Jade from Rome, 5/23/19

[mdsgu]

On 6/20/2019 at 2:59 PM, flahagan said:

I know Santorini is a tender port - how about Mykonos?  We're doing this same itinerary on Jade August 1.

We did not tender in Mykonos. 

[mugtech]

Glad you enjoyed your well planned vacation.  We also prefer Jewel class ships, do not intend to take Breakaway again unless it has a terrific itinerary at very low prices.

[mscajackson]

On 6/12/2019 at 1:52 PM, mdsgu said:

 

We did spend more on this vacation than normal; that is just an unavoidable fact.  However, we planned this trip for 18 months.  It allowed us to do comparison shopping and spread the cost over a longer period of time; most of the trip was paid before we ever left the United States.  The private tours we scheduled (mostly with Best Rome Driver but also the ones in Athens, Malta, and Messina) were actually more reasonable in cost than I expected -- and certainly less than the excursions sold by Norwegian.  There were a few rather expensive meals -- 2 in particular come to mind -- but the others were not.  We ate breakfast and dinner on the boat, except for the breakfast in Crete.  The cost of the cruise was not bad -- we booked it so early that the kids sailed free.  The trains were very reasonable, in my opinion.  The single biggest cost we had were the flights to and from Europe.

 

Wealth really has little to do with it.  If we were rich, we would have sailed Oceania, Regent Seven Seas, or chartered a private yacht.  I think planning ahead (in this case, 18 months) made a big difference.  It also allowed us to come home without credit card debt!

Thank you so much for your review. I just returned from an 11-day Greek Isles/Italian cruise on the NCL Jade. Although I had a great time, I felt that the shore excursions booked through NCL were lacking (especially the fact that they were large group tours). I am not that experienced in cruising and wondered how do you vet out private tour companies? I also get concerned about getting back to the ship in time if I'm not on a NCL (or other cruise company) excursion. 

[joejoe 59]

Fantastic  review  thank you.

[mdsgu]

7 hours ago, joejoe 59 said:

Fantastic  review  thank you.

 

You're very welcome.  I enjoyed it writing it.

[mdsgu]

8 hours ago, mscajackson said:

Thank you so much for your review. I just returned from an 11-day Greek Isles/Italian cruise on the NCL Jade. Although I had a great time, I felt that the shore excursions booked through NCL were lacking (especially the fact that they were large group tours). I am not that experienced in cruising and wondered how do you vet out private tour companies? I also get concerned about getting back to the ship in time if I'm not on a NCL (or other cruise company) excursion. 

 

There's really no magic to it.  My wife read a ton of reviews and poked around on Facebook.  She found our Italian company (Rome Best Driver) that way -- lots of great reviews, plus they responded quickly and professionally when we started emailing them with questions.  TripAdvisor is a great resource as well.

 

We used to take only ship excursions, but when you start looking around, you realize they tend to be crowded and overpriced.  Plus, you can't really customize them to what you want.  We've never had a problem getting back to the ship on time with private excursions.  These companies tend to live or die by reviews, and one missed ship would be absolutely devastating.  Everyone we booked with wanted to know upfront what time we would arrive and what time the ship was scheduled to leave, and they reconfirmed the departure time when they picked us up.

 

Certainly, if I were going somewhere like St Petersburg, I would book a ship excursion.  I can't imagine booking a private excursion in China or the UAE, either.  In Europe, though, where English is almost universally spoken and the US has good diplomatic relations with everyone, it doesn't bother me.

[mscajackson]

4 hours ago, mdsgu said:

 

There's really no magic to it.  My wife read a ton of reviews and poked around on Facebook.  She found our Italian company (Rome Best Driver) that way -- lots of great reviews, plus they responded quickly and professionally when we started emailing them with questions.  TripAdvisor is a great resource as well.

 

We used to take only ship excursions, but when you start looking around, you realize they tend to be crowded and overpriced.  Plus, you can't really customize them to what you want.  We've never had a problem getting back to the ship on time with private excursions.  These companies tend to live or die by reviews, and one missed ship would be absolutely devastating.  Everyone we booked with wanted to know upfront what time we would arrive and what time the ship was scheduled to leave, and they reconfirmed the departure time when they picked us up.

 

Certainly, if I were going somewhere like St Petersburg, I would book a ship excursion.  I can't imagine booking a private excursion in China or the UAE, either.  In Europe, though, where English is almost universally spoken and the US has good diplomatic relations with everyone, it doesn't bother me.

Thank you for your response. I guess I just would not know where to begin in locating these companies and also, would they work with solo travelers?

[RNRcruisers]

I am really impressed with the amount of planning you must have done! Great trip and review.

 

[mdsgu]

1 minute ago, RNRcruisers said:

I am really impressed with the amount of planning you must have done! Great trip and review.

 

 

Thank you!

[RNRcruisers]

47 minutes ago, mscajackson said:

Thank you for your response. I guess I just would not know where to begin in locating these companies and also, would they work with solo travelers?

You could also join your roll call. When we did a Med cruise we shared excursions with others on our roll call. It filled up the van and we shared the costs with them.

