euro cruiser

Confusing yes, but not necessarily contradictory. There are two shuttle buses at the Civitavecchia port, the free one that brings you to Largo della Pace, or the 6 euro one that brings you to the train station. Sad to hear that Livorno is still such a mess.

Just to be precise, you are hiring a car service, not a guide. The many companies that cater to the cruise business, including the one noted above, hire English speaking drivers who will offer a running commentary, but they are not guides. They cannot leave the car and escort you anywhere historic, but there isn't much/any of that along the Amalfi coast anyway, so no loss.

It's impossible to say, it depends on how long it takes to clear the ship and how easy or difficult it is to get transportation to the train station. If there are taxis available at the port it will be expensive, but it's the fastest option.

Yes, it's certainly possible. You can avoid the lines by prebooking: Deposito Bagagli KiPoint Roma Termini (kibag.it)

I tour hardly seems necessary: Venezia Nuova District in Livorno | Visit Tuscany The starting point of the walking tour detailed in the link above (Ponte di San Giovanni Nepomuceno) is only about 220 meters/one-tenth of a mile from the place where the cruise ship shuttle buses drop off at Piazza del Municipio in Livorno.

Ostiense is a little bigger, but basically the same layout. You'll be fine.

There is work going on at the Trastevere station: DA FS NEWS - RFI presenta il progetto di restyling della stazione di Roma Trastevere For those going to Trastevere, there is bus service provided during construction.

Years ago we took Alaska Rail from Anchorage to Whittier: Glacier Discovery Train | Alaska Railroad There is also a bus option: Anchorage to Whittier Alaska Park Connection Bus Line (alaskacoach.com)

A professional car service does this all the time, you just need to give them your flight information. Unless you have some reason to believe that you will be particularly slow, much slower than the average traveler, I don't think you need to do their job for them by deciding in advance a specific pickup time. Drivers aren't lone rangers, they talk to one another as well as their dispatcher. If there is a problem at the airport causing delays for arriving passengers, they'll know about it before you do. You may want to specify when you make the reservation that you will have checked bags to collect (but they will assume that for passengers coming from overseas).

The only easy ways out of Ravenna are a private car service or a ship transfer. There are public transportation options but they can be cumbersome and time consuming, not a great option if you have an early flight. The Bologna airport is about 60 miles from the port, while the Venice airport is 125 miles away.

No matter what you do from Venice you will have a change en route, assuming you are flying to Tampa International. Given that you have to change somewhere, I'd relook at Bologna as the exit point as it's much closer and easier to reach from Ravenna than Venice, and it's an easier airport to navigate. You can get flights on United to Tampa from Bologna with one stop at Frankfurt (code share with Lufthansa)

I think the increase in travel time is simply allowing for the bus connection to the port, if you look at ust the train schedule there is no change. The 6 euro Port Shuttle connection goes to the ship if in the outlying berths (#25), otherwise it goes to the cruise ship terminal. It does not drop at Largo della Pace.

There are, local (regionale), intercity (IC) and fast (Frecce) trains between Rome Termini and Civitavecchia every day. The regionale are the least expensive (4,60 euro) and most frequent trains, but they do not offer reserved seats, so it's a free-for-fall when you get on, and they leave from the Lazio auxilliary tracks three blocks from the main track head at Termini in Rome. They take longer to make the trip, between 60 - 123 minutes, and make several stops along the way (up to 12). IC trains are the most uncommon, only a couple each day. They are more expensive (11,50 last minute fare), offer assigned seats, and usually make only one stop en route. They depart from the main track head at Termini. Finally there are the Frecce trains. There are not many each day but they depart from the main track head, offer assigned seats, have more room for luggage, and make no stops between Termini and Civitavecchia. This is the most expensive option at 16,00 euro (base fare in second class) but you can get a better price by purchasing in advance. Only Trenitalia serves this route: EN - Trenitalia In all cases, if you choose Civitavecchia Porto as your destination you'll get a ticket for the bus (6 euro) from the Civitavecchia station to the port in addition to the train ticket.

Um, 50 people means somewhere between 50 - 100 pieces of luggage. Regardless of the port I think it's unrealistic to expect workers to tag that many pieces all at once, correctly.

In October I think your risk of morning mist is greater, I'd factor that into my decision.

I used to travel with someone who could not walk through ORD without eating an O'Hare dog, even first thing in the morning. 😬

No, it will not.

La Spezia is not a good port from which to visit Florence, regardless of how hard cruise lines try to market it that way, unless you are overnighting at La Spezia and don't need to race back. Livorno isn't great, but it's far better as a starting point for Florence. By car from La Spezia it's two hours each way, more with traffic, and you'd be driving in with morning traffic (but thankfully returning before the end of day commute). This may have changed, but it used to be that the port at La Spezia did not allow taxis or car service cars into the port, you were forced to use the port shuttle bus to the cruise terminal and be picked up there, taking away 15 - 30 minutes on the beginning and the end of your day.

As I said, simply not up to the standards of the rest of the HAL line, in my experience/opinion. Many aspects of the ship and the cruise experience were just off, not dramatically, but noticeably. Plumbing issues that defied repair for several days, rotted out doorframes, food arriving to the table tepid, not hot. The entertainment (other than the comedian) was not as good as I've seen on the other ships. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves on this cruise but will not choose the Noordam again, there are so many other great options in the line.

I'm curious about the taxi from Salerno, that will be an expensive trip. You could take the train (Trenitalia) to Portici-Ercolano, from there to the ticket office at the ruins is 1.7 km/1 mile on foot, or you could get a taxi from the station. I've seen taxis at the station, but even if there aren't any when you arrive there is a bar and they will call one for you.

??? Common? Absolutely not.

How are you arriving to the port? If by train, you can take the bus right to your ship.

Guides are not guaranteed at Herculaneum but they are often there. It's a much smaller site and easier to understand on your own with a decent guide book, if that's any comfort. It's a lot to get to both in one day but I think it comes down to your interest level. They are very different from one another, so it's not like you're going to see more of the same by going to both. Some people spend all day at Pompei and still want to go back, others take a two hour tour and are satisfied. It's pretty personal.

From the Anfiteatro entrance/exit it is a 700 meters/four-tenths of a mile walk to the Pompei Santuario Station for the train to Ercolano. The fare is 2,40 and you can buy the ticket from a machine in the station or just use Tap & Go with any Visa, Mastercard or Amex credit card. The train schedule for this line can be found here: ORARI NAPOLI -TORRE ANNUNZIATA - POGGIOMARINO_13 settembre 2023_5.pdf (eavsrl.it) The walk from the Ercolano Scavi Circumvesuviana train station to Herculaneum is just under a half mile. You would take the same train back to Naples. I would get off at the penultimate stop, Napli Piazza Garibaldi, and switch there to the #1 metro to get back to the cruise port (three stops to Municipio/Porto): ANM Web Site You can also use Tap & Go for the metro.

To make your visit as efficient as possible and give you the most options for getting from Pompei to Ercolano to visit Herculaneum, I suggest exiting Pompei at Anfiteatro rather than doubling back to the Porta Marina entrance/exit. This puts you close to the Pompei Santuario station for the Circumvesuviana local train line (Naples-Poggiomarino line), which you can take to Ercolano. On the offical map of the ruins you can see the Porta Marina entrance/exit on the left, near the middle, and the Anfiteatro entrance/exit on the bottom right: Pompeiweb2023.pdf (pompeiisites.org)