"Godfather" Tour from Catania

[maggie3]

We have visited Sicily previously, but had missed seeing the villages and sites where the Godfather movies were filmed. We will be in port in Catania on a cruise this fall. I have looked at tours with Mario and with Sicily Life. I like the Sicily Life Godfather Tour because it includes Castelmola, where Mario's tour does not. However, Sicily Life requires a credit card guarantee. Most of us on our cruise roll call are reluctant to give out our credit card numbers in advance and would rather pay cash after each tour is completed. Can previous cruisers please recommend another company which would give a similar tour, but would not require a credit card?

[hylasgirl]

We have visited Sicily previously, but had missed seeing the villages and sites where the Godfather movies were filmed. We will be in port in Catania on a cruise this fall. I have looked at tours with Mario and with Sicily Life. I like the Sicily Life Godfather Tour because it includes Castelmola, where Mario's tour does not. However, Sicily Life requires a credit card guarantee. Most of us on our cruise roll call are reluctant to give out our credit card numbers in advance and would rather pay cash after each tour is completed. Can previous cruisers please recommend another company which would give a similar tour, but would not require a credit card?

 

Most private tour companies require a credit card for guarantee only. If you have good references for this company, I would not hesitate giving it to them. I've toured with many companies (all very much recommended) and I've always had to do a credit card guarantee. I've never had any issues... and I've paid at the end of a tour. I would not give up a great tour (recommended of course) because you are worried about this. Any charge not authorized should be protected by your CC company anyway.

[aquidneck1]

It looks like Mario will customize a tour. Why not ask him and see what the price difference is.

[Compass Rose Monica]

A friend of mine booked a private tour for another port and provided her credit card. Our itinerary changed so we missed this particular port. The company would not refund the tour. I haven't talked to her in a while so I don't know if she was able to resolve this situation with them or with her credit card company.

 

So, ask them their policy if the ship does not dock due to weather or other unforeseen reasons.

 

Moncia

[nikel]

A friend of mine booked a private tour for another port and provided her credit card. Our itinerary changed so we missed this particular port. The company would not refund the tour. I haven't talked to her in a while so I don't know if she was able to resolve this situation with them or with her credit card company.

 

So, ask them their policy if the ship does not dock due to weather or other unforeseen reasons.

 

Moncia

 

They only got back 50% and since there were three vans involved, we're talking thousands of dollars. Never pay in advance !!!

[Compass Rose Monica]

Thanks for letting me know! I agree, never pay in advance.

 

Monica

[maggie3]

I am the original poster. Sebastiano of Sicily Life has assured me that we will not be charged at all if the ship does not make it into port.

[samavarcruiser]

I have used sicilylife.com and can highly recommend them, they wont charge you if the ship doesn't dock for any reason, don't worry about it.

[Podie]

I just (two days ago) took the tour with Mario Astone and was very pleased. He did not require any money or credit card in advance.

[JRarey]

We did a great tour with Mario late last summer. A tour that started out at 4 people ended up with 32 once our roll call got word. Now of course that's great for him, but he was just super through the whole process. He will certainly customize to meet your needs, and no payment at all until the end of the tour.

 

His tour was one of the highlights of a great trip and I give him my highest recommendation.

[2morrow]

We had an excellent tour with Vincent of Sicilylife from Catania which was called The Unknown Sicilian Villages. We toured many small villages including the one that the Godfather was filmed in, had lunch on a roof top in the village of Castelmola and then spent some time in the quaint town of Taormina. It was a wonderful day.

[cruising cockroach]

I was under the impression the mafiaso towns were in the west part of the island south of Palermo. My wife and I drove through and found the villages rater.. nondescript.

[MarleneAm]

I was under the impression the mafiaso towns were in the west part of the island south of Palermo. My wife and I drove through and found the villages rater.. nondescript.

_______________________________________________

The towns where a lot of the real mafia operated are in west Sicily.

The real town of Corleone is not particularly picturesque. However, the towns where they made the Godfather movies are in eastern Sicily and the tours go to the towns where they made the movies.

[tromvest]

We just returned from Sicily and used Sicilylife for the Godfather tour. We did give our credit card months in advance to Sebastiano but he never charged us anything and we paid for the tour in euros at the completion of our tour to our fantastic guide, Corrado. I wouldn't worry about the credit card issue with this company as I believe they are very reputable. You cannot go wrong if you book with Sicilylife. We loved them!! Enjoy Sicily, I am dying to go back.