Mediterranean cruise
 

My family and I will be going on a mediterranean cruise abord the Ruby princess in June from Rome. We will be stopping t the following ports, Monte Carlo,Florance/Pisa,Capri/Naples,Santonnai Greece,Ephesus Turkey,Athens,olympia Greece, Confu Greece,, Venice.

If possible can you please assit me with a reocomedation for an affordable hotel in Rome and Venice. We will be arriving a few days early in Rome and will spend three nights after the cruise in Venice. We will be taking the train from Vencie back to Rome for our return flight. Also what is the best way to get from Rome to the Port. Should we take a train or by private car?

Also does anyone have any recomendations on ship or private tours in these ports. I will taraveling with my wife and two boys 15 and 20. I am thinking about taking private tours in these ports insred of ship tours. any ideas thanks

Re: Mediterranean cruise
 

I hated my roman hotel and loved my Venice hotel. It was a very short walk from the St. Lucia train station. The hotel is called the La Locanda Di Orsaria I wrote a review of this hotel on tripadvisor. Here is the link. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ce_Veneto.html I booked directly with the hotel. This is a budget hotel in a great location, you are in the fish part of Venice. Lido and Mestre are on the outskirts of Venice you would need to take the train or waterbus to get into the main tourist part of Venice.

There is no elevator in this hotel so if you have problems with stairs then request a room on the ground floor. They make the best cappuccinos at this hotel and the contiental breakfast is very good.http://www.locandaorsaria.com/en/home.php

Here is a map of Venice on the edge you see Stazione di Santa Lucia (Ferrovia). Ferrovia is the name of the water bus stop. If you buy a Venice orange card it includes unlimited water bus and a lot of museums.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/eur..._of_venice.jpg
This is a map of where the hotel is. The red thumb tack thing marks the hotel's location.
http://www.locandaorsaria.com/en/img/zoom1.jpg

For the Floirence/Pisa stop try to contact Massimo- tuscany in tour. i didn't use his services myself, because he was not free the date we ask for, but he was nice and quick to reply to our questions.
For the Naples stop I would recommend giuseppe- sorrentotopcar. we used him for a Full Day Trip along the beautiful amalfi Coast and saw positano, amalfi, ravello and a lot of other villages along the Coast. He made a lot of photo- stops was nice, friendly and knowledgeable. :D

For Naples port, we used Sorrento silver star, we went to Amalfi coast and Pompeii, the Pompeii guide was very informative and the driver was excellent.
www.sorrentosilverstar.com

Ephesus Private Tours
 

We do provide private shore excursions for cruise passengers from Port of Kusadasi. Established in 1963, licence No. A-776
To get more information about ourselves please visit: www.transbalkan.com

sorrentotopcar, athens taxi
 

has anyone used sorrento top car and athens taxi.
They seem to have a better tour then the ship. thanks

thanks
 

thank you for the information it really made our trip enjoyable. Our trip on the Ruby Princess was outstanding

Ephesus
 

Regarding Ephesus, it would be our pleasure to be in service to you.
We have been providing shore excursions since 1963.
Licensed by the Turkish Government. Our license No. A 776
To get more information please visit our web site: www.transbalkan.com