euro cruiser

Ferries are capacity controlled, they can only sell the number of tickets that they have seats for, so purchase your ferry tickets in advance to avoid getting shut out.

I found the Afar article, unfortunately they don't identify their sources other than "the Italian government recently announced". I've been digging around looking for more information, because this is great news, but so far no luck. The projects listed for 2023-2027 by RFI don't include anything about Pompei, but I did see something about improving the line between Pisa and Florence to allow higher speed trains, which is great news for cruisers. Per la lunga percorrenza (rfi.it) I think you're right about the date being slippery.

The shuttle bus service at Civitavecchia is very specific, you walked to an internal stop that doesn't pick up passengers going to cruise ships. The only way to get a bus to the ship is to start at Largo della Pace, which is presumably where the first bus dropped you off.

Is it your assumption that a new station will be needed, or did you read that somewhere?

Here is info on the Rome-Pompei train in English: Meloni inaugurates direct Rome-Pompeii rail service - English - ANSA.it

This train has already started but it's very, very limited. Right now it only runs once a month, on the third Sunday: Inaugurato il nuovo Frecciarossa diretto tra Roma e Pompei - MetroNews Right now it goes to the existing Trenitalia Pompei station, then a bus takes you to the excavations. Here is the official announcement, but it says nothing about a new train station nearer to the site: MiC e Gruppo FS: da Roma a Pompei in Frecciarossa dal 16 luglio parte il nuovo collegamento diretto (fsitaliane.it)

For a 7 PM departure you'll need to be on board by 6:30, and dinner isn't served in Naples until 7 or later. It might be better to try for lunch. As for the cannoli, Italian food is very regional and cannoli are Sicilian. Sfogliatelle and zeppole are more Neapolitan specialties. Gran Cafe Gambrinus is walking distance from the cruise port (three-quarters of a mile), maybe take a look at what they offer? Website here: Pasticceria | Gran Caffè Gambrinus (grancaffegambrinus.com) Another possibility is Gran Gusto, a big gourmet store also within walking distance of the port (a little over a half mile): Pizza bread and desserts - Gran Gusto (gran-gusto.it)

You can still use the app, even at the station, if you find the backup for in person purchases too long. We missed a train several years ago because both the ticket windows and the machines were completely backed up with cruisers. The app can be used to purchase tickets up to five minutes prior to the train departure time.

Only purchase directly from the train operator, in this case Trenitalia. To purchase on-line: EN - Trenitalia App information: Mobile ticketing - Trenitalia

These are regionale trains, which means they cannot sell out. You may wind up standing in any case as they are not seat assigned trains. The difficulty with purchasing day of is the lines at the station, since hundreds of your fellow cruisers will be doing the same thing, struggling with the machines to figure out the language, etc. To speed things along, I would use the app to purchase the tickets but you can do it the morning of the trip.

That's plenty of time if it is a domestic flight (within the Scengen zone) but it's not enough for an international flight, they require three hours.

Venezia Santa Lucia is the station in Venice proper, so that's the only you'll want. As this is a terminal station (all lines end here), all tracks are accessible. The transfer will not be difficult at all, Ferrara Centrale only has six tracks so it won't be far from one to another. There is an underground passageway to move from one track to another as well as elevators. Station info (in Italian only): Ferrara (rfi.it)

The good news is that you are wrong, private companies rarely participate in the strikes, as they are not unionized. It's the public transportation companies only, most of the time. One exception to that is Italotreno, they occasionally participate in strikes. A strike does make it more challenging, I would do my best on the roll call for your sailing to impress upon people the impact of a strike, in order to get a group together to share private transport into town and back. Once in town almost everything is pretty walkable. You may need to scale back what you try to accomplish, but you'll still have a great day.

Check with the hotel if the services they used are authorized to enter the port. If so, you'll be dropped off at the terminal (or at your ship if in berths 25 or 26). If they are not authorized to enter you'll be dropped off at the Largo della Pace shuttle bus stop, where you'll get a free bus to your ship or terminal.

I'm not arguing with you, I'm a big user of trains and public transportation in general, but it's important to be truthful about what people may encounter. Many cruisers, especially on longer trips to Europe, have a lot of luggage to deal with and that's not always compatible with public transit, especially for folks who don't use it often.

I love your color-coded timetable! It's very easy to read and understand. I don't love all the programmed tours, but that's me. You know how you and your husband like to travel and experience a place, so it if works for you, it's perfect.

Rome2Rio is a good start, to give you the lay of the land, but it's not complete and sometimes not updated so always double check what you find there. The train is a great budget option but you must be able to deal with your luggage yourself, there is no help with that. This includes climbing up and down steps on the train (not all trains have steps, but some do), finding a place to stow the bags, lifting them over your head onto a rack.

Taxis are different than car services, which are pre-booked. When I said taxis are easy I meant a traditional taxi, on the meter, not a car service.

It's not hard to find taxis in Rome, it's just expensive. I would first go through the concierge at your hotel, and I wouldn't wait until you arrive. Call/e-mail the hotel today and see if they can arrange it for you.

You cannot walk out of the port at Livorno in most cases. The ship will provide a transfer to Piazza Municipio in Livorno (for a fee), from there to the train station is 2.4 km/1.5 miles on foot. Trying to see both Florence and Pisa is quite a lot, it would be better to focus on just Florence, or pair Pisa with Lucca.

Usually the on-board time is 30 minutes prior to the departure time, so in your case 6:30 PM (18:30). I always advise (and do myself) taking the next-to-the-last train that would get you back in time, just in case. Allowing 15 minutes to walk from the train station to the ship, the absolute latest you could arrive back at Genova P. Principe would be 18:15, and that's really risky with regionale trains. There is a 17:46 IC train that arrives at 18:15, I would look at this as your safety or fall-back option, if all else fails. Personally, I would take the 16:55 train that arrives to P. Principe at 17:46. I know that's quite a bit before you're due back on board, but for me part of enjoying my day is not worrying constantly about getting back, with this much pad time it's very low risk. As these are regionale trains there's no need to buy in advance, other than the ease of not having to do it on site.

Based solely on location I'd leave the Isabella out of the discussion and pick one of the other two.

No, there is no fixed rate for trips from Civitiavecchia to the center of Rome. In general, in Italy you will do better with a car service when you are traveling from one city to another, while within a city a taxi will be a better deal. So, if you want to be driven, arrange with a car service ahead of time.

To my knowledge there has never been a fixed fare between Rome and Civitavecchia, and if there was it would never have been as low as 45 euro, even two decades ago when they first transitioned to the euro. For perspective, the fixed fare for a taxi from the airport to Civitavecchia is 125 Euro. Tariffario_Taxi_REV.pdf (comune.roma.it) (page two is in English)

Tickets purchased on line are digital. The Civitavecchia Express makes two stops in Rome on every run, in each direction, at S. Pietro and Ostiense. In theory I would think the CE ticket could be used on a regionale train, but I don't know that for sure.