Capt. Orca

I know there is currently a taxi strike in Rome and while searching for Florence information, I found this:

General strikeWednesday, March 8, 2017Planes, trains, maritime and local transportation personnel will be on strike! Planes for the whole day on March 8th. Trains for 8 hours, from 9:01 to 17:00. Local transportation with different starting times depending on the specific location (no further details are available). Ferries for 24 hours on March 8th. Please check with your ticket office whether this will affect your journey.

We are using http://www.sicilyshoretours.com And they were super efficient about responding. They have a "live chat" option on their webpage and I didn't think anyone would be around to respond but I was wrong.

The tour we booked is 265€ for the car/driver, not per person. We're going to The Godfather towns and Taormina. It's a 5.5 hour tour. Castlmona isn't included but he stops at a viewpoint of the volcano. No guarantee on visibility. (I have seen Mt. Ranier about 20% of all the times I've been to Seattle.). Note, this is an English speaking driver who tells stories and anecdotes but is NOT an official tour guide who walks around everywhere with you.

Thanks for the info on daylight savings in Italy. Wouldn't it be nice if there was some uniformity in beginning/ending of daylight savings around the world? Oh wait, that would mean international cooperation... since I'm on the west coast, I only have to stay up to 1:00am.

I reread my reply to Conquesodor and I wasn't very helpful, so I'll try again. On March 20 at 0900 Rome-time, I will go on-line to purchase my tickets for the colosseum underground tour for my April trip. I'll do it on the official site. I will pay full price because being from USA means no discounts for students or seniors. I'll go to the day I want, and it will show available time slots and how many spaces are available. I'll select the time slot and and add to my shopping cart. Then I'll continue shopping and purchase the general admission tickets which include the Forum. These general admission tix are not time specific. I can see the colosseum one day and the forum the next (or vice-versa) or even skip the Forum entirely. But I can't get into the colosseum for the underground tour without that general admission ticket.

I also learned that once at the Forum, you can't leave the site and return. I suppose a person could always buy a new ticket, but they don't stamp your hand or ask to see your ticket, or anything. Once out, you're out. I also gleaned that security at the colosseum will confiscate liquids, even water. Just like boarding a plane.

Everyone says to reserve your underground tickets first, then add the general admission ticket to your shopping cart next. It is not specific to any special date and it's not a problem to buy on-line. Depending on the date you want to go, you book on the Monday listed in the previous post at 0900 (in Rome). I am going in April, so I can reserve on March 20th. Looks like I'll set my alarm because it will be daylight savings in the US and I have no idea if that applies to Italy as well. My iPhone will tell me.

that is the rule for the underground tour.

And I just went to the official website and it says,

NEWS

Opening Underground Reservation for January 2017

It will be possibile to book on website underground Tours for individuals and underground group entrances every third Monday of the month for the following month:

Monday, December 19, 2016 for January 2017

Monday, January 16, 2017 for February 2017

Monday, February 20 for March 2017

Monday, March 20 to April 2017

Monday, April 18 for May 2017

Monday, May 15 for June 2017

Any online bookings made before 9.00 am will be not valid.

And I was told by my hotel concierge that April 1 is when tickets for only that month go on sale, but things seem to change often.

I'm not sure which day of the week you planned on visiting, but be aware that the lace museum is closed on Mondays.

And be aware that the lace museum is closed on Mondays.

We just got back from 6 nights at the Sofitel after a 10 day Princess cruise. The beach is great there and the snorkeling amazing. The food is excellent and the bungalows are very, very nice. After the cruise, we weren't sure of the merits of Tahiti over Hawaii (distance, expense, etc), but after a week on Moorea, we get it now. The relatively undeveloped infrastructure in Tahiti means there isn't a huge restaurant selection and tons of activities, but if you like great water activities, good food, and a terrific resort, the Sofitel on Moorea is perfect. We also booked "so gourmet" and it was a good choice for us.

We have a flight to LAX before our Tahiti cruise and can't put ship tags on too early in the journey. I LOVED the idea of using zip ties and reinforcing the paper tags with packing tape. I got them all ready to go and they are in my carry-on for Papeete. Carrying a stapler seems funny to me, and like the previous poster, when I called AAA they were clueless.

It's a simple and easy idea and the kind of suggestion that makes me love Cruise Critic.