Is the Exclusive Pisa/Florence tour worth the 10.5 hours?

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

New to Celebrity and booked a Med cruise. We want to see everything!! I am assuming that that excursion would let us see it all.

 

So much of the port of call for Europe board is clogged with Venice and Rome questions. Couldn't find anything about this specifically for X.

[Hapytocruise]

Having done full day tours my husband and I learned the hard way never to try them again. That said I appreciate your goal to see as much as you can. I would pass on Pisa not much to see other than the tower and go for a tour which was just Florence which hopefully is less than 10.5 hours.

 

 

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[markeb]

I've visited both Pisa and Florence in the past, not on a cruise ship. I can't speak to the quality of the Celebrity excursion, but, yes, 10.5 hours for Pisa and Florence is reasonable, but if I'm finding the right tour, I'm a little concerned that it could lend itself to frustration.

 

You get 30 minutes at the square in Pisa; that's fine for a walk around and photo-op, but no time to go into anything. The Florence write up only highlights the Ponte Vecchio and discusses "discovering" the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in the Piazza del Duomo and Church of Santa Croce, with a time out for what's probably a long lunch, with all sorts of small shops around the Piazza for a quick bite and move on.

 

Hopefully, someone comes up on the 'net who's been on the tour. FWIW, it's about 1 1/2 train ride from Pisa to Florence, the train station is about a 10 minute walk from the Piazza, and everything is near the Piazza. Depends on your comfort level and how long you're in port...

Edited February 9, 2017 by markeb

[tweetylori]

We did a romeinlimo private tour and thought it was terrific. You can personalize and go wherever you want.

[Lastdance]

We did a romeinlimo private tour and thought it was terrific. You can personalize and go wherever you want.

 

 

Ditto...we did the same with RIL, but just the two of us. We chose what we wanted to see for sure and they did the rest...it was fantastic. We also bought some tickets online and skipped lines too. It was wonderful and a nine hour tour....I would also skip Pisa...Siena is so much better or even Lucca.

 

 

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[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We decided to use a private out company we use throughout the world and sipp the ships excursion.

 

But I still want to see Pisa so we will do that. Cross it off the list!

[Beanb41]

With the attitude that one cannot see everything in the area in a day and the fact that a return visit is almost 100% unlikely we are self touring on the train to Florence, visiting Uffizi and academia, training back to Pisa for a whistle stop tour to the tower and back to Livorno. FIrst train 8.12 back in Livorno at 5.30. Our itinerary is on the Cruiise Critic Italy ports forum. Cheaper than the ships tour and in our view we will see a lot more. Lunch will be had on the run

[sanger727]

I second to pass on Pisa, it was disappointing to me and wouldn't go out of your way to see it. If you aim to see both in one day, unless you have an overnight stop or stop longer than 12 hours; there's no way I'd try to DIY or independently book such a long trip during a port stop. Would do the cruise ship version for this just for the logistics of the ship waiting if there are any hold ups or delays.

 

 

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[Nebr.cruiser]

We did a private small group tour that hit Pisa and Florence. Of course you are not going to be able to see 'everything' but we saw the main highlights of each stop and were very satisfied with our tour.

 

I'm not sure how long the tour was, but it was a full day tour.

[Davidc5412]

Did the Celebrity tour in 2014

Knew very little about Florence before hand and was delighted with the day there. Basically walking tour around town to see all the sights followed by lunch

Was around 1.5 hour coach trip there and back so around 7 hours sightseeing and lunch

 

Pisa stop is around 1.5 hours , plenty of time for pics and walk round the plaza as there is not much else to see other than the obligatory souvenir market

[donaldsc]

Did the Celebrity tour in 2014

Knew very little about Florence before hand and was delighted with the day there. Basically walking tour around town to see all the sights followed by lunch

Was around 1.5 hour coach trip there and back so around 7 hours sightseeing and lunch

 

Pisa stop is around 1.5 hours , plenty of time for pics and walk round the plaza as there is not much else to see other than the obligatory souvenir market

 

What percentage of your day in Firenze was wasted sitting at a table eating lunch. If I had only 7 hours total in one of the cultural centers of Italy, I would not waste it eating lunch. Just my opinion and I am sure not shared by many on CC.

 

DON

[caribill]

New to Celebrity and booked a Med cruise. We want to see everything!! I am assuming that that excursion would let us see it all.

 

 

Seeing both Florence and Pisa is well worth it, especially if you have never been to either before. You still would not see it all, but you will see a lot.

 

I cannot answer if the ship's tour is a good value or not.

[caribill]

What percentage of your day in Firenze was wasted sitting at a table eating lunch. If I had only 7 hours total in one of the cultural centers of Italy, I would not waste it eating lunch.

 

DON

 

Agree 100%.

 

Besides, it would be better to just get some great gelato and one of Florence's great gelato shops.

[4774Papa]

We lived in Germany from 87 to 91 and did Florence and Pisa by land. Florence deserves at least three full days to see properly.

 

If you think that you will never come back to Italy and see Florence, the by all means take a tour (ship or private) to Florence. However, if you think that you will be back, find another tour that avoids so much travel.

 

We did a W. Med cruise in 2012 and did a tour of Pisa and Lucca that we very good. If you want to walk up the leaning tower, you need to make advance reservations.

[denatravels]

If you do Florence on your own, you will want to book a "skip the line" tour-- you can do that when you arrive if you want.

