Rome In Limo - Continuation of Previous Thread, Community Guidelines Apply

[cruisingdelt]

Just returned from a wonderful cruise on the Edge.  We used RomeInLimo for transportation from FCO to our Rome hotel and then from the hotel to the ship.  We arrived in FCO very early and I overestimated the time to clear passport control and customs so we were ready to leave 60 - 90 minutes before our scheduled pick up.  I called the office to ask if the driver could come earlier and after a minute the office replied that he was already there.  The next day we were relaxing in our room waiting for our 10:30 pick up to the port.  The front desk called just before 10 to inform me that the car was at the main entrance to the hotel. The cars were clean, the trips were pleasant, and we were dropped off at the entrance to the cruise terminal.  The website states that the drivers may not speak English but they both spoke enough that we were able to have a conversation. An excellent experience 

[BrocktonCruiser]

We used Rome in Limo in October/November 2022 for airport to hotel transfer in Rome, a private evening tour, a full day tour of Rome and transfer to the port of Civitavecchia.  This was our third time using the company and we could not have been more pleased with the service - AGAIN.  We had a great experience last year and requested the same driver/guide in Rome.  It was like reuniting with an old friend.  We were able to customize our itinerary to our wants, incorporating some old favorite sites and some new ones, as well as stops for lunch, drinks and gelato.  RIL organized a delightful and knowledgeable private guide for the Colosseum.  An in-depth tour there was on my husband's bucket list and he was delighted.  RIL is a great value compared to cruise ship excursions, especially if you are 2 or more people.  The vehicles are spacious and comfortable and the driver/guides are personable and know the city.  You will be amazed by the unexpected sites you can see or the ability to navigate the narrowest of streets to get out of traffic.  

 

If we are in Rome again, I would not hesitate to contract with RomeInLimo again.  They are a pleasure to work with.

[CVA34]

Just a question......how far in advance should one reserve a car for transportation the port to Rome?

[CruiserBruce]

12 hours ago, CVA34 said:

Just a question......how far in advance should one reserve a car for transportation the port to Rome?

I would be booking in January or February for any needs this coming summer.

[FLCruiser97]

I agree with you Bruce. I just came back from Rome and used RIL and I booked 4 months in advance and was glad I did. 

[CVA34]

Thank you to Bruce and FL.....looks like that is what I'll do.

 

DB

[Upgradefairy4u]

My daughter and son in law just returned from Rome where they used Rome in Limo to tour the wonderful city.  They came back raving on how wonderful their tour was.  They accommodated special requests and visited areas of Rome that the "usual" tour companies would never visit.  Piero, their tour guide, showed them the sights as a native could only do.  As a family, we have been using and recommending Rome in Limo for years and will continue to do so for years to come.  They are an A+ company that will guarantee to leaving you wanting to go back to Rome!  

[cruisemom42]

6 hours ago, Upgradefairy4u said:

They accommodated special requests and visited areas of Rome that the "usual" tour companies would never visit. 

 

Statements like this one always make me wonder. How do they know that the "usual" tour companies don't take you to these offbeat areas?  And if you wanted to go there, wouldn't you do the research and include it in your planning from the start?

 

I am not a Rome native, but having spent the equivalent of several months there over many years, I think I could give a pretty good tour to visitors, and I know of a number of tour agencies that do likewise. 

 

I've got nothing against Rome in Limo but sometimes the praise verges on hyperbole....

[euro cruiser]

9 hours ago, Upgradefairy4u said:

Piero, their tour guide, showed them the sights as a native could only do. 

Did they hire a guide, or was Piero their driver?

[FLCruiser97]

15 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

Did they hire a guide, or was Piero their driver?

Piero works for Rome In Limo. He is the tour guide and driver. We also had him as our guide while in Rome.

[euro cruiser]

Just to be clear, a tour guide and a driver are two different jobs, two different licenses.  If he was driving the car he was not a professional tour guide, just a knowledgeable resident.  Legally he cannot accompany a client into a site, a licensed guide is needed for that.

[FLCruiser97]

8 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

Just to be clear, a tour guide and a driver are two different jobs, two different licenses.  If he was driving the car he was not a professional tour guide, just a knowledgeable resident.  Legally he cannot accompany a client into a site, a licensed guide is needed for that.

He did not accompany us into any sites. He just drove us around pointing out sites. At no time did he escort us into any sites. When we did the Vatican, we drove ourselves there and met up with the tour guide from RIL. I guess "tour guide" can be interpreted many different ways.

