Drivers in Rome and Naples

[tpaatl]

We had a great time on the Carnival Liberty for 12 days. We then stayed in Rome for 3 days. Thats when the trouble began,actually it began just before the cruise. We had hired a company called Bob' Limousines in Rome to pick us up at the airport and take us to the ship. He was an hour and a half late.After several calls to them they sub-contracted another driver,and we just barely caught the ship.Then after the cruise we had hired nhim for guided tours. The tours did not match what he had said they would be. And then the final straw was on the morning that we were to be picked up by him to be driven to the airport,they did not show up at all. BOB'S LIMOUSINES is in my opinion the most undependable service company I have ever done business with.

[smoothdancer]

I wonder if you all could give me some information.

We our going on our first cruise to Europe. We have never been to Europe.

 

Generally when we vacation to new places I like to do the reseach and then go off on our own. Never been to Europe however, I thought maybe a tour is the way to go. I am afriad I just wont know where to go or what to see.

 

The thing that makes me hesitate is that I think by doing a tour my husband and I may, I dont know, feel like we are not alone!, hard to describe my hesitation.....

 

I wonder, the previous threads said that the guide did not take you where you wanted to go. Well how do you know where you want to go and what to see??? Can someone give me so insight on tours???

 

Can you tell I am new at this?? We have cruised many many times, just not abroad. We are sailing on SilverSeas with 2 days prior in Barcalona and two days after in Rome.

 

Thanks in advance, all

[tpaatl]

In my opinion, the worst so called driver/guide company in rome is called BOB'S LIMOUISINES. They were an hour and a half late picking us up at the airport to take us to the cruise ship.We just did make it after we called him several times he finally sub-contracted another driver. Then nthe tours we booke with him were not what he said thry would be . The final straw was when he did not pick us up at our hotel on the morning we were to go to the airport for our trip home. In our opinion BOB' LIMOS in rome should be avoided at all cost.

[smoothdancer]

Not as bad as what you expereinced, but we had a similar situation... We went on a Celebrity cruise, the CA coast iterniary. When we arrived, we had a limo at the airport pick us up, all was great....

 

When the cruise ended, the limo never arrived... We had planned a day in SF, with the limo driver.... We waited for hours... The good news was that the limo co made good on it... They admitted that they blew it and did not scheudle the pick up.... The had to scramble to find a limo and a driver for us. Finally the driver arrived. The co called my husbands cell phone and told him tell the driver to do whatever you want, and just tip him... They did not charge us for the service.

 

We were not happy that we waited hours outside the pier, but were pleased that they admitted the error and did thier best to fix it.

[Billie H]

I have never bothered to write any type of review good or bad but this time I felt conpeled to do so. My husband and I just returned from a 2 week Mediterranean cruise. Our son who owns his own limousine company did plenty of research in advance to find us knowledgeable drivers, whom could speak very good english, provide guided tours with clean up to date vehicles. We got it all!! We can not say enough about "Duman" one of the owners of www.***************.

Duman arranged all our transportation and sightseeing needs. He drove us in Rome (A man from Rome himself) and every driver he had assist us were also excellant as well. Trust me if you utilize this company you will be extremly pleased and writing rave reviews as well.

Billie H :)

[Billie H]

The Company Name Is ROME IN LIMO. Sorry not sure why it would not print the web address.

Billie H:)

[mindyme]

I spent 4 days in Rome in May with my son. We bought a book"Rome spiral guide" on Rome and did our own thing. The book had 1-2-3or4 day itineries. We saw all the sights. Rome is very easy to negotiate. We did not take any transport, walked everywhere. The book also had interesting stories about the best ice cream or coffee inRome. Lots of information and maps.

[Mtreas99]

We also just returned from 12 nt Mediterranean cruise on the Millenium. We had a group of 22 and booked drivers in Villefranche, Florence, Rome and Naples. As a travel agent, I can highly recommend Aldo in Sorrento for touring the Amalfi Coast. His email is CHRISMILLER@LIBERO.IT. We have used Aldo several times and he is extremely reliable and very charming. He speaks perfect English and shares his knowledge and love of the Amalfi Coast with his passengers. He also booked a private guide in Pompeii for our group. We needed four cars for our group, and all the drivers he provided were English speaking and very charming and informative. We had a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant in Ravello and were treated famously by the owner/cook.

