Panoramic Pisa

[Jo and Rob]

We are seriously considering Panoramic Pisa LVB6 and would love to hear from anyone with experience of this trip.

 

It includes a boat ride and a trolley ride (is this a bus? a road train?) The description of the trip is below:

 

Once your coach arrives at the San Rossore National Reserve, you’ll board a motorboat for a narrated boat ride along the Arno River, which allows you to see the principal sights of Pisa’s historical centre while your guide gives commentaries on the monuments and the city’s history. During your cruise, you'll enjoy an ice cream. At the boat ride’s conclusion, you will be transferred by trolley to the main square of Pisa, the Field of Miracles. You guided tour of the square will include exterior views of the famous Leaning Tower, Cathedral, and Baptistry. After the visit, you will have approximately 45 minutes of free time for shopping, before being transferred by trolley to San Rossore National Reserve where your coach is waiting to return you to Livorno and the ship.

 

All comments welcome.

[hcat]

sounds great-- when we went to Pisa we took a diff tour which was combined with another main attraction & Pisa was on the way back..

 

.Our bus parked far from the Field of Miracles & we had to walk to the Field--not only was it quite a hike but we had to pass through the gauntlet of aggressive, rude vendors hawking junky items (not made in Italy).. The Field itself was breathtaking but the rest was not very pleasant

 

the tour you described sounds much better==not sure what the trolley might be but better than having to walk!

[Jo and Rob]

sounds great-- when we went to Pisa we took a diff tour which was combined with another main attraction & Pisa was on the way back..

 

.Our bus parked far from the Field of Miracles & we had to walk to the Field--not only was it quite a hike but we had to pass through the gauntlet of aggressive, rude vendors hawking junky items (not made in Italy).. The Field itself was breathtaking but the rest was not very pleasant

 

the tour you described sounds much better==not sure what the trolley might be but better than having to walk!

 

I did a search on google images and it looks like a little tourist train which sounds much better than the walk in August heat, especially having read about your vendors! Thanks for the warning!

[u2cruiser]

sounds great-- when we went to Pisa we took a diff tour which was combined with another main attraction & Pisa was on the way back..

 

.Our bus parked far from the Field of Miracles & we had to walk to the Field--not only was it quite a hike but we had to pass through the gauntlet of aggressive, rude vendors hawking junky items (not made in Italy).. The Field itself was breathtaking but the rest was not very pleasant

 

the tour you described sounds much better==not sure what the trolley might be but better than having to walk!

 

Same here, we did the Florence and Pisa 'on your own' (not!) tour. Went to Pisa first (which was beautiful) but only had 45 minutes there. We didn't get as far as the river. I think that would be excellent. The vendors were just setting up. I would have really liked more time there. Florence was an absolute wash out, literally. We were caught in torrential rain, but our guide insisted that we all walk together, very slowly in the storm, to the meeting point, which was a leather factory with a demonstration. Never again! :mad:

[Jo and Rob]

Same here, we did the Florence and Pisa 'on your own' (not!) tour. Went to Pisa first (which was beautiful) but only had 45 minutes there. We didn't get as far as the river. I think that would be excellent. The vendors were just setting up. I would have really liked more time there. Florence was an absolute wash out, literally. We were caught in torrential rain, but our guide insisted that we all walk together, very slowly in the storm, to the meeting point, which was a leather factory with a demonstration. Never again! :mad:

 

We were considering the Panoramic Florence tour before we found the Panoramic Pisa and that too contained a leather factory!!

[welshfamily]

Hi,

We are also going to be calling at Livornio in August ( sailing 12th ) and I had not even bothered to read the details of this trip as I believed it was a non walking tour i.e. on a coach. It sounds great. I too would be interested to hear from anyone who has done this.

Jo and Rob when I you going?

Thanks

[u2cruiser]

We were considering the Panoramic Florence tour before we found the Panoramic Pisa and that too contained a leather factory!!

 

I think Celebrity must work in partnership with these 'meeting points' as they are free toilet stops too. You can imagine, most of us were totally soaked through, then expected to watch a leather demonstration? It was really a shop/leather gallery in the main square in Florence and the prices were ridiculous. Needless to say, most of us scarpered immediately to get warm and dry off in a cafe. It wasn't a good experience and I think you are making the best choice here, especially with the children. Trying to do both places at once was too much. Might have been a different story if the sun had shone instead of the torrential rain.

 

Pisa was quite good as we were given a ticket to use a restaurant's toilets and given a free bottle of water. If the children prefer not to listen to the long, drawn out talks about each building, you could ask for a meeting place and do it on your own to suit yourselves. We hate being herded. We lost 2 of our coach pax at Pisa and had to go back for them!

