RomeInLimo questions

[Gracie115]

We are booked with RIL for October for a full day of Rome tour a few days before we take the Noordam cruise home. We are unsure about the value added of having the private guide at the Vatican. Can you tell me more about why adding the guide is a good idea? Many thanks.

 

 

I agree with everything CyberTag said. Our guide, Serena, made the Vatican Museum so much better just because of all her knowledge which would have taken us so much longer to obtain if doing it on our own. I would like to go back a 2nd time and do it on my own now and feel confident we would be fine, but having her with us to get us through lines quickly and her knowledge of nearly everything in the museums was invaluable when we only had a couple hours to see it. It was well worth the expense.

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

I appreciate your insights.

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

I would actually ask the question in reverse. Since you are already in Rome, and the greatest distance between any of the sights in Rome is two miles, why have a car service? You can easily take cabs from place to place and use that money for guides so you have a greater understanding of what you are seeing. The driver can't provide that.

 

And do you also want to critique our plans for the balance of our time in Rome as well as the rest of the posters here on this thread that use & recommend RomeinLimo? With your point of view in your post why are you on this thread?

 

I don't see any need to justify my decision but I will respond. Several sources, including CC and family recommend a full day car service in Rome as the best way to see the most and to orient us for future follow up on our own.:(

[koalagurl]

I would actually ask the question in reverse. Since you are already in Rome, and the greatest distance between any of the sights in Rome is two miles, why have a car service? You can easily take cabs from place to place and use that money for guides so you have a greater understanding of what you are seeing. The driver can't provide that.

 

Our drivers through RIL actually were like private guides all day long.

[Pushka]

I would have done an RIL tour in Rome but no one on my roll call would join and I did post a share tour on their site but no luck. I cancelled it a couple of weeks ago as I wanted to have something organised before I left for Europe last week. I did get a Pisa/Florence tour booked with four other people and am really looking forward to that. So, while a DIY is certainly possible, different people want different experiences. And that's all there is to it!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shopping1947]

Hi everyone,

My DH and I will be on the Noordam from Sept 5-15th. I am trying to put a great group together!! The group is listed on Romeinlimo.com for Sept 6th. If anyone would like to join us we are looking for 6 others to have a private unique experience in Florence/Pisa.

 

:)Happy Sailing see you in Europe!!!

[CruiserBruce]

Hi everyone,

My DH and I will be on the Noordam from Sept 5-15th. I am trying to put a great group together!! The group is listed on Romeinlimo.com for Sept 6th. If anyone would like to join us we are looking for 6 others to have a private unique experience in Florence/Pisa.

 

:)Happy Sailing see you in Europe!!!

 

Per board rules, tour sharing is done on your roll call. See you have been there extensively. Your post on this board might get pulled.

Edited July 8, 2012 by CruiserBruce

[shopping1947]

Per board rules, tour sharing is done on your roll call. See you have been there extensively. Your post on this board might get pulled.

 

Thank you for the update, so I can only post this on the roll call?? It's just that there has been so little activity on the roll call:(

[CruiserBruce]

Thank you for the update, so I can only post this on the roll call?? It's just that there has been so little activity on the roll call:(

 

On Cruise Critic, you may only post tour share requests on your roll call. What you do on the Rome in Limo site is not related. You might also look at the Roll Call feature on Cruise Critic Facebook as well.

Edited July 8, 2012 by CruiserBruce

[shopping1947]

On Cruise Critic, you may only post tour share requests on your roll call. What you do on the Rome in Limo site is not related. You might also look at the Roll Call feature on Cruise Critic Facebook as well.

 

Thank you I will look into that:).

[cruisinsince1994]

Our family of 8 had three great days with the Rome in Limo Team. Giovanni, Nick, and Fabricio were all great in Naples, Rome, and Florence respectively. They did an amazing job relating to three generations in our family and also knew so much about our ports of call. I'll be reccomending them to family and friends who have similar iteneraries later this year.

