SusanP

I have posted this numerous times in the past. There is no rhyme or reason to the responses you will get from your request for the Scavi tour. Some say they don't schedule things until a month before or three months before or whatever. None of that is really true.

I went on the tour last Sept. When I sent my request, it took TEN DAYS for me to receive the automated response. It took an ADDITIONAL eight weeks (so almost ten weeks total) for me to receive my confirmed reservation. This confirmation was received five months before my tour date.

As noted in Walter's responses, it said if you don't send your credit card information within a certain number of days (I think mine was 20, so maybe the number of days has changed), your reservation will be cancelled. Once I sent the credit card info, I'm not sure how many days it was before they confirmed receipt of that, but it wasn't too long.

The main thing is, there's no way to predict how long all of this will take! Good luck!

dina4

Susan,
Thanks. I guess that's reassuring for all of us since it's been 8 weeks since I sent my request.

Minx,
I FORGOT to call on Friday!
Will try to remember early in the morning one day this week. I will post what happens regardless if I have any luck.

Dina

CVerga

My Mom and I have tickets for the Scavi tour on March 17th. I only included two days on my inital request, but March isn't as busy from what I have read. I found the process of getting the tickets somewhat stressful. I never trust automated responses since they just mean that your email was received by the computer, not that a real person has actually gotten your email (I don't trust computers 100% - things seem to happen - emails can get lost - that's just me). The inital automated response is standard and appears to prepare everyone in case they don't get tickets. Then you feel lucky when you do. As SusanP pointed out, once they send you the date and time of your tour you only have a certain amount of time to pay for it. I too was concerned when I didn't receive confirmation of my payment for over a week after sending my cc information. I was afraid that time might run out while I was waiting for my receipt (and not bothering them again). I decided it was better to send another email and to take my chances with being a pest. I kindly explained that I was concerned that my payment had been lost via the internet or that my receipt had not been received by me, for some reason. I'm not sure if it made any difference, but I received my receipt of payment the next business day (Italy time). In any case, the second email didn't seem to hurt. Best of luck to all of you
Carol

mwoodrowe

i am going on mar 22 to rome so i need an answer soon. plus i can't plan anything til i find out if i get this. maybe i will try calling on monday?

minx

Dina...anxiously waiting for results of your call.Another poor soul gstove has been waiting a response since January for a requested tour in May....same as me.

mwoodrowe

well i got the automated response after my second email. please do let us know what happened when you called. i have not tried that yet. thanks

5alive

Hi, everyone,

I went through all this too. I did get our tour in December and it was for 10 people. Walter posted all the emails and they're pretty much what I received too.

A couple of points:

The Scavi office did bill my card and well before our tour.
EVEN THOUGH I had contacted my bank authorizing Italian purchases on my VISA in advance, I still got a call from Visa because they thought it was fraudulent. I told them it was valid and to put a notation on my account that we were going to Italy.
Then again on Monday, another call from the bank who weren't going to let it through. So if they hadn't called again and just denied it, I'm not sure I would have known.

Second, I did have to email the Scavi again to let them know that our party would be at a diferent address/phone number while in Rome than I initially provided. They sent back an automated response saying they were sorry if they could not accommodate me or some such thing. It was clearly automated.

Third, I paid by FAXING my credit card. My husband's work was willing to let him do this. I would go down to a UPS Store or Kinko's, etc. to fax it if you don't have a Fax at work or home. Someone recommended this approach here on the website and I think they were right.

Finally, I wouldn't lose sleep over this. The Scavi Tour WAS a wonderful tour. But the Catacombs of Priscilla or the Catacombs of Callixtus (spelling?) or the wonderful Monastary of St. Benedict at Subiaco are also very spiritual, rich experiences.

For the monastary you will need to hire a car and driver or rent a car and drive yourself, but it is so worth it.

Sheryl

I e-mailed the office early last week to request confirmation of payment, and I still haven't heard back. I'd be thoroughly annoyed if I wasn't too busy to deal with it right now. Hopefully, I'll have time next week to call the office directly and call my hotel to ask them to call. It would be nice if I could get this settled since my tour is supposed to be at the end of this month. Wish me luck...

mwoodrowe

has anyone tried calling? i still have not heard anything except the original automated email. i have made no other plans and will need to do so soon. i was holding off in hopes of a scavi tour.

betsys

We got a Scavi tour in October, by emailing and telling them all the days we would be in Rome, (on advice of Elyssa at Daphne Veneto) and got an automated email. Elyssa suggested another email a couple of weeks later, which we did. We never got a REAL answer until a few days before we got to Rome, while we were in Montecatini, when we went to an Internet cafe by chance, so when it said I had to pay by credit card right away, or "send my representative with payment" I just quickly emailed our credit card # without thinking, and showed up on the day and time. no problem. Good thing we happened to see that email, or it would have been cancelled. I'm not sure there really is an exact way to do this, but it is great and it is hot down there.

Sheryl

I just called and spoke to someone who spoke ("a little," by his own admission) English. He was very terse, probably because he gets calls from people like me all the time. Anyway, I explained that I was waiting for the confirmation of payment because my credit card was charged last month, and he requested my reference number and told me that I would receive the confirmation "in a few days." Honestly, I don't have much faith in that, but I'm going to assume that we're officially on the tour from this point forward. I'd feel better about having the confirmation, but I'll bring the reference number e-mail and copy of credit card statement in case they give us a problem.

Oldmyst

I am truly sorry I never got to go on a Scavi Tour. I tried to book too late and never heard after getting the automated response to my original email. I never pursued it after that because by then I had filled most days with other tours. My tour guide of the Vatican said if you are claustophobic, it can be a problem. I will just have to make sure I go the next time I go back to Rome. I threw enough coins in the Trevi Fountain to ensure I will return!

dina4

Ok, I finally called! Sorry it took me so long.

I spoke to a really nice man, whose English was great, and he explained that it doesn't matter how early you send your fax or email becuase they do the reservations at a set time. Right now they are working on April reservations and will be starting May reservations soon..
I sent my email on Dec. 29th for a tour on July 5th. He said they won't look at July until May, and if I sent the email I"m definitely on the list. He said I should hear by the end of May.
Hope that helps.
Dina

SusanP

Well, if they're only doing it a month ahead now, that is definitely new. As noted below, I had my confirmed reservation five months before my tour.

sylviam

That really is new. We requested for April back and received our reply confirming April in January. So as SusanP indicated, this must be new.

ItalyLove

Has anybody CALLED to make the reservations?
(not just to see WHY they never replied AFTER you e-mailed)

minx

Okay then we'll just be patient a while longer.As mentioned previously I requested May 13th waaay back early Jan and except for the auto response haven't heard a thing.Thanks Dina

cadillac1234

I placed my Scavi request for 3 dates at the end of May 2006 way back in early Nov 2005. I got the standard canned email of 'don't email us we'll email you if you get chosen'.

I'd pretty much given up on it until today they sent me a reservation notice for May 29th

SusanP

Which is another example of how it is not true that they only give out the confirmations a month ahead! May 29 is 2-1/2 months away.

blspence

As evidenced by the successful recipients of the Scavi Tour on this forum, your odds increase dramatically when you specify multiple dates for the tour.

If you're really interested in the tour, your request should include a large block of dates covering your entire stay in Rome. Then you can schedule other tours around the Scavi Tour when you receive confirmation.

I sent my request in December for any of the days from Mar 21-30 and received a confirmation 2 weeks later.

120 visitors a day means those looking for 1 specific date probably won't be accommodated. This is a sought after tour worldwide.