Looking for information on cruise shore excursions in the western med?

Question

want information on cheaper ways to do shore excursions particularly for Livorno for Pisa and Florence and Cittavechia for Rome. Any sources whether internet or books greatly appreciated

Answer 1

My husband and I just came back from a Med cruise with Princess.  The shore excursions can be a bit pricey, so we decided to do the 'On your own' tour.  They were pretty cheap and they provided transportation to and from the ship and that was all.  So with us, it paid for each of our coach tickets, and we could explore on our terms.  For Livorno though, we felt it was a bit tricky to do it on your own.  Florence is a good hour and a half from the port, and Pisa is in between.  There is a train that runs from near the port though.

I know some of the tours are expensive, but they can be worth it.  We found that lots of people went out doing their own thing in ports and missed the ship since it doesnt wait.  h**l even one member of the ships staff missed the boat one day.

I know I'm probably not all that much help, but I thought I'd give you my personal experiance :-).  Have a fabulous cruise!  The Med was incredible!

Answer 2

Note what writerch said, many people including a staff member missed the ship. You see, especially in Rome where it is over an hour ride from Rome to the port, I found the ships shore excursions really worth the money. Going on your own, may be cheaper, but the old saying you get what you pay for really applies here. Shore excursions from the cruise ship are guaranteed to get you back to the ship on time and the ship will wait for these excursions, but will not wait for independent excursions. I also have seen lots of people miss the ship. Now I will be doing my own thing this fall on some of the Hawaiian islands, but I know the islands well. In Europe, that is a different story. We always took Princess shore excursions, except when the port was near the town, then we did some on our own.

Answer 3

for rome get the train .when you come out of the port turn right the station isnt far take the train to st peters less than 1 hour the vatican is just around the corner try to get an early train around 9 to give yourself plenty time as ships wont wait

Answer 4

You can get to Pisa & Florence from Livorno by train.  The main problem with Livorno is that the docks aren't pedestrian friendly and it's about a mile walk to get out.  You usually find there are taxis to meet the cruise ships.  There's a huge amount to see in Pisa and in Florence, so don't try to do them both.

You can also get a train from Civitavecchia into Rome.  The train takes about an hour and a half and Rome's a big place so it's best to decide what you want to see before you go.

All train times from http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/ferrovi...

Answer 5

if it's possible to afford it for you, it's well worth doing the cruise's tours. You get a guide that tells you all the history of the places. For instance we went to Pompei and the guide explained everything, it was fascinating and mind boggling but had we gone on our own it would have just been a matter of looking at old ruins/stones/walls and knowing nothing