luvtravelbug

My family has a balcony room on NCL for 5 for our cruise in November.

We just used RIL earlier this month. Our guide was Vinny. He was really laid back and had a good sense of humor. He gave us options to maximize our time. For lunch, he gave us options in a few price ranges. For 20 euros a person, we had the best meal I have ever tasted. I say that and i don't have the name if the restaurant handy, but it was right near St.Peter's Square. It was amazing. I don't really drink wine, but the waiter suggested it and it came with the meal....and when in Rome! The wine was incredible. As a reference, we paid 650 euros for 7 of us and 150 euros of the 650 was for the private guide at the Vatican. I really want to go back and do RIL's Angels and Demons tour. I hear that was excellent as well. BTW, we did theRome Highlights. Concerning the price, keep in mind that we were in the off season so there was a discounted price. We also had to pay for the Catacombs and the Colleseum. They were not included in the price.

We also used Ramses for our tour on January 9 and 10, 2011. Our guide was Karim (independent guide) and our driver was Zacharius. Zachiarius did smoke, but he always stepped outside of the bus. We had the free mineral water as promised. Our rate was supposed to be $210, but the guide said $220. As soon as I showed him a print out of the correspondence that explained pricing, he accepted it and adjusted. Karim was very informative and he gave all of us little gifts. Our group really stood out in the crowd because we all wore the white head dresses that Karim gave us. He helped everyone put theirs on correctly and we all got a kick out of it. He also gave us papyrus bookmarks since we did not go to the papyrus institute. Karim was patient and answered all of our questions, sometime having to repeat himself because not everyone was listening. He was also very conscientious that everyone was satisfied, but of course you cannot please everyone. Some did not want to shop, others wanted to shop more. I tried to explain to everyone up front that we would do some shopping, but not a lot. Oh well, to each his own.

Our guide warned us about the aggressive vendors and taught us how to say "No thank you" in Arabic.

Our guide showed us his hotel and it was a nice hotel. Our driver was from Cairo, so he got to go home. I don't think either of them had a problem with their accommodations.

Overall, I think everyone enjoyed the tour and got what they wanted from it. Personally, I thought the tour was excellent. I did not have any of the issues others have reported. Good luck and safe travels.