Got Scavi Tour Tickets!!! Can we make it???

[azlove2cruise]

I stumbled upon the scavi tour 2 days ago while trying to finalize our tours for our first visit to Rome. Since everyone advised requesting tickets 3 months in advance, I quickly followed the instructions and put in my request. Well, I just heard back, and we got our tickets! I really, really want to take this tour, especially since it's so exclusive and hard to get, and people seem to really like it. BUT, the only day I could fit it in is 5/16 which is the same day we sail. The timeslot they gave us (they assign it, not you) is 1:15pm. I'm working with Romeinlimo now (booking almost all of our tours with them) to see if they can pick us up at our hotel with our luggage, drop us off at the scavi tour site, pick us back up after the tour (90 min?) and shuttle us off to port in time for our cruise. We're sailing on the Epic, and she leaves at 7PM. Anyone have any experience taking the scavi tour on sail day? Will we make it?

[TLCOhio]

I stumbled upon the scavi tour 2 days ago while trying to finalize our tours for our first visit to Rome. Since everyone advised requesting tickets 3 months in advance, I quickly followed the instructions and put in my request. Well, I just heard back, and we got our tickets! I really, really want to take this tour, especially since it's so exclusive and hard to get, and people seem to really like it. BUT, the only day I could fit it in is 5/16 which is the same day we sail. The timeslot they gave us (they assign it, not you) is 1:15pm. I'm working with Romeinlimo now (booking almost all of our tours with them) to see if they can pick us up at our hotel with our luggage, drop us off at the scavi tour site, pick us back up after the tour (90 min?) and shuttle us off to port in time for our cruise. We're sailing on the Epic, and she leaves at 7PM. Anyone have any experience taking the scavi tour on sail day? Will we make it?

 

The RomeInLimo folks are good at answering questions. Assume you have them this specific question, right?

 

We did the Scavi tour last June and it takes about an hour and a half to complete the visit. Part of that time is in doing the Grotto area under the main floor of St. Peter’s Basilica. If pressed for time, you could skip some of that later portion of the tour when you reach this level. If you have done the basics in seeing the inside, main floor of the Basilica prior, you should be in good time to make the hour to 90 minute trip from the St. Peter's area out of the port area.

 

We used RomeInLimo for tours in the Tuscany and Naples areas. We were very impressed with their knowledge, skills and performance. Things should work out fine. Below are a couple visuals for what you'll see underneath and inside St. Peter's.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 65,713 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

After our private tour of the super historic Scavi under the Basilica and its lower grotto, we saw some of the crypts and this chapel below the main area.:

 

 

 

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica, this is a portion of the main floor area for where the body of the late Pope John Paul II has been moved. On May 3, 2011, he was give this new resting place in the marble altar in Pier Paolo Cristofari's Chapel of St. Sebastian. This prominent location is next to the Chapel of the Pieta. They completed this change as he was elevated and moves towards Sainthood. Crowds were big and busy inside this huge Cathedral, the world's largest.:

 

[azlove2cruise]

The RomeInLimo folks are good at answering questions. Assume you have them this specific question, right?

 

Yes, I did...still waiting to hear back, so figured I'd ask for feedback from others on these boards. I would've preferred a morning timeslot, but apparently you are at their mercy. I hope it'll be okay, but if it's too tight, we'll do what you suggest and skip some parts. I wasn't aware that you could do that.

[cruisemom42]

I stumbled upon the scavi tour 2 days ago while trying to finalize our tours for our first visit to Rome. Since everyone advised requesting tickets 3 months in advance, I quickly followed the instructions and put in my request. Well, I just heard back, and we got our tickets! I really, really want to take this tour, especially since it's so exclusive and hard to get, and people seem to really like it. BUT, the only day I could fit it in is 5/16 which is the same day we sail. The timeslot they gave us (they assign it, not you) is 1:15pm. I'm working with Romeinlimo now (booking almost all of our tours with them) to see if they can pick us up at our hotel with our luggage, drop us off at the scavi tour site, pick us back up after the tour (90 min?) and shuttle us off to port in time for our cruise. We're sailing on the Epic, and she leaves at 7PM. Anyone have any experience taking the scavi tour on sail day? Will we make it?

 

I have two suggestions.