[euro cruiser]

Actually no, it can't be interpreted different ways, at least not in this context.  Italian regulations are very clear about what a tour guide is and is not, and it's different from what Americans are accustomed to.  In the States you can simply memorize a script and be called a tour guide, in Italy one must pass difficult testing that is only offered once every few years and be accepted by the regional government in order to be a guide.

[FLCruiser97]

7 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

Actually no, it can't be interpreted different ways, at least not in this context.  Italian regulations are very clear about what a tour guide is and is not, and it's different from what Americans are accustomed to.  In the States you can simply memorize a script and be called a tour guide, in Italy one must pass difficult testing that is only offered once every few years and be accepted by the regional government in order to be a guide.

OK. We had a driver who escorted us around town in his car and gave us information of all the historical sights.

[Jbluebird]

We used Rome In Limo as a private tour for both Rome and the Amalfi Coast rather than using a cruise shore excursion. Just to clarify, they were tours not guides. First, Jany who answered my emails was patient and never seemed to get frustrated with all my questions. Next, the drivers (Michael and Raffaele) were prompt, friendly and the vehicles were spotless. Being our first excursion to Rome, I didn't realize you needed tickets to get into the Coliseum, but our driver was able to get us speedily through the ticket lines so we could more easily get in to marvel at such an amazing site and still have time to enjoy more of Rome! Our driver for the Amalfi coast sang songs and stopped at a beautiful hotel (Santa Caterina) for a rest stop, but the view was so amazing he took a family picture with the coastline as a background.  It's still one of my favorite family pictures.  Oh and did I mention we were traveling with our older teenage children?  They also had a great time and totally enjoyed both tours.  Both drivers spoke English very well and were knowledgeable of the respective areas.  As with the office, they patiently answered any and all questions. I would highly recommend Rome In Limo.   

[samavarcruiser]

On 12/7/2022 at 9:15 PM, FLCruiser97 said:

OK. We had a driver who escorted us around town in his car and gave us information of all the historical sights.

 

Thanks for clarifying, it is important for others to know what they are booking and what to expect.

[weenette]

 

This is the 2nd time that I have used Rome in Limo and as with the first time, they are fantastic from start to finish. Jany was so patient with all my questions and helped immensely to organize our time in Italy. We were a group of 13 family and friends (all adults) in Rome for a few days before our transatlantic cruise.  

We arranged for 2 vans to pick us up at the airport and drop us at our hotel in the heart of Rome. We then had Stefano and Francesco as our driver/guides for the next 3 days for our “Rome 3 days package”. The guys were full of interesting facts, great for giving suggestions for meals, as well as just being fun to be around.  They made sure that one of them would stay with the vans while the other one would walk us to the entrance ways and sometimes even managed to get us inside without waiting in big lines. Jany had also arranged for Barbara to be our guide for the Vatican Museum tour and she was also an excellent guide. Finally, we also arranged for Rome in Limo to transport all of us from our hotel to the cruise port in Civitavecchia.

Next we had a port stop in Livorno where we had arranged for 2 vans to take us to Pisa and Florence.  Due to weather issues, the ship was redirected to La Spezia instead of Livorno and Jany let me know about the change before we were even notified by the ship. That’s the kind of customer service you don’t get every day!

Vinny and Salvatore were our driver/guides for that day and as with all our previous guides, these 2 were a pleasure to work with as well.

The entire experience went seamlessly. From the airport/hotel/ship transfers, to the 3 day tour of Rome and the Pisa/Florence tour out of La Spezia, it was a wonderful time for our entire group.

I would not hesitate to recommend this company to anyone going to Rome or anywhere in Italy that Rome in Limo does business, but also I will be using them again when we are back in Italy in 2024.

 

[mauimary]

We have had six wonderful tours with RIL over the years.  Jany is great to work with in the planning process. She always gets back to us in emails very quickly.  

Last July (late review) we had a wonderful tour of the Amalfi Coast with Giovanni. It was just the two of us.  We were one of the first off the ship in Naples and headed straight to Ravello.  It was beautiful to be so early that the shopkeepers were just setting up and very few tourists were out and about yet. Fun to linger and enjoy the quiet with a relaxing cup of cappuccino. Next it was on to Amalfi which was still early and easy for us to explore without the crowds. Lastly we visited Positano and had plenty of time to walk around.  The crowning jewel for us was our wonderful relaxing lunch in a small family owned restaurant overlooking the Amalfi Coast. Plenty of wine and fab food.  RIL definitely picks the most wonderful places for lunch. We have done six tours with them now in various places around Italy now. 

