Since we will be doing a five day stay in Rome pre-cruise, we will not need to go on a one day tour of Rome when our ship stops in Civitavecchia for the day. On the day before Civitavecchia our ship will stop in Florence for that day. I was thinking of not returning to the ship that evening and instead staying over at a hotel in Florence for the night. The next day arrange for a private guide/driver to us on the 3 hour drive back to Civitavecchia to meet up with our ship in time for boarding the next evening. My question is..would this drive between the two towns/cities be scenic, worthwhile, and would there be nice places to see and visit along the way? Is this area we would be driving in also considered to be the Tuscan area?

You do not stop in Florence, you stop in Livorno which is closer to Civitavecchia than it is to Florence.

Sorry for the confusion. You are correct, the ship does stop in Livorno where we will then travel on to Florence for the day. So it is still the drive from Florence to Civitavecchia of which I would appreciate any input on. Is this drive worthwhile, or should I return back to the ship in Livorno and sail on to Civitavecchia?

I would return back to the ship unless you just wanted to spend the 2 days in Florence. The drive and stops would take more than 3 hours for you to enjoy it.

Hi PP,

Am I correct that you will go from Livorno to Florence, stay overnight and then go from Florence to Civitavecchia to catch the boat that evening?

You can take a cab to Livorno Centrale and then train to Florence - 1:30 9E 1cl

Florence to Civitavecchia on the ES* and IC+ via Rome is 48E 1cl, 2:40 hr.

see www.trenitalia.com/en

ira, yes you are correct. We planned staying overnight in Florence, and then get up very early the next day and have the driver pick us up from the hotel. If he picks us up at 7am, we will not have to board the ship until 6pm that evening, so I figured that would give us around 11 hours to enjoy the trip south, stoping along the way at small towns to explore. This is the reason for hiring the driver instead of taking a train. I still do not really have the proper input from anyone if this drive is scenic, has nice towns or historic sites along the way, or is even worth the trouble? Anyone been on this 3 hours drive south? From the lack of responses I'm starting to feel like it may be a waste of our time.

Get off in Livorno and spend your day in Lucca and/or Pisa and get back on the ship. You cannot do justice to Florence or Tuscany from a ship--but you probably knew that.

I'm trying my very best to have as much of my cake as possible, while eating it along the way, so I do realize that many places will not receive the justice they deserve on the daily cruise stops.

I am already up to a 25 day vacation with 5 days in Rome, 2 days in Barcelona, and 4 days in Venice, not mention the 2 week cruise which also hits Greece, France and Turkey along the way!

So seeing Florence in a day will have to do for this trip since I don't want to miss it. An overnight in Florence with a next day Tuscan country side drive is still a possiblity. Otherwise if we return to the ship and sail on to Civitavecchia what would we do there for the entire next day?

I think your idea to spend the night in Florence is a good one. The bus ride from the ship, docked in Livorno, is about an hour, so you don't have even a whole day in Florence. If you have no time contrainsts, you will be better able to enjoy the city. If you left Florence in the morning, you could stop in Multipulchiano and/or Orvieto. You wouldn't see much, but at least enough to know whether you wanted to return on a future trip. Both of these towns are right off the autostrada. If you wanted to see Siena, you have to take a slower road, but you could get a feel for the town. Somewhere along the route you pass out of Tuscany and Latium which is the region of Rome. We have driven from Rome to Florence and it is a lovely drive. I would go for it. Don't race to Civitavecchia, there isn't much to see there.

Hi PP,

>We planned staying overnight in Florence, and then get up very early the next day and have the driver pick us up from the hotel. <

You will get into Florence in the late morning or early PM and then leave at dawn.

I think that you are giving Florence short shrift. I urge you to spend the 2nd day in Florence and leave about 2:00 PM.

You can visit Tuscany on your next visit.

We are planning to do something similar while on our cruise in June. Our ship will stop in Civitavecchia on Saturday, and then in Livorno on Sunday. We are planning to spend Saturday in Rome, and then instead of going back to catch the ship in Civ., take a train to Florence to spend the night there. Hopefully this will give us a couple of additional hours in Rome, and allow us to spend the evening in Florence and get an early start on seeing the museums and other sights on Sunday morning. Then we will take the train to Livorno to re-board the ship.

