euro cruiser

Yes, you can do it. From Florence to the winery will require a car in almost all cases, so factor that cost into your research. You may be able to lessen the expense by having them drop you off in Pisa after the winery and taking the train back to La Spezia, but it may not be enough of a difference if you're uncomfortable with taking the train. The car service will give you more usable time, as with public transit you'll need to leave earlier to give yourself some "pad" time. However, if you use the train to get from La Spezia to Florence on the first day (very easy to do, especially without the pressure of a time limit) you may have enough of a comfort level to make it back on your own.

You'll need to be at the airport by 10:15 AM, it's unlikely that you can easily do that since arrival at 8:00 does not mean disembarking at 8:00. A car service would be the fastest and most efficient route, it should take about an hour and three quarters, assuming no unusual traffic. If you can't reasonably be on the road no later than 8:30 this won't work.

Venice is too far for a day trip from Rome, in my opinion, and not seen in its best light at midday when everyone else who is day tripping is crammed into a relatively small space. Perhaps consider adding a few more days to your trip and flying from from Venice rather than Rome. As for Rome, the Vatican area (museums and basilica) eat up most of a day by themselves. The Colosseum, Roman Forum and Capitoline use up another half to full day, depending on your interest level.

It makes more sense to do the winery tour as part of your overnight in Florence. For example, train to Florence on day one, drop overnight bag at hotel and spend the day and night seeing the city. On day two, use a car service to drive into the Tuscan countryside and visit a winery or two, then either have the driver bring you back to La Spezia or drop you at a train station so you can get back on your own.

The only Marriott properties in the heart of historic Florence are the Westin and the St. Regis, the location is good (the are practically next to one another, overlooking the Arno) but wow, are they expensive. I've stayed at the Machiavelli Palace a couple of times, it's right in the middle of things and reasonably priced but it doesn't have a lot of amenities. That may not be all that important for a one night stay. Hotel Machiavelli Palace | 3 Star Hotel Florence Center

LOL! 🙄🤣 Yoke! No more late night posting!

It's so aggravating that cruise lines list La Spezia as a port for Florence. I would seriously consider overnighting in Florence so you can have enough time to enjoy this beautiful city. It will take about two hours each way to travel back and forth by car and about the same (or a little less, depending on connections) by train. People in tourist facing industries speak English, there's no need to yolk yourselves to ship excursions.

Yes, armed with information that we can help you with, it is very easy to get from the ship in Naples to Pompei and back on your own, joining a guided tour at the site if you wish. From the cruise port you can walk to the bus depot and get a bus right to Pompei. Or you can take a tram to the Circumvesuviana train station and take the train. In either case, some research on google maps (using street view) will help familiarize you with what you can expect to see, making it a lot less daunting. There is an in-between option as well. The company that runs the HOHO bus in Naples also offers a shuttle bus to Pompei and back. It's more money than the public bus or train, but may be a more comfortable alternative if you're not sure about using public transit.

It's up to your interests. The hike isn't difficult, it's only one mile in length but it is steep. Bring a hat to keep the sun off your face and be sure to carry some water (although there are two bars along the one mile trek if you don't have your own).

This is an important point.

Are you looking for a city stay or a countryside one? Is sea- or water-side important? One thought is Cinque Terre. It's kind of a mess as a day trip but lovely if you stay there, in the evenings when the day trippers leave it's quite different. In terms of train time, it's about the same five and a half hours to either MXP or FCO from there, so you could choose whatever flight is best for you. In any case you'd need to travel to the airport the night before.

Yes, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome, not the intent at all. The story about the management training was only to explain why I'm so conscious about (and maybe overreactive to) vague words.

I think we're both trying to find the balance here of making sure our fellow cruisers are well informed, without scaring them. Wildcat or last-minute strikes are almost unheard of in Italy and if you check the government strike web site a week or two before your trip you will have the information you need. As to the language, years ago I had a management training course on how to do performance reviews. Usually those workshops were boring and only marginally helpful but this one really stuck with me. They did an exercise with a number of words you find in performance reviews (like often, frequently, always, never, etc.) and had each of us quantify (0% to 100%) what amount of time or frequency the word meant to us. The range of interpretations was astounding, underscoring their point about not using them in a review because they are open to interpretation and therefore unclear.

