copman

We were on the inaugural cruise in one of the two Captains suites and it was the worst cruise I ever had with Carnival.  In fact, when we got back home I cancelled two of our upcoming cruises on the Radiance in 2022 and 2023.

When in the dedicated bedroom of our cabin, we could hear the guests in the adjacent cabin talking like they were our cabin.  Kept us awake at night and we had to end up sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room portion of the cabin to avoid the noise.  Additionally, no hot water in either bathroom, and the balcony door whistled all night long sounding like a dying animal. 

The toilet in one of the bathrooms gurgled all night and day and the closet sliding doors fit horribly in the opening and could barely be slid open or closed. 

Finally, one electric window shade on the two large front windows did not work and had a cloth curtain installed over it instead.  Of course, it would take a person about 8" in diameter to close the curtain since one has to wedge themselves between the sofabed and the windows to close the curtain. 

Clearly, the rehab ignored many cabin issues with this ship.  However, the paint on the outside of the ship looked good. 

We too, like many others have used JB many times and never been disappointed. Normally, you will get others to join your tours, but if not JB will work with you give you a good deal beyond what is often listed for the prices.  Key to getting others to join is communication of Cruise Critic or other social media sites.

We used them several times and also thought they were terrific.

 

The good news is that between them and two or three others often recommended on this board (romainlimo seems to be the most often recommended) there are a lot of good choices out there.

 

Keith

Never used romainlimo, so I have no knowledge of them. But I agree that Joe B. is very good.

I agree ... my family and friends all used italytoursharing.com also known as Joe Bananas. They honestly were the highlight of our vacation. We are using them again when we return. Our favorite tour was out of Livorno where they took us to Pisa, Florence and the Chianti region. We ended up buying a case of wine from the vineyard we visited and had it shipped home.

We bought wine as well and had it shipped home. We have used Joe Bananas many times for our tours and love their services. We have two cruises coming up in June 2018 and have them reserved for our tours again. :)

We just took the night tour of Rome through joe banana limos also known as italytoursharing.com. I highly recommend this if you are staying in Rome or your ship is docked for the night. It was so scenic and romantic that my son proposed to his gal on this tour!! So happy!!!

 

Thank you again to italytoursharing.com

 

They have always had the top notch drivers/ guides❤️❤️❤️

I certainly agree with Brenda. We have used ItalyTourSharing.com several times in Italy and they are absolutely the best in not only prices but services as well. We are using them for two upcoming cruises in 2018. Happy to answer any questions one might have.

If anyone is considering using Joe Bananas for a private tour, I can highly recommend them. The drivers and guides they use are excellent. The simple touches like water and candies in the car were much appreciated. Being somewhat limited in how far I can walk, I really enjoyed being taken literally to within footsteps of most sights.

I agree. They are the best in my opinion. We parked right next to the Pantheon in Rome while we toured it. They stopped and bought us lemon ice in Naples and provided excellent narrations for all our tours. We used them several times in Rome, Florence, Pisa, and the entire Naples area.

We have used Joe Bananas for all ports in Italy and loved their services. The drivers are very professional and knowledgeable. Several tours to chose from for each port and they can be tailored for groups of 2-16 or even more if desired. We used to only book tours with our cruise company, but stopped doing the big-bus tours after using Joe Bananas. Cannot say enough good things about them.

Hello, my family are making our own way to Pompeii and want a guide to bring the our visit alive!! From searching internet found "Pompei guide" and they will arrange a guide for us for euro 130 for hours. Can any experts advise if you can arrange a guide on the day and is it easy to arrange with others to share the cost?? Thanks

 

 

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We arranged a guide through Joe Bananas as we toured with them and he was great. It cost us 100 euro for the guide. Our tour group was a shared tour group of 6 persons with Joe Bananas (Italytoursharing.com).

We have used Joe Bananas Limo service several times for our tours in Italy and they are indeed as many have stated, great. The drivers are very knowledgeable and courteous. Nothing but the best. We are using them again for our upcoming HAL cruise in June of 2018. They have lots of choices and options for the size of a tour group. We actually are going to do a 2-person tour with them in 2018 and looking forward to it.

We have previously used RomeLimousinePlus for our Rome transfers and been pleased with their service, but something funky is going on with their website, emails weren't answered and there has been only one recent review of them that has me looking for an alternative.

 

Has anyone used Bob's Limos?

http://www.romelimousines.com/shuttle-services/civitavecchia/?ins=ok

 

The prices are very reasonable and reviews on TA are good. Looking for opinions from cruisers out of Civitavecchia, thanks!

You might want to check with Joe Bananas Limos. I know the name seems odd, but the prices cannot be beat and the services are great. We have used them for all our cruises for Rome, Naples, Sorrento, and Livorno.

I can only echo the same comments of Brenda on italytoursharing. We have used their services several times and twice for Naples. They were absolutely great!. Paulo our first tour driver for Joe Bananas Iimos stopped and bought us drinks and snacks and was very knowledgeable about the area. We did Sorrento, Pompeii, and Positano on our tour with lunch at La Taggliata. It was great as others have noted.

But do they provided a GUIDED, SMALL-GROUP tour -- which is what the OP is asking for?

