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bbyost

bbyost

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Yes, free wi-fi and laptops in the rooms at Petite Palace Museum in Barcelona. They are part of the "High Tech Hotels", it's even says so on their towels. I actually called the desk to make sure there would not be a charge.

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micruiser2002

micruiser2002

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Do you remember if you were charged VAT on board for purchases? Such as drinks, etc? I have heard if you do not leave the European Union you are charged VAT on all on board purchases. But then that seems strange when everything is in USD. Thanks.

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cck0000

cck0000

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thanks for the info, Brenda

(even though its not what I was hoping to hear!)

I booked a 9 hour private tour....I was hoping to be tendered before 11am for sure...

thanks again for all your reports and tips:)

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PersistenzaretiniKa

PersistenzaretiniKa

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Okay, let's see if I can answer all of the questions.

We had the 6:30pm dining time. It worked out great for us. We were back to the ship by 5 or 5:30pm from every tour and had enough time to get ready without rushing. The 8:30 or 9pm would have been too late. We were up every morning around 7-7:30am.

 

The Cruise Director was Leo Papa. We didn't see a lot of him because we only went to one show. We spent a lot of our time in the Piano Bar.

 

We did private tours. In Villefranche we used Alain from Dream Tours-excellent. For Florence, Rome and Naples we booked through allarounditaly.net. We had Fabrizio for Florence and Rome and had the greatest time. We had Julio in Naples. All of the tour guides we very vigilant about getting back to the ship on time.

 

The weather was not the norm according to the tour guides. We had some rain, some clouds and some sun with temps around 68-72F. We actually preferred the temps. It had been 88F in Rome two days before we were there.

 

I don't know if the menus are the same. But we really enjoyed dinner and all of us always found something we liked.

 

We participated in Battle of the Sexes and the hula hoop contest. They seemed to offer most of the games poolside that I remember from our caribbean trip. If they had the Quest, I missed it. I do remember a Family Scavenger Hunt listed.

 

We planned to just do a quick walk around Palermo and spend the rest of the day at the pool. We ended up going by city bus to the Catacombs. That ranks as one the strangest places I've ever visited. We were disappointed in Palermo. After all of the other ports, it just doesn't measure up.

 

We didn't buy many souveniers. The guys all bought authentic soccer jerseys. My daughter and I each bought a leather purse in Florence. And I picked up some olive oil and wild strawberry liquor. I told everyone we'd go back to shop when the dollar was stronger.

 

I'm not sure what % was European. It was a nice mix of all nationalities and we really enjoyed meeting and trying to talk to everyone. Most people we met spoke some English. My husband is the guy that talks to people in the hot tub, in the elevator, and anywhere else that he bumps into them. He kept forgetting that not everyone understood him. We had some good laughs at his expense.

 

Whew...I think I answered them all, but I'll be glad to answer anymore!

Whew...hope that answers them all.

 

 

i bet u were disappointed by palermo: u've missed the best: how can miss the cathedral one of the few and wonderful samples of norman architecture in italy where FREDERICK II is buried, the cathedral of monreale with one of the most extended surfaces of mosaics after san marco in venice and saint sofia in istanbul and many other monuments.....

 

going to palermo and missing its cathedral it's like going to paris and skip the eiffel tower

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bbyost

bbyost

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Sorry that we missed the church in Palermo. I would have loved to have seen it. In all honesty, by the time we docked in Palermo we'd been sightseeing for 8 straight days. We decided ahead of time to just wonder the city for a bit and check out the catacombs and then go back to the ship to relax by the pool. Hopefully others will read your post and make a visit to the church.

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bbyost

bbyost

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Sorry, I missed the question about VAT. Yes, they do charge it onboard. They had a sheet in our room the first day that explained the tax and how to get refunded. Unfortunately, you can't get a refund for food or drink purchases, if I read it correctly.

