***LIVE*** From the Carnival Freedom

[maylee]

I woke up early this morning my time clock is a little out and decided to start my review, sorry its a little long but once I started I couldn't stop.

 

We are a family of 4 with two boys aged 12 and 10, so like Fendere will try to bring a younger families perspective 2 it. Our children are also well traveled and love to see different places.

 

Rome June 4th. Arrived in Rome and used Romeshuttlelimousine service for the transfer to our hotel, they only charged us 35E and arrived on time, with no hassles. We stayed at Gea di volcano for 2 nights post cruise and we were fortunate to get the family apartment room, which was huge, 2 large bdr, bathroom, sitting room, and another smaller room between the sitting and bdr. We had 4 windows overlooking the side street with access to the side street entrance, it honestly felt like we had our own apartment and entrance all for only 155E per night. We love to walk so we dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed to the Piazza Navonna. Rome is amazing at every corner there is something to see, on our walk over we passed these ruins where there were cats everywhere, the kids thought this was really cool. Piazza Navonna is a square where they have artists painting, street performers and lots of little cafes and restaurants, and Gelato….the first thing we had in Italy was gelato and it was soooo good. All the restaurants in the area did not serve dinner till 6:30-7:00 so we walked a couple of blocks to the Pantheon. Angels Tours do a free tour of the Pantheon at 7:00pm each night, they stand out the front holding an umbrella with angels on it. This tour was just incredible, our guide Lena was so passionate about Rome and the kids found this so interesting, that we asked if she did the Coliseum tours and she told us she was doing the one the following morning, so we booked that immediately. That night we went to the restaurant I mentioned previously.

 

Rome June 5th We met some CC members this morning in the breakfast room as a few of us were staying in this hotel. We did the Coliseum and Roman Forum tour with Angels, again Lena made the place come alive, there is no way you could do this on your own and understand everything fully, it would just mean nothing. I honestly felt having a guide really made us appreciate the history of the place. After the tour we had lunch and then went up into Palatine Hill, if you have the time it really is worth just wandering around in. Met up with our CC group at the Spanish steps and went out for dinner with Fendere as mentioned.

 

June 6th Morning of the cruise, packed up and caught the train at 1:38 to the port, despite the many comments regarding pickpocketers, we encountered no problems whatsoever taking the trains. Arrived at the port around 3:30 and there was no line, check in was easy and the bags were all delivered to our room within about 1 hr. Did the meet and greet on the Lido deck, endless pool at 5:00, and then headed for dinner (had early seating 5:45). All I can say about the food is that is was delicious, everything was hot and well prepared and our servers were awesome, especially Daniella who had a wonderful sense of humour and after a few nights, didn’t even ask my DH what he wanted for dinner because she already knew what he would have… Not hard when he had steak every night, Caesar salad and chocolate melting cake, it became a huge joke between them, and she would say “im sorry but they ran out of chocolate melting cake tonight, would you like to try something else”,,, she was wonderful.

 

June 7th Naples Today we went to Pompeii and Herculaneum with a group from our CC roll call (12 in total). We followed the advice found in this review

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=13622

and the photo directions on this website

http://www.cruisereviews.com/Celebrity/Millennium53.htm

it was really easy. We hired a guide at the entrance 90 E for 12 people (7.50 E pp) and he gave us a 2 hour tour, we were all satisfied with this. The kids all liked the plaster cast bodies particularly the ones were you could see the skeletal parts of the skull, fingers and toes. After Pompeii we headed back on the train (to ercolano scavi station) to tour Herculaneum. This is much better preserved and has a lot of frescoes on the walls as well as mosaics. Caught the train back to Naples stopped for Pizza at a place recommended by Rick Steve, they only serve 2 kinds of pizza, and it is a quick in and out, there was a short queue but it didn’t take long for us all to be seated, fed and out the door. Back on the ship at 4;30, we had a fabulous day together and it was really easy negotiating the trains with the help of the info received on CC.

 

June 8th Sea Day. A much needed rest day and laundry… the last thing you feel like doing on vacation but unfortunately necessary. . A beautiful warm sunny day, spent swimming and relaxing on deck. First formal night and another beautiful meal, and we also met the CC cruises for a formal photo on the stairs in the lobby.

