Day 6, July 28
Veni, vidi, lets get rid of that tour guide!!! - Part 1
Even though we had been up late the day before we were up again at around 7am. We were already docked in Civitaveccia, the port for Rome. Not really the most beautiful port, but we had not planned on staying there anyway, we had booked another semi-private excursion.
So around 8.30 we headed down to Cariocas again for some kind of breakfast. By now we had bought a nice mug to use for tea, so once we had been seated I just asked for really hot water and unpacked my mug. I wish I had had my camera ready to take a photo of the servers expression. Then he sped away to get some coffee for Tom and really hot water for my tea. Once he had returned and I had started my tea with the tea I had brought and we went to the buffet. Same as every day, so we stayed with our usual grub, scrambled eggs, baked beans, bacon and breakfast potatoes.
I tried one of their Danish pastries as well, but it was a bit on the limp but very sweet side. Again, after taking pictures we started to add a bit of flavour in the form of salt and pepper and then ate our luke warm breakfast. But at least that day I had some really hot tea. Heaven! We still had some time until we needed to be at our meeting place, so once we were back in our stateroom we changed and then signed off the ship and went over to where the shuttle buses were waiting. We got onto the first one and after sitting there for about five minutes we were on our way. The shuttle buses dropped you off at a huge parking lot where loads of private tours and buses were waiting. You also could get other means of transport there too. Now, when I was planning the trip I was torn between taking one of Disneys trips, but to go with a huge group was not really appealing so I started looking around for private and semi private tours. Private tours in Rome were really pricey for the two of us. So, when I came across a semi private one, I started to look into it more.
It offered a tour of the city with a driver, who was supposed to act as a guide while driving and you would share your car with other people. Time of the tour 8 hours. Sounded good to me. So I booked it before we left and we were now looking for our tour company. Didnt take us long, as they were all wearing bright yellow shirts and we headed over, gave our name and
they had no idea what we were talking about. Thankfully there was a lady who was German who was with the group and she then mentioned that they had had a bit of difficulty with online bookings, but that there were enough vehicles that would take us into town, but at the moment we were the only two booked on a semi-private tour and we would have to wait a bit until they found more people to join us. Well, at that time we didnt mind, as we had been early anyway, so we just stayed to the side and waited. No one seemed to be interested in joining that tour, but our voucher said that the tour would be done, even if it would only be the two of us. So, no worries. About 45 minutes later I got a bit antsy and went to find the lady again and she said it would only be a few more minutes.
And while we were waiting, two people who had obviously booked a tour on a large bus were led our way and told that since we were the only ones they would be upgraded to the semi-private tour. Sweet! We have been waiting for nearly an hour and now we hear that they pay only half of what we paid. Ah well, I guess we can live with it. So then we walk over to where some cars are parked and we get to talk with the couple, who were from another ship and had been the only ones on their bus as well. Once we had gotten to the other cars there was another young lady who was talkin with four guys who wanted to tour as well. Ah well, more people in our van. But then we noticed what they were on about they needed to be back about two hours earlier than we were supposed to be back. And the girl was just assuring that it would not be a problem at all. They could take the whole group back whenever we/they wanted. That was the moment when I mentioned that I had booked an 8 hour semi-private tour and we did not plan on getting back early. Guess what, her answer was that we would be on our own then, as we were one group and the driver would be driving back at the time he told us, and that 6 hours were more than enough. Given that it takes you an hour to drive into the city and back, that leaves 4 hours to explore the city. But the thing that annoyed me the most was the fact that she then sold them discounted cheap bus tour tickets. By that time I was no longer a happy bunny.
But we both bit our lip and hoped for things to change. We then headed to a parking garage where we met our driver and were loaded into the bus, where the four guys announced that they needed to get to an ATM as they did not bring any Euro. The driver promised to get them to an ATM and then off we went. Now the drive into the city is about an hour and mostly on the motorway, so it was pretty boring. About 15 minutes into the drive the driver/guide explained that since he was doing the driving he was showing us a video of Rome on the way there. To say the video was old would be an understatement, but at least we got an overview of the city and the sights. Or so we thought. The screen was at an awkward angle and the sound terrible, so what we got was mostly a mirrored vision with bad sound. No problem, we just closed our eyes and tried to sleep a bit.
We dozed a bit and woke up when the driver started to point out sights. Over there this, over there that. We didnt catch a lot as there were regular windows and so the metal framing took away from the view. But soon we approached St. Peters and everyone was excited. The bus stopped and we all tried to get off, but there was already a vendor who asked if we had tickets to St. Peters. No one did and the guys needed to find an ATM first. The vendor told us that they could get us in without waiting in the regular line and so the other couple and us agreed to give it a try. He speed walked us over to a side entrance and handed us over to another guy.
There we got in line and waited for a bit. And then we heard that they were collecting passports in order for them to get the tickets. Sorry guys, I do not hand over my passport to a person in the street, who then walks away with it. The English couple didnt want to do that either, so we all told them we didnt have a passport with us. Well, they would take a drivers license as well. No way am I handing my drivers license to a strange person in the street. So they went on telling us that in order to get in they just needed a photo ID. So the English couple then offered them their ships ID, which had a photo on it. No, that was not good enough. Well, but wait, there was one other thing that we could do.
Hand them 100 each or a credit card. Okay, that was the moment I knew I wanted out of it. Where, I ask you, counts a 100 bill as photo ID and I do not carry a credit card with a photo either. Tom and I just told them that we would leave and so did they English couple who was just as stunned about the practice as we were. We then split up and took some photos from the outside
and then headed back to where our van was supposed to be parked. There was a restroom and a souvenir shop and after taking a bodily break we explored the souvenir shop, but didnt find anything to buy apart from a little snack. Tom had a Moretti, while I opted for a more sugary treat, a Vanilla Cornetto.
We strolled along the street while drinking and eating and finally saw our minivan pull up again. So, once we had finished our food we slowly went over there and were very rudely asked why we had opted out of the tour. We told him about the ID issue and he kept on saying that we were so wrong not to go. Guess he gets a commission which he was no out of. When the time to leave came, only Tom and I and the English couple were there.
To be continued ..........
Well, so far this was a ship out of drydock not too long ago. 
