NCL Gem - Italy Shore Excursions

Hello. I'll be taking my first Mediterranean cruise this May on the
Gem, and am planning shore excursions in Naples, Rome and Florence/
Pisa. I was hoping for any recommendations/reviews for any excursions
through NCL at these ports. Thanks in advance.

On Feb 22, 11:14*pm, wrote:
Hello. *I'll be taking my first Mediterranean cruise this May on the
Gem, and am planning shore excursions in Naples, Rome and Florence/
Pisa. *I was hoping for any recommendations/reviews for any excursions
through NCL at these ports. *Thanks in advance.

Hi, vbirds,

Congrats on your exciting plans! The Med is a truly wonderful place to
explore, IMO.

If you are planning to utilize NCL's excursions, then your homework is
really pretty easy. First, I'd suggest you hit the websites for
Frommer's, Lonely Planet, Fodor's...whatever you like...and read up a
bit about the places you are going and the sites and attractions that
are on most tourist itineraries. (You can also check out travel guides
from your local library.) That should help you figure out what kinds
of things you'd most like to see. Then, go through the descriptions of
each excursion NCL offers and narrow down the list of what jumps out
at you to a top 3 in each port. Second, go to the Ports of Call forum
on Cruise Critic and locate the discussions for Rome and the rest. You
can input "NCL" in the Search function to narrow down the threads to
those that are NCL-specific. That might give you a tip or two about
why one excursion is favored over another. Third, you should also join
the NCL Roll Call for that sailing--there, you'll find other cruisers
on your ship and get an idea of what they are doing.

FWIW, I'd say you'll probably want to go for a jam-packed day in Rome
seeing as many sites as you can. Ditto Florence, with a combo of the
Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Ufizzi and National Gallery-David in
Florence. For Naples, I would look for an excursion that offers a mix
of Pompeii and scenic Amalfi Coast. If a "deluxe" tour is offered here
that includes a nice lunch and other more intimate experience, I
recommend going for the splurge, as I can guarantee you will come home
remembering that day...it is one spectacular region.

On the usual Med itinerary, you can do most other stops on your own
and in a fairly laid back manner. But those three are pretty intense,
and for a first-timer, it is good to let someone else be in charge of
your day. You're already on the right track!

Happy planning,

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

If time permits you might enjoy seeing the Isle of Capri. I took the
boat over from Naples, and there is a beautiful restaurant at the top of
the island. Also enjoyed the Blue Grotto.

(Carol Eskra) wrote:

If time permits you might enjoy seeing the Isle of Capri. I took the
boat over from Naples, and there is a beautiful restaurant at the top of
the island. Also enjoyed the Blue Grotto.

As someone with restricted mobility, when I was traveling with my
grandson, I hired a car and driver but not from the ship excursion
people (NCL Jade). It cost me half as much as a half day excursion in
a private car and I got twice the time (a whole day), and I got to see
the things I wanted to see. (tip,meals,and entrance fee not included)

In Rome, he picked us up at the port and took us first to the Vatican
where he arranged a guide (I paid extra for the guide) so that we
could get to see the Sistine Chapel without standing in a lot of
lines. (That was another thing that my grandson wanted to see). Then
he showed us Rome including some lesser known places. We ate lunch
looking over at St. Peters.

In Naples it was a different driver, and we went to Pompeii first
before it got hot and while there weren't many people there. That was
one of the things my grandson wanted to see. It was wonderful. The
ship excursion went last. After that we did the whole Almalfi drive
including eating lunch overlooking the Med and then went back to the
ship.

I can recommend the company RomaLimo http://www.romalimo.com/
I paid $1345 in US$$ before I went for both tours.

The guy's name is Sandro Pagnotta and he's VP& COO
Toll Free: 800.999.669 (Italy)
Off: (+39)065.414.663
Fax: (+39)065.415.902
c/o Sheraton Roma Hotel
100,viale del Pattinaggio
00144 Rome-Italy
mobile: +39-3485151752

I concur with the idea of using a private driver. We were on the Oceania
Regatta two years ago and had hooked up with two other couples through the
Roll Call section of CruiseCritic.com. This was our first trip to Europe
and, lucky for us, these other couples were well traveled, and one of the
women enjoyed researching local vendors, itinerates, etc. She arranged for
tours in Rome and Pompeii/Amalfi/Naples. The cost was about half of what
the cruise excursion charged but, more to the point, we DEFINITELY saw a LOT
more than those that took the ship's excursions.



Rome is a metropolis and many of the famous sites are buried in the middle
of the congestion. Our tour van (11 seats, for the 6 of us plus driver) was
small enough to park near the various sites. Many of the sites (Trevii
Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Pantheon among many others.) can be experienced
fully during a "10 minute" stop. We parked, walked a block, saw the site,
regrouped and were able to move on in 20 minutes. Also, our driver knew the
city and where to park - a bathroom or gelato break were easy to accommodate
at many of our stops. In contrast, the ship's excursions used big (50
passenger?) tour buses. The buses were simply too big to get close to many
sites and the logistics of marshalling 50 people through these sites in a
timely fashion would be impossible. We found out later, some of the people
on the ship's excursions were upset because their tour simply drove by or
completely bypassed many of the significant, but smaller, Roman sites.



The day in Naples was much the same. Our first stop was Pompeii and we
arrived before the heat and crowds that would follow later that day. Amalfi
is a winding road with spectacular views and the potential for incredible
traffic. Our driver was able to time the transit to miss (most of) the
traffic. The big tour buses were not so lucky (because their size caused
many of the backups). That day the six of us had lunch at a small, outdoor
café on a cliff overlooking the Bay of Naples with Mt Vesuvius in the
distance - priceless!



I don't recall the vendor used for these excursions but suggest you peruse
CruiseCritic.com and TripAdvisor.com. People post their experiences and
these are a good place to connect with fellow travelers.



"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
(Carol Eskra) wrote:

If time permits you might enjoy seeing the Isle of Capri. I took the
boat over from Naples, and there is a beautiful restaurant at the top of
the island. Also enjoyed the Blue Grotto.

As someone with restricted mobility, when I was traveling with my
grandson, I hired a car and driver but not from the ship excursion
people (NCL Jade). It cost me half as much as a half day excursion in
a private car and I got twice the time (a whole day), and I got to see
the things I wanted to see. (tip,meals,and entrance fee not included)

In Rome, he picked us up at the port and took us first to the Vatican
where he arranged a guide (I paid extra for the guide) so that we
could get to see the Sistine Chapel without standing in a lot of
lines. (That was another thing that my grandson wanted to see). Then
he showed us Rome including some lesser known places. We ate lunch
looking over at St. Peters.

In Naples it was a different driver, and we went to Pompeii first
before it got hot and while there weren't many people there. That was
one of the things my grandson wanted to see. It was wonderful. The
ship excursion went last. After that we did the whole Almalfi drive
including eating lunch overlooking the Med and then went back to the
ship.

I can recommend the company RomaLimo http://www.romalimo.com/
I paid $1345 in US$$ before I went for both tours.

The guy's name is Sandro Pagnotta and he's VP& COO
Toll Free: 800.999.669 (Italy)
Off: (+39)065.414.663
Fax: (+39)065.415.902
c/o Sheraton Roma Hotel
100,viale del Pattinaggio
00144 Rome-Italy
mobile: +39-3485151752