Ship excursion in Naples?

[cruisingforsix]

While i am not a fan of ship sponsored tours carnival does offer a tour to capri ,pompeii and either sorrento or positano. some of the others on our ship have booked private tours but they have been to some of these places before so are looking for a less hectic day. would i still be better off to keep looking for a private tour that does all the places i am trying to see?

[cruisemom42]

If you want to try to see all of that (which I would not recommend to anyone.....but you're not really asking that!) I'd definitely look into a private tour for the following reasons:

 

1) No mandatory shopping stops at overpriced stores (e.g., the cameo factory near Pompeii).

 

2) Lunch is your call -- if you're into the experience and want a great meal, your guide will arrange something FAR better than you'd get on a tour. On the other hand, if you don't want to spend precious time eating and would rather grab a slice of pizza on the go, your guide will help you with that as well. The point is that it's YOUR choice.

 

3) I haven't done the Amalfi drive, but it's my understanding that in some towns (I believe Positano is one), the large tour bus cannot actually go into the town. A car or small van can do so.

 

4) A large bus of 40 people can only move as fast as the slowest person onboard. You are virtually guaranteed to see more on a private tour, although it will still be a whirlwind tour.

[Susan-M]

would i still be better off to keep looking for a private tour that does all the places i am trying to see?

 

I would keep searching for a private tour operator, especially one who has received positive feedback either here or on Tripadvisor (or both). I think it would be much more enjoyable than (a) doing a large bus tour to the sites you want to go to, or (b) compromising, by joining others on a private tour that doesn't go to the sites that you really want to see.

 

If you find a private tour operator, chances are you'll find others on your roll call who will be interested in joining you (if you are looking to put together a group.)

 

Good luck with your plans.:)

[Susan-M]

If you want to try to see all of that (which I would not recommend to anyone.....but you're not really asking that!) ....

 

 

That was my first thought too, but with the hydrofoil dock close to the cruise dock in Naples, you could get away to Capri fairly early, then hydrofoil to Sorrento, lunch and a quick tour there, and fit in Pompeii for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Fitting in Positano might be a challenge though.

[John Bull]

While i am not a fan of ship sponsored tours carnival does offer a tour to capri ,pompeii and either sorrento or positano. some of the others on our ship have booked private tours but they have been to some of these places before so are looking for a less hectic day. would i still be better off to keep looking for a private tour that does all the places i am trying to see?

 

You'll need a tour - ship's or private - if you want to fit in Capri, Amalfi coast (Positano etc) and Pompeii. And it will be hectic.

 

But as Susan-M's post, you could do Capri by jetfoil ferry (under an hour, from adjacent your ship), Capri/Sorrento 15 min by frequent ferry, a walk from pier to rail station at Sorrento for the 1/2 hrly Circumvesuvius train to Pompeii (Pompeii Scavi) about 30 mins? & the same train back to Piazza Garibaldi, Naples, also around 30 mins. Then a 20 min walk, or bus or taxi hop back to the ship.

 

Or skip Capri & take a jetfoil ferry direct to Sorrento (same journey time), walk to rail station & take the bus along the Amalfi coast to Positano about 40 mins, or on to Amalfi if you have the time. Then bus back to Sorrento then train for Pompeii & Naples.

 

Either option will cost peanuts, and you can set your own agenda.

 

I've done as few ship's tours as possible - Cruisemom's post reminds me why. :eek:

At every stop, the slow bus-boarders, waiting for the last passenger stood in the long line for the ladies' rest-room, Mr & Mrs Half-Wit who are nowhere to be seen at leaving-time, the guy who's gone back to the museum for the purchase he forgot to pick up, the bus unable to squeeze past a traffic line. The valuable time wasted on a proper lunch.

And if there's not a cameo factory, its the papyrus shop, the moonstone shop or the diamond workshop.:eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

I'd suggest Capri/Pompeii independently, or Amalfi coast/Pompeii either independently or by private tour. And get to the jetty ahead of the herd, 9am latest.

But your time, your money, your call. You'll have a great time whatever you do

 

John Bull

[chipmaster]

Want to see it all I'd say got to go private. Remember unless you are sprining for the private vehicle thru the cruise line you are going to be on a bus. You will be going at the rate capable for the slowest in your group of 40 or so. That will slow you down everywhere yet you want to do 3 things that are far apart and include a boat/ferry ride.

 

IMHO I'd choose 2 of the 3 and do it well. IE do Pompeii and Amafli coast including Positano and skip Capri, The all land is best done private as with a small group and private car you can see far more than the cruise tours. Or, do Pompeii and Capri on your own, here that makes sense to DIY or taxi to and from Pompeii and Capri is easy to DIY. Opps.. just like the previous poster, after doing this 2 years ago I'm glad I chose only two of the three. Doing all three unless one has something like 7am to 9 or 10pm in port feasible.

