RomeInLimo questions

[fllchick]

I have to agree with everyone above.....we just used RIL in Rome, Naples and Florence (including private guides in Pompeii and the Vatican) and I can't say enough great things about them......

[LisaC21]

We had a wonderful day with John who took us to Pisa and San Gimignano. He was a great guide, personable, professional and very easy to look at (for us older ladies!). We had plenty of time at each stop and our luncheon and wine tasting in San Gimignano was one of our most memorable highlight of our cruise. Jany, who handles the booking, must work 24/7 and she does a phenomenal job. You won't go wrong!

 

Would love to hear the details of your Pisa and San Gimignano tour with Romeinlimo. That is the one tour I am struggling with. We decided to skip Florence and do San Gimignano instead. We are traveling with a 7 and 9 year old so I am hoping they enjoy it as well. Any advice and/or details you can offer would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks!

[euro cruiser]

Would love to hear the details of your Pisa and San Gimignano tour with Romeinlimo. That is the one tour I am struggling with. We decided to skip Florence and do San Gimignano instead. We are traveling with a 7 and 9 year old so I am hoping they enjoy it as well. Any advice and/or details you can offer would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks!

If you will be going to Pisa, be sure to tell your tour company if you want to climb the tower, as tickets ought to be reserved in advance. Also, be sure everyone is clear whose responsibility it is to reserve the tickets. Not all of the tickets for each time slot are sold in advance, so it is possible to get "walk up" tickets, but you might not be able to get the time you want that way, which could screw up your schedule for the day.

[tooalto]

Hello. We returned on Oct.17 from our wonderful cruise. Our day with John from Rome in Limo was fabulous. We opted to do the Pisa and San Gimignano tour. We were met at the ship and driven to Pisa for an upclose view of the tower. None of us wanted to climb it so the issue of tickets wasn't involved. We spent time walking around the tower area then John drove us around the town, even showing us the first "leaning tower". From Pisa we drove up into the hills, stopping several times to view the breathtaking scenery. We arrived at San Gimignano, a beautiful walled medieval city. John gave us plenty of time to wander. Shopping was very reasonable and offered some different items than you will see elsewhere. After the town we drove to a winery where we had one of the best wine tasting/meals we had ever. We were treated like special guests and could have spent the afternoon there. JOhn got us back to our ship in time for early dinner seating. His English is excellent and he gave a running commentary while we were driving so we didn't miss a thing. Outstanding! If you have any further questions, please email me at tooalto@att.net and put Cruise Critic in the subject line.

[democracydiva]

My husband, I and two friends recently used Rome in Limo for a day excursion to Rome while on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Our driver, Vincenzo, was very gracious, courteous and patient and managed to get us around to almost all the sights we'd hoped to see in a limited amount of time. He was prompt in arriving to pick us up at the port and managed to get us back to the ship well in advance of departure. It may have been my own misunderstanding of what RIL supplied -- but I would have liked it if we had gotten a bit more history and background from V. on the places we visited. As it was - he dropped us off at the entrance to the Forum [albeit after helping us get our entry tickets] and we were left to wander around without any information as to what we were viewing. At the Colosseum, we happened upon a tour in English and signed up for that at the last minute -- which was very helpful. I would certainly use Rome in Limo again, but if you do choose this company -- make sure that you're clear on what you can expect from the driver.

[SunFunCruiser]

My husband, I and two friends recently used Rome in Limo for a day excursion to Rome while on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Our driver, Vincenzo, was very gracious, courteous and patient and managed to get us around to almost all the sights we'd hoped to see in a limited amount of time. He was prompt in arriving to pick us up at the port and managed to get us back to the ship well in advance of departure. It may have been my own misunderstanding of what RIL supplied -- but I would have liked it if we had gotten a bit more history and background from V. on the places we visited. As it was - he dropped us off at the entrance to the Forum [albeit after helping us get our entry tickets] and we were left to wander around without any information as to what we were viewing. At the Colosseum, we happened upon a tour in English and signed up for that at the last minute -- which was very helpful. I would certainly use Rome in Limo again, but if you do choose this company -- make sure that you're clear on what you can expect from the driver.

 

Just so you know, if you read the RIL FAQ's, it's one of the first things they mention. It states that the drivers are not allowed to go into the sites with you. You can rent head sets from the sites with the information or hire a guide.

 

From their site:

"A guide- driver and a tour guide are different. A tour guide has a license, released by the City Hall. They got a degree after having passed a state exam.