Aldo does a great job of planning your day. He had us take the hydrofoil from Naples to Sorrento and met us on the dock. This avoided the traffic jam in Naples and gave us much more time to enjoy our day. WE were able to see Positano, Amalfi, Ravello ( with lunch ) and Pompeii before returning to the ship in Naples. He keeps everyone to a strict schedule, as to avoid any mishaps in returning to ship ontime. By the way, his rates are also quite attractive. Contact him early, as he books up quickly!

[Lisa G.]

Just returned yesterday from our Celebrity Med cruise. For our transfer to the port in Civitvecchia we used Stefano form Rome Cabs and he was fabulous and in Naples we used Francesco Marrapese and he was truly the highlight of our trip. His website is http://www.francescomarrapese.com/. You won't be disappointed.

[mcsea]

recently toured naples with Nello Russo. He is previously mentioned on this

thread. He was great! He took us on the amalfi drive, positano,amalfi,

ravello.... Lunch at a beautiful out door restaurant with views. He speaks

perfect english and is definitely fun to tour with. E mail him at

www.drivesorrento.com leave your return E mail in you message and he'll get right back to you. Again High marks for Nello!

[rumba]

We also went on the Splendour on our Med Tour last year and hired Sorrento Limo to do our tours in Rome, Florence and Naples. There were six of us and we paid 1430 for all three tours. We were driven in an air-conditioned Mercedes van. We arranged to make full payment for all three tours at the last leg and it was ok with Gennaro. Our guide was very prompt, courteous, funny and very knowledgeable. We did the breath-taking Amalfi Coast in Naples and had a wonderful lunch at Ravello. Our guide has taken us to look-outs where the ship's buses cannot go, therefore not crowded. We had the best spot for enjoying the spectacular view of Sorrento, Positano and Ravello.

[DebNJoe]

We just returned yesterday from our Liberty Cruise of the Med + a 3 day post cruise stay in Rome. I booked Stefano of Romecabs for all our transfers airport/pier/hotel/airport, back in April. At that time there were only a few posts that I could find, but since then, many have written wonderful reviews of his services. I could not agree more.

 

In addition to the transfers, we booked an evening tour of Rome to view the illuminated sites and a full day tour during which we visited many of the major sites as well as a visit to Tivoli. He also arranged a Vatican guide for us as well. He was wonderful, giving lots of historical information and recommendations of restaurants and the BEST place for the gelato that we had during our entire 15 days in Europe.

 

His prices were by far the best of all the transfer/tour companies I contacted and his service was superb!!

[ohship]

In Naples/Amalfi Coast, we used Jack the Driver (www.jackthedriver.com). He was great -- very accommodating, friendly, and reliable. Plus, his van is clean and spacious. We had six people in our group and had plenty of room. I had e-mailed Jack several times before the cruise to customize our trip along the Amalfi Coast, and he always responded immediately. We had a wonderful day with him.

[alinehu]

I highly recomend Benvenuto Limos. They are excellent.Everything was perfect in Rome, Livorno and Naples.After them we didnt like the tours that the ship gave us:p

[Bellestar]

You must use Salvatore (email: *****) or one of his driver's for Naples and the Amalfi Coast,it is an experience not to be missed.

[bigmjh]

We just returned from a 12 day Med cruise ... we booked private drivers in every port ... and had EXCELLENT experiences. In Naples we had Giovanni from Benvenuto Limos. He was absolutely TOP-NOTCH! We did the Pompeii tour followed by a drive to Positano and the Amalfi coast. He lives in the area (several generations) and knows everyone. He was very informative and took us wherever we wanted to go ... and stayed as long as WE wanted. When we asked for his opinions or advice ... he made suggestions that always proved to be very good. In our mind he is the BEST choice for Naples. I will definitely book with him anytime we are in the area.

[Mike Andrews]

Do Rome on your own,it is such an easy city to tour on your own and for Naples choose Salvatore Lucibello of DriveAmalfi (email:info@driveamalfi>com) for a tour of the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii

[goldenprincess53]

At the outset we were very impressed with our driver, Francesco Marrapese, and would highly recommend his services. He was prompt and was at the ship (Splendour) by 7:30, although we didn't leave the leave till 8 am NOTE: we were not aware we could leave the ship early so we arranged to leave at 8:00.

 

At his suggestion, we visited Pompeii first. I am glad we did as it got quite busy as the morning went on. We took a two hr guided tour and by the time we left at 10:45 am, there were large crowds. NOTE: we paid $10/couple for a private guide once we got into the admission area. Guides are there making up groups of people as they arrive. Highly recommend you use a guide to visit Pompeii.