 

June 9th Venice. Today was our arrival into Venice, we went on deck to watch our entrance into this amazing city, you can get out onto the front of the ship on decks 6 and 7, few people know this and it was not crowded at all. We didn’t take the shuttle option but walked the 15 mins to the Vaparetto stop, it was 15E for a 24 hour pass. My first priority in Venice was to head to Murano, as I do mosaic work and I wanted to buy some smalti and milliforie glass from Venice. I had an address in Murano and I found it easily enough and was very excited to get my glass. DH did not want to carry it around all day, so we headed back to the ship, many people were complaining that the shuttles were not there to pick them up and I saw a number of people who really needed the shuttle walking. We headed back into St. Marks square for sunset. We again walked back to the ship, despite the fact that it was around 11:00pm we met a few from our CC group on the Vaparetto and we walked back to the ship together.

 

June 10th Venice. Headed into Venice early to wander and get lost in the streets before we did the Secret Doges Itinerary Tour, our children did enjoy touring the prisoner cells as well as hearing about the escape of Casanova, we had a 11:35 tour, which left us no time to look around the rest of the palace, we should have arrived earlier and checked that out before the tour. Overall Venice is a special place to visit and we would have liked some more time there.

 

June 11th Dubrovnik What can I say about Dubrovnik, it was one of our favorite ports, the coast line is just beautiful. We were one of the first off the bus and went straight to the taxi bay, as mentioned it is only 10E, much better deal for a family then the shuttle. We were on the walls of the city at 10:20, brought the audio guide and spent about 2 ½ hours doing the complete circuit, the views over the sea were gorgeous. Shopped in the town and met some CC friends and had lunch at a restaurant just outside the far walls of the city, overlooking the old harbor. It was under a large tree and was much cooler here than in the town and really good prices, there were 5 adults and 5 children and the bill only came to 51E for all us for pizza and beers. After lunch we headed down to Banji beach and spent the rest of the afternoon in the beautiful Adriatic sea. We all enjoyed this and the water was lovely, the kids collected sea glass. Again we took the taxi option back to the ship. I loved the sailaway from Dubrovnik and we were lucky to enjoy this on one of the aft balcony wrap around cabins of a fellow CC member, with a lovely bottle of champagne courtesy of John Heald. Thanks John.

 

June 12th Sea Day Again a much needed sea day. Today we had a bloggers meeting with John Heald and we all got to meet him in person. We actually stayed up tonight and joined in the line dancing in the 70’s disco and danced for awhile. This cruise is so port intensive that you just need to get to bed early so you can make the most of your next day.

 

June 13th Messina. We were also on the CC buses, so much cheaper than the cruise lines shuttle buses. Taormina is a lovely town and we headed up to the Greek Theatre to miss the crowds. The theatre itself is quite large and they were setting up a stage and sound system for the Taormina Film Festival. The views from the top alone were worth the entrance fee, Etna was mostly covered with clouds… OOHHHHHH the Cannolis were delicious, Renee, I don’t know how you only had one to share, I think we had 6 between 4 of us and considered going back for more, but then the gelato was calling us too and that won. After we just wandered the streets looking at the ceramic shops, and jewelry stores, my only regret this day was not going down to the beach. The bus that was booked for this trip worked out fantastic, a big thanks to those who organized this for our group. After dinner we joined our new friends to watch the sail past Stromboli.

 

June 14th Sea Day Laundry and lazing by the pool, we also participated in the trivia comps on the big screen on lido deck. Our last formal night, and sing a long around the piano in Scotts Bar with our new friends from CC.

 

June 15th Barcelona We did this port on our own. We caught a taxi from the dock to take us straight to the Sagrada Familia temple (cost 10E) from here we walked to the Gaudi apartment block and then took the metro to Park Guell. Again the public transport system was really easy to navigate and despite the warnings we again had no trouble with pickpocketers. We brought a T10 ticket – this gives you 10 single rides for 6.80E- so we had to insert it 4 times for all of us to ride. To get to Park Guell you take the train to the Lesseps station and it is about 1300 mt walk, with signs all the way, you can’t get lost and apart from the last hill was an easy walk. We all loved this park with the mosaic work and the kids thought it was awesome, with all the odd mosaics and the unusual design of the park. We walked all the way to the top which is quite high up and it gives a good vantage point over the city of Barcelona and the Water. Here we brought some souvenirs and then walked back to the train and headed for Las Rambles. You exit the train at Catalunya which is at the top end of this street. The shopping here is really good, I found particularly for shoes, there are some of the biggest shoe shops I have ever seen and I found the prices to be good. After indulging in some shopping we walked down Las Rambles, looking at the animals that they had for sale, the kids favorite were the chipmunks. There were many people statues, and some rather odd ones, it was quite an interesting walk.