[ajmco]

In June 2012 we toured the Mediterranean with the NCL Spirit. After reading countless reviews we decided to use RomeInLimo for our tours based on the rave reviews we read, avoiding the mega person tour groups and to help keep our costs down for the trip. All of our tours were exceptional. We were a group of four and passengers from our CruiseCritic roll call joined us to make groups of up to eight. We couldn’t have asked for a better group of tour buddies. The drivers were waiting for us in port and we were returned to the ship in plenty of time before sailing. We started our daily adventures way before the NCL tour group buses.

The drivers were fantastic, witty, and knowledgeable- David (Pisa and Florence), Marco (Rome), Chiara (Vatican Guide) and Alberto (Mt Vesuvius, Sorrento, and Pompeii). We conversed with all of them nonstop and learned about the life and culture of Italy. The drivers knew where to stop to see breathtaking panoramic views. Alberto took us right to Mt Vesuvius where we had a leisurely hike up with no one on the trail. On the way back down the trail was crowded with tourists from the many buses. We listened to his thick Italian accent- hooked on each syllable he spoke. We decided not have a Pompeii guide and instead used the Rick Steves audio guide as we walked the ancient streets. We were thoroughly amazed how David navigated the narrow Florence roads. He exchanged our ticket vouchers and got us right into the Uffizi and Accademia. The lines were so long that we would never have been able to enter without his help. When we thought the Medici chapels were too far he said not at all and sent us in the right direction. They were the most beautiful chapels and contained the most interesting relics that even my son was impressed. In Rome Marco described Ancient Rome and used a book with multiple layers to show us what the sites looked look then and now. He took us to a local eatery for a quick bite of local cuisine. We saw the highlights- enough to give us a desire to come back. Chiara was phenomenal at the Vatican. She skillfully guided us- explaining and showing us as much as time allowed. I highly recommend having a guide to make the most of the Vatican. We pre purchased our vouchers, but all of them had to be redeemed for actual tickets. The drivers and guide know exactly how to stream line that process. Back on the ship we heard many sad stories of tour groups not seeing much due to lines, slow guests, and people not being on time. We were so fortunate to have incredible experiences. There is so much we saw and learned in such a short time. Now that we are home we are thoroughly amazed by our photos and even more so by all that we experienced thanks to our tours with RomeInLimo. We are so thankful that all of the reviews we read were indeed true and this company certainly is the best!

[RTcruzer]

We just got back from an amazing cruise on Serenade of the Seas June 22nd-July 4th and thought I would post my thanks to Romeinlimo and our driver Gianmaria in Florence/Pisa. He was waiting as we disembarked (no chasing anyone down), we loaded up into his van and were off quickly unlike non-private tours!! He was very personable, spoke English very well and so knowledgable of the area. He had suggestions everywhere we went--I am so pleased with RIL tours and would highly recommend them for all tours. :o

[amydancan]

My family is just back from our Princess cruise, where we used RIL for our Naples and Rome stops. In 2010, we also visited these two ports and used RIL for both, so it was a no-brainer to use them again. In Naples, we did the Positano, Winery, Pompeii tour, with Raffaele as our driver and Patrizia as our guide at Pompeii. Raffaele and Patrizia were also with us in 2010 -- obviously, we thought they were outstanding because we requested them again! Raffaele is very knowledgeable, personable, interesting and fun -- he has a great singing voice too! The winery was a really fun stop -- a great lunch in a relaxing and beautiful setting. I've heard there are guides to hire outside of Pompeii, but we really enjoyed Patrizia so much -- to us, it was worth it to go with someone we knew would be great, and who we could book in advance. In Rome, we had Sarah as our Vatican guide. We had requested Katherine, our guide from 2010, who was amazing, but we found Sarah to be every bit as good (Katherine was on maternity leave). Sarah was witty and extremely interesting. Also very knowledgeable about how to work her way through the museums when it was incredibly crowded and hot. Once again, my 15 year old daughters and not-overly-interested-in-art-husband were so enthralled with Sarah's explanations of the art and the history that they told me later they loved every minute of the tour. I can't say enough good things about RIL -- especially when we had limited time at ports, RIL ensured that we made the most of everything.

[gillsjottings]

We have just returned from a cruise on the Liberty of the Seas in late June 2012. We used RomeinLimo in 3 ports.

