Livorno schedule

[fdl2020]

Can anyone who's been to Livorno please comment on the timing of leaving and returning to the ship? Our cruise lists the time in port as 8am to 8pm. The local company that I contacted about transportation told me that the ship arrives at 7, disembarking at 8, and that we have to be back by 5:30, because security closes at 6. I'm having a hard time figuring out how much time we really have for everything. 

[Mura]

The usual "back on board" time is half an hour before departure.  I've never been in a port where we had to be back two hours in advance.

[arima22]

You do not give dates and ship.  But you can look up the arrival and departure information as registered with the Port Of Livorno on this internet site: http://www.portolivorno2000.it/it/crociere/calendario-orari?y=2020&m=7&d=15

This is the site that tour providers would be looking at for their timing information.

[fdl2020]

25 minutes ago, arima22 said:

You do not give dates and ship.  But you can look up the arrival and departure information as registered with the Port Of Livorno on this internet site: http://www.portolivorno2000.it/it/crociere/calendario-orari?y=2020&m=7&d=15

This is the site that tour providers would be looking at for their timing information.

Thank you for the link! It's Riviera on June 3rd, and this site does show it as 8 to 8. I'm wondering if it would be alright to leave Florence at 5 by private car. 

[Mura]

Hmmm.  I wonder .... I think O's bus is an hour trip, maybe more.  Of course they probably have a rest stop which could take 20 minutes or so.  We never tried doing Firenze from Livorno since we'd spent several days there not long before our 2011 cruise.

 

But I wouldn't want to push it!  You do NOT want to miss the ship ... so I'd err on the side of caution. A 5pm departure should be fine with a boarding time of 7:30 ...  but as I have found, traffic can suddenly be a problem. 

 

We were once coming back from Jerez to Cadiz on a private tour -- the driver had to park a fair distance away and by the time he got back to us, time was a-wasting.  We returned to the ship at 120km/hour and while technically on time, we missed that half hour boarding time and they were calling our names.

 

At least it wasn't like the time in Oslo on Renaissance when no buses or taxis were running when we needed them  When we finally managed to get to the ship, they were already hauling up the gangway ... They let us onboard anyway ...

 

But if we'd been 5 minutes later, who knows?

 

 

Mura

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by Mura
P.S.

[fdl2020]

21 minutes ago, Mura said:

Hmmm.  I wonder .... I think O's bus is an hour trip, maybe more.  Of course they probably have a rest stop which could take 20 minutes or so.  We never tried doing Firenze from Livorno since we'd spent several days there not long before our 2011 cruise.

 

But I wouldn't want to push it!  You do NOT want to miss the ship ... so I'd err on the side of caution. A 5pm departure should be fine with a boarding time of 7:30 ...  but as I have found, traffic can suddenly be a problem. 

 

We were once coming back from Jerez to Cadiz on a private tour -- the driver had to park a fair distance away and by the time he got back to us, time was a-wasting.  We returned to the ship at 120km/hour and while technically on time, we missed that half hour boarding time and they were calling our names.

 

At least it wasn't like the time in Oslo on Renaissance when no buses or taxis were running when we needed them  When we finally managed to get to the ship, they were already hauling up the gangway ... They let us onboard anyway ...

 

But if we'd been 5 minutes later, who knows?

 

 

Mura

 

Wow, Mura! Talk about some "thrilling" experiences! Thank you for sharing. We've never been to Florence, so I want to maximize our time there, but I will keep your cautionary tale(s) in mind. 

[Mura]

Florence is fabulous and really deserves more time than one day in port.  BUT ... if you think this is the only time you will be there, then by all means go.  Please feel free to email me privately for our comments about what we did in our 4 days there!

 

Mura

[fdl2020]

So, I contacted the company again and received additional information, which now makes a little more sense. They said that they are allowed through security between 6:30 am and 6 pm, whereas the buses and transfers arranged by the ship can get in up to one hour later (until 7 pm). 

[Mura]

Aha!  That is a good reason!

[dogs4fun]

19 hours ago, fdl2020 said:

So, I contacted the company again and received additional information, which now makes a little more sense. They said that they are allowed through security between 6:30 am and 6 pm, whereas the buses and transfers arranged by the ship can get in up to one hour later (until 7 pm). 

Interesting ... I wonder if this is a recent change in port rules regarding independent tour operators. A few years ago, we experienced no such time restrictions when we booked with an independent operator - we were among the first 25 passengers off the ship upon docking and our tour guide was already in port waiting for us. We returned to port about 45 minutes prior to sail away (unfortunately, I cannot recall if our ship was in port until 7 or 8 pm).

Edited January 17, 2020 by dogs4fun

[Shawnino]

2 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

Interesting ... I wonder if this is a recent change in port rules regarding independent tour operators. A few years ago, we experienced no such time restrictions when we booked with an independent operator - we were among the first 25 passengers off the ship upon docking and our tour guide was already in port waiting for us. We returned to port about 45 minutes prior to sail away (unfortunately, I cannot recall if our ship was in port until 7 or 8 pm).

