Which tour service?

[Susan3235]

I see so many services....Rome in limo,limo in Rome, driver guide service, and many others...They all seem OK and the prices are about the same. Any testimonials out there to help me make our decision. Cruising Oct. 11 on Voyager of the Seas and would like to book a 3 trip package in Italy. Thanks,

We just got back from a 12 night Mediterranean / Greek Isles cruise aboard the Brilliance of the Seas. I booked 6 private tours during the trip for my group of 10, including Florence/Pisa, Rome, and Naples, using a variety of Tour Operators that I had read about on cruisecritic.com. BY FAR, our favorite tour guide was Walter in Florence/Pisa. The Tour Operator was driverinrome (Daniele Melaragno). We actually had 2 vehicles and our 2nd driver was Georgio, and he was good too. Walter spoke fluent English, was very personable, and had a wealth of knowledge. I think this was our most expensive tour, but we all agreed it was worth it. I'm not sure it would have been possible to request the same guide in Rome and Naples, but I would have! The Mercedes mini vans were clean, comfortable, and their driving was excellent (I still recommend seat belts for all passengers).

 

We did not enjoy Rino from italylimousine.com in Rome. The group complained so much that I emailed them to ensure we did not get him again in Naples. While the drivers we had in Naples were better, we just didn't get as much out of the tours booked through italylimousine as we did from Walter (see above).

 

Both Tour Operators made it clear that there was a distinction between officially licensed guides and drivers. Driverinrome stated "English speaking driving guides have been trained to offer our clients a nice overview with information regarding the Major highlights" whereas italylimousine said their drivers were also English speakers and "excursion trained". To me, that translates into the same level of service. However, as I said before, Walter was far better than any of the others in any of the countries. Perhaps he just excels at his job.

 

I think my group would agree that even the worst private tour was still better than the tours offered by the ship. Splitting the cost amongst a group of 10 made it affordable, we were able to see more (less time getting on/off bus), there was less walking for our physically impaired folks (smaller vehicles can get closer than large tour bus), and we were our own "party". I should have been more assertive at times...next time I will be.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Texasbloom]

We had Walter (spelled Valter), too! From driverinrome, in Florence. Our best tour guide on our BOS cruise as well. We had the same company in Rome but different guides and they were good, too. Walter has to be the best out there though. He took us to the best authentic Italian restaurant and to the best gelato shop. Walter knows such interesting facts and is so personable.

 

Wonderful company (driverinrome). In Rome we had Flora and she was great, too.

[olechka]

We used RomeinLimo.com a few weeks ago in all 3 ports, great company and great service.

 

For Rome, Mauro was amazing, he's been in the industry for 30 years or so, told us so much about Rome, we loved it. Drivers at other locations were ok, but Mauro really stands out. Also, highly recommend going with a company that will book Vatican and Pompeii guides for you, it's really worth it.

[tkb]

We just got back from our cruise on the Noordam and wanted to recommend two EXCELLENT private tour guides (one in Livorno/Florence and the other in Naples/Pompeii/Amalfi Coast). We found both of these guides simply by reading reviews online, so we wanted to add in our endorsements for both. You cannot go wrong!

 

Naples: Tony de Simone (www.amalfi-drive.com) was our tour guide in Naples and this was the perfect way to end the cruise. From minute we met Tony at the pier, we knew it was going to be a good day, as he was friendly, easygoing, and was a great driver and guide. We first went to Pompeii where Tony had arranged for a private tour of the site with a licensed guide (Franco, who was excellent as well!). We got there quickly and before the crowds had arrived and saw parts of Pompeii we had not seen on previous visits. After leaving Pompeii we headed for the Amalfi Coast. Tony’s driving was flawless, even as we climbed higher into winding mountain roads, and he was always offering to stop whenever we wanted a picture (we wanted quite a few). Next it was time for lunch and this may have been one of the most memorable of our cruise. Tony took us to a restaurant perched very far up in the mountains overlooking Positano. We had a table at the windows with

unbelievable views of the town below and the beautiful blue water. We probably would still be raving about the lunch even if the food had been bad, but it was amazing. Fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, and a platter of grilled veggies (for the vegetarian in our group). Tony was very accommodating in helping all the picky eater sin my family get what they wanted. After lunch Tony drove us right down to Positano where we walked around for a bit before heading back for a quick stop at Herculaneum. This was the last day of the cruise but we all really felt like we ended on a high note. We have not stopped talking about Tony and the great day we had!