 

In Livorno our guide was Riccardo - he took us on an amazing day out to Pisa and Lucca. You can read about it here if you'd like to know exactly what we did and where we went. Riccardo was a great guide: friendly, informative and an excellent driver.

 

In Rome our guide was Sergio. He was excellent! We have been to Rome before, on a tour bus, and the experience we had this time was vastly superior. Our vatican guide was Francesca, and having been on many tours, I can honestly say she is the best tour guide I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.

 

In Naples our guide was Nicola, he took us to Positano (beautiful!), Sorrento and Pompeii. Nicola was not as chatty as the other guides, but he was an excellent driver (great to have on those roads!) and was very kind.

 

I have no hesitation in recommending RomeinLimo to anyone travelling to Italy.

[smithley]

On our recent Med cruise we arranged for Rome in Limo (RIL) to take care of our group of 6 for the day. As we exited the port, we were pleased to see that several RIL drivers were waiting and they quickly found Ameruco who took good care of us. Our goal was to see both Herculaneum and Pompeii and hopefully a bit of the Amalfi Coast. We went to Herculaneum first, bought our combination tickets and rented an audioguide. We spent 1 1/2 hours at the site but really needed 2 hours. The audio guide is quite good and it was amazing being 6 of the 20 or so people at the site that early. You could walk in and around almost every house and inspect the frescoes without any ropes or crowds. From there, we traveled to Pompeii where we met our guide, Maria, who Ameruco arranged for us that morning. She was terrific - very knowledgeable, excellent English and very good at arranging our time efficiently. We spent 2 hours at Pompeii and although we saw only 1/4 of the site because it's huge, we feel that we got a fair overview and saw many things our fellow cruise passengers seemed to have missed. From there, Ameruco suggested we travel to Positano rather than Sorrento so that we could enjoy some coastline as well a nice lunch. Our lunch at Ristorante Da Costantino overlooking the bay was a pleasure. Finally, Ameruco got us back to port at an appropriate time before we had to be back on board. We were very impressed with the professionalism of this company, their prompt attention to our questions in making arrangements, and their overall friendly service. We would use them again in a heartbeat.

[Gracie115]

Maria was our guide through RIL last year in Pompeii and I agree she was excellent. We went to Herculaneum this year and were the first people to arrive that morning, it was amazing being able to walk through with no crowds at all and the I also agree that the audio guides there were excellent. RIL is an outstanding company and set the bar pretty high for others to match their track record!!

[bb2842]

Hi,

 

Back from our June 27, 2012 Carnival Breeze Med cruise. We used Rome in Limo (RIL) for the port of Livorno. Italy. We had a wonderful day with Vinny in Pisa and San Gimignano. Vinny was very knowledgeable and provided a lot of very interesting historical information. The Tower of Pisa is so beautiful. Vinny explained it had recently been cleaned. Be sure to see it if you can. We then went on to San Gimignano and enjoyed just wondering around, shopping and lunch. Vinny recommendd a restuarant that was off the main tourist path. I can't remember the name though. After a leisurely and very good lunch, we were driven back to the ship at our requested time. Thanks again to Rome in Limo for a great day. Also thanks to Jany from their office for being so prompt in answering emails and questions I had.

 

Bev

[hylasgirl]

Hi everyone,

My DH and I will be on the Noordam from Sept 5-15th. I am trying to put a great group together!! The group is listed on Romeinlimo.com for Sept 6th. If anyone would like to join us we are looking for 6 others to have a private unique experience in Florence/Pisa.

 

:)Happy Sailing see you in Europe!!!

 

 

Shopping... well, the Roll Call is certainly the place you should post first. But you can try posting it on the Europe boards, or the Holland site itself. Just be prepared for everyone to tell you that you should post on your Roll Call. One of the things I do is I make sure I post a tour opening spot on each page of the Roll Call. There are many people that will only read the last page of the Roll Call and won't bother to back through different pages. Make sure you keep the activity up on the Roll Call and your tour posting on each and every page. I've never had a problem filling spots when I do this. Also, the more you keep the Roll Call near the top of the Noordam board, the better visibility you'll have also.

 

Good luck! They are great tours!