 

Ships we've cruised have called on Livorno five times in the last ten years. The regulations seem to be different every time. Sometimes our private guides can pick us up inside the (huge) port area, sometimes drop us off. Sometimes both. Never neither as I recall. 

I wonder how much it's the ports shuffling policies, and how much it is based on the guides' different permits.

I asked our last guide about this. She smiled and said "Well, you're in Italy."

 

There really is so much to do from Livorno. I wish more ships would overnight. Florence is awesome, but I wouldn't want to shortchange Siena, SanGi, or Pisa, just to start a long list... 

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, Shawnino said:

 

Ships we've cruised have called on Livorno five times in the last ten years. The regulations seem to be different every time. Sometimes our private guides can pick us up inside the (huge) port area, sometimes drop us off. Sometimes both. Never neither as I recall. 

I wonder how much it's the ports shuffling policies, and how much it is based on the guides' different permits.

I asked our last guide about this. She smiled and said "Well, you're in Italy."

 

 

 

I was wondering the same. If I were the OP I might just check with a different guide/agency (or two) to see if they list the same restrictions. I have not heard of it before -- but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

[fdl2020]

I think I'm going to do just that. Or bite the bullet and go with one of Oceania's excursions. I just don't like how vague and incomplete their (O's) information is - makes it very difficult to plan or know what to expect. 

[Mura]

We were in Livorno in 2011 and have a lovely private tour that took us to Pisa and Lucca.  We used Bruce's Pisa/Lucca Tour which was a half day as I recall.  There wasn't a problem in returning to the port since the ship arrived at 8am and departed at 10pm.  My notes don't indicate if we had to walk out to find the van but I think since I didn't say anything about this that we did NOT have to do so.  I certainly don't recall a walk out to the van, and when the is required I usually DO remember.  We also didn't have a problem in returning right up to the ship because we had 10pm departure.

 

As someone who prefers private tours -- both because they are smaller, more costomiable and of course cheaper -- I would not say that the easiest default is to a ship's tour!  If you think that O's information is "vague and incomplete", then I certainly would not default to them.  That's me!

 

When we were sailing in the area, it was easy to find "compatriots" for tours on the Roll Call.  I realize that this is not so easy these days, given the "benefits" of oLife.

 

Mura

 

 

 

 

[Shawnino]

On 1/17/2020 at 10:47 PM, Mura said:

[...]

 

As someone who prefers private tours -- both because they are smaller, more costomiable and of course cheaper -- I would not say that the easiest default is to a ship's tour!  If you think that O's information is "vague and incomplete", then I certainly would not default to them.  That's me!

 

When we were sailing in the area, it was easy to find "compatriots" for tours on the Roll Call.  I realize that this is not so easy these days, given the "benefits" of oLife.

 

Mura

 

 

 

 

 

Could not agree more. 

Still, we persist.

[SM77]

I will just add my two cents.  Given that Florence is so far from Livorno, I would stay w/ Oceania sponsored excursion.  On a different cruise line, there were several busloads of cruise passengers coming back from a long distance tour.  One of the buses got caught in traffic from a major accident on the road.  Obviously, the cruise ship waited since it was one of their tours.  We did 'Florence on the Lighter Side' - gave us a good overview of the city and an opportunity to have a nice leisurely lunch.  It's really difficult to cover Florence in one day & with a least a couple of hours of traveling time.  

[Mura]

It's not "really difficult" to cover Florence in one day!  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.  Still, I well understand why people take this option when they aren't sure they'll be able to return for a longer visit.  It's the same in any port that has access to a major city -- think Paris, Berlin, and a number of others. 

 

That's why we opted for a private tour to Lucca and Pisa.  There are other options from Livorno as well.  (Plus we had spent several days in Firenze a few years earlier.)

 

The last time I looked Oceania also offered a tour that just gives you transport to Firenze with a number of hours there to do on your own.  That isn't a bad option BUT you still won't see everything you want to in one day.  And sometimes their definition of a "full day" tour is not what we might think ... You need to read the tour description carefully.  But at least the ship won't leave port without you! 

 

You won't have that guarantee with a private tour that might run into problems.  We inadvertently cut it pretty close on a private tour to Jerez from Cadiz in 2005 when the driver had to park far away from our visits and ran into terrible traffic coming back to pick us up.  He broke the sound barrier on the way back to the ship and while we got back in time (about 15 minutes after the official "return" time), they *were* calling our names.  Still, we got back in time!  We do try to avoid those "adventures".

 

Mura

[fdl2020]

I contacted more companies about transfers or day tours, and I am seeing another theme here. It appears that they all (or most of them anyway) base their services on an 9-hour day, even if it's just a round trip transfer and nothing else. So it's either 8 to 5, or 8:30 to 5:30, or 9 to 6, and so on.