marazul

You all inspired me into doing a little research on hotel ratings. See post #903 in the Hotels in Rome sticky.

HOTEL STAR RATINGS IN ITALY – EXPLAINED (SORT OF) Hotel star ratings in Europe are set by some common regulations that each country adapts for itself. In Italy, the national regulations can also be adapted by different regions or cities. For example, the requirement of parking spaces for a 4-star hotel would be ridiculous in Venice or, for that matter, in Rome. This website has an excellent summary of the requirements for Rome (https://www.romewise.com/rome-hotel-star-ratings.html) and a translation of the national requirements (here). (Authors: Elyssa Bernard and Alessandro Bisceglie) Here is their summary of the star ratings for Rome: Minimum hotel standards for Rome Italy Hotels According to decree mentioned above, you can be sure of the following minimum standards for Rome hotel star ratings (there are more requirements, but these are some of the main points that allow you to see the difference between star ratings): At a 1 star hotel in Rome: reception 12 hours per day, room cleaning once a day, minimum size of all double room of 14 square meters, change of bed linens once a week. At a 2 star hotel in Rome: same features as at a 1-star hotel but there must also be a lift/elevator and a change of bed linens twice a week. At a 3 star hotel in Rome: same features as at a 2-star hotel but also staff with knowledge of a foreign language, a reception open at least 16 hours, staff uniforms, internet service, and all rooms to come with a private bathroom. At a 4 star hotel in Rome: same features as at a 3-star hotel but also, in addition to daily room cleaning, the room will also be tidied in the afternoon, a change of linen every day (unless the customer opts out of this), laundry and ironing services available for guests, double rooms at least 15 square meters. At a 5 star hotel in Rome: besides all the amenities and features of a 4-star hotel, a 5-star hotel must also offer a reception service open 24 hours a day, employees that speak a total of at least three foreign languages between them, single rooms of at least 9 square meters, and double rooms of at least 16 square meters.

This is what came up for me: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Ischia&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=464

Yes. Search for "Ischia" in this forum.

Keep Roscioli and skip Pizzarium. Two completely different types of restaurant.

Sit inside. It's fun seeing the action in the kitchen. October could sometimes be a little rainy.

Midnight in Italy.

Use this website to calculate the cost of many forms of transportation just about anywhere: https://www.rome2rio.com/

It is in the heart of Plaka with tons of restaurants and shops around it. It does not have the best view of the Acropolis. It does have very good reviews. Why don't you post here later and let us know how you liked it?

Most of the impact seems to be in Central Greece. Affected ports would be Skiathos and Volos. Both places have had major floods. Turkey has also been affected. The weather should start improving tomorrow.

I agree with the previous post. Just ask at your hotel where the closest shops are. You will have more than enough choices at any of them.

If you want to see more of Florence on day 2, stay there for the night. Why?: *That saves you 3 hours travel time (90 minutes each way). *It saves you the cost of transport on day 2. *It lets you spend the evening in Florence and go to dinner in a great restaurant. *You can get an inexpensive room in a hotel. It's only one night!

You could take a boat tour of the caldera as your beach day. There are some that leave from the tender port so you don't have to worry about cable cars or donkeys. All you have to do is tender there and back. With all those cruise ships in port I would book it ASAP. The ship probably offers that excursion too.

Those tickets have not been released yet. Check again every couple of weeks.

Official website: hhtickets.gr You must ask each tour operator whether they provide the tickets. Many do. You can use euros or a card in all the countries you will be visiting. Some merchants will prefer cash for small purchases. If you use a card, make sure you are billed in euros.

Monterosso is divided by promontory on the water betweeen the old town and the new town. The ferry is on the old town side just by the promontory. The beach is on the new town side on the other side. However, it is only a 5-10 minute walk from one to the other. I am just saying this because you will probably not see the beach from the ferry, but it is just a short walk away.

We have toured with Amy Pace and can highly recommend her.

You do need to reserve a cancelable hotel room for three days just in case. If the strike gets canceled, it will not be at the last second because people need to be able to get back to work. Even if it were, the most that it will cost you is one night at the hotel. Call it insurance. The real problem is whether to rebook your flight now or wait to see what happens with the strike. Find out what happens if you rebook your flight for three days later but the strike is canceled. Will they rebook you to your original flight? Or, if you keep your original flight and the strike takes place will you be able to get in that later flight or do you have to wait for a different flight? Sorry that there are so many bad options and that you are in this position. The safest thing, if you can manage it, is just to extend your vacation by three days and change your flights now. At a minimum, reserve a room so you can keep your options open.

By default. It is a "general" "national" strike, which means all sectors are on strike. No exceptions are made, which means that air transport will also be on strike. The strike lasts from midnight to midnight. The exceptions you see under "Modalita" are for two sectors (trains and toll takers in the autopiste) that will have their 24-hour strikes from 10 pm to 10 pm to coincide with their work shifts. Italian law requires that certain services be maintained during a strike, such as a very few trains during that period. The emergency services requirements are not listed in the tables that you saw. They are found elsewhere in the "Sciopero" website (good luck to chrome translating it). These requirements are observed, but they will be of no help to you. Please, follow cruisemom's advice on making alternate plans. And keep checking the website. They will post whether the strike gets canceled.

The announcement says that the strike starts early for train and motorways work shifts (10 pm or 9 pm, respectively) that start before midnight on the 19th and will last for 24 hours each. All other sectors will be on strike from midnight on the 19th to midnight on the 20th. No sectors are excluded in the announcement. So the air transport sector will also be on strike

We were spending a few days in CT a while back. There was a national strike like this one on one of those days. Neither the trains nor the ferries were operating. It turned out to be a beach day for us.

According to their website, Enoteca Sebastiani does sell a wide variety of liquor. As they say, from whisky to cognac. It does seem to cater to the higher price range. Photos of Enoteca Cavacini also show some liquor bottles.

You can do it on your own. There are good signs. It would be good to read a little bit (or a lot) about it before you go.

VV- We have been sailing SB for over 15 years and have done a number of B2B cruises. Your concern is that the passenger mix in either of the two segments may be large, disruptive groups. From our experience, that only happened once in the middle of summer in a very popular Med itinerary. It wasn't a corporate group, but a very large extended family group that were obviously and loudly celebrating something. Other than that, the vibe is bound to change some between segments whether there are large groups or not. The first one may be "livelier" than the following ones, or viceversa. I think if you sail away from the busiest vacation dates you will be fine. Or, if you must sail in the busiest seasons, avoid the itineraries with the most "must see" ports.

Birra, not birria. 😉