Scubadoobie2

Here is the email reply I received to my question about why they need birth dates and home addresses: Hello Edward, These places are not compulory. Ages of guests are important for us to organise guide. If group members are young, we would like to organise a young guide for them. If group members are older, we try to organise a guide whose age is close to our guests. They can share just the State where they live. Most of our guides have been in USA. We prefer to organise a guide who has been in their state before. As I have told you before, these sections are not compulsory sections If they do not want to send us a form, they can email us names, tour name , date and cruise name We will send them their confirmation Please do not hesitate to contact us for any question you may have . With our warmest love and greetings, Fevzi Turhan Specialized in Private and Small Group Tours in Turkey & Greece since 1993 Ephesus Shuttle www.ephesusshuttle.com info@ephesusshuttle.com

I've sent an email to my contact at Ephesus Shuttle, Fevzi, asking why they need to know date of birth and home address. He will likely respond within a day, maybe two. Just to be safe, please post same question in a couple of days to remind me where this question came from.

Thanks for the update about elevators. Yes, always best to look for CURRENT information and not rely on years-old stuff. Lesson learned.

Here is a link to another Youtube video on getting from the Civitevecchia train station to your cruise ship.

Here is a link to a Youtube video that you might appreciate. It shows you, among other things, the stairs you'll have to go down and up at Civitavecchia's train station (I recall those stairs), the bus you can catch in front of Civitavecchia's train station to get to Largo della Pace (which is where you hop aboard the bus that takes you to your ship), and the convenience of buying a train ticket that also includes fare for the bus to Largo della Pace. (If bought separately, I understand that the cost for the express shuttle to Largo della Pace is 6 Euros. I'm told it is 3 Euros for a local bus that makes multiple stops before reaching Largo della Pace. Civitavecchia train station to Largo della Pace cruise passenger shuttle pickup (youtube.com)

Dear Cheapo-harryfat1, Thanks for your cruise trip report. I really enjoyed your commentary, your pictures, your videos and your writing style/personality. I took the liberty of downloading one of your videos -- the partying in Two70 -- and posted it to our private group on Facebook for our particular sailing. I DID give you credit in the post and informed the readers how they could access your review on Cruisecritic.com. Our sailing on the Odyssey OTS will come toward the end of this May. It will be an Eastern Mediterranean/Greek isle cruise that visits Santorini, Kusadasi, Turkey (from which we'll be able to visit the spectacular Roman ruins at Ephesus), Mykonos and Naples, Italy. Again, thanks for your terrific report. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about a future Mediterranean cruise. I'm not a travel agent. I'm just a happily retired county attorney who has cruised the Mediterranean several times before, eastern and western. I may have some suggestions that could help you make your future Mediterranean cruise just that much more special.

A MUST VIEW VIDEO BEFORE YOU PLAN A SANTORINI VIST -- Before you decide what to do when you visit Santorini do yourself a HUGE FAVOR and watch at Youtube a video entitled, "Santorini cruise port HELL!!" From watching that video you will learn what you definitely should NOT do. And, it will likely give you some idea of what you might want to do. I'm glad I stumbled upon it before I visit Santorini next May. Here's a link to that video:

When we used Ephesus Shuttle ten years ago -- BTW, we have them booked for another private tour next May when we return to Kusadasi -- we modified the offered private tour to include the Terrace Houses. Ephesus Shuttle was quite accommodating. We skipped the rug factory (sales pitch), too.

IT'S ALL ABOUT DEMAND - If you are not seeing great deals from RCI (or any major cruise line, for that matter), that's because demand for cruise vacations is now higher than pre-covid years. So many people are cruising and filling ships that many (if not most) cruises have no need to offer discounts, especially significant discounts.

Thank you, doghog and curisegirl1, for the quick replies.

Does the Odyssey of the Seas have any laundromats where you can wash your own clothes and maybe use an iron?

I really enjoy a meaty spaghetti Bolognese, and the best I've ever tasted on a cruise ship (or in any restaurant, for that matter), was on the Celebrity Edge back in 2019. What made that experience even better was that it was one of the choices available in the ship's buffet of all places. Have any of you pasta lovers found a great spaghetti Bolognese on any other cruise ship? If you did, please share. Of course, I wouldn't choose a particular cruise just because it had a good spaghetti Bolognese, but if in having to choose between two cruises, if all else is pretty much equal, a good spaghetti on one cruise could influence my choice of cruises. 🙂

What is the trick to booking a solo cabin with Norwegian? My experience thus far has been that every time I've looked online with Norwegian to book a solo cabin none were available. Must you call Norwegian? Is it a matter of booking more than a year out in order to find a solo cabin? Do they sell out that quickly? Thank you for any info you can provide.

Wow! Thanks, MBP. Your post taught me a new, easy way to approach the search for hotels. Nice!

If you are willing to put in some time to do your own research for Civitavecchia hotels you can try what I did: Type "Civitavecchia" into Google. Hit the ENTER key. Then, click on "Maps" (which you will find toward the top of your screen). When the resulting map appears place your cursor over the map and start zooming way in. You will see names of hotels and other businesses start popping up. You can then place your cursor over a hotel and watch a little window pop up that tells you about the hotel. Read reviews and make your choice. We just booked the Hotel de La Ville on what I consider the town's main street that parallels the shoreline. We'll be able to walk from there to the shuttle bus at that fort that takes us to the cruise ships. Happy hunting.