Poll: Guides & Drivers in France & Italy

[Glendamcd]

We had planned on using Sylvie Di Cristo and had booked with her over 6 months in advance. We read on the Board where she had been canceling
tours at the last minute, so we emailed her to find out that we would have been one of the groups canceled as well (with short notice if I had not emailed). Thank God for the Cruise Critic Board. We found [url]www.dream-tours.com[/url]. Dream-Tours is run by Alain and he also has two other drivers
Frederic and Jean Marc. We had Jean Marc and WE LOVED HIM. He was fabulous and we feel we would not have experienced Villefranche without him.

He took us to many beautiful overlooks of Nice and Villefranche. We went to the Market and walked around, then off to St Paul De Vence. Jean Marc
walked around St Paul with us and took many photos of us. We had a lovely
lunch with wine at a terrace restaurant in St Paul De Vence, then off to the lovely Medievil Village of Eze. Because he has a car he can drive you up to the entrance to Eze which saves you a lot of walking (tour buses have to park at the bottom and it is a long walk). The views from Mont-Boron were
fantastic and you could see the ship and port in the bay.

We visited a lovely Parfum factory and took a tour (free). Got to sample many Parfums and lotions. Jean offered to take us to a chocolate factory but we felt time would be too short.

A beautiful car ride to the Monaco and to the Palace, we spent about 1 Hour
at the Palace and then saw Princess Graces Tomb in the Cathedral.

Afterwards we drove up to Monte Carlo and Jean Marc let us out for a tour of the Casino and the Hotel De Paris.

Then back to the Villefranche. We cannot say How Happy we were to get
Jean Marc after our dissapointment with Sylvie Di Cristo. I would suggest
using [url]www.dream-tours.com[/url] everytime

By the way, I found out that Sylvie must rent her vehicles because she doe not own a car, that is why she does not like to tour small groups because it
is not affordable for her to take 4 or less on a tour.

Dream-Tours has Blue Mercedes vans, this makes them easy to recognize once you reach the port and go up to the Parking Lot. They do hold up a sign with your name.

[brich121]

Used Sylvie Di Cristo and Driverinrome. These are both great tour guides have memories and saw things I will never ever forget. Sylvie is a great guide and a beautiful kind hard working person. I would book again with her in a heart beat. Driverinrome is also excellent and if you miss them you miss rome.

[Mike Andrews]

I echo your sentiments about Sylvie,she was first class also Salvatore of DriveAmalfi, [email]info@driveamalfi.com[/email] out of Naples is a total professional as is Paola of Florence Tour, [email]info@florencetour.com[/email]. We like to do our own thing in many of the ports but hiring knowledgeable local guides in selected ports gives you a greater insight into the areas you are visiting and is well worth the cost.

[scrustyrock]

[quote name='mert461']Thanks to those who recommended Michel at Revelation Tours for Villefranche. I just booked him for October 16, 2005 (BOS). He will personally be our guide/driver. If anyone is also on this cruise and wants to share this excursion, please let me know.

Donna[/QUOTE]
Hi Donna,

My husband and I are also on that cruise and we booked with Michel at Revelation Tours for Villefranche. I don't understand why he told us there was no one else booked for that day. We would love to share this excursion with you.

Sharon Campbell

[mert461]

[quote name='scrustyrock@aol.com']Hi Donna,

My husband and I are also on that cruise and we booked with Michel at Revelation Tours for Villefranche. I don't understand why he told us there was no one else booked for that day. We would love to share this excursion with you.

Sharon Campbell[/QUOTE]

That would be great if you and hubby share Michel's tour with us. That will make 6 in the van and will decrease his fee considerably. We have a Meet & Mingle Thread set up for October 15, 2005 BOS cruise. You should go there for info as well. Do you want to share any other excursions?

Email me and we'll discuss.....
Donna
[email]dfreeman@comcast.net[/email]

[Linny13]

We are back from our magical 2 weeks in Europe!!! The most absolutely amazing days were the days that we had booked private tours (all found and researched with the help of these very cruise critic boards)!!

