Vista 7/1/16 8 day Med Review - a Vista like no other

[aberdeener]

Excellent question. We were really at a loss on how much to tip the drivers/guides. In the end we made recommendations to our group and left it up to them. We pretty much did 5 euro's (for each driver and guide). In Naples, I thought our guide was outstanding so most gave him 10 Euro's. For what it is worth, they def were not surprised by tips. Hope this helps.

 

Yes that helps Jimbo. I assume you meant 5 euro's per passenger for the driver. If anyone else following this review has a comment on tipping I would be happy to hear it.

[jimbo5544]

Yes that helps Jimbo. I assume you meant 5 euro's per passenger for the driver. If anyone else following this review has a comment on tipping I would be happy to hear it.

 

 

Yes I meant 5 euros per person.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

[jimbo5544]

It has the name on the bread basket:D

 

Loving this review. Thank you.

 

 

Now that is funny!!!! I must have liked at that picture 50 times. Thanks for the kind words. More coming this evening (I hope). Rome.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

[les37b]

Yes that helps Jimbo. I assume you meant 5 euro's per passenger for the driver. If anyone else following this review has a comment on tipping I would be happy to hear it.

 

Whilst its true that when a driver continues to receive a tip, it becomes the norm, but seriously, tipping really should be something to show your gratitude for a job well done. These drivers get paid well for driving you around.... they are not low paid workers who reply on tips to make up their wages.

 

That said, I'd probably happily give a driver a 5 Euro tip from my brood..... if he did a good job.

 

Jimbo... I just dug out our

whch I suspect will bring back memories! It did me... its the first time I've seen it since I got back home! Edited July 23, 2016 by les37b

[jimbo5544]

Whilst its true that when a driver continues to receive a tip, it becomes the norm, but seriously, tipping really should be something to show your gratitude for a job well done. These drivers get paid well for driving you around.... they are not low paid workers who reply on tips to make up their wages.

 

That said, I'd probably happily give a driver a 5 Euro tip from my brood..... if he did a good job.

 

Jimbo... I just dug out our

whch I suspect will bring back memories! It did me... its the first time I've seen it since I got back home!

 

That is pretty cool! I have a gopro but have not yet mastered tine lapse. Now I have another thing to do. Want that for my next cruise! Thanks

[les37b]

That is pretty cool! I have a gopro but have not yet mastered tine lapse. Now I have another thing to do. Want that for my next cruise! Thanks

 

There is nothing to setting it up... just making sure it has a solid base.

 

Now if you go into a small ship, thats when the fun really starts!

 

Balls of steel spring to mind!! (Watch to the final bridges) I will stick up a 360 I took in the transit so you can really get how ballsy it is! Zoom in to the second tender to see how close it is! The Corinth canal is abou 8km long I think! Not a good thing for a captain with high blood pressure!!

Edited July 23, 2016 by les37b

[jimbo5544]

There is nothing to setting it up... just making sure it has a solid base.

 

Now if you go into a small ship, thats when the fun really starts!

 

Balls of steel spring to mind!! (Watch to the final bridges) I will stick up a 360 I took in the transit so you can really get how ballsy it is! Zoom in to the second tender to see how close it is! The Corinth canal is abou 8km long I think! Not a good thing for a captain with high blood pressure!!

 

That is really nice! Thanks for posting it.

[sk84fungirl]

Thanks !!! I missed this before.

 

Great to hear great reviews about LaTagliata as we are also stopping there for lunch. Looks like so much food...:eek:!

 

And of course you don't want to be rude and not taste everything...;)

[jimbo5544]

Great to hear great reviews about LaTagliata as we are also stopping there for lunch. Looks like so much food...:eek:!

 

 

 

And of course you don't want to be rude and not taste everything...;)

 

 

It all was so good, everyone he such a good time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

[jimbo5544]

Rome

 

This was the third early day in a row and the third and final private excursion with Joe Bananas. We were pretty much in a routine now. All were present for breakfast as well as meeting up in the lobby. When we got off we found our connection and this time we had three Mercedes vans of different sizes. We split up in groups and were on our way.

 

Some of our group had never been to Rome (or Italy for that matter) so we had decided as a group that the intent was to give them a glimpse or taste of Rome. Our plan was to stop at Circus Maximus, then to the Coliseum, then Trevi fountain, then Pantheon, then Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, then to the Vatican. Quite a day and not a lot of time to spare.

[PatyCake]

Thanks for the flat stanley explanation, which is pretty much what I thought it might be. At my kids first school they had a teddy bear that used to got on vacation quite a bit and had his own noticeboard in the school with photos of his travels.

 

We have started taking my grandson's Funship Freddy since they booted him off for the Cat. Taking him to Barcelona September.

[jimbo5544]

Thanks for the flat stanley explanation, which is pretty much what I thought it might be. At my kids first school they had a teddy bear that used to got on vacation quite a bit and had his own noticeboard in the school with photos of his travels.

 

We have started taking my grandson's Funship Freddy since they booted him off for the Cat. Taking him to Barcelona September.

 

My pleasure, do you really live in Cozumel?

[jimbo5544]

Here are some pics from Circus Maximus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

....and some more

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

Then we made the short ride to the drop off for the coliseum. The drop off point was in front of what we knew to be the wedding cake. It is really a monument to the first king of of a unified Italy in 1868 Victor Emanuele II. Here are some pics....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

Then we made the short ride to the Coliseum. It was getting hot and it was pretty crowded. We spent an hour and a half here. A few paid the scalper price to jump the line and go inside. We did not and had done it before. Here are some pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

....and a couple more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

Then back in the vans and on to the Pantheon..... Here is where things started to unravel a little bit. Going through Rome streets, it was hard fr them to keep together. As a result,we got separated a bit and two vans go to the drop up point (up the street in front of another famous church (name escapes me). We knew were to go (and the driver directed us as well and we made our way down tot eh Pantheon. The third van pulled up, the driver spoke only broken English and directed them into the church. Meanwhile we weer touring the Pantheon, came out and realized we were missing a third of our group. We walked back up, found them and sent them down to the Pantheon. This cost us almost an hour in a tightly scheduled day already. You know what they say about the best laid plans....

[jimbo5544]

The Pantheon from the outside is def not impressive. I don't think I have any shots of the exterior of the round building. Inside is another story. This is a catholic church and the still occasionally have mass there. It is a domed ceiling made of concrete and dates back to BC times (the largest of its kind in the world) with an opening in top center which creates a beam during the day. Here are some pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

and some more....... as the day prgressives the beam of light moves to stations of the cross around the building...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

.....and some more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

One of my favorite places in all of Italy!!:)

[jimbo5544]

....and some from the church (which we have never been to) that a third of our group was directed to as the Pantheon....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

.....and some more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

Then we loaded back into the vans and headed for the Trevi Fountain (and the Spanish steps). Second disappointment of the day. The fountains were empty and they were installing plexiglass runways over them for some Italian designer photo shoot. There were a couple of people in our group who had really wanted to see the fountains (in action) :(, but we moved on.