Celebrity Taste of Sorrento?

[dilacruiser]

We are trying to decide what to do in Naples. We are a family of 5 and have never been to Italy before. Most ports, we are planning to do on our own or with private drivers. This particular ship sponsored tour was intriguing to me because it includes a stop at a farm house where olive oil and fresh mozzarella cheese are made.

Has anyone ever done this tour, or has anyone ever done a similar thing on their own? I don't like the idea of being captive for 9 hours on a touristy excursion, but am not sure if we can arrange something like this on our own.

We definitely want to see Pompei, which is included in the tour. We are not interested in cramming too much into the day.

[klflote]

I enjoyed this tour, but of course personal experience will vary. In general, I find that "taste of" tours are good for me because I don't have to worry about being late on arrival or departure, cancellation is possible until a day before, and there's enough unstructured time that I don't feel constrained by the tour group.

 

On this particular tour, there's less unstructured time than others, though. Here's what you can expect: there's about a 75 minute drive along the coast to the farm with one short stop for photos.

 

The farm is fairly interesting; the tour there that focuses on how they make olive oil. The cheese-making demonstration is pretty short (but really, most of cheese making is like watching paint dry). Afterwards, they serve a great little snack of fresh cheeses, cured meats, and bread. Then there is the opportunity to drink limoncello and buy that and oil to take home -- which was a great thing in the day when you could take liquids on the airplane, but probably is a wasted opportunity now (unless you trust it in your checked bags). There are other opportunities to get the same things later in town, but I loved bringing back gifts from the farm. One thing I'll say is that it was an adult-oriented tour; it's not the sort of thing where your kids can roam around on the farm (though we did probably spend 45 minutes tasting limoncello and buying gifts; they could probably find something to do then).

 

This is followed by a quick ride into Sorrento, where you are dropped off at a wood factory. It's the sort of thing I dread on tours, though I will say that it was short, and actually seeing them make inlaid wood objects was pretty interesting. Then you have time (I recall 120 minutes maybe?) to explore Sorrento on your own, which is easily doable. We walked all over, then stopped at a little restaurant for lunch (it was great; I don't remember where, but really all the little places looked good).

 

The remainder of the time is a guided tour of Pompeii -- and its the sort of thing where a guide is invaluable. You're in a fairly small group, so it works out quite well. There are a couple of times in Pompeii where you can go off for 15 minutes or so if you like. The tour guide was quite excellent.

 

Finally, back to Naples -- though not without a forced shopping opportunity at a cameo factory. I was tired enough that I didn't mind just staying on the bus for 20 minutes and waiting, and happy enough with the rest of the tour that I didn't resent a stop that would normally drive me nuts.

[leighuf]

Naples was our last port of call and after Rome and Florence, we were BEAT! We opted to do things on our own. We went to Sorrento and Pompeii (though we only stayed at Pompeii for a little over an hour). A hydrofoil leaves from the cruise ship pier. It takes you, nonstop, to Sorrento harbor. We LOVED Sorrento- peaceful, lots of shopping, great restaurants. Oh, and lots of limoncello! There is a nearby train station that will whisk you away to Pompeii. Pompeii is hot, dusty, crowded with tour groups, and HUGE. We quickly realized we needed an entire day here and sadly, didn't have the time. This port of call is very easy to do on your own time.