Bandit and Chilli

Thanks, Perakcruiser! Very helpful! We'll take another look at the Aix & Avignon tour, understanding it may be sold out. We were just concerned it would be too much walking for the kids. I've been to both cities, but as a single traveler many years ago. Much different with kids in tow. Very reassuring about the embarkation time -- we really want to be able to leave Florence after (an early) lunch. We're leaning towards hiring a taxi in Tunisia. For Palermo, we booked the Cefalu excursion since it seems to give us a mix of culture and seaside without too much walking.

Hi, My wife and I will be taking our daughters (5 1/2 years old and 1 1/2 years old) on the MSC Grandiosa in late April. We would appreciate any guidance from prior cruisers on a few questions. We are starting our cruise in Livorno and ending in Naples. We both spent time in Florence in our college years (though it's been a few decades without having made it back) and we had our honeymoon in Sorrento, so we are spending time in both at the bookends of our trip. Does MSC have any shuttle service from Florence to Livorno? I assume they only have airport transfers if you book the flight and cruise together, as I only see shore excursion options when I log into MSC. Since we'll have two little ones and our luggage, I assume we'll need to book a taxi with car seats (my wife has read that our American ones are not considered legal in Italy), but would appreciate if anyone knows of any shuttle services they would recommend. How flexible is the embarkation time? The ship doesn't depart until 8 pm, but we've been assigned a noon embarkation time. We would rather have lunch in Florence and then head to Livorno and board mid-afternoon. The laundry packages provide the option to buy them per adult. I assume the number of pieces is also per adult? In other words, if we sign my wife and I each up for the 20 piece package, we would get two pickups of up to 20 items. Same if we did 40 pieces -- it would be 40 per person for whom we pay? I understand that the Baby's Club has time periods when you stay there with the child and other times where you can drop off the child, but only for 1 or 2 hours, while older kids can pretty much stay in the Kids Club all day. So we're assuming we'll bring both kids on all excursions. Some questions about excursions -- I've been to Aix-en-Provence and Barcelona in the past and we're excited about both. The port in Barcelona seems close enough to the Barri Gotic that we can take the shuttle and walk around on our own. We're more concerned about transportation to Aix-en-Provence and about excursions or independent options in Tunisia and Palermo. Are the walking tours in Aix-en-Provence and Tunisia (Shopping tour of the Medina and Sidi Bou Said) stroller-friendly? Is the pace of walking difficult for small children? We would put our 1 1/2 year old in her stroller, but expect our 5 1/2 year old to walk. We're concerned that walking tours would be too fast-paced for our children and are considering touring on our own. For Aix-en-Provence, we would need a taxi with car seats or third-party excursion that provides transportation but largely leaves you on your own. For Tunisia, we're primarily interested in Sidi Bou Said and have read that you can easily hire taxis at the port for a round-trip tour (and that you pay at the end after they wait for you), which would be fine, but we're concerned about the car seats. Any experience and guidance would be greatly appreciated! For Palermo, we're considering whether to do the coach trip to Mondello with four hours of free time on your own, but worried that the kids will get bored with that much time at the beach in April. The coach tour that includes Palermo and Mondello, with two hours in Mondello, seems like the perfect pace, but, while I can add it to our cart, the fine print says it only runs in the summer. Does anyone know whether its inclusion in the options you can select means it will be offered in April? If not, any experience with travelling independently in Palermo? It looks like there is a hop-on-hop-off bus stop not far from the cruise terminal, which could be an option. We also understand that MSC will not allow bringing drinks on board and has restrictions on bringing food on board unless it is packaged. Can we buy local wine in each port and "check" it for pickup at the end of the cruise? We're resigned to assuming that, if we buy Brunello or Chianti in Tuscany before the cruise, we'll have to have it shipped, but hoping to pickup some good local French and Spanish wines in Aix and Barcelona without needing to spend large amounts on shipping it back to the states. As for food, it seems like coffee, nuts and chips are ok. Any trouble with boxes of calissons or other candy? Thank you!