Live From Azamara Quest: Private Tours

There are ports which absolutely lend themselves to utilizing private tours; the Amalfi Coast is one of those destinations. While there are legions of reviews out there speaking about traffic issues and why one might only want to use a ship's excursion here, and there's no doubt a ship's excursion is "safer"; logistically, especially if docked in Naples, on an itinerary such as this on the Azamara Quest where we're overnighting in Sorrento, take anything but a private tour and you're missing some of the best of the Amalfi.

For example, and quite notably, Positano. This little jewel of a town on the coast (it's the coastal town featured in "Under the Tuscan Sun") doesn't allow large buses to travel within the town itself. Not because they don't want the tourists, but literally the big tour buses can't traverse the one road through town. Yes, you heard me, one road. Because it's built into a steep hillside, the rest of the town is traversed via steep lanes and stairs. So if you take a ship's tour, you either have to walk down (and more importantly back up again) from the top of the town, or you only get to see it panoramically from vistas as you approach. No thank you. While you can access Positano through ferries or local buses, even independent travel advocates such as Rick Steves don't feel they're the best option here.

Secondly there are towns farther down the coast such as Amalfi itself and Ravello. Again, in Ravello, no big bushes. And amazing views of the coast and wonderful restaurants (see my tweet pictures from this afternoon at www.twitter.com/cruiseresource). Take a ship's tour and miss much of these.

But most importantly, while you might have a good local guide, someone communicating to 40 passengers at a time can't convey their personal sense of pride and love of their home the same way a driver escorting a group of 7 can. Especially if the driver is someone like Carmello Monetti, who owns, runs and still drives (along with his sons) a local taxi company offering tours.

Carmello is one of the guides recommended by the Rick Steves' series of books (which are particularly good for Italian travel). This grandfatherly, in love with life joy of a man is everything you want in a driver on these most challenging of narrow roads (600 turns in 30 miles worth of road, with widths built for horse-and-carriage, not cars + parking + pedestrians. He cares about his passengers' comfort over speed, and while his English is heavily accented and sometimes challenging, you still will have a more joy-filled and fulfilling day than in a more scripted tour.

While Carmello is a stand-out, I've found the huge majority of private drivers to be similarly more involved and personal than typical large tour guides. The good reputable ones all pay attention to the time, know how to get around problem areas if they occur, and absolutely know their reputation and livelihood depend on getting you back to the ship on time. While that wasn't an issue here as we are overnighting in Sorrento, he still made sure we were all good with the timing and we got what we wanted out of the tour.

So how do you find a private tour, and people with whom to share it? Resources like Rick Steves, Frommers and Fodors (online and print) are all good, but I also believe in sites such as TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic, especially the latter for cruisers. There, you are getting recommendations from other cruisers (and the Ports of Call boards are heavily moderated to ensure vendors aren't soliciting or having shills promote for them), and you're dealing with companies who cater to cruisers and our unique logistical needs.

Okay, you've found a private guide who sounds good...but you don't want to pay the several hundred dollar/euro price yourself and you think more is merrier. How do you find others with whom to share? Head right on over to the Cruise Critic Roll Call thread for your sailing, of course! There are threads for almost every ship and sailing date, and especially in more exotic locations such as Europe, South America and Australia, often others similarly seeking tour companions. Get involved with the thread (simply introducing yourself is all you need to do) and ask if others are looking to share. Often you can also join in with tours others have set up and which still have room.

Getting involved in the roll call gives you a jump start on socializing onboard by meeting up with people for sailaway at a prearranged location and time, sharing tours, ask questions of others doing research for the cruise just as you are, and for solos, feel more connected onboard if you wish to be. With very few exceptions (there are always some people who don't observe good internet protocol), these roll calls are win-win situations.

More for solo cruisers: Have you cruised solo but hesitated to dine in the specialty restaurants because you'd be alone? Roll calls can help you to find people in advance with whom you'd like to share an evening (in addition to a tour) and you can go ahead and pre-reserve the restaurant of your choice onboard. Cruisers by and large are a social bunch, especially those on message boards and forums, and my experience has been that when they learn you're traveling alone, they reach out to include you as much as you want to be, though you do need to take the first step. It's one of the reasons cruising is such a solo-friendly way to travel.

But back to private tours and Azamara. Because of the nature of Azamara's priimary customer base - generally more well traveled, looking for more extensive experiences in a destination even if they're new to traveling, and desiring something just a bit better, private tours are a perfect fit. Add to that the extra time in ports, and you have the formula for some pretty fantastic explorations!

Deluxe and luxury lines are particularly sensitive to their passengers' desire for more personal explorations. Azamara brings on local port officials to answer questions when you arrive. These aren't the typical port lecturers you might have experienced who are only looking to tell you the recommended shopping vendors, but local officials, often with the tourist bureau, who are there to help you do what you want to do in their town on your own.

Oh, did I mention that private tours when shared with even a couple other people, usually cost far less than a ship's tour, too? Silly me. They are much more affordable, offer many things a ship's tour cannot (though there are some times the ship is the only option for a particular event or site) and just plain great. Even if you think you're someone who likes to go off on your own and not a "tour" person, try a shared private tour sometime. You might be surprised.

Tomorrow is our second day in Sorrento. While I could re-visit Pompeii or head over to Capri, the plan is a later morning tendering ashore, exploring Sorrento itself, a bit of lunch at a trattoria, and tasting many samples from small, local lemoncello varieties :::hic::: It's all in the name of research so I can improve my own lemoncello recipe. Likely no pictures tomorrow, but another essential experience for the region.