We are new cruisiers and will be going on May 11, Celebrity Summit - Barcelona to Venice. We are planning our land excursions in Rome and are confused. Several of the tours offered by Celebrity include the Vatican Museums but only two of them include the Sistine Chapel. Isn't that part of the Vatican Museums. Can anyone tell us which of the Celebrity tours in Rome is the best???

Hi Ginny7777. We are new to cruising but have spent some time in Rome outside of a cruise. I'm not sure what tours Celebrity offers but once you are in the Vatican Museum, there are four independent tour options based on the amount of time you have (from 1.5 hours to 4 hours), all of which end in the Sistine Chapel. I suspect that you may be thinking that St Peters Basilica is part of the Vatican Museum -both are in St Peter's Square, and they are right next to each other. If you are an art lover and/ or Chrisitian, the Vatican Museum is a must. If you do it independently, grab a guide from the Vatican Tourist Office. Read up on Michelangelo before you see the Sistine Chapel. It will bring his work to life...it was very cutting edge at that time. There is so much to see in Rome and with the travel time to and from the port, it is impossible to pack or absorb it all in 7 or 8 hours. No matter what you choose, you will love Rome...it is absolutely amazing. Have a wonderful trip.

We toured independently in 2006 while on a trip on Brilliance of the Seas.
we used Vatican Tours and Beyond -you can go to their website. Comparably priced to the ship 's tours, but we were in a pvt van (they supply a driver AND a guide) and we saw much more of Rome than we would have otherwise with the cruise line's tours on the big buses. We gave the reference to friends in Boca Raton, and they told us they have referred countless friends to this company.
Highly recommended.