Ruby Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Shore Excursions: I spent months researching the ports for this cruise. I focused on art, architecture, history, and gelato for my daughter. I downloaded the shore excursion brochure from Princess to compare costs and places to visit with what I could get from a private tour. Without exception, private tours were the way to go; they were always cheaper (there were four of us, me(42), my husband (41), my daughter (9), and my mother-in-law (72)). I contacted the companies by email several months before, and asked for prices and itinerary. This is what we came up with:
Florence: We hired a driver for Florence (the difference between a driver and a guide in Italy is that a driver just takes you places, a guide is licensed by Italy to take you into places and describe them to you.); we hired a driver because some dork at Princess decided it would be okay to descend in Florence on the one day the museums are closed. We didn't need a guide. We went with Guido at Tuscany in my pocket. It was 490Euro, not including tip, and I have to say that I have never met anyone who loved their job and their city more. He picked us up at the dock and drove us into Florence; he also drove into the city, which the tour buses could not do, and it saved us hours and hours of walking. He drove us right up to places. I actually joked that he had reserved parking and I started calling him The King of Florence. He was just a delight. info@tuscanyinmypocket.com
Rome: We walked to the train station from the pier and bought our own train ticket into Rome. The tickets were 9Euro each - that was for round trip, and unlimited use of the metro while in Rome. Princess was selling train tickets for 79 dollars each! For the train, you can get off at St. Peter's and see the Vatican first thing, or you can go to the heart of Rome and get off at Termini. Termini was very crowded and very busy and if you don't need to go there, then don't. I would suggest getting off at St. Peter's. We hired a local company to give us a tour while in Rome. Even after copious research, the tour was a bust: the guide was excellent and knew a staggering amount of history but we had a serious miscommunication with the front office and I would not use them again. And I would not recommend them.