usermom

Hello All,

 

I am going to be on Harmony of the Seas in July 2016 and was looking into wine tours.

 

I came across Provence Wine Tours which offers wine tours that work with the schedule of the ship. I am leaning towards the one that stop in Cassis.

 

Has anyone used this company and can provide feedback?

 

Thanks So Much!

In 10/2011 we did Provence Wine Tours out of Toulon to Cassis and I would definitely recommend it. It was not a cheap excursion but we really enjoyed it. It was such a relaxing day on a port intensive cruise.

We have used Terrific Tours for the Sonoma Valley and were extremely pleased with them. They do tours of the Napa Valley as well.

 

http://www.terrifictours.com/

Great to know that you enjoyed this tour. When I called Terrific Tours they would not flex the start or end time. Our challenge in planning our visit to Napa was that we needed an 8:30 a tour start and the lastest dropoff time of 5 p. Max was so flexible and offered a wealth of knowledge.

We returned from our California Coastal cruise which included an overnight in San Francisco. We toyed with booking the wine train through RCCL but decided we'd prefer a private tour. The price was very close for two people and the private tour was cheaper if you have 2 couples. We are so glad we made the choice we did since we talked to several people who were disappointed in the wine train. We spent our first day in San Francisco and the next day took a private tour with Max to Napa Valley.

We had been to SF, Alcatraz and Sonoma Valley previously and being from the Northeast, we really wanted to see Napa too. Max has been doing these tours for more than a decade and knows all the ins and outs of Sonoma and Napa as well as how to navigate the traffic.

Max was waiting for us at our scheduled 8:30 am tour time right at Pier 27 where our ship was docked. We left promptly and we beat all the 9a typical cruise tours. We arrived in Napa at 9:50 at Silver Oaks, the first of four vineyards. We chose 1 large vineyard and 3 smaller ones. Max made reservations ahead of time. We had a delicious lunch at a place he recommended after we visited 2 vineyards.

The entire day Max was very in tune with my request to be back at Pier 27 no later than 5p since everyone needed to be onboard by 5:30 and we wanted some wiggle room. We would highly recommend this tour.

Our family of five (ages 54-19) used Seawind Aviation for a Misty Fjords excusion while in Ketchikan. It was an incredible day for all of us. I second guessed myself numerous times about the cost, and I have never regretted it after our experience. It was a pleasure booking with this family run business from the second I contacted them. Our daughters still talk about that day. It was an awesome experience. Hope you enjoy your day as much as we did.

We were on the JOS in Feb and there was no charge for the burgers. We did not order beer though.

Thank you all for your great suggestions. We would love to spend several days in Napa but at this time in our lives it is not feasible, so after a great deal of research and calling to speak with several vendors, we were able to get a tour with pick up and drop off at the pier with altered times that work for us, rather than the 9-5-5:30. That's the beauty of a private tour, and without the worry of driving and drinking. Fortunately our ship will be overnight in SF so we can get off as early as we want. The vendor did explain that the nearest Napa winery is a solid 90 minutes, probably more on the way back depending on traffic; thankfully it is a weekday. Leaving by 8:15-8:30a, we will be in Napa at 10a when the vineyards open. Our tour guide will make reservations ahead at our preferred spots. We are looking forward to taking in the beautiful California countryside as we are driven to and from. As we did when we toured Europe, we built in an earlier drop off time to allow for any unfortunate events that may come up. From everything I read, it will be well worth the drive. For those of you who may do this in 2016, I'll be happy to share my experiences in October after we return, so I can help others like you all have helped me.

If the ship offers a tour to Napa I'd feel confident that I would be back in time. We have vacationed in Napa and Sonoma several times, so we didn't feel the experience offered on a tour would be that enjoyable. Most of the tour time is spent travelling on the bus and back. Plus, hitting a winery with that many people at once isn't the best way to experience a tasting. That's just my opinion, because we do not like crowds. I was cruising with my daughter and granddaughter when we were in SF. It was their first time there...so little time to see everything! It was very easy to rent a car: the car rental agency was a short walk from the pier (and a quick cab trip if it's raining, which it was when we left). We immediately left the city and drove up to Muir Woods and had sandwiches in their giftshop/cafe for lunch. We drove back to the city and drove to the Painted Ladies (row of Victorian Houses seen in movies and TV shows like Full House). Then we drove down Snake Hill, parked and walked down it. We drove to Chinatown and planned to park and walk around BUT I didn't count on how much it costs to park your car there. We were seeing prices of $45 to $75 for a couple of hours, so we skipped that. We turned the car in and walked back to the ship via Pier 39, stopping to watch the seals and eat clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. It was a great day![/quote

 

 

Glad you enjoyed your trip with your family. We included many of your suggestions when we went to San Francisco in the past. We really want to go to Napa and found a private tour to Napa that was highly recommended so we will avoid the bus crowds. Thanks for your input.