 

First, it has worked for some people to write back to the Scavi office and request an earlier time. Not saying it would always work, especially in peak season, but you can give it a try. Make it clear you will keep the reservations you already have if an earlier time is not available.

 

Second, if you are limited to the later time and are determined to do the tour, I'd probably do the following: 1) check out of your hotel and leave your bags in storage there. 2) get yourselves to the Vatican and take the tour, 3) have RIL or whoever you use pick you up promptly and make a quick return to the hotel for your bags, then head to the port.

 

I advise this to keep the cost down; I'm sure it will add a significant expense to have RIL wait with your bags. Of course, this assumes your hotel location isn't wildly inconvenient....

[azlove2cruise]

I have two suggestions.

 

First, it has worked for some people to write back to the Scavi office and request an earlier time. Not saying it would always work, especially in peak season, but you can give it a try. Make it clear you will keep the reservations you already have if an earlier time is not available.

 

Second, if you are limited to the later time and are determined to do the tour, I'd probably do the following: 1) check out of your hotel and leave your bags in storage there. 2) get yourselves to the Vatican and take the tour, 3) have RIL or whoever you use pick you up promptly and make a quick return to the hotel for your bags, then head to the port.

 

I advise this to keep the cost down; I'm sure it will add a significant expense to have RIL wait with your bags. Of course, this assumes your hotel location isn't wildly inconvenient....

 

Shoot! I wish I would've seen your helpful suggestions before I emailed the Scavi office. I emailed them and requested an earlier tour time or the afternoon of the day we arrive back from the ship (we don't fly out until the day after). I didn't think to give them this option originally...didn't even think about it. Either way, I did NOT mention that I would keep my original tour time...uh oh...

 

Also, about RIL, Jany did reply back this morning and quoted 450EU vs. 175EU. Holy moly! She did suggest taking a cab instead to save on cost. When I saw this, I quickly sent my tour time change request to the scavi office. But, hindsight, what you suggested would've worked...have RIL pick us up from the vatican, then to the hotel. Why didn't I think of this???

 

I hope (and pray) that I hear back from the scavi office...

[azlove2cruise]

:)I just wanted to post a follow up in case my experience can help others. I was able to change my tour time! Actually, I heard back almost immediately, but when I clicked on the link to enter my reservation info, it was for the same time! So I quickly replied back again to ask for my tour time change. I then received a more detailed note with my tour time change. Hooray! I'm so excited that we will be able to attend the scavi tour!!!

[cruisemom42]

:)I just wanted to post a follow up in case my experience can help others. I was able to change my tour time! Actually, I heard back almost immediately, but when I clicked on the link to enter my reservation info, it was for the same time! So I quickly replied back again to ask for my tour time change. I then received a more detailed note with my tour time change. Hooray! I'm so excited that we will be able to attend the scavi tour!!!

 

I'm glad to hear it worked out for you. Now you can enjoy the tour without worrying about getting to the ship.

 

:)

[TLCOhio]

I then received a more detailed note with my tour time change. Hooray! I'm so excited that we will be able to attend the scavi tour!!!

 

Let me second Cynthia's congratulations for having things work out so well. GREAT NEWS!!! Where else is your cruise going? Anything else where we can be help?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 66,225 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[azlove2cruise]

Where else is your cruise going? Anything else where we can be help?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 66,225 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

Excellent...make that 66,226...I'll read through your thread for more info.

 

Anyway, we're using RIL (of course) for Pisa & Florence and about 90% decided on the Positano; Amalfi Coast, Ravello tour. It does seem like a shame to miss Pompeii, but I think I'll be all ruin'd-out and have a hard time imagining what things "used" to look like. However, I MUST see the coast. A nice long pretty drive, nice lunch with a view, strolling through a few shops...I think that's more my speed. And, from what I've read, you can't really do both.

 

No clue for our other port stops (Cannes, Provence, and Barcelona), but we're on the Epic and there's not a whole lot to choose from. BTW, We're afraid of going private...we're okay with using RIL based on the reviews on these boards, but since they don't operate outside of Italy, we are more inclined to stick to the cruiseship tours. I'll hop on your thread and see what you thought of Barcelona...maybe we can go with a private tour...

[texancruzer]

 

And, from what I've read, you can't really do both.

