We are traveling on the Regent Voyager on the May 26 cruise out of Rome. This is our first trip with Regent and after reading all your posts, we are very excited. We are just wondering if we should take advantage of the port excursions that are offered by Regent or go it alone. We have already signed up for their tour of Pompeii. I don't want to run myself ragged and spend seven days exhausted. Previous cruises weren't so "port intense" (Example: Crystal had a few days at sea). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also...is anyone else out there joining us on this sailing?
Thanks! :cool:

He firenz and welcome to the board! A bunch of us on the board did your same itinerary awhile back. We really enjoyed the Pompeii visit! If you don't want a long day trip to Florence, you might want to consider the leaning tower of Pisa, instead. We really liked that tour as well.

I did a search for you to find all our old posts about the cruise but the search pulled up a bunch of odd posts instead, lol. If you see any old posts with 007 in the titles, that was the name we gave to the cruise.

Welcome to the board, firenz. We usually take the Regent excursions rather than working up our own (we're inexperienced at that but getting better). Like Karen, we took their Pompeii tour and loved it.

Port intensive cruises can be tiring. Pace yourself between days with long excursions and days with short ones. There's so much going on the ship at night that you want to save energy for that fun, too.

Lots of experts here and I'm sure you'll get great advice. Have fun on your cruise.

Welcome Firenz! My husband and I are on your cruise too and continuing on for the 6/2 voyage. We are planning on doing the ship's tours this time. We did the Med on Regent a couple of years ago and almost missed the boat coming back from a private tour so we like to play it safe now. We have had very good experiences for most of the ship's tours that we have taken on previous cruises. We are also participating in the Food and Wine Circle of Interest program this time.

Thank you for such the warm welcome and the good advice on excursions. We'll probably book a few more. I, too, become concerned about missing the boat if we travel alone...not worth the stress.
I look forward meeting over a cocktail.

Rosemary

We'll look forward to meeting you Rosemary! Some of the ports like Portofino and Barcelona are close and easy to explore on your own. I like to book tours when I want to venture further afield or if the destination is a long way from the port like in the case of Florence. We've been to some of the stops on this cruise before and are choosing excursions to different places.

Sue

We are going to be on the same cruise. This weekend, we finally are starting to plan out what we are all doing.
It is going to be Jan, Carole and Barb.
We were on the Diamond last time in the Med before she left the fleet.

We are flying into Rome out of DC on Wed. 5/23. United- non-stop.
We are staying in a hotel by the Spanish Steps for Thur 24th, and 25th. Then getting a limo down to the pier.
We are doing a post cruise hotel in Nice- and getting the plane out early on Sunday morning back to DC.

I'm glad to hear that you will all be on the cruise with us. I was getting worried when no one on the boards was talking about our cruise. We have a pretty similar itinerary. We leave out of New York on the 23rd. Lucky you to have a non-stop...we're going through Dublin. At least we still get there in the morning on the 23rd. We'll be staying two nights at the Lord Byron in the Parioli area. Our flight out of Nice leaves Sunday morning, too. We're still investigating where to stay in Nice. Wondering if we should attempt to see Monte Carlo while we're there. Have you already arranged for your limo? We still have to do that, too. Any suggestions for a company?

We haven't gotten the limo yet from Rome to the port. I sent off an e-mail yesterday about fees. We are kinda behind on planning this year.

For sure you need to get to Monte Carlo. There is an excellent tour company that we used 3 years ago- we docked in Monte Carlo, we did a 4 hour tour of what we wanted and didn't even return to Monte Carlo until the last hour. It was excellent. It was www.dream-tours.com

Firenz - We stayed at the Lord Byron three years ago - it was wonderful. The walk through the park (gardens) is about a mile to get to the Spanish Steps area, but the hotel is nice and quiet. If you have never stayed there, you have a great treat in store for you.

Welcome. We usually do a mixture of taking the ship's tours, hiring a private guide and wandering on our own.

We always start off with seeing if the ship's tours are of interest to us. If they are and include all elements we want, we usually sign up for them as they are normally well-run. If the tour doesn't fit our interests, but the area is not good for doing it ourself, we hire an experienced private guide, who is usually someone recommended through this board. If the ship is located in a port with easy access to museums, etc, we speak to the tour desk and ask them to design a walking tour/taxi tour for us.

