Tour Guides for Italy, France, Sicily, Croatia

[Summertimescallingme]

We are cruising July 2006 on Carnival Liberty. We are looking for information for good tour guide/companies. We would also appreciate input from anyone who has sailed on this ship/itinerary. Thanks so much. :)

[CruisingCatherine]

Which ports will you be stopping at?

[PoohUnderstands]

I know it is alittle time consuming, but the best thing is just to peruse the "Europe" thread. It is full of useful information. But I will help you and put in one place the private drivers that get the highest marks and most time on these threads to start you off:

 

Daniele, et al of www.driverinrome.com

They do tours for Rome, Naples and Livorno

 

Marcello Maresca of www.seesorrento.com

He does Livorno and Naples

 

Salvatore of www.driveamalfi.com

He does Naples

 

Michel of www.revelation-tours.com

He does Villefranche

 

Alain of www.dream-tours.com

He does Villefrance

 

Gennaro of www.sorrentolimo.com

He does Rome and Livorno.

 

Whomever you decide to use, my only suggestion is to do it asap, as most of the most familiar drivers have been booked, but there are others in the company who are good too. If you can't book for your dates, look on meet and mingle for your specific cruise and you may be able to hook up with someone who is looking for another couple or two and have already booked the person you were hoping to book.

 

All in all, I have had a great time doing my research and have found so much useful info. on these threads. Hope this is some help to you and gets you started!

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Pooh

[luv2travel2006]

Hi mathwiz007

Shame you are not travelling in June as l found a special offer on www.aptours.it yesterday, they already have a minibus half full and our looking for others to join in for Pompeii and Herculaneum (Naples port).

A group of us used them last year and Alberto is absolutely charming, speaks perfect english.

Have a great cruise....

[CruisingCatherine]

Here is a thread that may help you with your planning. It contains links to travel bureaus, hotels, tour guides, trains, taxis, ect.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=236869

[Mike Andrews]

For Naples I also recommend Salvatore of DriveAmalfi (*****) and for Livorno,Paola Migliorni of Florence Tour (info@florencetour.com) and for Villefranche,Sylvie di Cristo (sylvie.di.cristo@wanadoo.fr) .All three are real professionals and a pleasure to tour with.

[Summertimescallingme]

I am wondering if it makes sense to hire private drivers since there are only four of us. We are interested in going to Pompeii/Mt. Vesuvius on our Naples port day. We contacted Marcello and were quoted a rate of 550 euros plus 100 euros for 2 hours for a licensed guide to take you through Pompeii (which is required from what I understand) plus 10 more euros each for entrance in to the ruins. That does not even include lunch. From my calculations that would cost us over $800.00 for a four hour excursion compared to about $400.00 for the 6 hour Liberty Excursion. I would much rather have a private tour, but don't know that I can justify $400.00 more for one tour. I'm still looking at Florence/Pisa tours for pricing comparison.

 

The ports we are visiting are Naples, Messina, Dubrovink, Livorno, Cannes, Barcelona and Venice.

 

Pooh, thanks for the web site leads. I have been looking thorugh past boards, but wanted to see if there were are current recomendations, thanks for your help.:)

[luv2travel2006]

Hi

 

550 is alot, you can get as low as 425 try sorrentoinfo.com, there are a few drivers on there you can email. Go to categories then transport.

[Cruisingonceagain]

mathwiz007,

 

Try contacting Sarah (she takes care of reservations) at aptours.it, and you will definitely get a lower quote for 4 people than €550 (quite a lot lower actually). Their email link has been problematic the last few days, so please keep trying or email me at nenacmt@comcast.net so I can give you Sarah's personal email address. We are the group that have reserved the tour on June 24 that luv2travel2006 referred to in her email. It is under "Special Offers" of the aptours.it website. Sarah has been wonderful and very professional. Also, you have the option of renting audioguides at Pompeii for €6.50 per person or €10 for 2 (based on Rick Steves Italy 2006 guidebook). They require you to leave your driver's license or some form of identification. I had emailed a number of drivers and I was surprised about the different cancellation policies. Please ask them what their policies are, especially if the ship cannot dock in Naples due to unforeseen circumstances. Some of them charge you 50%! Aptours will not. Good luck.

[PoohUnderstands]

Another thought:

 

If you like the private 4 hour tour, maybe you could get one other couple to go with you and if the cost does not increase whether you have 4 or 6, then they could pay 50% and you 50%-this way you both are winners and paying less than a ship's tour. Just a thought.

 

Pooh

[KathiB]

Mathwiz007,

 

Just wanted to add my 2 cents...We are also going to the Med. in June. There are four of us...my husband and 2 teenage daughters. We have booked Marcello for the day. His tour is extremely popular. Through our roll call I asked if anyone wanted to share our tour. Another couple repsonded quickly so there are now 6 of us. The guide in Pompeii is NOT required. You can do it on your own with an audio guide or just wander with a good guide book. I've heard raves about the the lunch stop with Marcello. Incredible food and view and not terribly expensive. He uses small vans and can go places the big tour buses can't. With a ship's tour you are on a big bus and miss out on much these charming towns have to offer.

 

Many have said the day with Marcello was the highlight of their trip. I would find 2 more to share your day and go for it! Years from now you will have your memories and not remember if you spent or saved an extra 200 bucks for the day!

 

KathiB

[CruisingCatherine]

You will not be dissapointed with Marcello. He was my absolute favorite guide of all of our ports!! He truly gave us a taste of real Italian life. He was also a great sport when our group of 6 ladies induldged on wine a little too much at lunch!! He had his hands full. Trust me you will have a great time with him!! If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.

[trbasso]

Does anyone have contact information for Salvatore at Drive Amalfi? I've tried the website (http://www.driveamalfi.com), but there's just a "coming soon" note. No other information. I hear they have a wonderful tour, but don't know how to get in touch.

 

Thanks!

[Juliadlf]

If you haven't done this already, check in with your Roll Call board and see if anyone has already put together tours and you can join them and reduce your costs.

You will love this cruise. We did this cruise the end of September 2005 and couldn't have been more happy with the itinerary and the ships tours. We did do some ports on our own.

Just be prepared for the summer tourist crowd and the hot weather.

 

Julia

[Queenk2]

Try Nello at info@drivesorrento His prices are better than Marcelo. We were only four people and we had a great day with him on the Amalfi coast. We also went to herculaneum. Tell him Karen sent you..

[Mike Andrews]

Does anyone have contact information for Salvatore at Drive Amalfi? I've tried the website (http://www.driveamalfi.com), but there's just a "coming soon" note. No other information. I hear they have a wonderful tour, but don't know how to get in touch.

 

Thanks!

 

The email address for Salvatore and DriveAmalfi is *****

[cfomac]

Mathwiz: when are you sailing? We are on the June 12th Liberty and would be interested in sharing tours. There are four of us, including two teens. PS having been to Pompeii in the past, I will say that our guide thru the ruins made the trip much more enjoyable but we only paid like E10 per person to the guide

[Summertimescallingme]

cfomac, sorry but we are sailing on July 6. I have so much information I'm trying to sort out to make the best choice for our tours. Perhaps you can find someone on your sail date through the roll calls to share tours with. Good Luck.