tonga

I just did this tour this past week. Not what I was expecting. Very little historic besides a 200 year old church that is under repair. Long bus ride to Ocho Rios for three shopping stops there. Then they take you to a beach resort where they rent beach chairs and lunch with a beer will set you back $20 per person. After an hour on the beach it is time to go back for the hour drive to the boat. Aggravating that two couples from Mexico had no respect for the rest of the people on the tour and kept showing up 20 minutes late after each shopping stop. I do not recommend this tour unless you want to shop and shop, pay for an expensive lunch or are into long bus rides.

One word describes the experience my family and I had--INCREDIBLE!! I signed up for tours in Pisa/Florence, Rome and Naples during our 4-11 Aug 12 Mediterranean Cruise. We are a family of four and used the RIL tour share website and two other couples signed up for our Pisa.Florence and Rome Tours which significantly reduced our costs because we split the cost eight ways. I compared the cruise tour prices to what it cost us and RIL was such a much better value for numerous reasons. First, the RIL tours are cheaper than the tours the cruise charges for similar services. You are in a very small group and in a much smaller vehicle with your own tour guide/driver. This maximizes the use of your time in these ports given that you have to be back on the ship by the 1830 sailing. I saw the folks from my ship who took ship tours, the cheaper "Rome on your own" folks were walking around without knowing what they were looking at or how to maximize their time. The more expensive ones with a tour guide were on large buses that were limited to attractions that accommodated the size of the bus (where it could drive) and had a tour guide for 25-30 people, most of these folks also looked lost! You cannot maximize your time with these tours like you can with RIL. We had a different driver at every port, each one reflected the personality of region, all were passionate about their town and were very knowledgeable about everything we drove by. They all went out of their way to give outstanding customer service such as opening doors, having water for us, helping us order in restaurants, taking us to out of the way sites, answering questions and going above and beyond expectations. I had no problem tipping each one of them because I thought their exceptional service truly deserved such tips, not because i felt obligated or pressured in any way. Jany is the point of contact in booking your tours and she is very responsive and you can call her with questions. Summaries of each port tour follow:

Livorno (Pisa/Florence) Our driver was Elisabetta, she was born in the area, she was passionate and proud of the area and was an encyclopedia of knowledge and provided information the entire time on everything from archeology, history, religion and politics. She first took us to the Leaning Tower and the Cathedral, suffice it to say she gave us tips on how to view things that others would not and got there early enough before the masses showed up. She then took us to Florence and took us to places with the best vistas and then showed us all the sites in the van and cut us loose so we could all go to the ones we wanted to. She also gave us tips on places to eat and we chose to eat on our own. The group had different ticket times for the Academic Museum and she made sure that each person got door to door service for their tours. She even showed us a second leaning tower in Pisa! No worries whatsoever on time and she dropped us off with plenty of time before the ship sailed!

ROME. Our driver was Nick AKA "Nick the Americano" who is one of the most entertaining characters I have ever come across with his Roman ways. He was also born in Rome and was just as passionate as Elisabetta but with a city and casanova attitude. Again, we hit sites early before the crowds and visited, the pantheon, trevi fountain, spanish steps, shopping neighborhood, roman ruins and then he dropped us off at the Colosseum where we skipped the long lines with our tickets we purchased on the internet. He took us for a quick 30 minute lunch as the group wanted to see more sites. From there he took us to the vatican where we met our guide Frederica. The tour guide was an extra 150 Euros but well worth it especially when split 8 ways. She took our previously purchased tickets via the internet and went right to the window, got our tickets and we skipped all the lines and the chaos. The Vatican is a complete cattle call and you are short changing your experience if you do not use a tour guide. She was well worth it and explained so much that in hindsight I would have paid double for her since I only plan to go there once. Having a group of 8 greatly helped, the cruise tour groups had a guide but they did not have the time to discuss as much as we did with out tour guide because of the size of the group. At the end of the Vatican we met Nick in a souvenir shop and then headed to a couple more sites--Again, back on the ship 90 minutes before sailing time.

Naples- Our last port tour, our driver was Tony and it was just four of us as the couples who previously joined us decided to take the ferry to Capri Island instead so it was a little more expensive for us but well worth it and after talking to one of the couples later on, they missed out on a great tour!. Tony was born and lives in Sorrento. A wonderful gentleman who had a low key demeanor and was a wealth of information like our previous tour guides. He exemplified the people who live in the small villages/cities of the Amalfi Coast. Tony first took us to Pompeii, we were there early at 0830 and were the second tourists to go through the gate (11 Euro Entrance each). The guide here cost 100 Euro and again well worth it for her two hour tour. There are no signs in the ruins so you are short changing yourself if you do not have a guide to explain and take you to the more important sites there. Amazing experience to be int he Roman city. Just as an example, she took us to a newly restored house and they were doing landscaping, she asked them to stop the noise for a few minutes and they did and she explained everything in the house. She also took us to the red light district, showed us stones that had significant clues, overall a great experience. Tony then drove us to Sorrento for a delicious lunch and shopping and then further down the Amalfi Coast to Positano a drive with amazing views the entire time. He also made sure we got a taste of Sorrento's Lemoncello and had us singing Thats Amore! If you search U Tube for singing RIL driver his videos will show up.

Lengthy review if you are still reading but I cannot say enough good things about RIL. If you book more than one tour you get a 50 Euro discount. It is best if you share so create a group on their sharing website. Do not worry about times, they were there when we got off the ship and got us back with plenty of time to spare. This tour company will allow you to see more of Italy, it will cost you less and you will have an awesome and I mean awesome experience. The Rome tour costs 100 Euros more than the others and I highly recommend you ask for Nick the Americano to have a Rome tour you will never forget.