happy1000

2 hours ago, ValerieJo said:

@happy1000  I just booked the Southern Tour with Beyond the Beach today for our cruise in January.  I'm glad you enjoyed it.  Can you tell me if you needed Euro's to shop in Martinique or with US dollars accepted?  Thank you.

I booked a private tour & my BTB contact was Leslie who setup a website link for each couple in my group to make their payment in advance. The price was based on Euros, thus the credit card transaction made the conversions to US. Last Jan the Euro & USD were almost equal. If you're booking a private tour, request Joshua as your driver/guide who spoke excellent English. Not only was he very knowledgeable, he had a great personality & we enjoyed the tour with him. I can't speak for the other couples, but we tipped him with USD.

We highly recommend BTB & Leslie was easy to deal with via email & helped us create a custom itinerary.

My post was just a review from a cruise completed last week. FYI as recommendation for others for their future plans. Tour company is Beyond the Beach.

Our small private tour was great. It was similar to their Southern Martinique tour, but customized with the help of Leslie. She provided booking links to each of my tour members for payment. Joshua was a great driver/guide & his English was very easy to understand. His narrative of Martinique & historical points of interest made it even better. At the end of our tour, he stopped at his "special location" that no one else does for a beautiful view that you must see. Hopefully, we hope to visit Martinique again to see their Northern Martinique tour.   

We just completed a visit to Puerto Chacabuco on the Royal Princess. We booked with enPatagonia Tours & had a fantastic tour. Yes it rained a little as expected, but the best part of the tour was a visit to a small Chilean farm that was hosted by Don Carlos, Senora Juani & family. The lunch & Chilean dance show was fantastic..they even encourage the members of my independent tour to join in with the for a dance. This was NOT your typical excursion that has the ships' large buses arrive with hundreds of people....32 people max with 2 vehicles (14 & 18). Create your own group or book with others. Our tour was the 5 & 1/2 to 6 hr tour with plenty of time to get back to the ship in time. See their website: www.enpatagoniatours.com. EVERYONE in our tour group said this was the BEST excursion on our 2019 South America cruise. Their hospitality, food, drink & show was something that we'll always remember. This is truly the "diamond in the rough" that you won't forget.

We just completed the Royal Princess 2019 SA cruise and booked Patrick Watts on his Volunteer Point tour. He was HIGHLY recommended and this was an unforgettable excursion...3 species of penguins that included the Gentoo's, Magelleanic & King. Its known to have the worlds largest King population. We booked more that a year in advance and was lucky to be one of the early birds. They say its a 50/50 chance to have your ship get into port for a tender operation...we were one of the lucky ones and had an UNBELIEVABLE experience, especially with the Kings that a comfortable around humans. Patrick's information noted the 4x4 trip over some rough terrain, but it was very manageable without any problems. His 4x4 vehicles caravan together in the event of any problems...there's no worries about an independent tour & getting back to the ship in plenty of time. We had about an extra 1.5 hrs of shopping in the dock area. this is a MUST DO adventure.

I recommend Madi Lang at Buenos Aries Cultural Concierge for an excursion...single day or multiple as there's lots to do in BA.

www.BACulturalConcierge.com

Do the same comments apply to Moto Mahana @ Taha'a (i.e. no chairs, bathrooms, distance & time to ship, etc.)?

TY

TY for your reply...great feedback.

We're sailing on a 2017 Society & Cook Islands itinerary which includes an overnight stay in Bora Bora. Thus, we're considering appropriate shore excursions plus their pvt island for multiple days. My Q is: does PG use their pvt island on both days or just 1 day? If its just 1 day, will it be day 1 or day 2?

TY

Those that did positano, Pompeii and Sorrento where did you eat for lunch and what was the cost roughly pp?

iL Leonne Rosse Ristorante Pizzeria was in Sortento & moderately price (approx 10 Euro per menu choice). Excellent food.

Hello!

Did you do a wine tasting in San Gimignano? We have them booked for October doing the Florence/San Gimignano with a wine tasting. It was going to be at Tenuta Torciano but Jany suggested Tenuta Casanova close by in Chianti. I'd love to hear about the timing of your tour - how long in Florence, how long in San G and what you did, etc!

Driver (John) offered wine tasting stop, but group (8) decision to pass on this option. Our tour was on a Sunday (Mothers Day) & Florence was the 1st stop. Churches closed to tours for regular services, thus only viewed Duomo from outside. Great view of Florence from Michelangelo Park. Beware of Accademia guards watching for camera photos of David. They're very strict. Shopping at open area ok, but better near bridge. Great shopping at San G w/ guide recommendation for best ice cream that was very good. I wish I had done the walk up the tower for photos, but you'd have skip some shopping to do. Timing ok w/ 1/2 day at each location. Might want to ask re/ how much time for wine tasting stop. Jany was the best for prompt responses to my many Q's.

Hello happy, where did you eat lunch in Naples? We have the same tour booked. Did you have enough time?

Lunch at il Leonne Rosse Ristorante Pizzeria & was excellent. Great menu w/ pizzia & pasta choices. Best pizzia that I had anywhere on cruise. Everyone was more than happy. Location in the city w/ mostly locals. Driver was Giavanni & he was from the Sorrento area. He mentioned that this is a regular stop for RIL. Plenty of time for lunch & had approx 45 mins for shopping too. However, Positano was the best. Make sure you walk all the way down to the beach & great shopping along the way. Best surprise was that Giavanni stopped along the way & opened a bottle of a sparkling red wine & everyone had a small toast to a great tour. He was very knowledgeable, funny & great to be with. More than enough time for everything.

We just completed 3 great tours w/ RIL in Naples, Rome & Livorno. Their contact (Jany) was very responsive to all (many) my Q's. Their tour drivers were very perfessional, knowledgeable & friendly. I'd recommend their private guides at both Pompeii & Vatican. We were 1st timers & the guides were a definite plus to experiencing these location. We did the following tours: Naples - Pompeii, Sorrento & Positano w/ Amafli coast, Civitavecchia - Rome Highlights & Livirno -Florence & San Gimignano. Several other people/groups from our ship had high praise for all their RIL tours, as well. Their vehicles were all new & very comfortable. Our next Med trip will definitely include RIL at every port possible.