Has anyone taken a tour from San Fransico to Napa that they recommend. Just worried about getting back to the ship in time. I've researched tours online but the distance from the cruise pier to the tour is a concern too. We are not interested in renting a car and doing it ourselves. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

We went on a jet ski excursion through Fat Fish to Sting Ray beach which I highly recommend. We went to Sting Ray beach and also went to another beautiful area to snorkel. It was a great day

Would love to hear your recommendations on which hotel we should choose. We are using Hilton honors points so we have narrowed it down to these two.

We used RIL for a Rome tour formed on CC VoS Rollcall. I was disappointed in the day. It started out raining very hard. We had difficulty finding our driver at the pier at 8a. It was a 1 1/2 hr drive from the port to Rome since we sat in bumper to bumper traffic. When we arrived in Rome, our driver stopped at Circus Maximus and explained the history behind it. We had time for photos. He showed us the Forum. We had time to visit the interior and exterior of the Pantheon. We enjoyed the Coliseum and had plenty of time to explore(we all had prepaid front of the line tickets--this is highly recommended). We were given a time and place to meet the driver and a phone to call him if we arrived earlier, unfortunately he never answered so the phone so we lost about 20 minutes waiting for him. We did a drive by of the Spanish Steps and since I was on the wrong side of the van I barely saw it. We were dropped off at the Trevi Fountain with time to explore and/or eat lunch. We loved the fountain and had great paninis, pizza and gelatos at local shops. Our driver was at the arranged time and meeting place, and we were off to the Vatican. We met our private Vatican guide, Sarah. We all had prepaid 2p Vatican tickets. While we went through security, we were able to skip the horrific ticket line. Sarah was a wealth of knowledge thru the Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel and St peter's Basilica. We needed roller skates to keep up with her (I mean this in a good way---she did not want us to miss anything). I can't imagine getting much out of the Vatican Museum without a guide since the crowds are so over powering. Although beautiful, the Sistene Chapel was like a gymnasium since people were talking and taking pictures. The rules were not reinforced. St Peter's Basilica was beautiful. Michelangelo's Pieta was very crowded but amazing. I had asked and was promised that we would have time to buy rosary beads in the Vatican. To my disappointment we were brought to an overpriced shop close to the Vatican for brief shopping before we departed back to Civitavecchia. We did not hit any traffic going back since we departed at 4:20; we were back at the ship at 5:20. Rome is a wonderful city and I knew I would only get a taste of it, but it seemed like a whirlwind of a day. In addition, the sights are spread out in Rome.

We used RIL the end of October with a group of 4 couples formed on VoS Rollcall. Raphael, our driver was waiting for us in the port of Naples before 8a and proceeded to tell us about Naples including the abundance of Art, castles, etc. and the 30% unemployment rate there. He then picked our private guide, Guiseppe (his full time job is at the University), at a corner along the way to Pompeii. He gave us a history of Pompeii while driving and before we knew it we had arrived 10 minutes earlier than when the gates open. Time to go to the bathroom and get a coffee and pastry if desired. Although I wasn't sure I would enjoy Pompeii, I really did because Guiseppe made it come alive. I thought it was huge and would have been very difficult to do on your own; a guide is highly recommended. We spent 2 hours there. Then our guide left us and Raphael wisked us off to the Amalfi Coast. Raphael drove very safely. First we went to Sorrento where we walked and shopped, then Raphael drove us to a reasonably priced but excellent restaurant (at our request). Some people had pizza while others had pasta in addition to wine, beer and water. He then continued his drive along the Amalfi Coast to Positano playing Italian music and singing to us. It was fun. He stopping along the way for us to take pictures and buy fruit at one of the stands; it was the most delicious, juicy tangerine I had ever had. Positano is a beautiful town built into the mountains with a black sand beach. We had time to explore and shop. Then Raphael drove us back to the ship by 5:10, stopping at my request for a delicious cannoli at the cake shop that imports them from Sicily everyday. It was an extremely enjoyable day. I can't wait to return and would definitely us RIL/Raphael again.