We had set up a tour for 8 people with Dream Tours in Monaco/Nice/Eze/St. Paul de Vence/Monte Carlo. Our driver was Jean Marc. He was simply fabulous!!! What a nice man! We felt that we knew him as a friend for years. Not only was he knowledgable, spoke perfect English, but was passionate and relaxed. This was a day that was beyond words. We saw everything we wanted and more! We had a terrific French lunch in the amazing city of St. Paul de Vence (THE place you do NOT want to miss!) We learned so much while having so many laughs as well.

Again, we were 8 people on tour with driverinrome for both Pisa/Florence and Rome. We had Danielle for both tours. He was terrific. Not only did he show and tell you about the sights but he listened to you and at the slightest mention of something, he showed it to you or got it for you. For example, someone said coffee and there we were at a cafe or ice cream and there was gelato or wine and we were at a supermarket buying wine at 1/3 the price of a liquor store or Sicily and he was on the phone recommending and setting up a tour for us in Palermo!! Just a note to tell you that I left my carry-on bag (with my DH's medicine in it) in Danielle's van after the tour by mistake and he brought all the way back to the hotel in Rome that evening for us. We are very appreciative!


In Palermo, Sicily we were 8 again and we had Sylvano Lunetta [url="http://www.easytoursicilia.it/"]www.easytoursicilia.it[/url] (recommended by Danielle of driverinrome), who was the most passionate about the incredible place where he lived and worked! Not only did we enjoy him, but I think he enjoyed us having a great experience. He was very intent on making sure we had a great tour and tried to accomodate all our requests, while still getting us back to the ship on time! A must see on this trip was a town on top of the mountain called Erice.

The last tour we took was from Rome (after the cruise) with driverinrome for 4 people to Positano/Pompeii/and Sorrento with Fabrizio. He is such a fun, knowledgable, yet professional guy. This was an 11 hour long tour (alot of driving) but worth every minute!! Pompeii is something everyone should experience and Positano was the most spectacular sight of the entire trip!!!!! Also, the restaurant that Fabrizio brought us to was the best food in the world accompanied by the best view overlooking Positano and the Mediterranean Sea! Fabrizio also took us to the airport in Rome for our trip home and still was pointing out things we had missed on the Rome tour!!

Anyone who goes to Europe and is limited by ship time constraints to see such historical and amazing places (IMHO) should try to take private tours if they can! They are a little expensive, but I think you can see twice as much as the ships tours offer in the same amount of time for close to the same price. You will not regret it and definitely will never forget it!!

Happy touring!

Linny
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[font=Fixedsys][size=4][img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/wink.gif[/img] Linny13[/size][/font]

[Janetb]

We just returned from Splendour November 6 cruise and Claudio of limoinrome.com gets our vote. You can't go wrong with him and his rates are good. He answers e mail quickly, incredible driver, cooperative and very knowledgable about Rome. Our entire group loved him.

[mert461]

Thanks Janetb. I have Claudio reserved for Rome and Florence October of 05.

Donna

[zebra]

You won't be sorry! Claudio is suberb. We used him in Florence and Rome and will do so again Sept 2005. He has a wonderful itinerary and also is extremely flexible and will allow you to do whatever you desire. Yes his driving skills are excellent - and boy oh boy do you need them in Italy!!!!!!

[mert461]

[quote name='zebra']You won't be sorry! Claudio is suberb. We used him in Florence and Rome and will do so again Sept 2005. He has a wonderful itinerary and also is extremely flexible and will allow you to do whatever you desire. Yes his driving skills are excellent - and boy oh boy do you need them in Italy!!!!!![/QUOTE]

Thanks Zebra....another great review for Claudio. I'm glad I booked him early.

