Capt. Tom: I don't know if you count dollars like I do, but I have always found the RSSC pre- and post-cruise packages to be quite expensive. That being said, I sometimes book the same hotels that RSSC uses (on my own), often at about half the price. When possible, I come in a day early, so book my own air at less than they charge (and avoid the extra air deviation fee), and just take a cab to the hotel. This has worked for me. The only thing about Rome is that the port is rather far from the city, so you may want to purchase the transfer with Radisson to the ship. The last time I ended my cruise in Rome, I came in a day early to Nice, and got the transfer to Rome included with their air. For the PG, I booked through Radisson for everything. There were so many transfers to get us to our hotel in Moorea that it was just easier, and at the time (2001) the 3 night package for Moorea was only $650 pp for OWB at the Moorea Beachcomber. Things have changed!