"Florence on your own" - please help!

[jeanniedc]

We are a family of 4 (2 teenagers) and will be on Voyager of the Seas on August 1st for Western Med. cruise. We've never taken a ship's shore excursion before, but since we are hiring private guides for the 4 other ports, we are thinking of doing the "Florence On Your Own" offered by RCCL. Can anyone tell me more about this excursion? Will we definitely get the full 6 hours in Florence that they put in the description? Are the hours from about 10 to 4?? Is there a lot of wasted time while they wait for everyone to board the bus?

Sorry for so many questions! I tried contacting RCCL but haven't heard from them yet. I want to get my money's worth and we don't really want the hassle of a train into Florence.

Thank you!!

[browneyes7]

We are a family of 4 (2 teenagers) and will be on Voyager of the Seas on August 1st for Western Med. cruise. We've never taken a ship's shore excursion before, but since we are hiring private guides for the 4 other ports, we are thinking of doing the "Florence On Your Own" offered by RCCL. Can anyone tell me more about this excursion? Will we definitely get the full 6 hours in Florence that they put in the description? Are the hours from about 10 to 4?? Is there a lot of wasted time while they wait for everyone to board the bus?

Sorry for so many questions! I tried contacting RCCL but haven't heard from them yet. I want to get my money's worth and we don't really want the hassle of a train into Florence.

Thank you!!

 

Read the 12 hours in Rome thread. I wrote about how to do Florence on your own in that thread. Good luck!:) Sorry, I just read your last sentence about not wanting to do the train.....so you might want to just ignore my post!

[Andym]

We have done the ships offering 'Florence on your own' a couple of times. The bus sets off from the ship as soon as it fills so no waiting there. You have a tour guide on board who tells you all about the countryside as you travel to Florence, pointing out things like the marble quaries etc. Tou are also given a guide map of Florence and she will piont out the best things to see. When you are dropped off, she will walk you to a meeting point and set a time that you all meet up. We have never had to wait for late comers and always have set off at the allotted time. usually on the way back, it's quiet time and most people have a nap.

[epixx]

A recent description was posted on this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1229778

 

 

 

Here's a good description of the Princess version:

 

Our day began with that damn phone calling me to wake up. I wish Princess offered a service where, on the last day of the cruise, you could throw the phone over your balcony and watch it sink into the sea. (Sorry, but on this trip, waking up is hard to do.) Oh how I miss my snooze button. We, yet again, had some tea, coffee, croissants and fruit brought up to the room for us, and were down with the rest of the cattle in the Explorer’s Lounge. This time, though, it would be different. Muahahaha! Today we were going to be free from the little headset thingies….free from the waving signs….free from the lunch seating for 40. Kim had booked ticket’s for the Uffizi Gallery at 10:30 AM, and the Academie to see David at 3:30PM.

 

I slept the way into Florence, which is about a 90 minute drive by bus. We arrived in town at around 10:00. Our guide (AKA the crappiest guide in the history of guiding) then took us for a walk to where we would meet later on. By the way, we had signed up for Florence on Your Own, which, to us, meant that we would get a drive into Florence, and explore on our own. As we walked into the main shopping square, she took us all into a leather store. We asked where we would meet later, as we had to get going to the Art Gallery for our allotted entry time. She told us she would tell us all in a minute. As we walked into this leather store, a lady there was all ready with a leather demonstration! Now to me, a proper leather demonstration would certainly begin with a live cow, but apparently she wanted to demonstrate something. We finally got it out of the guide that we would, again, meet back as a group in this leather store. It was then we decided that, although we were planning to buy some leather today, we were certainly not going to buy it here. She also told us, now that it was 10:20, that we would be leaving at 3:15 PM. Now, when Kim booked our tickets, all that we knew was that we would be docking at 7 AM and departing the port at 7 PM. When asked why we were leaving at 3:15, she just told us that was how long the tour was. It was very disappointing, as it meant that we wouldn’t be able to go see the Statue of David. Oh well.

 

We left the leather shop and started walking towards the Gallery. It was quite easy to find, and we got in quite quickly. After walking up to the top floor, we began moving through the gallery. Now, to be honest, Renaissance Art is not amongst my favorite. I am more of a fan of art after 1800. Kim, however, really loves this art. We wandered through the gallery, which was really quite impressive, for about 2 hours. The Caravaggio exhibit was very good. We are more or less sculptured out at this point, so we just focused on the painting, which we both love.