 

No clue for our other port stops (Cannes, Provence, and Barcelona), but we're on the Epic and there's not a whole lot to choose from. BTW, We're afraid of going private...we're okay with using RIL based on the reviews on these boards, but since they don't operate outside of Italy, we are more inclined to stick to the cruiseship tours. I'll hop on your thread and see what you thought of Barcelona...maybe we can go with a private tour...

 

 

First - you CAN do Pompeii and the coast in one day. We have done it twice. It is a FULL day though. But we found that we relaxed during the driving parts which is actually a large part of the day........

 

Second, there are many many great private tour companies, like RIL, in other ports. Just keep searching these boards for suggestions.

[Gracie115]

Excellent...make that 66,226...I'll read through your thread for more info.

 

Anyway, we're using RIL (of course) for Pisa & Florence and about 90% decided on the Positano; Amalfi Coast, Ravello tour. It does seem like a shame to miss Pompeii, but I think I'll be all ruin'd-out and have a hard time imagining what things "used" to look like. However, I MUST see the coast. A nice long pretty drive, nice lunch with a view, strolling through a few shops...I think that's more my speed. And, from what I've read, you can't really do both.

 

No clue for our other port stops (Cannes, Provence, and Barcelona), but we're on the Epic and there's not a whole lot to choose from. BTW, We're afraid of going private...we're okay with using RIL based on the reviews on these boards, but since they don't operate outside of Italy, we are more inclined to stick to the cruiseship tours. I'll hop on your thread and see what you thought of Barcelona...maybe we can go with a private tour...

 

 

It is easy to do both Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast in one day...we did it last year and frankly I would rather miss the coast than Pompeii...trust me you will have no problem imagining what things used to look like because so much of it is STILL THERE. Pompeii was one of the highlights of our trip...RIL picked up us at 8AM we were at Pompeii for about 2 hours, then went to the coast had lunch in Sorrento at a wonderful seaside restaurant, continued the drive and then back to the ship by 4PM. Had 3 different stops along the way to stroll through towns and shop too...so it's easy to do both...

[samavarcruiser]

It is easy to do both Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast in one day...we did it last year and frankly I would rather miss the coast than Pompeii...trust me you will have no problem imagining what things used to look like because so much of it is STILL THERE. Pompeii was one of the highlights of our trip...RIL picked up us at 8AM we were at Pompeii for about 2 hours, then went to the coast had lunch in Sorrento at a wonderful seaside restaurant, continued the drive and then back to the ship by 4PM. Had 3 different stops along the way to stroll through towns and shop too...so it's easy to do both...

 

I agree with you, is doable, don't miss Amalfi coast :)

[TLCOhio]

Excellent...make that 66,226...I'll read through your thread for more info. Anyway, we're using RIL (of course) for Pisa & Florence and about 90% decided on the Positano; Amalfi Coast, Ravello tour. It does seem like a shame to miss Pompeii, but I think I'll be all ruin'd-out and have a hard time imagining what things "used" to look like. However, I MUST see the coast. A nice long pretty drive, nice lunch with a view, strolling through a few shops...I think that's more my speed. And, from what I've read, you can't really do both. No clue for our other port stops (Cannes, Provence, and Barcelona), but we're on the Epic and there's not a whole lot to choose from. BTW, We're afraid of going private...we're okay with using RIL based on the reviews on these boards, but since they don't operate outside of Italy, we are more inclined to stick to the cruiseship tours. I'll hop on your thread and see what you thought of Barcelona...maybe we can go with a private tour...

 

Gracie115: It is easy to do both Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast in one day.

 

Appreciate your nice "excellent" rating from what you saw on my live/blog noted below. Let me any added questions as you read through more of the details' date=' etc. Happy to share more, respond to your interest as you consider your many options in these various ports.

 

[b']YES! Agree that you can combined Pompeii and/or Herculaneum, as we did[/b], with the great sights and beauty along the scenic Amalfi Coast. Lots of people have done BOTH and it works well. So much to see and do in southern France, Barcelona, etc. Tell us more on your travel interests, travel style, number in your party, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 66,454 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[azlove2cruise]

It is easy to do both Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast in one day...we did it last year and frankly I would rather miss the coast than Pompeii...trust me you will have no problem imagining what things used to look like because so much of it is STILL THERE. Pompeii was one of the highlights of our trip...RIL picked up us at 8AM we were at Pompeii for about 2 hours, then went to the coast had lunch in Sorrento at a wonderful seaside restaurant, continued the drive and then back to the ship by 4PM. Had 3 different stops along the way to stroll through towns and shop too...so it's easy to do both...

