I recently sent a message to the Vatican to schedule a Scavi tour. In the description I put that I was available to do 07 July after 15:00 and all day 08 July for an English speaking tour for 2. I stated that my preference was for July 07. They promptly emailed me back with a reservation for 2 on July 07 but at 1:30. Our flight gets in at 12 from FCO airport so its very unlikely that we could make the reservation at 1:30. I replied to the reservation email politely asking if there were any later times (after 2:30/14:30) on July 07 or anything on July 8th and also submitted an edit to the tickets requesting the possibility change. It has been an entire day with no response, what should I do?
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
The only thing you can do is wait to see if they can change the time or date. If not, you'll most likely miss the tour. These tours have very limited capacity so they may not have any available room on later tours.
Donna
Posted by
2 posts
if you don't hear back it is because they can not accommodate you. Give it a day or two more then re submit. Good luck
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
You don't need to re-submit. If they can accommodate you-the will, if they can't accommodate you resubmitting isn't going to do anything other than waste their time on an issue that is already resolved. You've already made your request for a change, see if they can and if not do your best to get there on time for the slot you have.
Donna
Posted by
TN, USA
2115 posts
If you do not hear anything in a month or so, if it were me, I would email again (explaining your concern re: your flight arrival time).
And, if you STILL hear nothing, as the previous poster stated, do your best to get there, and if you are late, just show the reservation slip to the guard and explain that your flight did not arrive in time. Sometimes human kindness will surprise you.
When we were in Rome, we were allowed to go on an earlier Scavi Tour (since there was room), which kept us from having to wait for our appointed time. We were also allowed to go in on an earlier Borghese Gallery time slot (even though there was a sign up advising all that they were sold out until 4-5 days later) by explaining that we booked for a much later time, fearing we might miss our slot if our plane was late, and explaining that we were beginning to 'melt' from jet lag. The young man smiled and gave us a slot that would allow us to go in 5 minutes later.
Being very, very kind, speaking in a clear and somewhat quiet voice, after calmly and nicely presenting your paperwork is what I would advise. And, as a back-up, even though all the Vatican guards speak English very well, you could always type up a few lines to have prepared, outlining your request, just in case they can't understand what you are asking.
Things happen, people run late, people get sick.....time slots often open up.