Amalfi coast tours

[balsam88]

I need a bit of help with the Amalfi coast tours. We will be in Naples on July 7, 7 am to 7 pm. I had to choose between Amalfi coast or Capri since it was impossible to find a tour that does both. We decided that we'd like to do Amalfi coast (not including Pompeii). I'm looking for tours that are not through RC due to budget and also hearing that some of those RC excursions are not that great. My main concerns though is trusting that private tour companies will get us back on time. I understand that July is peak season and that traffic is already chaotic there. Any recommendations for any reputable tour companies that perhaps will be able to manage their time to get us back? I already contacted Italytours.eu and they don't have availability for that day. Any help is appreciated!

[princeton123211]

53 minutes ago, balsam88 said:

I'm looking for tours that are not through RC due to budget and also hearing that some of those RC excursions are not that great. My main concerns though is trusting that private tour companies will get us back on time. I understand that July is peak season and that traffic is already chaotic there.

The biggest issue you have is that the most picturesque parts of the Amalfi Coast comprise of roads that are barely 2 lanes across and traffic is both unpredictable and any sort of hiccup like a small accident can be devastating to your schedule. I've sat for 2 hours while 3 people in a fender bender had it out at each other. 

 

I'm saying this under the context that I really personally don't like any sort of organized tour, let alone one organized by a cruise ship, but in this case I would not be able to enjoy my day without knowing that I was at least guaranteed to get back to the ship. It's less about making sure they are responsible to get you back in time (no one really has control here), but that the cruise line organized tours will have the ship wait if something went sideways, whereas a private tour would not be afforded that. 

[euro cruiser]

The reason you can't find a tour that includes both the Amalfi Coast and Capri is that it's not reasonable to try and do both.  You could physically get to both and back to Naples but you'd have almost no time to actually be at either one, so what would be the point?  We went through the specifics on the other thread you posted on earlier this week.

 

On your own you could pay for a car service transfer from the ship to Salerno, which would put you there in plenty of time to get the first ferry of the day from Salerno.  Or you could take the train from Naples to Salerno.

 

Either way, ferry is the most convenient way to see the Amalfi Coast.  The road is so heavily congested that you mostly sit and crawl through traffic all day.

 

At the other end of the day you could take a ferry directly from Amalfi (or Positano, if the dock is fixed and operating by then) back to Naples.  There is one at 16:55 (4:55 PM) that arrives back to Naples Beverello (adjacent to the cruise port) at 6:45 PM, too close for comfort but a decent fall back option in a pinch.  The target return departs Amalfi at 15:55 (3:55 PM) and arrives to Beverello at 5:45 PM.

 

NLG » Official website

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by euro cruiser

[mapleleaves]

On your earlier NAPLES post you were given lots of great info on how to cobble together your own tour via ferry.  I have to say .... viewing the villages from the sea is fabulous!! Highly recommend it!

  

But are you only interested in a land tour?  

Our cruise stopped in Naples in 2019, 7am-7pm.  And we wanted a private tour for the 4 of us.  ItalyTours wasnt willing to work with my itinerary, so I used the SEARCH tool above to find previous posts about other vendors.  I ended up going with AldoLimo.  They, like most vendors are worried about returning to the ship on time, so they suggested we meet at 7:30 instead of 8. A head start!  You have a long port day so if you're worried about timing, ask for an early start. This will have you back to the ship by 3:30pm.

 

To find more vendors do a SEARCH  using the word AMALFI and you'll find lots of old posts  The only names I still have are:  ItalyTourSharing, RomeinLimo, JoBanana, AldoLimo, and a fun guy on FaceBook TaxiMisterCabDriver.  

 

[cruisemom42]

I think you're going to have a lot of trouble finding a vendor who can give you a tour next month. It's peak season and availability of guides and drivers is lower than pre-Covid.

 

Your only options may be figuring out public transportation (e.g., a ferry to one or more places on the Amalfi Coast or to Capri) or a ship tour.

[CCJack]

16 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

The biggest issue you have is that the most picturesque parts of the Amalfi Coast comprise of roads that are barely 2 lanes across and traffic is both unpredictable and any sort of hiccup like a small accident can be devastating to your schedule. I've sat for 2 hours while 3 people in a fender bender had it out at each other. 

 

I'm saying this under the context that I really personally don't like any sort of organized tour, let alone one organized by a cruise ship, but in this case I would not be able to enjoy my day without knowing that I was at least guaranteed to get back to the ship. It's less about making sure they are responsible to get you back in time (no one really has control here), but that the cruise line organized tours will have the ship wait if something went sideways, whereas a private tour would not be afforded that. 

