euro cruiser

Ahh, okay. You might want to consider spending a bit more time in Venice, as you'll only have a half day there with a one night stay after a cruise. From Ravenna to Venice is at least two and a half hours by car or bus transfer and a bit longer by train.

Okay. Well, another source to keep an eye on is ENAC, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority. The link below is to their statement on flights guaranteed to go even during a strike. It says that flights taking off between 7 to 10 in the morning and from 6 to 9 in the evening will go. Unfortunately, that doesn't help with your 15:00 flight. Voli garantiti in caso di sciopero (enac.gov.it)

One thing to consider is what is your personal ratio of travel time vs. "being there" time. I know for myself that I generally want about twice as much time in a place as I spend getting there and back. For that reason, I would not try to do a combination Florence and Pisa day from Livorno, because it takes too long to get there and back, there's just not enough time in either place for my taste. But that's me, you need to consider what feels comfortable to you. John Bull has hit the major sites at most of the Italy ports. For Messina, most people head to either Taormina or Mt. Etna. These are very different places, so again it comes down to what interests you. Brindisi is in Puglia, some of the key sites in that region are Alberobello, famous for the trulli, Lecce, old town Bari, Polignano a Mare, and Ostuni. Of these, the easiest to get to are Lecce and Ostuni, each of which can easily be reached by train.

Regarding what happens if there is a strike that impacts the airline industry, the EU consumer protection law says: "The EU considers air traffic management decisions, political instability, adverse weather, worker strikes, and security risks to be “extraordinary circumstances” that do not require the airlines to provide compensation." Source here: How to Get Your Money Back for Delayed or Canceled Europe Flights - AFAR The airline wants to get you moving so they'll do their best to rebook you as soon as possible, but given how busy they are, there aren't a lot of open seats to put people in. You could wind up cooling your heels for a day or two, or accepting a flight with a lot of connections.

I'm not positive as I don't know the particulars of every union, but I don't think the 20 October strike impacts the air sector, just trains and motorways. This is an interesting one, it's half politcal and half economic. The announcement talks about Ukraine, the arms race, inflation, the reactionary policies of the Meloni government, etc. The announcement is here, for those interested. It's a good example of how different strikes are in Italy vs. the States. You can copy and paste the text into google translate to understand what it's all about. Sindacato Generale di Base | Contro guerra, carovita e precarietà -Per aumenti salariali generalizzati e pari all'inflazione (sindacatosgb.it)

Okay, a couple more questions. Will you be spending time in Rome prior to the cruise, and will you spend time in Italy afterwards? Are you flying into Rome and out of another airport?

Tap & Go is not offered on Trenitalia trains, so it won't be an option on the trains from the airport.

Please post a list of the ports, the day of week you will visit each (this impacts both opening of sites as well as public transportation) and the hours you will be in port. This will help us to help you.

Principe is the name of the station, you can find it on google maps using the following coordinates: 44.41629572622101, 8.919439125764601 It's located 300 meters/two-tenths of a mile on foot from the cruise port, you can make a google map to see the walking directions. Don't confuse the metro station with the Trenitalia Piazza Principe railroad station, which is nearby but the same place. It helps to get the entire story. The metro in Genova is free between the hours of 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM, and from 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM. According to the official website, this is an "experiment", so don't assume it will still be in effect when you are there, check to be sure. The offical page is linked below, but in Italian only. Google translate will get you the gist of the information, and if you scroll down you can see a map of the metro system. Metropolitana | AZIENDA MOBILITA' E TRASPORTI SpA (amt.genova.it) Even if the experiment ends and you have to pay, it's very inexpensive at 1,50 euro per ticket: Biglietti | AZIENDA MOBILITA' E TRASPORTI SpA (amt.genova.it) Those in Genoa recently may have found that the metro was closed for upgrades. It just reopened a couple of days ago, two weeks ahead of schedule. Da martedì 22 agosto la metropolitana torna in servizio (amt.genova.it)

Is there a cruise line that allows you to bring your own liquor on board?

For fine wines (and possibly liquor) you can check: Enoteca Cavacini, Via Gorizia, 2 Facebook page: Enoteca Cavacini | Civitavecchia | Facebook Antica Salumeria Enoteca Sebastiani dal 1840, Viale Giuseppe Garibaldi, 5 Website: La Nostra Cantina (enotecasebastiani.it) Expect the second place to be much more expensive. You can reach out to each on line and ask about liquor availability.

While you can find hard liquor in Italy, don't expect a wide variety of choices, it's not as popular there as in the States. Wine is available in wine shops and grocery stores, I think I remember seeing liquor in the grocery store as well but I'm not positive. If you're coming in from Rome, you'll find a better selection there. It might make sense to buy it and carry it with you to Civitavecchia. As for wine, are you looking for "better" wines, or everyday bottles? If the later, there's a Todi's store very close to the Largo della Pace port shuttle bus stop (Via Isonzo #8). It's open 8 AM - 8 PM every day except Sunday, when it closes at 1 PM. You can see the current weekly promotion leaflet here: Volantino Todis | Regione Lazio They've got a bottle of wine on sale for 2,89 euro! There are several more on pages 13 & 15. I don't see any liquors in the ad but that doesn't mean they don't sell them.

