Sylvie Di Cristo

[trvlnliz]

I just think it's ashame that the vindictive ways of some can ruin a persons lively hood. What Sylvie did may have inconvienced some but it didn't ruin there lives. She was wrong and she has expressed her regrets in how it was handled. You don't have to recommend her but to so viciously assault her over and over is not necessary, in my opinion. Maybe this saying best describes my feelings on the subject, " It's not what you say, but how you say it". ;)

Please don't take this personally, I am speaking generally.

And life goes on!! :D

[brich121]

I just came back from the Med on Brilliance of the seas Oct 17th 2004. We used Sylvie and she was more than I expected she was fantastic. We all had a great day with her and will remember our tour and her forever. I too had heard of her unfortunate situation and spoke with her about it. Yes she still feels very bad about it but there was nothing she could do. I think everyone needs to drop it and go on. Sylvie is great and I would not hesitate to book with her and I have no problem recommending her to anyone and everyone. We had a crew member jump overboard on our ship and missed one of our ports should I blame Royal Caribbean and never sail with them again?????? No, these things happen in life you deal with them and life goes on.

[jbond]

We were in Villefranche a few weeks ago and took a tour with Sylvie. We discussed then issue that is giving her such a bad reputation and all I can say is that it appears to be very undeserved.

We had a wonderful time with her. She is knowledgeable, pleasant and incredibly hard working. We met her at 10:30 in the morning and we got back to the ship at 8:30 in the evening. Not only did she take us to every place we wished to visit, but she stayed with us every single minute of the day. With private tours that is something that doesn't happen all the time. Sylvie was with us in the flower market in Nice, in the cathedral in Monaco, in the medieval city of Eze, even in the Eagles Nest that required an admission. She was a perfect guide. We had a wonderful lunch with her in Cannes sur Mer. Would I recommend her, we have already booked for Brilliance next October and we hope to have Sylvie show us some more of the French Riviera.

Give her a break, she was caught in a very difficult situation and she did what she could to resolve it. If you were hurt by it, I can assure you that it was not intentional or because Sylvie didn't care. She does care and I think that she does a great tour and deserves to be treated a lot better than some of you are behaving.

Of all the private tours we took, Sylvie and Marcello in Naples were the best.

[MVPinBoynton]

jbond,

You have excellent taste in guides! Sylvie and Marcello are both quite special and I look forward to spending the day with both of them on future European vacations.

 

I am glad that most of the posters on this thread have enjoyed Sylvie. She is as some of you have said a very hard working guide and is very personable. She really cares for her clients.

[joan24]

I agree with the positive messages about Sylvie. She was wonderful to tour with 2 years ago and we plan on touring with her again in May. She went out of her way with us even to taking us to the train station the day before we left just to show us where to get a porter. It sounds silly but after our cruise we were glad to know that there was someone who could help us with our very heavy luggage.

[Cruise Junky]

It can happen to anyone!!!

 

 

 

I had arranged for a private tour with Dream-Tours (Alain)(http://www.dream-tours.com). For weeks we confirmed our arrival, and method of payment. On arrival, Alain was no place to be found. We asked the local port attendee to call the company for us (of course she spoke French, and god knows what she said about us), but net net, they apparently did NOT have a reservation for us??? We made do, cursed quite a bit, and had a leisurely walk, and then returned to the Brilliance. I mailed Alain to inquire as to what the problem was. Apparently he had problems with his car, No EMAIL? No other Car? and the person who took the phone message did not understand what “I” said? It was not me that spoke to them, but one of “their” own in their own native tongue. I thought this was pretty rude, but then again, he's FRENCH. DO NOT HIRE DREAM TOURS OR HIM!!!!!

[brich121]

Yes the cancelled tours are all at one time period you saw the sites you wnated to see just not as you had planned. Sylvie was excellent for us and has had NO problems since she lost her partner which she cannot control. NOW with that said try this one. We missed a whole port Mykonos. I had saved for 33 years to be able to do a cruise like this and had talked about this stop as a dream. Something I had talked with my wife about for years. I had been there once and wanted to go back with my wife to share the dream. A crew member jumped overboard and we never got there........There was no one to call nothing I could do was going to change the situation. You still got to see what you had paid for and Sylvie cost you nothing she did not ruin your cruise. Should I never ever take a cruise again due to this guy killing himself. Royal Caribbean did nothing for us WE were just out of luck end of story. Sylvie thank God on this Cruise gave our group memories and the time of our life which we all will never ever forget. I would tell anybody Sylvie was great and I would use her again in a heart beat.

[Glendamcd]

Yes, it can happen to anyone but it seems it happened to so many with Sylvia

Yes she might be a great tour guide and yes she might be a lovely person and yes

maybe she doesn't deserve to be reprimanded for letting so many people down and not letting them even know she had a problem with her other driver.

