fabnfortysomething

My sister is cruising onboard Carnival Breeze next month and is considering using the 'Rome on your own' Civitavecchia - Rome return transfer service. The price is good and the company confirmed they do collect passengers from 'other ships' but leave the Port between 7.30/8.00am - leaving Rome between 3.00/3.30pm. Has anyone used them from Civitavecchia, if so, how did you get on?

I've just read a review from someone who used this company in several cities. It's in the roll call section for NCL spirit-sailing date 27 June

they reported the trips to be good but are subcontracted and so may be luck of the draw as to how good the guide is.They were very cheap.

one caveat-in Civitiveccia the bus was not allowed into the port area so they had to take one of the oversubscribed shuttle bus to the port entrance which wasted a lot of time

Thank you. So I guess it's not too early.

yes you can book as early as you like if you know which company you want to go with-I was suggesting if you want to ask questions and tailor your tour then after September will be their "off peak " time when they will have more time to respond to questions which will help you narrow down your choice

How far in advance of sail date should we be contacting the more popular tour companies? We are sailing June of 2013 and are looking for private tours for our family of 5 in St. Petersburg and Berlin. Is it too early for me to start emailing them now. We are trying to tailor our tours to fit DH and I as well as our 3 kids.:)

I started to contact October/November of the previous year.It will be their peak season from now till September so they may be a bit rushed.If you contact them after that you'll probably get a more personal service with them having time to respond to your queries.

I found that they offered to honour the rates for the past season if you booked before January

well obviously no one is going to be in the position of having toured with them all.

However they all get good reviews from past travellers so they know how to do their job

Most of them are guides who have set up their own business.There is a "standard" list of must sees which they will all include.

Best advice is to send an email to several and ask what is on offer and how they can adapt to your needs.Your priority may be lower cost and finding tourmates to bring the overall cost down-ask how they can help

You may have walking difficulties-how can they help you

you may have a particular religious interest-can they accommodate you

In other words compare and contrast-you will soon get an idea from the replies which company is sending out the right "vibe"

we did the hydrofoil there and drive back

We visited the gardens not palace so this way it suited as we reached the gardens quickly

the ride was fun and was a time when the guide just sat quietly beside us

The car drive back went quickly as the guide discussed the scenery and neighbourhoods on the way

I felt having different modes of transport both legs added to the day

Thank You for the info on DIY.

We are 3, myself DH and DD and the private excursion for 3 are $300 per person.:eek:

We are pretty sure we are going to do our own thing, I just cant justify $900 for one day.

We usually do DYI in ports so we are pretty comfortable with that.

Any other info on DYI would be greatly appreciated.

 

Lois

that sounds pretty high-we had a private excursion for 3 2 years ago and it was nearer £300 per person for the TWO days

have you priced the cost of visas?

Dear minsterman

your information has been extremely helpful for me and my husband who will visit SPB this coming August.

As we are only 2 , it is much more expensive to get a private shore excursion, so please let me know if you had to wait a long queue before entering the Hermitage museum and how did you get tickets ?? on line ??

additionally if we go on a boat tour, and wish to leave the tour to go then go on our own for dinner , do we need a visa ?

thank you for your reply

OK not minsterman but have a suggestion

you will need a visa if you leave an organised tour and understand it will be expensive for a private shore excursion for just you 2

However most people share costs by hooking up with other cruisers via their roll call-have you looked into that option?

the private tour companies may also be able to help you put together a group via their website if your roll call is quiet

there are several well reviewed here on the boards

try

athens-tours,private greece tours,greek taxi

we had the same dilemma and have eventually decided on a wine tasting tour from provencewinetours who were recommended on these boards.

As our Italy tours will be all about history we decided this would be a nice change of pace and will get us out from the built up area around Toulon

They don't sell this POSH passes in advance? Where do you purchase the POSH passes? at guest services? All this information is great! and I hope to purchase these passes! :-)

head to guest services as soon as you board and keep fingers crossed they available on your sailing

Just my point of view. I have dealt with several tour companies in Europe but since I dealt with RIL and Jany I have used them exclusively over the last several years. I have never had a problem working with them. I live in the US so there is a significant time difference and have always received a prompt and courteous response from Jany that answered any questions I had. I have recommended them to quite a few friends of mine and they all say the same thing. Did you e-mail her directly?

Hi

yes have had several email communications with both Jany and the other companies.She has always been fast with responses but just not the type of helpful advice I was expecting.I think that was why I was disappointed and wondered whether this was a recent trend

as has been said when there are several well reviewed companies you just have to go with your gut instinct as to which is the best for you

Hi

I'm planning tours for our July cruise and was all set to book Romeinlimo based on the rave reviews and how fantastic Jany is at addressing questions

However I'm now having second thoughts as email correspondence has been unsatisfactory.

