Private excursions in Italy

[KDG]

I have researched and read previous posts about hiring private tours on the Mediterranean cruises. We have a traveling party of 6 on the Fantasy in 2025. Any recent experiences to share? Our ports are Livorno, Citivecchia, Naples and Palermo.

 

[anricat]

In Naples we did a private excursion with Pompeiin and couldn't have been happier. http://www.pompeiin.com/en/Pompeii_and_other_tours.html
We did Pompeii, Herculaneum and had an amazing lunch. Highly recommended.

 

[KDG]

Thank you! Very helpful. Their website shows a lot of combinations to customize a good day.

 

[minniebeth]

We used Joe Banana for a private tour in Naples. They have a lot of tour options. We chose to do a Lemon themed tour to the Amalfi Coast. We went to Sorrento, Positano, and to a wonderful lemon themed lunch at a restaurant on the coast headed towards Amalfi. It was our favorite tour! We were picked up and dropped off at the port, our driver was wonderful and professional and it was an upscale experience. It wasn't inexpensive, but well worth it in our opinion. I highly recommend JB~

 

[mmmears]

I booked private tours with RomeInLimo in Livorno and Naples (plus transit to Rome from the port nearby). In Livorno we chose to drive to Florence and tour there. In Naples we visited Positano, Sorrento, and Pompeii. They will customize the day depending on what you'd like to see.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We used Driver in Rome in 2018 and were very happy with them.

 

[asunutgirl]

Our family of 4 booked a private tour in Rome in 2019 from a RC ship. It was some of the best money we've spent on a vacation. When you only have one day in a city like Rome, it was worth the money for the private tour. No standing in line, a local guide who picked an amazing restaurant for lunch and a private car to navigate the city.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We used Joe Bananas for Naples and RomeInLimo for Rome. Two of our best private tours. Highly recommend both.

 

[KDG]

Your recommendations are so appreciated. It will be fun to research these companies. My husband votes for Joe Banana because he loves their name.

We have done private tours in the UK and St. Petersburg and we find them to be more memorable than larger group excursions.

Keep the recommendations coming, cruisers!

 

[MrMagoo]

When we were in Rome we used LivTours. https://livtours.com/
We had excellent private tours.

Then in Naples we used tours by locals and found an excellent guide through them that was also our driver which you need to
look for also. Many guides with Tours By Locals use a car service.
Then when we were done we found out our guide had a private business also, https://www.leisure-italy.com/
We had Giuseppe and he was excellent. Was so full of knowledge!! We had a very full day with him as we did the
private tour of Amalfi Coast and Pompeii!
They have an excellent Blog on their website that gives great information about things that are good to know.

We are like you, after doing private tours it is hard to do the large group excursions unless we have to.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I booked private tours with RomeInLimo in Livorno and Naples (plus transit to Rome from the port nearby). In Livorno we chose to drive to Florence and tour there. In Naples we visited Positano, Sorrento, and Pompeii. They will customize the day depending on what you'd like to see.

We used RomeInLimo also but our Med cruise was several years before covid. Glad to see they're still around. They offered a multi-tour discount so we used them for all 3 Italian ports. They also offered a 5% pre-pay cash discount. I was a bit nervous to wire money to a bank in Miami but it all worked out. I was glad to not have to deal with paying them on the day of each tour.
My parents were with us and we split the costs which made it amazingly affordable.

 

[KDG]

We used Joe Bananas for Naples and RomeInLimo for Rome. Two of our best private tours. Highly recommend both.

Is there a reason you chose different tour companies for Naples and Rome? I ask because some offer a nice discount if you book two or more tours with them. Just curious.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Is there a reason you chose different tour companies for Naples and Rome? I ask because some offer a nice discount if you book two or more tours with them. Just curious.

yes- that is true. They do offer discounts. Joe Bananas offered a tour in Naples/Positano/Sorrento that we wanted to do that RomeInLimo, at the time, anyway, did not.

 

[anricat]

We used Joe Banana for a private tour in Naples. They have a lot of tour options. We chose to do a Lemon themed tour to the Amalfi Coast. We went to Sorrento, Positano, and to a wonderful lemon themed lunch at a restaurant on the coast headed towards Amalfi. It was our favorite tour! We were picked up and dropped off at the port, our driver was wonderful and professional and it was an upscale experience. It wasn't inexpensive, but well worth it in our opinion. I highly recommend JB~

That lemon tour looks really neat! Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[minniebeth]

That lemon tour looks really neat! Thanks for the recommendation.

It was great! A lot of fun and the restaurant we went to (included in the tour) was fabulous!

 

[KDG]

I have been comparing private tour companies this week and some mention they don’t take credit cards but require being paid in cash at the end of the tour. For those of you who have taken private shore excursions, did you really carry hundreds of Euros to do this? That sounds dangerous to me.

 

[minniebeth]

I have been comparing private tour companies this week and some mention they don’t take credit cards but require being paid in cash at the end of the tour. For those of you who have taken private shore excursions, did you really carry hundreds of Euros to do this? That sounds dangerous to me.

Yes, we did~ We ordered Euros from our hometown bank and I put the remaining balance in cash and the tip in envelopes with the paperwork for each tour. We kept them distributed between the adults in our party to travel and then in the safe on the ship. It made it so much easier to grab before each tour without worrying how to get cash/Euros, etc.
We used money belts, safety purses and read up on the safety suggestions for each location. We used private transfers vs. public transportation. We stayed vigilant and learned to trust our instincts if something/somewhere didn't feel right (there were a few). We felt safe overall and were glad we organized the money/tips ahead of time.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have been comparing private tour companies this week and some mention they don’t take credit cards but require being paid in cash at the end of the tour. For those of you who have taken private shore excursions, did you really carry hundreds of Euros to do this? That sounds dangerous to me.

We got an additional discount, very small I think 3-5%, for wiring the money in advance. This made me just as nervous as the thought of carrying around hundreds of Euros, but I did it mostly for the discount. We were using the same company for all 3 Italian ports so the discount helped. It really cut down on the amount of cash we needed from their ATMs.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

I have been comparing private tour companies this week and some mention they don’t take credit cards but require being paid in cash at the end of the tour. For those of you who have taken private shore excursions, did you really carry hundreds of Euros to do this? That sounds dangerous to me.

We were worried about it as well. For our tour in Naples with Joe Bananas we paid by card, as that was their policy. For our tour in Rome, RomeInLimo was requiring cash at the end, which made me pretty nervous. But, in the end, they offered a small discount for wiring in advance. That made me nervous as well, but in the end, we did that and it worked out well. We had a tour in Greece that required cash. They were great, but I wish they had a card option.

 

[RivShore]

Very surprised at the cash/wire requirement in today's world. That would make me think twice about using a private tour, unfortunately. If card fees are too much for the companies to absorb, I would rather have the card option and pay a few percent more.