 

Francesco was very knowledgeable about the area, pointing out all the highlights. He has an excellent command of the English language and expresses himself very well. We drove through Sorrento, stopping briefly for pictures and then again at a wordworking shop. Although we had not expected to spend as much time there, we did enjoy this stop and managed to make a few purchases of the local craft, then it was off to Positano. We did a lot of stopping along the way for the many picture opportunities. At each stop, the scenery kept getting more beautiful than the previous. He made arrangements for us to have lunch at the Garden Hotel, a restaurant in Ravello on the side of the mountain around 2:15 pm. We had a table with a breathtaking view of the ocean below. Our meal was superb and we finished it off with lemoncillo of course. We had about half hour to spare so we had an opportunity to walk around the square - and do some more shopping. They had wonderful ceramics in this area.

 

Francesco had us back at our ship shortly after 5 pm. It was an absolutely fantastic day and the highlight of our trip. He is an excellent driver, has great personality and I hope we can use his services again in the future!

[foxy92802]

We booked a tour of Amalfi Coast and Pompeii with DriveAmalfi tours. Salvatore was unfortunetely booked for our cruise next September 2006, so we have the option of either Roberto or Adriano?

Has anyone had good or bad experiences with either of these people?

[PoohUnderstands]

Dear Foxy:

 

Which line and date are you travelling the Med next September? We are on the Brilliance leaving Barcelona on September 20th, doing the Amalfi Coast on 9/23.

 

Pooh

[OleMissMom]

My daughter and I did a tour with Roberto and had a wonderful time. He was very engaging and quite talkative. It was great to walk off the ship and have a Mercedes waiting on you while others were standing in line to board buses!!

 

OleMissMom

[leighuf]

I'd HIGHLY recommend using a private guide for Rome, especially if it's your first time! You'll only waste time figuring out the train station, streets of Rome etc. A guide KNOWS where he is going and provides a direct route to all the major sights.

 

Just returned from my Med cruise onboard the Splendour of the Seas. We hired Claudio of limoinrome.com. He picked us up promptly at 8am beside the ship in his new VW van. We drove straight into Rome within in hour. He narrated as he drove us (his eyes did stay on the road;) ) into Rome- first stopping for a look out the window at the Baths. Then he parked in front of the Roman Forum (sort of made his own parking spot) and we all got out to tour the ruins. He's very knowledgeable about his beloved city. Then he drove us to the Colosseum (we told him we didn't want to enter, just wanted to take photos) where he dropped us off and gave us 15 mins to snap photos etc. Then he whisked us off to the Panthenon where he again parked directly next to it. We entered the building and he narrated. We had a 15 min opportunity to buy souvenirs/use the restroom. Next, we went to the Trevi and the Spanish Steps- each time we were given time to snap photos and look around. We had a 40 min lunch break at Campo Fiori. After lunch, we met up with the guide for the Vatican City part of our day. Claudio had arranged it for us. We spent approximately 3 hrs here visiting the Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peters alongside our private historian guide.

 

Claudio was waiting for us just outside the Vatican square. He drove us back to the port & we arrived back at the ship around 5pm. This tour was worth EVERY DIME! For 6 people, the cost per person was 100 E (plus a little bit more for tip). :D

[dsawyer]

We also hired Claudio for our Vatican tour and for our transfers from Rome to Civitavecchia to get on the ship. We had no idea that he outsources many of his bookings. We were given to some other company whose driver did not know the streets of Rome. Our driver was not even provided the details of what our booking required. Both the Vatican tour and the transfers were less than satisfactory. Although, I will say the guide we had at the Vatican was just fine but the driver almost ruined both experiences.

 

I would definitely not recommend hiring Claudio because you don't know who you will wind up with.

[leighuf]

I would definitely not recommend hiring Claudio because you don't know who you will wind up with.

 

We got Claudio, so I recommend CLAUDIO. Perhaps providing the names of the individuals you do NOT recommend would be more helpful to future med cruisers.

 

BTW, many private drivers do that esp in cities outside of their homebase. They contract out to friends of the business.

[dsawyer]

Leighuf, I am happy you got Claudio and had a great day.

 

I also hired Claudio and expected a great day but he turned us over to another company without telling us . The driver we got did not even know Claudio and was upset that Claudio did not provide him full details of what our booking required. That is my complaint.

 

I am warning people that if you hire Claudio, you may not get him and you may not get any driver that works with him or even knows him.