RC tour or on your own?

[Jenn1121]

:confused: I am going on a 7 day Med cruise in Nov. 08 :) and wanted to see if you think I should do the tours on my own or use RC? I have never been to Italy and don't speak the language. I guess I am apprehensive about relying on someone else to take me around that is not afilliated with RC. I hope this makes sense. What are your thoughts?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Jenn

[cberge]

:confused: I am going on a 7 day Med cruise in Nov. 08 :) and wanted to see if you think I should do the tours on my own or use RC? I have never been to Italy and don't speak the language. I guess I am apprehensive about relying on someone else to take me around that is not afilliated with RC. I hope this makes sense. What are your thoughts?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Jenn

I know a lot of people will disagree with me,anf that's ok,but from what I am reading inot your post..I would do the RC tours unless you can meet up with some other's wo need to fill in a private tour with some more people.Cost aside I think you would feel more comfortable.You can do some research on this board as to getting around your ports by train or private guides,and see if anyhtin sounds good to you.You can get around Italy w/o speaking Italian as a lot of people speak English in the big cities,but again it's your comfort level.If you have never been to Europe before let alone Italy the ships topurs amy be good for you.

[Kindlychap]

:confused: I am going on a 7 day Med cruise in Nov. 08 :) and wanted to see if you think I should do the tours on my own or use RC? I have never been to Italy and don't speak the language. I guess I am apprehensive about relying on someone else to take me around that is not afilliated with RC. I hope this makes sense. What are your thoughts?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Jenn

 

Well, the general rule is you will see more, and see it better on a private tour.

 

Some parts of Italy you really don't need to worry about language. Venice, Capri and places that rely on tourism (especially American) will speak English in the majority of cases.

 

Go down to Puglia (near Brindisi) and things are very different.....

 

But a tour where you are dealing with an English speaking guide should be fine. Look for a website in English, as they would not market themselves to the English speaking market if English was a problem.....

 

All these things are a trade off. Yes - the easy option is the cruise line. But if there are three or more of you it may be cheaper to hire a local guide, and having done a private tour in Sidney, Canada, we saw so much more than anyone else on the Cunard tour.

 

Matthew

[Jenn1121]

Thanks for the info on the tours. Are private tours expensive? I know on RC the prices range from around $50 (a few hours) up to $345 for 10 hours. I would like to see as much as I can but not sure of the cost with private tour.

 

Thanks for all your help :)

Jenn

[Kindlychap]

Thanks for the info on the tours. Are private tours expensive? I know on RC the prices range from around $50 (a few hours) up to $345 for 10 hours. I would like to see as much as I can but not sure of the cost with private tour.

 

Thanks for all your help :)

Jenn

 

I've just had a quotation for a full day in Athens - the city in the morning and Cape Sounion in the afternoon - which was 230 euros ($370) for a Mercedes full - four at a squeeze or three comfortably. Entrance fees on top.

 

See what the comparison is. It is slightly more than the similar Cunard tour, but so much nicer!

 

Matthew

[Fuzzy55]

Jenn

 

We are doing the Voyager of the Seas this November. We've never been to Europe either. We are doing all private tours with others going on the same cruise. The average price per person for each tours is 75 euros as we formed groups of 8. Check out the thread for your cruise. It has been so easy for form the groups. We just signed up for this cruise 3/07. If you want some great information, check out the thead for the VOS 11/10/07. You will get pros and cons about private and the RCL toiurs.

 

Bev

[Jenn1121]

Jenn

 

We are doing the Voyager of the Seas this November. We've never been to Europe either. We are doing all private tours with others going on the same cruise. The average price per person for each tours is 75 euros as we formed groups of 8. Check out the thread for your cruise. It has been so easy for form the groups. We just signed up for this cruise 3/07. If you want some great information, check out the thead for the VOS 11/10/07. You will get pros and cons about private and the RCL toiurs.

 

Bev

 

Bev-

 

Thanks for the info. I will check out your roll call and see what's going on with your trip. I might check back with you after your trip to see how it went. As of right now we have 7 people going but I know that only 6 will possibly be doing the tours. Have a great trip :)

[Fuzzy55]

Jenn

 

We will be using Revelation Tours for Villefranchie, RomeinLimo for Livorno and Rome(romeinlimo.com), and Aptours (www.aptours.it). Check out their websites. Feel free to email me after our cruise. My email address is: bcgirard@msn.com. The thread for our cruise has a lot of valuable info. However, it is long. I think there are 34 pages right now.

 

Bev