edinburgher

You should always let guest services and/or your cabin steward know that you will be away overnight and returning next day. You can visit anywhere you choose en route to Florence, with the two most popular being Pisa and/or Lucca. Same on your return to Livorno. all are well connected by train. As for Florence itself, you could read as much as you can about the city to help you decide which sights would interest you. And note the ones which require pre-booking and timed tickets There are of course some pros and cons about overnighting if you plan to use the trains as your main form of transport. Rail strikes could be problematic.. Some go ahead, but others get called off. There have been a number of past threads about overnighting in Florence from Livorno and you would probably find useful info and advice in at least a few of them. you can choose which to read from these. ..https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=florence overnight&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=464&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=and

And those will be the early ones as some shows begin late evening and others after midnight and even some shows during the night for those with the stamina😁

Unlike in the US where you are located, workers in European countries earn actual wages so "tips" are a bonus not a necessity. Having said that, extras are always welcome and it is a personal decision how much and to whom you choose to tip. For drivers and guides we tip depending on the quality of the guide, but also how demanding the drive has been., on occasion on especially challenging routes such as mountain routes, we have tipped a driver more than we tipped a guide as we appreciated our safe journey and the expertise of the driver. . In cafes, bars etc, it is usual to round up to the nearest euro or whatever the currency is with a few coins. In restaurants a service charge may have already been added so need for anything exra. If there has been no srvice charge added to the bill, maybe 10- 15%% or a little more. No real easy answer!!

Not interested in other similar lines that don't have many fun activities, etc. throughout the day. You said this, which is quite an odd thing for someone visiting "the Med" for the first time to say. Are you planning to stay onboard for significant amounts of each day instead of going ashore? Only asking as it is more common for daytime activities to be of little interest when porting in European cities and towns. If you do plan on taking part in onboard daytime activities, the itinerary itself will not be a priority, the ship will be. Having said that, if I have misunderstood, some of the following suggestions might help you choose. Med cruises can be quite exhausting as distances between ports are short so not uncommon to have multiple days at sea without frequent sea days. And days ashore can be long depending on your port and distance from the "headline" city or town. After a few days of this, evening entertainment can lose some of its appeal, especially if you have returned from an 8 or 9 hour tour or day ashore and have a similar one planned for the following day, and possibly another the day after that. You should look carefully at distances between the "actual" ports and the "headline" ports as longer days ashore are preferable to shorter ones.There are a number of these but the most well known and frequently used in cruiseline marketing, would be le Havre (Paris), Civitavecchia (Rome) and Trieste or Ravenna (Venice) Don't be fooled into thinking you will be able to step ashore in the "headline" city and begin sightseeing. You won't! Compare port arrival and departure times should you have narrowed your choices down to a small number. EG not much point in an early arrival such as 0600 if the departure time is 1300 or 1400. Likewise an arrival of eg 1600 isn't of much interest if the departure time is 2200. And size matters too. Check itineraries carefully for any indications of tender ports. RCCL ships are mostly "big girls" and may have to tender instead of dock, and tendering from and back onboard can use up valuable shore time, as the bigger the ship the longer it usually takes unless you have special status which gives you tender priority.. And try to avoid the hottest months if you can. And expect crowds almost everywhere too as popular European cities and towns/regions have become ever more crowded in recent years with many suffering from "overtourism". You won't be lonely!

You could also consider pretty little Menton, only a skip and a jump from Monaco so very easy to get there and back by train or public bus.😀 Menton info and images will be easily found online.

Thanks for acknowledging as so many don't. Fingers crossed for you that others will have some ideas to contribute, but in the meantime did you try the local Tourist Info website visitnuuk or Tripadvisor or any other websites for ideas? Would also like to mention that Nuuk was the only Greenland port of call where we saw a small number of locals begging, and/or maybe suffering from substance or alcohol abuse. Didn't give us any cause for concern for our personal safety, but we did notice.

