first time cruise would like any advice on planning excursions to istanbul, izmir, venice, naples, rome, dubrovnik, athens and barcelona. willing to walk, use tours, take trains, just looking to avoid using ship's excursions because of cost and crowdedness. any advice is appreciated. we leave in 3 weeks!

szuidker- look down the topic list in this area and you will see a topic started by me titled "Italy, Greece, Turkey port info needed- help Hank, Dr L"

THis post has most of the ports you listed and what our plans are fo reach. It also has some very good infomation from Hank, Ftroute and DrLivingston about how to do tours in these ports on your own. Read through those and then come back with questions and we will try to help you with your questions.

And Welcome to Cruise Chat!

thanks for the reply, of the ports i mentioned, which have sites that require certain dress for myself and wife? ie. churches or mosques?

From what I have been told, they require pants in the churches in Itlay (no shorts). I don't know about the mosques and what style of dress would be required for your wife. That is a good question.

I am sure there are customs and practices in place here. Can anyone who knows for sure answer this question?

got another question. some have suggested booking a tour for rome as it may help bypass lines at vatican...is this true? if so can anyone recommned a tour operator. how much might this cost. Similarly, i see people recommend doing something formal for izmir, is this necessary? are there other ways to get to ephesus? are there things to do in izmir instead of going to ephesus?

thanks frank...approx how much to use their services?

Moderator Note: I removed Frank's message. He is posting from Italy. He has been banned before for advertising his services on CC.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jim C.,

When visiting mosques I always make sure I am wearing a long-sleeved blouse or shirt and full-length trousers so that my arms and legs are covered. I also take a shawl with me to drape around my shoulders and over my head when I enter the mosque. This is both practical and respectful, and I have found it to be perfectly acceptable in Turkey, India, Egypt and Tunisia. For mosques it also helps to have footwear that can be slipped off easily as you may be required to remove your shoes.