Shore excursions -- Catania, Naples, Livorno

[Lulu Iberica]

Hi all! I am new to Cruise Critic and to cruising, and I'm trying to pick shore excursions in Italy. My husband and I are adventurous 30 somethings who usually tour/explore on our own. We're going on a 12 day HAL Mediterranean cruise (Venice to Barcelona) with several older relatives, and ending with 6 extra days in Barcelona. Since we're arriving early in Venice, we've decided to tour there on our own. In Croatia and the Greek Isles we also plan to tour on our own, as it seems very simple in those locales. Also, we've already decided on an all day ship excursion in Rome -- Eternal Rome & the Vatican Museums. (I don't want to worry about getting lost/being late in Rome, and since I tend to do both of those things, I figure the ship excursion is the way to go!)

Now we're trying to decide on shore excursions for Catania, Naples, and Livorno. At Catania, we're thinking of going on either an all-day 4x4 excursion to Mt. Etna (I love volcanoes, we hiked over lava flows in Hawaii on our honeymoon), or the combined Taormina & Etna excursion. I'm wondering if the 4x4 excursion is overkill, and if the combined excursion would be too rushed. I'm not a fan of seeing things for 2 minutes, then being herded along like cattle. Also, we would be in Taormina on a Monday morning and I don't know if shops would be open.

In Naples, we definitely want to see Pompeii, and the choice is between Sorrento & Pompeii, or a half day tour to Pompeii only. The excursion brochure warns that traffic can be unpredictable, and I have to wonder if this means we might see Sorrento, then get short-changed at Pompeii. I'd like to do both, but Pompeii is more important to me. Also, is Sorrento a really interesting destination? If it's nicer than Taormina, perhaps we could do all day Etna, then the next day Sorrento & Pompeii to get a "town" experience.

Finally, in Livorno what I'd really like to do is have a private tour to Florence, but that's not feasible for us. We discussed going into Florence on our own, but as I said, we're good at being late and getting lost, and add the unlikely but possible issue of transit strikes and we're too scared to do it! HAL offers a transfer into Florence, but it sounds like a lot of driving, not much time in the city, and is expensive for just a ride. So, we're considering doing the ship's excursion to Florence and Pisa, which sounds too rushed to me. The other option we're considering is an excursion to Siena and San Gimignano with wine tasting. We know that one day we'll definitely go back to Italy and explore Florence properly, so maybe it's best to see a smaller city.

Sorry for the very long post, but I thought maybe it was better than doing multiples! Info on any of these excursions/destinations is appreciated! Thanks!

[woolc]

Hi we did the Taormina (Greco Roman Theatre) tour recently from the Messina port...It is a very small town. Its cute , the shops are expensive and not much to see. If you want a cafe or food its like most but if I were you I would do the 4X4 of Mt. Etna. We did a 4X4 in Corfu Greece and it was alot of fun!

[woolc]

We were there on a Monday and shops opened at 930 and some at 10 but as I said more expensive than most we places we had been.

[Lulu Iberica]

Thanks for the response, woolc! I was leaning toward the 4x4 excursion and your info cements it for me. I had read elsewhere that Taormina shops are pricey. Was the Greco-Roman theater not terribly impressive? I've never seen one before.

[ariawoman]

I did the Florence/Pisa excursion last year on HAL. Of course it's a bit rushed, but you have plenty of time in Pisa (as there's not really much there) and you have a few hours in Florence, most of it guided but some time for just wandering.

I'd recommend the tour, if you're looking to get a taste of each place :-) Everyone has to take the obligatory "holding up the leaning tower" picture. LOL

As for Taormina's theatre....it's nice, the views from outside the theatre to the sea were spectacular, so I'd recommend going to the theatre if you're in the town. I've not made it to Etna yet, but might this year as we're going back in October!

[schoolinmy3]

Thanks for the response, woolc! I was leaning toward the 4x4 excursion and your info cements it for me. I had read elsewhere that Taormina shops are pricey. Was the Greco-Roman theater not terribly impressive? I've never seen one before.

