At the suggestion of a friend who went on bus tours with CBM, we recently went on their Amalfi Coast and Pompeii tour, and also on their Rome tour from our cruise ship.
Our cruise ship docked in Salerno. CBM met us at dockside and directed us to a full sized tour bus that took us to a parking lot just outside of the piers. Evidently, the pier at Salerno is still trying to figure out how to get passengers off cruise ships. We then drove the bus to the Amalfi Coast with our great tour guide, Gus. Got a chance to look out over the Med and view the towns along the coast. We then drove to Sorrento and had lunch at a nice restaurant and then had some time for shopping downtown. Afterwards, our bus drove to Pompeii and had a good visit at the ruins. Saw enough with the local Pompeii tour guide so that I didn't feel like I missed that much for such a short visit.
The only problem we had was when we returned, the bus drove us to the dock where there was a big traffic jam and Gus suggested that we could easily walk to the end of the pier to our ship. Unfortunately, the security guard at the pier said it was too dangerous to walk because the driveway was too narrow. We finally managed to get back on the bus and eventually got back to the ship. Based on everything I heard, I suspect that the port at Salerno needs to get this sorted out and that CBM did the best they could.
When our cruise ship arrived at the port of Civitavecchia, we did not realize that CBM expected to meet us at the train station to go to Rome. This was not clear to us when we booked on-line with CBM. By the time we made telephone contact and met CBM at the train station, our small tour group had left an hour earlier. CBM made up for the error by traveling with us to Rome on the train and connecting us with John for a great private tour of the city. We went to the Colisseum, sat on the Spanish Steps, threw coins into the Trevi Fountain, went inside the incredible Panthenon, drank espresso, visited various plazas, sat on the sidewalk outside the Vatican walls and ate super yummy pizza from a tiny local pizza joint, and waited in a fast moving line at St. Peter's Square for entry into St. Peter's Basilica.
What made the CBM tour different was the use of subways and buses to get around. Saves both time and money. We met up with our small group at the train station to return to the port. Unfortunately, construction at the Citavecchia port forced us to walk about 15 minutes from the train station to an entirely new shuttle bus lot to return to the ship.
I would strongly recommend CBM, an American-based tour company for their tours in Italy. I understand they are starting tours in Turkey as well. read more