Need info from port to Rome, Florence, Sorrento Thanks

[gam888]

Going on Disney cruise to Europe in August. Need to know info going from port Civitavecchia into rome, from port La Spezia to Florence, from Naples to Sorreno, from Villefranche to Monte Carlo. Could anyone who has taken the train from the station into the city tell me how much it cost return? We are a family of 5, are there any local vendors at the port who will offer a sightseeing tour in a van into the corresponding city? Disney charges a small fortune for their shore excursions. What is the best sequence to visit Rome if we only have say 5,6 hours once we are in the city? Vatican, Colosseum, Forum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain are on the list if possible to fit them all in. Florence I believe the center and the Pont Vecchieo area is within walking distance from the train station? Please share any info possible for the do it yourself excursions. Thanks

[Susan-M]

Please read through the forums where you'll find most of the information that you've requested. (Not sure about La Spezia-Florence though, so you may want to post a specific question re that.)

 

Also, by using "Search This Forum" you'll be able to zero in on the locations of interest.

 

Villefranche is covered in the France forums, and there are threads there with good info on taking the train to Monte Carlo.

 

One site that you'll find useful: eport reviews

From this site, choose the ports that you'll be in, scroll through the info, and at the bottom of the page there is usually a link to more info on DIY via train, bus, etc. from the port city to the main attraction (eg. train from Civitavecchia to Rome.)

 

Enjoy your cruise!:)

[zonie83]

I just returned this week from a cruise that included stops in Civitavecchia and Livorno. Because we were a family of 7 that included ages between 4 and 88, I chose to use driver services to get to Rome, and we were very pleased with our choice.

The company was Traiano Taxi based in Civitavecchia (http://www.taxicivitavecchia.com), and our driver was Alessandro; their e-mail quote was 200 EUR less than the other services I contacted, including the ones that are most often named in this and the Trip Advisor forum. The price was the same whether we had 5 or 7 people (I was considering leaving our two youngest kids on the ship with the babysitting services but eventually decided not to.)

Although we'd made arrangements to get picked up at 830a, he arrived early at 815a and started the tour as soon as we found him. He had a sign with our last name and was right at the exit from the ship. The van was in very good shape and the air conditioner was ice cold.

We gave him a general idea of what we wanted to do, and he came up with the itinerary that met our needs. Although they had an option for a English speaking driver/guide, we opted for the English speaking driver only. Alessandro spoke English with an accent, but it did not deter from his friendliness and his willingness to answer questions to the best of his ability. He also had a CD that he played that contained information about each of the places that we went. He did not go into any of the places with us but remained with the van and at our disposal throughout the tour. When we got hungry at a point at which we were limited on time in order to use our prepaid Vatican tickets, he suggested a sandwich shop where they quickly served us.

We went first to the Colosseum, where I had already purchased tickets through the Internet in advance. We agreed on a time for pickup; he did suggest that it would take a couple of hours to see some of the highlights of the Colosseum. Afterwards, he took us to the forum area, where we could see the ruins from afar; this was fine by us, as by that time the kids in our group did not really want to walk around the ruins if they didn't have to and we still wanted to see some of the other sites. The view was great. He drove us around so that we could see some of the monuments, where he asked if we wanted him to stop, but once again we declined. He took us to St. Peter's Basilica, where we did get out and look around; it was here where we decided that we wanted to eat and he took us to the sandwich shop. Once we ate, he took us to the Vatican, where he told us where to go to get in using our prepaid tickets and got us as close as possible to that entrance. Once we were done with the Vatican we asked if he could take us souvenir shopping, which he did, and it did not seem to be to any places where he was getting kickbacks or anything. We got back to the ship by about 530p, at which time we paid him in cash, as agreed through our e-mail communication.

 

In Livorno, I had not made any prior arrangements for tours; however, upon disembarking, we saw that there were representatives set up from Avis and Europecar, so we asked them what the cost was to rent a 7 pax van and learned that it would be 150EUR for the day for both companies. The price included a GPS as well as a toddler car seat. The representative set up the GPS, which provided directions in English, for us to go to the parking near the Duomo and back through Pisa, so it was not difficult for us to get around.

 

I hope this all makes sense, and that it helps with what you wanted to know!

[CathyCruises]

Many posts here about taking the train from Civi to Rome; r/t cost is 9 euros/pp, and that includes access to the metro and buses all day in Rome. I could line out a whole itinerary for you but I would be duplicating about 1000 priors posts!

 

Let us know if you can't find the info and we'll jump in!

 

Cathy