[Steve&Liz]

The tour sounds very good.

We were in Pisa last year with Celebrity Eclipse and we caught the local train from Livorno to Pisa and used the Hop on Hop off bus and saw all the sights at our own pace. Easy enough to do. We had a great day. :)

[u2cruiser]

Pisa on your own NOT! We had to stay with this tour guide, walking at a snail's pace a long way from the bus park right into the main square, where we were given 45 minutes free time. :( We knew about the length of time from the tour description, but didn't expect the enforced long march with the tour guide. Much better if they let us free from the bus park, then we could have almost doubled our time there. We'll know next time.

[Orlandocruiser]

Nice pic U2. We did the Florence and Accademia tour (Florence only) which went into the Accademia to see the David and into Santa Croce. All of the other stops were outside views (it was Sunday) We, too, "shopped" at a gold store. I think the tour guide would have had us doing the "shopping" at the stores on the Ponte Vecchio but as it was pouring she took us to an inside shop for which we were all grateful to be able to dry off for a bit. We had lunch included in this tour and it was good but a drawn out affair for which we were again grateful to be in out of the rain. (If it had been nice I think we would have skipped out after the first course.) After our tour of Santa Croce I think she took people to a leather store but she left us with instructions to be back at that place in 45 minutes so DH and I went off on our own. We were in Florence about 7 hours (not counting the stop at the beginning at the Piazzale) so if you did some homework Florence on you own would give you lots of time to get around.

[u2cruiser]

Nice pic U2. We did the Florence and Accademia tour (Florence only) which went into the Accademia to see the David and into Santa Croce. All of the other stops were outside views (it was Sunday) We, too, "shopped" at a gold store. I think the tour guide would have had us doing the "shopping" at the stores on the Ponte Vecchio but as it was pouring she took us to an inside shop for which we were all grateful to be able to dry off for a bit. We had lunch included in this tour and it was good but a drawn out affair for which we were again grateful to be in out of the rain. (If it had been nice I think we would have skipped out after the first course.) After our tour of Santa Croce I think she took people to a leather store but she left us with instructions to be back at that place in 45 minutes so DH and I went off on our own. We were in Florence about 7 hours (not counting the stop at the beginning at the Piazzale) so if you did some homework Florence on you own would give you lots of time to get around.

 

Ahoy shipmate :D

If you have done ship's tours before, I expect you soon get to know what to avoid and how to get the most out of it. We were very unfortunate with the weather that day weren't we?

[Orlandocruiser]

It was too bad about Florence - that was the one stop we were really anxious to see. I really wouldn't have minded if we had had a washout at the other places. Let that be a warning to everyone - make sure you have at least some sort of a jacket on any cruise. Celebrity provides umbrellas in the rooms but we saw many people with no umbrella or jacket. The umbrella and poncho vendors were out in force that day and probably making a killing on sales! We had hooded windbreakers that kept us dry (except for the drips on my glasses:)) and dried off quickly when we were inside.

[SuiteTraveler]

I just got back from a Med cruise. Having been to Pisa before - I was quite underwhelmed with it. I suppose everyone must see the leaning tower once in their lives, but it is not the be all, end all great experience. Fortunately that same day we went for lunch in a winery in Tuscany - which was fantastic. We also did Florence from our cruise last year - it was much nicer, we just walked around the city on our own, had lunch and took photos. This year, we did a private tour to Volterra, San Gimingnano, Monteriggioni and Sienna - this is THE tour to take in this location and I recommend you hire a private driver to take you. Of these 4 towns, I liked seeing San Gimingnano best of all. There was great shopping and the gelato shop that won the World's best competition - it was terrific. Volterra was very interesting and we had a great lunch at Monteriggioni. The Tuscan countryside is absolutely beautiful and, to me, it is the heart of Italy.

[Ma Bell]

I just got back from a Med cruise. Having been to Pisa before - I was quite underwhelmed with it. I suppose everyone must see the leaning tower once in their lives, but it is not the be all, end all great experience. Fortunately that same day we went for lunch in a winery in Tuscany - which was fantastic. We also did Florence from our cruise last year - it was much nicer, we just walked around the city on our own, had lunch and took photos. This year, we did a private tour to Volterra, San Gimingnano, Monteriggioni and Sienna - this is THE tour to take in this location and I recommend you hire a private driver to take you. Of these 4 towns, I liked seeing San Gimingnano best of all. There was great shopping and the gelato shop that won the World's best competition - it was terrific. Volterra was very interesting and we had a great lunch at Monteriggioni. The Tuscan countryside is absolutely beautiful and, to me, it is the heart of Italy.

