Contacted Stefano!

[7SeasLover]

Thanks for all the tips posted in previous threads. As a result, I emailed Stefano and got an immediate reply! That makes me warm and fuzzy. I'll likely pre-book with him. Thanks everyone! :)

[Linda in MI]

We loved Stefano! Our tour of Rome with him in June was so much fun. Our kids said it was the best day of their whole vacation.

 

Linda

[Cinder]

I used Stefano for Rome as well and throughly enjoyed our day. We saw everything we wanted to see, and he even showed us a few places I didn't know about. You won't regret your choice. I also used him for transportation back to the airport from the ship, and he came through again for us, perfectly! Enjoy!

[JD3]

I also highly recommend Stefano. We used him in Sept., and he was really good. He bought us tickets to the Colloseum so we didn't have to wait in line, and also arranged a guide to meet us at the Vatican for a tour of the Sistine Chapel. We saw all the major sites in Rome. The drive from the ship was about an hour.

[mountainmare]

How do you contact Stefano? Do you remember what his price range is?

Thanks

[7SeasLover]

I sent an email message to: allagrande@hotmail.it

He quoted 380 Euros for 2 and 420 Euros for 4. I haven't converted that into US $ yet, but it seems reasonable for a private driver.

 

By the way, he e-mailed me the proposed private tour! If you'd like to see it email me at mytraveltravel.com and I'll be happy to share it with you. I love the itinerary.

 

You can find it on the Roll Call section NCL under the header Istanbul to Barcelona 10/9/05, but it may be easier if I just email it to you. He's very prompt in replying. Also said he does not want to be paid up front. Very cool. :)

[JD3]

He also has a website, although it is not that informative. It is http://www.utenti.lycos.it/romecabs.

[Linda in MI]

Stefano can also be reached at romecabs@yahoo.com.

 

Linda

[Breezey]

We used Stefano for transfer from the ship to our hotel and then from the hotel to the airport a few days later. I knew he would be a fantastic tourguide because even in the 1 hour (or whatever) time it took us to get to the hotel he gave us quite the overview of Rome. And such a gentleman!

[Godskidisme]

We hired Stefano to take us around Rome for two days in August 2005. He was the obsolute best ever. He and my husband, Derek clicked and talked and talked. He knew a great deal about the history and was a wonderful tour guide and made us feel at home. I give him big time kudo's. If we every get back to Rome we will definately use him again.

[7SeasLover]

This is so good to hear! So far, there are 4 of us who will be on his private guided tour. I have a roll call going, but haven't found any one else who's traveling with us except for one other couple.

 

Stefano was very quick to reply and we booked him right away! Door to door service!

[cruisingmimi]

Well, it is nice to hear that everyone had such a positive experience using Stefano because my husband and I did not! We pre-booked him for our transfer from the FCO airport to our hotel for our Med cruise early October. He responded promptly and said he'd pick us up. Our flight was late arriving and by the time we cleared customs (the lines were longer than people said they were for us), Stefano was waiting outside the baggage area w/ a sign and our name on it. We went over to him and he just looked at us and said he had been standing there 45 minutes. Our flight was late leaving London so it was not our fault! He never greeted us but just took my small carryon suitcase (which was very light) and started walking off. My husband was struggling w/ our 2 large suitcases, a garment bag and his own carryon bag! Stefano never looked back to see if my husband needed any help. He was walking very quickly across the street from the airport and quite a ways up the street to his car. He put our luggage in the truck of his car and drove off. He never spoke a word to us all the way to our hotel. Never told us about the sights along the way, etc. My husband tried to get into a conversation w/ him a couple of times. I had given him the address of our hotel but he couldn't find it, he just kept driving around. It was fairly easy to find & located just off Via ****onale. He finally called someone & got the directions. The hotel was located on a small side street and there was no place for him to park so he double parked the car in the street. He got out, put our luggage on the sidewalk and left us there. Never tried to help us find the hotel entrance or bring our luggage inside. There was a gentleman standing on the sidewalk that spoke English so we asked him where the hotel lobby was. He buzzed someone on the intercom and they came downstairs to help us take our luggage up to the 2nd floor where the reception desk was located.

 

I felt that he treated us very rudely and my husband, and myself are very friendly. If he was angry because he had to wait for us, that was not our fault the plane was late. Besides, that is his business and I am sure that not all planes arrive ontime and he has had to wait before.

 

I booked Stefano based upon recommendations of a friend of mine that had used him for transfers and also several tours of Rome. From what I have read, it looks like if you book him for tours, then he is friendly and talkative. We did not expect to be treated that way and would not recommend him based upon our experience. We had a very positive experience by another limo company that took us from the hotel to the pier for our cruise so we did have another company to use for comparison.

