Does NCCL Hire Licensed Guides on their Tours to Italy?

[BazAl]

Heya,

 

So i'm interested in the 10 Night Western Mediterranean Cruise on August 9 - it has ports to Italy, France and Spain

 

So I'm very bummed to find out that in Italy you are either a licensed tour guide OR you are only a driver. It's nice that it flushes out fake guides (but that's where CC or TA or other ratings sites are for!!!). But where it's unfortunate is, I have to sell my kidneys to afford a $1.5 grand tour of Rome!!!!

 

Anyway - so I'm considering with just going with the NCCL tours provided but my questions are

 

1- How many people are typically in their site seeing tours? (please don't say 50)

ex: https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/LIV_53/Florence-Pisa?destination=Europe+Cruises&port=LIV&sort=searchWeight&sortOrder=asc&perPage=12&startingRecord=0

 

2- Do they use official licensed guides in Italy... or am I just paying for a driver?

 

Thanks!

[Sauer-kraut]

If you go to the PORTS OF CALL boards for EUROPE you will find the sub-forum for Italy. Rome in Limo is often cited on CC that they are great tour operators. You might give the Italy board a search and see what else comes up.

[zqvol]

Heya,

 

So i'm interested in the 10 Night Western Mediterranean Cruise on August 9 - it has ports to Italy, France and Spain

 

So I'm very bummed to find out that in Italy you are either a licensed tour guide OR you are only a driver. It's nice that it flushes out fake guides (but that's where CC or TA or other ratings sites are for!!!). But where it's unfortunate is, I have to sell my kidneys to afford a $1.5 grand tour of Rome!!!!

 

Anyway - so I'm considering with just going with the NCCL tours provided but my questions are

 

1- How many people are typically in their site seeing tours? (please don't say 50)

ex: https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/LIV_53/Florence-Pisa?destination=Europe+Cruises&port=LIV&sort=searchWeight&sortOrder=asc&perPage=12&startingRecord=0

 

2- Do they use official licensed guides in Italy... or am I just paying for a driver?

 

Thanks!

 

NCL contracts with thrid party vendors, they don't hire anyone. Tour sizes are typically greater than 50 persons.

[BazAl]

Rome in Limo is a driver as well not a tour guide... I guess since NCL (sorry about the double CC was thinking about RCCL) is out of the question then... 50+ people is a mess.

I'll go post in the Italian forms

Thanks

[kochleffel]

By law in Italy, drivers who are not licensed guides are barred from conducting you around or giving you information outside the vehicle. When the port is a distance from the sites you are visiting -- Civitavecchia is well outside Rome, Livorno is a significant distance from Florence and Pisa, and Naples is some distance from Pompeii -- you may have a driver who will point out things along the way (while you're in the bus or van) but who will hand you off to a licensed local guide when you arrive at the destination.

[Budget Queen]

What tour are you looking at? It is so simple to just tour Rome independently, using the train and a BIRG pass.

[Son of a son of a ...]

We took the Ultimate Rome tour via NCL. The tour guide was credentialed ... we saw that come into play at the Colosseum and Vatican. The tour was approx 18 people on a very comfortable small coach.

 

We took the Pisa/Florence bus. The woman who herded us said she could not act as a guide, but did give a history about places beforehand and commentary during the ride. Once on site, everyone was self-guided. Approx 40-45 people on the bus.

[robbinsca]

We used Rome in Limo years ago and were very happy. Unless the laws were changed the information from the driver was plenty for our group of 10 that we cobbled together on CruiseCritic.

 

 

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[DMH15]

We took the Ultimate Rome tour via NCL. The tour guide was credentialed ... we saw that come into play at the Colosseum and Vatican. The tour was approx 18 people on a very comfortable small coach.

 

 

 

We took the Pisa/Florence bus. The woman who herded us said she could not act as a guide, but did give a history about places beforehand and commentary during the ride. Once on site, everyone was self-guided. Approx 40-45 people on the bus.

 

 

 

It has been several years but we also did the ultimate Rome tour through NCL. Whereas I might have shopped around with independants my mom chose this.

 

Although pricey, it was excellent. Our guide was outstanding. We were a small group and we all had headsets. Our guide was easy to hear and understand.

 

We waited in NONE of the long lines we saw.

 

Our lunch was a step up at Osteria St. Ana and it was delicious.

 

No regrets.

 

 

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[coachheidi99]

I was just on the Epic and all yours were 40-50 people. Some guides really knew their stuff and some just took us place to place and turned us loose for very expensive ‘free time’.

 

 

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[fshagan]

We used Rome in Limo for our Euro cruise on the Jade, and while it was a few years ago, they strongly recommended a tour guide for the Vatican and Pompei. The drivers did engage and give us trivia along the way, but the walking tours with the guides, and our group of 8 people, was absolutely fantastic.

 

I committed to buying the 8 person excursions in Pisa / Florence, Rome and Naples. Then I asked people to apply for a seat on the tour at 1/8th the cost. It filled up fast because they knew what they would be paying. We were able to select 6 other people from the applications and we had a great time!