Leaving on a RS 7 day tour of Rome on 11/21 and will travel afterwards possibly to Palermo, anyone know ferry rates and trip duration?
You might also consider taking the ferry either to or from Palermo and flying the other direction. Air One and Meridiana both offer good one-way airfares between Rome and Palermo.
See Tirrenia (http://www.tirrenia.it/index_en.asp).
Meridiana no longer operates between Naples and Palermo.
According to the search engine www.flylc.com, Air One is your only budget airline choice for Naples-Palermo.
For Rome Fiumicino-Palermo your choices are Air One, Blu-Express, easyJet, Meridiana, and Wind Jet.
Air One has now merged with Al Italia, so beware. I did however, have a good flight experience with Al Italia in Sept between Rome and Sicily and return.
Meridiana no longer flies from Rome to Palermo. Those flights are operated by Wind Jet.