27 Mar 2023
We booked this tour weeks ahead for 9:00 AM. Prior to arriving in Rome we were notified that the tour had been moved to 10.
On the morning of the tour we arrived at the colisseum and along w two other couples were told that the tour guide had an emergency and that we should wait. At around 10:30 (after standing and waiting) we were told to just go, that we would get a call if and when the tour could be rescheduled.
At 11:30 we got a call that we had to be back at colosseum at 11;45. We ran back only to be told that the tour would no longer include the catacombs beneath the colisseum (which was the whole reason we had booked the tour, to have access to that area). We and the two other couples balked and the guide did take us down but we were rushed.
Also, I hate to criticize anyone’s English as it is inevitably better than my second language but the tour guide’s English was limited and she was clearly not particularly familiar with the colisseum. The tour was very rushed and basic.
She handed us over to a second guide for the hill (not sure if that was a product of the last minute rescheduling or would always have been the plan)
Emergencies happen but I specifically booked w this tour guy as opposed to one individual so there would be back up if someone came up. The tour company did not have a plan in place so we lost a lot of time.
They also were not remotely apologetic. They should have given all of us a discount on their own.