yldwest

Just now, yldwest said:

Sorry for above quote post - it was a mistake & I don’t see where to delete it. Anyway….. @roger b - We are a party of 6 arriving in Palma on 26 Jan 2024 - in port from 1000 - 2000. We are thinking of renting a car & I saw you mentioned there is one near the port or will deliver a car to the port (arash) - could you please provide more details on how far the walk is & if it’s an actual company site there or if a car is just left to pick up?  Also, being that it is Jan, do you think Soller & Valldemossa are good options for that time of year or if things will be shut down?  Or do you have suggestions for a better itinerary for this time of year?  Thank you so much for any help you can provide. We were in Palma many, many years ago & saw the highlights of the city, so we are looking forward to seeing a different part of the island this time. Happy New Year!

More info: we like scenic drives & walks as well as historical sites & architecture. We are ages 22 - 76 but all can walk a few miles or wait while others go further. Thanks again!

Sorry for above quote post - it was a mistake & I don’t see where to delete it. Anyway….. @roger b - We are a party of 6 arriving in Palma on 26 Jan 2024 - in port from 1000 - 2000. We are thinking of renting a car & I saw you mentioned there is one near the port or will deliver a car to the port (arash) - could you please provide more details on how far the walk is & if it’s an actual company site there or if a car is just left to pick up?  Also, being that it is Jan, do you think Soller & Valldemossa are good options for that time of year or if things will be shut down?  Or do you have suggestions for a better itinerary for this time of year?  Thank you so much for any help you can provide. We were in Palma many, many years ago & saw the highlights of the city, so we are looking forward to seeing a different part of the island this time. Happy New Year!

On 9/23/2023 at 9:46 PM, roger b said:

On 12/31/2023 at 4:10 PM, MidwestY said:

 

Does anyone have information on the bus between SML & Portofino? We will be there end of Jan & ferry is not running. Thank you. 

Hi Hank!

 

A friend & I are visiting Malta in October & we were contemplating the HoHo bus. However, for the reasons you mentioned, I am not a big fan either. However, upon looking for car rentals, I saw a lot of mention of how bad the traffic is and that it's not worth it. We would like to see Marsaxlokk, the Blue Grotto, Hagar Qim Temples, Mdina & the Co Cathedral. We are in port from 8 - 5. In your experience, do you think that is doable & if so, can you recommend where to find an easily accessible rental agency?

 

Thank you for your insight - I always find your posts extremely helpful & have taken your advice in the past!

~Lora Lee

Hi again - I found a post that you recently responded on regarding renting in Malta & the agency name so no need to respond. I think we are going to contact them & spend the day exploring on our own! Sounds like a beautiful place!

We also have some good cruising friends who love the HoHo's on Malta. They do board from the road right in front of the port...which is very convenient. As I recall, there are two different routes, one of which goes to the far corners of the island (we would see that bus when we were driving our rental car) and the other line is more about Malta and its immediate metro area. DW and I have never been big HoHo fans and we will explain the downside. If one wants to simply see a place from a bus, then the HoHos are hard to beat. But when you want to get off the bus and explore, you have to time every stop to get back for another bus...and may often find yourself spending lots of your port day simply waiting for buses. With a rental car it allows us to come and go as we please with no time lost waiting for a bus...and not having to time every visit so we can catch the next bus (which may or may not even show-up on time). On Malta, when we did a long driving trip around the entire island, we probably parked and exited our car more then 20 times all over the island. You cannot do this with a HoHo where you must carefully pick and choose the places where you can get off the bus.

 

Hank

Hi Hank!

A friend & I are visiting Malta in October & we were contemplating the HoHo bus. However, for the reasons you mentioned, I am not a big fan either. However, upon looking for car rentals, I saw a lot of mention of how bad the traffic is and that it's not worth it. We would like to see Marsaxlokk, the Blue Grotto, Hagar Qim Temples, Mdina & the Co Cathedral. We are in port from 8 - 5. In your experience, do you think that is doable & if so, can you recommend where to find an easily accessible rental agency?

Thank you for your insight - I always find your posts extremely helpful & have taken your advice in the past!

~Lora Lee

Just returned from spring break on the Allure. You will be just fine wearing what you described. I saw men in dress shorts almost every night. Also saw 20-ish aged guys in tanks, gym shorts & flip flops several nights. Even saw a guy w/ a scrungy hat on, at the table, more than once. It appeared they were not enforcing a dress code, at all.

I am trying to get eight together for a Joe bananas tour from Livorno to cinque terre. Has anyone done this tour? Would they stop at Pisa? But my bigger question is...on the form you have to prepay? How do you collect from people who you do not know on the roll call or does everyone pay separate? Or does Joe collect when we arrive? How did you guys handle this? Thanks in advance. I really do not want to prepay in case someone is a no show.

