euro cruiser

Okay, I'll take a stab at it. Step one is to get from the ship to the train station. If you're not in a rush you can take the free port shuttle bus to the Largo della Pace exit. The drop off point is one mile on foot from the train station, an easy, flat walk. At the station you can buy a 5-zone BIRG ticket from the newsstand, not the ticket window or the ticket machines. This is a regional ticket that entitles you to round trip train fare (on regional trains only) and free use of the trams, buses and metros in Rome for the day. Get on the next regional train to Rome and get off at the Roma Trastevere station. At this point you're only a mile and a half from Ponte Fabricio. Depending on when you travel the public transit to get there may change, as right now they are doing work on the tram tracks and are using substitute buses. By the time you go the tram may be back in action, so it's hard to be helpful with this step. The moovit app is very good for Rome, you can download that and it will have the latest information when you are there. Google maps is also pretty good, but doesn't seem as updated in my experience. If you were going tomorrow I would suggest the 3 NAV bus, which starts its run at the Trastevere station. The seventh stop, Lgt Alberteschi, is at the bridge to Isola Tiberina. You'd just walk across to the bridge on the other side of the island, Ponte Fabricio. Bus 3 NAV info: Line Route 3NAV - ATAC - Bus Schedules | Moovit (moovitapp.com)

No, there's no English language version but once you spend a little time with the site you can figure most of it out. The hard part for non-Italians is knowing what all the different unions are, and if they're big enough to make an impact. It's made public as soon as the strike is called, sometimes as much as a couple of months ahead of time. Many times strikes are cancelled before they happen, so you have to keep an eye on that. I have no data to back this up, but it seems to me that strikes called for Fridays generally wind up happening. Also note the hours of the strikes, most start after morning commuting hours and end before evening commuting hours. Once in a while there's a big, national strike but they're pretty rare.

Yes, it is.

You don't want to walk from the train station up to Taormina, it's not far but it's way up on a cliff. Use the train+bus option by specifying Taormina Central as your destination on Trenitalia.

It's a short trip from bad information to an erroneous conclusion. Wildcat (unannounced) strikes are exceedingly uncommon in Italy, nearly all strikes are announced weeks in advance and published on a government web site here: Scioperi - mit2 Uber in Italy is simply an app conduit to either a taxi or a private car service (what you are linked to depends on the city, each one makes its own contract with Uber). It will almost always cost more than a taxi because of added fees, but it's comfortable for Americans as it's something they are used to.

Yes, those times would be conservative. You could also take the 8:05 crossing. Note that the 15:35 return goes to Porta di Massa. Perhaps you meant the 15:25 to Molo Beverello, which is adjacent to the cruise port in Naples? It's not a big deal to go to Porta di Massa, it's only a 1 km/six tenths of a mile walk from there to the cruise port.

Yes, the luggage storage at Termini is safe but it's expensive and time consuming. Your hotel will hold your bags for you after you check out, and they'll hold them for you upon arrival if it's too soon to get into your room.

Based on what you're doing, I would move the Uffizi to the morning of the second day. It's not as much walking as you may think, the historic center of Florence is not all that large. If you make a google map of the locations you'll see how close they are to one another, your day one list is only about two miles spread out over an entire day. Most of the historic center is pedestrian only so buses will not help

The route that google maps gives you is the most efficient but I find it kind of dull. I would expend a few extra steps and go first to Gesu Nuovo, then continue along what is known as "Spaccanapoli" to Via Gregorio Armeno, known as "Christmas Alley". At the next block, Via Tribunali, turn left and the entrance to Sotterranea will be a few steps on your right. Note that this walk is slightly uphill much of the way, but it's a nice gentle downhill on the way back to the ship. So, start a google map at the cruise port (Molo Angioino), then add stops at Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo, Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, 2, 80134 Napoli NA, Italy, Via S. Gregorio Armeno, 14-52, and finally Decumani, 80138 Naples, Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy for the entrance.

Easily done. The most difficult part of this plan, believe it or not, is the taxi to the station. IF you can find a driver willing to take the short trip, they will charge at least 25 euro. Check to see if your cruise line offers a transfer to the train station, and look at that as an alternative. Every line offers a transfer into town, to Piazza Municipio. From there to the train station is 2.4 km/1.5 miles. It's an easy walk if you have the time and the energy, otherwise there is a public bus. There will be taxis at the drop off point but they want longer fares, they will try to convince you to use them to drive you to Pisa and back. It might be a good idea, depending on the fare they ask for. There are also tour bus options from Piazza Municipio to Pisa.

Trenitalia is the only train option between Bologna and Ravenna. (Technically it's Trenitalia-Tper, a merger of Trenitalia and the former Emilia Romagna regional train company, but for all practical purposes it's Trenitalia.) IT - Trenitalia

Yes, that's about the distance. It's impossible to know, on any given day, how many taxi vans will be available. If need be, perhaps one parent could walk to the station with one or both of the kids while the other deals with the taxi and luggage? Or just take two taxis.