 

June 16th Cannes. This was a truly amazing day, we were fortunate enough to book one of the most highly recommended guides for this area Michel, and he was as good as all the reviews say. The French Riviera was truly spectacular and Michel was a walking encyclopedia. We shared this tour with 2 couples who contacted me via a post on the CC rollcall. At every stop Michel gave us a laminated map with numbers indicating places of interest. We did the usual tour, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Eze and St Paul. There is so much information on all these places, so I wont go into to much detail, a couple of notes….we had 1 ½ hours in Monaco and Michel suggested to us to take the kids to the Oceanographic museum. They have an amazing aquarium in there with both tropical and med. Marine life, there were many species that we had never seen before, and we could have spent hours just in this section. The rest of the museum has the skeletal remains of whales, seals and other marine animals, as well as the history of exploration of the sea, it was really fascinating, if you have children I would thoroughly recommend this place. There is also differing of opinions with regard to Eze and St. Paul, personally we loved Eze with its really narrow streets, it felt like the whole town was carved out of the rock with little shops stepping up and down through the streets, and the view from the top of the eagles nest was worth the walk up. Michel also took us to his favorite lookout spot in St. Michel above the town of Villefranche, you could see up and down the coast for miles.

 

June 17th Florence Unfortunately I was really ill this day, but I dragged myself out of bed for our private tour with another CC family, there was no way I was going to miss seeing David and Pisa. I can tell you that the Bathroom facilities at Pisa were very clean … as well as those in the Accadamia…and no queues…. thank goodness for that. I did get to see both Pisa and David but the rest of the day was not so fun for me and I ended up sleeping in the back of the van. Everyone else enjoyed their day. Our private guide Daniele was a sweetheart he did everything he could to make me as comfortable as possible, helping me out of the car and offering to take me to the pharmacy,,,he was completely different from Michel so I cant compare the two of them, but he was very chatty and friendly on a more personal level rather than as an informative guide, but then again I may have missed a lot of what he was saying.

 

The next day was sad as we had to leave this lovely ship and our new friends. We spent the following 5 days in Sorrento, visiting Mt Vesuvius, Capri and the Amalfi Coast, so if anyone would like further details..ask away and I will do my best to answer.

 

Tania

[Disney 5]

Yes, we did a post-cruise stay (May 25th) via Carnival's shuttle and a Carnival hotel (by the airport). We were the very last to leave the ship! (9:30!) I know someone has to be late but goodness it was a long wait, they start desembarking at 6:00 am. Then, by the time we got to the hotel, checked in, had the Carnival people talk to us, it was almost 1:00, half the day was gone. There were those who were really unhappy, as this of course, cut into a big chunk is sightseeing time. I would just make sure you can get off the ship early and into the city, then all would be good! Have super time!

 

Thank so much for the response. I assume this means I would have to give up what we paid for the shuttle through Carnival and book on my own?

 

It's so good to hear from someone who's 'been there - done that'!

 

Thank you . . .:)

[VA breeze]

Yes, we did a post-cruise stay (May 25th) via Carnival's shuttle and a Carnival hotel (by the airport). We were the very last to leave the ship! (9:30!) I know someone has to be late but goodness it was a long wait, they start desembarking at 6:00 am. Then, by the time we got to the hotel, checked in, had the Carnival people talk to us, it was almost 1:00, half the day was gone. There were those who were really unhappy, as this of course, cut into a big chunk is sightseeing time. I would just make sure you can get off the ship early and into the city, then all would be good! Have super time!

 

We are staying in Rome for 2 days after the July 12 trip and booked hotel and transfers to hotel thru Carnival. Do you think it's possible to disembark early if we take our own luggage off with us? I don't know the policy but I sure don't want to have to wait until 9:30 to get off. Also, do you know policies regarding women wearing capris in religious buildings? I know knees have to be covered, but... ankles? Thanks for your help.

[luvdasea]

Hi Maylee, Another great review! I had originally asked this question for fendere, but you may be able to help. Would you recommend a Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii tour with 11 and 13 year olds or the Almalfi Coast and Pompeii?? Wish we had time to do it all!!

