Bev-Your experience in VilleFranche?

[Live the good life]

Hi Bev,

Welcome back to our board, how was your trip? We will be using the same tour you did in VilleFranche and wondering how it went for you. Any info would be helpful. Thanks!

"LTGL"

[Quartetlead]

I believe Bev posted a report on the 9/3-9/17 Galaxy cruise from Rome to Baltimore. That is on the "connections" board. It may have been on the 5/7 Baltimore to Rome trip.

 

Bud Laumann

 

Till we sail Rome to Baltimore

[Bev]

Hi

 

We had a terrific day in Villefranche!

 

First, I want to tell you that Michel and Revelation Tours are exceptional for many reasons.

 

We found out when we boarded the Galaxy that the itinerary had been changed and that we'd be in Villefranche a day earlier than originally planned. With less than 2 weeks notice and during their busy season, Michel was able to make this change for us. Also, as word spread onboard about our Villefranche tour, we asked Michel to accommodate 16 more Cruise Critic folks in 2 minivans, and he did it for us. He had to sub-lease the vans from another company and arrange for these vans to have the same amenities as Revelation Tours vans, but he did it.

 

Another special note is that Michel and Revelation Tours did not mind if each of our vans - and we had 5 in total - had a different itinerary, nor if we changed the itinerary as the tour went along. Moreover, Michel went out of his way to draft three different itineraries for us based on the interests of our Cruise Critic groups, rather than demanding that we choose from the existing tours in the Revelation Tours brochure.

 

We had three vans doing an all-inclusive tour - from Cannes in the west to Monaco/Monte Carlo in the east; jayzee99 and jjudymac are very complimentary on the Galaxy eastbound roll call thread about their van tours doing this route.

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=9243096327&m=7203000437&r=941105222#941105222

 

Two vans visited Nice, Juan les Pins, Antibes, St. Paul de Vence, Eze and looked out over Monaco/Monte Carlo from La Turbie. Our start was delayed by an hour by French police checking paperwork and such. And later in the day, the second van developed engine trouble. In spite of that, we all felt the tour was A1 and were not grumbling about these events. Michel approached me - not the other around - and advised he would not charge us at all for these two tours. He would not listen to us saying we had had an excellent tour in spite of the delays and would not even consider accepting 50% of the tour cost. Our van thought well enough of him and the tour that we tipped him equal to most of the tour cost.

 

Everyone on the tour got an information kit with a copy of the itinerary for the day and historical information about the places being visited. Each van - even the non-Revelation Tours vans - offered an audio presentation for each visit site too. The weather was perfect, the scenery was divine and the service we received was outstanding. We probably had the best shore excursion we've ever had and thought it was a perfect day!

 

Bev

 

[This message was edited by Bev on 05-31-04 at 10:03 PM.]

[mikemary945]

Bev,

 

How did you get in touch with your tour company once you found out about the schedule change? We're not planning to take an international cell phone, so would be be able to call from the ship if necessary?

 

Mike and Mary

 

7/6 Flight to Venice -7/8 Millie Venice to Barcelona - Retirement Reward

[trishs]

Hi,

I'm so glad to hear about your tour with Revelations I have the same tour booked. So that makes me feel better. Since your group went in different directions what would your recommendation be for the day? Thanks Trish

Brilliance July 1 st. 04

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bev:

Hi

 

We had a terrific day in Villefranche!

 

First, I want to tell you that Michel and Revelation Tours are exceptional for many reasons.

 

We found out when we boarded the Galaxy that the itinerary had been changed and that we'd be in Villefranche a day earlier than originally planned. With less than 2 weeks notice and during their busy season, Michel was able to make this change for us. Also, as word spread onboard about our Villefranche tour, we asked Michel to accommodate 16 more Cruise Critic folks in 2 minivans, and he did it for us. He had to sub-lease the vans from another company and arrange for these vans to have the same amenities as Revelation Tours vans, but he did it.

 

Another special note is that Michel and Revelation Tours did not mind if each of our vans - and we had 5 in total - had a different itinerary, nor if we changed the itinerary as the tour went along. Moreover, Michel went out of his way to draft three different itineraries for us based on the interests of our Cruise Critic groups, rather than demanding that we choose from the existing tours in the Revelation Tours brochure.

 

We had three vans doing an all-inclusive tour - from Cannes in the west to Monaco/Monte Carlo in the east; jayzee99 and jjudymac are very complimentary on the Galaxy eastbound roll call thread about their van tours doing this route.

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=9243096327&m=7203000437&r=941105222#941105222

 

Two vans visited Nice, Juan les Pins, Antibes, St. Paul de Vence, Eze and looked out over Monaco/Monte Carlo from La Turbie. Our start was delayed by an hour by French police checking paperwork and such. And later in the day, the second van developed engine trouble. In spite of that, we all felt the tour was A1 and were not grumbling about these events. Michel approached me - not the other around - and advised he would not charge us at all for these two tours. He would not listen to us saying we had had an excellent tour in spite of the delays and would not even consider accepting 50% of the tour cost. Our van thought well enough of him and the tour that we tipped him equal to most of the tour cost.