 

Livorno: P. Guido Sarzani (www.tuscanyinmypocket.com) was our tour guide in Florence and really made the city come to life. His family has lived in Florence for hundreds of years, so we cannot imagine anyone knowing the city better than him. But even better than the interesting information Guido provided us was the way in which he delivered it. He is surely one of the friendliest and most entertaining guides out there and extremely enthusiastic. He was waiting for us at the pier at 8 am and then we made a quick stop at Pisa. As he would do for the rest of the day, Guido somehow managed to park about 20 feet away from where we were going (in this case the leaning tower). Then we drove to Florence where we stopped to see the David (again Guido managed to park about 20 feet from the museum) and the main sights of Florence Several members of our family had been to Florence before but it is hard to describe how much better it is with a great guide! For lunch

Guido arranged a private wine tasting right in Florence at a great wine bar—the food and wine were great and we all ate and drank a little too much. This was our first port on the cruise and Guido definitely set the bar high—everything went very smoothly and the day was better than we could have imagined. We will now always hire private guides when going on cruises—the price was very reasonable (there were 6 of us) and we saw so much more than those on cruise tours. In Florence, the tour buses cannot pull into the city so those on the cruise bus tours had to walk nearly an hour to get into the city (and had to walk a similar amount in Pisa). I was embarrassed to admit that we had walked about 3 feet!

[cruisinjules3]

Hi - We used Driver in Rome for a Florence & Pisa tour on 6/12/09. We had a group of 6 adults, 3 children, and 1 baby. Their quote was less expensive for our group than any other companies who quoted. The driver and an English-speaking guide (Samantha) were waiting for us at the port first thing in the morning, and had the car seat ready & installed for the baby. They took us to Florence first, where we saw David in the Accademia museum, the Duomo, ate some gelato, Ponte Vecchio, etc. We did miss Santa Croce, which was a disappointment to some in our group. We missed it because we agreed to do lunch & a wine tasting at a winery in Tuscany. While the lunch & experience were fantastic, we didn't realize it would be so far away. It took another hour just to get there. After the lunch (which really did turn out to be nice - amazing homemade lasagna!), we drove another long, long route to Pisa. We had only 30 minutes to see Pisa, but that's all you need. We got back to the ship around 5:30. Driver in Rome was a great company, and we recommend them for future cruisers. Danielle, the owner, is great to work with and replies to emails promptly (given the time difference). Oh - and we saw our driver again in Civitavecchia (Rome), where he was waiting to transfer another group into the city. So I'm sure they are good to use in Rome as well!

[cyyc]

We used Fabrizio for three Italian days on our cruise July 2009. We

had a group of people in his van. Fabrizio was very responsive to

emails and inquiries. He was always punctual and tried to please

everyone in the group. He was passionate about showing us his

country. He managed to drive us as close as possible to every site so

that we minimized the walking time and maximized on sight seeing. He

knew every little lane ways to get in and out. He also knew the best

timing to see various sites. In fact, he got us into the St Peter's

Basilica with a very short 10 minute line up. Another example was the

coliseum when we walked past a 45 min line up of people. Will

definitely recommend him to anyone interested in seeing Italy. Why

would anyone book any cruiseline excursions when you can have Fabrizio

show you around.

 

His email is info@allarounditaly.net

[rowlady]

I also want to add my 2 cents.....We (a family of 4) just returned from a 2 week cruise through the Meditterean and used RomeinLimo for both Florence/Pisa and Rome. I cannot say enough good things about their services. Both tour guides (loved Duman) were amazingly informative and fun and knew exactly how to keep us interested. Whatever question we threw at them they were able to answer. I would not hesitate to book with them again whether visitng via cruise ship or airplane. They helped make the most of our short time in these very important ports by knowing exactly when to visit each site to get the smaller crowds and the cooler temps, etc. Their cars/vans are able to get much closer to the important sites than big busses can. Rome was defintely built way before cars were ever dreamed of and the streets are incredibly narrow. It was money well spent and I cannot say enough good things to say about them.

 

Debbie

[SOOKIENY]

Used Romeinlimo in May, in Livorno and Rome. Would use them again in a heart beat. Can't say enough about them. They were great!

[canadian cruisehounds]

I was looking for a tour from LIvorno port to Florence and maybe a brief stop at Pisa. Papillon Service has a nice website and their prices are a bit lower than Romeinlimo, which has gotten a lot of great reviews. Just wanted to hear from anyone familiar with this other company!

 

THanks

[Peteymil]

We used RIL 3 times on our June cruise. Each guide was wonderful, and made our tours very special.

[travelgrandpa]

Do you have the website for Driver in Rome? Thank you.

 

We used Driver in Rome in 2004 and will be using them again this year. They provided transportation to/from the airport, to/from Civitavecchia and local tours of Rome. They also offer tours to other parts of Italy from Rome. We were driven around in a Mercedes and our driver opened the door for my wife on every stop. On our previous trip our time in Rome was short but we were amazed at how much we were able to see without feeling rushed. We highly recommend Daniele and his company.

