Florence shore excursion question

[Estealvarado]

Not sure if this is being posted in the right forum but The RCL western med cruises that stop in florence at 8 am until 8 pm we were thinking of booking a private drive or tour from tge cruiseline to take us to the florence city center for a few hours then to san gimignano and back to the ship . Does anyone know if we would have enough time to do this if the cruises is in port from 8:30 am until 8 pm?

[hubofhockey]

Not sure if this is being posted in the right forum but The RCL western med cruises that stop in florence at 8 am until 8 pm we were thinking of booking a private drive or tour from tge cruiseline to take us to the florence city center for a few hours then to san gimignano and back to the ship . Does anyone know if we would have enough time to do this if the cruises is in port from 8:30 am until 8 pm?

 

You should ask over at the port of call boards.

 

I have never heard of a ship that docks in Florence.

 

Most ships dock in Livorno, which is about 80 minutes from Florence. From there, it a little over an hour to San Gimignano and then about 90 minutes back to Livorno. The answer to your question depends on what you want to see and do and whether you mind all of that driving.

[paul929207]

The time for site seeing will depend on how close you want to shave it. I figure 30 minutes after arrival to get off the ship, find your guide and get on the way. On the other end I would want to be at the ship at least an hour before sailing, so 7pm. That leaves about 10 1/2 hours. You are looking at about hours driving, so about 6 1/2 hours for visiting the two cities. I would cut on of the places and have time to see a fair amount of the one place.

[Keith1010]

I too would go to one or the other.

 

There is so much to take in at each place that I wouldn't rush around.

 

You can get a a lot of valuable information on the Italy Ports OF Call Board on the Italy ports of call board.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=595

 

Keith

[Estealvarado]

Yes the ship docks in Livorno sorry i get confused. I did try and post in the italy board as mentioned but maybe i should pick one or the other because i do not want to be to tight on time either

[Hlitner]

Would you have time? Yes, it can easily be done. But the issue would be are you going to be satisfied at cutting your time in Florence by several hours to squeeze in a visit to San Gimignano. And for the record we really like both places (and have stayed in both places for multiple nights). I would add that we discuss these kind of issues in more detail on the Ports of Call/Europe/Med/Italy forum here on CC.

 

And some folks also need/want to consider cost. A couple will spend for then 300€ to hire a car/driver for the day. But that same couple could simply take the train to Florence (using taxis to and from the Livorno station) for less than 50€. There are just so many darn options :).

 

Hank

Edited July 24, 2015 by Hlitner

[SPacificbound]

Not sure if this is being posted in the right forum but The RCL western med cruises that stop in florence at 8 am until 8 pm we were thinking of booking a private drive or tour from tge cruiseline to take us to the florence city center for a few hours then to san gimignano and back to the ship . Does anyone know if we would have enough time to do this if the cruises is in port from 8:30 am until 8 pm?

 

Have you been on the Roll Call for your cruise? If you post date and ship name we can get you there. There are likely others who will be on the ship with you that may be making the same type of plans.