Donna

[Offtune Angel]

Just got back from our Millennium B2B - Mediterranean & TransAtlantic.
We, too, were lucky enough to have [b]Claudio Caponera[/b] of limoinrome.com for both Livorno (Pisa and Florence) and Civitavecchia (Rome). He was great, his vehicle (mercedes limovan) was very clean and comfortable - great viewing windows, his air conditioning worked. Claudio is very accommodating to his pax. He is also very, very knowledgeable about his country and excels when giving history of Rome. His recommendation for restaurants in both Florence and Rome were very good, although we preferred the food at the restaurant in Rome. Claudio also proved an expert at finding a washroom when one was needed and facilities in public buildings were not available.

Early in our correspondence, Claudio recommended two things:
[list]
[*]we book tickets for [i]Accademia Muse[/i]um in Florence;
[*]we book a private guide (for the six of us) for the [i]Vatican Museums[/i]
[/list]We acted on his recommendations and were very happy to bypass the long line of people waiting to enter the [i]Accademia Museum[/i].

The private guide for the [i]Vatican Museums[/i] was named [b]Claudia[/b] and she was great! Her knowledge and enthusiasm were awesome. I felt sorry for the others who were limited in their time and were being overwhelmed by what to see. (and there was PLENTY to see and experience). Claudia skillfully led us through the crowds and described the works of art so well that if we didn't see everything, I don't know what we missed. Definitely a good investment.

We also had [b]Salvatore[/b] from DriveAmalfi. I wasn't able to go on that trip, but the five who did loved it and were very impressed by Salvatore's enthusiasm and ability to talk non-stop from the moment the car door closed at the pier in the morning, until the moment the car doors opened back at the pier that night.

We had originally booked [i]George Kokkotos[/i] for Piraeus. When our group thought we would be more comfortable in a larger vehicle than a taxi, he booked a limo for us. [b]Tasos[/b] met us at the pier and we had a really great day of sightseeing with him, too. The limo was comfortable and clean. Tasos' driving skill was great. He was very, very knowledgeable about Greece and very proud of his homeland. Our route took us south along the coast to Cape Sounion - the southernmost tip of the European landmass - to the Temple of Poseidon. We then worked our way back north and west to Athens. I saw more of Athens that afternoon than I did when I spent two days there in 1997 -- and that is despite stopping at a great little restaurant (Lucullas) to enjoy a lovely lunch. As soon as I unpack and find Tasos' business card, I'll post it on this thread.

All three drivers were excellent. All emails were responded to promptly. All prices were excellent and by sharing the car with two other couples, the prices worked out to be much less than what we could get with a ship's excursion -- and we didn't have to wait for 48 people to board and leave a bus, line up to go to a washroom, or wait for that one shopper who was always late to return to the bus.

[LAX CRUISER]

I am excited by all these posts. We are going with a group of 10 this summer (june 25 Royal Caribbean). I know they can put us all in one mini-bus, but would it make more sense to have two vans? I think we would prefer having the same experience (one vehicle). Anyone else have to deal with large groups in touring?? Thanks in advance.

[Bev]

Hi

I can't say enough good things about Michel Legrand and Revelation Tours - we had a terrific tour from Cannes to Monte Carlo from our stop in Villefranche during the Galaxy Transatlantic cruise in May.

Michel and Revelation Tours are exceptional for many reasons.

We found out when we boarded the Galaxy that the itinerary had been changed and that we'd be in Villefranche a day earlier than originally planned. With less than 2 weeks notice and during their busy season, Michel was able to make this change for us.

Also, as word spread onboard about our Villefranche tour, we asked Michel to accommodate 16 more Cruise Critic folks in 2 minivans, and he did it for us. He had to sub-lease the vans from another company and arrange for these vans to have the same amenities as Revelation Tours vans, but he did it.

Another special note is that Michel/Revelation Tours did not mind if we changed the itinerary as the tour went along or if each of our vans - and we had 5 in total - had a different itinerary. Moreover, Michel went out of his way to draft other itineraries for us based on our interests, rather than demanding that we choose from the existing tours in the Revelation Tours brochure.

We all got an information kit with a copy of the itinerary for the day and historical information about the places being visited. While touring in the van, there was an audio presentation for each visit site and free non-alcoholic drinks were available too.

