Is Amalfi Coast and Pompeii tour worth the cost?

[mskaufman]

5 hours ago, kayjaypea42 said:

To piggyback onto this thread, has anyone done Royal Caribbean's Amalfi and Pompeii by Land and Sea?  How was it?  Thanks!

Here are some pictures from that excursion

 

Mark and Karen Europe 2012 (shutterfly.com)

 

Mark and Karen Europe 2012 (shutterfly.com)

 

 

[Nebr.cruiser]

We did a tour that included Pompeii and up the coast ro Ravella, Positano and other towns, back to Sorrento and a ferry back to port.  It was wonderful.  We'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

It was with an independent operator though, not the cruise line.  We set it up with several others on these boards.

[biksgirl]

20 minutes ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

We did a tour that included Pompeii and up the coast ro Ravella, Positano and other towns, back to Sorrento and a ferry back to port.  It was wonderful.  We'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

It was with an independent operator though, not the cruise line.  We set it up with several others on these boards.

Do you recall the tour operator?  

 

thanks

[Nebr.cruiser]

11 hours ago, biksgirl said:

Do you recall the tour operator?  

 

thanks

It was quite a while ago, but i will see if I can figure out the operator's name.

[Choozin Croozin]

On 4/16/2022 at 11:10 PM, mskaufman said:

It also depends if you think you are going back.  On our first trip we did Amalfi Coast by water in the morning (Stop in Amalfi) and Pompeii in the afternoon.  Great trip.  Turns out we had a second trip during which we did the Amalfi Coast drive.  Also great.

Who did you use for this?

[Hlitner]

Just be advised that large bus excursions/tours cannot enter into Positano (a favorite cliffside town along the Amalfi Coast).  If you take a bus excursion (such as sold by cruise lines) you will "see" Positano from the road (that runs above the town) but you will not get an opportunity to go into the cute town to browse, shop, eat. etc.

 

Hank

[Nebr.cruiser]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Just be advised that large bus excursions/tours cannot enter into Positano (a favorite cliffside town along the Amalfi Coast).  If you take a bus excursion (such as sold by cruise lines) you will "see" Positano from the road (that runs above the town) but you will not get an opportunity to go into the cute town to browse, shop, eat. etc.

 

Hank

So true.  Our private excursion in a van with 6 passangers gave us plenty of time at Pompeii, several stops along the Amalfi coast, including Positano, with time to walk around, lunch on our own in Ravello and drop off in Salerno ? to catch the ferry back, which was also very enjoyable.  Sorry, I can't quite remember the town that has the ferry across the bay back to Naples.  One of our favorite tours ever.

[CGinMTL]

On 4/14/2022 at 7:36 PM, Jilliebean28 said:

We did a private tour through Rome in Limo to the Amalfi Coast (Positano and Sorrento) and Pompei in one day.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Rome in Limo was so easy to work with and the tour and guide were fantastic.

I agree about Rome in limo. Best value. Booked them in all my Italian ports (twice)

[marazul]

43 minutes ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

So true.  Our private excursion in a van with 6 passangers gave us plenty of time at Pompeii, several stops along the Amalfi coast, including Positano, with time to walk around, lunch on our own in Ravello and drop off in Salerno ? to catch the ferry back, which was also very enjoyable.  Sorry, I can't quite remember the town that has the ferry across the bay back to Naples.  One of our favorite tours ever.

Sorrento. 

[Nebr.cruiser]

3 hours ago, marazul said:

Sorrento. 

Thank you!!!  That name just would not come and I was too lazy to google it.  At least it started with an S.

[Over from NZ]

On 4/20/2022 at 2:25 PM, biksgirl said:

Do you recall the tour operator?  

 

thanks

If it helps.. we did both (Amalfi & Pompeii) and used italytoursharing.com and they were outstanding. Arranged it on here with other cruisers from our cruise. Used them for Naples, Sicily, Florence & Rome. 

[kayjaypea42]

In case anyone is considering the Amalfi Coast by Land and Sea tour from Royal Caribbean, I will caveat this by saying first, there are a lot of tour operators for this one, but the one I got (whose name I cannot remember) was terrible.  He was sarcastic, talked about politics, and most importantly, didn't wait for everyone to get off the bus before walking away. 