[maylee]

Hi luvdsea, I had originally had the same question, i wanted to see everything which is why we opted to spend 5 days post cruise in Sorrento. My first priority was Pompeii, as it had always fascinated me, and I am so glad I did see it, although personally I liked Herculaneum better. Ok for the kids... asked the boys what they thought and my 10 year old said Pompeii, he really thought it was cool with the plaster casts and parts of the skeletons showing......kids :D. He then said he liked he Amalfi coast drive. I think if you only have one day, then Pompeii, Amalfi would be my pick. Amalfi coast is stunning and winding, so if they get car sick pls come prepared.

 

After all that... just to confuse you... if I had to pick my favorite place it would have to be Capri, probably because I found it to be the most relaxing day I had on the trip. I had read the book "The Story of San Michele" about a surgeon who built this villa in Anacapri on the ruins of one of Emperor Tiberius villas and I just had to go visit it, the gardens were so cool and refreshing on such a hot day and just stunning views back over the bay of Naples. I was telling someone at the hotel about it that evening and he decided to take his family there the next day, and they all loved it and he told me as soon as he got home he was going to read the book. I also found the bus ride up to Anacapri scarier than the Amalfi drive.

 

Sorry I know I do go on... and not sure I really helped :confused:

 

Dont forget to try the lemoncello wherever you decide to go, it really is sooo good, I liked the creamed version best.

 

Tania

[duckplay]

We are staying in Rome for 2 days after the July 12 trip and booked hotel and transfers to hotel thru Carnival. Do you think it's possible to disembark early if we take our own luggage off with us? I don't know the policy but I sure don't want to have to wait until 9:30 to get off. Also, do you know policies regarding women wearing capris in religious buildings? I know knees have to be covered, but... ankles? Thanks for your help.

 

We disembarked around 8am before, but that was on Princess. Last summer we were on the Liberty, booked transportation to Rome through Carnival, and got off the ship about 9am. We weren't the last ones off, but pretty close. We were in Rome by lunch, I remember that much.

 

I wore long shorts into all religious buildings last summer with no problem. I don't think I had my ankles covered once the entire trip. We're on the July 12th cruise this summer, and I'm packing lots of long shorts and a few skirts.

[luvdasea]

Maylee, Thanks for your advice. I know I am going to love everything! I guess I'll have to go back again sometime.

[7toEleven]

Thank so much for the response. I assume this means I would have to give up what we paid for the shuttle through Carnival and book on my own?

 

It's so good to hear from someone who's 'been there - done that'!

 

Thank you . . .:)

 

Is your shuttle taking you into the city, or close to where you plan on doing your sightseeing? If so, then it should be okay. I would just check so that you don't waste too much of your sightseeing time. Since we had spent 2 and 1/2 days pre-cruise in Rome we had seen most of the "must do's". We would have liked to have seen more but with the late arrival that didn't work out. But, we were pretty exhausted by this time. Even thiough you have 3 sail days the ports are pretty extensive and you get physcially and mentally worn out. Just keep pushing yourself so you won't be sorry when you get home. I always say, I can sleep later. Prioritize and have your tours scheduled before you go. The CC board is and absolute dream in helping with that. Let me know if there are any other questions, would be so glad to help!

[7toEleven]

We are staying in Rome for 2 days after the July 12 trip and booked hotel and transfers to hotel thru Carnival. Do you think it's possible to disembark early if we take our own luggage off with us? I don't know the policy but I sure don't want to have to wait until 9:30 to get off. Also, do you know policies regarding women wearing capris in religious buildings? I know knees have to be covered, but... ankles? Thanks for your help.

 

 

Oh, to all of you Grey Anatomy viewers.. the last morning we were in Rome (hotel by the airport) having breakfast Dr. McSteamy and his wife were there! My sister swooned as he smiled at her. Now that was a great finish to a great trip!

 

 

Okay, on to your questions. If you self disembark I don't know that would help as the Carnival buses wouldn't be ready to take you to your hotel. So, you would be standing on the pier with no where to go. But do check this out as it does cut into the day. If you have booked a post-tour with Carnival then they were off pretty early. We had just booked the transportation with them to the Hotel Airport and were going to do things on our own.

Dress code-No, ankes don't need to be covered. I saw plenty of capris, with knees covered. No bare shoulders! Also, please be sure and wear very comfortable shoes. You walk a lot everywhere you go, all Ports and in Rome. Your trip could be ruined if you have blisters and aching feet. I don't like to wear tennis shoes with Capri's but I did and I was very very glad. We did so much walking on this trip that I lost a couple of pounds, and we ate and ate. Also, it is hot. If you want to wear a sleeveless tee and take a blouse to put on when going in Churches that helps.