Unless your tour is heading off around the island, there is not really any need for a tour in Palma itself as ships dock within the city, albeit on the outskirts, and although a it would be a long hot walk into the historic centre, there are public buses and taxis to take you there. Should you decide against an actual tour, Palma itself is a very attractive city with a number of worthwhile sights, also perfect for strolling. There is actually a huge "pinned" thread at the top of this forum with "all things Palma" info on it. This one, https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2697012-palma-de-mallorca-diy-new/page/27/#comment-67543768

Too far to walk, but there should be a port shuttle bus, or there is a public bus stop just outside the port. If you have not already searched for and read some past threads about Chania, choose which to read from these https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=chania&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=463

We, and others from our RC used Corfu Taxi Private Tours?. The owner has red hair which makes him quite distinctive in Greece. We had three or four taxis and all followed the same route and stops and travelled in convoy.

i suggest you start by internet searching the somewhat obvious "Warnemunde and Rostock in WW11" as Warnemunde is a suburb of the larger Rostock therefore unlikely only Warnemunde alone would have any WW11 history. Should you find little to interest you all and you decide to spend the day in Warnemunde and are looking for ideas.there are a number of past threads you could browse for ideas.choose from these. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=warnemunde&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=116 this is quite a good one. See post #4 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2981680-baltic-ports-diy/#comment-66662219

hmmm. doesn't bode well does it? At least you already have all the info you need to pre-plan a plan B which you can switch into as soon as you know where you are and not have to scramble around at the last minute as some of your fellow passengers may have to do.. You could have a really pleasant day splitting it between Santa Margherita and Portofino which would also be relaxing and very easy to DIY. Genoa I know nothing about having never visited there.

This is an old thread but they are discussed in some detail by members having experienced them in both Iceland and Greenland. There is a LOT of discussion and many of the posts are about Greenland sightseeing which is off your topic, bu you would probably find the posts about bugs interesting to read. and yes, maybe consider head nets. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2812546-qaqortoq-greenland/

Sorry, no, as we use public buses when not using our own car.

August is the hottest month and heat could well be a factor especially in cities. They could consider going a little bit further north where it could be cooler, to perhaps either the Lake Como area, or to the Lake Garda area. Both scenic areas, but trying to book now for August could be tricky as August is the busiest month for Europeans from most counries taking their vacations and many areas in italy and even in neighbouring countries such as Croatia and Southern France will have had accommodation fully booked for ages already.. Due to them leaving it as late as they have, they may have little choice and will need to book whatever they can wherever they can, whether it is their preference or not. Sorry.

This is a trickier question to answer than you might have expected it to be, even for locals. Edinburgh Council has been declaring war on motorists for many years now, and there are obstacles to parking and even to pulling in kerbside. The latter as there have been a number of cycle lanes constructed and these are separated from general traffic by poles which prevent kerbside stops. And the new LEZ (Low Emission Zone) kicked in on June 1st. As taxis and private car hires are not exempt, should you pre-arrange one, you would need to check the vehicle your driver would be driving would be compliant and can enter this zone which covers much of Central Edinburgh. To further complicate matters, many coaches bring groups to the Tattoo from out of town and these park up during the event. They used to park on George IV Bridge but that is no longer possible as it is now reduced to only two lanes, one for each direction. They also used to park on Chambers St which may still be possible, also on Johnston Terrace which I think is also still possible. This means that these areas will be extra busy as audience members will be making their way to their coaches. Should you pre-arrange a taxi or private hire, ask the driver where he/she would suggest. My personal suggestion would be either Castle Terrace or King's Stable Road next to it. a few minutes walk to both but all downhill with some of it on even ground, and that would put you on the west side of the central area in position to head westward to Rosyth so the getaway should be a little faster. To get there, once you walk the short distance down Castlehill, take a sharp right at the little mini roundabout and walk all the way down Johnston Terrace until you reach the foot of the hill. Castle Terrace and King's Stable Road are both 2 minutes walk from there, but that is only a suggestion as I do not know for certain due to restrictions, route changes and any ongoing roadworks.. Taxi drivers should definitely know.

Should you only get disappointing replies, if you have not already done so, you may need to use the CC search tool to find past threads containing the word Nuuk in case there is some helpful info within one or two. I say "disappointing" as Nuuk, despite being the capital, is the same as other towns and settlements in Greenland, in that with almost no (or none) connecting roads at all, most journeys are by sea or air so your excursions would be by sea or air. Or try general internet searching for "tours from Nuuk" or similar. There would be no need for any kind of "Nuuk walking tour" as it is easy to DIY. We docked in a very ugly commercial port, but there were ship shuttle buses which took us from there over the hill to the more attractive and historic Colonial Port where we bought a couple of souvenirs from "ladies with tables", strolled the tiny area around that port,incidentally the most historic, and visited the National Museum. The Cathedral was closed that day. In the main part of town we window shopped on proper shopping streets, (the only port stop in Greenland where we saw recognisable shopping streets,)and used WiFi at the public library Unsure if any of the above was helpful or not, but it was all I could offer although others can maybe add to it.

