***LIVE*** From the Carnival Freedom

[travelady]

Looking for recommendations for Private Tour Companies in Messina – would appreciate any thoughts, comments - thanks

Deborah

[Copper49]

Looking for recommendations for Private Tour Companies in Messina – would appreciate any thoughts, comments - thanks

 

Deborah

Deborah

 

My husband and I booked a private tour through Sicily Life. Luca was our driver and his english was very good. He took us to Mt Etna and on the way, we visited a small winery. He then dropped us off in Taormina around lunch time and picked us up a few hours later and brought us back to the ship. The website is www.Sicilylife.com .

 

Theresa

[travelady]

Deborah

 

My husband and I booked a private tour through Sicily Life. Luca was our driver and his english was very good. He took us to Mt Etna and on the way, we visited a small winery. He then dropped us off in Taormina around lunch time and picked us up a few hours later and brought us back to the ship. The website is www.Sicilylife.com .

 

Theresa

 

Hi Thersa,

 

Thank you - I have confirmed Sicily Life -

 

Deborah

[Snoopsmom]

Has anyone used or know of anyone who used the laundry service on the Freedom, the $15/bag service?

 

If so, how was the service and how often did they offer the service?

 

Thanks,

Caneguy (Jerry)

We used the service one time and it was available 2x during our May 1 trip. The laundry one turns in with this service is basically underwear. It does free up one's time to eliminate washing some items. I think one bag is equal to doing two loads of wash as the machines don't hold big loads. If you did the wash yourself, you would probably save approximately $5. To wash one load and dry it, plus the detergent, the cost would be $5.25.

[bing2]

We would like to get a review of the "exclusive Vatican tour" offered through Carnival on debarkation day. Can anyone share the highs and lows of taking this tour? Do you feel that you had enough time in the Vatican? We are trying to decide if it would be wiser to just go to the Vatican on our own after being transfered to our hotel.

 

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give.

[richcrow]

We would like to get a review of the "exclusive Vatican tour" offered through Carnival on debarkation day. Can anyone share the highs and lows of taking this tour? Do you feel that you had enough time in the Vatican? We are trying to decide if it would be wiser to just go to the Vatican on our own after being transfered to our hotel.

 

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give.

 

I'm sorry that I can't give you a personal review of the Carnival Vatican Tour, but one couple in our Cruise Critic group on the May 1st cruise quoted that it was not any where worth what they had to pay for it. Most members of our CC group booked tours and transfers with Rome Cabs. We personally had Rome Cabs (www.romecabs.com) transfer us to and from the airport and the ship and also booked a Rome Tour with them. The Rome Tour included a guided tour of the Vatican. There were three couples who split the costs three ways. Transfer from the ship to Rome was 150 Euros (50 Euros per couple), The eight hour Tour of Rome was 45 Euros per hour (120 Euros per couple) and the Vatican tour guide was 115 Euros for 2 hours (57.50 Euros per couple). We dearly loved Rome Cabs which, in our opinion, were heads above anything that Carnival could offer. I hope that this helps you in some way. You will have a great cruise what ever you decide.

 

Richard

[lindasuej]

OK, this post has nothing to do with the Freedom but I figured a lot of people will read this and might find it beneficial. Right now on the travel channel Samantha Brown will be showing all ports around Europe tonight. Venice, Naples, Monaco, Greece. Thought you might find it interesting.

 

Linda

[funat55]

OK, this post has nothing to do with the Freedom but I figured a lot of people will read this and might find it beneficial. Right now on the travel channel Samantha Brown will be showing all ports around Europe tonight. Venice, Naples, Monaco, Greece. Thought you might find it interesting.

 

Linda

 

Thank's Linda. I just set the DVR. I already had her cruise to Europe recorded, but I think that the shows to each of the ports will provide a lot more information. :)

[DavidandPaula]

Friend of ours was in Rome recently and her and her friend decided to be smart and get to the Vatican nice and early, avoid the rush.

 

She got there just on 8am and the queue for the Vatican Museums stretched from the entry back around to St Peters Square. Spent 2 and a half hours shuffling along until she got in. Was not even Sunday which is free entry for Romans I believe.

 

Paula and I are going there after our Freedom July 12th cruise as we have 3 days in Rome post cruise.

 

I have sent away and paid for tickets but the Vatican does not issue until one month prior to the booking so we are still waiting. We have asked for the 8:15 entry and we are told the wait could still be up to 15 minutes even with tickets.

 

Also booked for Gallarie Academia in Florence and Gallarie Borghese in Rome and those tickets have already been confirmed and the vouchers emailed and printed and in my holiday folder ready to go.

 

All three of these are automated booking pages on the internet and very professional but the booking for The Leaning Tower is an email giving the date and time approx plus the credit card details. No thanks.

 

David

[DavidandPaula]

Quick question as we have booked a few of the Carnival Excursions.

