RomeInLimo questions

[Loonbeam]

The drivers are not trained guides, but they do know a LOT about their areas (esp.) For specific attractions like the vatican, they can arrange licensed guides.

 

Larger groups (15+?) do get a guide or you can hire one for a smaller group, but honestly in our experience the drivers have been more than adequate unless you want really in depth knowledge on a topic.

 

From what I understand, the people who do RIL tours are drivers, not registered tour guides, which requires a degree in Italy. Quite a difficult degree actually..is this true? If so, how much different would it be or do they provide a guide and a driver? Thanks...

[CruiserBruce]

Agree in general. However, I do recommend a real guide for the Vatican and Pompeii. We've done well without guides for other tours and plan to do so again in a few months.

 

I agree. Didn't think that was what the poster was referring to. We have had a R-I-L guide (the wonderful Sarah) in the Vatican, and wish we had one for our Pompei visit.

[Loonbeam]

As an FYI the Vatican guides are not directly affiliated with RIL - they are the same guides anyone can book. RIL just has a list of the well regarded ones they make arrangements with.

 

I agree. Didn't think that was what the poster was referring to. We have had a R-I-L guide (the wonderful Sarah) in the Vatican, and wish we had one for our Pompei visit.

[jesse]

We book early, have used RIL at least 15 x and would never use anyone else. They booked Vatican guides for us twice, Pompeii guide once, and the rest of our experiences have always been amazing because our drivers are always amazing. they go to the last mile to make your experience excellent and special. Well worth every penny. Share tours have worked out well for people we know when they have communicated with sharers prior to arrival. We have share experience that worked great for the same reason- up front communication. For many years we have used RIL and are heading back in 2016 for more! Friends of ours just booked 4 days with them as well. You will be very happy.

[Kruzeagain]

From what I understand, the people who do RIL tours are drivers, not registered tour guides, which requires a degree in Italy. Quite a difficult degree actually..is this true? If so, how much different would it be or do they provide a guide and a driver? Thanks...

 

I think it basically boils down to whether you tend devour the extraordinarily complex and detailed Michelin guide books cover to cover or go the Rick Steves route.

 

We exclusively use, recommend and organize tours with RiL (I'm in the steel business not the travel biz, btw) and have found their drivers to be a tremendous resource. If there is a place where a private tour guide would be an asset (such as the Vatican) RomeinLimo can recommend and set that up for you so that your limo pulls up at just the right moment to meet the inside guide. Their drivers are acknowledged experts at seamlessly blending punctuality, safety (very important!) exceptional grace, humour and informative guidance.

 

One of our travel friends wanted to bring our RiL driver home with her but that's another thread entirely :)

 

Happy Touring,

Alan

[euro cruiser]

The drivers are not trained guides, but they do know a LOT about their areas (esp.)

The most important skill is that they are good drivers, of course. The next most important thing is that they are fluent in English. After that they need to be outgoing, friendly and, to a point, entertaining.

 

Actual knowledge about history, etc. is a nice to have ability for a car service driver, not a necessity. And really, unless you are truly interested in the history (or geography, etc.) of the area does it really matter if what they tell you is strictly correct?

[mrobstad]

Another reason I love RIL is that they are flexible with your itinerary and can suggest cool things you may not have thought of. While around Florence, I think, we went to Tuscany and an olive factory. And in Rome, he took us to the keyhole....

[Barbie075]

You will never find a more accommodating service. We have used them in Rome, Naples and Florence and each experience was wonderful. On time, informative drivers with great suggestions for dining, views, etc. etc.

 

Would highly recommend them.

[Solarad]

After reading through almost 100 of these pages, I noticed there were only a couple mentions regarding tour groups of 15 people. As we are booked with this size group for Florence/Pisa and Rome this May, I have a few questions:

1. Will there be 2 vans to transport the group or some type of minibus for all 15?

2. Is everyone able to sit by a window?

3. On full day tours, is it recommended to be prepared with an umbrella and water bottles?

Don't like carrying extra stuff, but don't want to get soaked by a spring rain either.

4. If we don't climb the Tower of Pisa, what are the suggestions for passing the time there?

How long does it take for the climb?

Thanks in advance for any information!