 

While i am not a fan of ship sponsored tours carnival does offer a tour to capri ,pompeii and either sorrento or positano. some of the others on our ship have booked private tours but they have been to some of these places before so are looking for a less hectic day. would i still be better off to keep looking for a private tour that does all the places i am trying to see?

[rocket girl]

While i am not a fan of ship sponsored tours carnival does offer a tour to capri ,pompeii and either sorrento or positano. some of the others on our ship have booked private tours but they have been to some of these places before so are looking for a less hectic day. would i still be better off to keep looking for a private tour that does all the places i am trying to see?

 

 

Last few days left on Navigator of the Seas 12 night med cruise. We went private tour with ALDO at ALDO LIMOS. Would HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend. It was the BEST tour of our 12 day cruise so far. Aldo was FANTASTIC. and we did more than what you plan.

 

We did Pompeii (2 hours with private guide arranged by Aldo Limos). Then off to Amalfi coast. Visited towns of Ravella, Amalfi & Positano then on to Sorrento. We caught the Hydrofoil back to the dock out of Sorrento. BEAUTIFUL ride back!!! Had lunch at restaurant with BREATHTAKING view. And still had plenty of time when we arrived back. (Hydrofoil docked across dock from where our ship berthed)

 

I can't say enough about ALDO LIMOS. He was the best (also cheapest) priced and the BEST tour guide we've had. Unfortunately for the other excursions we booked, they couldn't begin to measure up to the high standard set by Aldo Limos. The others were good, but not anywhere near as good as what we had in Naples with Aldo Limos.

 

E-mail him, tell him what you want to do, he'll tell you what is feasible timewise and will give you a great quote. You won't regret going with him. We had a group of 20 and EVERYONE LOVED IT!!! E-mail is info@aldolimos.com Chris usually answers back (that's Aldo's wife).

I really can say enough GOOD about our experience. If I ever get back to Naples/Rome area, I will DEFINITELY book other tours with ALDO LIMOS!!!!

Tell Chris my name if you would like.

When I get back on shore, I will be posting a guest review on their website.

Jasmeen Hankerd

Rocket Girl

[zekekelso]

If it's me, I'd go on my own. Train Naples to Pompeii, Train Pompeii to Sorrento. Then do a reality check... If it's still early and you really want to see Capri, Hydrofoil Naples to Capri, Hydrofoil Capri to Naples. But my hunch is you'll just decide to spend some time in Sorrento, then Hyrdofoil Sorrento to Naples.

[ronnie64]

Is there a worry in summer months of not getting a ferry back to ship in time--sold out etc. We are looking to end our tour in Sorrento and ferry back to port.

[Grannycb]

We did this tour on our first trip to Naples. There is nothing wrong with the tour offered by the ship. In fact, it's quite good. We took the hydrofoil to Capri then transferred to a bus. I believe it was a small bus as there was a transportation strike the day we were there and a private company stepped in to help. We stopped at a beautiful area of Capri with shops, a pretty little church, beautiful views and flowers everywhere. We were given the option of walking down the pathway between houses to get back to the dock. That was a wonderful walk as we were able to peak into back gardens and see things on foot normally missed when traveling by a vehicle. I believe the normal transportation there was the funicular (not running because of the strike). From there we went to Sorento for some free time and lunch. The restaurant we were taken to was lovely. There were lemon trees planted all around the outdoor eating area. The decor was unique in a good way and the food was delicious, as was the wine. Pompeii was our final stop. Pompeii was so impressive! We learned so many new things that weren't in the books we'd read to prepare for Pompeii. Most groups used headsets as ours did. We did have the stop at a cameo shop. Silly us, we had never seen that many cameos and enjoyed learning about them. Our stop of about 15 minutes was shortened because of the transportation problems.

 

I don't have any regrets over taking the three in one ship tour. We didn't have to worry about all the complications the unexpected strike caused. We didn't have to worry that ours was the last bus to return that day. The views all day long were spectacular. I'd say it was a very memorable day.

[euro cruiser]

It's helpful to hear the blow-by-blow from someone who has taken the ship tour. Having read it (in the previous post), it sounds like more time was spent getting to Capri and back vs. actually being there. While Capri is lovely, if all you're going to do is walk around Capri Town and back to the dock, why go all that way? I realize that the ship tour is simply responding to consumer demand to "see it all", but this doesn't seem worth it to me.

[ActiveTraveler]

Exactly what in the world is a hydrofoil or jetfoil ferry? Is that something only found in a certain part of Italy?

[euro cruiser]

Exactly what in the world is a hydrofoil or jetfoil ferry? Is that something only found in a certain part of Italy?