A guide allowed to go into the historical sites with you and tell you all the most specific information about the sites you are visiting . Their service is separated from the driver cost.

A guide- driver is not licensed, has not attended specific schools and is not allowed to go inside the site telling you about the history. He will advise you about the most important information of all the sites you are going to visit but then you have to go in by yourself."

 

We also had Vinny. He was my favorite driver of all my tours. He was so great with my son.

[cruisemom42]

Just so you know, if you read the RIL FAQ's, it's one of the first things they mention. It states that the drivers are not allowed to go into the sites with you. You can rent head sets from the sites with the information or hire a guide.

 

From their site:

"A guide- driver and a tour guide are different. A tour guide has a license, released by the City Hall. They got a degree after having passed a state exam.

A guide allowed to go into the historical sites with you and tell you all the most specific information about the sites you are visiting . Their service is separated from the driver cost.

A guide- driver is not licensed, has not attended specific schools and is not allowed to go inside the site telling you about the history. He will advise you about the most important information of all the sites you are going to visit but then you have to go in by yourself."

 

We also had Vinny. He was my favorite driver of all my tours. He was so great with my son.

 

So I have to admit that I've read through this thread and many others about RIL and I'm still a little unclear. If you are basically paying for personalized transportation, the price (versus DIY) seems very high. But whenever I have voiced this, people say that RIL does give you a lot of information, just not a "guided tour" so to speak. But posts like democracydiva's seem to contradict this.

 

So, do some guides give more information than others? I'll be very honest and say that I can do without (and would prefer not to have) a bon vivant driver who gets the whole car singing Italian songs. What I do want is good solid information about what I'm seeing or about to see....

 

Any specific examples would be great. Could anyone compare their services to those offered by Ekol in Turkey, for example, as they are the one and only private tour I've done. (My Ekol tour was solidly good, not great, and if I'd paid as much for it as RIL's prices, I would not have been so happy.....)

[Terpnut]

So I have to admit that I've read through this thread and many others about RIL and I'm still a little unclear. If you are basically paying for personalized transportation, the price (versus DIY) seems very high. But whenever I have voiced this, people say that RIL does give you a lot of information, just not a "guided tour" so to speak. But posts like democracydiva's seem to contradict this.

 

So, do some guides give more information than others? I'll be very honest and say that I can do without (and would prefer not to have) a bon vivant driver who gets the whole car singing Italian songs. What I do want is good solid information about what I'm seeing or about to see....

 

Any specific examples would be great. Could anyone compare their services to those offered by Ekol in Turkey, for example, as they are the one and only private tour I've done. (My Ekol tour was solidly good, not great, and if I'd paid as much for it as RIL's prices, I would not have been so happy.....)

Hi Cynthia, perhaps I can clarify as I have some experience with RIL drivers and guides, AND I've used other tour companies such as Paul's taxi in Athens, Ekol in Ephesus, Tourinmed in Tunisia, and a couple Sicily tours too. The bottom line is that RIL works similarly, with either drivers that do only transfers, driver-guides that do excellent city tours with lots of good information (but don't do site tours), and/or licensed tour guides with special expertise in certain sites. The driver-guides may not be licensed but just like in many Greek ports (e.g. Athens), they know alot but just can't legally escort you around on a formal tour of Pompeii, Acropolis or Ephesus, for example. So if you book a Roma or Firenze city tour with RIL, for example, you will get a very knowledgeable driver-guide escorting you around, showing you the best places to go, the best times to do it, a little history of each site, etc. etc. If you want a tour of the Vatican or Pompeii however, RIL coordinates those visits with their formal, licensed guides with real subject matter expertise there for an additional fee of course.

 

Overall, our RIL drivers and guides were the most reliable, friendly and knowledgable amongst all the Mediterranean ports we visited (compared to others such as Paul's taxi in Athens) and our guides for our Pompeii and Vatican tours were as good as our Ekol guide in Ephesus--that is, excellent. While many might think their prices are a bit high, I found that, for their excellent reliability and high level of service, RIL's prices for transfers, city tours or site tours were reasonable and competitive. As for singing in the van, assuming the driver's taken care of the other priorities, I think this would be a nice fun bonus, no? Hope this helps. :)

Edited December 2, 2009 by Terpnut

[euro cruiser]

There is a New York Times article from several years ago that discusses the official vs. unofficial guide issues in Rome, but it's equally true for the rest of Italy. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407EED7173BF93BA15752C0A9639C8B63&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=1

 

The system is said to prevent bad information or taking advantage of tourists by insisting on a common level of knowledge. In recent years the rules have been relaxed somewhat (non-Italians being allowed to take the test, being able to take the test in a language other than Italian), but there is still some controversy about whether the system itself is in conflict with European Union regulations.

 

I've been on tours throughout Italy; there was always a "general" guide in the vehicle with us, but they would turn us over to a licensed local guide each time we stopped.

[cruisemom42]

Hi Cynthia, perhaps I can clarify as I have some experience with RIL drivers and guides, AND I've used other tour companies such as Paul's taxi in Athens, Ekol in Ephesus, Tourinmed in Tunisia, and a couple Sicily tours too. The bottom line is that RIL works similarly, with either drivers that do only transfers, driver-guides that do excellent city tours with lots of good information (but don't do site tours), and/or licensed tour guides with special expertise in certain sites. The driver-guides may not be licensed but just like in many Greek ports (e.g. Athens), they know alot but just can't legally escort you around on a formal tour of Pompeii, Acropolis or Ephesus, for example. So if you book a Roma or Firenze city tour with RIL, for example, you will get a very knowledgeable driver-guide escorting you around, showing you the best places to go, the best times to do it, a little history of each site, etc. etc. If you want a tour of the Vatican or Pompeii however, RIL coordinates those visits with their formal, licensed guides with real subject matter expertise there for an additional fee of course.

 

Overall, our RIL drivers and guides were the most reliable, friendly and knowledgable amongst all the Mediterranean ports we visited (compared to others such as Paul's taxi in Athens) and our guides for our Pompeii and Vatican tours were as good as our Ekol guide in Ephesus--that is, excellent. While many might think their prices are a bit high, I found that, for their excellent reliability and high level of service, RIL's prices for transfers, city tours or site tours were reasonable and competitive. As for singing in the van, assuming the driver's taken care of the other priorities, I think this would be a nice fun bonus, no? Hope this helps. :)

 

Thanks, this fits with the general opinion I'd formed of RIL (without actually taking a tour with them) by reading on these boards. Just seems like from a few posts I've read, the "information sharing" hasn't been all there.

 

I have no serious objection to singing along the way, but I'd rather have a nice long discussion about history or even the current political climate, economic issues the area is facing, local food and wine, or any of a dozen other things. :D

[Terpnut]

Thanks, this fits with the general opinion I'd formed of RIL (without actually taking a tour with them) by reading on these boards. Just seems like from a few posts I've read, the "information sharing" hasn't been all there.

 

I have no serious objection to singing along the way, but I'd rather have a nice long discussion about history or even the current political climate, economic issues the area is facing, local food and wine, or any of a dozen other things. :D

As for the information-sharing, the trouble is not with RIL, but with the tourist's expectations. People need to know that even the best driver-guides are easy-to-understand, friendly, and excellent with logistics BUT they can only provide limited amount of information about most sites. IOW, they are mostly generalists. If people want an in-depth tour with extensive information, then they need to pay extra for trained guide. This is true anywhere.

 

Cynthia, you and me are cut from the same cloth. I'm always more interested in art, history, culture, language and learning, but for the the rest of my family and most of my friends, it's usually about fun, rest and relaxation. Even in Europe, it's more about the wine, food and people-watching. We'll have to travel together! Hahaha! :D

 

We used RIL last year and had DUman as our driver for a tour of Rome. He was excellent and, believe me, he didn't sing. We learned quite a bit about ROme and Italy in between our many stops. Things to look for when we visited the sites we stopped at. He pointed out many features about Rome and the countryside that were of high interest. Evenmy wife who is a history major grad from college found it very interesting. THese tours can be anything you want it to be. I'm sure when you book the tour and can spell out what you want. Jany would be more than glad to do that. And I am not an employee of RIL. LOL. We're heading back there next year and looking forward to another tour and lesson. Different places this time.

Duman is indeed excellent, however as the owner and head honcho of RIL, he'd better be darned good! LOL :p

 

Personally, I think it's great that he works so closely with his drivers, guides and customers. I think it probably gives him a better understanding of his customers' needs and interests. :)

Edited December 2, 2009 by Terpnut

[foxeysandy]

I understand that RIL has a shore excursion from Civitavecchia for an Angels and Demons tour in Rome. I believe if you're staying in Rome you can include the Angels and Demons sights in your itinerary for a full-day sightseeing tour. Has anyone done either one of these? If so, how was it?