 

After the gallery, we were hungry. We love the challenge of finding the perfect meal, and have had great success thus far, when we’ve been on our own. We wandered around for awhile, crossing over the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, which was absolutely packed. We headed off the beaten path and found what looked like a great spot for lunch. We walked down a couple flights of stairs, and took a seat. As we looked through the menu, in came the tour group. There had to be 40 teenagers in the group. Now the restaurant itself was very small. Not for us. We apologized to the waiter, and resumed our search.

 

We eventually found an outside patio restaurant, overlooking a small square. We sat and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Kim had a pasta that was stuffed with fresh pear in a cream sauce that was incredible. We sat and watched the people passing through the square for a couple hours. We were able to give our tickets to the Academie away, as we asked a nice couple from China if they could use them. They told us they had tried to make a reservation there and failed, and would love the tickets. We were happy to see they would be used.

 

After lunch, we continued to walk around the streets of Florence, slowly making our way back to the meeting point, as it was now 2:30. Kim ended up buying a beautiful leather coat from one of the hundreds of leather stores we saw.

 

Florence is a beautiful city….clean and warm. It reminded me of Venice, somewhat, minus the canals. While it is wonderful to walk, there certainly is some separation of the many things to see. If we were interested in seeing more of the sights, rather than soaking up the city, I think we would have opted for the double decker bus pass (30 Euro each), and moved around at our leisure as well. The only way I would choose a Princess Full Tour here is if we wanted to include Pisa as well, which was not high on our list.

 

As we returned to the leather shop at 3:10, the tour guide angrily told us she was waiting for us to arrive! WHAT WAS THE RUSH!!!!!! She then proceeded to wave her sign and start walking briskly to the bus. Now, none of us knew where the bus was going to be, yet she seemed to be practicing for her power walking race. About ten of us couldn’t keep up, including one lady who was probably around 80, who was walking with the great assistance of a cane. The bus was parked about a kilometer away, but she was gone while Kim and I and a few other good people walked with the woman with the cane. We tried to keep an eye on where she was going, but she turned a corner way up ahead. It was brutal that she had to take us to her Leather Store to meet, while many of the other groups were just told where the bus would be. We finally found the bus, with our fearless guide waving her little sign in the distance, at around 3:40. She, again, laid into us for being slow, while we tried to explain to her that we were trying to help the old lady with the cane. It is safe to say that idiocy can be universal.

 

I slept again on the way back, and we arrived back at the boat at 5:15.

 

 

 

 

[cruisemom42]

Bus tours usually set off an hour or more after you could've disembarked from the ship and set off on your own, so you've already lost an hour there. Also, there is often some "forced shopping" opportunity -- either before you are released by the guide or on the way back to the ship (meaning you depart Florence sooner than you'd need to).

 

It's up to you, of course, but I can't see paying twice as much (or more) for the ship's transportation in order to get less time in Florence. I suppose some people feel they are paying for the extra security. However, I've read several times on these boards of individuals being left behind by their guides on this type of "On your Own" tour. And then you'd have to take public transportation anyway.....

[Susan-M]

Will we definitely get the full 6 hours in Florence that they put in the description? Are the hours from about 10 to 4??

 

We took the Celebrity On-Your-Own excursion - arrived in Florence at 10 and met (at Santa Croce Church, which was also the drop off point in the morning) at 3:30 p.m., so closer to 5 hours of free time.

 

Is there a lot of wasted time while they wait for everyone to board the bus?

In the a.m. you meet in a designated spot, check in, pick up your badge and then congregate on the bus ... about a half hour process. i.e. meet at 7:45 in the theatre, bus leaves at 8:15. Upon arrival in Florence you walk as a group to Santa Croce Church ... another 10 minutes, then just a few minutes to discuss when to meet. Another 10 minutes or so at the meeting spot at 3:15-3:30 while the group gathers, + 10 minutes to get back to the bus and do a head count.

 

We had planned to take the train but used the On-Your-Own bus as an alternative when a train strike was announced in advance for the day that we were there ... as is often the case, it was aborted at the last minute, but by that time we had already booked the ship's excursion.

