NCL Ship tours to Florence & Rome???

[Pasty]

Has anyone taken any of the NCL excursions to Florence or Rome? We are happier taking ships tours if the destination requires transport to visit. Ports that are "doable" on HOHO or on foot we are OK with on our own.

I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has been on NCL excursions in these ports. Many thanks:)

[andmad]

In Florence we took an excursion from NCL which just consisted of a bus from the port to Florence. They give you a map and a guide tells you about the area on the way. It was very doable on your own.

 

In Rome, we took the train from Civitavecchia to Rome and again toured on our own. There were a ton of passengers doing the same thing. The train back to the ship was crowded with commuters, but it was easy and inexpensive.

 

We downloaded tours from the Rick Steves website to our MP3 players. They were awesome and free. He will tell you how many steps to take in the which direction and give a wonderful description of what you are seeing. We did this for St. Peter's, the Duomo, and a few other places. My husband had been to Rome before so we had a good idea of where to go and what we wanted to see. Be sure to bring your walking shoes. Hope this was helpful.

 

Are you on the Gem? I have to say that this was the best trip we have ever taken. It was so amazing to see Italy by day and then relax on board in the evening.

[Pasty]

In Florence we took an excursion from NCL which just consisted of a bus from the port to Florence. They give you a map and a guide tells you about the area on the way. It was very doable on your own.

 

In Rome, we took the train from Civitavecchia to Rome and again toured on our own. There were a ton of passengers doing the same thing. The train back to the ship was crowded with commuters, but it was easy and inexpensive.

 

We downloaded tours from the Rick Steves website to our MP3 players. They were awesome and free. He will tell you how many steps to take in the which direction and give a wonderful description of what you are seeing. We did this for St. Peter's, the Duomo, and a few other places. My husband had been to Rome before so we had a good idea of where to go and what we wanted to see. Be sure to bring your walking shoes. Hope this was helpful.

 

Are you on the Gem? I have to say that this was the best trip we have ever taken. It was so amazing to see Italy by day and then relax on board in the evening.

 

 

Thanks Andmad; no we are on the Jade not Gem. Will make a note of your advice.

[cruzinaway]

Has anyone taken any of the NCL excursions to Florence or Rome? We are happier taking ships tours if the destination requires transport to visit. Ports that are "doable" on HOHO or on foot we are OK with on our own.

I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has been on NCL excursions in these ports. Many thanks:)

 

We did the Eternal Rome and Colosseum tour and the Florence and Pisa tour with NCL last year. Both were very nice. In Rome we visited St. Peter's Basilica, San Clemente's Basilica and had an interior tour of the Colosseum. This tour also included an amazing pasta lunch at a local restaurant. Our day in Rome was approximately 10 1/2 hours from start to finish. It was a very busy day, but we loved it! In Florence we visited Piazza Del Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Santa Croce and Ponte Vecchio. This tour also included some free time in Florence where we did some serious shopping! We then had lunch at an amazing hill-top restaurant that overlooked the city of Florence. The food was okay but the view...spectacular! We also visited Pisa but didn't get much time there. We walked around Miracle Square and took photos of the tower but that's pretty much it. Our NCL tour guides were amazing and knew soooo much history about all the places we visited.

 

Keep in mind NCL excursions are very expensive and involve lots of "dead time". In other words, you'll often find yourself waiting for the other people who can't keep up with the group or just have no regard for time. When the guide says, "we'll meet back here at 1:00" you'll find many people strolling on the bus at 1:15, 1:20, 1:30 - they just don't care. We didn't have much time in Pisa for this reason and that was a bit disappointing. It's not NCL's fault, of course. It's just something you deal with when you book the ship's tours.

 

Private local guides can be booked in Rome and Florence and will cater to only YOU. They will offer suggestions, but you ultimately get to choose where to go and how long you spend at each destination. If you can get a group of people together the cost may even be lower than the NCL excursions. The best place to go is your roll call here at Cruise Critic. I'm sure there will be plenty of people looking to share a tour.

 

I don't want you to think I'm steering you away from NCL tours. Like I said, all the tours we took were very well done and I would recommend them to anyone! But if you really want a personalized tour you'll need to book locally in Rome and Florence. Just do your homework and you'll be fine no matter what you choose!

[Zimomiller]

Lots of info is available on the ports of call board for Europe on CC.

[garycarla]

Lots of info is available on the ports of call board for Europe on CC.

 

ditto on that. See notes below for some more help.