euro cruiser

Taxis are different than car services, which are pre-booked. When I said taxis are easy I meant a traditional taxi, on the meter, not a car service.

It's not hard to find taxis in Rome, it's just expensive. I would first go through the concierge at your hotel, and I wouldn't wait until you arrive. Call/e-mail the hotel today and see if they can arrange it for you.

You cannot walk out of the port at Livorno in most cases. The ship will provide a transfer to Piazza Municipio in Livorno (for a fee), from there to the train station is 2.4 km/1.5 miles on foot. Trying to see both Florence and Pisa is quite a lot, it would be better to focus on just Florence, or pair Pisa with Lucca.

Usually the on-board time is 30 minutes prior to the departure time, so in your case 6:30 PM (18:30). I always advise (and do myself) taking the next-to-the-last train that would get you back in time, just in case. Allowing 15 minutes to walk from the train station to the ship, the absolute latest you could arrive back at Genova P. Principe would be 18:15, and that's really risky with regionale trains. There is a 17:46 IC train that arrives at 18:15, I would look at this as your safety or fall-back option, if all else fails. Personally, I would take the 16:55 train that arrives to P. Principe at 17:46. I know that's quite a bit before you're due back on board, but for me part of enjoying my day is not worrying constantly about getting back, with this much pad time it's very low risk. As these are regionale trains there's no need to buy in advance, other than the ease of not having to do it on site.

Based solely on location I'd leave the Isabella out of the discussion and pick one of the other two.

No, there is no fixed rate for trips from Civitiavecchia to the center of Rome. In general, in Italy you will do better with a car service when you are traveling from one city to another, while within a city a taxi will be a better deal. So, if you want to be driven, arrange with a car service ahead of time.

To my knowledge there has never been a fixed fare between Rome and Civitavecchia, and if there was it would never have been as low as 45 euro, even two decades ago when they first transitioned to the euro. For perspective, the fixed fare for a taxi from the airport to Civitavecchia is 125 Euro. Tariffario_Taxi_REV.pdf (comune.roma.it) (page two is in English)

Tickets purchased on line are digital. The Civitavecchia Express makes two stops in Rome on every run, in each direction, at S. Pietro and Ostiense. In theory I would think the CE ticket could be used on a regionale train, but I don't know that for sure.

In your situation I would book the 9:16 Frecce train to Rome Termini. If you enter "Civitavecchia Porto" as your "from" station (as opposed to simply Civitavecchia) the system will include the bus ticket as well.

Wherever possible I try to look at the port site rather than a consolidator. It's not always possible, but when it is, that's what I rely on. Unfortunately, the newest set up for Civitavecchia only shows the current month, nothing further forward: Crociere in Partenza al Porto di Civitavecchia: Luglio 2023 | Port Mobility Civitavecchia

Also, if you purchase a regional ticket on line it's good for four hours after the time you purchased. So, for example, if you bought a ticket for the 6:36 regionale you could still use that ticket on any regionale train up to 9:58 train. The next regionale after that would be past the four hour window.

Termini is big, but not as much as you might think if your first introduction to it was from a Lazio regional train. These trains arrive and depart from auxiliary tracks three city blocks from the actual Termini station.

Actually, if you take a regional train it makes more sense to get off at Ostiense, not Termini, if you are going to the Colosseum because (a) it gets to that station first, (b) the trains slow down significantly to enter Termini, and (c) the distance from the Lazio train tracks at Termini to the metro station is a three block walk. I thought I posted this map earlier but maybe it was on another thread. You can see that the Ostiense train station and the Piramide metro station are connected, but not the same station: mappa ferro e tram (giu 2022) (atac.roma.it)

Here is the current timetable: Orari Linea 02 CINQUE TERRE_versD.indd (navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it) And here are pictures of the boats they use, they're not very big: Navigazione Golfo dei Poeti - Our fleet

The first seat assigned train of the day from Civitavecchia to Rome is the 9:16 Freccebianca. Everything before that is a regional train, so there's really no point in purchasing in advance. These trains cannot sell out (there are no seat assignments) and the price never changes.

It does take a bit more planning, and having a "plan B" in your back pocket, to DIY in Europe. In many cases (Rome being one of them) you are quite a distance away from the port so simply jumping in a cab to return isn't a realistic option.

What shows up on the results, above, is local time. The issue is the difference between what you enter in the search and what shows up in the results.

Unfortunately, the days of lovely meals on a train are bygone, even in Italy. That said, we have enjoyed some amazing picnics and wine that we brought on board.

You can do that, or you can take the metro to Pyramide and the train back to Civitavecchia from the adjacent Roma Ostiense station. If you plan to use a Frecce train you must go to Termini, they don't stop at the other stations. There is one seat assigned train from Roma Ostiense to Civitavecchia in the afternoon, the 16:07 IC (4:07 PM) that arrives to Civitavecchia at 16:45 (4:45 PM). The last minute fare for this train is 11,50 euro in second class or 15,50 euro in first class. This train makes no stops between Ostiense and Civitavecchia.

I was referring to the difference between what they paid for a ship transfer vs. the port mobility bus. The official web site for the train stations no longer exists, I have no idea why, so you have to use alternate sources. Rome Termini has an entire shopping mall inside, several different sit down and take away food options, and a well respected food court: Mercato Centrale Rome | Mercato Centrale

Wow, that's a huge upcharge to pay for a half hour, if you'd waited until 7 it would have been 6 euro per person. I'm curious about the food comment, where are you referring to? There's plenty of food options at Termini station. Perhaps on the train itself? That's a good reason to allow a good amount of time at Termini, to allow you to purchase food to bring on the train.

For the train option, a few notes: Trenitalia is the only operator on this route The station nearest Taormina is called Taormina-Giardini Messina Centrale is three quarters of a mile, on foot, from the cruise terminal From Taormina Centro you can get a bus to the train station, either by purchasing a ticket from Trenitalia starting from Taormina Centro, or individually You can also walk down to the train station on Via Madonna delle Grazie (assuming it is open, check before relying on this because storms can wash it out). If it's open the route is almost straight downhill, total distance is less than a mile For more info on the train, see the train operator's site here: EN - Trenitalia

Uber in Italy is not the same set up as in the States. They have outlawed the amateur driver with a private car model that is the basic Uber strategy. Each individual city or area in Italy negotiates a contract with Uber to be a connection platform. In Rome you are connected to a private car service, in Naples the connection is to regular taxis. I don't know what the set up is in Messina. I would risk it for the outbound (Messina to Taormina) trip but I'd be sure to have a backup in place for the return. There are bus and train options as a backup.

There was a particular issue this spring with the Bologna-Ravenna line due to flooding, the line was closed down for a period of time.

This is a relatively recent problem, within the last week. There's no way to know if this is a temporary glitch or if it's the outcome of fixing a different issue and will remain. As said above, don't over think it, just overcome it as suggested.