You could try googling for the info. EG Rome2Rio suggest either public bus or taxi. If you have joined any Roll Call for your sailing, you could check on there to see if fellow passengers have arranged something and are looking for others like yourselves to share.

There is an option for "left luggage" at the Venice Train Station so you would only need to pack a small carry on or backpack with the few items you would need for such a short stay. There may be other locations, just google "left luggage in Venice" (or any other places you may want to consider this) Bologna could be a decent enough option as a base for both Florence and Venice, although not as practical for Rome given the travel distance.

Total nonsense! If this will be your first visit to Italy, as you will be four persons, read up on the different charges you will most likely encounter depending on where you choose to eat or drink in any cafe or bar. Unless things have changed very recently, there can be three different charges. Cheapest is to stand at the counter, Next cheapest is to sit at a table inside, Most expensive is usually to sit outside on a terrace. As "tap water" is not usually served, you need to buy bottled water either carbonated or still. And on you bill, you may see the “pane e coperto” which is a per person charge for the bread and cover which will have been brought to your table whether or not you ordered it, and whether or not you eat it. There should be info to be found online..

They are out during the day but I have no knowledge of the actual performances times. I say "performances" as in addition to the leafleteers (is that a word?) there are mini stages set up in the section between George IV Bridge and S. Bridge and groups have alloted show times. There are boards set up with the timings for each mini show next to each stage. Additional performance or busking areas are to be found in various other central locations eg next to the National Galleries.. Difficult to know when you would find the city "quiet" as December is also one of the busiest months, but the city has become more and more busy year on year, and this year residents were commenting on how much busier than usual it appeared to be in April, May and June. We had to go out very early one morning at the end of May, leaving home just before 0700 and there were already small numbers of tourists out and about even at that time. Having said that, August is far and away the busiest time, as in addition to "The Fringe" there is also the Edinburgh iIternational Festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, both of which also run throughout August..

You asked about Venice hotels a few months ago when you were also asking about transport to Venice and were given some helpful suggestions at that time for both hotels and transport options. It was this thread, most of which will still be relevant. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2988138-trieste/#comment-66828153 I note you have changed your original plan and have now given your preferred area as being close to the train station. Have you internet searched something like "Venice hotels near Santa Lucia train station?" And here is a link to ones close to Piazzale Roma which is close to the train station, but on that same website, on the hotels section, you can filter for hotels which may be closer to the train station. https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruise-terminal-hotels-piazzale-roma.htm

There have been a few past threads on this topic which you could find by using the search tool, however, this one may be a helpful read https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3013615-istanbul-sunset-cruise/#comment-67515940

The Royal Tombs of Vergina are oustanding and not to be missed with some fabulous exhibits. Info and images should be easily found online, although the number of images will be limited as no photography is actually permitted and the attendants are ultra wachful.

This reads as if you are considering a HOHO. The HOHOS are of limited use in the Old Town at most times of the year and the best way to explore the Royal Mile, Victoria St, Grassmarket areas is actually on foot. In August, given the crowds, this is definitely more difficult if you are simply trying to get from A to B in a hurry, but as already pointed out, the Fringe brings with it different street sights and entertainment and a very different atmosphere which many visitors enjoy. For some August is the best time to visit, for others the worst. I would though very strongly advise that you pre-book timed entry slots for any attractions which offer this and which you intend to visit. The two which spring to mind would be Edinburgh Castle, where tickets for August entry have been on sale for some time already (so these should be a priority and booked while there is still a selection of available times) and The Real Mary Kings Close should either of these be on your "to do" list, (and anywhere else you want to consider) Try not to plan too much for your day as crowds and distractions along the way will definitely slow you down.

As others have alrady explained, Get your Guide is a middleman just like "V" so you may not know which tour providor you are actually booked with unless you can find it with internet searching. And as the providor has to pay a commission to a middleman earning less from the booking, booking directly with them means they actually benefit. This is important for providors, especially so if they are smaller companies or individuals. Do check their cancellation policies in their " Ts and "Cs" as they may not suit cruise passengers and the actual providor may have more favourable ones.