[bp traveler]

Just got off the ship and we had planned on using the train to get to the Rome airport and we had a 10:20am flight.

 

We were told that we could get off the ship anytime if we were doing self assist, which we were.

 

Here is the problem - the port is very industious and you have to take the ports free shuttle to even get out of the port (it is around 2 miles in the shuttle bus to even get out of there) well they were not even running until 6am. We would not even make it to the airport in time. We were planning to train from Civ. to the main train station in rome and take the Leonardo Express.

 

Just a warning for anyone else that may have been planning to train for a flight around this time.

 

By the way we ended up booking a taxi for 200 euros to the airport - ouch!

[okteach_61]

Does anyone know if you are not taking a Carnival Excursion if they will let you off the ship whenever you like? We are on the Oct. 28th transatlantic that starts in Rome. On our second day in port we are going to do our own thing in Rome and looking at the train or possibly a transport but don't know what time to try and schedule.

[maylee]

okteach_61 You can get off the ship whenever you like as long as the gangway is out and your actually in Port:D.

 

The only time you have problems is if the port is a tender port, they will always disembark those on Carnival tours first, the rest have to get in line for tender tickets. In Cannes, we were schedeled to arrive at 9am, I booked a private tour for 10am and was worried I might not get off in time. We actually arrived in Port before 8 and they started immediately to get the Carnival tours groups off the ship. We went down at 9am and got in line, actually my DH just walked past the line and found the person handing out No. 1 tickets, and grabbed enough for our group and we were onshore by 9:45.

 

Tania

[richcrow]

Does anyone know if you are not taking a Carnival Excursion if they will let you off the ship whenever you like? We are on the Oct. 28th transatlantic that starts in Rome. On our second day in port we are going to do our own thing in Rome and looking at the train or possibly a transport but don't know what time to try and schedule.

 

You can leave the ship any time you want to after they start disembarking except for any port they have to use tenders. We had to use tenders in Cannes and you could not leave the ship until all carnival tours had gone ashore. Not sure what ports, if any, you will have to use tenders.

 

Richard

[VA breeze]

We disembarked around 8am before, but that was on Princess. Last summer we were on the Liberty, booked transportation to Rome through Carnival, and got off the ship about 9am. We weren't the last ones off, but pretty close. We were in Rome by lunch, I remember that much.

 

I wore long shorts into all religious buildings last summer with no problem. I don't think I had my ankles covered once the entire trip. We're on the July 12th cruise this summer, and I'm packing lots of long shorts and a few skirts.

 

Thanks for your info!:)

[VA breeze]

Oh, to all of you Grey Anatomy viewers.. the last morning we were in Rome (hotel by the airport) having breakfast Dr. McSteamy and his wife were there! My sister swooned as he smiled at her. Now that was a great finish to a great trip!

 

 

Okay, on to your questions. If you self disembark I don't know that would help as the Carnival buses wouldn't be ready to take you to your hotel. So, you would be standing on the pier with no where to go. But do check this out as it does cut into the day. If you have booked a post-tour with Carnival then they were off pretty early. We had just booked the transportation with them to the Hotel Airport and were going to do things on our own.

Dress code-No, ankes don't need to be covered. I saw plenty of capris, with knees covered. No bare shoulders! Also, please be sure and wear very comfortable shoes. You walk a lot everywhere you go, all Ports and in Rome. Your trip could be ruined if you have blisters and aching feet. I don't like to wear tennis shoes with Capri's but I did and I was very very glad. We did so much walking on this trip that I lost a couple of pounds, and we ate and ate. Also, it is hot. If you want to wear a sleeveless tee and take a blouse to put on when going in Churches that helps.

 

 

Thanks for your info. This roll call is such a great place to share ideas! Checking in every day helps pass the time until we sail...July 12! We're from Virginia and flying out of Philly (long story). Anyone else out there flying with us on the 11th on Lufthansa?

[7toEleven]

Thanks for your info. This roll call is such a great place to share ideas! Checking in every day helps pass the time until we sail...July 12! We're from Virginia and flying out of Philly (long story). Anyone else out there flying with us on the 11th on Lufthansa?

 

 

Well, you don't have much time to wait now!! Next week, good for you, have a wonderful time, let us know when you get back how great it was.