 

We are now in the planning process with RIL for our return trip to Rome.  It has been apx  15 years since we last came into Rome so it is time to redo.  We had a wonderful time back then so look forward to visiting some old sites and seeing some new ones. We  toured the countryside in subsequent visits. Very easy company to work with and we look forward to this next visit. 

[Hollyann]

On 7/13/2023 at 4:07 PM, jfgunner said:

For our stop in Naples and our time in Rome on Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas, we used Rome in Limo Tours and Excursions. 

 

All of this was arranged through their website and emails with Jany who was extremely responsive in answering the many questions we had throughout the planning process.   Rome In Limo says they are only drives and not tour guides…. But we found their drivers (Giovanni and Peter) to be extremely knowledgeable. When we needed a true guide to enter a formal site, they arranged a guide. 

 

In Naples, we did the following : 

 

https://www.romeinlimo.com/naples/pompeii-sorrento-positano.htm

 

We were picked up promptly at 7:30 AM by Giovanni and headed off to Sorrento.  We were in a well air conditioned Mercedes van.  Giovanni told us about the history of Naples and Mount  Vesuvius.   We spent about an 45 minutes to an hour walking around Sorrento.   We then continued the drive on to Positano up the winding and beautiful coastline with several stops for pictures.  We spent another 45 minutes walking the streets of Positano before Giovanni took us to a beautifully cliff side restaurant.    After that we went to Pompeii where Rome in Limo had arranged Rosemary as our expert guide for the site.  Rosemary was excellent. Giovanni got us back to the ship about 45 minutes before the all aboard time and sent us off to the ship with a farewell gift of a bottle of Limoncello!   I can not recommend this tour and Giovanni more ! 

 

After the cruise, we were picked up by Rome In Limo again for transportation to the city and a full day of touring: 

 

https://www.romeinlimo.com/rome-civitavecchia/post-cruise-tour-from-civitavecchia.htm

 

The next day we did this tour : 

 

https://www.romeinlimo.com/tours-of-rome/christian-tour.htm

 

And the following day we did this tour: 

 

https://www.romeinlimo.com/tours-of-rome/rome-night.htm

 

All 3 of these tours were with Peter (Piero).  The best description for Peter is that he is a scholar and a gentleman! He clearly knows the city and its history very well.   He strives to fill every moment of the day and not waste a minute.     For the Coliseum, they helped us arrange tickets, and for the Vatican, they arranged a private guide, Massimo, who was exceptional and provided so much insight to our visit!     On our final nighttime tour, Peter also surprised us with a bottle of sparkling wine to enjoy at the top of the hill with a city view.   This was before seeing all of the sites lit up for the evening.    We had an excellent 2.5 days with Peter!  

 

 

 

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!

[BaseballMomof4]

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!!

[Hollyann]

4 hours ago, BaseballMomof4 said:

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!!

Thank you.  I did email them last night as well. Jany did reply quickly as you and others have outlined which gives me great confidence!  So while she said we can keep our luggage in the vehicle, it does "sound like" from you and her that the driver stays with the vehicle the entire time then since they are not an official guide. Is that correct?  I am suspecting by the time we get off of a 14 day cruise that we will have a lot more than we started with 😁

[Fishboy1947]

From my experience on this tour the driver stayed with the van the whole time

[Hollyann]

1 hour ago, jfgunner said:

We did keep our luggage in the van all day and felt it was secure.  The driver did not necessarily stay in the van the whole time as we all got out at various stops together as he pointed out some sites.   Though RomInLimo is specific that their drivers are not "guides", they do jnow a lot and they provide a lot of infirmation.      Though i felt the luggage was secure, I did have locks on all of it and I even had a retractable cable lock run through all the handles of the bags so if there was a issue with the van, no one was running off with one bag as they would all be locked to one anohter.....  probably overkill!

 

They do have a suggested itinerary but are also happy to do whatever you want.   You get 8 hours once you reach Rome. For your reference,  we had 4 nights in Rome and 5 people (ages 70, 47, 47, 19, 17).   Here is what we did and how RomeIn Limo Was a part of it.   

 

Day 1: RIL's driver, Peter (Pietro) picked us up right outside Odyssey of the Seas at the prearranged time.   He was there with a sign, helped with the luggage and off we went.   As we drove to Rome we talked about the plans for our visit.    RIL had us by Colesseum Tickets for 10 AM... but the ones we got were for 10:30...  Since we were a little early, Peter stopped at a couple of stops nearby.  He was determined that we not waste a single minute.  He would park wherever he could and wshow us and tell us about the sites.    When we got toe the Colseeum, Peter made sure we knew exactly where we were going for the tour we had arranged and that we knew exactly where to find him after.   After the Colesseum, he chose a nice lunch spot for us.   We then saw other sites that afternoon.  We ended the day at The Church of the Gesu (our choice as our family attends some Catholic/Jesuit schools and that church has an interesting ceremony at the tomb of Saint Ignatius at 5:30 PM daily).   Peter then took us to the Airbnb we rented that was on the Piazza Navonna.   