I must admit that I didn't read it very closely because I didn't plan on making any purchases that would have added up to the amount needed to apply for a refund. Does that make sense?

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cujosmom

cujosmom

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[We planned to just do a quick walk around Palermo and spend the rest of the day at the pool. We ended up going by city bus to the Catacombs. That ranks as one the strangest places I've ever visited. We were disappointed in Palermo. After all of the other ports, it just doesn't measure up/QUOTE]

 

Brenda,

 

The catacombs and pictures on the internet look so interesting and like you said, "strange". This may be something we'd like to do, too. On google earth it looks like it is quite a distance from the dock. You said you took a city bus. How did you know which bus to take and where did you get on, where did you get off and did you take the bus back to the dock? Do you remember what the bus ride cost and how much the admission fee was?

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bbyost

bbyost

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It was an adventure getting to the Catacombs. This is a long story...

We(our group of 6) stopped at the info desk at the pier. The woman working the desk pulled out a map a line for the bus stop, told me what bus no. (104)for the 1st leg of the trip and then said get off here(marked a spot on the map) and take bus no. 137 to the catacombs. Now we assumed that the bus routes would be clearly marked with signs. Wrong.

We found the first bus stop in the square (about a 5-10 min. walk from the pier). We went to get on the bus and handed them our euros and got a funny look from the bus driver. We figured out then that you needed tickets in advance.

We got off the bus and looked for a sign for tickets. I finally went into a men's clothing store and asked for someone who spoke English. He said to go into the little store on the corner that sold lottery tickets. We bought 6 tickets for 12 Euros. He said that the tickets would take us all the way to the catacombs. We went back and waited for bus 104 for about 15 minutes.

We kept thinking we should have grabbed a cab at the dock or the hop on/hop off bus.

We finally got on the bus and then could not figure where to get off. The bus took a slightly detoured route then the one on the map we were given. We got off when we saw a sign along the street that said Catacombs and waited for the next bus.

There was an older man at this stop that came up and warned us (mainly through sign language because he spoke no english, we spoke no italian) to watch for pickpockets at this stop. He actually pointed a few people out. He then started talking to my son and his friend (they know spanish and tried to understand him) and he showed them a picture of himself as a young policeman. We asked him if this was the right stop for the Catacombs and he said yes and motioned us to follow him when the bus came. He got on the bus with us and then told us which stop to get off. We said grazi and good-bye to him and finally we arrived at the Catacombs. I'm not sure we would have found the stop without his help. The catacombs are behind some other buildings.

It was 1.50 euro to enter.

It really was worth the hassle, but when we came out we ran to a taxi to take us back to the area near the ship. I think the taxi was 15 or 20 euros.

Sorry such a long explanation, but lesson learned...take a taxi from the dock.

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Big Snack

Big Snack

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Brenda,

 

Yet another question. We are booked with Fabrizio as well. If it is not too personal would you mind telling me if you tipped him each day and what percent? Did he expect/seem happy with that amount? You read so much conflicting information on tipping and I am curious since we are using Fabrizio as well. I can't thank you enough for your time in answering our many questions.

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bbyost

bbyost

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Big Snack,

We did tip Fabrizio, but not until the second day. First we bought an umbrella during a rainstorm in Rome and donated it to his van, then we tipped him another 50 euros. He so happy all the time, but he did seem pleased with the tip.

We also offered to buy him lunch both days but he said he had business calls to make while we ate.

You're right though, there is so much conflicting info about tipping. We just decided to add a little extra.

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sbapal

sbapal

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Brenda,

 

It sounds like you had a good experience with Fabrizio and allarounditaly.net. It also seems, from reading the various chat sites, that RomeinLimo.net is very popular. We'll be on our cruise the last week in August and I would like to book a private tour for Rome. I have two boys, 12 and 14, and want to make it interesting for them. Do you, or does anyone else, have any thoughts on one tour company versus the other?

 

Thanks.

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