My husband has walking difficulties and so I asked for recommendations as to which tours would have minimal walking-in return I was sent a standard response with a link to the most popular excursions.Is Romeinlimo getting to big to provide that personal service?

In contrast another 2 companies I have contacted have responded with suggestions for how my husband could get the best out of the day and am leaning towards booking with one of them instead

its $59 for the week not per day

for that you get a [usually] quiet and luxurious sun bathing area

the staff will provide complimentary iced water and occasionally bring round chilled fruit

for me it was worth it

Wow..someone else who had the 28 oz. steak at La Chacra! As I said in my review, the steaks in BA were outstanding. La Chara was recommended to us by the hotel and we will revisit it when we go back to BA.

 

 

 

 

Two months! I am envious. With respect to the empanadas, I ran into a similar situation in Europe when a waiter put a basket of bread on the table. Thinking it was part of the meal, we ate it and saw the charge on our bill. I asked the waiter about it and he said they put it on the table as a convenience and only charge if the guest eats it. Oh, well.:rolleyes:

 

 

 

Glad you enjoyed it. Links to my other reviews (if you have your signatures turned of) are in my signature.:)

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

OK so which one is your Baltic review-think I've read the rest of the chapters but cant find that one in your signature-please keep us updated on future cruises so we know to look out for a review!

I am thinking of reserving a tour with the Best Guide Group for next August 2012. Kira sent me an e-mail with an attachment asking for our passport information. i am a little leary of giving our passport information to anyone. I trying to find out whether Best Guides Group asked you for this information and whether you had any problem with them when you did give them the information. thanks. tom

hi

all the tour guides will ask you for your passport information-it's so that they can provide you with the "blanket " visa to get through immigration

thanks that's the type of info I need to know

I was also struggling to find something to do in Toulon when I came across a thread further down this page about the little train which does a 45 min circuit of Toulon from the dock for 6euros

sounds like a good option that would appeal to kids

Lyn

tha above company seems to be popular on trip advisor-anyone any experience of them in this area of the world for cruisers?

Lyn

how did you find out about the 30 euro package-I've found their website but cant find any info about this package

Lyn

I have a question that I am hoping someone can help with. Taking a cruise in the Baltic next month, but we are bringing a 90 year old with us (who is about as active as you can be at that age, but still not as mobile as most). So these tours seem like fairly long days, but can anyone provide any insight into the level of activity (ie amount of walking and such)? I assume its quite a bit, but it also seems like most of the tours have a significant amount of driving. Anyways, I'd appreciate any thoughts. Thanks.

did the Baltics last year with 49 year old husband just prior to his hip replacement so he was having a lot of mobility problems!

we contacted several private tour operators and organised a shortened 2 day tour with minimal walking.we still saw a lot and not just through the windows of a bus as we were in a private car and so could get right up close to the main attractions

I would recommmend to use a wheelchair at the Hermitage and peterhof-the tour guide can arrange this.

Lyn

it will take you as long to walk to Tallin from the edge of the pier as it takes to walk from the ship to the pier gates-it is very large!

you get off the ship walk several hundred yards till you reach a long craft market. Once you get through that it's another few hundred yards till you reach the HOHO buses.Another few hundred yards and you're at the pier gates-halfway to town!

if you're fit no problem but my husband was awaiting a hip replacement and boy did that seem a long walk!

Lyn

this info would have been great for our cruise last year-there was so little info available and whereas some people were talking about a hop on hop off bus others denied its existence!

yes it is a tender port-great in smooth seas-lively when it's choppy!

I already swapped once when I realised our cabin was above the bowling alley!

Have I done better with 8190?

just in addition to the post about the trip tO Siena and San Gimigiano.

We also had the same concerns about crowds in Florence and opted for a similar trip.However as an additional extra our driver took us straight to Pisa which is only about 30 minutes from Livorno.We were there at 08.30 with no crowds and he parked up right next to the field of miracles.We had about half an hour to take photos etc then it was on to the rest of the trip.I would have been very disappointed if I had booked a trip for the day to Pisa-there just isn't enough there to warrant it but it tied in nicely with the rest of the day

we booked several private tours for our recent Mediterranean cruise.

What we did learn from all of them is that your driver will assume you want a "European"leisurely lunch with wine-[usually in a restaurant they have a "deal " with.]

We were more interested in seeing as much as possible and would have preferred a quick snack "on the go".In future I will make this clear from the outset so as to avoid disappointment when time runs out at the end of the day