 

Hmmmm....I think there might be a difference in itinerary as well? For instance, we want to make sure we have time for Amalfi, Sorrento, Positano, and Ravello and whatever other seaside town there might be along the way. Jany at RIL had indicated that if we chose to skip Pompeii, we could go all the way to Ravello. So, this comment from her along with some other folks posts made me wonder if Pompeii was really doable or if it was, if I would be "giving up" more scenic strolling/shopping/eating/chilling out time. I also noticed that some folks' itineraries on other ships allowed for more time than perhaps our port stop does. Our RIL tour is only 9 hrs long, whereas others have had 12 hrs. So, our shorter time in port may necessitate our need to cut off some coastal drive time if we wanted to fit Pompeii into our itinerary.

 

What would really help me is an idea of how much time it takes to drive from town to town, how much time you can realistically spend in each, including stops for pictures and a nice lunch with a view?

[texancruzer]

We have done it twice. Both times we were in port from 8 am to 6 pm. All aboard was 5:30.

 

Both times we were picked up by our driver with APTours as soon as we could get off the ship..... here is the rest of our day as we did it twice (2007 & 2011)

 

Drive straight to Pompeii where our guide was waiting for us outside the gate. Got our tickets and went in as soon as it opened...... did 2 + hours in Pompeii.

 

We then drove to Ravello where we had @ 45 minutes to walk around and shop. We found this plenty for Ravello which is not that big.

 

We then drove to Amalfi where we had 1.5 hrs to walk, shop and eat. We choose to NOT have lunch at the restaurant that is suggested by most tour companies since this can really eat up a lot of your time (no pun intended !) We choose instead to have a bit of extra time in Amalfi to grab a quick lunch which gave us more time for the villages. True Italian lunches can take 2 hrs or more !

 

We then drove to Positano where we had @ 1 hr to shop and wander.

 

Then to Sorrento where we caught the ferry back to Naples..... that took @ 40 minutes and we docked right next to our ship...... with a good cushion of time before the ship left.

 

We also stopped near the Emerald Grotto (don't confuse with Blue Grotto on Capri) which is on the coast road at a wonderful ceramics shop for a bathroom break. And yes we shopped a bit.

 

We did not take very much time in Sorrento as it is a fairly large city and didn't hold that much of interest for us.....mostly shopping which we had already done in the many wonderful shops we encountered in the villages......

 

We found that the time frames we had in the villages was plenty. Could we have spent more ??? Sure - days and days ;) but we got to see it all and never felt really rushed. Our driver was great in that respect.

 

So I am not sure why RIL would say you can't do all this in one day.....we have - twice ! and would love to do it again :D

[cruisemom42]

I think there's no doubt that you COULD do both the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii in a tour with the time you have. But it sounds like that may not be what you are leaning toward, and that's fine.

 

Most people know their own travel style -- some prefer to spend longer at a stop and thoroughly experience it without sacrificing depth for breadth. Others prefer to see as much as reasonably possible in a day on the theory that "who knows when I'll be back again".

 

If a lower-key, more relaxing day appeals to you, then by all means do the Amalfi drive. On the other hand, if you really do want to see Pompeii, you can make it work. Pompeii would be (to me) a must-see sight and it is what I chose to focus on during my first visit to Naples. As of now I've been back to Naples a couple of times and I'm planning to spend a week in Sorrento at the end of March. And guess what -- I haven't yet done the Amalfi coast drive and have no plans to do it during my week in Sorrento either! But that's my choice -- not everyone has the same interests.

 

My advice would be to pick what YOU most want to do.

[azlove2cruise]

We have done it twice. Both times we were in port from 8 am to 6 pm. All aboard was 5:30.

 

Both times we were picked up by our driver with APTours as soon as we could get off the ship..... here is the rest of our day as we did it twice (2007 & 2011)

 

Drive straight to Pompeii where our guide was waiting for us outside the gate. Got our tickets and went in as soon as it opened...... did 2 + hours in Pompeii.

 

We then drove to Ravello where we had @ 45 minutes to walk around and shop. We found this plenty for Ravello which is not that big.