 

Also, beyond what the tour operator was like (and not really the fault of the tour -- it did say strenuous (but then again, almost all of them said strenuous), we were a bit blindsided by how difficult parts of Pompeii were to someone with balance and/or sight issues.  There are many spots where you have to walk on river rock with gaps between just big enough to twist your ankle on.  I was fine; if I were alone, I probably wouldn't have even noticed, but I had my legally blind mother and 82-year-old grandmother with me.  If I could do it over, I'd've skipped straight to Capri and spent the whole day there.  Alas, live and learn!

[Over from NZ]

2 hours ago, kayjaypea42 said:

In case anyone is considering the Amalfi Coast by Land and Sea tour from Royal Caribbean, I will caveat this by saying first, there are a lot of tour operators for this one, but the one I got (whose name I cannot remember) was terrible.  He was sarcastic, talked about politics, and most importantly, didn't wait for everyone to get off the bus before walking away. 

 

Also, beyond what the tour operator was like (and not really the fault of the tour -- it did say strenuous (but then again, almost all of them said strenuous), we were a bit blindsided by how difficult parts of Pompeii were to someone with balance and/or sight issues.  There are many spots where you have to walk on river rock with gaps between just big enough to twist your ankle on.  I was fine; if I were alone, I probably wouldn't have even noticed, but I had my legally blind mother and 82-year-old grandmother with me.  If I could do it over, I'd've skipped straight to Capri and spent the whole day there.  Alas, live and learn!

So what you're saying is.. there's a tour operator you wouldn't recommend.. but you can't tell us who. Hmm.. that's helpful! hahaha. 

[kayjaypea42]

46 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

So what you're saying is.. there's a tour operator you wouldn't recommend.. but you can't tell us who. Hmm.. that's helpful! hahaha. 

LOL Yep! But honestly, it wouldn't have been helpful even if I knew the name; you didn't have a choice as to who your tour operator was.  The theater was pretty full for that excursion and there were a lot of tour operators.

[ajtraveler66]

I was on a W. Med. cruise back in 2012.  Our port cities included Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome, and Naples.  (Lots of good places).

 

By far, my favorite excursion while on that cruise was Pompeii and Amalfi Coast.  It's definitely worth it.

[staceycs]

We have the opportunity to do the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii through Celebrity.  One choice is by motor coach and one by motor launch "boat". I would love input on which one to lean towards.   

[mapleleaves]

4 hours ago, staceycs said:

We have the opportunity to do the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii through Celebrity.  One choice is by motor coach and one by motor launch "boat". I would love input on which one to lean towards.   

It would help to see the details if you want feedback. 

 

We had a private driver for our day along the Amalfi Coast ( $400 for 8hrs) . I find the views from the water to be spectacular (Cinque Terre experience)  so we took the ferry from Positano to Amalfi ( maybe $1o for a 20 minute ride).  Fantastic day and so glad we took the ferry.   

We were a party of 4 adults so the Mercedes minivan/driver was affordable.  You might want to consider this option. We could have posted on our roll call for additional pax to share the cost but $100 for a full day was a great deal.  Plus the ability to stop where and when we wanted was such a bonus.

[staceycs]

10 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

It would help to see the details if you want feedback. 

 

We had a private driver for our day along the Amalfi Coast ( $400 for 8hrs) . I find the views from the water to be spectacular (Cinque Terre experience)  so we took the ferry from Positano to Amalfi ( maybe $1o for a 20 minute ride).  Fantastic day and so glad we took the ferry.   

We were a party of 4 adults so the Mercedes minivan/driver was affordable.  You might want to consider this option. We could have posted on our roll call for additional pax to share the cost but $100 for a full day was a great deal.  Plus the ability to stop where and when we wanted was such a bonus.

Thank you for your response.  Could you share your private driver information?  Here is the description from Celebrity on the one by water.  It's the same description just by land on the other excursion:

 

Experience the spectacular Amalfi Coast from the waters of the Mediterranean onboard a sleek motor launch, then tour the historic ruins of Pompeii. After your cruise, you'll enjoy some time to explore Amalfi's charming narrow streets, trendy boutiques, and local cafes before heading to Pompeii. Once there, break for lunch before exploring the remnants of this city, learning how the catastrophic eruption of the still active Mt. Vesuvius covered Pompeii in ash and pumice. 