[cantravel]

We used Driver Guide Service on 5/28/09 and they were excellent. We had Ivano as our driver and his knowledge and passion for Rome made our visit very memorable. The company is family owned and operated (I believe the website says since 1880) and Ivano shared many amusing stories about his grandfather and the early days of the business in Rome. I highly recommend them and wished we had used them when we stopped in Florence.

Jackie

 

We just returned from the NCL Jade tour on July 26 and can endorse this post -- a group of us (organized on the roll call) organized three vans for 21 people through Driver Guide Service (http://www.driverguideservice.com/) and were more than satisfied. All three vans and drivers were at the dock waiting to pick us up right after we docked and we headed off for an incredible day. We saw many of the major sites in Rome, and the driver was flexible enough that we could change the itinerary to a reasonable degree by spending more or less time in a venue as we preferred. For someone who had never been to Rome, it was a very special experience.

 

Passengers on all three vans were very happy with their drivers, who spoke fluent English and were extremely knowledgeable about Rome and its history (but not boring -- our 10 and 15 year olds were intrigued by the stories as well.) And he kept up this running commentary as he skilfully drove us through Rome's impossibly busy and confusing streets. We had lunch at a lovely restaurant near the centre of the city (authentic Italian pizza and a cold beer sure tasted good!) which was much more reasonably priced than many of the restaurants that we spotted in that area. They also phoned ahead so that our meal was ready when we arrived, so precious time was not wasted waiting for food.

 

At the Vatican, we were able to skip the very long line for tickets and our group of 7 were taken through by a very knowledgeable Vatican guide. He had a way of explaining the Vatican and its traditions in a way that even a non-Catholic like myself could appreciate this magnificant venue.

 

Not only was this private tour less than half the cost of the cruise excursion, our small van could get to places that the large cruise bus could not enter (which meant the passengers often had to walk long distances)

 

Also, the driver was very experienced with the time restrictions for cruise passengers, and we were delivered back to the ship with time to spare. The cruise lines try to scare you away from using private tours, but in the case of this long-established company, we got a safe and comfortable tour that was far superior to that provided by the ship. I would definitely recommend this company to any cruisers visiting Rome!

[boiledham]

We just returned from the May 22nd Brilliance Med cruise and we used Italylimousine.com.We have nothing to compare to,but we had a good experience.We used them for Florence,Rome and the Amalfi Coast Drive.All 3 were nice,professional and good and careful drivers.I think it was a good decision to use the private tours for the 2 of us.

 

 

I too used Italylimousine.com. They were running a special the month of March, so I booked all three ports & received a second discount for our July 3-15 on the the Ruby. They were terrific. All were on time to pick us up each day, and got us back to the ship in a very timely manner. Mario was our Amalfi Coast/Pompei (Vincent was our private guide in Pompei..great as well). Marco was our driver for Rome and Artan took us to Florence and Pisa. All were quite knowlegable and had very personable. The vans were top notch. They each took us to great little places for lunch which were reasonably priced. There were 7 of us each day. I made the reservations based on the desires of my family of 3 and then posted on roll call where two other couples joined us. We had a blast sharing the adventure! Have fun.:D

[maryann ns]

http://www.driverinrome.com/

[lhall85917]

Has anyone used or know about the company "driver guide service"? I see Rome in Limo is popular but this guy has been very responsive...Cruising Voyager of the Seas Oct 11th. Thanks, Steve

We booked this with others on our roll call in July and it was AMAZING! Ivano was our driver and guide and he made sure we saw as much as possible starting with the Colisseum and ending up at the Vatican. His prices include your Vatican guide and our guide was incredibly knowledgeable. I would highly recommend contacting them for your group.

[lhall85917]

We just returned from the NCL Jade tour on July 26 and can endorse this post -- a group of us (organized on the roll call) organized three vans for 21 people through Driver Guide Service (http://www.driverguideservice.com/) and were more than satisfied. All three vans and drivers were at the dock waiting to pick us up right after we docked and we headed off for an incredible day. We saw many of the major sites in Rome, and the driver was flexible enough that we could change the itinerary to a reasonable degree by spending more or less time in a venue as we preferred. For someone who had never been to Rome, it was a very special experience.

 

Passengers on all three vans were very happy with their drivers, who spoke fluent English and were extremely knowledgeable about Rome and its history (but not boring -- our 10 and 15 year olds were intrigued by the stories as well.) And he kept up this running commentary as he skilfully drove us through Rome's impossibly busy and confusing streets. We had lunch at a lovely restaurant near the centre of the city (authentic Italian pizza and a cold beer sure tasted good!) which was much more reasonably priced than many of the restaurants that we spotted in that area. They also phoned ahead so that our meal was ready when we arrived, so precious time was not wasted waiting for food.