The Civitavecchia Express tickets are available for sale right now, the issue you're having is that you are looking too far into the future. There is a system wide reset for the trains in the second week of June, high speed trains past that date are already loaded into the system, regional ones will follow. (as an aside, Italians really don't get this compulsion to purchase something in advance unless there is an economic or scarcity reason to do so. The Civitavecchia Express price doesn't change no matter how far in advance you buy it, and so far it hasn't been popular enough to worry about not being able to get a ticket.) IF you were planning to go to Rome S. Pietro or Ostiense stations AND if your ship arrives later than usual and/or you don't mind giving up some time in Rome, then the CE can be an acceptable alternative. I would not bend my plans to accommodate the CE's limitations, however.

I feel like I'm dancing on the head of a pin here, but I don't want to confuse people either. The link above is not the city bus, it's a shuttle. There is a city bus from the train station to the port but it drops off on the street outside the port while the shuttle bus goes to the terminal building. So it's a little bit of pick your poison, a short walk to the bus in Ravenna with the shuttle (if you're not staying at one of the pickup hotels), or a short walk to the terminal at the port with the city bus. The city bus schedule is here: RA_Linea_90_inv22-23.pdf (startromagna.it) For what it's worth, two of the hotels they list are all right near the train station. For example, from the train station to the NH hotel is 300 meters/two-tenths of a mile on foot from the station.

If you're not planning to stay in Rome but are going there to pick up a rental car and head elsewhere, you might consider flying instead. The cost will be about the same and you'll be at the easiest place to rent a car. Allowing time for security at the Trieste airport, the total time spent would be about the same, or slightly faster for the plane vs. train. Train is generally the better option if you'll be staying right in the city.

The best option by train, in my opinion, is on Italo, if you can make it. There appears to be only one per day, departing Trieste Centrale at 8:02 and arriving to Rome Termini at 14:05. That's early for a disembark day but possible, I think, in most cases. I say this is best because it's direct (no change of train enroute). The Trenitalia high speed options all require at least one change. (Side note, there is one IC train that does not require a change but it takes nine hours to make the trip.) Italian train times - Train times Italy - Italotreno IT - Trenitalia

That makes sense, it seemed kind of risky for the day of disembarking.

I'm curious about how this works. How much time does fast track buy you? It's still going to be tight, if your flight is the same day your cruise arrives. In a normal situation you'd want three hours prior to a direct flight to the States, if the fast track cuts that down to two hours, you'd still need to be at the airport by 7:45, which means leaving the cruise port by 6:45.

I've been doing a little digging around and there is a train option. It requires a connection and the times are somewhat limited, but it does exist. Do you know the exact location of the pier in Chioggia? With that I can at least show you what the train option would entail. Edited to add: Continuing to dig around, using the current docking position of the Azamara Journey as the location for cruise ships (my assumption, not fact) the distance from the Chioggia station is about 2km/one and a quarter miles. Based on the number of trains in and out, this is not a really small station, but not a huge one either. I don't think you could count on taxis waiting at the station but there is a bar right next to the station where someone would call one for you.

Using public transit there is a somewhat complicated ferry and bus connection to Venice, or three buses if you want an entirely land routing. Nothing about this is easy, unfortunately.

The Ravenna tourism site has information on some shuttles: Shuttle bus - Ravenna / Porto Corsini Cruise Terminal - Ravenna Turismo There is also the #90 public bus from the train station to the cruise port: RA_Linea_90_inv22-23.pdf (startromagna.it) To make a google map of the terminal use these coordinates: 44.49538882721888, 12.285095710442997 According to google maps it's 12.2 km/7.6 miles from the Ravenna train station.

You will use a shuttle bus from the port (I don't think you are allowed to walk out of the port of La Spezia) to the cruise terminal at Largo Michele Fiorillo. From there to the ferries is a very short walk (about 550 meters/one-third of a mile). The train station (La Spezia Centrale) is further away, about 2 km/one and a quarter miles, on foot) but the route is flat and easy to walk. There are also public buses and very expensive taxis if you don't want to/cannot walk. The trains are usually wildly overcrowded, but they run more frequently than the ferries and they get there much faster. On the other hand, the ferries offer a beautiful view. Why not travel one way by ferry and the other by train?

Assuming that the timing works for you, this is a great deal. I know it seems ridiculously expensive for a three mile bus ride, but a taxi (assuming you can get one to take the fare) will charge you 25 euro each way.

Have you tried posting on the Royal Caribbean board? You may have some success here but I would double post, as many of the folks on this forum are DIYers.

Is this something offered by a cruise line? If so, which one. If it's a private company, can you provide a link to the tour?