Yes, I would not use the word "common", which to me would mean something more than 50% of the time. I'm not even sure I would say "frequent", as in any given area there might be three or four strikes in a year. Unfortunately, if it happens on the one day you want to travel, it might as well happen every day. We DIYers always need to have a backup plan in mind, just in case.

A "matrimonial" bed (a double in an Italian hotel) is basically two twin beds together, so it's about the size of a queen bed in the States. Hotel rooms in Italy are usually quite a bit smaller than those in the States, so a king wouldn't fit in most. I think you'd need to look at the really high-end hotels to find that.

The Nazionale is in a more central location for walking to key sites. The Forum is better located if ancient Rome (Forum, Colosseum, Palatine) are your primary focus. If you're flying in the day before your cruise you'll only have an afternoon and a few hours the next morning so I would figure out which one or two things you want to see, then pick the best location for accomplishing that.

As most restaurants don't even open for dinner until 7 PM or so, and the train ride back requires about 90 minutes, I doubt you'd be back by 9 PM. At any rate, your odds of getting a taxi are much higher at Pisa than Livorno. I would not count on taxi availability at Livorno, although you could get lucky. If you speak Italian well enough to make a phone call you can call the company posted at the station.

You'll have plenty of time to have dinner in Florence before heading back to the ship, if you want. The last train departs Florence around 11 PM. The only issue will be getting back to the ship from the train station, I think I might arrange that in advance. It might be easier to arrange round trip transfers from the port to Pisa Centrale (you would have to change trains there in any case) rather than to Livorno (it may be too small of a trip for a car service to bother with and/or the price would be the same as going to Pisa).

Naples is very easy on your own, unless you want to include the Amalfi Coast. The other "main" destinations are very easy to get to on your own, using your own two feet (the cruise port is right in the historic center of Naples), ferries, trains and/or buses. Florence and Pisa can also be easily reached using the trains from Livorno. It's not quite as simple as Naples since they are a distance inland, but lots of us do it DIY. Likewise, Messina has good transport links. If Taormina is your goal there are public buses or you can take the train and then a bus up the hill to the town.

Absolutely join the roll call for your sailing to find others to share a private van into the city, you will certainly not be the only ones heading into town after your cruise. As for the train, while it is cumbersome even with the new elevators at the Civitavecchia station and I don't recommend it in your situation, I don't agree with the characterization that it is very crowded and standing room only "most times". The regionales are during commuting hours, as public transportation is everywhere, but at other times of the day it's an easy and inexpensive way to travel. For a higher fare (10 euro vs. 5 for the regionales) you can have an assigned seat in a newer, nicer high speed train, eliminating the crowding and no seat concerns.

Also, the trains between Livorno and Florence are all regionales, so there is no financial benefit to purchasing in advance. You can, however, buy your ticket on your phone on the way to the station to avoid the lines at the ticket machines. Or if you have a previous port stop in Italy you can buy your ticket at any train station with a ticket machine or ticket office.

Actually no, it can't be interpreted different ways, at least not in this context. Italian regulations are very clear about what a tour guide is and is not, and it's different from what Americans are accustomed to. In the States you can simply memorize a script and be called a tour guide, in Italy one must pass difficult testing that is only offered once every few years and be accepted by the regional government in order to be a guide.

Just to be clear, a tour guide and a driver are two different jobs, two different licenses. If he was driving the car he was not a professional tour guide, just a knowledgeable resident. Legally he cannot accompany a client into a site, a licensed guide is needed for that.

Did they hire a guide, or was Piero their driver?

Yes, there will be plenty of taxis available as you leave the cruise port. There is a round trip, fixed fare to Herculaneum by taxi of 80 euro that includes a two-hour stop at the ruins. This should be plenty of time. To get the fixed fare you must tell the driver you want it before the trip begins/before he engages the meter. The fare chart is posted in every licensed cab and has the key points translated into English. You can also download the chart from the city's web site and take a copy with you, so you can point at what you want. The chart is in the pdf file below the cartoon of the taxi here: Comune di Napoli - Servizio Taxi There are often guides available at the entrance to the ruins but they are not guaranteed to be there, as they are at Pompei.