 

We then drove to Amalfi where we had 1.5 hrs to walk, shop and eat. We choose to NOT have lunch at the restaurant that is suggested by most tour companies since this can really eat up a lot of your time (no pun intended !) We choose instead to have a bit of extra time in Amalfi to grab a quick lunch which gave us more time for the villages. True Italian lunches can take 2 hrs or more !

 

We then drove to Positano where we had @ 1 hr to shop and wander.

 

Then to Sorrento where we caught the ferry back to Naples..... that took @ 40 minutes and we docked right next to our ship...... with a good cushion of time before the ship left.

 

We also stopped near the Emerald Grotto (don't confuse with Blue Grotto on Capri) which is on the coast road at a wonderful ceramics shop for a bathroom break. And yes we shopped a bit.

 

We did not take very much time in Sorrento as it is a fairly large city and didn't hold that much of interest for us.....mostly shopping which we had already done in the many wonderful shops we encountered in the villages......

 

We found that the time frames we had in the villages was plenty. Could we have spent more ??? Sure - days and days ;) but we got to see it all and never felt really rushed. Our driver was great in that respect.

 

So I am not sure why RIL would say you can't do all this in one day.....we have - twice ! and would love to do it again :D

 

Wow! Thanks for the detailed itinerary. It definitely sounds doable...BUT...ferry from Sorrento to the cruiseship? Would this ferry be required vs. RIL driving us back instead in order to make it to the cruiseship in time?

[euro cruiser]

BUT...ferry from Sorrento to the cruiseship? Would this ferry be required vs. RIL driving us back instead in order to make it to the cruiseship in time?

Yes - the ferry doesn't have to deal with the traffic on the Sorrentine penninsula. If you want them to drive you back you'll need to shorten your day to accomodate the longer transit time.

[azlove2cruise]

Yes - the ferry doesn't have to deal with the traffic on the Sorrentine penninsula. If you want them to drive you back you'll need to shorten your day to accomodate the longer transit time.

 

Ahhh...okay, that makes sense. Something to consider then...I'll look into the ferry....

[texancruzer]

As a side note: we actually enjoyed seeing the coastline from the sea up close....versus pretty much driving back over area we had already covered.....

just a thought :D

[azlove2cruise]

I wanted to post an update regarding payment for the scavi tour. I had actually entered a visa credit card. Like someone said on another post, you get an email with a link that opens up a page where you must enter your id and confirmation #. Then you see what date and time you have been assigned. If you accept, another link takes you to where you can pay by visa or mastercard. I did just that. Thought all was good...until the phone rang literally not 5 minutes later. It was the Wells Fargo fraud department. No problem, I'll let them know it's legit. But, the problem was that the charge was declined...not placed on hold pending verification So, I checked my email. Sure enough, I received an email from the scavi payment folks saying that sorry, but my charge did not go through. Please call your credit card company. No further instructions about trying again. Since I okay'd the charge, and the hold was removed, I simply tried to enter my id and confirmation yet again to see what would happen. Nope...it wouldn't let me do it. It said something like it wasn't authorized or recognized or something. So, I emailed the scavi office. About 5 or 10 minutes later, I tried again. No problem. It went through! So, you might want to FIRST contact your credit card company and then make the charge. Maybe everyone knows that, but just in case there are a few folks out there who could benefit from my experience...I really, really wanted these tickets, so I would've been really upset if I ended up losing out on these tickets.

[ksps cruise fan]

I wanted to post an update regarding payment for the scavi tour. I had actually entered a visa credit card. Like someone said on another post, you get an email with a link that opens up a page where you must enter your id and confirmation #. Then you see what date and time you have been assigned. If you accept, another link takes you to where you can pay by visa or mastercard.

 

Just a small detail. After emailing to request our Scavi tickets, we got an email reply that stated the date and time of our tickets. That means we knew our tour day and time when we went through the confirmation/purchase process. Then a second email arrived to supply the id and confirmation number (called "Protocol" in the email).

 

Interestingly, the first reply contains more information about negotiating the Italian-language purchase web site than does the one with the id numbers. And even that explanation isn't as complete as it might be.

