Med. Odyssey - Rome on Your Own question

[soundcruiser]

For those of you who have done this, or been able to see the details once sign-ups open for your cruise, are there multiple times/buses for this excursion?  We are beginning to plan the excursions for our May 2019 sailing, and are considering doing this one, along with taking the train or hiring private transportation.  Then we'd either hire a private guide, or be guided by the transporting company, depending on what we choose. We need to compare costs/timing/type of experience among all the options, and one thing to  know is the likelihood of the Rome on your Own selling out - if there are multiple buses, it's usually less likely.  

 

Thanks in advance - I so appreciate the wisdom of this group!😃

[Jim Avery]

57 minutes ago, soundcruiser said:

For those of you who have done this, or been able to see the details once sign-ups open for your cruise, are there multiple times/buses for this excursion?  We are beginning to plan the excursions for our May 2019 sailing, and are considering doing this one, along with taking the train or hiring private transportation.  Then we'd either hire a private guide, or be guided by the transporting company, depending on what we choose. We need to compare costs/timing/type of experience among all the options, and one thing to  know is the likelihood of the Rome on your Own selling out - if there are multiple buses, it's usually less likely.  

 

Thanks in advance - I so appreciate the wisdom of this group!😃

You mention a private guide.  We have used RomeCabs 4 times and could not be more pleased.  Rome is a chaotic city these days, very crowded.  RomeCabs have all the permits to park right at the various attractions, the cars are new and spotless, the drivers always have been waiting at the appointed time.  They can pick you up at the docks, drive to Rome, then give a very up close guided tour including short cuts (their process, not mine) at the Vatican.  They have recommended excellent local restaurants and always get us back to the ship in plenty of time.  If you choose that option, you can get a quote from them online.  Many years ago I took the train and swore "never again".  As many before have said, your mileage may vary.  😎

[soundcruiser]

Thanks, Jim! We'll definitely add them to the list of options!

[Dauntless]

We did Med. Ody in April this year.  We used Italy tours;eu in 4 ports.  Could not get on the Monte Carlo, Eze and Nice ship tour but when we started looking at other tours with this company we saw they had what we wanted and it would be easier than having to arrange the other tours around the included, so it fit our needs.  The guide was waiting for us as we left the ship and tour with two couples from the ship.  In Florence, we were thinking of doing the ship tour to Pisa and Florence with the ship bur found out it did not go inside the "David" museum, which was on my friend's list of must do.  Viking could have arranged for us to get in and what not but we would then have to get back to them for the ride back to the ship.  Italy tours had it all.  The driver picked us up at the dock, We were driven to Florence where we met with a guide they had arranged.  Had front of the line passes, she guided us through the museum and the highlights of Florence,  We had time for lunch o our own and then we met up at designated area and were driven to Pisa for the tower area on our own.  Toured with 2 other couples from the ship. 

 

For Rome, same company.  Ship didn't seem to have a tour that would cover the highlights, including Colosseum and Vatican at a reasonable price.  There were 12 on this tour but we were in 2 groups of 6.  We had the same couple as the day before.  We were taken to the Colosseum with skip the line entrance tickets, that we did on our own and you are there for and hour  There are guides at the entrance that were offering 2 hour tours but I'm sure they could have done a highlights tour for an hour, if approached, and we might have gotten more out of the time.  We then took in the other highlights and were taken to a restaurant for lunch(Not included in price) and then we met with the other 6 from the ship and paired with the guide that would take us through the Vatican.

 

We also used them in Naples, for Pompeii, Almalfi coast and Sorrento.  We wanted to go with a smaller group for a longer tour with fewer people because of the terrain in Pompeii.  We were a group of 14 in the Parking lot van set up.  Same couples as the day before, two couples from the first day ans 2 more couples.  Had a private guide for our skip the line entrance to Pompeii and then our driver acted as guide for the rest of the time with time for a meal in  Sorrento.  Went for a quick drive by tour of Naples around the port upon or return to the city.