The weather was perfect, the scenery was divine and the service we received was outstanding. We probably had the best independent shore excursion we've ever had and thought it was a perfect day!

Bev

[Crusier98]

Great Information

[Crusier98]

We have Salvatore from DriveAmalfi Michel Legrand of Revellation Tours reserved but does anyone have any suggestions for Dubrovnik

[ClaudiaF]

[quote name='Crusier98']We have Salvatore from DriveAmalfi Michel Legrand of Revellation Tours reserved but does anyone have any suggestions for Dubrovnik[/QUOTE]
You just can grab a cab when you get off your ship.. they charge maybe $10.00 ( all 4 door Mercedes late model cars so you can bring up to 4 people)..The driver
will drop you off at the gates to town . This is a wonderful medival city, draw bridge, kodak moments, lots of shops.. thank god saved from the bombings.
if you want a tour the taxi guy will offer that, we took it.. just a ride through the country maybe an hour or so then dropped off at the gates to the town.. worth it and it's beautiful there. The water is BLUE the homes around the dock area new ( after devastation) this is such a beautiful place.. enjoy

[zebra]

Not too sure which ship you're on. We were on the Millenium and tendered into Dubrovnik. The tender drops you off right at the gate of the walled city. It is such a beautiful city lots and lots of walking. To walk the whole wall takes a couple of hours. In the center of the city there all many restaurants - great to sit with a drink and people watch. The pictures one can take from the ship of the entire walled city are really spectacular. Enjoy!

[ClaudiaF]

right it would depend on where your ship gets to dock if you would need to cab in or get lucky if the ship is really close so you can walk. Our ship docked about a 5 min drive away..

[Crusier98]

Thanks Claudia & Zebra for the heads up fro Dubrovnik

[Popeye38]

Last year in Civitavecchia I used this company called Romecabs.
They gave me the best deal out of the lot you mentioned.
The driver was very nice,his spoken english was excellent and his knowledge ramarkable.His name is Stefano and you can contact him at
[email="romecabs@yahoo.com"]romecabs@yahoo.com[/email]
[email="romecabs@yahoo.com"]
[/email]

[Popeye38]

Last year in Civitavecchia I used this company called Romecabs.
They gave me the best deal out of the lot you mentioned.
The driver was very nice,his spoken english was excellent and his knowledge ramarkable.His name is Stefano and you can contact him at
[email="romecabs@yahoo.com"]romecabs@yahoo.com[/email]
[email="romecabs@yahoo.com"]
[/email]

[Sammy1]

Hi,
Does anyone have any recommendations or comments on private tour guides for Santorini and Messina? We're booked on the June 3 Western Med sailing of the Galaxy. Any advice would be appreciated.
Sam

[josiem]

ClaudiaF: Can you give me a physical description for Max of Papillion? My sisters and I had a driver named Max for Rome in 2000, but we neglected to get his last name or company. Our Max was tall, with long dark (maybe black) hair. I would love to use him again when my husband and I visit Rome in October. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. I have already eliminated Max Leotta and the Max we had. Another CC board member was kind enough to email me a picture of Max Leotta. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

[Fabulous2B50]

Has anyone used these services while staying in Rome at a hotel precruise? I would think the price would be cheaper since the driver would not have to go all the way out to the port and back. How much can you save if you are already in Rome?

[cechase]

We are looking for a limo or cab service to take four of us from the Sheraton Roma hotel to Civitavecchia on Oct. 7th. On our roll call, I have posted a number of companys and their websites. The prices are all over the board, including [url]www.driverinrome.com[/url] which is very expensive [2 people - 170 euros].

A number of the companys appear to be very reasonable, but I have not seen them mentioned on this thread. They are:

[url]www.romeshuttlelimousine.com[/url] - 4 persons - 110 euros

[url]www.tourome.com[/url] - 4 persons - 114 euros

[url]www.carservicerome.com[/url] - 109 euros

Any comments about any of the above? Thank you.