We are getting ready to hire Pina for an all day tour of Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum. Any comments please!! We are concerned about sending money and then there will be a problem in Naples.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15804 posts
Probably not the type of comment you're looking for but as good a guide as she is said to be, there's no way I'd take on Pompeii, Herculaneum AND Naples in a single day. That would an exhausting itinerary, IMHO, and especially if the tour would be during the hot summer months.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
We are touring in early October and we know it will be a busy but some places will abbreviated. Have you used her before?
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15804 posts
Nope, sorry, but I have been to Pompeii in early Oct. and it was plenty warm. We didn't do an 'abbreviated' exploration of that one and it took us a good chunk of the day.
If you type her name into the search box at the top of the page, you can pull up previous forum discussions she would have been mentioned in. I would personally discard the gushy reports from 1-time posters, though? While they may be legitimate, some of them sound too much like adverts.
Posted by
Used to be Steilacoom, now it’s Las Vegas
2186 posts
She was our local guide in Naples during our RS Southern Italy tour in May and we quite enjoyed her. She is knowledgeable and enthusiastic, without being so academic that you nod off.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you for replying. Did you pay for her through Paypal? My concern is that although we have been communicating through email, we do not have anything in writing regarding the payment, date and agreed upon tour.!
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15804 posts
Thank you for replying. Did you pay for her through Paypal?
I think what Patti meant was that Pina was a group guide for the Naples piece of one of the RS Southern Italy escorted tours back in May. She would have been hired and paid through the company. This tour:
Posted by
Used to be Steilacoom, now it’s Las Vegas
2186 posts
You might consider calling or emailing the Rick Steves office and asking about her, since they’ve used her for years and list her in the guidebooks as a recommended guide. We hired a guide in Rome, Sonia Tavoletta, communicated through email and then paid her in cash at the end of the tour. She sent us photos of herself and photos of the spot where she wanted to meet us and the time and it all worked like clockwork - but I worried beforehand that it wouldn’t. What reassured me was that she was a recommendation from a stellar RS Rome guide (Francesca), so I felt pretty confident. In your case, Pina is listed in his guidebook.
Hopes this helps.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you for all your replies. We had a conflict on our date so we are getting a expert teammate. I was also concerned about paying through PayPal but have been reassured of the process and the outcome. We are 2 months out from our tour and thanks for the comments and reassurance.