BaseballMomof4

There are a variety of tours to choose from and many of them include the Terraced Houses.  You can't go wrong with this company, they are fantastic.  If you can get Emre as your guide even better!  Enjoy!  Kusadasi was my husband's favorite place out of all of the ports we visited!!  It is a beautiful country.

3 hours ago, SharonK said:

I'm getting ready to book that one.  Thanks Baseball Mom!

It's worth it to pay for the guide in Pompeii - it's huge and it helps when someone explains what you are seeing.  Enjoy!!

10 hours ago, SharonK said:

Did you doPompeii with the Amalfi coast?  I’m looking at the Pompeii, Sorrento, and Positano excursion.

I did that one back in 2013 - it's a wonderful excursion!

On 10/6/2016 at 1:01 PM, samavarcruiser said:

This make sense, that thread was really long.

I would LOVE to hear from those who have used this company lately.

Tell me more about your day in Rome out of Civitavechia, Amalfi coast out of Salerno and Florence out of Livorno, I am planing a cruise to Italy next year and need your help.

Do you recommend a private guide for the Vatican and Herculaneum?

This is not my first cruise but have never used a private tour company in the past, just getting little old for those trains :)

Thank you in advance for all your help and recommendations.

Used them in September and they were fantastic.  Used the transport to the port from Rome, used them in Messina and also on the Amalfi Coast - Alex on the Amalfi Coast was fantastic!!  

12 minutes ago, Thatmakes7 said:

Hi there. Thanks for sharing your experience. Did they make you attend any rug/carpet or leather sales pitches? Was it optional if they did? Quite a few reviews on trip advisor have mentioned this but I don't see it as part of the itinerary on their website. Thanks in advance!

No, they do not make you go anywhere.  At the beginning of the day, they will ask if you want to go to a rug outlet or to a leather outlet.  If you say no, you don't go.  We went to an amazing leather store the first time we were in Kusadasi but this time we said we wanted to spend our time in Ephesus and the Village so that's exactly what we did.   They are not pushy about these places but will offer the option.  

Was there in September and I HIGHLY recommend Ephesus Shuttle and the tour of Ephesus and Sirince Village.  Ephesus was amazing and the views from the Sirince Village were breathtaking.  Our lunch in the village was delicious as well and there were many lovely shops.  Emre was our guide and I also HIGHLY recommend him as your guide.  Incredibly knowledgeable, fun, great sense of humor, and just an all around credit to the industry!!

Did the Ravello, Amalfi, Positano tour this September with Alex and this was definitely a highlight of our trip!

Alex is so knowledgeable of the area and really made this trip - he kept us ahead of the crowds, had great information during our rides between the towns and took us to a fantastic restaurant with incredible views!

I HIGHLY recommend this tour and if request Alex you will have a fantastic day!!

13 hours ago, Hollyann said:

Hello, Thank you very much for your review of Rome in Limo. We were thinking of booking their Post Cruise Tour that you spoke about (along with the second one as well).  I was wondering if you kept your luggage in the van for the day?  If so, did the driver stay in the van so you felt it was secure? 

Also was there a suggested itinerary at all? Or were you able to request the places that you wanted to see during the 8 hours as long as you are dropped off at your hotel by the end of the 8 hours.  Thank so much!

I have not used RIL post cruise so I can't speak from first hand experience but I will say that Jany is very responsive to emails and that they are very flexible in general.  For specific information about itinerary for the day I would definitely just send an email.  

To answer the question about leaving items in the van, while I may not have left luggage in the van, we have left personal items, purchases etc. in the van on every one of my trips with them (which is quite a few) and NEVER had any issue so yes, personal items have always been secure.  

Some tours have a specific itinerary, some do not so yes, I would take a look at what they are offering and then if there are questions just email them!  They are a great company!!

We recently traveled to Europe and found that Facebook calls through private messaging was a great alternative! There's wifi in multiple locations both on and off the ship in most ports and you can make a called through private messaging. It worked so well I never used my phone to call home.

We were considering the ship excursion “Oia on your own” but this only gives us 90 minutes in Oia. We feel we would want approx 3 hours in Oia to really get a flavour of the town and appreciate the sights over a glass of wine. Any thoughts for those who have been to Oia would be appreciated.

We just did this and truly enjoyed it. We had plenty of time to wander around, shop, take photos and sat down for coffee. We then went to Fira and took a cab to the Santo Winery for their wine tasting - FABULOUS! We had a short time in Fira after that and kind of wish we had more there.

We felt we had enough time to wander Oia and really enjoyed the winery in Fira!

Hi Baseball mom,

 

Do you remember approximately how much time you had at Xcarat? I have read the Carnival reviews and some folks say 1-1/2 hours and others say 4 hours. That’s a huge difference!

 

Just trying to figure out if it’s worth the time spent. We would really like to do 2 of the underground cenotes if possible.

 

Thanks!

That is going to depend on how much time you have in port. The ferry is about 45 minutes, and then the bus so take about 3 hours off your port time for travel and figure it out from there. We had time to snorkel the underground river and with plenty of time left over to spend time at the bar and then in the gift shop before we had to leave.