Welcome Rosemary, we also check the ships tours first and then decide.We have also used the conceriage
to book a car/driver/guide when we want to do our own thing. On occasion we have had our own TA arrange a car and driver,this was in Monte Carlo for a side trip to the mountains.Don't miss going into the casino(I won 90 euro on a slot.Cashed in right away so now Ray says that I broke the Bank at Monte Carlo---I wish

Hi Rosemary, lucky you! We sailed from M-C last year, but stayed in Nice before-hand, and we were glad we did. I wasn't impressed with Monte Carlo, but really enjoyed Nice. We stayed at a nice hotel, Le Grimaldi, not in the old town, but close by.

All this information is great. It really adds to the excitement. The recommendation for lunch at Hotel Splendido is much appreciated. It looks beautiful so we booked a table for 2 for lunch.
I thnk I may rely on the hotel to arrange for our transport to the pier. I know there are some very reliable limo services, too..Romeshuttle (sp.??)or something like that.

Way to go Rosemary.I hope you booked a table on the Terrace rather than inside as the view is stupendous.May your memory be as nice as ours was.

Yep...we booked at La Terrazzo.. and asked for a table outside on the rail.
Thanks again.
Rosemary

Okay- was over in Rome the last time on the Diamond- 5/04. Was in Rome.
Is there anyone that has used Bob's Limousines & Tour Company in Rome?

We have quotes for transfer from the airport to the Grand Hotel Plaza by the Spanish Steps (stayed there the last time)
We have a price for a 4 hour tour of the Tivoli Gardens and Hadrian's Villa. I am sure we will see other things in that time frame.
Also transfer from the hotel to the pier on the 26th.
This way it is all with one company and one phone number/etc.

Also- with the same company--looking at the Sorrento area for 2 people to see the sights along that way- the one offered by the ship is so-so.
Has anyone used this company before??
Thanks.

Well not going but a bunch of cruise rookies from New Orleans, close friends are going. Frankly I prefer when it comes to Florence is just to take the transfer and walk around. Unless they can guaranty the Uffizi it is not worth a tour. The big trip was dropped or filled up. That was to the "5 towns" out of Portofino. What I suggest is use the concierge's advice on trips in Portofino and you all will have so much fun on that ship. Jealous here.

Thanks for the suggestion, Fred. I agree...we're just going to take the transfers into Florence.

Newbie here...we are on this cruise as well.

We plan to take the Siena/San Gimignano excursion. We were thinking Florence would be too crazy/busy and that Pisa would be too touristy. Thoughts? We had a villa vacation booked in San Gimignana a few years ago but had to cancel at the last minute due to work stuff, so maybe that's part of the draw.

San Gimignano is a wonderful little Village but it is full of little shops. The outdoor cafe near the Museum of Torchure was a great lunch stop and there was Gelato across the way. If you've seen the photo of the Leaning Tower, you've been to Pisa - it's crowded, and not the safest place in Italy.

But, if you've never been to Florence, that would be my pick. You need a minimum of two or three days for Florence, but you must see the Arno River, The Stature of David...I could make a long list. Love Florence. Can't wait to go back. Even for a day off the ship.

Welcome rhs! We've booked the Siena/San Gimignano tour, but we've been to Florence before. We considered Pisa, but it sounds like it might not be the best choice anyway. I agree with ChatKat if you haven't been to Florence that would my first choice.

In Rome, we have set up through Bob's Limo's for the 4 hour tour of Tivoli Gardens and Hadrian's Villa on Friday morning.
In Sorrento, we have the Bob's Limo going to do the 4 Hour tour Sorrento & Positano and whatever else we see along the way.
This is our 3rd time to these locations so we are going to do the less tourist places this time.

This group of LCT is growing- we really need to go down to roll call and say hello down in that area on LCT. And then maybe set a time that Sat. to say hello to each other. Happy to see other's along. And welcome the newbies!! :lct:

Is anyone else participating in the Food and Wine Circle of Interest program? According to the itinerary there is a cocktail party on the 26th.

Thanks for the kind welcome!

Good point...we have not yet been to Florence (or Italy for that matter). We were worried that Florence would be too harried and un-relaxing, but I guess after two relatively calm ports between Rome and Florence we might be ok with a 'big city' experience.

Richard

We loved Siena/San Gim - had driver, great companions, wonderful lunch. I loved the shops! - "one" day in Rome or Florence is exhausting, I think -