[mapleleaves]

39 minutes ago, staceycs said:

Thank you for your response.  Could you share your private driver information?  Here is the description from Celebrity on the one by water.  It's the same description just by land on the other excursion:

 

Experience the spectacular Amalfi Coast from the waters of the Mediterranean onboard a sleek motor launch, then tour the historic ruins of Pompeii. After your cruise, you'll enjoy some time to explore Amalfi's charming narrow streets, trendy boutiques, and local cafes before heading to Pompeii. Once there, break for lunch before exploring the remnants of this city, learning how the catastrophic eruption of the still active Mt. Vesuvius covered Pompeii in ash and pumice. 

Where do you board the boat? Actually, the description makes it sound like the entire day's travel is by boat.  Is this a 7-8hr day?  Since this is a Celebrity Tour, you might want to ask on the Celebrity forum to see if past travelers have done the tour.

 

I used Aldo Limo, but nearly all the car/driver vendors offer private tours.... italytours.eu, joeBanana, italytoursharing, and recently read great reviews of PleasantTravel.com.   In 2019 they were about $40- an hr.   

 

Nice that your tour includes time in Amalfi.  Many of those tours go to Sorrento then stop briefly at the Positano overlook before heading back to Pompeii.  We really struggled with skipping Pompeii, but in the end, all 4 of us agreed the Amalfi Coast was the priority; so we had time in Positano, Amalfi and Ravello, plus the ferry.  

 

 

 

[staceycs]

22 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

Where do you board the boat? Actually, the description makes it sound like the entire day's travel is by boat.  Is this a 7-8hr day?  Since this is a Celebrity Tour, you might want to ask on the Celebrity forum to see if past travelers have done the tour.

 

I used Aldo Limo, but nearly all the car/driver vendors offer private tours.... italytours.eu, joeBanana, italytoursharing, and recently read great reviews of PleasantTravel.com.   In 2019 they were about $40- an hr.   

 

Nice that your tour includes time in Amalfi.  Many of those tours go to Sorrento then stop briefly at the Positano overlook before heading back to Pompeii.  We really struggled with skipping Pompeii, but in the end, all 4 of us agreed the Amalfi Coast was the priority; so we had time in Positano, Amalfi and Ravello, plus the ferry.  

 

 

 

Most of the cruise tours are 9.5 to 10 hours and we are in port from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm.  My husband wants history so we will be doing pompeii and I would love to see the Amalfi coast.  I like the idea of a private tour over the big cruise tours.  Thank you again for your insight!  We are looking forward to this trip.  

[mapleleaves]

53 minutes ago, staceycs said:

Most of the cruise tours are 9.5 to 10 hours and we are in port from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm.  

 

We were in Naples 7-7.   I checked my notes, and our driver picked us up at 8am and dropped us off at 5pm ( I paid for an extra hour).  Good price when shared among 4. The vans hold 8, but I think more than 6 could get uncomfortable.  I'm sure  you could find others on your roll call to share the cost, since the Pompeii/Amalfi combo is so popular.

Whatever you decide, it will be a wonderful cruise! We loved every moment of it. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by mapleleaves

[Sugarlandsooner]

On 7/21/2022 at 12:26 PM, mapleleaves said:

It would help to see the details if you want feedback. 

 

We had a private driver for our day along the Amalfi Coast ( $400 for 8hrs) . I find the views from the water to be spectacular (Cinque Terre experience)  so we took the ferry from Positano to Amalfi ( maybe $1o for a 20 minute ride).  Fantastic day and so glad we took the ferry.   

We were a party of 4 adults so the Mercedes minivan/driver was affordable.  You might want to consider this option. We could have posted on our roll call for additional pax to share the cost but $100 for a full day was a great deal.  Plus the ability to stop where and when we wanted was such a bonus.

Do you happen to remember what company you used?  We are going to the Med. next summer, trying to get things planned and booked early.  Thanks!

[mapleleaves]

Aldo Limo, but read post #44 where I listed a few other companies. There are lots more but I tossed the list after our cruise.  Check with all of them to compare prices and service. 

I found these companies by reading trip reports in the NCL, RCI, Princess, Celebrity forums.....trip reports are a great resource, altho sadly there aren't many this yr