[Shelleysch1]

Sylvie, is quite simply, the BEST tour guide in Villefranche. I toured with Brich, also on this board. And I agree with every word he said. Sylvie made our day in port more special than I could have ever dreamed. She is so knowledgeable about the area, but beyond the history, she was a delight! She even took us to a little restaurant in St. Paul that was so beautiful I couldn't even believe my eyes. And you wouldn't even know it was there if you didn't have an "insider" to navigate. The big tour buses would never take you to these gems...ah....but Sylvie did!

 

Sylvie, if you read this....a great big BON JOUR and Merci from Brich (Bill), Cindy, Bill, Shelley, Bill, Jackie, Reid and Cherry (Brilliance of the Seas Oct. 18, 2004). The "Bill Party of 8" will NEVER, EVER forget you. And if I ever get the opportunity to go back to your magical country, I will make sure to call you IMMEDIATELY. You're the best!

[LAX CRUISER]

Excellent information. I was able to email Sylvie a couple of times so far and she has been very polite and accomodating. She even email me back last time, that she will be going on holiday for several days and will not get a chance to return email until she returns... then wished me a happy Thanksgiving. So far, I am impressed by her. Luckily, I will have my cell phone with me (GSM than goodness) and can connect with her if I need to.

 

Also, we are traveling in a group of 10 and she suggested either a mini-bus (seats 12) or two mini-vans/cars... she is one and a driver in the other. I am not sure how much the second car would get of the trip? Any ideas????

[brich121]

She is very nice to talk with and my communications with her were excellent as well. My advice would be to take one mini van for 10 people. That way you all get her. I can't speak for what the other driver would be like. I can speak for Sylvie and I think you would all enjoy just being with her. I wish I was going back today. You will have a fantastic time with her. When you get back make sure to post your comments on her.

[jbond]

She is very nice to talk with and my communications with her were excellent as well. My advice would be to take one mini van for 10 people. That way you all get her. I can't speak for what the other driver would be like. I can speak for Sylvie and I think you would all enjoy just being with her. I wish I was going back today. You will have a fantastic time with her. When you get back make sure to post your comments on her.

I agree, I would take the one van. She is such a pleasure to be with, somebody would miss out if you took two. You can see what we did with her at http://community.webshots.com/album/204703768KfaZBF/1 pages 23 thru 36.

[MVPinBoynton]

Another vote for the one van. Those that were not in her van would be denied a wonderful experience. You will have a great day in a beautiful part of the world.

[Hebe]

God will this person ever be happy. I think the comment about ruining all these people cruises is a little bit over the edge. I think most people will see that she has 100s of happy people who have used her and loved their trip. So far I only seen less than 5 groups effected by the bad situation.

 

I talked with Sylvie this week and she said her private booking are down so maybe you got what you wanted. You put enough doubt in peoples mind on this board to keep them from booking her. This is a shame because you are probably missing the best guide you could book in this port.

[Hebe]

Talked with Sylvie this week and she wanted me to share the following:

 

She is no longer working with a partner so if you book her - you get her. She continues to emphasize that she takes the first booking she gets for the day no matter what the size. That is not to say if other people contact her she may not ask you if others can join but the final decision is always up to the first person that booked her.

 

Now - some pointers from me - first of all make sure all your correspondence contain the day you will be in the port, your ship and your full name. Don't ask prices and assume that the person is booked and remain available while you try to fill the van. If you are planning to use the person - send a confirmation email and have them acknowledge the Day, Time, Ship, Location and Rate. You can just imagine how many emails these people get from people who are just kicking the tires to get rates.

[Mike Andrews]

Sylvie gets my vote also,she is one of a select few that I would use again and hope she gets the support she deserves.

[ijkh]

We are interested in that we are going back to the Med with the Greek Islands cruise and now are a party of 6. So arranging a few fabulous private excursions are now within reach. Do tell who are on your short list. Besides Sylvie?

 

Signed enquiring minds

[MVPinBoynton]

ijkh,

If you click on the link to our cruise review website, you will find the various guides we used. Included in the review are pictures of them. The Greek Isles are just marvelous. Have a ball.

[jbond]

We are interested in that we are going back to the Med with the Greek Islands cruise and now are a party of 6. So arranging a few fabulous private excursions are now within reach. Do tell who are on your short list. Besides Sylvie?

 

Signed enquiring minds

I'm not Mr Andrews, but I'm in full agreement with him about Sylvie. On our shortlist would be Marcello in Naples and Spiro in Athens.

[Mike Andrews]

In addition to Sylvie,I would use Paola of Florence Tour (info@florencetour.com) for both Florence and Pisa from Livorno and Salvatore of DriveAmalfi (*****) for the Amalfi Coast and Pompei from Naples and Sorrento. All are excellent professionals and I would use them all again without hesitation.

 

Mike

[Hebe]

Sylvie still gets my vote.