We have been to Xcaret twice and it is AWESOME! You are free to roam the park once you get there. Make sure you look up the map online so you have a general idea of where the things are that you want to do. We have done the underground river snorkel which was really cool and have seen the butterflies, Jaguar Island and the working Mayan Village among other things. Great place!

Quite obstructed. Lots of lifeboat and support structures. Balconies on Verandah deck are very narrow and small. There are glimpses around and over. Sorry. Hopefully a good price for you.

Priced lower than a balcony cabin, which is why I chose it, but my husband is not happy with the idea of an obstructed view. I just trying to decide if the extra cabin space overrides the lack of view.

Has anyone sailed in this cabin? How badly obstructed is the view

We used Rome in Limo 3 times on our last trip. Once for transport from Rome to the port, once for a tour of the Amalfi Coast, and once for transport from the port back to Rome.

The transports were great, on time and a comfortable van. We even had multiple pick up/drop off points and were accommodated beautifully. The vehicles are wonderful and the staff are consummate professionals. I highly recommend them.

Our tour of the Amalfi Coast which included Ravello, Amalfi and Positano was nothing short of the best day of our 2 week adventure. Giovanni was our guide and he was nothing short of amazing!! He knows just how to make it a great day for the group he has in his van. And the lunch we had in Positano was beyond any expectations!

I would use Rome in Limo again and again (and I have!) and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone! They are phenomenal!!

My MSC ship is going to be in Santorini from 8AM to 2PM. I wonder what shore excursions will they offer. The ones listed are 4 hours long but with the ship being 6 hours anchored I don't know if that's too risky.

If it's a ship's tour there should not be any risk, they won't leave without their tour people.

Fair enough. But since this was Jewell thread, I believe my comments based on my experience was worth noting.

 

I sincerely hope that our dinner was an exception to the rule and other ships have better quality food and service.

 

Cheers

-F-

Of course!! I am hoping for as good an experience as I had on the Navigator when I sail the Jewel next month and will definitely report back! I may even try Chops depending on how our port days go - sometimes all I want after a long port day is a quick trip to the buffet!

Not even close. Chops by a landslide. Difference is like Olive Garden (being generous) vs Ruth's Chris.

 

Cheers

-F-

While I have not been in Chops, I disagree with the assessment of Giovanni's. We ate at Giovanni's in December on the Navigator and it was a spectacular meal. This may vary from ship to ship, but our experience was wonderful.

We will be doing our third Med cruise on May 30! One on NCL, one on CCL and this one on the Jewel!! Can't wait!

I actually found a youtube video of our specific cabin as well - that was kind of fun! Really looking forward to this one as we are also arriving 5 days early to do a little land tour of Italy before the cruise.

Am happy to hear all passengers can access portions of that lounge - it looks like a great place to see and take photos of wonderful views!

Side balcony will look like this.....

 

 

 

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Thank you!! I love that the map on the TV is even the Med!! Getting really excited!!

Will be sailing the Jewel on May 30 in a Deck 9 balcony cabin. We have never sailed on Royal in a balcony and are curious about the cabin size/configuration. If anyone has photos we would love to take a peek!

 

 

I just posted in there a few days ago! ;) see you on board! I'm so excited now! :D

 

We are getting excited too!! Hard to believe we are this close. I booked this cruise the first day it was available to book so it's been a long time coming!

 

Would love to see photos of balcony cabins if anyone has them - we just booked a standard balcony on Deck 9 - I have only sailed Royal once before and we had an interior so I am curious about the balcony cabins.

Hi all, this is my first trip on Jewel on the 30th of May sailing. I was just looking at the deck plans and noticed that there's currently a pizzeria in the solarium, but on the deck plan that covers my sailing this disappears. Are they taking it out? Are there any other small cafes on board? We're massive fans of a late night pig-out in the park cafe so I'm hoping that there's somewhere doing midnight c

 

 

We will be on this sailing as well - have you checked out our roll call? Can't wait!!

you wont necessarily be on a priority tender because as previously noted ships tours and independents tender to different locations and run as 2 separate operations

so depending on when your ships tour is called to tender from ships theatre or wherever meeting point is there could be lots of people touring independently who get off ship before you and in Oia before you

 

however your question was how long it takes to walk down to tender area and general consensus seemsto be about 30 minutes avoiding donkey doo from earlier in day

 

actual tender back to ship takes about 10 mins but delay is how long it takes to get to front of line

as long as there are people in line even after last call for tender you will be safe as long as ship adheres to its "promise" to wait for ship excursions as everyone has to make their way back to same tender dock and at that point there is no way to differentiate between who is on ships excursion or independent

We sailed on Royal this December and the tender process was a hot mess which is why I have chosen to use their ship's tour. Even though we may not get off the ship at the promised time, the ships tours got the first tenders and all others were given later numbers. This tour specifically states "priority tender" in the description so I am hopeful it will live up to its promise.

Yes, I know as long as there is a line for the tenders we are "safe", I just don't want to push my luck to much! 30 minutes at least gives me a reasonable time frame so I can gauge when we should begin our trip down the steps, thanks!

May I ask where you’re doing the wine tasting?

Santo Winery