[mdsgu]

48 minutes ago, mscajackson said:

Thank you for your response. I guess I just would not know where to begin in locating these companies and also, would they work with solo travelers?

 

I don't know, but I imagine they would.  Everyone we worked with was very responsive to our email inquiries.

[ctnurse]

On 6/23/2019 at 6:06 PM, mdsgu said:

 

We booked with Sicily4you. 

I have been in contact with Sicily4you.  They sent me a PayPal link for a deposit, but it was a friends and family link.  How did you pay your deposit, if you don't mind sharing?   Thanks

[mdsgu]

1 hour ago, ctnurse said:

I have been in contact with Sicily4you.  They sent me a PayPal link for a deposit, but it was a friends and family link.  How did you pay your deposit, if you don't mind sharing?   Thanks

 

We did put down a deposit with PayPal.  I think it was only 20 Euros.  The rest you will pay in cash on the day of the tour.  I was a little leery about the whole PayPal thing, but my wife insists it was actually very safe because you have some protection as far as fraud and whatnot.

[snirpville]

PayPal is very safe. The vendor never sees your credit card information. My father was leery the first time too.

[TVTechGrl]

Very nice review! Thanks for sharing your experience. I was on the same sailing and had a wonderful time.

[kodesthemoose]

Thank you for this excellent review.  I love researching and am really looking forward to my Med/Greece cruise next year. I have some questions about "waking up the vatican" - were your kids able to participate, and what was the cost? did you book this through Viator or was that also through Best Rome Driver?  I found the same or similar tour but it appears to cost $600ish per person and seems not to allow kids.

 

 

[mdsgu]

12 hours ago, kodesthemoose said:

Thank you for this excellent review.  I love researching and am really looking forward to my Med/Greece cruise next year. I have some questions about "waking up the vatican" - were your kids able to participate, and what was the cost? did you book this through Viator or was that also through Best Rome Driver?  I found the same or similar tour but it appears to cost $600ish per person and seems not to allow kids.

 

 

 

Waking Up the Vatican was one the absolute best tours I have ever experienced.  My wife booked the tour through Viator, but she wouldn't tell me how much it cost (and I haven't taken the time to look).  The kids certainly were able to participate -- I have photos of them unlocking doors -- and they weren't the only ones: another family from Texas had 2 boys (younger than our son and daughter) participating.  Our group of only 20 people had 4 kids and 16 adults.  I think Viator is the only one to offer it.  There is only one per day, on the days they offer it.

 

You literally get to "wake up the Vatican," going room to room in the Vatican Museums unlocking doors and turning on the lights (with 3 guides).  It all culminates, of course, in the Pope's private chapel, the Sistine Chapel.  Unlike other tours, you are allowed to talk and take as many pictures as you want in the Sistine.  A substantial breakfast is included in the Pinecone Courtyard, and you can then reenter the museums and proceed at your own pace.  Once you wind your way back to the Sistine Chapel, you can make use of the "secret door" to exit to St Peter's and avoid the really really long line out front in St Peter's Square.  We did, and proceeded to climb up to the top of the dome (very worth it!) and then we toured the basilica.

[kodesthemoose]

Thank you so much for sharing that, mdsgu!  Just pretend I never said anything about the cost, whoops!  

[bluesea777]

9 hours ago, mdsgu said:

 

Waking Up the Vatican was one the absolute best tours I have ever experienced.  My wife booked the tour through Viator, but she wouldn't tell me how much it cost (and I haven't taken the time to look).  The kids certainly were able to participate -- I have photos of them unlocking doors -- and they weren't the only ones: another family from Texas had 2 boys (younger than our son and daughter) participating.  Our group of only 20 people had 4 kids and 16 adults.  I think Viator is the only one to offer it.  There is only one per day, on the days they offer it.

 

You literally get to "wake up the Vatican," going room to room in the Vatican Museums unlocking doors and turning on the lights (with 3 guides).  It all culminates, of course, in the Pope's private chapel, the Sistine Chapel.  Unlike other tours, you are allowed to talk and take as many pictures as you want in the Sistine.  A substantial breakfast is included in the Pinecone Courtyard, and you can then reenter the museums and proceed at your own pace.  Once you wind your way back to the Sistine Chapel, you can make use of the "secret door" to exit to St Peter's and avoid the really really long line out front in St Peter's Square.  We did, and proceeded to climb up to the top of the dome (very worth it!) and then we toured the basilica.

 

IMHO, whatever price it is, it was certainly worth it!!

 

 

[mdsgu]

On 7/5/2019 at 4:33 PM, bluesea777 said:

 

IMHO, whatever price it is, it was certainly worth it!!

 

 

 

Agreed!  My father-in-law somehow got the distinct honor of unlocking the door to the Sistine and being the first inside, in the dark.  We all followed, and the guides encouraged us to get our phones into video mode.  Everyone was videoing, and you could tell it was a beautiful (and sacred) space with just the light filtering in through the windows.  But then, when the lights were switched on......just breath-taking.  There's just not words to describe it or the feeling of being there.