 

The first reply explains that a purchaser will need to check the box next to "accettare" which I realized meant "accept." It also alerted buyers to check "continua" or "modifica." Both those words are close enough cognates that most purchasers would have understood "continue" or "modify" without the assistance. However, a little guidance would have been appreciated on the very last screen. The icon on the right, I believe, said something like "confermare." That's obviously a cognate of confirm/accept. However, if you're like me, I wanted to make sure that I understood which of the two icons to push on this important, final step. So, before doing anything, I looked up the meaning of the icon on the left. This appears to be the icon that a tour leader would use on behalf of a large group.

 

Reassured, I pushed the icon on the right and got an onscreen message in Italian that even non-Italian speakers will understand means they've been successful. Within ten minutes, I got two follow-up email messages written first in Italian and, then, in English. The first one confirms that the charge has gone through successfully. The second one re-states the all the information about the tour and probably should be presented to the Scavi ticket office.

 

I don't know if this same system applies to online purchases at the Vatican Museum.

[ksps cruise fan]

... Within ten minutes, I got two follow-up email messages written first in Italian and, then, in English. The first one confirms that the charge has gone through successfully. The second one re-states the all the information about the tour and probably should be presented to the Scavi ticket office.

 

Just now, I got yet another email from the Scavi. This message is called a "receipt to confirm the visit of the Necropolis under the Basilica." For most of the text, this newest message simply repeats information like name, number of participants, showing up early to get tickets, bringing official photo id, and dressing respectfully. The only new information is that this message is the one that should be presented at the ticket window the day of the tour.

[boricua2007]

I wanted to thank you for posting this thread recently. I stumbled on it just yesterday and it was an answer to my prayers!

 

We'll arrive Rome/Citavechia on the Solstice in June and I've been trying really hard to decide which tour to book that would allow us to enter the Basilica. I found that only guided tours to the Vatican museums (which for 2 persons only is a little bit expensive, unless you find somebody to share the cost) are allowed to internally enter the Basilica. Otherwise, you have to make the long line trough security to enter. We arrive on a Wednesday an that's the day of the weekly Pope Audience. Meaning, the Basilica is closed in the morning, so everybody is trying to enter it in the afternoon (after 2:00pm give or take); I read sometimes it doesn't open for the general public at all!

 

Anyway, long story short. Read your post yesterday, sent an e-mail to Scavi (asking the tour either in Spanish or English) and today I got the e-mail saying we got the admission for 2 (Spanish language tour) at 2:30pm!!!!

 

Needless to say I'm more than happy :D. Like we say in Puerto Rico: "I'm happier than a dog with two tails" (Sorry "lost in translation", but I guess you got the message :cool: )

 

Thanks again and thanks for all the other follow ups you posted regardibg the credit card, etc.

 

Wish you a wonderful trip!!!

[texancruzer]

I wanted to thank you for posting this thread recently. I stumbled on it just yesterday and it was an answer to my prayers!

 

We'll arrive Rome/Citavechia on the Solstice in June and I've been trying really hard to decide which tour to book that would allow us to enter the Basilica. I found that only guided tours to the Vatican museums (which for 2 persons only is a little bit expensive, unless you find somebody to share the cost) are allowed to internally enter the Basilica. Otherwise, you have to make the long line trough security to enter. We arrive on a Wednesday an that's the day of the weekly Pope Audience. Meaning, the Basilica is closed in the morning, so everybody is trying to enter it in the afternoon (after 2:00pm give or take); I read sometimes it doesn't open for the general public at all!

 

Anyway, long story short. Read your post yesterday, sent an e-mail to Scavi (asking the tour either in Spanish or English) and today I got the e-mail saying we got the admission for 2 (Spanish language tour) at 2:30pm!!!!

 

Needless to say I'm more than happy :D. Like we say in Puerto Rico: "I'm happier than a dog with two tails" (Sorry "lost in translation", but I guess you got the message :cool: )

 

Thanks again and thanks for all the other follow ups you posted regardibg the credit card, etc.

 

Wish you a wonderful trip!!!

 

Just a heads-up !!!!!

 

When we did the Scavi tour last November WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER THE BASILICA FROM THE NECROPOLIS...... we exited the tour the same way we came in..... IF we had wanted to visit the Basilica we would have had to go thru the long security line. (We had done the Basilica on a previous trip)

 

So, do not count on being able to enter St. Peters from the tour. Sometimes they do not allow it. (There was some type of conference taking place that day that did not allow us access this way)