 

Day 2: RIL picked us up again (and it was Peter again -  if you ask they try to get you the same driver so they know where you have and have not been).  We took the Christian Tour of Romewhich included mutple churches and then we wetnt o the Vatican at 2 PM.  Again, RIL had us get tickets separately.   RIL arrange a separate guide the Vatican.  That guide was fantastic and and absolute must in my opinion.   Again, this day, Peter made sure every minute was filled.  

 

Day 3: We did some things on our own in the morning.   This included the Vatican Necropolis Tour (Scavi Tour) which we had arranged directly witht the vatican about 10 months in advance.  This tour includes the tomb of Saint Peter...   So, for 5 Catholics who all went to or were currently in Catholic schools and my wife who is a Catholic School administrator, this was a highlight.      To get around this day, we just used Uber.  What I liked abut Uber is I could just use the App that I was familar with and basically every Uber ins and Uber Black.  We could just request an UberXL which got us a 6 seat Mercedeces Vito Van or similar each time.  

 

Day 3 at night..... we did the RIL Rome at Night Tour.   Peter opicked us up in the evenening.  We visited variius sites lit up and peter took us to the top of a hill with a view of the whole city.  He even brought us a botle of sparkling win which we enjoed as the sunset over the city.  This was complimentary from Peter.  

 

Day 4 - We just did stuff on our own. 

 

Day 5 - RIL picked us up and took us to the airport. 

 

My suggestion is to just reach out to them via e-mail.   Jany was the main point of contact and she arranged everything for us.   No question was too small and, even if I thought I was asking too much, Jany was happy to answer.     You can literally customize everything.   If there is something you want to see, then tell them and they will make it happen.   A couple of times, I asked about something specific and Peter would work in what I asked for in the most intellignet way to make sure we saw what we wanted but did not waste time.  

 

I suppose the only thing that could have been better is if I didn't have to buy our own Colesseum or Vatian tickets.   But even there, Jany told me exactly when they were avaialble.  As I recall, one set of tickets was exactly 30 days before at midnight and the other was 60 days but tickets available every hour... or something like that ....    Jany will help you figure out how to get those tickets.   And if that doesn;t work (or you go online the wrong day like I did), she will refer you to Tiquets dot com or another site to get them.   

 

Hope this helps.   Enjoy your trip!

 

 

Thank you for all the details.  It was helpful to hear your itinerary and I really like the idea about the cables.  We will have to try that.  I appreciate the reply from Fishboy too!  We will be in Rome for three full days (counting the day we dock) so we want to be sure to make the most of our first time there. 

[SharonK]

I’m hoping I can get some clarification about booking with RomeInLimo.  I used them 12 years ago after connecting with other on our roll  call.  I was not the one who made the initial contact with Jany and arranged the tour and don’t remember how it all worked. Next year we are going on a cruise (Equinox Oct 3) with stops in La Spezia and Naples and cruise ending in Rome.  We want to use Rome in Limo in these locations.  If I arrange the tour and post it on the roll call to get other to join I believe RIL calls this a shared excursion.  But I don’t want it posted on their website.  If I keep it as a private excursion RIL only takes my credit card.(does that make me responsible if someone from cruise critic who committed to going is a no show?). I would appreciate any insight I can get.  I know RIL is a great company to deal with.  I started a roll call for our cruise but no one has joined it yet.

[FLCruiser97]

25 minutes ago, SharonK said:

I’m hoping I can get some clarification about booking with RomeInLimo.  I used them 12 years ago after connecting with other on our roll  call.  I was not the one who made the initial contact with Jany and arranged the tour and don’t remember how it all worked. Next year we are going on a cruise (Equinox Oct 3) with stops in La Spezia and Naples and cruise ending in Rome.  We want to use Rome in Limo in these locations.  If I arrange the tour and post it on the roll call to get other to join I believe RIL calls this a shared excursion.  But I don’t want it posted on their website.  If I keep it as a private excursion RIL only takes my credit card.(does that make me responsible if someone from cruise critic who committed to going is a no show?). I would appreciate any insight I can get.  I know RIL is a great company to deal with.  I started a roll call for our cruise but no one has joined it yet.

I love this company and would recommend it to anyone. I would think an email to Jany would be your best bet with this question.