nvbabe

We have used Sicily with Mario several times.  He not only does Sicily, but also mainland Italy.  Will customize your trip to accommodate special request. 

We are going on a cruise with a party of 6 in July stopping in Sicily... Is it possible to get a private tour for oth in one day?

I would recommend Sicily with Mario

http://www.sicilywithmario.com/default.asp?lang=en&p=default, We have toured with him several times and I can't say enough about how much fun we've had.

If your looking for a winery/tasting google Gambino Winery, they do a nice wine tasting with food pairing. The drive is quite nice.

We spent 6 days in Lisbon this past October prior to our cruise. We had an incredible trip.

We spent 3 days with Alex of Top Ten Tours, the company was wonderful to deal with and Alex was amazing. I would recommend to anyone wanting to make the most of their time in Lisbon.

We found Taxi's in Lisbon very affordable (cheaper and faster than public transportation), once you get away from the airport and cruise terminal (just cross the street). Do beware of pick pockets on the trams...one in our party had his wallet stolen, because he thought he would know if someone tried to pickpocket him:rolleyes: We did get it back by making a big fuss.

For prearranged transfers between the airport and cruise terminal, I would recommend Pedro with Lisbon Taxis, we were a party of 6 all arriving and departing at different times and it was a great comfort for me to have someone waiting at the airport. They also have larger vehicles to accommodate families or groups.

We immensely enjoyed the people and food in Lisbon and would love to return someday.

Rendezvous Bar on deck 5 is the "Coffee Bar" for specialty coffee. I'm sure it would be fine to pour into thermal cup.

We had a balcony cabin, no bathrobes.

I was also on this cruise as a group of six adults from the states. We are also Loyal Royals, but wanted to spend a week in Lisbon (loved Lisbon) so choose this cruise.

I agree with Fiona on the waitstaff in the dining room were friendly, but lacked finesse. We did not ever meet the head waiter. I also agree food for the most part was good. I thought desserts were lacking compared to other cruises. Also had trouble making the breakfast time, would have liked more time to exercise, visit hot tub or sauna prior to breakfast.

We felt bar service was poor for the most part, very slow, and with some exceptions seemed uncaring. The other negative for us was the amount of children on the first half of the cruise. The pools and hot tubs were always full of kids, have never had this problem sailing in October. Perhaps MSC offering kids sail free is why.

As only being able to speak English, communication with staff was not a problem. We did miss comradeship with the other passengers, as there were very few other english speakers. We knew this going in, but did not know how much we would miss getting to know other passengers.

Thank You, I'll be on her in October.

It looks like you can purchase a soft drink voucher package. Check out onboard services on MSC website.

Well I thought the website could not get any worse but oh yes it has, you go to the "my msc area" put in the cruise reference, name, date of sailing only to be told you booked with a travel agent so go back to them ... :mad:

 

MSC when are you ever going to get the Left hand and the Right hand to talk to each other ? so much for promises of a better website from Vago and others... Clueless.

Still having this problem today! I'm wanting to check my account Tried to make final payment over the phone Friday, they showed I owed more money then my receipt they emailed when booking was done. Said they would phone or email me back, haven't heard anything.

How can they not see the same email Booking Summary sent previously (I had to send copy back to them)?

A group of six of us went to Vignamaggio September 2008 and had a wonderful private lunch and tasting. Whole bottles were left on the table for us to enjoy! Beautiful winery.

I can highly recommend Sicily with Mario. We have used him for cruise stop and for extended land trip. Both trips were fabulous.

If you like small boutique hotels, I can highly recommend Domus Lina. We stayed there in 2010 prior to flying to Sicicly. You can read more reviews on Trip Advisor. While it's not Rome, I find Fiumicino charming and have had some great meals there.

Oops! Saw you were going to Civitavecchia, not Fiumicino, I was thinking airport, not cruise port.

There is a very interesting bar, Bar Turrisi, if you are not traveling with children. Google it first.

Otherwise just stroll Taormina and Castlemola and enjoy your day.

Thank you!! I just looked up Gallo Cedrone and it looks amazing!! I appreciate your recommendation so much! That is just my kind of place, I love small family owned restaurants.

Do you recommend going to Mt Etna?

We had a pretty short port day when we were there and did not want to ruin it by trying to do too much. We weren't to interested in going up to Etna as we have our own volcano in Washington state.

Our leisurely lunch with "Mama", Ricardo and Roberto was what made us fall in love with Sicily. We returned two years later and last year spent two weeks in Sicily. If you go, tell Mama Renee from Oregon says Hi. The views from Castlemola are spectacular!

I would recommend driving up past Taormina to Castlemola and eat at Gallo Cedrone. A very small family run restaurant, it was the highlight of our first trip to Sicily.

Renee

I would highly recommend Mario Astone, his website is http://www.sicilywithmario.com.

We used Mario for for a cruise stop in 2010 for Taxi service to Castelmola and Taormina. We had such a great time my group decided to do a land trip to Sicily in 2012 and hired Mario for whole week. Had a wonderful time thanks to Mario.

If you have time, have lunch in Castelmola at Gallo Cedrone.

When you booked with Mario Astone' date=' did he require a payment in advance?

Thanks![/quote']

 

 

No, payment when we get there.

Hi,

I keep reading positive reviews about Mario and his brother. I would like to book Mario but I have no idea how to contact him. Could someone please let me know how to contact Mario??? Thanks in advance!

Here you go:

Mario Astone marioastone@tiscali.it

well we leave tomorrow and next thursday is our sicily stop. we have hired a guy named mario astone, came recommended via this board. I'll post here what our experiences are when we get back

 

he will take us to Castelmola for the views, then to Taormina for some free time, then back to messina for the big Duomo and a see around

35 euros per person (7 adults, kids free)

when we were only 4 , he quoted us 45

 

it is not very cheap, but at least we have our private, costume made tour

Look forward to hearing back from you, as we have Mario booked for October. Have a great trip!

Congrats! Did you bid 4 stars or 3&1/2? I'm up to $97 for the following week (8/15) but no luck...don't know what I'm doing wrong:(.Would love to get the Westin.

I bid 4 star, and received it on first bid. Must be something going on the next week. Keep trying.

Seattle Westin

August 8

$89.00

Is it advisable to contact hotel and let them know you belong to their preferred guest club? Does it have any bearing since we booked through priceline?