Italy shore excursions advice

[Bluestar01]

Hello

We are going to Italy, Greece, Croatia on NCL, family of 4, traveling with teen daughters, never been to Italy, interested in history and beaches, some adventures.

We have finally narrowed down our shore excursions to

At Messina (Sicily) we are looking at Mt Etna tour either through NCL or Italytours

At Naples, we are definitely going to Pompeii, looking at NCL or Italytours. 

In Livorno my daughters want to climb the Pisa tower.  So planning on doing that through NCL. 

 

Any suggestions, advice, from travelers who have used the Italytour company or any other ones and been to these places before?

Thanks

[cruisemom42]

4 minutes ago, Bluestar01 said:

In Livorno my daughters want to climb the Pisa tower.  So planning on doing that through NCL. 

 

Be sure the NCL tour actually includes climbing the Tower. Generally tickets have to be reserved for that well in advance and are timed (only a limited number per time slot). Most cruise tours that include Pisa only include a visit for photos and not the actual climb -- but perhaps NCL is different. Still I would confirm.

[mapleleaves]

You don't NEED a tour to see Pisa; take the train and visit at your own pace.   I think the train ride was about 20 minutes; 3 or 4 departures every hour.  We took the NCL shuttle to the train station, then a cab from the Pisa station to the entrance.  Ticket info:

Opera della Primaziale Pisana: sito ufficiale – A few words of advice before you buy your ticket (opapisa.it)

 

We considered Pompeii for our Naples stop but decided that Amalfi was our priority.  If you read past threads you'll find that Pompeii is also very easy to reach on your own by train.  But perhaps consider hiring a guide for INSIDE the ruins to get the most of your visit.   

 

Enjoy your cruise !

[carlmm]

1 hour ago, mapleleaves said:

  If you read past threads you'll find that Pompeii is also very easy to reach on your own by train.  But perhaps consider hiring a guide for INSIDE the ruins to get the most of your visit.   

 

Not only by train but also bus. The bus stop is much closer to the port than the train station.

If you want a guide inside depends very much on your level of interest and willingness to map your own path. I found the guided tours far to short and covering only small parts of the area. The audioguides and (good) guide books you can use for your own discovery cover much more and you can pace your day.

[klfhngr]

We did the same places two weeks ago. One thing that we learned is that we wished we would've done most of these tours on our own! The tour companies spend way to much time talking about the history (which is fine, but enough is enough). This prevented us from doing other things at port. Lesson learned for us. 

 

Examples: Pompei, next time we'd just get a ride there and take the tour on our own.

Montenegro/Croatia: The Montenegro tour was way to long, we didn't get much time to do stuff on our own. Croatia tour was nice because they gave us a lot of time on our own, we were able to shop and eat where we wanted.

Greece: Long bus tours and quick stops to a 'specialty' store that wasn't even on the agenda. I think they get kickbacks! 

 

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents 😉