 

The limited time in Florence and time involved in gathering everyone together are negatives, however, it really is a convenient way to get to Florence and in the 5 1/2 hours that we had there we packed a lot in (lunch on the run so that we could see the sites.) Our 'bus guide' did a great job on commentary on the way in, so lots of interesting details that we would not have had on the train. On the return trip, they took us up to Piazza Michelangelo for a quick view from the bus (DH and I had already made our own way up there during the day)...and then the trip back was a quiet one (no commentary as a lot of people needed to catch a few 'zzz's'.) Thankfully, no shopping stops (I think we took a vote on this on the bus and most were in agreement that it wasn't something we wanted to do.)

 

The next day we did Rome via train from Civitavecchia ... and I wouldn't hesitate to do Florence via train, but I don't think the train will give you that much extra time in Florence. If you are in port from 7-7, you'll be able to get the 8:10 train, and in Florence by 9:30...so an extra half hour there. In the afternoon, you would probably want to take the 3:27 train back as the 4:27 doesn't get into Livorno until nearly 6, and if there are delays, it doesn't leave much lee-way time. Cost would certainly be a lot less via train, even with taking a taxi to the train station and back.

[neverenoughtime]

We are a family of 4 (2 teenagers) and will be on Voyager of the Seas on August 1st for Western Med. cruise. We've never taken a ship's shore excursion before, but since we are hiring private guides for the 4 other ports, we are thinking of doing the "Florence On Your Own" offered by RCCL. Can anyone tell me more about this excursion? Will we definitely get the full 6 hours in Florence that they put in the description? Are the hours from about 10 to 4?? Is there a lot of wasted time while they wait for everyone to board the bus?

Sorry for so many questions! I tried contacting RCCL but haven't heard from them yet. I want to get my money's worth and we don't really want the hassle of a train into Florence.

Thank you!!

 

As the mother of three teens I will say "TAKE THE TRAIN!!". You're using private guides in other ports so you and your kids will miss a true hallmark of European life if you take the bus. The train will provide you with a whole other dimension on Italy - and save you ton's of money!!! We've done the train before and it was not a hassle. Most likely it will be lots of other cruisers and you may even know people from your ship.

[browneyes7]

As the mother of three teens I will say "TAKE THE TRAIN!!". You're using private guides in other ports so you and your kids will miss a true hallmark of European life if you take the bus. The train will provide you with a whole other dimension on Italy - and save you ton's of money!!! We've done the train before and it was not a hassle. Most likely it will be lots of other cruisers and you may even know people from your ship.

 

I agree......Take the train. Florence is easy to do on your own, and it will be a great adventure for your kids! There are always other people on the ship doing it on their own. You could get a group together to go, separate in Florence if you wanted to, and then meet up again at the train station to go back to the port.

[sneffles]

We've done both: ship-sponsored bus and train on our own to Florence. The main advantage of the bus is not having to worry about transportation, but it is of course expensive. If you take the train, leave jewelry behind and beware of pockpockets...but it is fun.

And yes, if you are not at the pickup location on time, the bus will leave you behind. No guide needed once you get there, just wander around and enjoy this beautiful city. Some "guides" on the bus can really be a pain; ignore them and for sure don't let them herd you into a store where you know he/she will get a commission on anything you buy, thus increasing the price you pay. The flea market is a fun place to browse.

[KirkNC]

As others have said, the time savings (the additional time you can spend in Florence) combined with the cost difference (on HAL it is $99 for the transfer or $297 for the three of us versus 20 euros for a cab to the train station plus 39 euros for three tickets, total $77 for all three, a savings of $220. For you with 4, the savings would be even greater, approximately $300.) make the train hard to beat.

 

Kirk

[sunsetbeachgal]

Whatever you decide to do in Florence, do your research and have a plan for the day (we usually use Rick Steves guidebooks), a good map in hand and comfortable walking shoes. Florence is a lovely city, and many areas are pedestrian-only so a perfect place for a self-guided tour!

[GouGou]

I've just been reading through all the posts as my fiancee and I are also hoping to do Florence on our own. Do you think it would be too much to do Pisa as well as Florence with the train? Stop off at Pisa, see the tower, take photos, then go back to the station to go to Florence?

 

Maybe we won't have time for both? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, does anyone know where I can get a good map of Florence/Pisa and how to find out train timetables from Livorno to Florence/Pisa?

 

Many, many thanks,

 

Helen

[carlmm]

I've just been reading through all the posts as my fiancee and I are also hoping to do Florence on our own. Do you think it would be too much to do Pisa as well as Florence with the train? Stop off at Pisa, see the tower, take photos, then go back to the station to go to Florence?