I did Florence by land, so I had more time. But I booked a tour (I think through viator) that included three parts-- a two- three hour walking tour, skip the line tour at the David, and skip the line guided tour at uffitzi-- it was less than $100 and wasn't continuous. Each part was separate-- we had some time between each part to wander and we went to the food stall hall for lunch(forget what the official name is), which was fun-- we had an indoor "picnic", where we bought a melon, prosciutto, cheeses, and some wine.

 

 

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[sanger727]

What percentage of your day in Firenze was wasted sitting at a table eating lunch. If I had only 7 hours total in one of the cultural centers of Italy, I would not waste it eating lunch. Just my opinion and I am sure not shared by many on CC.

 

 

 

DON

 

 

Some people, me included, can't go a 10 hour day without eating. Whether that means grabbing a sandwich to go from a cafe or sitting down to eat is personal choice. But I personally only look at the cruise ship stop as a chance to hit the highlights and see what the city has to offer; not necessarily to thoroughly tour the city. I'd rather come back for a land trip to do a real sightseeing tour.

 

I've not been to Florence, but that's certainly how I feel about Rome. It's impossible to really see Rome on a port stop; so can either rush around doing drive-bys of the major attractions or can pick a reasonable number of things to see and enjoy your day.

 

 

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[Julma]

If you do Florence on your own, you will want to book a "skip the line" tour-- you can do that when you arrive if you want.

I did Florence by land, so I had more time. But I booked a tour (I think through viator) that included three parts-- a two- three hour walking tour, skip the line tour at the David, and skip the line guided tour at uffitzi-- it was less than $100 and wasn't continuous. Each part was separate-- we had some time between each part to wander and we went to the food stall hall for lunch(forget what the official name is), which was fun-- we had an indoor "picnic", where we bought a melon, prosciutto, cheeses, and some wine.

 

 

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Mercarto Centrale or Central Market, where you had your picnic, is one of my favorite places in Florence. My son studied in Florence, so been there several times, I would do exactly as stated above, if I had just a day.

[LzyCruiser_NWA]

We did a romeinlimo private tour and thought it was terrific. You can personalize and go wherever you want.

 

+1 for this.

 

Would book rome in Limo, I'd request Laura if she was available.

 

Then you go and do what you want. Our first stop? a pharmacy because I was sick!.

[erros]

Didn't do the 10.5 hour tour on Celebrity but did it on Royal and didn't see the real David. Other than that it was a great tour and small group was great!

[bigbenboys]

If you do Florence on your own, you will want to book a "skip the line" tour-- you can do that when you arrive if you want.

I did Florence by land, so I had more time. But I booked a tour (I think through viator) that included three parts-- a two- three hour walking tour, skip the line tour at the David, and skip the line guided tour at uffitzi-- it was less than $100 and wasn't continuous. Each part was separate-- we had some time between each part to wander and we went to the food stall hall for lunch(forget what the official name is), which was fun-- we had an indoor "picnic", where we bought a melon, prosciutto, cheeses, and some wine.

 

 

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We have done both, but on different cruises. If you had to pic I would skip Pisa. Florence was real nice. I had book our museum entrance times online a head of time. I think through the museum website see below. We did book our tour through Celebrity. It was Florence on your own. The tour took us to the train station on to the train and walked us to the Piazza del Duomo. The we were on our own. We met back at the train station for the train and bus ride back.

 

http://www.firenzemusei.it/

[richsea]

We've never been to Pisa, but visited Florence on a trans Atlantic. Admittedly Florence is a long way from the port, but worth the long bus ride to get there. Just an amazing beautiful city. I hear you sbout wanting to see as much as possible, so perhaps you can plan to see Pisa & the tower on your next visit!

[denatravels]

Mercarto Centrale or Central Market, where you had your picnic, is one of my favorite places in Florence. My son studied in Florence, so been there several times, I would do exactly as stated above, if I had just a day.

 

 

Yes!! It was a fantastic day, despite 100 degree temps, which was pretty awful (in a hotel with no A/C).

I haven't been to Pisa because I've heard it's totally over-rated. Lucca and Siena are both nice. However, I couldn't imagine going to Florence and missing The David-- really, truly a highlight.

 

 

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[easyboy]

New to Celebrity and booked a Med cruise. We want to see everything!! I am assuming that that excursion would let us see it all.

 

So much of the port of call for Europe board is clogged with Venice and Rome questions. Couldn't find anything about this specifically for X.

You may want to check this.

 

http://www.tuscanybus.com/

[friendlyfifer]

If havinga photo opportunity at the Leaning Tower of Pisa is important to you, then of course you must go there. My advice would be to get a private tour. There is so much to see n Florence and having local knowledge to get round it all is important. The city is full of tourists at all times of the year.

You can grab a slice of pizza or a sandwich from a shop. Prices for lunch are high so unless you want to waste time and money, give it a miss.

Another option would be to travel from Pisa to Rome by train and arrange a walking tour. Your guide could meet you at the train station,

I'm sure the Celebrity tour will not satisfy you if you are fond of culture. Don't waste your time over a long lunch or shopping. Florence is one of the world' gems! Enjoy!

[Nebr.cruiser]

What was nice about our private tour was that none of us really wanted to shop, so we didn't waste time on that. We had a lunch (not included), but it was not a long extended meal and was not expensive--maybe a half hour out of the day and around $7 for a nice pasta meal.

 

We also had the quick passes into the galleries so that we didn't have to wait in line--very important if you want to see more.

 

Our tour gave us a the main highlights of Florence, plus the leaning tower, which is all we expected for a one day tour. Of course it is going to take most of the day, given the driving time and all there is to see in Florence.