You do not prepay. On the form, a credit card # is taken to hold the reservation but is not charged. The driver will collect the payment, in cash (euro) at the end of the tour.

You would need to ask Giovanni if they can stop in Pisa. They are very accommodating & will fit in anything that is feasible, whenever they possibly can. Just ask about it on the form & Giovanni is very good about getting back to you with an answer right away.

I have had several interactions with Joe Bananas & each has been a great experience. Giovanni is always very quick to answer all emails/questions & is extremely accommodating with requests. I have used Joe Banana Limos to book tours for myself as well as clients, who have also raved about their experiences with Giovanni & his drivers. My husband & I had been to Rome several times before but were going again with our 15 year old son. We wanted him to see the main tourist sites but we wanted to see something new ourselves as well.

We arrived in Civitavecchia & were met by the wonderful Daniele who whisked us away, armed with a crazy, packed-full itinerary that I had concocted. Daniele was very friendly, spoke English quite well & said he would do his best to try & make sure we saw everything on our list. Not only did he keep us on schedule & get us to every single one of our requested sites, he saw a trend of what was interesting to us & suggested a few more stops that he thought we would enjoy. We were delighted with each of his additions & were so glad that he had taken the time, thoughtfulness & initiative to take us to a few places that he thought were special & that we would like.

Since we had so much we wanted to see during our visit, we didn't want to spend much time sitting down to eat but did want to find a quick bite somewhere with a local flavor. While we were inside the Colosseum, Daniele scouted out a nearby area & found a great, little place were he had bargained a special deal on a sampler type menu for us so we could try several different local specialties. It was all delicious & quick!

Our son sat in the passenger seat & Daniele was really great to explain areas, sites & history of everything to him. He had just learned about Roman history in school & had several questions which Daniele was pleased to answer & again, went out of his way to drive by & point out a few of the things our son had asked about. It was extremely hot that day & Daniele made sure that we were always comfortable & when were stopping to get out, made sure we were near somewhere that we could grab a drink if we wanted to. When going in somewhere on our own, he was always very clear & precise in his directions of where we needed to go & where we should be to meet back up with him. He also had a cellphone with his # stored in it that he gave us so we could call him if needed.

Back on the ship, our table-mates at dinner were extremely jealous of our day compared to theirs. We had all paid about the same price per person for our tours - they took a ship tour & saw roughly 4 main sites & had lunch...we saw everything they had plus at least a dozen or so more & felt like we had seen a more intimate side of Rome - things off the beaten tourist path.

It was a fantastic day from beginning to end. I have tours currently booked with Joe Banana Limos for clients this summer as well as another for myself & will book again with them in the future without hesitation!

bring gravol too. the gravel will just weigh you down. :D sashasasha...you must be Cdn, like me. I can't remember what our US friends call it, but I think they call it something other than gravol.:) P.S. the rocking wasn't so bad, it was vibrations and rattling in the aft cabins. it doesn't make you ill, it just annoys you if you can't get your mind off it, and potentially, keep you awake!

OK...I have to ask...what the heck is gravol??!! Motion sickness med or sleep aid or what?!:confused:

My husband & I sailed on the Regent Star out of Vancouver to Alaska (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, College Fjords, Sitka, Whittier) in July 1993 for our 5th wedding anniversary...we went w/ my parents, my brother & his wife...loved how large the staterooms were & our porthole window! The staff was so friendly & fun...food was so much better than today's cruises...aaaah the memories!! We too enjoyed the smaller ships feel over the mega ships.

I am not having any luck with the website for tickets to St. Mark's showing any availability anytime between now and the end of June. Could this ticket reservation option be discontinued or do you think the site is just down? I wouldn't think everyday at every time would be booked.

 

Secondly, could anyone give me an idea of the per person price range for Raffaele?

 

Thanks!

We went on the Western Med cruise last Oct & I pre-booked tickets for St Marks via the website...I was not able to see or book tickets until about a month before our departure.

As an FYI- here's a quote out of Rick Steve's 2007 Venice book..."Those with a bag to check actually get to skip the line. Here's how it works: Drop by Atgeneo S. Basso. leave your bag (for up to one hour) and pick up the tag. Two people per tag are allowed to go to the basilica's gatekeeper and scoot directly in (ahead of the line). After touring the church, come back and pick up your bag."

Our dinner mates actually did this & said it worked out great...we wished we had done it as even with our reservation slot there was still a line that we had to wait in for about 15 mins before entering- which beat the 1 hour + line for people w/out reservations but it would've been nice to walk right in.

If you're facing the front of the church, the bag check was back along the left side of the church.

Have fun! We loved Venice!!