DGM

We will be taking a Trans-Atlantic cruise on the Grand Princess the first week in October. The first question is what the weather be like but most important are the distances between the ports and the excursion cities. They are Livorno to Florence and Civitavecchia to Rome. I am unable to get the exact distance in miles as of yet but concerned about the total travel time to these places taking up most of the day. This in turn would allow a minimum amount of time to sightsee or whatever. <BR>If anyone has taken a similar cruise would you please enlighten me on these concerns? <BR>David

John

Generally you will arrive at sun rise and depart at sun down. You will sail from port to port as you sleep. <BR> <BR>We sailed from Villefranche to Civitavecchia over night. It is over an hour's ride from Civi to Rome and that was on a Sunday.

sandy

Hi DGM, We sailed on the Grand in Feb.If you like big, this is a great ship. Now to your question. We went on a Med cruise last Sept, starting from Dover ending in Rome, the weather was a little rough starting out, but once we got into the Med, it was beautiful. The distance in time to both ports are about the same. One and half hour each way. Do go to Florence, there will be nothing for you to do at the ports at either port. In Rome, if trip does not end here. at least take a tour, we spent 3 days and still left a lot to do. I hope you have a great trip and let us know how you did. Sandy

Marie

David, <BR>Livorno to Florence is about 1.25 hrs. If you are going on your own (i.e. no tour)take a taxi from the pier to the train station. Unless you speak Italian and are or have a female with you, the price is pretty non negotiable-20,000 Lire one way, I believe. It is about 5-10 minutes to the station depending on the driver and the number of lorries you get stuck behind. Check with the reception desk on board for both ports as they will probably have a semi accurate train schedule. Keep in mind that the trains do not run on time and they will go on stike at the drop of a hat. Never take the absolute last train back. At the train station there are machines right inside the door and they are pretty easy to use. In the station to the left and out the door and around the corner is the ticket counter. They are super slow, but not unpleasant...until they have the American yelling at them because they can't use their credit card. You can spend the whole day in Florence with out seeing it all, but since you have no hope of seeing it all anyway, think about going to Pisa on the way and catching the Leaning Tower. Another option is doing Pisa and Lucca which is another easy train trip. Read your guidebooks and decide exactly what you want to see and plan the route out. It will save you a lot of time. <BR> <BR>Civitavecchia-Rome-About 1.5 hours. If you want to go to the Vatican first, get off at the stop before Centrale...San something or other. At the station in Civitavecchia there are/were no machines last summer. All at the counter. If you are seriously going to miss the train, go ahead and get on it and you can buy your ticket from the conductor...they are usually pretty nice about this. Again, if you plan exactly what sites you want to see and plan them out, you will have time leftover. <BR> <BR>I spent last summer doing most of the Med ports if you want anymore information, I can try and help.

Jan

Not at all familiar with your itenerary, but do know about the weather for sailing. <BR>We sailed trans-atlantic via England,Scotland, Norway, Iceland, Nova Scotia etc. in 1998 in late September. I must say that it was a fantastic cruise, but the weather was horrific, and that might be putting it mildly. It was fine until we started crossing the Atlantic. You cannot imagine whole gale winds and 40+ high seas. This according to the weather broadcast on the cabin TV. The ship was literally deserted due to it being so dangerous to try to move around. with dishes flying off of tables and waves hitting our 8th level balcony. I dont mean to make it seem all bad, I actually found it to be exciting and a quite humorous. It wasn't until after I got off the ship that I realized how dangerous it had been. We heard that 2 of the lower level port holes had been blown out by the waves.(repaired immediately and all was well) This weather lasted for 3 days and we missed one of our ports of call. There was no way to sail around the weather system. Had we not been on the large and new Vision of the Seas (Royal Carribbean) we would have been in serious trouble. Hats off to the crew of the ship for making the best of a serious situation. Best wishes for good weather on your trip.