 

At the Vatican, we were able to skip the very long line for tickets and our group of 7 were taken through by a very knowledgeable Vatican guide. He had a way of explaining the Vatican and its traditions in a way that even a non-Catholic like myself could appreciate this magnificant venue.

 

Not only was this private tour less than half the cost of the cruise excursion, our small van could get to places that the large cruise bus could not enter (which meant the passengers often had to walk long distances)

 

Also, the driver was very experienced with the time restrictions for cruise passengers, and we were delivered back to the ship with time to spare. The cruise lines try to scare you away from using private tours, but in the case of this long-established company, we got a safe and comfortable tour that was far superior to that provided by the ship. I would definitely recommend this company to any cruisers visiting Rome!

Oops, Nancy, I didn't read your response before posting but I totally agree with everything you said!

[lhall85917]

Thanks Jackie....We booked with Driver Guide Service...How did you pay the guy? Having trouble as to how to pay the guy...I don't think he will take a credit card. What did you guys do...Thanks, Steve

I'm not Jackie, but we paid with euros at the end of our tour. There were several different groups together and each of us individually paid our portion of the tour cost.

[flaming red]

Hi Cruiserfan007, we also are on the same cruise, i was unable to locate any others on the roll call, good to see we won't be the only people sailing on that date. Did you say you booked driver guide service, and if so are they picking you up/dropping you off from the ship? Can you also tell me where I can locate the costs, went to their website, not posted that I could see without contacting them.:confused:

[dck]

I have just came back from a cruise to Italy in July 26 on the NCL GEM and i used yourtourinitaly the owner is Aldo . We used him three times once in Naples, once in Rome and once in Florence and i recommend him and his drivers . They did an excellent job, they picked us up at the pier at 7:45 and we returned at 5:00 pm.They are very flexible and will do whatever you want to do the price was 520 euro for the day and we had a Mercedes van that fits 7 people .if you have any questions you can email me.

Dave

[luckypuppy]

We recently returned from a cruise that took us to Rome and Florence. In both of those cities we toured with Driver in Rome and were very pleased with the company. Our drivers were Roberto and Daniele and they were both delightful. There were four of us touring together and the cost of the private tours was less than the cost of the ship's tours. I would highly recommend Driver in Rome for excellent, courteous and interesting tours of the many cities in Italy where they offer their tours. If we ever return to Italy I will use Driver In Rome for any tours that I take. They were so very helpful during the pre-cruise booking procedure and very patiently answered all the many questions I had about the tours. It was our first experience using a private tour company and it was so easy. They had been recommended to us by friends and I would like to recommend them to you as you plan your tours in Italy.

[jlijny]

We just got back from our 12nt Med Cruise, and used Romeinlimo for our Florence and Rome tours. They are FANTASTIC!!!! They are also reliable, knowledgeable, friendly, etc. etc. I am sorry that I hadn't booked them for our Naples tour, too. Jany, who organizes the drivers and guides is on top of all details, and follows up on everything. Our ship (Celebrity Summit) was scheduled to dock in Livorno. However, at 8:00 pm the night before, we were told that due to safety issues, we would not be able to dock there, and the ship would have to be tendered about an hour away. I panicked since we had scheduled Romeinlimo to pick us up at 7:30 am in Livorno. In an attempt to help those passengers like myself, Celebrity placed calls to all the private tour companies alerting them of the change. At 8:00pm most companies were closed. However, at Romeinlimo, Jany answered the phone, and told Celebrity that she was aware of the change and had already alerted her drivers and guides to meet us at the new stop. I am not sure if the other private tour companies did the same, but those of us who had tours with Romeinlimo, were relieved.

[tamarackcabin]

I see so many services....Rome in limo,limo in Rome, driver guide service, and many others...They all seem OK and the prices are about the same. Any testimonials out there to help me make our decision. Cruising Oct. 11 on Voyager of the Seas and would like to book a 3 trip package in Italy. Thanks,

 

We used Presto Tours for a early-morning visit to the Vatican. Our guide, Ryan, was excellent. We used Through Eternity for a tour of Rome Forum/Coliseum and came away disappointed. That tour wasn't very well-organized and seemed rather superficial. We should have done it on our own with a Rick Steves audio guide.

[peppyw]

I'm still wondering which to do? Romein LImo with a guide is more expensive than the ship.I know yo usee more with the private but with the ship you do get a guide, Romeinlimo it is extra. Right? Help!

[hummy0605]

Has anyone had any dealings with A P Tours? Had a response from them about Amalfi Coast excursion and they seem okay but just wanted some feedback please.

Thanks in advance :)

[CintiPam]

Has anyone had any dealings with A P Tours? Had a response from them about Amalfi Coast excursion and they seem okay but just wanted some feedback please.

Thanks in advance :)

 

I have read several positive reviews of APTours by frequent poster texancruzer from her cruise last November. Definitely try the search function.