Advice on booking own excursions through roll call

[garlinn]

Your tour sharing site recommendation is a wonderful idea! Thank you!

 

If you do Florence and Pisa ask for Elizabeth. She is the best guide that we have ever had.

[Xmansmom]

I have done several tours with RIL. Everybody will pay the driver their portion after the tour is over. One nice thing about RIL is that they have a tour sharing site http://www.romeinlimotoursharing.com .

 

Thanks so much for this post. I had been looking at RIL but didn't know they had a tour sharing site. This is awesome.

[navybankerteacher]

We've done this three times pre-cruise in Rome. Assuming you have a fair amount of time you might want to simply chat with fellow passengers a bit at first to see if you feel there is a degree of compatibility before setting up, or joining, a group for either a pre-cruise or port-of-call tour. Usually one person acts as co-ordinator, you might not want to be the organizer for everyone else on a number of tours, but some people like the idea. It makes sense to join a group with people who are staying at the same pre-cruise hotel, or at least nearby hotels - to avoid multiple pick-up charges.

 

If you connect with people on the same flight into Rome, it would make sense to share transfer to your hotel - again it makes sense if the same or nearby hotel is involved. Because you will be travelling with luggage, you will definitely need a van if more than two couples are involved - and you should make sure to count bags and carry-ons while organizing transfers: there has been at least one case where an extra taxi had to be arranged at the last minute for transfer to Civita Vecchia because all bags would not fit into the van,

 

In any event, sharing tours and transfers is a great way of getting to know some of your fellow passengers, while saving on costs. Talk things up on your roll call - and have a great cruise.

[Worldtraveler 4727]

If you do Florence and Pisa ask for Elizabeth. She is the best guide that we have ever had.

 

Thank you! I have made a note of that.

[Worldtraveler 4727]

We've done this three times pre-cruise in Rome. Assuming you have a fair amount of time you might want to simply chat with fellow passengers a bit at first to see if you feel there is a degree of compatibility before setting up, or joining, a group for either a pre-cruise or port-of-call tour. Usually one person acts as co-ordinator, you might not want to be the organizer for everyone else on a number of tours, but some people like the idea. It makes sense to join a group with people who are staying at the same pre-cruise hotel, or at least nearby hotels - to avoid multiple pick-up charges.

 

If you connect with people on the same flight into Rome, it would make sense to share transfer to your hotel - again it makes sense if the same or nearby hotel is involved. Because you will be travelling with luggage, you will definitely need a van if more than two couples are involved - and you should make sure to count bags and carry-ons while organizing transfers: there has been at least one case where an extra taxi had to be arranged at the last minute for transfer to Civita Vecchia because all bags would not fit into the van,

 

In any event, sharing tours and transfers is a great way of getting to know some of your fellow passengers, while saving on costs. Talk things up on your roll call - and have a great cruise.

 

Thank you for these excellent thoughts. Your experience is very helpful.