Diana

We are taking the overnight ferry to the Aeolian islands from Napoli. I hear that to be able to sleep you have to book a cabin and use sleeping bags. Has anyone had this experience? Please describe. I really would like to avoid draggind a sleeping bag to Italy just for that one night. Thanks!

Jem

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GAC

Where did you read that you have to bring a sleeping bag with you on the ferry? Sounds nonsense to me. (Maybe during the winter when it gets cold and windy and the blankets are not enough to keep warm?) Did you mean sleeping pills??? The ship has 118 cabins with two or four berths (like couchettes on trains). The beds may not be particularly comfortable (and cabin is apt to be very small), but it's still better than spending the night on a reclining chair.

GAC

Just returned from a week on Lipari and took the overnight ferry from Lipari to Naples. Diana is partially correct about sleeping bags. Many young persons (mainly Germans) boarded the ship at Stromboli with sleeping bags and staked out space on the bare floor of the open top deck. Lights are turned off on the top deck at about 11 p.m., making the deck totally dark (lights were kept on all night on the smaller rear open deck, where no one chose to sleep). Lights were also turned off in the main indoor salon, where there are sofa-chairs (uncomfortable for sleeping) for only about 100 people. I strongly recommend RESERVING a sleeping cabin, of which there are only 77 on the Pier della Francesca (the larger ship, Vittore Carpaccio, which has 118 cabins and some reclining seats as well, is currently in dry dock in Palermo until the end of June, when it is supposed to return to service on the Lipari to Naples route). There are no reclining seats on the Pier della Francesca. The sleeping cabins are really tiny (about 6 feet long by 5 feet deep), they have two narrow bunks stacked on each other and a small sink which in my cabin was far from being sparkling clean. The mattress is actually good, and the bed sheets immaculately clean and ironed, but you won't want to touch the blanket. Fortunately (or unfortunately), it's so warm in the cabin, that you may not even need to wear pyjamas. The supplemental cost for a cabin (about 20 Euros per bunk or 30 Euros for exclusive use by one person) is well worth it. The ship, Pier della Francesca, is twenty years old and looks every much its age. While it has the latest in safety equipment (and there is even a ship's physician on board), the SIREMAR company has apparently not spent a dime in keeping up the interior (which looks like the 1960s). Public rest rooms are conveniently located and smell like those on most Italian trains. Food in the self-service cafeteria is surprisingly tasty and inexpensive. Service was punctual (we arrived in Naples at 7:00 a.m. on the dot), and the itinerary EXTREMELY scenic.

GAC

Siremar has replaced its older ships with larger and better equipped vessels from its Adriatica fleet.

The overnight ferry currently operates twice weekly throughout most of the year.

Schedules and fares can be checked at

www.siremar.it

For a thorough description of the ship and its sleeping facilities, read:

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...843#4271085843

under the heading:

Naples to Aeolian Islands Ferry: the complete details