Genoa to Palermo Ferry

[DavidCh]

Hi,

I have just excitedly booked this ferry for two people and our motorhome for next month, I have booked a suite as they had no cabins with windows left. Has anyone done this route and is there anything we should know? We are driving from Portugal (I was planning on a week to get to Genoa and we will come back through Italy.

Thanks

David

 

[DBK]

Can't help with the ferry as we took the short one from the toe of Italy. But I do have the scars from the Palermo traffic! Even by Italian standards it is chaotic so go very carefully when you disembark.

 

[DavidCh]

Can't help with the ferry as we took the short one from the toe of Italy. But I do have the scars from the Palermo traffic! Even by Italian standards it is chaotic so go very carefully when you disembark.

I lived in Sicily for about seven winters so I am very familiar with them. In my experience slow and ignore everyone seems best, they just drive around you. Thank you for reminding me though

The very first time I drove a car in Sicily with an Italian on board they made me stop so they could explain.

1. I was confusing the brake pedal with the horn
2. Never use indicators, they just confuse everyone
3. Pedestrian crossings are the least likely place anyone is going to cross the road so ignore them
4. The button with the triangle on the dash that makes the indicators flash is for temporary parking

 

[DavidCh]

Having now completed the trip I thought I would report back here.

No real problems at the port but boarding took forever and finally involved a 200mtr reverse, the last 50 in a very narrow lane.
Ferry was good, big and comfortable, food was erratic but the a la carte restaurant was excellent for lunch and not stupidly expensive.
Need to make sure we take our own food and water next time in a cold bag. You need an electric kettle in the room and take your own mugs if you want tea. The whole ship was very disorganised and the staff's grasp of Italian was worse then mine! Palermo is a nightmare! No phone coverage (so no maritime roaming as advertised) but Internet good in the public areas with a short free period and not insignificant charges,

 

[DBK]

Having now completed the trip I thought I would report back here.

No real problems at the port but boarding took forever and finally involved a 200mtr reverse, the last 50 in a very narrow lane.
Ferry was good, big and comfortable, food was erratic but the a la carte restaurant was excellent for lunch and not stupidly expensive.
Need to make sure we take our own food and water next time in a cold bag. You need an electric kettle in the room and take your own mugs if you want tea. The whole ship was very disorganised and the staff's grasp of Italian was worse then mine! Palermo is a nightmare! No phone coverage (so no maritime roaming as advertised) but Internet good in the public areas with a short free period and not insignificant charges,

Glad you've arrived safely. The boarding issue makes me think of the problems we found on the ferry to Corsica. The bow doors had a fault so we had to reverse off the ferry. No problem for us in a MH but many of those with caravans struggled! The crew took over several outfits.

Not sure what the phone issue is. You could try manually searching for providers and see if one will work for you. Even just a turn on and off might cure it.

Enjoy the visit! Please post some updates on the Forum.

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