Sun-Cruisers

We put together a private excursion for 5-6 couples. I would recommend this over a ships tour. Included were a splendid tour of Ephesus, the Terrace Houses and Mary's House. A stop by the ruins of the Church of St. John the Apostle was also included.

Our private guide, licensed by the government, was great. The guide setup a private lunch, on our own, at a local restaurant. We had the option of stopping at a rug factory. it was a no pressure enjoyable stop.

We booked a small group tour at Invergordon using www.invernesstours.com. They offered several tour options and the guides were authors of local history. A great day which we were able to tailor the itinerary to the desires of the group. --Don

We have just had correspondence from our TA with a cancellation notification for our June 2015 Black Sea Cruise on Constellation due to the unrest in the Ukraine. Very disappointed but have rebooked on Italy and Turkey cruise on 19th July. Anyone else in the same position and did you get sorted out? They gave an additional $200 OBC and we kept all our other perks.

You might check with your TA. Constellation is doing Eastern Med itineraries in June 2015, we are on one of the Venice/Civitecchia trips.

Take the easy way to get to the Olimpia, the ATVO (Marco Polo to P.Roma €6) coach and you are there in 20 minutes. Save your €'s for a relaxing gondola ride.

We arranged tours of the Colosseum Underground, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums and the Scavi tour far ahead of our trip in June. All ticket vouchers were in our hands 3-4 months before our trip.

For the Colosseum we used www.tickitaly.com and were placed on the wait list for the Underground tour as it was too early for sales. At that time the curators released reservation times 3-4 months in advance.

For the Sistine Chapel the general website follows. It is certainly worthwhile to book early as the lines are very long the day you will be there. Buying early allows you to completely by-pass the long lines.

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/index.html

For the Scavi Tours we emailed the separate office, ufficio scavi [scavi@fsp.va]. You will need to outline the date desired and the number of visitors in your group. Only a set number of visitors per day are accomodated. We received reply which was no guarantee of tickets but gave a separate address for actual request for tickets. The admission to the tour is timed and you will be scrutinized by the Swiss Guard to gain admission to the office where the tour begins. The tour is really worth the effort you extend to obtain tickets.

You might find the virtual tour interesting.

http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/necropoli/scavi_english.html

Enjoy Rome

We too are cruising out of Venice next May. My approach is a little less exotic but significantly more reasonable $$-wise. What I have surfaced is the coach from Marco Polo to Piazzalle Roma (€6PP). We are also staying at the Best Western which is in sight from the coach drop-off (~1-200 meters). Check the link below.

On getting to the cruise terminal, across the drop-off circle is the Venice People Mover which is similar to the trains at Dallas and Chicago (less the €2).

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/...buses_atvo.htm

We would appreciate guidance for a Beatles walking tour. We will be in port 8A to 6P in mid-May so will have more latitude to explore. Thanks for all advice and guidance.

We took Marios's Canal, Rainforest, and Fort excursion the day prior to the full transit of the canal on Infinity. Our guide Rey was a delightful guide who was very knowledgeable of all aspects of the excursion. Plenty of time was provided at the Gatun viewing stop to see a full lock-thru process. The rainforest aspect did provide viewing of monkeys and sloths. All in all the excursion gave a greater appreciation of the history of the area and a primer for the Infinity's canal transit the next day. We highly recommend Mario.