Cre8

Hi, J62
I've been on the FedEx site for almost 40 min. and I don't know how you came up with the price. I hit everything international, put in zip codes and still couldn't get an answer. I will just call tomorrow and see if I get anywhere. What is a #30 package?
Thanks so much for taking the time to help.
Now I have an idea of what I'm looking at.
Now I have to convince the other half.

starrsville

Thirty pound package.

wanderlust5

Cre8: back to your original question...if this is your first trip to Italy, do you actually believe you will see all there is to see in Rome in 3 nights, Venice and 2 and Florence in 2? I have been to Italy 6 times, leave again day after tomorrow, and always go back to these cities. They are constantly changing, and there is so much to explore...All totalled I have spent weeks in all of them. I never tire of Rome, and 2 days, 3 nights barely hits the highlights, much less the extra places such as Nero's Golden Palace, the catacombs, the market in Campo de Fiori early in the morning...

However, if you want to do a day trip from Rome rather than explore more when you stop on the cruise ship call, you could:
1. spend the day at Ostia Antica
2. Go to Tivoli
3. Head out to Castel Gandolfo
4. Go to the lake area 30 miles north of Rome
4. Hit Pompeii and Sorrento (long day!)
5. Go to Napoli

as you can see, the list is endless. I suggest you get a couple of books - like "Let's Go, Italy" or "Fodors - Italy" or "Rick Steve's Italy" to give you lots of ideas.

I can't imagine ever saying, "I've been to Rome, Florence and Venice and I see no need to return.."

That is a foreign concept to me..

However, since this is your first trip to Italy, I am sure you will come back with a different opinion altogether, like "..wow that was amazing and I can't wait to go back..." Have a great time!! It sounds wonderful, and I'll be checking out that cruise!

Patrick

"Patrick its not a difficult post. Read the headliner..."been there, done that" Although I'd disagree, no one can really ever totally been there and done all"

If it isn't a "difficult post" I'm curious why I'm apparently the only one who still doesn't get it.
I would think that "been there, done that" would mean you have been to those places before, but I get the idea that you haven't. Do you really mean "will have been there, and will have done that" by the time you get to your cruise? So my questions remain.

If you are thinking you will have seen everything there is to see in those places in your couple of days there (especially if you haven't been there before -- which you still haven't answered) then I think you are sadly mistaken. It would be perfectly fine to save a major musuem or two or a couple of attractions to do in depth for those return one day visits from the ship.

Or perhaps from the ship go to Ostia Antica outside Rome -- or Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa. Either of those would be a full day trip that you wouldn't have had time to do during your brief stay there first time around.

And I still don't understand where the ship docks in Florence, but assuming they are taking you by bus to Florence (from where?), then maybe use that day to do the museums there, and when there the first time, spend a day going to Siena or one of the hill towns. Or tell us where your ship docks for that Florence day and maybe there's another suggestion of a place near there. You have looked at a map of Italy, I hope, to see where Florence is.

J62

Cre8,
On the Fedex website, I navigated to the Package/Envelope --> Ship --> Get Rates link, put in a US zip code and a random Rome postal code (00136) (happened to have a hotel bill/stationary in my junk pile)

http://fedex.com/ratefinder/home?cc=...ack+Rates+Corp

30# is shortcut for 30 pounds - sorry for the confusion.

HowardR

For $210, we'll carry my own bags! And, since my wife and I would have more than 30 pounds of luggage, we'll save even more!(Besides, all of Greenberg's travel expenses are tax deductible.)

cmt

To Patrick: No, you're not the only one.

starrsville

Patrick, as I read this they are starting off with a vacation on their own that includes Rome, Florence and Venice and then they board a ship for a cruise that includes Rome and Florence as well as other destinations.

Ira and easytraveler have given him the actual port cities for Rome and Florence.

He's asking for other places to see and do instead of the cities he just visited.

While he could easily find new things to see and do in those cities, there is nothing wrong in going somewhere else since he feels he has "been there, done that".

mclaurie

My head is spinning. Patrick I was originally with you but finally came the conclusion that starsville explains. My question is why someone would plan a trip to Rome, Florence and Venice and then get on a ship that goes back to Rome and Florence if I didn't want to go back.

starrsville

Because it also goes to ...

Venice, Croatia, Athens, Santorini, Naples and Villefranche (besides Civitavecchia and Livorno)

And, one day off ship in those cities weren't enough....

and they love cruises.

They wanted to do the cruise but wanted more time in Rome and Florence than part of a day and they also want to see other places as well.

Sounds like a pretty good plan to me...except I don't love cruises

uhoh_busted

I was looking at our old maps and books from our long driving trip...(it was only three weeks so there are lots of places we didn't get) but you might want to rent a car to visit Tarquinia and Viterbo from Civitavecchia. Very different from the big-city Italy you will have seen in Rome/Florence and Venice (well, Venice is hardly a big city). I've only been to Viterbo, which is a neat old walled city.

On the stop at Livorno it would certainly be a good side trip to see Pisa and Lucca. The time you will spend in Rome, Florence and Venice before your cruise, you will probably want to spend in those cities rather than daytripping to other spots.

I'd be surprised if there weren't also a Pompeii visit from your cruise stop for Rome.

ssbnorman

2 yrs ago we took the same cruise on the same ship, except we started in Barcelona and finished in Venice. You will love the cruise. Santorini is one of the most beautiful places in the world. All the stops are great. I hope you booked with a veranda because the morning entry into each port is heaven with a pot of coffee and pastries on the veranda.

Cre8

Thanks everyone for taking the time to try to understand me.
About the heading "Been there, Done that", Sorry, if it was missleading.
We were supposed to make a similar trip last year but my husband had a heart attack and we had to cancel.
I guess I feel like I have to see a little of everything. I don't want to subject him (or myself, for that matter) on a 1 1/2 hour trip back to Rome or Florence. We changed Florence to 3 nights. With the Euro the way it is,
the hotels, food and cruise. I don't quite know how much to spend on side trips, especially from the ship. The price from the ship just to go back in to Rome is 65.00 a head. The same for Florence.
That's why I wanted to go elsewhere. Most of the side trips from the ship are $$$$$
I guess we'll see what ever we have time for and hope all is well and we can return next year.
Thanks again.

starrsville

Wishing you and your hubby the best.

I wish I'd been to Italy so I had suggestions of options from the two port cities.

After being on the go for a week before you board, there is a possibility you may enjoy just relaxing on the ship for those two days. Just a thought...