jrmama496

I just registered for this site because I have been reading all of the wonderful information you all have and I was hoping that I could get some help.

My problem is: I am going on a Globus tour in August. I just found out that the day we are supposed to do the tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, they will be closed for a religious holiday.

There is no other day we will be in Rome while they are open and changing my flight now to add a day would cost me $1,300 extra (not counting an extra night hotel stay.)

I know most of you are not into the organized tour idea, but I was hoping that someone may have had a similar experience and knows what Globus does in cases like this. I called them and they said that the tour director would PROBABLY change the itinarary to allow us to see it, but they could not guarantee.

Anyone out there with some past experience?

crefloors

I'm not quite sure I understand. If they are closes the ONLY day you are in Rome, how can the tour director change your visit to another day....UNLESS, you would perhaps go early in the morning the next day before you leave the city. I took a Globus tour in 1999, my first Europe trip. There WERE a few glitches but there were handled well. I guess you'll have to wait and see what happens when you get there. Good luck.

FainaAgain

Traveled, and not only with Globus. Yes, the local guide with take you to a different place, or let you go spend time on your own. Either way, it's a no-win situation for you.

Didn't you see the small print: the tour director can change the itinerary (translation: if something happens, you're screwed).

The only thing I can suggest, if it's not too late to change, go to Italy a day early or stay a day after the tour.

FainaAgain

By the way, why $1,300 to change the flight? Did you make a mistake of making air reservations with Globus too? Or is it your travel agent giving you hard time?

If nothing else, go to Italy, enjoy the country, and make the most out of a seemingly bad situation.

stormbird

Have you booked your flights through Globus as well or through a travel agent? Most fare rules do not allow changes before departure but a great number allow changes AFTER departure for a fee (sometimes as little as $50.00 (in Australia) I would be checking availability with the airline the day after your scheduled departure to see if seats are available and think about changing once you are in Rome.

Of course, this all depends on the type of airfare you have booked. The cheaper the fare the less flexibility. But you never know unless you ask.

It's a long way to go to miss out on seeing the Sistine Chapel

jrmama496

I was hoping that they would either do the tour the next morning or do it on the last day of the tour instead of the first day. Thay said it was possible but could not assure.

I booked the air on my own. When I called American Airlines, they said that there was a $200 charge to make a change plus the difference in the current fare vs. the fare that I got when I booked it. The total is $650 per person!!

I had one idea. The day after we arrive in Rome, we leave and end up in Capri for the night, the next day, and the next night. If worse comes to worse, could I take a train from Naples or Sorrento back to Rome and book my own tour of the Vatican, then take a train back that evening?

I really don't want to miss the Sistine Chapel. It's one of the main sights my son and I wanted to see in Italy!

nytraveler

Why not just stay one more night in Rome and see the Vatican the next morning? Then you can take the train to catch up with the tour in Capri. Sounds like this would cost a lot less than $1300.

kybourbon

If you would post your itinerary with dates we might be able to figure out a plan B. Most likely your tour will leave Rome early in the morning for Capri. Perhaps you could stay behind in Rome, tour the Vatican in the am, catch a train to Naples and ferry to Capri in the afternoon, and join your group.

jrmama496

Here is the itinerary:

Aug. 6 (Sun) Arrive Rome
Aug. 7 (Mon) Rome-Pompeii-Sorrento-Capri
Aug. 8 (Tues)Capri-Anacapri
Aug. 9 (Wed) Capri-Naples-Assisi
Aug. 10 (Thurs) Assisi-Venice
Aug. 11 (Fri) Venice
Aug. 12 (Sat) Venice-Pisa-Tuscany
Aug. 13 (Sun) Florence
Aug. 14 (Mon) Tuscany-Siena-Rome
Aug. 15 (Tues)Rome
Aug. 16 (Wed) Home

The only problem with meeting them in Capri is that we would miss Pompeii (another one of my son's favorites.) I think I prefer to miss Anacapri even if it means having to go to and from Rome in one day.

adrienne

You could stay in Rome on Monday, see the Vatican and whatever else you might want to see in Rome that's not included on your tour. Then Tuesday go to Pompeii on your own and catch up with your tour group in Capri.

Pompeii has their own tour guides or audio guides if you want a self-paced tour.

I would get the boat schedules to Capri before you change your itinerary since I believe they only run in the daytime so you would have to watch the time very carefully.

Here are some logistics:

Train Rome to Naples is 2 hours.
Change trains in Naples (same station) for the local train (caled the Circumvesuviana) heading toward Sorrento (1/2 hour to Pompeii).

The train stops at the Pompeii ruins (the stop is called Pompeii Scavi - the Italian word for ruins).

Tour Pompeii and then either take the train back to Naples or to Sorrento and catch the boat to Capri.

Pompeii is in the middle of the route between Sorrento and Naples so which town you leave from depends on the boat schedules.

If the schedules work for you I would take the train from Pompeii to Sorrento. You can walk from the train station to the middle of town (about 4 short blocks). Have some lunch and catch the small orange bus to the harbor and then the boat to Capri.

You buy the orange bus tickets at any bar (you'll pass a couple on the way from the train station). The boat tickets can be bought at the harbor but you might want to reserve ahead since it is August.

I would send your luggage with the tour and only carry a small overnight bag. I believe you can leave your bag at the Pompeii station.

If you're willing to miss Capri then you could stay overnight in Sorrento (some budget hotels on the main street) and meet up with your tour in Naples.

