"Elite" Tour in Naples

[High C's]

A question for those of you who have travelled Princess to Europe this summer. Did any of you experience one of the new "Elite" tours being offered? In particular, I am looking at the one in Naples, touring the Amalfi coast. The cost is significantly higher than the regular tours, boasting a smaller number of guests, smaller bus, etc. Just curious if it is worth it, and what the opinions are of any of you who took these tours.

 

Thanks!!!

[Mike Andrews]

High C's,we have used Salvatore Lucibello of DriveAmalfi (*****) twice from Naples and would recommend him without hesitation.We toured in a immaculate Mercedes van and could not imagine getting a better driver and guide.

[High C's]

High C's,we have used Salvatore Lucibello of DriveAmalfi (*****) twice from Naples and would recommend him without hesitation.We toured in a immaculate Mercedes van and could not imagine getting a better driver and guide.

 

Mike - how many were in your party? There is only two of us. I know on these boards you can arrange to share, but I have not yet had much response on the roll call (only 2 others so far), so I'm looking to arrange tours independantly. I'm just curious price wise as the Elite tour is $299 per person. I just want to make sure we get the most out of the Amalfi experience! We did Pompeii and Capri last year, so just want to concentrate on Amalfi.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Jackie

[Mike Andrews]

Jackie,

 

We toured as a group on the first occasion and then on our own the second time as we wanted to explore the area around Ravello and Amalfi and I am am sure that Salvatore could accommodate any size of group.We like to explore many of the Ports of Call on our own but Naples is definately one port where hiring a driver was worth it.

 

Mike

[sondi 14]

Jackie,

 

We used a private tour guide in Naples last year, like Mike did, and we

were very pleased with the tour and the guide we had. We used

Benvenuto Limos and they were terrific. Even if there are only two of you

it's cheaper to used a private guide than it is to take the Princess Tour at

$299. When you have your own guide you can see what you want at your

own pace.

 

Sondi

[cruiser man]

We also did a tour of the Amalfi Coast (Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, Lunch, Pompeii) with Drive Amalfi. Salvatore was not available so we had another driver who was equally wonderful. It was a fabulous tour. We really enjoyed it. We were able to personalize the tour based on what we wanted to see. Six of us were on the tour. I would definitely recommend it over a tour offered by the ship. Any questions, let me know.

[kare8ear]

Francesco Marrapese is a must!!! He was just absolutely wonderful and patient and a very nice, witty man. The price is unbeatable too. http://www.francescomarrapese.com/

[High C's]

Thank you everyone! I have just finished booking my reservation with Salvatore of Drive Amalfi. Because of the exchange rates from Canadian $$$, it worked out almost the same for the Drive Amalfi tour (in Euros) as it would for the Elite Tour (in US $$$). It sounds wonderful and Salvatore was most helpful. Thanks again!:)

[KruzinAl]

High C's, fellow Canadians, when are you travelling?

We live only a few minutes from you guys!

Salvatore is good, and there are many others, as well.

 

We're going on Celebrity Galaxy from Rome Sept 26th.

I'm sure you've read about all the other posts, we often book shore trips on our own. The ship prices are way too high, often for the same tour. We have private guides in Naples, Athens, Istanbul and Kusadesi.

We'd like to go to Capri as well and spent more time in Sorrento. I think a future side trip for a week in that area is in line, we have just a 9 hour teaser in October this time.

Al

[High C's]

Hi Al!

 

We're on the Grand Princess next September (Venice - Barcelona). We've never done private tours, but after spending time on these boards, I realize we may have been missing something! Last year, we did the Capri-Sorrento-Pompeii extravaganza. Whew! Long day. We enjoyed everything we saw, but Capri was SOOOO crowded, especially going up/down on the tram, and Sorrento was lovely, but after lunch we had an hour to browse, only to discover that almost everything was closed. This time we're just going to do the Amalfi tour, with only the 2 of us, so we can concentrate on what we want to do.

 

Do you have any suggestions for Athens? We did the ship tour there last year, and I must admit we enjoyed it. But I'm not sure what to do for our second visit other than stroll around the Plaka. All of the ships tour include the mandatory stop at the Acropolis. We don't want to do this again, as we've seen it (and loved it) but want to experience something else.

 

Ahh, the planning. It is almost the best part!

Jackie

[Travelalot2]

What kind of vehicle does Franceso drive to tour 4 people? What about 6 people? Is it comfortable for being in it all day?

[KruzinAl]

Jackie, you said Sept/06 ! Yes. A year to wait, we booked ours 12 months ago and now it's here. Booked Aeroplan in J class for air portion, need to do that way ahead, just changed it to better connections with Lufthansa. We're staying in Venice 3 nights pre-cruise and 2 in Rome post-cruise. A good idea if you can swing it. Read the threads on the Celebrity Galaxy Sept 26/05 roll call and you can read lots more info on shore trips. Did you register for roll call for your ship yet? Anyways, we are using Paul at admin@*****. We have 6 in a minivan. day tour, we've never been to the acropolis, so we will go there. I think it is 450 euros to split by 6. He will tailor the tour, wherever you wish. There are other companies as well. Off to work in Hamilton.

email me at kruzins@hotmail.com with any other questions

Later

Al

[Crusier98]

Salvatore used an immaculate new Mercedes van for our group which was really comfortable and definately the way to tour the coast. Salvatore is at *****