[pseudoware]

After reading through almost 100 of these pages, I noticed there were only a couple mentions regarding tour groups of 15 people. As we are booked with this size group for Florence/Pisa and Rome this May, I have a few questions:

1. Will there be 2 vans to transport the group or some type of minibus for all 15?

2. Is everyone able to sit by a window?

3. On full day tours, is it recommended to be prepared with an umbrella and water bottles?

Don't like carrying extra stuff, but don't want to get soaked by a spring rain either.

4. If we don't climb the Tower of Pisa, what are the suggestions for passing the time there?

How long does it take for the climb?

Thanks in advance for any information!

 

They use a 15-passenger Mercedes Sprinter. Each row has at least 3 seats, and I think the rear has 4, so not everyone has a window seat. Google for pics.

 

Not sure how much this will impact your tour, but in Rome, there are certain narrow roads we took in our 8-pax vehicle through which the 15-pax one won't fit.

 

The Tower takes about 10 minutes to climb.

Edited March 21, 2015 by pseudoware

[krev]

After reading through almost 100 of these pages, I noticed there were only a couple mentions regarding tour groups of 15 people. As we are booked with this size group for Florence/Pisa and Rome this May, I have a few questions:

 

1. Will there be 2 vans to transport the group or some type of minibus for all 15?

 

2. Is everyone able to sit by a window?

 

3. On full day tours, is it recommended to be prepared with an umbrella and water bottles?

 

Don't like carrying extra stuff, but don't want to get soaked by a spring rain either.

 

4. If we don't climb the Tower of Pisa, what are the suggestions for passing the time there?

 

How long does it take for the climb?

 

Thanks in advance for any information!

 

 

Pack a small pocket style umbrella, you'll want water. There are lots of information boards next to the tower that gives you history, there's is also the large cathedral. Unfortunately we were too early and didn't get to see inside the cathedral. You have to pay for the bathrooms at the tower and if you do climb it they don't allow packs or even my small about 12" cross body bag, they do have lockers.

The Sprinter vans are very comfortable and we had good views but only had 8 people in ours. This is a fantastic tour company, you can't go wrong.

[Solarad]

Thanks so much for your responses Kelli and pseudoware. Much appreciated!

[foxeysandy]

We will be in Rome in late October. When should I look into booking RIL? Also, can anyone answer if it is best to try to get a van of 8 from my ship (Island Princess) or to just book my husband and myself into a van of 8?

 

Always book as early as possible. Also, I would definitely go to the roll call for the ship and post about the tour - we've done this many times and always found as many other cruisers as we wanted. A group of 8 is always lots of fun, and a good deal less expensive than doing in on your own.

[Litehouse9]

Rome in Limo is excellent! They go wherever you want. Drivers (and all staff!) are so knowledgeable and friendly. They are cheaper than the tours on the ships. We would never go anywhere in Italy without using them. :)

 

They can help you get a tour guide for the vatican (they did for us, and she was EXCELLENT!) and other places. I highly recommend them.

 

They have bottles of cool water in the Limo for your convenience (so you don't need to bring any). Also, when it rained in Florence, they had a couple umbrellas for our use! So convenient. Limo comfortable and roomy.

Edited March 28, 2015 by Litehouse9

[mrobstad]

I agree wholeheartedly with Litehouse9! We asked if we could go to Tuscanny on the way back from Florence, I think, and presto! Stopped at a vineyard fir great photo ops! The driver also took us to an olive oil factory, again not on the typical itinerary. I would try to use them in every city!

[laryco]

Used them in Rome 2 years ago and I had a back issue and could not stand in lines so we expected to do a drive by of several locations....Claudio our driver made a few calls and we go to see the Coliseum and the Vatican bypassing many lines....far exceeded our expectations.....we are visiting this May and have hired them for tours of Florence and the Amalfi coast....Jany was easy to deal with

[AliceS]

I'm booking romeinlimo for some of my pre-cruise time in Rome, thanks to the many accolades here on CC. My questions:

1-They are suggesting an 8 hour tour with a driver, and a guide for the Vatican. Do we need a guide for other sites? Or is the driver usually knowledgeable enough to provide info?

