If I am reading this correctly,

http://www.gruppotirrenia.it/tirrenia_en/html/mainframe.htm

It's stating that in high season, from Cagliari-Naples a 1st class lux cabin is 80.05E per person, and a car iss 77.98E.

When I look at this,

http://www.fun.informare.it/ferry/lauro/2004/lauro-napauk.asp

It says for Palau-Naples a type A cabin with 2 beds is 144E per person. A car is 130E. Why the huge difference between the lines?

and

Has anyone stayed at Hotel El Faro? What is the price range per night in August? Their website doesn't give prices, and I get the feeling they won't be answering my e-mail until they open in a few months!

Tirrenia is known for bad ships and service. My Sardinian friends hated them, they preferred Sardinia Ferries or Moby Lines. I used the former and liked it a lot.

Here's my response to an earlier question about ferries, in case it is helpful:

quote:

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Here's the website for Sardinia (& other) ferries: http://www.ferriesonline.com

And here is the agency that actually handles the reservations and takes your money (at the time of your email reservation): info@fortiviaggi.com

They communicated in English. I gave them my credit card # by email, and they sent the tickets back by email and I printed them out. Went very smoothly. Be at the ferry place early, as they can be very crowded.

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Charity

Thanks to the both of you, it's really hard to get answers to Sardinia questions!

I spent 5 weeks there so feel free to PM me if you want. I can't really help with lodgings though, was staying with friends.

Unless money is your utmost concern, I strongly suggest you think about flying to-and-from Sardinia. While the cost is higher than the "lux cabin" that you mention, a flight from Roma-Olbia takes about an hour, and is infinitely more comfortable. (This question has come up before on this Board, and I described our so-called "stateroom" as miniscule, noisy, and most of all, stinky!)

The ferries leave in the evening from Civitavecchia at an hour that precludes getting a good meal before-hand in Rome, and we found the food on-board overpriced and mediocre. You will arrive in the early a.m. in Sardinia after a poor night's rest, and you won't have seen anything on the voyage since the whole trip will have been made in the dark.

Possibly you're thinking about the ferry because you'll want a rental car in Sardinia. Rather than pay the round-trip car fare (plus the fare for the "stateroom,) it might be cheaper to turn in your car on the mainland, fly over,and rent another car at the airport.

I've yet to call the rental car company, but from past experience when I've requested quotes on 10 day car rentals, they charge me for 2 weeks. Once I take the ferry from Palau to Naples, I still have 10 more days to go. We are also in need of an automatic, so we will probably be paying $500 a week, so I don't want to pay for 4 weeks when we will only be there for 4. From Naples I am then headed to either Maratea for a few nights, or straight to family in Calabria. Driving off the ferry with the car seems to be most covenient. Although with the cost of the 2 of us in a cabin, + the car, it may end up totaling the car rental for the "extra" week!

I meant we will be there for 3 weeks!

My apologies, ap....I just re-read your original question, and realize you were asking about ferries to Sicily, not Sardinia! All of the back-and-forth references to Sardinia threw me off. In your case, keeping the car might make sense, although I don't think I've ever paid rental for more days than I actually needed a car. The per-day rate might be a bit higher, though.

Normally I would advise visitors to Sicily to consider flying, though. That's what we did in January...Roma to Palermo in 50 minutes, versus two hard days of driving! In our case, it was a no-brainer.