Will I miss the ship???

[dleahy4444]

I’m doing a European cruise for just the second time ever. On my first cruise to Greece I booked the excursions through RCCL and was disappointed in the quality as well as the price. This time we are sailing on the Wonder out of Rome and stopping in Naples. I’d like to see Pompeii as well as the Amalfi coast in the same shore excursion (8-9 hour trip) and a private tour company offers it. Our ship is supposed to arrive in Naples at 7am and leave at 7pm. Will I be cutting it too close? Am I better off booking a tour I like less through RCCL but that will guarantee that the ship won’t leave without us?

[cruisemom42]

Private companies depend on their reputation. If they got cruisers back late to the ship, it would decimate their business. 

 

If you stick to well-reviewed companies and do not go against what they recommend (e.g., requesting additional time at a site without cutting time somewhere else), you have every reason to believe that you'll make it back to the port on time.

 

Cruise lines play on this fear of cruisers much more than is ethical, in my opinion. On the other hand, there are some people who are so nervous about the faint possibility that they wouldn't enjoy a private tour anyway, they'd be too worried. For those, it's probably best to stick to the ship tours.

[CruiserBruce]

Totally agree with @cruisemom42. I have yet to see more than a very, very tiny number of comments that a private vendor even made the customer sweat a little getting back to the ship. Pre-Covid tens, if not hundreds of thousands of cruisers took private tours, and I can count the number of issues on one hand with a few fingers unused. 

 

I would recommend ONLY local vendors, not the tour brokers, like Viator, for the best customer service.

[dleahy4444]

Thank you both for your replies. Maybe I’m being overly cautious.  I’m thinking of a tour with Mondo tour company, that seems to be a local Naples tour company. Anyone with any experience with them? 

[dani negreanu]

I can highly recommend Joe Banana's tours. Amazing and very reliable.

 

 https://www.joebananalimos.net/

[cruisemom42]

11 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

Thank you both for your replies. Maybe I’m being overly cautious.  I’m thinking of a tour with Mondo tour company, that seems to be a local Naples tour company. Anyone with any experience with them? 

 

I don't recall hearing about them here -- perhaps check TripAdvisor for reviews?

[dleahy4444]

6 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

I can highly recommend Joe Banana's tours. Amazing and very reliable.

 

 https://www.joebananalimos.net/

Thank you. I just sent them an email regarding pricing

[dleahy4444]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I don't recall hearing about them here -- perhaps check TripAdvisor for reviews?

Thank you for your reponse. I found out about them I’m TripAdvisor where they got good reviews. Just wondering if anyone on this board has used them

[dani negreanu]

3 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

Just wondering if anyone on this board has used them

 

We used them for the "Amalfi Coast in Full" -- Positano, Amalfi and Ravello.

Mainly for Ravello, which is breathtaking, and not included usually in tours.

 

[dleahy4444]

7 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

We used them for the "Amalfi Coast in Full" -- Positano, Amalfi and Ravello.

Mainly for Ravello, which is breathtaking, and not included usually in tours.

 

That sounds amazing. I’m hoping for a tour that includes Pompeii. Ive never been there. Actually interacting with the well traveled folks on this site, I realize I’ve been missing out by just sticking to the limited shore excursions offered by the cruise line.

[dani negreanu]

3 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

I’m hoping for a tour that includes Pompeii

 

They have at least two -- Pompeii - Positano - Amalfi, or Pompeii - Positano - Sorento.

[mapleleaves]

Mondo is recommended in Rick Steves guides. 

 

We hired a private driver when we visited Naples in Sept 2019.  Our port time was 7 - 7.  I think you'll be fine with your port times. You really need to think about where and how to spend your time tho.

 

Our original plan was to see Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. But as I researched the various tours, I found that companies that offered both, didn't really spend any time on the coast; they either went to Sorrento ( which didn't interest me) or stopped at an overlook above Positano. Our priority was the Amalfi Coast and we wanted to spend time in Positano, Amalfi AND Ravello.  So we reluctantly decided to skip Pompeii. 

With a private driver we could make our own itinerary. Typically they do an 8 hr day, but we asked for an extra hr, so our loop took 9 hrs, from 8-5.  We had at least an hr in each village, rode the ferry from Positano to Amalfi, a leiurely lunch in Ravello, and on the return drive we didn't retrace our steps but came back thru the mountains.  It was a great day! 

 

If you limit your time on the coast to visiting only one village, you'll have no problem getting back on time.  But as I said, our focus was to see a few villages. When I discussed our original plan with the company, they said no way. There wasn't enough time to see all 3 villages AND Pompeii.  They didn't want their reputation ruined by my overzealous plans !

 

Hope this helps. Have a great trip!

 

 

[dleahy4444]

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

They have at least two -- Pompeii - Positano - Amalfi, or Pompeii - Positano - Sorento.

I just emailed the company about those. Thanks again!

[dleahy4444]

3 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

Mondo is recommended in Rick Steves guides. 

 

We hired a private driver when we visited Naples in Sept 2019.  Our port time was 7 - 7.  I think you'll be fine with your port times. You really need to think about where and how to spend your time tho.

 

Our original plan was to see Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. But as I researched the various tours, I found that companies that offered both, didn't really spend any time on the coast; they either went to Sorrento ( which didn't interest me) or stopped at an overlook above Positano. Our priority was the Amalfi Coast and we wanted to spend time in Positano, Amalfi AND Ravello.  So we reluctantly decided to skip Pompeii. 

With a private driver we could make our own itinerary. Typically they do an 8 hr day, but we asked for an extra hr, so our loop took 9 hrs, from 8-5.  We had at least an hr in each village, rode the ferry from Positano to Amalfi, a leiurely lunch in Ravello, and on the return drive we didn't retrace our steps but came back thru the mountains.  It was a great day! 

 

If you limit your time on the coast to visiting only one village, you'll have no problem getting back on time.  But as I said, our focus was to see a few villages. When I discussed our original plan with the company, they said no way. There wasn't enough time to see all 3 villages AND Pompeii.  They didn't want their reputation ruined by my overzealous plans !

 

Hope this helps. Have a great trip!

 

 

Thanks so much. I definitely want to see Pompeii and the Amalfi coast. I will check out the amount of time at each stop when researching possibilities 

[Sue Do-Over]

RomeInLimo.  I feel like their biggest fan.   We did a private car for 4 from Rome along the Amalfi coast -- had 2 hours (not enough!) in Pompeii and at least an hour in Positano.  Leaving from Naples gives you lots more time.  There are several scenic overlooks along the route, too.

 

As you plan your day, decide whether you want to enjoy a leisurely lunch overlooking the sea, or grab a quick to-go, leaving more time touring.  Let your driver know early, either way. 

[trotzoll]

Another company is Italy Tours. We're actually using them in June while we're in Naples. We're going to Pompeii and the Amalfi coast. We haven't used them before, but they came highly recommended and have been great to work with so far. I believe we paid 69 euros. Good luck.

When will you be on the WOTS? We're boarding on 6/9/22.

Edited May 31, 2022 by trotzoll