jlovesee

LondonTowner, I really appreciate your comments, as I am considering HOHO too, any comments are appreciated! Thank you!

Jennifer

We are docked from 9-6PM, so we will not have a long time in the city.

Jennifer

So we are coming into Barcelona in a few weeks, on RC Liberty of the Seas. We are cruising out of Rome (Citavecchia), so its actually a port stop for us, not an embarkation point. Barcelona is the only city on the cruise that I have visited before, but it was 15 years ago, so its been awhile.

There are not many options from RC so I started looking at DIY. Was planning on booking the tour of Sagrada and then a hop on hop off, probably through Barcelona City Tour. Would also like to see the gothic cathedral too. Everything else is just gravy so to speak.

What would be the best way to do this? Since I would want to pre-book Sagrada tickets. Could we take a taxi to Sagrada, do the tour there and then pick up the HOHO bus and take it for a tour from there? Can I purchase tickets for HOHO at SF or should I pre-book those too? Or should I do it the other way, pick up the HOHO at the Columbus Monument, and then try to guess when we will get to Sagrada and book tickets for that time? Thoughts? Thanks!

Jennifer

Ok did not know about the Rick Steves book I looked it up on Amazon and it seems like a pretty good idea (have all the Fodor's books which are ok...)

I looked into RomeinLimo since it seems like a lot of people here recommend them they are 550 Euro (or about $115 per person US dollars) for 6 people and you can add a guide in Florence for 250 Euro. This includes both Pisa and Florence. Though the more I look into it the more I wonder about the inteligence of trying to do both in one day and if I should just stick with Florence.

Also considering doing a Pompeii tour through an outside company too, Pompeii is a big reason I am wanted to go on this trip anyway, and I would hate to rush through it to go to a "sales tour"

Jennifer

Very neat! Would be tentatively interested in sharing a tour, what companies have you looked at?

Jennifer

hmm... That's something to think about. The way we are doing the trip is 3 days at the beginning (arriving Monday morning and departing for the cruise Thursday afternoon), and then departing the cruise on Thursday morning, so we were thinking of just hitting something in Rome that interested us from the previous 3 days. But we could I guess take the train to Florence that morning and come back in the evening. Would that be douable? Our flight doesnt leave until 11:55 Friday morning so we can get back pretty late Thursday. Thanks so much for your help!

Jennifer

Hi all,

I have been reading along these forums for several months... but this is my first post so TIA for everyone's patience!

We are booked on the May 22 Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas 7 day Med. Cruise with four days prior in Rome. One of the excursions I am curious about is the Florence/Pisa 10 hr excursion. It was showing up on the generic list of RC excursions but when I checked on my specific "my cruise planner" that excursion wasn't available. At first I thought this was because it was sold out, so I called RC and now they are saying that most excursions arn't bookable until 60-90 days out. To put it bluntly I will kick myself if I miss out on Florence, its only 2nd to Pompeii. (might as well shot myself if I go on this cruise and miss that). So for this with any experience is the 60-90 day thing accurate?

If not, and lets say the Florence/Pisa Excursion is no longer offered anyone have any recommendations as to NON-Royal Caribbean excursions that include these two? Thanks in advance!

Jennifer