pfopma

I've done an Alaska cruise in a balcony and an Inside cabin. I preferred the Inside Cabin. We hardly used the balcony. Even in August it was too chilly. There are plenty of places on ships like whatever nightclub/lounge is near the top of the ship. it's a quiet and a perfect place to take in the scenery and stay warm.

I wanted to book Rome Cabs but they are sold out for my date in October from Civitavecchia to Rome. We still have a few months so is it possible the date could open up? Can anyone recommend another company? We would also be booking a transfer from our Rome hotel to FCO a few days later.

If you can get the whole family together you can watch some videos on all the ports. Rick Steves has 1/2 hour programs on all these places. They are available on YouTube. Malta is a personal favorite and a visit to M'dina is not to be missed. If they are Jurassic World movies fans they will reconcile some of the places on Malta.

Rick Steves has a 30 minute show on Provence that you can find on YouTube .Watch that for starters and see if anything interests you. It's a beautiful area.

It sounds like you have everything booked but honestly I would lump all your days at one end - probably the start and do your itinerary based on that. If you only have one night on each that means 4 travel days to and from ports/airports and checking in and out of hotels, packing and unpacking - yuk! Since you are arriving n Rome on Sat definitely take advantage of the Sat late opening of the Vatican Museums. We did this on our arrival in Rome on a Friday and it gave time to do other things we wanted to do. You don't need a tour but can purchase tickets through the official Vatican website: https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html

Love this show - I enjoyed the Venice episode as well as Finland and believe it or not - Utah. He does go to a lot of diverse places but there is an underlying theme much like Tucci, Rick Steves, and others. That is get out and talk to the people who live in the place you are visiting. That seems to be what makes places memorable.

I used this company for a Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Sorrento tour. I was concerned that we would be tight because we had to be back on the ship in Naples by 5 pm. We were able to do an Amalfi Coast drive to Positano but just stopped at an overlook for photos of Positano. The drive along the coast is really gorgeous and my nephew who road in the front of the minivan with the drive got a thrill. We had enough time in Sorrento for lunch and a brief stroll on our own. And we were met by a Pompeii Tour Guide and had about 2 hours there. It was a pleasant day and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Would I have like more time in all the paces we visited - of course but for a first visit and a taste it was fantastic.

Love Vernaza too. Manarola would be 2nd.

We did something similar 4 years ago. Stayed at the Terrace Pantheon Relais so near your hotel. I was 66 at the time and with my 22 year old nephew. We arrive mid morning in Rome and after walking to Campo deFiori and lunch went back to the hotel and unpacked. We were lucky as it was a Friday so we were able to go to the late opening of the Vatican Museum. We headed to the Vatican around 4. We had planned to walk but took a taxi as it was raining. There is a taxi stand conveniently at Largo Argentina. We saw St Peter's Basilica first and then walked around the wall to the museum entrance. We took a taxi back to the Pantheon area around 8:30 pm and had dinner with a view of the Pantheon. The next day we had an early morning Colosseum Underground tour. We had purchased tickets ahead of time and we were able to just head in when it was time. I think we were at the Colosseum around 2 hours. We walked back to the hotel picking up some food on the way and having an al fresco lunch on the hotel terrace. We took a nap and then headed out around 4 again and walked up Via del Corso and over to the Spanish Steps. We stopped a few places for a rest and a glass of wine. We then headed back toward the hotel passing the Trevi Fountain. We had a late dinner at a restaurant near Pizza Navona. The next morning we took a taxi to Termini for our train to Civitavecchia. We were there in April and it was warm but not like July. Plan your walking for early morning and evening and you should be OK. And take a taxi if you need to.

Where does it say the ship docks on the itinerary?

I would also go with the Monterosso, Manarola, Riomaggiore tour.

Sunrise in Civitavecchia

I'm on that Celebrity Cruise and it sucks because our focus was on the Cinque Terre. Now looking at Excursions that will take us there but it's a 1.5 to 2 hr one way trip from Livorno to CT. Genoa will be a little close but not a lot of non-ship options that I can find. Celebrity hasn't put up their Genoa shore excursions yet.