PP, are you planning to let the cruise ship know of your plans? Just curious.

Does anyone know of any reason the cruise ship would get bent out of shape over someone doing what PP and I are planning, i.e., spend one night off-ship?

luv2cthings, yes I am planning on telling Princess about this stop. I do think they will want to know in advance and I also plan on telling them when I get on board again. I wonder the same thing as you about if they would mind us doing such. I have assumed for now they won't, and I have already gone as far as reserving a hotel in Florence and making plans with a driver. Maybe this is putting the cart before the horse? I have some free time the next couple of days, so I believe I will give Princess a call to get this off my mind. Will post what I find out.

We took a cruise with an overnight stay in Venice last year. Knowing that the ship is docked almost an hour by Vaporetto from Saint Mark's square, we booked a hotel for the night in Venice. It was great, as we got to enjoy Saint Mark's Square by moonlight with the violins playing and the buildings all lit up. It also gave us the opportunity to see the city come alive in the morning. We told our cabin steward and wait staff before we left the ship. The cruise staff was definitely not bent out of shape, but appreciated the advance notice.

It has been my experience that ruise ships do not let passengers get off at one port and rejoin at another at will. You must clear this well ahead of time with the cruise line.

I would call and find out the policy for that particular line well ahead of time.

The rep from Princess told me to type up a letter and send it to the attention of Princess dispatch. So we'll see what happens when they get back with me.

You hear of the horror stories where passengers have missed the ship by not getting back in time and they have to meet up (even fly to!) the ship somewhere down the line at their own expense. So in other words, I don't believe they will be watching their clocks and waiting for us in particular to show up.

We are doing something similar this spring. Before our cruise out of Civitavecchia, we are spending about a week in Toscany. We hired a car to take us from Florence to Rome, stopping along the way. We have the car for 7 hours. Taking advantage of a designated driver, we are planning to go to Montalcino for wine tasting and nice lunch. You can have them stop anywhere really. Possibilities are Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti Hills, Orvieto in Umbria, or even Assisi. It should be a beautiful drive through the Toscan countryside. I warn you that it is very expensive. The best I found was $695US for four with luggage. Quotes were all around 600-700Euro. With only two person with overnight bags, it should be cheaper, though.

Update; Princess contacted me and did say it would be alright to disembark for a nights stay off ship and then embark back on the ship the next day, as long as I make the ship aware of this when I get onboard.

PlayPlay,

Thanks for the update. Did Princess specify who it is you are to notify when you get onboard, e.g., customer service? As StDavid mentioned in a previous post, I'm sure it is appropriate to also let your cabin steward know of your plans.

luv2cthings,

No, she did not specify who to tell this to. I guess I will tell someone from the pursers office when I get on board and if they don't know I hope they can point me in the right direction.

We hired a car and a guide to take us from Florence to Rome. Highly recommended! It was the best day of our three week vacation. We asked for a winery tour, and he took us to the Altecino winery, one of the top Brunello wineries in Toscany in Montalcino. Most wineries in Italy are by reservation only, so if you are interested, you need to let your guide in advance. We were the only visitor there, had a private tour of the winery and tasting. Unlike Napa they pour you full glass. We tasted five different wonderful wines. Both the winery and the countryside was beautiful, right out of our image of Toscany. Our guide made a reservation for us for light lunch in the hill town of Montalcino. The enoteca overlooked the hills of Toscany, a gorgeous setting. Then off to Rome on the freeway, as we wanted to reach Rome before the evening rush hour. We stopped in a couple of medieval towns along the way for quick expresso and pit stop, though. We did a winery tour because we've done sightseeing Toscany by then. But if you haven't, there are many towns worth visiting such as Siena. The drive is scenic. Though expensive, it's well worth it. I was just sorry that I didn't hire a car and a guide for the week, instead of renting a car.
By the way we had a fabulous Florentine steak at Cafe Italiano in the Piazza Santa Croce area in Florence. Highly recommended.