[bam1958]

We had David as our driver/guide in Pisa/Florence in early July. He was fabulous! I could go on with multiple adjectives, but suffice to say we couldn't have had a better day and it was all due to David! I will always use romeinlimo in the future! :)

[bellavita1]

We had a wonderful time on our Mediterranean cruise. I booked with Rome in Limo over a year prior to our voyage. Jany answered all my questions and believe me there were many in a swift matter. We booked 4 private tours for six people. Florence and San Gimigiano our driver was Laura, Rome Highlights with Alberto, Pompei Sorrento and Positano with Stefano and The Godfther Country with Titsiana. We recieved a discount for multiple tour bookings which was great and a additional discount for prepaying. They were running a special for the holidays at the time. When prepaying they had made a mistake and accidently overcharged us. Jany apoligized and promissed we would be paid back in cash when we arrived in Rome. When we got there we were given a envelope with our cash back upon arrival. Rome in Limo is a very honest trustworthy company they take great pride in their customer care and service. Our drivers were all excellent. We especially like Laura in Florence and Stefano in Sorrento. A great big shout out to Stefano and Congrats!! on his upcomming wedding in August which he kindly invited us too he also gave us a bottle of limonciello as a token of his gratitude. The tours that we picked all were very enjoyable. We would definitly use Rome in Limo again. Happy Sailing!!!!!:)

 

One last note....

We also booked a private guide for the Vatican, Valaria and private guide for Pompei, Patricia. They were both very very good. Our trip was top notch and it was worth every penny. We got to relax and enjoy as much as you could enjoy in a one day port experience.

 

THANKS TO ROME IN LIMO!!!!!!!!

[TINK458]

Anyone who is unsure of booking a tour with a private company (as opposed to excursions via the cruise line) should try RIL, you will not only like it, you will love it!

 

I was with two other couples for our tour of Rome June 26; Sergio was our driver, Giulia (Julia) was our Vatican guide, and both were superb. We had a fantastic day, and prepurchasing our tickets as recommended on the RIL website was the right way to do it.

 

Sergio understood we didn't want a heavy lunch on such a hot day, found us a place that had fantastic paninis and then we ate under the trees at a park the locals call Orange Park - - what a view! Our afternoon snack was the best gelato of our trip, that's for sure!

 

Giulia was very knowledgable, and helped us find little corners of space where she could give stop and give us her insight into so many little things, both in the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.

 

I'd recommend RIL to anyone looking for a fun tour experience, with value for your money!

[Gracie115]

Anyone who is unsure of booking a tour with a private company (as opposed to excursions via the cruise line) should try RIL, you will not only like it, you will love it!

 

I was with two other couples for our tour of Rome June 26; Sergio was our driver, Giulia (Julia) was our Vatican guide, and both were superb. We had a fantastic day, and prepurchasing our tickets as recommended on the RIL website was the right way to do it.

 

Sergio understood we didn't want a heavy lunch on such a hot day, found us a place that had fantastic paninis and then we ate under the trees at a park the locals call Orange Park - - what a view! Our afternoon snack was the best gelato of our trip, that's for sure!

 

Giulia was very knowledgable, and helped us find little corners of space where she could give stop and give us her insight into so many little things, both in the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.

 

I'd recommend RIL to anyone looking for a fun tour experience, with value for your money!

 

 

OH! Isn't Orange Park just wonderful! We went there last year with Nicola of RIL...:)

[MJM814]

We booked RIL and Laura was a driver and guide. She was absolutely the best. She took us to Volterra and showed us around. It was where she had gone to high school and she was quite knowledgeable. Afterwards we did a farmhouse lunch that was the highlight of our cruise. We also stopped and took photos with the sunflowers.

 

If you are arriving into Livorno, ask for Laura!

[Burchrod]

We recieved a discount for multiple tour bookings which was great and a additional discount for prepaying. They were running a special for the holidays at the time. When prepaying they had made a mistake and accidently overcharged us. Jany apoligized and promissed we would be paid back in cash when we arrived in Rome. When we got there we were given a envelope with our cash back upon arrival.

 

Wait a minute. You were able to prepay? We are booked with them in three ports and were told our only option was to pay in cash or Euro traveller's checks at the end of each day's trip.

 

I would love to prepay and not have to worry about carrying that much cash or finding ATMs!!