 

Does the money paid to Carnival cover entry fees to museums etc? Has a feeling I saw somebody in a post mention extra costs.

 

David

[SUN RISE CRUISER]

Has anyone found the Capers for the Western Mediterranean yet? I would love to see them.

[raynvic]

Dave, yes the Carnival tours include all the entrance fees into the museums that are on your tour. Our Istanbul tour with Carnival included the tickets for both the Hagia Sofia and the Topkapi Palace. They were handed to us at each place by the tour guide who got them from the ticket takers when we arrived. That is the one convenience of a Carnival tour versus a private, you don't need to include that in with you extra money. Vicky

[jkeller527]

We had private tours thru EKOL TRAVEL and the tickets were all included. I paid for everything before I left home and except for tips did not have to pay any additional. We never waited to get into anything.

[richcrow]

Has anyone found the Capers for the Western Mediterranean yet? I would love to see them.

 

I have all of those Capers. I'm not sure how long it will be before I can scan them, but I'm willing to answer any questions you may have in the mean while.

 

Richard

[jkeller527]

Hello to April 7 cruisers. Well the long awaited wedding rings did show today. Thought would let those who wondered know. Our roll call is gone now. Seems like yesterday. Wishing for the melting cake.

[hyacinth1]

Dave

We booked a private tour of Istanbul and the price of the tour was either a dollar less or more than the Carnival tour included the Blue mosque Hagia sophia, hippodrome, topkapi palace and grand bazaar. There was 4 of us in a minibus with a tour guide. The entrance fees were included, to everything, we had no waiting time, loads of information. the guide bought us all coffee at the hagia sophia mosque and took us to a carpet shop for our education, not to buy!!!. Meander Travel. on the internet it was a marvellous tour and we could have finished when we had enough. I recommend this company they were great. They also offered tours of Ephesus and would arrange a tour in Athens, but Athens was too expensive for the four of us.

[Cruising Retired Army SGM]

Hello to April 7 cruisers. Well the long awaited wedding rings did show today. Thought would let those who wondered know. Our roll call is gone now. Seems like yesterday. Wishing for the melting cake.

 

Hi Jkeller, just wanted to tell you that your roll call is not gone. All you have to do is go down to the bottom left on that thread where you will see Display Options, then there is a box where it says show Next Month, drop that down and change it to either Next 45 days or Next Two Months, Then click on show threads and will will find your roll call again on the next page. All you have to do is make a post on the roll call and you will bring it back to the front of the roll call.

[wrk2cruz]

Did anyone use the Carnival bus to Florence? If so what time did you arrive and where did they drop you ?

Anyone just take the train from Livorno??

Thanks!!

[DavidandPaula]

We had private tours thru EKOL TRAVEL and the tickets were all included. I paid for everything before I left home and except for tips did not have to pay any additional. We never waited to get into anything.

 

We are on the July 12th Freedom Cruise and have been told the only way into the palace is with the Carnival Tour as otherwise it is closed. No choice for us, our original intent was to do a self tour as Istanbul involves just using the tram or walking.

 

David

[okteach_61]

Did anyone use the Carnival bus to Florence? If so what time did you arrive and where did they drop you ?

Anyone just take the train from Livorno??

Thanks!!

 

We don't sail till Oct. but are trying to decide on train or Carnival's Florence on your own.

[jkeller527]

We were very silly and rented a car however other people that we were visiting took the train. There was a ship shuttle that got them close to the train station. Think it was one euro. There are lots of people that do the train you wont be alone.

[funat55]

We have Stefano with Romecabs taking us to the Vatican and arranging for a tour guide. I emailed him and asked if we need to get our tickets in advance. I thought perhaps he could do this for us. He said that we just buy the tickets when we get there. The whole point I was trying to make was to save time waiting in line. Is there a long line to buy your tickets? Our reservation is at 1:30 p.m.

[DavidandPaula]

We have Stefano with Romecabs taking us to the Vatican and arranging for a tour guide. I emailed him and asked if we need to get our tickets in advance. I thought perhaps he could do this for us. He said that we just buy the tickets when we get there. The whole point I was trying to make was to save time waiting in line. Is there a long line to buy your tickets? Our reservation is at 1:30 p.m.

 

We have booked tickets via the website www.rome-museum.com but as our booking is not until late July we will not get our voucher and tickets until 1 month perior to the booking.

 

Unfortunately their tours are 8:15am and 9:15am so no help to you however the website does mention the other way is to

take part to a guided tour with a Professional Guide

 

might be worth getting back to stefano and see if he can get your tickets by going straight to the front of the line because he is a professional guide.

 

David

[funat55]

Thanks for the info David. Maybe we can get right in once we purchase our tickets since we will have a professional guide.

 

LaVonna

[sweetp0618]

I just confirmed a Pompeii/Amalfi tour with Drive Amalfi. Salvatore asked me to post to let others know he has limited availability for tours in Naples during our cruise.

 

sweetp0618

Patti