service charge is definitely more in a suite.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Glad to help. I knew the bill was good for something!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

why did the bill have the total in USD if they don't accept American money? Just so you know the approximate amount you're spending?

THANKS!

Thoroughly enjoying this review...booked for Sept!

glad you had a great experience. I'm a little worried as we booked 4 cabins today for September and now reading all this stuff about possibility of not being able to go due to POTUS changes.

Need clarification on bottled water...is it included in all inclusive drinks? If no, what do they cost on board?