 

Good luck everyone!

 

Mary

 

P.S. In spite of our treatment, we still gave Stefano a tip because we knew that he had to wait for us. I am sure others would not have tipped him.

[njhh]

Hello Mary,

 

I don't mean to make matters worse by asking, but are we talking about the same guy, Stefano Costantini with Romecabs? I am so sorry you had a negative experience. It sounds so unlike the Stefano who spent the day with us, and believe me, we required much patience!

 

Nancy

[7SeasLover]

Sounded like you just booked him to transfer you. I've booked him for about 9 hours of touring. Not everyone is their best every day. Yours has been the only negative comment about him thus far. We're coming in from a ship - let's hope the ship is more on time than your flight.

 

Don't go to NY - they never carry a bag. Rarely to they even get out of the cab!

[7SeasLover]

Sounded like you just booked him to transfer you. I've booked him for about 9 hours of touring. Not everyone is their best every day. Yours has been the only negative comment about him thus far. We're coming in from a ship - let's hope the ship is more on time than your flight.

 

Don't go to NY - they never carry a bag. Rarely to they even get out of the cab!

:mad:

[Goodfriend]

WE booked Stefano for the transfer from our hotel to the port. I had to call him several times to change things and he was very accomodating. WE were going to be 4 people and then it was jsut 2 and he charged us the reduced rate even though he had the larger vehicle.

 

He must have had a bad day because he was gracious and even gave us a bit of a tour of Rome ont he way to the port.

[cruisingmimi]

Yes, it was the same Stefano. I couldn't believe it was the same person that everyone gave such high recommendations too. One of my friends recommended him so highly and that is why I booked him. No tour of the city on the way to our hotel either. We will chalk it up to experience. I had no problem w/ emailing him, he was quick to reply. I even mentioned my friend's name and that she referred us to him.

 

I had such a positive experience w/ the other limo company we booked and that is why I have negative feelings about Stefano. If others didn't have problems, then it must have been a bad day for him. I just wouldn't use him again.

 

Do you suppose he has a twin he sent? LOL

[njhh]

O.K. now THAT is the Stephano we are talking about!

Greetings to you and wishing you many years of success.

 

nancy

[7SeasLover]

Stefano!

 

You are indeed a gentleman! We look forward to meeting you in Rome! And it was very gracious of you to escort our companions on a different tour while we are in the Vatican!

 

I'm glad we found and booked you!

[cruisingmimi]

Hi Stefano,

 

I have just sent you an email. I have a new email address. Apology accepted after your explanation! I feel so much better now that I know the true story. I am sorry this even happened to us. I did so much research before I booked with you and everyone spoke very highly of you and your company and how professional you were. Something just wasn't right with what happened to us. To this day, I was trying to make sense out of it. I never gave it a thought that the driver wasn't you! Everything makes sense to me now.

 

I appreciate your taking the time to set the record straight. I wish you well, Stefano, and you are the gentleman everyone says you are!

 

I will not hesitate to recommend your company after your explanation. Thanks again.

 

We would be happy to take you up on your offer for a ride the next time we visit Rome.

 

Mary

[J18ktleo]

Wow!

And for someone 'cruisin' the board for info to schedule my tours next summer, this brought tears to my eyes!:rolleyes:

Stefano...I hope I get a chance to use you services...you've won me over!

[Godskidisme]

Again, may husband I are more Stefano fans. Judging by his response to the earlier e-mail. It is obvious that he's the gentleman and great guide that most of us know. As many others on these boards, we believe you cannot go wrong hiring Stefano as your guide in Rome. Not only did I learn and see so much. I have retained the information and thanks to Stefano, Rome became much more than just a 2 day blur and is still in our hearts and minds, months later. Regards Stefano from Lisa and Derek in California.

[Dorothy]

What a great ending to a thread. When I read Mary's message, I was unsure about booking Stefano. However, when Stefano himself (I'm surprised he reads these boards, but happy he does) responded to the negative message and not only explained the situation, but made things right, I am sold on him. What a great person and businessman. I'm thoroughly impressed and will email him myself to book him for next summer.

[SheilaNC]

We toured with Stefano last week and are certainly fans of his. He took us to a church not usually on the tourist track (St. Paul's outside of the wall). It was a favorite of our group - beautiful, uncrowded and quiet. He also asked if we wanted a guide for the Vatican and then arranged for us to be met at the Vatican by Domizia who was fabulous. She was an Art History major and provided us with information that we could not have gotten elsewhere - made our visit to the Sistine Chapel more amazing than it might have been otherwise. We had a lovely day and would certainly recommend Stefano wholeheartedly.

[7SeasLover]

What did you pay for the private Vatican tour with Domizia?