Wikipedia is your friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofoil

[John Bull]

Exactly what in the world is a hydrofoil or jetfoil ferry? Is that something only found in a certain part of Italy?

 

 

Variations on a theme, often a catamaran-style hull, or a hull which at speed is actually lifted out of the water onto foils, a bit like water-ski-ing. Many are driven by what a layman like me would describe as a water pump, rather than a propellor. Lots of sea/river routes worldwide are served by these types of craft - but I doubt there's much demand in Ohio :D

They range from quite small passenger craft to large car ferries, and are usually atleast twice as quick as a conventional ferry.

 

The big disadvantage is that they can't handle rough seas, so tend to be confined to sheltered waters or summer-time operation, often supplementing traditional ferries. So not a reliable service in grim weather.

That's why I recommend that folk wanting to cover Capri and elsewhere such as Sorrento, Amalfi & Pompeii should aim to go to Capri first, then back to the mainland, usually Sorrento where there's the option of the train back to Naples (calls at Pompeii & Herculaneum on the way) or the final resort of a taxi. It's quite a long swim from Capri :rolleyes:

 

Re Ronnie 64's query, I understand you can now buy a timed-return tickets, so no danger of ferry being full - the fear is that it may not run for weather/mechanical/etc reasons. A very slim risk, but from Capri it's one with major consequences. But from Sorrento you have the option of train or taxi, so unlikely to be a big problem.

 

Incidentally, the views from lofty Capri are spectacular, but are matched by those on the Amalfi coast, so views from both - though different views - are a little bit same-again.

 

Ferry to Capri followed by Sorrento, then train to Pompeii & back to Naples is ideal for public transport, and a great day at low cost.

Errr, make that "at low cost as long as you don't buy a coffee or a beer on Capri" :D

 

I prefer the Amalfi coast but public bus (from, & back to, Sorrento) isn't ideal, it really needs to be done by car - private tour or taxi if you're a nervous driver and to avoid parking grief - to give max time & a full & interesting circular route. I'm guessing this can be done by private tour or rented car from Naples, including Pompeii. Or from Sorrento, using ferry Naples-Sorrento and train Sorrento-Pompeii-Naples.

 

Ship's tours are of course safest, and the only sensible option if you want to tick all three boxes

 

So many options & permutations, all with their pros & cons. But all will give a super day.

JB

[Grannycb]

Here is the hydrofoil we took to Capri and then to Sorrento in 2006.

 

 

 

 

Travel time from Naples to Capri was about 45 minutes. The start time of our tour was 7:15 AM. The strike altered the normal tour but what we had was lovely. The views from Capri to Sorrento were very scenic and interesting.

 

 

The walk down to the port was more fun than either a bus or the venicular.

 

 

[Grannycb]

The restaurant we went to in Sorrento was very good. The food was delicious as were the three different types of wine served with lunch. There was time to explore Sorrento. The streets were decorated for a street party when we were there. I put away my camera at that point to just enjoy the atmosphere. I do remember here were orange trees loaded with fruit along the streets.

 

 

 

I would say we had between 2.5 and 3 hours to tour Pompeii. It was enough time to see everything we wanted to see.

 

 

 

The pictures were all taken with a little point and shoot camera. Sorry, they aren't the best quality but should show a little of what you could see on the ship's tour.

[romanroxy]

Hubby and I were going to take the train to Pompeii, but found the SITA bus which left directly from the port for about 5 euro pp round trip. It drops you off right in front of Pompeii (40 min) and catch the SITA bus going back to Napoli when you are done seeing Pompeii. The SITA bus comes about every 30 minutes.

 

There is a little building at the end of the port that sells tickets for the SITA bus, the HOHO bus, and maybe other things too. It looked like a little travel agency.

 

We didn't make it to Sorrento, because we did enjoy wandering Pompeii on our own for about 4 hours....and we started the day a little later too.

 

Admission is 11 euro pp into the Pompeii Excavation.

 

The ship's excursion for the Pompeii excavation tour was about 90 euro pp. No meal. I think it was guided, but with about 20+ people from what I saw. You'd have to be standing next to the guide the whole time to hear them.

 

We are glad we did this for much cheaper and walked around Pompeii on our own. The free map and guide booklet they give you there are quite helpful and easy to navigate.

 

Wear comfy shoes, like you are going hiking, plus water and some snacks to munch on until lunch. I saw a few people wearing thin flip-flops. There are chunky cobble stones and lots of walking in general and walking upwards.

 

We were going to take the HOHO bus around Naples, but decided not to after we saw some of Naples on the SITA bus...I don't know if there are pretty areas of Naples itself, but all I can say is 'YIKES!":eek: