RomeInLimo questions

[scottish cruise fan]

We were a family group of 3 adults and children 19, 17, and 11.

I knew it would be a long day and was worried about keeping my youngest Nephew engaged for that length of time.

I researched on this Forum and Rome in Limo came highly recommended. I swithered between Royal Caribbean's own excursion and the tour Rome in Limo had to offer. Rome in Limo was very slightly cheaper. (not by much). The deciding factor was that my 2 MUST SEE'S were the coliseum and the Sistine chapel. RCI had 2 tours and neither did both! Also RCI tour wasted time with 1 hours shopping! Not ideal with 2 men and 4 boys along with me!!

I am so glad I made the choice. Rome in Limo were excellent from start to finish. Francesco met us on the pier as arranged. He introduced himself to the whole party and off we went. We travelled in a very comfortable people carrier type car with excellent air conditioning which was essential as the heat was searing!! Francesco was an excellent tour guide as well as an excellent driver. He took us straight to the coliseum. I had purchased tickets on line as advised by Rome in Limo and despite the crowds it was relatively easily and quick to get in. Francesco had given us a brief history etc before we entered. He stayed with the car and gave me a mobile phone with his number ready to dial when we were finished. ( I don't think he was allowed in as a guide - some Italian law?).

We met him again - very easily, and he took us on a driving tour round some more sights including the forum, the Spanish steps, The Pantheon and Plaza Navona. Francesco continued to give us a running commentary which suited all ages and kept us all interested. We got out at the places and he arranged where he was going to wait for us. Being in a car we travelled up small sides streets etc which a bus would never negotiate. He could drop us off right out side these sites too.

We then had a lunch break. We let Francesco choose and he took us to a very nice restaurant which served Pizza. After lunch Francesco phoned ahead to our Vatican guide. He was ready waiting for us at a side entrance of the Vatican. Marco introduced himself to the group. My youngest nephew immediately took to him so I was relieved as I realised this was going to be the part of the tour that might "bore" him! Not at all though, my nephews loved the guide and the tour! Again I had purchased a timed ticked as advised by Rome in Limo. Marco took us right in, no queues, no waiting. I bought a combined museum, and sistine chapel ticket and this made all the difference. Marco took us to a cool spot in the museum café and explained a lot about the history and what we were going to see. Guides cannot speak in the chapel so he had to tell us everything before we went in. He took us through various rooms in the museum and pointed out numerous interesting items, views, buildings etc. The whole group were kept engaged and interested throughout despite the incredible heat. We went on to the chapel and finished with St Pauls.

I thoroughly recommend Rome in Limo. Well worth the money!!

Make sure you book all tickets before going, on-line. Make sure you have all the required print outs with you. If you have children make sure you have proof of their ages.

[Gracie115]

3000 posts about this company!!! WOW! Lots of happy people here!! We can't wait to return to Italy next year...RIL was one of the first contacts I made once we had our dates secured.....I know that they will help make this trip even better!!

[SailingDeanna]

Anyone ever have trouble finding them when getting off the ship? Our stops are Cittavechia, La Spezia, and Naples. It sounds like maybe one of these I need to take a tram to the front entrance before meeting them? Or are they all right by the ship?

 

I am putting all my trust into the Cruise Critic family. I booked all 3 excursions in Italy through RIL. CC has never steered me wrong. So I'm hoping all goes well. I just paid it off today and that bill wasn't pretty. So I'm trusting it will go well. Thanks for the help, CC!

Edited August 4, 2015 by SailingDeanna

[Terpnut]

Anyone ever have trouble finding them when getting off the ship? Our stops are Cittavechia, La Spezia, and Naples. It sounds like maybe one of these I need to take a tram to the front entrance before meeting them? Or are they all right by the ship?

 

I am putting all my trust into the Cruise Critic family. I booked all 3 excursions in Italy through RIL. CC has never steered me wrong. So I'm hoping all goes well. I just paid it off today and that bill wasn't pretty. So I'm trusting it will go well. Thanks for the help, CC!

 

They will meet you right as you get off the ship in each port so there is NO way to miss them. :-) Have a great time!

Edited August 4, 2015 by Terpnut

[AJs Grandpa]

They will meet you right as you get off the ship in each port so there is NO way to miss them. :-) Have a great time!

 

Port officials steered us to one exit last month while other officials steered the RIL driver to another. If RIL is not there at your appointed time look at the other exit. (This will make more sense when you are there.). You can count on RIL to meet you as scheduled, but you can't predict conflicting directions from port staff:rolleyes:

[laryco]

They will be holding a sign with your name on it

[hdowney]

I am certainly looking into RIL for all my Italian port stops next year. You couldn't find a more recommended cruise critic favourite than them

[b_cruise]

I am certainly looking into RIL for all my Italian port stops next year. You couldn't find a more recommended cruise critic favourite than them

 

I have used RIL and italytoursharing.com and joe bananas private limo. All three are very good!! Go for the tour you best like because they are all pretty equal. All highly recommended!!

[hdowney]

I have used RIL and italytoursharing.com and joe bananas private limo. All three are very good!! Go for the tour you best like because they are all pretty equal. All highly recommended!!

 

Will look into both them also. Thanks for the tip :)

[CruiserBruce]

I have used RIL and italytoursharing.com and joe bananas private limo. All three are very good!! Go for the tour you best like because they are all pretty equal. All highly recommended!!

 

Don't forget you can, at least with Rome in Limo, and this is the Rome in Limo thread, you can customize your tour. You just arrange it with Jany and your driver. Yes, they sell a suggested tour with certain commonly desired sites, and you can take that if you wish. But you aren't forced into that if you want something different.

Edited August 6, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[Terpnut]

Port officials steered us to one exit last month while other officials steered the RIL driver to another. If RIL is not there at your appointed time look at the other exit. (This will make more sense when you are there.). You can count on RIL to meet you as scheduled, but you can't predict conflicting directions from port staff:rolleyes:

 

Which port? The only one I can think of that could have this problem is Napoli where the terminal building has multiple exits.

[ken_nyc]

I apologize if this has been asked and covered in previous posts, but there are way too many pages to go through. How much did RIL charge for the guide for the Vatican?

[AJs Grandpa]

Which port? The only one I can think of that could have this problem is Napoli where the terminal building has multiple exits.

 

Civitavecchia. I can't recall the terminal number, but it was different from the terminal where our cruise ended last year.

 

We were on a B2B on the Emerald, so it was just a port day for us. We entered the building where luggage was waiting for terminating passengers. The staff steered us to the left where we waited until 15 minutes past our RIL scheduled pickup time. That is when DW decided to walk to the other side of the terminal and found our RIL guide waiting for us.

[hun]

I apologize if this has been asked and covered in previous posts, but there are way too many pages to go through. How much did RIL charge for the guide for the Vatican?

 

 

 

We're going in October - our email said the Vatican guide would be additional 180 euro

[Theredofshaw]

I apologize if this has been asked and covered in previous posts, but there are way too many pages to go through. How much did RIL charge for the guide for the Vatican?

 

ours was 180EU a couple weeks ago

 

Civitavecchia. I can't recall the terminal number, but it was different from the terminal where our cruise ended last year.

 

We were on a B2B on the Emerald, so it was just a port day for us. We entered the building where luggage was waiting for terminating passengers. The staff steered us to the left where we waited until 15 minutes past our RIL scheduled pickup time. That is when DW decided to walk to the other side of the terminal and found our RIL guide waiting for us.

 

we had the same issue, pier staff told us to go to the final disembarking end of the pier where all the guides/taxis would be waiting. Got tired of waiting and walked back to the other end and there were ALOT of guides. Ours wasn't there yet but asked another RIL driver (signs had their logo on it) and he knew who our driver was right off the bat. told us to sit in the shade and he'll send him our way.

[Cruise Junky]

I really don't want to search through 151 pages;). Has anyone had any experience with RIL when the port is missed? Do they still charge you? I know most companies don't. Tx

[CruiserBruce]

The 4 ports Rome in Limo serves (Rome, Naples, Livorno and Messina) are not missed much- in fact I can't think I have ever heard those ports being missed.

 

All you have to do is ask Jany via email what their policy is. I suspect they won't charge you.

[Cruise Junky]

The 4 ports Rome in Limo serves (Rome, Naples, Livorno and Messina) are not missed much- in fact I can't think I have ever heard those ports being missed.

 

All you have to do is ask Jany via email what their policy is. I suspect they won't charge you.

 

I've heard of Livorno missed a few times which is where I would be booking them for.

 

I don't think they'll charge either but couldn't find the info on their website or in their contract.

[Theredofshaw]

The email with the confirmation I received prior to the cruise said full refund in the event the ship misses the port (of course, I read this AFTER I had already adjusted the trip insurance to cover it lol)

[karchie178]

We just recently returned from a 14 Night Italian Med Adventure cruise. We took some great private tours to Rome and Florence.

For Rome, we booked Romeinlimo...and what a great tour this was. It is well worth every penny!!! They pick you up at the port and the driver is your guide throughout the entire tour. Our driver was Sergio, a local who knew his history of his city. This is the best way to see the city. You just hop in and out of the air conditioned van (which was a life saver). They provided bottled water also. Also I would recommend the Vatican guide that they provide. It is an extra cost but couldn't imagine going to see the Vatican without her! Romeinlimo sets up the guide for you.

In Florence we also did a private tour through Shoreexcursionsinitaly. This was another great private tour! Our tour guide was Sergio, who was a local a Florence and loved his city! We drove us around both Pisa and Florence and stopped for many photo opportunities (as there are so many). Once we got in Florence he would drop us off in a square and let us enjoy ourselves walking around for a little while. He even made us lunch reservations at a nice authentic Italian restaurant for our group of 7! On the way to Florence he drove us through the Tuscany countryside so we could see all of the vineyards and olive trees. He stopped at a small winery so we could take pictures and even offered to stop so we could try a wine tasting at a local winery. Very accommodating on what we wanted to do!

 

Great time was had by all in both of these tours and I strongly recommend both companies!

[Cruise Junky]

The email with the confirmation I received prior to the cruise said full refund in the event the ship misses the port (of course, I read this AFTER I had already adjusted the trip insurance to cover it lol)

 

excellent - thanks so much for posting.

[Theredofshaw]

We just recently returned from a 14 Night Italian Med Adventure cruise. We took some great private tours to Rome and Florence.

For Rome, we booked Romeinlimo...and what a great tour this was. It is well worth every penny!!! They pick you up at the port and the driver is your guide throughout the entire tour. Our driver was Sergio, a local who knew his history of his city. This is the best way to see the city. You just hop in and out of the air conditioned van (which was a life saver). They provided bottled water also. Also I would recommend the Vatican guide that they provide. It is an extra cost but couldn't imagine going to see the Vatican without her! Romeinlimo sets up the guide for you.

In Florence we also did a private tour through Shoreexcursionsinitaly. This was another great private tour! Our tour guide was Sergio, who was a local a Florence and loved his city! We drove us around both Pisa and Florence and stopped for many photo opportunities (as there are so many). Once we got in Florence he would drop us off in a square and let us enjoy ourselves walking around for a little while. He even made us lunch reservations at a nice authentic Italian restaurant for our group of 7! On the way to Florence he drove us through the Tuscany countryside so we could see all of the vineyards and olive trees. He stopped at a small winery so we could take pictures and even offered to stop so we could try a wine tasting at a local winery. Very accommodating on what we wanted to do!

 

Great time was had by all in both of these tours and I strongly recommend both companies!

 

Was your Sergio the one who lives with his grandmother in Rome? We had him and he was great!

[anneep]

If our ship leaves at 7pm what time will RIL have us leave Rome to head back? Same question for leaving to Rome.. Our itinerary says we are there from 6am till 7pm.

[CruiserBruce]

If our ship leaves at 7pm what time will RIL have us leave Rome to head back? Same question for leaving to Rome.. Our itinerary says we are there from 6am till 7pm.

 

Best to ask Jany how they will plan the day, which will be done around your interests. If they pick you up at 8am, I am sure they will have you back by 6pm, perhaps a little sooner. You are usually purchasing an 8 hour tour.

 

Remember, they work for you. If you tell them you want to be picked up at the ship by XXX and returned by YYY, they will make it happen.

Edited August 9, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[Theredofshaw]

Best to ask Jany how they will plan the day, which will be done around your interests. If they pick you up at 8am, I am sure they will have you back by 6pm, perhaps a little sooner. You are usually purchasing an 8 hour tour.

 

Remember, they work for you. If you tell them you want to be picked up at the ship by XXX and returned by YYY, they will make it happen.

 

we all opted to head back by 6 and he had us there by 530, traffic can be unpredictable. we were beyond exhausted by the time we were through with the vatican. squeezed in one more sight on the way out of town headed back to the port.