 

My understanding is that they provide a DRIVER who may provide some info but cannot go with you into the site. And if they are already in Rome, where getting around is so easy, what is the point of having a driver but not a guide??

You can have a guide as well. We had one in Pompeii with a Ph.D and he was great. Drivers in Italy are not legally allowed to be guides, but my experience is the better drivers are often serving as a guide anyway. The cost of our guide in Pompeii was and additional 100 euros. There were 6 of us and we felt it was a true bargain. Also, I think it is fair to understand that many smaller companies will state they have Driver/Guides, but again they cannot legally do both.

I am just simply doing as you, recommending a company we have thoroughly found to be excellent.

I got the feeling the OP is looking for a small group tour with a guide to be taken while staying in Rome.

 

NOT the kind of thing one would recommend a service like Joe Bananas for....

 

Perhaps OP will come back and clarify, in case I am wrong.

You can do 2 person tours with Joe B. or as many people as one likes. They really will provide whatever services anyone doing Italy likes. As I mentioned we have used them several times and will be using them for 2-person tours in 2018. And you can skip the Coliseum and tailor the tour anyway one desires. On our last tour we had a person who collects "Hard Rock" pins and the driver graciously stopped to allow her to purchase her pin.

Joe Bananas Limo is a great service for any Italy ports. We have used them for several Italy ports. They are inexpensive and their drivers are the best. Our last tour to Rome in 2016, we saw things that I did not even know existed in our previous three trips.

I put a Carnival gift card in my cart on AARP and it said taxes would be added at checkout. I did not realize we have to pay sales tax on gift cards. If my state tax is 7.5% that makes my savings only 2.5% instead of 10%?

I never had to pay taxes on mine and I have purchased them while living in both Arizona and California.

They do charge .59 per card for delivery, but that is a small amount in regard to the savings. I try to buy $500 cards as you only pay .59 delivery versus 5-$100 cards at .59 each.:)

Just got some more cards today as well. 5:07PM PDT

Thanks, grabbed a couple this evening...

I got a couple more $500 today as well. So far, we have saved $820 using the cards. Anytime one can get a 10 percent reduction in a cruise, it is surely worth it in my opinion. :)

AARP cards are back today!... Both $100 and $500 as of 7am PDT

The $500 Carnival Cards are showing as "sold out" on AARP today... :(

Yep, Just bought three as of 8:30Am PDT>

We are now 70 days out from our cruise and Shoguns and Cagney's are not available for booking on our July 6th cruise. NCL says Shoguns will be free and that Cagney's changes are still not known to the Reps.

At any rate, NCL is advising that neither specialty restaurant will be able to be booked online for any cruises after July 3rd, which is why they are not showing up on our reservation.

We booked more dates for Le Bistro just to cover us in case we cannot get into Cagney's once on the ship. However, if they are going to charge us Al a Carte which is what the latest rumor is for Cagney's ... we are not interested in booking it anyway.

Thanks again to all for the information. I knew my cruise critic friends would have the most reliable information.

FYI...there is no place called "Shoguns".

Has the name been changed?

This is what appears on the website:

Shogun Asian restaurant on Norwegian Spirit is located on Deck 7. Shogun is your place for sophisticated Asian cuisine. Miso Soup, Peking Duck Crepes, and Mandarin Prawn Salad are just a few of the starters. There are noodle and rice selections including Wok dishes, Pad Thai, and Lo Mein. Seared Ahi Tuna, Szechuan Beef, Spicy Seafood Hot Pots, Tofu and Vegetables, and Chicken with Snow Peas number among main entree selections, but you can also opt for individual entree choices such as Seafood Diablo and Chicken Yakisoba. Norwegian Spirit's Shogun restaurant has teppanyaki entree selections and Ginza Entree combinations. For dessert, there's ginger crème brulee, Thai Banana Pancakes, Green Tea Ice Cream, and Passion Fruit Cheesecake. There's a 15USD charge per person to dine at Shogun. According to guests, that surcharge is worth every penny!

There have been a few be threads about Cagney's reservations in the last week or so. Some reported they called and were told it was a computer glitch and whoever they spoke to made the reservation for them. They posted the number for Dinner Reservations as 866-625-1167 option #1. You might give it a try. NCL call center is notorious for getting things wrong. I can't think of any reason it would benefit NCL to have all Cagney's reservations made on board. Unless....they plan on raising the cover charge...again...and don't want to have to grandfather all those lower cover charges made pre announcement in.

I sure hope that is not the case either, but I did just learn that Shoguns is now going to be complimentary on the Spirit by mid-April..so I wonder if the price for Cagney's is going to increase and that might the reason for the online delay for the reservations. Thanks for your input, I do appreciate it.

Thanks for the information. I suspected it could be an issue typical of NCL right-hand not knowing what the left-hand was doing in terms of the reps, and now it sounds like that might be the case. I will keep a close watch on the website to see if it shows up soon. (even though the rep told me there was no need to do that, as it would not be showing up).

Can anyone advise, since we do have the ultimate dining package, how does the website compensate for the typical cover charge. Meaning, I am not excited about paying for the reservations and then having them reimbursed back to a credit card once onboard the ship... if that is what they do?