May Mediterranean cruise
Jan 3rd, 2005 | 08:51 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Aug 2003
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May Mediterranean cruise
taking the Grand Princes Venice/Barcelona cruise.
should I take the cruise tours or should I do independent tours. would I be able in Naples and Livorno to find tour guides by the port and how less expensive would it be than the cruise tours. Afraid of the distance to florence/almafi to see the sites and back on the ship on time.
Also any suggestions on some excursions from civitavecchia, we don't want to go to rome as we are going to spend 4 days in rome after the cruise. any suggestions on what to do or what is close enough to visit.
should I take the cruise tours or should I do independent tours. would I be able in Naples and Livorno to find tour guides by the port and how less expensive would it be than the cruise tours. Afraid of the distance to florence/almafi to see the sites and back on the ship on time.
Also any suggestions on some excursions from civitavecchia, we don't want to go to rome as we are going to spend 4 days in rome after the cruise. any suggestions on what to do or what is close enough to visit.
Jan 3rd, 2005 | 11:08 AM
#2
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 318
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Upon reading many reports on here most say not to book with the cruise and do it off the ship. I am going the end of May from Barcelona - France - Italy - Barcelona and have already booked my tours for Italy. Do you have any information for Marseilles or Nice?
Jan 3rd, 2005 | 02:57 PM
#3
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,898
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ndelapaz--
Do the cruise bus from port to Florence as the distance is super far ( a few hours) and you don't want to miss the ship...
As far as Amalfi , if you are overniting in Naples, get a car from the train station and use it for the day...or get a driver to go down the Amalfi Coast-Totally worth doing and NOT something I would do with a cruise tour...
As far a Civitavecchia, there is NOTHING at the port-figure Ft Lauderdale WITHOUT the cruise terminal..ie. no place to park your buns as it is just a place for the ship and NOTHING ELSE..No bathrooms..nothing, nada....
For SUNSHINE..IN Marseilles, be careful of your wallet- tons of PickPockets..If you are there overnite, rent a car and drive into Provence..
As far as Nice,no need for a cruise tour-you can walk around the town by yourself or get on a bus or train, and do over to Monaco...definitely doeable..
Also you can spend a relaxing day at St Tropez-- or you can take a tour up to St Paul de Vence and tour the walled city--super neat little town filled with artwork and places for lunch...
Do the cruise bus from port to Florence as the distance is super far ( a few hours) and you don't want to miss the ship...
As far as Amalfi , if you are overniting in Naples, get a car from the train station and use it for the day...or get a driver to go down the Amalfi Coast-Totally worth doing and NOT something I would do with a cruise tour...
As far a Civitavecchia, there is NOTHING at the port-figure Ft Lauderdale WITHOUT the cruise terminal..ie. no place to park your buns as it is just a place for the ship and NOTHING ELSE..No bathrooms..nothing, nada....
For SUNSHINE..IN Marseilles, be careful of your wallet- tons of PickPockets..If you are there overnite, rent a car and drive into Provence..
As far as Nice,no need for a cruise tour-you can walk around the town by yourself or get on a bus or train, and do over to Monaco...definitely doeable..
Also you can spend a relaxing day at St Tropez-- or you can take a tour up to St Paul de Vence and tour the walled city--super neat little town filled with artwork and places for lunch...
Jan 4th, 2005 | 04:37 AM
#5
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 7,689
Likes: 0
I have not cruised Italy, but have made a lot of trips there. Here are some suggestions for day trips.
1. Assuming you don’t want to spend you day in Naples at the ruins at Pompeii, then when you dock in Citavecchia, I think that Ostia Antica would be a great day trip. These are ruins which are just about as good as Pompeii and much less crowded and spread out. Ostia Antica is south of the port, near Fumicino airport. (There are two airports in Rome, one is inland primarily for domestic flights, called Ciampino, the other Fumicino is near the coast and is for international flights.) You could get there in about an hour from the port. I would suggest you contact a limo company and arrange to have them meet you at the port, see reccos below. While you could get a taxi, the queue may be long and having the car waiting for you will save you time. You should be able to get a taxi back from Ostia to the port. Steve's has a good self-guided tour to Ostia, go to http://www.ricksteves.com/news/0202/ostia.htm. The little town of Fumicino is nearby on the water and has some good and very casual seafood restaurants. For more of a splurge, on the way there or back you could stop for lunch at the lovely La Posta Vecchia hotel on its black sand beach, a 17th century mansion which is also a former residence of JP Getty, and a sister hotel of Il Pellicano in the Tarquina area, see below. (Both of these hotels are in Patricia Schultz's book, 1,000 Places to See Before you Die.) The hotel also has the remains on two Roman villas on site which you can arrange to see by appointment. Take a look at http://www.lapostavecchia.com. The hotel is about a half hour from the port.
2. If you aren’t interested in ruins, you could consider getting a driver for the day and take a drive along the coast, which is very pretty, albeit not as dramatic as Amalfi. I think Tarquina is particularly interesting. My guess is that it would be about 30 minutes from the port. Get a guidebook to that area before you go, or do a search on the internet, you may find information and maps of the area. From Tarquina, you could continue north along the coast, stopping for lunch at the Il Pellicano Hotel on the Tuscan coast. I believe the drive would be less than 45 minutes from the port. It has a wonderful spot right on the cliffs overlooking the sea. Not so much of historical interest, but a lovely area. Take a look at http://www.pellicanohotel.com
3. For Amalfi, unless you want to see Pompeii or have a real urge to spend time in the great museums in Naples, I would hire a car and driver and head down the Amalfi coast, going as far as Ravello is you have time. You can get to Ravello in under 2 hours from the port area, barring traffic. You could have stop and have lunch in Positano or go on to Ravello. There is good shopping in Positano and some in Ravello, although I would spend my time in Ravello in the gardens.
If you do want to see Pompeii, you will need 3-4 hours there. Take a taxi from the port and a taxi back, the drive is under a half hour. You can also take the train or a bus. Run a search on the Europe board for details. You could spend some time in Naples as well, although that is not my favourite place on the coast. You may be able to fit in a trip to Sorrento, would depend on how much time you have after Pompeii and what time the boat departs.
4. For Florence, the trip is indeed long from the port, and IMO one day in Florence is not nearly enough. I would consider hiring a car and driver, although the bus mentioned above may be another good option. If you want to see the Uffizi, the David or visit other museums, make an advance booking. You can reserve by calling 011 39 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time, at least a day before your visit and ideally at least a few days in advance for a better selection. Florence is 6 hours ahead of EST. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes you'll get an entry slot (15-min window) and a six-digit confirmation number. Using the same phone number, you can reserve in advance for the Uffizi, Accademia, Bargello, Medici Chapels, and Pitti Palace; of these, the Accademia has the worst lines. This about 1.60 euro for the service, plus the actual admission cost (about $14 for the Accademia). As Rick Steve's so eloquently says: after you've booked your reservation, go to the museum at your appointed time. Walk briskly past the 200-yard-long line, pondering the IQ of this gang; at the Uffizi you go to the special office for those with reservations (labelled in English, Entrance for Reservations Only), give your number, pay (cash only), and scoot right in the entrance doors across the courtyard. At the Academia go to the main entrance to collect your reserved tickets. In either case, if there are no lines when you get there, you will not have to use your reservation and you will not be charged. Note that all museums are closed on Mondays, so hopefully your day in Florence is not a Monday.
If you don’t want to try to “do” Florence in a day, you could consider hiring a car for the day yourself and just heading out into the Tuscan countryside. (This would be the one place I would rent a car for the day, as you can explore a bit on your own. Search the Europe board for suggested 5-hour drives, or post a question there. The drive to Volterra is quite beautiful, but there are lots of other interesting drives in the area; and others may be able to suggest drives closer to Livorno.
5. The following car service companies have been recommended by others on this site for drivers in the Rome and Naples area. I have used Positano Car Service several times and have always been pleased. They may also have connections for services in Livorno/Florence. You may want to contact all of them for a quote for a 5-7 hour day with a car and driver.
positanocarservice.com
www.cuomonet.it
www.sorrentolimo.com
www.benvenutolimos.com
You could also rent a car yourself. Other than a day driving in the Tuscan countryside, I would not recommend this. One day rentals are pretty expensive, parking is very hard to find, gas is expensive, and the roads are not really that fun to drive IMO (esp the Amalfi coast where the driver will not get to appreciate the view at all he/she will be busy trying to stay on the narrow winding roads) so all in all I think a car and driver are best. Who wants to waste time figuring out what highway to take when you can sit back and enjoy the ride? You could also split the cost with others on board. Positano car service has a stretch limo, and most of the others have vans to hold more people.
1. Assuming you don’t want to spend you day in Naples at the ruins at Pompeii, then when you dock in Citavecchia, I think that Ostia Antica would be a great day trip. These are ruins which are just about as good as Pompeii and much less crowded and spread out. Ostia Antica is south of the port, near Fumicino airport. (There are two airports in Rome, one is inland primarily for domestic flights, called Ciampino, the other Fumicino is near the coast and is for international flights.) You could get there in about an hour from the port. I would suggest you contact a limo company and arrange to have them meet you at the port, see reccos below. While you could get a taxi, the queue may be long and having the car waiting for you will save you time. You should be able to get a taxi back from Ostia to the port. Steve's has a good self-guided tour to Ostia, go to http://www.ricksteves.com/news/0202/ostia.htm. The little town of Fumicino is nearby on the water and has some good and very casual seafood restaurants. For more of a splurge, on the way there or back you could stop for lunch at the lovely La Posta Vecchia hotel on its black sand beach, a 17th century mansion which is also a former residence of JP Getty, and a sister hotel of Il Pellicano in the Tarquina area, see below. (Both of these hotels are in Patricia Schultz's book, 1,000 Places to See Before you Die.) The hotel also has the remains on two Roman villas on site which you can arrange to see by appointment. Take a look at http://www.lapostavecchia.com. The hotel is about a half hour from the port.
2. If you aren’t interested in ruins, you could consider getting a driver for the day and take a drive along the coast, which is very pretty, albeit not as dramatic as Amalfi. I think Tarquina is particularly interesting. My guess is that it would be about 30 minutes from the port. Get a guidebook to that area before you go, or do a search on the internet, you may find information and maps of the area. From Tarquina, you could continue north along the coast, stopping for lunch at the Il Pellicano Hotel on the Tuscan coast. I believe the drive would be less than 45 minutes from the port. It has a wonderful spot right on the cliffs overlooking the sea. Not so much of historical interest, but a lovely area. Take a look at http://www.pellicanohotel.com
3. For Amalfi, unless you want to see Pompeii or have a real urge to spend time in the great museums in Naples, I would hire a car and driver and head down the Amalfi coast, going as far as Ravello is you have time. You can get to Ravello in under 2 hours from the port area, barring traffic. You could have stop and have lunch in Positano or go on to Ravello. There is good shopping in Positano and some in Ravello, although I would spend my time in Ravello in the gardens.
If you do want to see Pompeii, you will need 3-4 hours there. Take a taxi from the port and a taxi back, the drive is under a half hour. You can also take the train or a bus. Run a search on the Europe board for details. You could spend some time in Naples as well, although that is not my favourite place on the coast. You may be able to fit in a trip to Sorrento, would depend on how much time you have after Pompeii and what time the boat departs.
4. For Florence, the trip is indeed long from the port, and IMO one day in Florence is not nearly enough. I would consider hiring a car and driver, although the bus mentioned above may be another good option. If you want to see the Uffizi, the David or visit other museums, make an advance booking. You can reserve by calling 011 39 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time, at least a day before your visit and ideally at least a few days in advance for a better selection. Florence is 6 hours ahead of EST. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes you'll get an entry slot (15-min window) and a six-digit confirmation number. Using the same phone number, you can reserve in advance for the Uffizi, Accademia, Bargello, Medici Chapels, and Pitti Palace; of these, the Accademia has the worst lines. This about 1.60 euro for the service, plus the actual admission cost (about $14 for the Accademia). As Rick Steve's so eloquently says: after you've booked your reservation, go to the museum at your appointed time. Walk briskly past the 200-yard-long line, pondering the IQ of this gang; at the Uffizi you go to the special office for those with reservations (labelled in English, Entrance for Reservations Only), give your number, pay (cash only), and scoot right in the entrance doors across the courtyard. At the Academia go to the main entrance to collect your reserved tickets. In either case, if there are no lines when you get there, you will not have to use your reservation and you will not be charged. Note that all museums are closed on Mondays, so hopefully your day in Florence is not a Monday.
If you don’t want to try to “do” Florence in a day, you could consider hiring a car for the day yourself and just heading out into the Tuscan countryside. (This would be the one place I would rent a car for the day, as you can explore a bit on your own. Search the Europe board for suggested 5-hour drives, or post a question there. The drive to Volterra is quite beautiful, but there are lots of other interesting drives in the area; and others may be able to suggest drives closer to Livorno.
5. The following car service companies have been recommended by others on this site for drivers in the Rome and Naples area. I have used Positano Car Service several times and have always been pleased. They may also have connections for services in Livorno/Florence. You may want to contact all of them for a quote for a 5-7 hour day with a car and driver.
positanocarservice.com
www.cuomonet.it
www.sorrentolimo.com
www.benvenutolimos.com
You could also rent a car yourself. Other than a day driving in the Tuscan countryside, I would not recommend this. One day rentals are pretty expensive, parking is very hard to find, gas is expensive, and the roads are not really that fun to drive IMO (esp the Amalfi coast where the driver will not get to appreciate the view at all he/she will be busy trying to stay on the narrow winding roads) so all in all I think a car and driver are best. Who wants to waste time figuring out what highway to take when you can sit back and enjoy the ride? You could also split the cost with others on board. Positano car service has a stretch limo, and most of the others have vans to hold more people.
Jan 4th, 2005 | 07:05 AM
#6
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
From Naples, you could also easily take a train to Sorrento or Pompeii (Pompeii is about 30 minutes and Sorrento another 30 from there - same train). The train station is an easy 20 minute walk from the main port. The train trip itself goes along the coast and is scenic. We did Pompeii in about 2 hours -- you could probably spend days there if you really wanted to, but we stayed long enough to get some highlights.
From Livorno, if you don't want to rush through Florence, why not go to Pisa? Again, an easy train ride, and a short, picturesque walk from the Pisa train station to tower etc. Getting to the Livorno train station was a little more difficult. We took a bus, but a cab would be easier.
From Livorno, if you don't want to rush through Florence, why not go to Pisa? Again, an easy train ride, and a short, picturesque walk from the Pisa train station to tower etc. Getting to the Livorno train station was a little more difficult. We took a bus, but a cab would be easier.
Jan 5th, 2005 | 03:07 AM
#7
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
Trains are easy to take in Italy. We went to Lucca instead of Florence. A great choice, we even stopped at Pisa. Lots of pick pockets at Piza. Lucca is a charming walled mountain town and much cooler than Florence in the summer.
Rome is a long train ride from the port.
We did go to, but not worth the trip. In Naples we hired a cab to go to Herculium (not the right spelling). Better ruins than Pompeii, Also the Naples museum is one of the best in the world for ruins and antiquities.We did the Grand Princess and did all tours on our own. When we couldn't figure the trains out there was always someone to help us. The train engineer in Pisa got off the train and explained which train to take. Never missed a ship, but you do have to under estimate the time you have to take in account something taking more time than you expected.
Rome is a long train ride from the port.
We did go to, but not worth the trip. In Naples we hired a cab to go to Herculium (not the right spelling). Better ruins than Pompeii, Also the Naples museum is one of the best in the world for ruins and antiquities.We did the Grand Princess and did all tours on our own. When we couldn't figure the trains out there was always someone to help us. The train engineer in Pisa got off the train and explained which train to take. Never missed a ship, but you do have to under estimate the time you have to take in account something taking more time than you expected.
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Jan 7th, 2005 | 03:02 PM
#8
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,336
Likes: 0
Hi,
Well, I'm not ndelapaz, who I guess hasn't gotten back on to read the posts, but I still wanted to say a hearty thank you to the people who responded - and especially Cicerone. I learned some new things from you!
I have to disagree with Andy about Civitavecchia. It is a real Italian city and not set up for tourists but there is a lot to see. Our last cruise it was rainy and we didn't want to trek back in to Rome. We took the ship's shuttle to the drop-off point and we were right in the middle of the town. There were about 3 great street markets going on - for the locals and not the tourists - but always fun to walk through and see the different and delicious-looking produce. The rain got a little worse so we stopped in some of the little shops. Again, not for the tourists, but we lucked into a little 2nd-hand shop that had some nice glass things and we bought some interesting items here. We also were hunting a pharmacy which we found - and would have kept going - lots to see - but the rain was coming down in torrents by then so we rushed back to the bus.
I have read that there are some nice seafood restaurants around that area, but with the weather we didn't seek them out. I love the "touristy" cities, but I also love to visit a "real" city and poke around the stores and churches and find a place to sit and have some wine and bruschetta.
Happy travels, everyone!
Jan 11th, 2005 | 06:56 AM
#10
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
ndelapaz,
I did the Golden Princess in May/June 2003 and was able to save a lot of money by doing independent tours set up in advance via the internet. I think you will have limited success finding tour operators at the Livorno and Naples ports, especially Livorno if you don't book in advance. I also recommend making sure you have travel insurance if you do independent tours. There was a serious traffic jam on the freeway outside Naples and we ended up missing the ship and had to pay our own way to catch up to the Golden in Athens. Luckily, insurance covered our expenses. I have written a long cruise report with details of tour operators used if you would like it. You can emial me at collj01@yahoo(dot)com if you would like to see it.
You're going to love your cruise. Happy sailing!
I did the Golden Princess in May/June 2003 and was able to save a lot of money by doing independent tours set up in advance via the internet. I think you will have limited success finding tour operators at the Livorno and Naples ports, especially Livorno if you don't book in advance. I also recommend making sure you have travel insurance if you do independent tours. There was a serious traffic jam on the freeway outside Naples and we ended up missing the ship and had to pay our own way to catch up to the Golden in Athens. Luckily, insurance covered our expenses. I have written a long cruise report with details of tour operators used if you would like it. You can emial me at collj01@yahoo(dot)com if you would like to see it.
You're going to love your cruise. Happy sailing!
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