You're only getting an overview of each place and not staying very long in each. You'll love Italy so much I'm sure you'll go back on your own and schedule as much time as you want in each place. You could always plan on the Sistine Chapel for another trip.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

kybourbon

I would stay behind in Rome on the morning of the 7th (send your luggage on with the tour company) and be in line for tickets at the Vatican museums before opening. http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-In...fo_Orario.html

After touring the museum, get on the metro (you can catch it near the museum entrance) to Rome Termini train station and take the train to Naples. It's quite possible you could meet your group in Pompeii(find out the hours they intend to be in Pompeii), depending on what stops they were making for sightseeing or for lunch on the way. If not, catch a ferry at the port in Naples to Capri. Make sure you know what hotel you need to find, phone number, etc. Also, get your tour guides cell phone number.

I would not travel to Capri and try to backtrack to Rome. This would take too much time and the ferries/hydrofoils don't run late to Capri.

If you want to see Pompeii on Aug 8th, you can easily catch a ferry from Capri to Sorrento and then the local commuter train (Crcumvesuviana) from Sorrento to Pompeii Scavi. The ruins are just across the road - very easy to get to.

I've had this happen before with a school tour group. We had to be very insistent with the tour guide to take the group directly from the airport to the Vatican museum. I also discovered that many of the tour guides know each other. If you stay behind on Monday the 7th, see if your guide knows any other guides that are taking a group that morning. Ask to be put in their group and that way you could bypass the ticket lines.

If you decide to do this or something similar, there are many people on this board that can help you work out the details.

111op

Another option -- go to Rome after Florence and skip Tuscany and Siena. The fastest train between Florence and Rome should take about 90 minutes, and it's easy.

Missing Tuscany and Siena isn't ideal either, but it looks like you'll have to skip something.

I did check the Vatican website and, yes, the Museums are closed on Aug. 15. They are open on Aug. 14., but I'm sure that you won't be in Rome until the afternoon based on what I see in the itinerary.

It's good though that you found out about the Museums and can think about a plan B right now.

111op

On arrival day, when do you arrive in Rome? I guess that's irrelevant anyway. The Museums are listed as closed on Sunday, August 6.

Actually kybourbon's suggestion is probably better. I doubt that there's much to see in Sorrento (apologies to people who love this place). You should have enough time to go to Pompeii and the Vatican on Day 2 and make it to Capri to join the tour group. It will be a very long day.

The logistics with Florence to Rome are probably easier, but you will probably miss more.

jrmama496

Kybourban, I think your idea should work for me! I'm still holding out hope that the tour director will make the adjustment for the whole group. I think I can wait until I get there to make any changes. Would there be anything I need to do ahead of time? I think I could just follow your itinerary without changing anything right now. The only thing I would have to be careful of is the final ferry to get me to Capri. I assume my TD would know that.

Also, I would like (if possible) to take a guided tour at the Vatican. If I just go over there first thing in the morning, will there be tour companies there that I can sign up with at the last minute or do they need to be reserved (assuming I can't join in with another group)?

barbmike

As a last resort, the Vatican (St. Peter's) has an audio guide tour which isn't as good as an actual tour, but does a decent job. Have a great trip!!! Mike

susan001

Oh, please don't skip Siena and Tuscany, as one person suggested. Siena was the STAND OUT of my trip, though I also enjoyed the Sistine Chapel. I have a feeling your tour director will arrange for you all to see the Sistine on a different day. They tend to be flexible and go with what the group wants. My suggestion? Stick with the group and hope your guide will make arrangements for you to see the Vatican.

Good luck!

grantop

There are some good plans here for seeing the Vatican on your own and then joining back up with your group. Do your homework before you leave and make notes about how you would see the museum on your own if the tour group has to miss it. Then when you get to Italy see what the guide has planned. If he/she has re-arranged things so the group will go, fine. If not you have your own set of plans and you won't have to panic. I took a Globus tour once to Italy and our guide was amazing - hardly your typical "herd the sheep to the sites" kind of guy. If you have someone like this, you have no worries; he'll make sure you get to the Vatican and beyond! If you have a stick-in-the-mud, you can just use your own "Plan B" developed here and you will be all set.

We had people on our tour leave us for a day to visit the town that their family was originally from. The guide went out of his way to make sure they had the correct arrangements, tickets, maps, directions, etc to make it easy for them. They rejoined the group after their visit without missing a beat.

jrmama496

Thanks for all of the wonderful ideas. I think I will try to relax and hope that the TD makes the changes. If not, at least I have a Plan B that sounds like it will work well.

Just waiting to hear about Vatican tours. Are there any that you can just take when you arrive?

marti1

I'm not surprise!! this happens alot
with GLOBUS!,they always have problems
advertising day tours to places that are close on that day.
I fired them >when planning to book my russia-baltics-finn.-poland trip as soon as I found out that the 2 days in ST>pet. most of the palaces , museums and churches were going to be closed.
but they do not tell you that. They just take your money and once you are on the bus in a different country and
always the the chance that something may happen.. they played the fool.... and you're stuck.

grantop

jrmamma, just for the record, I have take 3 Globus/Brendan tours and I have never had the problems that Marti describes. Matter of fact, a landslide closed part of our route one day and driving the alternate route to avoid it would have taken all day. Instead, our guide got us all train tickets and put us on the train to continue to our planned destination. We met our driver and bus later that evening as he spent the day driving an alternate route to get to our hotel - we however, never missed a beat.