 

Maybe we won't have time for both? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Pisa is on the train route to Florence, thus in theory it can be done and some people actually do.

Yet I would strongly advise against doing it. You wouldn't do justice to either place.

While the leaning tower is the most famous sight in Pisa it is not the most important one in terms of art, history and beauty. The tower is locted on the "field of wonders" together with the cathedrale, the baptisterium and many more. One day is barely enough.

To spend any time just for a picture is a waste.

Florence of course is full of most important sights and you coud spend weeks here. every minute is valuable here.

I would recommend to choose one city.

 

 

Also, does anyone know where I can get a good map of Florence/Pisa and how to find out train timetables from Livorno to Florence/Pisa?

 

I would suggest to get a good guide book which does include detailed maps.

 

Train information can be obtained at http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

[jccruiser]

has anyone done La Spezia to Florence?

When I check on train times there are several, but all showing no availability.

[euro cruiser]

JC, if you are looking at the Trenitalia site, I think you may be misunderstanding it. The site doesn't give availability.

 

Schedules are not loaded into the system very far in advance. If you want to know the weekday schedule for trains from La Spezia to Florence, the easiest thing to do is put in tomorrow's date and the approximate time (7 AM). What you'll find is that there are several trains in the morning, but the trip takes nearly three hours each way and requires a change of trains in Pisa. It really doesn't make sense as a day trip.

[operafan]

Have you priced a private tour in Florence? The cost won't be much different than the overpriced "ride only" from the cruise line and you get to see a lot more......

[bunnyette]

Not sure what your budget is - but a group of us used Tuscany by Taxi...were taken to Florence and dropped off and then picked up. Not cheap but convenient and about the same price of an "on your own tour". BTW the drive to Florence did not take 90 minutes for us. He also took us to an outlet mall (the main reason I booked them). It was nice to have someone do all the driving for us...and they march to your beat, no leather stores and you can do your own thing.

[GSPLover]

I've just been reading through all the posts as my fiancee and I are also hoping to do Florence on our own. Do you think it would be too much to do Pisa as well as Florence with the train? Stop off at Pisa, see the tower, take photos, then go back to the station to go to Florence?

 

Maybe we won't have time for both? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I lived about 15 minutes from Pisa for 3 years. Yes, you can do Pisa and then Firenze. Allow about 1 hour (if you do the public bus) in Pisa. Depends heavily on how long you have to wait for the next train to Firenze, I, personally, would rather have that hour in Firenze.

 

My Italian train site (in sig line) has the Livorno/Pisa/Firenze schedules.

[dileep]

here is what we did

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=12458310&postcount=10

[cc cruiser]

Quoting:

"Train information can be obtained at http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html "

 

 

I went to this sight to get train times & it said there were two train stations ... Livorno Centrale & Livorno Ferraris. Which one are closest to the cruise terminal?

 

Thanks!

[euro cruiser]

Livorno Centrale is the station you want.

[cc cruiser]

Thank you..... again! EuroCruiser, you have been a great help in planning this cruise!

[jackk21]

some really great info here.We will be spending 12 hours in port(Livorno) but I would love it if someone could post a detailed itinerary or a link to one already done. preferably Florence Pisa

 

Cheers,

Michael

[kittyluvrnurse]

We took a cab from the boat then a train into Florence. What a nice and TIRING day. I wish I would have allowed more $$$ to spend there. It is beautiful, but a money drain (in the kindest way!). Leather MECCA, gold galore. We had cappucino at one of the many places avail while looking at the David replica (it's in its own Plaza). Food was expensive (for Italy, I thought so) as was gelato.

Have a wonderful time. I didn't know the cruise lines charge so much for a DROP OFF! WOW.

[ariawoman]

Ugh. I'm so confused as to what to do. Like many others, I feel almost "pressured" to doing Florence and Pisa in one day. We have 13 hours in Livorno, so take off 1 hour on each end, and it's really 11 hours, providing all goes well (haha yeah i know).

 

I've really wanted to see the leaning tower, but have been told that pisa isn't worth it for the time, and to pick florence.

 

How do I convince myself to go with the safer option? I'm 1000000% nervous about making the ship back, because next stop is Barcelona. Not a quick jaunt lol.