 

I absolutely agree. We've been all over Italy and I'd say Pisa is probably my least favorite place. I know the tower is something people want to see, but there are so many really lovely things to see and do.

[Jo and Rob]

Thanks for all the useful comments. Do Celebrity supply umbrellas in all cabins then? I have not heard of this before.

[SuiteTraveler]

Thanks for all the useful comments. Do Celebrity supply umbrellas in all cabins then? I have not heard of this before.

 

Yes, you will find an umbrella in your wardrobe on the Eclipse. There is only 1 however.

[Jo and Rob]

Our neighbour's mum just got back from the Eclipse. She did the Panoramic Florence and hated it as it was hard sell shopping with nothing about the history of the city, so your experiences of the dreaded leather factory seem to still be a real issue. Another vote for Panoramic Pisa I think! ;)

[guidance lady]

I just got back from a Med cruise. Having been to Pisa before - I was quite underwhelmed with it. I suppose everyone must see the leaning tower once in their lives, but it is not the be all, end all great experience. Fortunately that same day we went for lunch in a winery in Tuscany - which was fantastic. We also did Florence from our cruise last year - it was much nicer, we just walked around the city on our own, had lunch and took photos. This year, we did a private tour to Volterra, San Gimingnano, Monteriggioni and Sienna - this is THE tour to take in this location and I recommend you hire a private driver to take you. Of these 4 towns, I liked seeing San Gimingnano best of all. There was great shopping and the gelato shop that won the World's best competition - it was terrific. Volterra was very interesting and we had a great lunch at Monteriggioni. The Tuscan countryside is absolutely beautiful and, to me, it is the heart of Italy.

Hi, can you tell me which private company you used and how much that tour cost, it sounds exactly like what I'd like to do. Did they set up the itinerary or did you? Our cruise is coming up, July 1. I was going to do the ship's tour but will probably regret it.

Thanks

[iancal]

Pisa is very, very easy to do on your own. I would not bother with the tour. I have not been on the tour but I can tell you that you probably would not see much in the city from the boat. There are 15 foot or more stone walls along the river as it passes through the city. Not as high walls as the river in Rome but high enough that I do not think you will see much. Frankly, there is not much to see in Pisa other than the Field of Miracles. We took the train and got off at Pisa Rossario (sp)-after that it was a 5 minute walk. We have been to Italy several times. We only went to Pisa because we had a spare day whilst in Lucca. It it were me, I would skip Pisa in favour of Cinque Terre, Florence, or some Tuscan Hill towns.

 

I would not sign up for ANY tour that included a visit to a leather factory.

[vinoblanco]

Hi, I'm sorry you all had such poor experiences. Last July 8 of us who met up on CC did a private tour with Romeinlimo and got to climb to the top of the tower of Piza, (had to book our tickets on the internet for extra charge). Then taken through the beautiful Tuscan countryside into Florence and round the sights including the museum to see the origional statue of David, which is awesome. The driver had already got tickets for this. Driver very knowledgable and recommended an excellent inexpensive restaurant for lunch and took us to a local ice cream place. No hard selling of any sort, just a lovely relaxing day.

[SuiteTraveler]

Hi, can you tell me which private company you used and how much that tour cost, it sounds exactly like what I'd like to do. Did they set up the itinerary or did you? Our cruise is coming up, July 1. I was going to do the ship's tour but will probably regret it.

Thanks

 

www.romelimostours.com

 

550 Euros

 

We requested the itinerary added on to their San Gimignano and Sienna tour. I wouldn't do the ship's tour if I could avoid it - you see so much less and have to go at the pace of the slowest person in the group. I will say, I think we spent too much time in Sienna. Volterra and San Gimignano were much more interesting and there were things I would have enjoyed doing there had we had more time. We did go in the Basilica de Santo Dominico outside of Sienna where they have the head of St Catherine. That was rather interesting. I'm always poking around these old churches for these kinds of weird relics - everyone on the tour was just agog. Later on the ship I did some research on the internet to find out the story behind this relic, which is just as crazy as actually innocently coming upon these relics.

[guidance lady]

Thanks, I will contact Rome in limo about going to those Tuscan towns. You are right about the crowded and slow ships' tours, not to mention the obligatory visit to an alabaster factory. We are in Livorno from 10 to 10 so we should have plenty of time. I too love to go into churches much to my husband's dismay. I'll need to schedule a winery visit too.

I just read up on St Catherine of Siena, did not know she was a mystic. I had her confused with St Catherine of the wheel, who was a martyr from Alexandria. I think she died tortured on the wheel. As a girl I loved reading those gruesome catechisms. I will definitely visit that Basilica in Siena.