I tend to agree that a ship's tour may be a good option here.   This is a wonderful excursion (Amalfi coast is beautiful) but there are a lot of timing things that could go off the rails here - more so than other excursions - mostly due to traffic.

 

Also, on our last couple of cruises, we have had a couple ports were there were issues with ship docking for various reasons.... everyone was 2+ hours late getting off of the ship.  In both of these cases the cruise line allowed only ship's excursion passengers to debark first, and it was enforced. (everyone else was even later than 2 hours late).    This probably doesn't happen often, but it does happen. 

[RTR 21-0]

Recently used Mr Taxi Cab Driver for a tour of Amalfi Coast, Ravello, Sorrento and had a good experience.  We were in port on a Sunday.  Met our driver at the port about 7:45, spent about an hour or so in Amalfi and Ravello, around two hours in Sorrento, stopped for some pic taking along the way and had us back at the port by 3:30 PM, plenty of time to be back onboard by 5:30.  

[balsam88]

4 hours ago, RTR 21-0 said:

Recently used Mr Taxi Cab Driver for a tour of Amalfi Coast, Ravello, Sorrento and had a good experience.  We were in port on a Sunday.  Met our driver at the port about 7:45, spent about an hour or so in Amalfi and Ravello, around two hours in Sorrento, stopped for some pic taking along the way and had us back at the port by 3:30 PM, plenty of time to be back onboard by 5:30.  

Unfortunately he was booked for our day 

[balsam88]

On 6/8/2023 at 9:37 PM, cruisemom42 said:

I think you're going to have a lot of trouble finding a vendor who can give you a tour next month. It's peak season and availability of guides and drivers is lower than pre-Covid.

 

Your only options may be figuring out public transportation (e.g., a ferry to one or more places on the Amalfi Coast or to Capri) or a ship tour.

I actually ended finding a bunch of tours on viator/trip advisor. I went with one that had a decent amount of good reveiws and hoping for the best at this point. 

[RTR 21-0]

7 hours ago, balsam88 said:

I actually ended finding a bunch of tours on viator/trip advisor. I went with one that had a decent amount of good reveiws and hoping for the best at this point. 

Positive thoughts heading your way that all will go according to plan and you have a fabulous tour.  

[TheHawk1]

Royal Caribbean offers a charter ship excursion that sails around Capri (but doesn’t let you off) and then on to the Amalfi coast with a stop at Positano. It seems like a good way to get a flavour for these two areas without having to sit for hours in traffic on a bus.  Am I missing something?

[KiwiGal117]

In 2016, we used See Amalfi Coast, a tour company based out of Naples, I believe.  As there were 6 of us, we hired a private driver for a tour.  He did an excellent job and started us at the opposite end of where most tours start so the roads were quieter as were the towns.  They appear to still be around.  We had a long port day, and had no trouble being back well before all aboard, but maybe we just go lucky!

[cruisinginapril2012]

We just came back and used Taxi mister cab driver Naples & Amalfi coast on Strikingly (mystrikingly.com) can contact by email: mrcabdrivernapoli@gmail.com or WhatsApp +39 338 281 1471  This time our port was Salerno and they drove to pick us up and took us to Amalfi and Ravello with some other stops along the Amalfi Coast.  5 years ago we used them when our port was Naples and we went to Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii.  They always go above and beyond before cruise, during and remain friends after.  We also used them for our day in Naples before our cruise, we took train from Rome and they met us in the train station and took around Naples.  

[RandR95336]

On 6/12/2023 at 11:55 AM, TheHawk1 said:

Royal Caribbean offers a charter ship excursion that sails around Capri (but doesn’t let you off) and then on to the Amalfi coast with a stop at Positano. It seems like a good way to get a flavour for these two areas without having to sit for hours in traffic on a bus.  Am I missing something?

What is the name of this tour?  It sounds like what I’m looking for.

 

thank you 

Rachel

[TheHawk1]

On 6/23/2023 at 11:01 AM, RandR95336 said:

What is the name of this tour?  It sounds like what I’m looking for.

 

thank you 

Rachel

As of two weeks ago, Royal has cancelled this excursion on all the remaining sailings of Symphony of the Seas this season. Something to do with "issues with the tour operator".  They gave everyone a refund, but I'm very disappointed, because it was the only boat excursion out of Naples that looked interesting.  Now I have to find something else from a private tour company.

[RandR95336]

3 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

As of two weeks ago, Royal has cancelled this excursion on all the remaining sailings of Symphony of the Seas this season. Something to do with "issues with the tour operator".  They gave everyone a refund, but I'm very disappointed, because it was the only boat excursion out of Naples that looked interesting.  Now I have to find something else from a private tour company.

Thanks for the reply.  I had a similar excursion that Royal cancelled as well.