[VT Hokie Cruiser]

Do the ALWAYS get back in time for departure?

[cruisemom42]

I've been reading this board for about 4 years and I can't recall any report of passengers using RIL that did not make it back to the ship on time.

 

Of course, there are no guarantees. Even when you take a ship's tour, there has been a time or two under extraordinary circumstances when the ship left passengers behind. They can only wait so long without compromising their next port of call.

[Off2China]

I asked RIL that very question when I booked three tours with them. I was told they have never been late getting back to any ship. Doesn't mean it'll never happen, of course. (I just hope it's not on my tours next May :D.)

[rickiris]

We just arrived back from our cruise. My wife & I w/ our 10 year old son used RomeinLimo for our day excursion in Rome, Italy because of the good comments we've read before our NCL Med. cruise. And sure enough, it was worth it. As expected, Rome in Limo was wonderful, everything from GREAT to Wonderful. No negative comments. Driver/Guide Francesco was great and informative. We didn't use a private guide in the vatican, but Francesco told us how to get past the lines. We Thanks Romeinlimo for a great time for our family, Thanks Francesco and we highly recommend Romeinlimo.

[Fblack]

On our cruise last year with a stop in Livorno, a number of private tours and taxi's nearly missed the ship. Turns out a soccer match between Florence and Pisa turned ugly and fans blocks the main road back to the ship. Luckily, one of the ships tour buses also got stuck in the traffic. The ship waited for the tour bus and everyone else in private tours got lucky and made the ship.

 

Bottom line, anything can happen. So allow extra time so you will not miss the ship.

[stinesheri]

I am getting ready to book RIL for our cruise next summer, and I just have a question for those who have used them in Rome. Their website states:

 

"sites to visit are the remainders of the ancient great history of the city: the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, the Capitol Hill, the Palatine Hill and the Baths of Caracalla. Back to the center of Rome, you will visit the most famous today of all ancient city temples, the Pantheon, walk through Piazza Navona, see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain"

 

Are these stops 'drive-bys' or will there be time to get out and look around? I would prefer to cut out a few of these stops, in order to have more time to liner at the ones we are most interested, so please advise on how it worked for your tour.

 

Thanks!

[Terpnut]

I am getting ready to book RIL for our cruise next summer, and I just have a question for those who have used them in Rome. Their website states:

 

"sites to visit are the remainders of the ancient great history of the city: the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, the Capitol Hill, the Palatine Hill and the Baths of Caracalla. Back to the center of Rome, you will visit the most famous today of all ancient city temples, the Pantheon, walk through Piazza Navona, see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain"

 

Are these stops 'drive-bys' or will there be time to get out and look around? I would prefer to cut out a few of these stops, in order to have more time to liner at the ones we are most interested, so please advise on how it worked for your tour.

 

Thanks!

How much time you spend in each site or area will customized based on your personal priorities and preferences. Obviously, if you try to walk each of these, you will not have any meaningful time in any. So when you email Jany, let her know what you prefer to eliminate so you have sufficient time for your priorities. If you are very organized like I am, you will have a detailed sample itinerary like:

 

Drive from Civitavecchia to Citta Vaticano 90 min

Vatican 120 min

Drive to Piazza Navona 5 min

Walk around and lunch at Piazza Navona 45 min

Walk from Piazza Navona to Pantheon to Fontana di Trevi to Piazza di Spagna 45 min

Drive tour around Borghese, Piazza Barberini, Piazza Venetia, Capitoline Hill, Circus Maximus to Colisseo 25 min

Colisseo 60 min

Forum 45 min

Drive to San Giovanni

San Giovanni Laterano or San Clemente 30 min

Baths of Carcalla ?? min

Back to ship

[jalynn]

Are these stops 'drive-bys' or will there be time to get out and look around? I would prefer to cut out a few of these stops, in order to have more time to liner at the ones we are most interested, so please advise on how it worked for your tour.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Some of these sights (Circus Maximus, Forum) were "drive-by"s on our tour but most were stops. I agree with the poster above...have a list of what you want to experience and they'll do their best to accommodate you.

[stinesheri]

thanks Jalynn,

 

Knowing that these are mainly 'stops' will help me budget our time. If I take some stops out, I can add more time in other places - had they just been drive-bys, that would have left much less time.

[Terpnut]

thanks Jalynn,

 

Knowing that these are mainly 'stops' will help me budget our time. If I take some stops out, I can add more time in other places - had they just been drive-bys, that would have left much less time.

