Rondo

We will be sure to NOT do the High Tea. I wonder if the tour with the lunch will have flies around the meal. hmmmm…maybe do a tour with no food??

Thanks for the update! I'm glad we are aware of certain problems that could arise. But, this is the tour that looks most appealing to us, so we will make the best of it.

Seems like most of these types of tours have their negatives. :( We've had wonderful tours while others had complaints. We've had complaints when others have had wonderful tours. C'est la vie!

Thanks for your review. I will probably go ahead and book with them because we want the private tour, but I will be prepared for any problems with booking/meeting place. No problems with driving-that is what my husband is looking forward to! :D

Thank you for posting that question, erries! I would like to know, too, as I just looked at all 4 of those excursions yesterday. Agreed - it is confusing.

Glad you made contact with them. I'll be watching for your review!

There are good reviews from the past couple of days on trip advisor about them. They must still be in business. There are 2 cozumelcruiseexcursions. One is dot net and one is dot com. This review is#58 of 221 of things to do in Cozumel. I would assume this is the correct review, because if you go to their website link from trip advisor it goes to the dot net one. Although, I have noticed that some people with similar excursions review under the wrong heading.

Hope things work out for you!

Yes, please let us know. I was just about ready to do a booking with them online for the dune buggy tour for May. I was trying to do a little research before I made my deposit.

I just printed mine today and it had the page that required two signatures. In fact, it was the first page. The second page is "What to expect at the pier" and the third page has the luggage tag image.

Maybe try to print it again?

I checked the Capitol One site and I do not see where Capitol One gives your 4 points for every $1 spent with RCL. Can you post that link? Thanks

I have tried several times to find the "extra rewards" once I am logged in to my Capital One account.:( Am I missing something??

Thanks for any help on this!!

Was Nadja on the Serenade last May?

We used SmartCruiseTours. Ask for Joseph for the Rome tour.

You may have total control over what you wanted to see. But as a DIY'er, I have TOTAL control over all aspects of my day. I don't have to worry about a van not turning up as I take responsibility for getting myself to and from Rome. And I don't have to worry about having a guide who isn't attentive or who doesn't speak good English, because I've done my research in advance and -- as those who have seen my notes know -- I could practically lead a tour myself by the time I make the trip and get to the site.

 

I have helped and advised others on DIY days in Rome and some have been able to see just as much as those who have a private driver.

 

Personally, I feel the 12 euro BIRG ticket and some "sweat equity" in planning my day is the "most bang for my buck." ;)

Then DIY. I didn't worry about any of those things. Different strokes for different folks.

To be truthful, they are neither consistently bad nor consistently good. However, there have certainly been some bad reports, which has not been the case for some other, well recommended companies.

 

Frankly, I wouldn't take a chance on blowing my one day in Rome with snafus like some have experienced. Why not go with a company that has zero or VERY few missteps, versus one that seems to have a greater likelihood of something going wrong. :confused:

 

(Note: I am not a partisan of any driver service or tour agency. I prefer to DIY, where everything is under my own control.....:o)

Ooopps...forgot to mention....we had total control over what we wanted to see. Communication by email was very good. I told Julia what our highlights were and that is what we got. She provided links to places we needed advanced tickets. We saved a lot of time by having advanced tickets! We did DIY in other places, but when there is so much to see and long drives to get there, we want the most bang for our buck.

Thanks for your reply. I am keen to explore this further. I feel the tours they provide especially the tour of rome is exactly what we are looking for at an excellent price. I am aware there have been problems with this tour company but they appear select and surely can happen to even the best companies.

I have read lots of good things despite some bad. Having only a few hours in Rome we need to book a tour that will give us the best for our time there.

I am also considering cruisingexcursions.com but again there are mixed feelings.

 

Thanks Rondo for your message... can you tell me whether you went on the smaetcruisetour for rome was it guided (think its £34) or just tour diy which is advertised for £22. Also which other tours do you recommend for livorno and naples with sct?

We did the private tours. The cost was 360 Euros, but there were 6 of us, so it was 60 Euros a person. In Rome there was sooo much to see and if we had not had our driver we could never have gotten everything in that we did. Our driver, Joseph, was at the pier with a sign with our name on it. He was very professional and spoke excellent English. We wasted no time in driving to Rome and he shared much information on the way. We started with the Colosseum - he parked and then walked with us to the entrance and scanned our advanced tickets for us and we walked through the turn-style to get in. We didn't have to wander around trying to find the entrance or wonder which line we belonged in. He also had a little book that he used to help explain how the sights were - then and now. He even took our pictures in front of some of the sights. We saw the Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, walked down the Spanish Steps, had a quick lunch at a restaurant near the entrance to Vatican (our Vatican guide met us there)and then Joseph took us to a place for gelato before our ride back to the ship. He even had bottled water for us. He was very specific in telling us where and when he would pick us up if he needed to drop us off at points. There were several places he would point out to us as we drove through the streets of Rome.

If we would have used the bus tour I don't think we would have been able to see as much or get as much information about what we were seeing. Since we went in a smaller group, as opposed to a bus full of people, we didn't have to wait for everyone to return, saving precious time. Our van could get into places that a bus or even a bigger van could not have gone, hence getting us close to the sights.I don't think I would go with a group of more than 8. I would suggest finding others to book with you and do the smaller group.

We did Florence/Pisa from LaSpezia and had no problems, despite it being a longer drive than from originally planned Livorno. We docked at Salerno and did Pompeii (with a guide) and drove the Amalfi Coast. Those days were excellent, too!

I hope this helps. If not, feel free to ask for more specifics.

Smart Cruise Tours reviews have been consistently bad - there are SEVERAL bad reviews here on Cruise Critic lately - including from myself and another group of 19 cruisers that they FORGOT ABOUT IN ROME!!

 

CAREFUL CAREFUL - you get what you pay for!! DO YOUR RESEARCH!!

I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THEM!!

Read my review in my signature below for more specifics. I am NOT the only person this year complaining - they had lots of complaints last year and we didn't listen and now there are several complaints this year from various cruises!! They are all on here.

My research on these forums show WAY more positive than negative reviews. I am not sure why you say " consistently bad". I only found "consistently good". Our group of 6 had 3 tours with them a couple of weeks ago and they exceeded our expectations!! A great value for our money!

We just returned from a 12 day cruise and used Smart Cruise Tours for Florence, Rome and Amalfi. There were 6 of us and we were extremely pleased with them! We got exactly what we asked for (and sometimes more than we expected) and it was a great value for the money. They were wonderful with communication before the trip to make sure everything was in order. We highly recommend them!

i will give a full report after our three tours with them in the next five days. I am expecting nothing but a great time!!

i know this was posted almost a year ago, but this is good to hear! Our group of six will be using them in May for all of our transfers. I've been trying to find info on their tours as I am interested in Monserrat and Cava winery tour, but that part of their webpage is under construction. I should probably just inquire by email.

Any others use Autos Vilar in the past year?

We will be 6 people with luggage can we all fit in one cab? Do they have vans or should we prebook with a company? We will be in Barcelona?

We have a group of 6 adults in May and Autos Vilar quoted us 65€ for all of us from the airport to our hotel.

13 days until the Brilliance out of San Juan! New menus! Bring our own wine!

I just read Bank of America/MBNA info today, also. We have 75,000 points for a free cruise and don't want to lose them! From reading previous posts maybe we would have gotten a better deal cashing them in for onboard credits. :rolleyes: