I am departing on a western Med. cruise from Barcelona and still need to finalize a ewmore things and could use help/suggestions:
- transport from port to airport? have a 10:30 AM departure to NJ and would like to arrange private transport - any recommendations?

- excursions: Nice, Florence, Rome and Naples - the ship's excursions are sooo expensive. There are four of us traveling together so I am hoping we can arrange private or semi-private tours - any recommendations?

Any help would be appreciated. I searched the Internet and have had not gotten any respoonses from the companies i sent emails to.

thanks

If you read towards the end of the post "Had a Bad Cruise" you will see my recommendation for private tour in Rome. I highly recommend them. Also have you registered with cruisecritic.com yet. If you go to the rollcall section for your ship and date you can probably hook up with someone who is organizing private tours. That is what we always do and it has been very successful.

On all cruises we've taken transport from port to airport is included. Is there a special reason you don't want to take advantage of that feature?

What time is the ship due in port to disembark?

You can do many of the spots by yourself
Example Naples: you simply walk out of dock area and your at the boat to Capri, appx (15e) Cross the street from dock, you hop on trolly or bus to termini and take the train to Pompeii 15-20 min(3e.) Once on Capri you take the tram to Capri town and from there you can take the bus to Anacapri. AT Pompeii the train stops right there its a short walk to the entry you can hire a guide or do it on your own takes about 3 hours to get a good overall view.
Or take the same train to Amalfi train to Sorrento, then 5e all day bus to Amalfi or you can take the ferry back to Naples to get a feel of the bay...Takes most of day so depending your arrival and saling times might not work but the other two are totally doable.
If on the othe hand you want to experience Naples take the bus\trolly to the Termini then bus to the Archeologico Nazionale, where some of the best stuff from Pompeii is located. le ticket you can pick up right by dock at the coffee shop just outside the gates.
Or you can simply walk up the hill to the Castel and stop for coffee and goodies at Caffè Gambrinus located just up the hill from the dock in the Piazza Plebescito there is also a shopping mall and if you take a stroll you will see some of the oldest parts of Naples. Coffee is around 3e and the pastery is to die for.
You can take the train to Rome but it does cut into your time so better to hook up with other travelers (cruise critic) on you sailing and hire a taxi or driver and arrange for pickup at certain time to ensure you get back in timely manner. The #64 bus (pickpocket special)runs from the termini in Rome across town to vatican and hits several sites along the way where you can just hop on or off or you can catch the Hop on\off special bus from there.
Get a good guide book also go to Slow Travel.com you will get lots of ideas. Enjoy

"1965 on Sep 25, 10 at 2:15pm
On all cruises we've taken transport from port to airport is included." - only if you buy air from the cruise company or a travel agent, or if you buy this transfer.

I did not mention but you can also hook up with folks on your cruise or go to cruise critic find your sailing and join the group and you can make connections there. Depending on if you bought your own airfare or it is part of the cruise you can either be getting the transfer included or you can pay extra for it. Last time (for mom) I booked the air fare because it far far cheaper and just paid the $50 transfer fee so she was met at airport and taken back after cruise.

Many private, local tour guides and companies will provide transfers nto the airport if you have not bought this from the cruise company. As might be expected, this is often more personal and superior. We used Barcelona Guide Bureau for a mornings tour of Barcelona. They were excellent. Took us where we wanted, very p-olite. I nbelieve they offer transfers.