Any one of these sites can be either a "drive-by" or an hour or more in-depth visit, but it's up to you to list, prioritze and allocate your limited time. Once you've done that, RIL can customize the logistics and scheduling around your list and priorities. Enjoy Roma! :)

[CRUZERGAL56]

Has anyone used RIL for a group? Or has anyone experienced a Rome at Night Tour?

 

Thanks,

[sandinmyshoes]

Oh, I'm so glad you've chosen Rome In Limo for your tours. You will be amazed at the value for the money spent because their customer service is outstanding. My husband and I used them for our Rome, Naples (Pompeii/Amalfi Coast), and Pisa/Florence tours in Oct. 07 and were so thrilled with them we booked with them again for our trip this past Nov/Dec. We just got home last weekend and I'm already on here telling about how great they are because they once again gave us the vacation of a lifetime. Now to answer your questions...

 

1-They are suggesting an 8 hour tour with a driver, and a guide for the Vatican. Do we need a guide for other sites? Or is the driver usually knowledgeable enough to provide info? If you can afford it, I would recommend keeping your guide for at least the Colosseum and Forum too.

All of the drivers we've had (Rome we've had Francesco and Vinny) were extremely informative and fun while giving us so much relative information. The only downside is they can't escort you into the places of interest to show you exactly the most important details and explain them while you are viewing them. Also, we hired their guide for an entire day of our 3 days in Rome and she saved us so much time because she knew the tricks for skipping the lines and got us right in. Her name was Julia and she was perfect. Cute, entergetic, and kept everything interesting for us instead of giving us monument and old ruins overload. I'd get a guide for at least a half day anyway and they will arrange the most important sites for that time period.

2-Have you ever just gotten a guide at the Vatican rather than scheduled one in advance? If so, how did that work out? Did you still have to stand in line for tickets? Can you just visit the "church" on your own without tickets? We've done the Vatican on our own using the Rick Steves podcast and also with Julia (the above mentioned Rome In Limo guide). To be certain, Julia did a much better job of explaining the things that were interesting to us and skipping those that weren't. Her knowledge of everything in the church, the museums, and the Sistine Chapel were amazing and brought the things to life and helped us to understand the meaning behind them in such a way we still remember it today 2 years later. Rick Steves was pretty good, but very much on the cheesy side and difficult to skip the stuff we didn't want without missing some of the things we did want. And yes, you can visit the Basilica (church) on your own without tickets. There was a long line when we were there in Oct. and Julia got us to the quickest one so we didn't wait more than 10 minutes.

3-Do you tip on top of the fee for the driver, or is it included? The tip is extra, but we never had any pressure or mention of a tip from our drivers or guides. It is completely at your discretion based on the level of service provided. The new standards for Italy are 10 - 20% if that helps.

 

4- Not a romeinlimo question, but has anyone ever done a day trip from Rome to Pompeii? Is that possible? It will be a long day, but from what I hear it is possible. I'm sure Rome In Limo can help you decide if one of their drivers can do this for you or if taking the train roundtrip would be better. From what I understand the train stop is very close to Pompeii. My only concern would be the number of stops between Rome and Pompeii and how long of a time you would actually have to see Pompeii. The place is enormous. I highly recommend getting a guide there so you know exactly what you are seeing and can see the most interesting parts in the amount of time you have. Did you know they had crosswalks, pizzarias, brothels, running water, and hot & cold baths? We sure didn't until our guide pointed them out. You can either pre-arrange a guide through Rome In Limo, or just hire a guide at the gate. Just make sure you pick one who speaks your language clearly. They aren't very expensive, but add so much to your visit.

 

Enjoy your time in Italy! It is my favorite vacation destination and I can't wait to go back again.

[notentirelynormal]

1-They are suggesting an 8 hour tour with a driver, and a guide for the Vatican. Do we need a guide for other sites? Or is the driver usually knowledgeable enough to provide info? If you can afford it, I would recommend keeping your guide for at least the Colosseum and Forum too.

Also, we hired their guide for an entire day of our 3 days in Rome and she saved us so much time because she knew the tricks for skipping the lines and got us right in. Her name was Julia and she was perfect. Cute, entergetic, and kept everything interesting for us instead of giving us monument and old ruins overload. I'd get a guide for at least a half day anyway and they will arrange the most important sites for that time period.

 

Just out of curiosity, how much more was Julia for the extra time?