This is not a day trip, it takes a minimum of four hours each way to make the crossing. You can do a day trip over, then an overnight return, that would work if you have an overnight in Livorno. It looks like daily service in March but you can check your specific dates. Corsica ferry and sardinia ferry - The shipping company Corsica Ferries (corsica-ferries.co.uk)

You can get it right from the FCO web site, here: QPass (whyline.com)

It seems it would be fine at the end of a cruise, but not for a port day visit. For that it departs too late and takes too long to get there.

Yes, it's really easier to have them for future travel. Are we by any chance related to the same people? That borrowing thing sounds very, very familiar ...

None of the dual voltage products work well, they simply reduce the amount of power so they run at lower levels. Even with a voltage converter you won't get the same performance from your unit that you do at home, and you risk burning it out. The best solution is to purchase a flat iron upon arrival in Greece, it's the only way to consistently get full use of the product. Hair dryers will be provided by the cruise line and your hotel in Greece, though they also may not deliver the power you are accustomed to at home.

They run all day from Ercolano, so the fallback is to take the Circumvesuviana train from the Porta Nolana station in Naples (2.2 km/1.3 miles from the cruise port, on foot) to Ercolano Scavi and use the Vesuvio Express service from there. Their office is located in the piazza in front of the train station. Circumvesuviana schedule: ORARI NAPOLI - POGGIOMARINO dal 3 Luglio_0.pdf (eavsrl.it) There is a second line that makes a few stops at Ercolano but most now are on the Poggiomarino line: ORARI NAPOLI SORRENTO dal 17 Luglio_0.pdf (eavsrl.it) Note that the express trains are more expensive, not really worth it for this short trip. You can also get to the station in Naples by using the #1 tram, located in the street in front of the cruise port. You'll need a ticket for the tram (1,20 euro) which you can buy at several places in/near the cruise port. You must validate the ticket on the tram by inserting it in the stamping machine. There are both ticket booths and ticket machines at the Porta Nolana station, for the trip to Ercolano Scavi you need the NA2 Aziendale ticket, which costs 2,40 euro. I would buy two of these in the morning, so you have one for the return.

The closest Vesuvio Express bus pickup to the cruise port in Naples is at Piazza Giovanni Bovio, which is just 900 meters/six-tenths of a mile on foot from the cruise port.

It's relatively easy. As I was answering your question I discovered that Vesuvio Express now offers service from Naples, so you no longer need to take the local train to Ercolano to get the bus. That's a big improvement. Right now advance tickets are required for the climb to the crater's edge and they can only be purchased on line. Vesuvio Express will buy them for you but they charge quite a lot more for that service. It's not hard to do it yourself. HOWEVER, if you want the bus from Naples the only offer is the transfer including the ticket. You have to go to Ercolano (which means the local Circumvesuviana train from Naples) to get the transfer only option. The Transfer and ticket from Naples costs 40 euro. On your own it would cost 28,48 euro (Circumvesuviana train 2,40 euro each way, plus transfer only from Ercolano 12 euro, plus the self-purchased ticket 11,68 euro). So you pay quite a premium for the convenience, but I would seriously consider it. Here is the national park web site with the link for tickets, which are sold: The Great Cono | Vesuvius National Park (parconazionaledelvesuvio.it) Tickets are only sold up to 30 days prior. Here is the website for Vesuvio Express: Vesuvio Express Transfer For the Vesuvio You will see that the transfer alone from Ercolano is 12 euro, while the transfer plus ticket is 30 euro.

No, it's not. For a direct flight to the States you need to be at the airport three hours prior, or 8:05 AM in this case. It's about an hour by car from the ship to the airport, but there's no way to be sure you could get off the ship right at 7 AM.

Europcar, Hertz, Budget and Avis all have locations within walking distance of the port. Do note, however, that in addition to ZTLs (limited traffic zones), it is never a good idea to leave a parked car with luggage inside.

La Spezia is closer and easier, it offers more transportation options. Plus it's not a tender port like Portofino, so you have a little more control over your timing.

It's possible, I think the requirement is at least 10 days in advance. It's highly unlikely that there would be two national strikes in the same month, much less the same quarter. Given that the 20th is a Friday, that ups the chances that it will actually happen, in my experience/opinion (I have not collected data to support this conclusion).

I'm sure it didn't feel good, but nobody "shook you down". You broke the law by not validating the ticket (without validation you could keep using the same ticket over and over) and appeared to the ticket agent to be trying to scam the system, which largely works on trust. Put yourself in the agent's shoes, every tourist can claim to be ignorant of the process ... but ignorance isn't an excuse for breaking the law.