My wife and I are taking a 12 day cruise this July. We depart from Rome and travel to Naples, Venice, Dbrovnik Croatia, Messina Sicily, Barcelona, Cannes, and Lovorno. Has anyone been on this cruise? It is Carnival Liberty. Are there any suggestions on what to see and not. We were thinking of taking our own excursions, any suggestions of easy access and reasonable prices? Thanks

Our first cruise was to the Med. and we winged it. That is I looked up travel sites on the web to find the best things to see in each port which BTW were more or less mirrored in the ships offerings. Teh we got off and cut a deal with one of the dozens of cabbies who will be waiting by the piers and off we went. It worked very well, we saved alot! of $$ and we did it on our own time and pace.

I am doing the same cruise in Sept. I have already booked a private tour with Drive Amalfi. With this tour you would want to go with a group of 6 or 8 to share expenses. We will go to Pompeii with our own personal driver, then have a tour for the Amalfi coast visiting towns Amalfi, Positano and Ravello.
For Sicily i booked with Sicily Tours doing something similar.
The ship offers a lot of tours as well. CruiseCritic.com will help you understand which tours are really worth taking or not.Good luck!!

Lvitaly:

are those ship excursions? or did you do them on your own? i think i am confused by your planning.

Sorry i did not make myself clear they are two private tours that we are taking. This has been heavily suggested on cruisecritic.com and it does sound like a good idea. I have been to Italy several times but my husband has not. I felt that some of these private tours would be up close and personal as opposed to being with rather large groups that might make him feel clausterphobic.
Splitting this 6-8 ways comes out to be the same or cheaper than what the cruise lines offer.
Alot of suggestions on cruisecritics have been to do Venice and Dbrovnik on your own. Cannes i may do a private tour as well.For Livorno, since i have been to Florence and seen the Leaning Tower before i will take a ship excursion and take the drive to Tuscany for the day.
Are you doing a pre-cruise or post cruise in Rome for a few days?

We have been debating on what to do. i don't think half of a day in Rome is enough. I don't want to break the bank either. I am also nervous about losing the transfers from the cruise line. what are your thoughts?

bganor- if you have never been to Rome then 1/2 day is NOT enought to see and enjoy it for what it is worth. I would definalty try to find a way to go before or after. You can look into apartments instead of hotels that tend to be cheaper. Some only require a 3 night min. stay. Going before gets you used to the time change before the cruise. You should have at least 3 nights and two full days to see a good portion of Rome.
As far as transfers how do you have them? Was it a package deal or something? Did you look into pre- cruise package with Carnival that negotiate for hotel rooms?
For us, i will rent an Apt. in Rome for three nights in the city centre.
I have not booked yet but there are plenty.