Livorno to Florence help

[UCLAman]

I’m a few days from boarding the Getaway in Lisbon and need help in getting from Livorno to Florence. Nearly all tours (besides private tours) are sold out. 😔 Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated!!!

 

Will be arriving Livorno in Friday, June 23. 

[cruisemom42]

NCL offers a shuttle to the train station. From there, take the train to Florence and back -- very easy. Buy tickets from machine in the station, from ticket counter or even from the tobacco/sundries shop in the station (to the left of the ticket counter) for the trip.

 

You can check out the timings of trains on trenitalia.com.  These are regional trains and don't sell out. Your Livorno station name is Livorno Centrale and the Florence station name is Firenze -- S.M.N. (for Santa Maria Novella)

 

[UCLAman]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

NCL offers a shuttle to the train station. From there, take the train to Florence and back -- very easy. Buy tickets from machine in the station, from ticket counter or even from the tobacco/sundries shop in the station (to the left of the ticket counter) for the trip.

 

You can check out the timings of trains on trenitalia.com.  These are regional trains and don't sell out. Your Livorno station name is Livorno Centrale and the Florence station name is Firenze -- S.M.N. (for Santa Maria Novella)

 

You are awesome!! I had read about the train but you were very specific and that will help us out!!! 

[cruisemom42]

Thanks & good luck. The train station in Florence is easily within walking distance of most of the highlights. You should look at getting advance tickets if you want to get into the Accademia to. see Michelangelo's David. 

[Jenmars23]

How often does the shuttle run?  Our ship arrives at 8am, would we have enough time to make a 9:12 train?

[spicykimchi]

On 6/13/2023 at 8:23 PM, cruisemom42 said:

NCL offers a shuttle to the train station. From there, take the train to Florence and back -- very easy. Buy tickets from machine in the station, from ticket counter or even from the tobacco/sundries shop in the station (to the left of the ticket counter) for the trip.

 

You can check out the timings of trains on trenitalia.com.  These are regional trains and don't sell out. Your Livorno station name is Livorno Centrale and the Florence station name is Firenze -- S.M.N. (for Santa Maria Novella)

 

I've been hearing / reading about this shuttle ($25 from Livorno port to Livorno train station) - is this offered both ways, or just in the morning from the ship to train station? I've read some comments that upon returning to the Livorno train station in the afternoon, there were no direct shuttles to the train station (but there were shuttles to Piazza Grande, where you could hop on the shuttles back to the ship).

 

We'll be on the Norwegian Viva next month and will be in Livorno from 7:00am to 7:00pm. Our return options are a 3:28pm train (arrives in Livorno at 4:48pm) or a 4:28pm train (arrives 5:48pm). We would prefer to take the later train so we can maximize our time in Florence, but I sense that could be a fatal mistake if there is no paid shuttle that goes directly to the port. We still have no idea what our must-be-back-on-board times are for each port (assuming 30-60 minutes before departure).

[mapleleaves]

15 minutes ago, spicykimchi said:

I've been hearing / reading about this shuttle ($25 from Livorno port to Livorno train station) - is this offered both ways, or just in the morning from the ship to train station? I've read some comments that upon returning to the Livorno train station in the afternoon, there were no direct shuttles to the train station (but there were shuttles to Piazza Grande, where you could hop on the shuttles back to the ship).

 

We'll be on the Norwegian Viva next month and will be in Livorno from 7:00am to 7:00pm. Our return options are a 3:28pm train (arrives in Livorno at 4:48pm) or a 4:28pm train (arrives 5:48pm). We would prefer to take the later train so we can maximize our time in Florence, but I sense that could be a fatal mistake if there is no paid shuttle that goes directly to the port. We still have no idea what our must-be-back-on-board times are for each port (assuming 30-60 minutes before departure).

 

The $25 charge is for a RT transfer.  I don't recall a long wait for a bus on the return. Seemed pretty seamless.

