[jackz]

Taking the Mariner of the Seas for 13 Nights from Rome to Chanai, Greece; Rhodes, Greece;Ashod, Israel(Jerusalem/TelAviv); Haifu, Israel(Nazareth/Gailee);Ephesus, Turkey; Athens; Palermo, Sicily and Naples.

Have been to Athens, and Naples but would appreciate any suggestions concerning the other ports of call.

Thanks

[784caroline]

I can recommend a great guide in Ephesus turkey ...he is a turk...speaks perfect english..educated in florida. We had him for Istanbul with a small group of 8 and he was outstanding. I know he does Ephesus! Send me a PM if you want additional information.

[chachacha]

i imagine you will dock in palermo and be able to walk right up via vittorio emmanuele passing the voceria (market) or catch a cab to the lovely cathedral and the four corners area right nearby...if you have time to take a tour up to monreale to see the magnificent mosiacs in the cathedral there, it is worth the trip...if not enough time for that, the norman palace up from the cathedral is a point of interest and tours are available...read up in a guide book so you don't miss anything..a very historic old city. really needs a few days to see everytihng...nice pedestrian, cafe area off via roma adjacent to hotel grande et des palmes...theatre where murder scene from Godfather on steps is nearby, also...enjoy!

[jackz]

Originally Posted by chachacha

i imagine you will dock in palermo and be able to walk right up via vittorio emmanuele passing the voceria (market) or catch a cab to the lovely cathedral and the four corners area right nearby...if you have time to take a tour up to monreale to see the magnificent mosiacs in the cathedral there, it is worth the trip...if not enough time for that, the norman palace up from the cathedral is a point of interest and tours are available...read up in a guide book so you don't miss anything..a very historic old city. really needs a few days to see everytihng...nice pedestrian, cafe area off via roma adjacent to hotel grande et des palmes...theatre where murder scene from Godfather on steps is nearby, also...enjoy!

Thanks so much for your suggestions on things to do in Palermo. Looking forward to exploring Sicily this summer before the cruise and then again on the cruise port stop. Ciao for now.

[chachacha]

if you are going to explore sicily you must go to a little known town south of siricusa called noto...it is only really two long streets but lined with fabulous baroque style buildings which were rebuilt after a fire as they had been...sicily has many beautiful places as i am sure you will discover...the town's information center in noto will direct you to a nice bed and breakfast or a hotel of your liking...will try to look up where i stayed and let you know as it was very nice and not expensive...i predict it will soon be a tourist attraction...

[Ohiogirl]

if you get a chance. Our cruise ship docked in Messina (as far as I know, just an industrial port across a strait from the Mainland). We took a taxi to Taormina (about an hour) - 4 of us - taxi driver talked the whole way there, met us at a friendly restaurant for lunch (I'm sure he got a free lunch of of the deal, but who cared)? and made our day. For the 4 of us, it was about the price of the train for 2.

We agreed on a price beforehand, but didn't pay until we were delivered back to the ship as promised. He dropped us off, met us for lunch, and drove us back, stopping at a couple of scenic points for pictures on the way home.

He spoke understandable broken English - had been to the States (Chicago) a couple of times to visit cousins, and was just a hoot.

We had planned to walk or taxi from the port to the train station, but were told (by a bunch of taxi drivers) when we got off the ship that there was a train strike - who knows if that was true, but this was way fun and one of the highlights of our trip.

[jackz]

Thanks to 784Caroline, Chachacha and Ohio Girl for your suggestions.

Hope someone out there has had some experiences at our port stops in Israel to share.

[deano_hoosier]

CruiseCritic.com has info sorted by ports. On their main page look for "ports" and select "Middle East" --- from that selection you can get to Haifa, Israel.

It has basic information that you may already have, but may still be interested in it.

If you sign up, free, to become member of CruiseCritic, then you can get to the boards where there are ongoing blogs about the various ports. These can be very useful, too.

Enjoy the cruise....