 

Tht's what we did and those were our reasons.  There was also a discount if you booked if tours

[SoccerMom#3]

We were in Rome last month and used ItalyTours for a one day Best of Rome tour.  I highly recommend them.  We had skip the line tickets for the Coliseum and skip the line tickets with a private tour guide for the Vatican.  

 

We also used RomeCab to take us from Rome to our ship at Civitivecchia.  I also would highly recommend RomeCab.

 

Both ItalyTour and RomeCab were fantastic at navigating the crowded narrow streets of Rome.

[soundcruiser]

Thanks, Dauntless and Soccermom! These are some really good looking options.  Soccermom, is there a reason you used RomeCab instead of having ItalyTour drive you?

 

[SoccerMom#3]

18 hours ago, soundcruiser said:

Thanks, Dauntless and Soccermom! These are some really good looking options.  Soccermom, is there a reason you used RomeCab instead of having ItalyTour drive you?

 

I had booked RomeCab months before our trip and booked ItalyTour just a month or so before our trip.  I don't think I realized that both companies do tours and do the drive to the port until just before our trip and I didn't want to cancel either company since both had been so responsive to my emails.  Honestly you can't go wrong with either RomeCab or ItalyTour.  

[soundcruiser]

Awww, you're such a softie!! Good to know they are both great!

 

[SoccerMom#3]

9 hours ago, soundcruiser said:

Awww, you're such a softie!! Good to know they are both great!

 

Definitely a softie - haha

 

[LeRenardrouge]

On November 9, 2018 at 3:50 PM, soundcruiser said:

For those of you who have done this, or been able to see the details once sign-ups open for your cruise, are there multiple times/buses for this excursion?  We are beginning to plan the excursions for our May 2019 sailing, and are considering doing this one, along with taking the train or hiring private transportation.  Then we'd either hire a private guide, or be guided by the transporting company, depending on what we choose. We need to compare costs/timing/type of experience among all the options, and one thing to  know is the likelihood of the Rome on your Own selling out - if there are multiple buses, it's usually less likely.  

 

Thanks in advance - I so appreciate the wisdom of this group!😃

To answer your specific question:

 

I have a full booking form list from the Oct 16 Mediterranean Odyssey cruise which has excursions by name plus times and prices.

 

Only one single departure for "Rome On Your Own" at 8:30 AM, 10 hours, $69 per person.  Whether that means there is only one coach or more is not clear (at least to me).  In looking through the entire list of excursions for the cruise, some excursions might list a departure time of 8:30 and 1:00.  The included excursion usually says "multiple."  

 

 

[Dauntless]

2 hours ago, LeRenardrouge said:

To answer your specific question:

 

I have a full booking form list from the Oct 16 Mediterranean Odyssey cruise which has excursions by name plus times and prices.

 

Only one single departure for "Rome On Your Own" at 8:30 AM, 10 hours, $69 per person.  Whether that means there is only one coach or more is not clear (at least to me).  In looking through the entire list of excursions for the cruise, some excursions might list a departure time of 8:30 and 1:00.  The included excursion usually says "multiple."  

 

 

Can not say for sure.  Viking had only one excursion in Gdansk to Malbork Castle but there were several buses from the ship that did that excursion.  Even if they don't have room. there are many companies that could offer that service after you find out the answer from Viking.

[soundcruiser]

Thanks so much, Dauntless and LeRenardrouge! This is the kind of info I need! I'll try the folks at tellus@viking and see if they can shed any additional  light . I know when we did the Flam excursion on VH they seemed to add enough buses to take everyone who wanted each time slot. If I don't get a definitive answer we'll probably book private transportation/tour just to be safe. It looks like there are many good options!

[Marykatesmom]

I used Miles&Miles.net during a precruise stay in Rome and couldn't have been happier.  They are a private tour guide company but they also had drivers and a cooking class in Rome that was unbelievably awesome.  I am using them again for our overnight stop in Florence.  They were incredibly accommodating, responsive, and the guides spoke excellent English.