[Disney 5]

Is your shuttle taking you into the city, or close to where you plan on doing your sightseeing? If so, then it should be okay. I would just check so that you don't waste too much of your sightseeing time. Since we had spent 2 and 1/2 days pre-cruise in Rome we had seen most of the "must do's". We would have liked to have seen more but with the late arrival that didn't work out. But, we were pretty exhausted by this time. Even thiough you have 3 sail days the ports are pretty extensive and you get physcially and mentally worn out. Just keep pushing yourself so you won't be sorry when you get home. I always say, I can sleep later. Prioritize and have your tours scheduled before you go. The CC board is and absolute dream in helping with that. Let me know if there are any other questions, would be so glad to help!

 

Thanks so much for the information. I'm to the point now where I want specifics, so I've e-mailed John Heald, hoping he can help. Haven't yet heard, but will let others know when I do. If I don't hear from him, I won't plan anything until the afternoon, per the postings. No sense cutting anything to close.

 

Do you have any idea how much time we should allow for going from the ship, to the train station, to the Vatican exit on the train? Making plans for the day we're docked there . . .

 

In the meantime, we're all thinking the 'McStreamy' experience was truly a great way to end a cruise. . . we're big Grey's fans - how fun!:)

[caneguy]

Disney,

You have to take the train to the Termini then take the metro to the Vatican. We took the train from the airport on the express and it took about 30 minutes, quick transfer to the metro and the Vatican is about 5 stops.

 

Jerry (caneguy)

[Kali4]

7toEleven, I am a huge Grey's fan, I myself would have swooned also if I had seen Dr.McSteamy!!!

 

VA breeze, We are flying Lufthansa on the 11th, but out of Miami. I am a little worried about our hour layover in Germany, hopefully everything works out and we have no problems. Do you have any layovers?

[VA breeze]

Good morning, Kali4!

We have about a 3 hour layover in Frankfort. We're hoping that we're on time so we can find our way through the airport. There's a post somewhere on roll call describing people running thru the airport to make connections to get home. I'm not concerned about coming home(yet), but I don't want to miss my connection to Rome! I went to the Frankfort web site and looked at the layout. Would have like to print it but couldn't. At least I have a mental picture of it. You might want to try that so you'll be a little familiar. Appears flights arrive on level one and depart on levels 2 and 3.

What time do you depart Miami?

[Kali4]

Va Breeze, We leave Miami at 3:30pm and we arrive in Frankfurt at 6:20am and our connection leaves at 7:35 am, so we actually have an hour and 15 minutes. I read that post you are talking about and I think that worried me even more. Thanks for the suggestion on the Frankfurt airport website, that may come in handy!!

[okteach_61]

You can leave the ship any time you want to after they start disembarking except for any port they have to use tenders. We had to use tenders in Cannes and you could not leave the ship until all carnival tours had gone ashore. Not sure what ports, if any, you will have to use tenders.

 

Richard

 

Thanks Rich and Maylee for the info. We are only concerned with it in Rome on our second day and Livorno and I haven't heard anyone say that those required tenders.

[alinehu]

No they dont requiere tenders ,only Cannes

[Disney 5]

Leslie, your post had me cracking up! No, I actually made a bad decision, started typing that darn review and couldn't stop! I had woken at 2:30am that morning WIDE awake so I planned to type an hour and go back to bed. At 8am when the kids were just waking up and I was finishing, I knew I was in for it for zombiehood later on, WHICH was true!

 

Looking forward to a review from you! I can learn from it since we are planning to do it again next summer!

 

RENEE

 

Hi Fendere:

 

I read that you took a few Angel Tours while you were in Rome. Could you tell me how you liked them. Were they thorough, educated? I'm thinking of Rome Walks (recommendation from Rick Steve's) and have read that the tour guides from Angel Tours are young and not always knowledgeable. Any other recommendations? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks...

[JanfrWA]

Hi Fendere:

 

I read that you took a few Angel Tours while you were in Rome. Could you tell me how you liked them. Were they thorough, educated? I'm thinking of Rome Walks (recommendation from Rick Steve's) and have read that the tour guides from Angel Tours are young and not always knowledgeable. Any other recommendations? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks...

 

Thought I would jump in here. We had Sean from Angel Tours for the Colosseum (25 euro each?) and free Pantheon tours and he was awesome. It was raining the day we did the Colosseum and the group was a little large, so he gave us each 5 euro off. The Pantheon is an amazing must do place, there was no charge but we did tip him 5 euro each and he seemed genuinely surprised and grateful.

 

And ~ I am not a big tour guide fan . . . so I truly appreciated him.

 

Janet