 

Everyone on the tour got an information kit with a copy of the itinerary for the day and historical information about the places being visited. Each van - even the non-Revelation Tours vans - offered an audio presentation for each visit site too. The weather was perfect, the scenery was divine and the service we received was outstanding. We probably had the best shore excursion we've ever had and thought it was a perfect day!

 

Bev

 

[This message was edited by Bev on 05-31-04 at 10:03 PM.]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[trishs]

Oops I forgot to say where. For the port in Villefranche. Trish

[Bev]

Hi

 

mikemary945 - Another Cruise Critic poster emailed me the night before the cruise to let me know about the itinerary change. I immediately emailed Michel about the possibility and told him I'd confirm the change once on board. When we got on board and Celebrity confirmed the itinerary change, I emailed Michel about it using the ship's computers.

 

trishs - I think groups doing both tours thought their tour was great, so it really depends on your interests. I could email to you the tour programs that Michel developed for us, if you're interested.

 

Bev

[mikemary945]

D'oh! Forgot about using the ships computers to get to email. (Feverishly sending copies of Outlook messages to my Hotmail account)!

 

Mike and Mary

 

7/6 Flight to Venice -7/8 Millie Venice to Barcelona - Retirement Reward

[Bev]

Mike and Mary

 

I had to send things to my Hotmail account too. Don't forget to set up the tour operators as favourites so their responses will go to your inbox rather than to junk mail!

 

Bev

[Live the good life]

Thank you Bev...It's great to know that all my impressions about Michel Legrand's company is true...I since then visited the website ( www.revelation-tours.com )again and felt very good about the testimonials, and the services offered (A/C van, free minibar, audioshow of music to put you in the mood of the region, personalized pamphlets, etc...), but most important of all, the company's attitude and philosophy on acccomodating clients and wanting us to have a fantastic day...We are very excited about our French Riviera tour, will be visiting Cannes, Nice, St Paul de Vence, Eze, Monaco, Vence, among other photo stops...

Kim "LTGL"

 

[This message was edited by Live the good life on 06-06-04 at 01:23 PM.]

[jezzdogg]

We are a couple on our own on the Milie of Aug 13th. It seems like the sip is almost a complete sell out, but so far there are only 6 people who have signed up for the cc and are on the boards talking to each other. Do you think it is possible Micheal(?) has a tour arranged for that day and we can be added to it, because a van for 2 people would be much t expensive- do you know if he puts groups together????

 

norm

[Live the good life]

Jezzdogg, sorry to hear that for your cruise only 6 people have been talking to each other on the board!!!Some people don't know about the message board until much later, I found out about the message board 3.5 months before the sailing, but some others only about a month into sailing!!!Anyway, I think you should ask Michel by e-mail whether he has other groups booked on the same date, if so, for him to ask the other group whether they want to have other people share the tour to reduce cost. For our group of 4 people, the cost of the Revelation tour is less than that offered by the cruise ship tour, and also includes Cannes and other stops the cruise ship would not have included. Besides, with private tours, one can get to the destinations quicker, as buses usually have to park further away, and 30 passengers or so have to walk to the monuments etc...If you can find 8 people for the tour, the cost would be halved for each person comparing to the ship's tour!BTW, you can also post on this Europe board, many people read this board and not posting on the Roll Call board...Best of luck...you will find Michel extremely accommodating...You can also read previous posts by Bev, a cruiser who recently had the tour with them for more info...If you need info on tourguides for other ports, let us know...

"Ltgl"

[Live the good life]

Norm, just now realized you're a seasoned cruiser and have posted much more than I have...Anyway, just wanted to share my experiences with other cruisers, gained from an incredible amount of time and energy spent researching and interacting with different tour guides and finding a good match for us!!!

Kim

[Bev]

jezzdogg

 

I echo "LTGL"'s comments. Michel is wonderful to deal with - please contact him and mention my name or Cruise Critic's name, and see what he can do for you. Another possibility would be to book an 8-passenger van and "talk up the tour" when you get on board. For us, as word spread, I had people coming up to my dinner table asking if I was the one organizing tours and was there any room left on the Villefranche tour. I would bet that it would be the same for you and you'd have absolutely no trouble in filling the van!

 

Bev

[jezzdogg]

Thanks for the replies, I am going to e-mail him and see if he has any vans set up for that day, unforunatley about talking up the tour is impossible, becuase we board on a Friday and Vullafranche is the next day, otherwise that would have been a good ides. This is our 15 cruise, but the first that there has not been a active roll call for, even our Princess cruises have had an active roll call and they do not have the (meet and mingle/connection oppterunites) On our Princess cruise in April, we just decided we would all meet in one of the lounges at a certain hour, and on of the gals make Name tags with our Names and board Names, about 30 people showed up and some of us even wound up having dinner together for the cruise because of the free style dining ooption.

 

norm