gal2travel

This past January our Christmas/New Years cruise was affected by fog and Constellation did not arrive  at the Tampa dock until 5pm-ish.  We were finally in our car by 6:30pm.  Many people onboard that had early flights out of Tampa were affected and stressed out while rebooking flights while we sat outside the Skyway bridge in the fog.  Apparantly this happens frequently during this time of year.  My .02 is to book a flight the next day or a 9pm flight if there is such a thing. Less stress to fly the next day if possible.  There's plenty of hotels near the port and near Tampa airport (maybe 20-25 minutes from the port) 

Have a wonderful trip! Be sure to have cannoli's in Taormina - delicious , ,, , Can't wait until we return to Italy / Sicily. Love it. . . .

I know this is an old thread but in case anyone searched for Roberto I wanted to include current information.

We spent a day with Roberto in Oct 2016 on a wonderful tour from port of Messina to Taormina with stops in Castelmola and Savoca plus a couple of other scenic stops including a tiny old church way above Taormina. This church is special to Roberto as he was married there and it was just so beautiful carved into the mountain. Loved our day with him. Very personable, fun and a safe driver. I communicated with him via email. Responded quickly.

Here is his information copied from his email to me:

Roberto Mirabile

Roberto's Sicily Photo Book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EA7LG3S/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_lPeixb1MGQC9E

98039 Taormina – Italy. – Cell. Phone: + 39 346 581 0872 - - Skype ; Roberto.mirabile5

Email address: mirabileroberto@gmail.com - Website: www.taxirobertomirabile.com

Following us on www.tripadvisor.com like Sicily Tours & Taxi Taormina - Certificate "Excellent" 2016.

I highly recommend Roberto Mirabile of www.taxirobertomirabile.com. we toured with him last october from messina to taormina, including castelmola and savoca (Godfather). it was a wonderful 8 hour day with Roberto.

I would highly recommend Roberto Mirabile of Sicily Tours & Taxi Taormina. We did a full day tour with him last Oct from Messina to Taormina with stops in Savoca and Castelmola. It was a wonderful, informational day. He has various suggested tours which can be customized plus he offers private car / taxi service if that is what you need. Sicily was beautiful.

another vote for Romecabs. used them in oct 2016 with excellent service.

Rome is amazing. So much to see and do. Go as many days early as possible, 2-4 days if you can. Try and get a hotel in a central location, one of my favorite locations is near the Pantheon. Love the old part of Rome with its narrow alleys. Rome is not that big and very walk-able if no health issues. Taxi's and trains also available. There is so much information on the boards here for things to do and tours, hotel recommendations, private car services (for tours and transfers airport/hotel/port), resturants, pretty much anything. We love walking everywhere in Rome and enjoying the sights, sounds and people. The local people understand enough english and will always try and communicate. Make a list of sights you want to visit and plan out your days based upon the area of Rome (one day near the Colosseum and Forum, etc another near the Vatican, Pantheon and Spanish Steps, etc as examples).

Another suggestion is to book hotels early. Sometimes if I can't decide where to stay I will reserve 2 or 3 hotels until we narrow down our plans - then cancel the extra hotel rooms months before our check-in date. Most hotels in Rome have a small number of rooms and fill up pretty quickly.

Take time and enjoy all Rome has to offer. We can't get enough of it. Our last cruise in Oct 2016 we stayed at Albergo Senato (next to the Pantheon) and used Rome Cabs and RomeinLimo for transfers.

Another vote for RomeCabs. Excellent service, reliable, clean vehicles and great drivers. We used their service twice during our cruise october 2016.

enjoy your trip. .. ..

We did a wonderful tour with Ephesus Shuttle in October 2016 from Kusadasi. Never felt uncomfortable or concerned while there. It is such a shame as the shopkeepers were all hurting from the lack of tourists. They were grateful for any purchases. Nowhere near as aggressive to tourists as they were in 2008. More appreciative when tourists shopped. Our guide said that they already knew there would be over 300 fewer cruises stopping in Kusadasi during 2017 and that was before the Royal Caribbean announcement. So sad.