2-Have you ever just gotten a guide at the Vatican rather than scheduled one in advance? If so, how did that work out? Did you still have to stand in line for tickets? Can you just visit the "church" on your own without tickets? (I obviously have lots more research to do! I visited Rome years ago, but I was on a tour and they took care of everything.)

3-Do you tip on top of the fee for the driver, or is it included?

 

4- Not a romeinlimo question, but has anyone ever done a day trip from Rome to Pompeii? Is that possible?c

 

 

 

Thanks in advance for answers to my questions!

 

We felt that we really benefitted by having a guide for the Vatican Museum and Chapel. We were met at the door, skipped the lines and learned more that I can remember. It was fabulous and the crowds are overwhelming, so nice to have someone to lead the tour. Go to Pompeii from Naples when you are on your cruise. Use the guide there as well I always use Romeinlimo in the ports in Italy. We have never been disappointed. My friends and I always tip beyond the tour cost.

 

You mentioned a pre cruise stay in Rome, RIL can also pick you up at the airport to the hotel and provide transfer from the hotel to the ship. Have a wonderful time. Ciao, Alice

[laryco]

We had much the same experience as AliceS, our driver Claudio made a call and a guide met us at the Vatican...really added to the tour....well spent money

[b_cruise]

I had rome in limo and italytoursharing ( joe bananas).. Both are great!! I believe they both hire the drivers so they are very comparable. The great thing about italytoursharing is you can sign up on the site and just open it up to your roll call. I'm using them again this july. Anyone have any suggestions for venice?

[krev]

I had rome in limo and italytoursharing ( joe bananas).. Both are great!! I believe they both hire the drivers so they are very comparable. The great thing about italytoursharing is you can sign up on the site and just open it up to your roll call. I'm using them again this july. Anyone have any suggestions for venice?

 

 

You can do the same with Rome in Limo, one of our roll call members posted the link and that's how we found it.

[samavarcruiser]

You can do the same with Rome in Limo, one of our roll call members posted the link and that's how we found it.

 

I have seen that site, is romeinlimotoursharing.com

[Samann]

just want to share that we used Romeinlimo tour company last year for a full day excursion around Naples/Amalfi Coast - the whole day was fantastic

 

Driver - punctual / friendly / knowledgable / patient

 

Trip / superb saw so much that we would never have been able to see if we were on an organised trip from the cruise ship - plenty of time to take photos and to spend doing what we wanted as well

[nana&papagotosea]

We just got home from our transatlantic cruise on Princess. Reading this thread I decided to try RIL. I booked two tours with RIL, one in Rome and one in Naples. By joining the Roll Call for our cruise, I was able to find three other couples for each cruise with no problem.

This was a great experience! First off, many people cautioned us about taking a non-cruise line excursion in Rome as our tour was on Good Friday. Jany at RIL assured me it would be no problem and it was a perfect day. Vinny our driver took us to the Vatican where we met our guide Federica. (You should definitely invest in the guide, we learned so much more then we would have on our own). We bypassed the very long line and were in quickly. The whole day was wonderful.

Our next day in Naples we had Enrico meet us at the port. We went first to Pompeii where we met our guide Alena. Again, I highly recommend a guide. Alena was extremely knowledgable and we had a fun time and learned way more then I could have hoped for with just using one of those audio guides. What a great place! Alena brought us back to Enrico and we continued on to Positano and Sorrento on the Amalfi coast.

Both trips were very special. I enjoyed the size of our groups. We could all ask questions and all hear the answers, learning things that we might not have thought to ask ourselves. Boths trips we were met on time and were brought back to our ship with time to spare. Don't let the ships scare you with their bit about being safer with their excursions. RIL is a very reliable and professional company. And Jany in the office, answers all email inquiries in a timely manor. You can bet next time we are back in Italy, we will be using RIL again!

[hathaway42]

I have used Rome in limo on my last few trips to Rome , we even requested the same tour guide and toured different exhibits in the Vatican on each trip. They are great.

[mickeysgal]

Prior Romeinlimo customer and here we are booking with them again. That tells you how outstanding they are when they have so many repeat customers.

 

Has anyone requested certain drivers in Florence and Naples? Can we ask for certain drivers?

 

Regarding Vatican guides...we are heavily considering having RIL arrange that for us as well. Any guides to recommend?

 

It will be four of us...husband and I and two of our kids (college).