Our port time was 7-7 (Epic).  We first stopped in Pisa for a quick photo opp. (to maximize our time, we took a cab from the train station to the Leaning Tower, and again when we ret'd to the station).  Then we went to Florence.  I don't recall the exact time of the train, but probably somewhere around 4ish as the onboard time was 6:30p.

(we used the CIVI Express train in Rome, and were pleasantly surprised at how few pax were on board)

Edited July 16, 2023 by mapleleaves

[cruisemom42]

19 minutes ago, spicykimchi said:

I've been hearing / reading about this shuttle ($25 from Livorno port to Livorno train station) - is this offered both ways, or just in the morning from the ship to train station? I've read some comments that upon returning to the Livorno train station in the afternoon, there were no direct shuttles to the train station (but there were shuttles to Piazza Grande, where you could hop on the shuttles back to the ship).

 

We'll be on the Norwegian Viva next month and will be in Livorno from 7:00am to 7:00pm. Our return options are a 3:28pm train (arrives in Livorno at 4:48pm) or a 4:28pm train (arrives 5:48pm). We would prefer to take the later train so we can maximize our time in Florence, but I sense that could be a fatal mistake if there is no paid shuttle that goes directly to the port. We still have no idea what our must-be-back-on-board times are for each port (assuming 30-60 minutes before departure).

 

I don't have any direct knowledge but I think your question was answered regarding the shuttle which seems to be R/T. I think some passengers arrive at the train station and may find that the next shuttle hasn't arrived yet and they panic.

 

If you do go with the later train, just be sure to give yourselves a good amount of time to get to the train station in order to make your train as there would be no "fall back" option should you miss it.

 

The "all aboard" times for passengers are generally 30 minutes prior to sailing for ports where ships are docked. Tender ports are a bit different.

 

[spicykimchi]

Thanks mapleleaves and cruisemom42 - very helpful! I wish NCL would provide this information on their website, but I understand why they don't (competes with their "[city] on your own" excursions).

 

The NCL phone reps I spoke to a few weeks ago told me that cruise passengers generally need to be on board 1.5 to 2 hours before the stated departure time at each port! What a waste of time that would have been if we cut our time at Rome / Florence short, only to be the first ones back on the ship.  The NCL rep also said they weren't aware of shuttles taking passengers from the ports to the train stations - even noting that any shuttle service was provided by the port authorities, not by NCL. I believe that's the case in Civitavecchia, but the Livorno shuttles seem to be organized by NCL (considering the $25 can be charged to your room).

 

Fortunately, our busiest port days (Salerno, Civitavecchia, and Livorno) are all docked, so we will use the 30 minutes prior "all aboard" time as our guideline until we hear from NCL.

 

This is our first ever cruise, so we have very limited knowledge when it comes to Mediterranean cruises, NCL cruises, or cruising in general. At times I wish we had booked with a travel agent who could hold our hands a bit (we booked through Costco Travel), but I'm glad to have found this community to help us with our planning - wish I discovered this board sooner!

[mapleleaves]

6 minutes ago, spicykimchi said:

 

 

This is our first ever cruise, so we have very limited knowledge when it comes to Mediterranean cruises, NCL cruises, or cruising in general. At times I wish we had booked with a travel agent who could hold our hands a bit (we booked through Costco Travel), but I'm glad to have found this community to help us with our planning - wish I discovered this board sooner!

 

Rest up before your cruise!  Med cruises are port intensive and exhausting, but wonderful.

Check your ship's roll call to see if there's any activity with your fellow pax. Often you'll find pax who've visited one or all the ports before and can offer advice.   Check on fBook as well; sometimes those cruiseline groups are more active.

[cruisemom42]

Unfortunately many land-based cruise line reps are clueless when it comes to the actual onboard experience. Many have never been on a cruise and don't understand the nuances between having to be onboard 90 minutes to 2 hours ahead of time for the initial sailaway (to ensure everyone completes muster drill, etc.) and the "normal" time to return to the ship from ports while enroute on the cruise.

 

Good luck with your planning and feel free to keep asking questions as needed.