I found the Greco Roman theater very interesting. Our tour guide told us a lovely story. Last July she was attending a concert there (it is used throughout the summer for concerts and theater). During the concert Mt Etna starting erupting. The ruins of the theater framed the awesome fiery display perfectly and she said it was an experience she will never forget. The Greeks were very conscious of incorporating nature in their architecture. When the theater was built it was open behind the stage area in order to allow the expansive views (and Mt Etna) to provide the backdrop. The Romans (their structures recognizable due to their use of bricks and mortar) filled in the area behind the stage with columns and niches in which would have stood various statues. They built seats into the amphitheater whereas the Greeks preferred to sit on the grass.

[kazu]

Thanks for the response, woolc! I was leaning toward the 4x4 excursion and your info cements it for me. I had read elsewhere that Taormina shops are pricey. Was the Greco-Roman theater not terribly impressive? I've never seen one before.

The Taormna ship tour is not bad and the theatre is quite impressive.

For your other ports I can't help as we did private tours, but Taormina is a very nice site IMO;) Mind you we didn't go there to shop - we went to see the sights;)

[Lulu Iberica]

LOL! More posts only lead to more confusion! What to do? I'm sure Taormina is nice, but the 4x4 Etna excursion would be our one chance to be "adventurous" on this trip, so I think we'll do it!

Has anyone done this excursion? How was it?

[Lulu Iberica]

Decisions Made! We'll not be doing any private tours. It's too late and we're too stressed. So, our itinerary is like this:

June 26: Venice on our own
June 27: Venice on our own, board ship in PM
June 28: Venice on our own, At Sea in PM
June 29: Dubrovnik on our own (in town)
June 30: Corfu on our own (mostly in town)
July 1: Argostoli on our own (resort beaches @ Lassi)
July 2: Santorini, on our own (Oia, swimming @ Amoudi Bay)
July 3: At Sea
July 4: Catania, Sicily, ship's 4x4 excursion to Mt. Etna
July 5: Naples, ship's excursion to Sorrento and Pompeii
July 6: Rome, ship's excursion Eternal Rome & the Vatican Museums
July 7: Livorno, ship's excursion to Siena & San Gimignano with a wine tasting
July 8: At Sea in AM, arrive Barcelona in PM, but we'll stay on board
July 9: Disembark at Barcelona
July 10 -- July 14: All on our own in glorious Barcelona!
July 15: Fly home

If we go on a cruise in the future, I'll plan well in advance and do mostly independent touring and/or book private tours. Live and learn! The important thing is this is supposed to be a vacation and a fun time with family, so I don't want to be too stressed.

[The Cruise Advantage]

In Naples consider using AP Tours and ask to have Alberto drive you for the day. We had him on our day and he took us to Sorrento, Positano, and a number of palce along the Amalfi Coast. He is very humorous, very knowledgeable, and will constantly keep you engaged through out the day.

The highlight of the day was eating at La Tagliata overlooking Positano. Give it serious consideration. We never regretted it. www.aptoures.it

[dritan]

Decisions Made! We'll not be doing any private tours. It's too late and we're too stressed. So, our itinerary is like this:

June 26: Venice on our own
June 27: Venice on our own, board ship in PM
June 28: Venice on our own, At Sea in PM
June 29: Dubrovnik on our own (in town)
June 30: Corfu on our own (mostly in town)
July 1: Argostoli on our own (resort beaches @ Lassi)
July 2: Santorini, on our own (Oia, swimming @ Amoudi Bay)
July 3: At Sea
July 4: Catania, Sicily, ship's 4x4 excursion to Mt. Etna
July 5: Naples, ship's excursion to Sorrento and Pompeii
July 6: Rome, ship's excursion Eternal Rome & the Vatican Museums
July 7: Livorno, ship's excursion to Siena & San Gimignano with a wine tasting
July 8: At Sea in AM, arrive Barcelona in PM, but we'll stay on board
July 9: Disembark at Barcelona
July 10 -- July 14: All on our own in glorious Barcelona!
July 15: Fly home

If we go on a cruise in the future, I'll plan well in advance and do mostly independent touring and/or book private tours. Live and learn! The important thing is this is supposed to be a vacation and a fun time with family, so I don't want to be too stressed.

Although I see you have made a decision, I would still recommend that you focus on Pompeii only at Naples. Sorrento is a pleasant enough town but there's not really much to see there. Time would be much better spent focusing on Pompeii as you say this is really important to you. We spent half a day there (DIY)and really felt that we had seen most of it.

[Lulu Iberica]

Dritan, with me and my husband until the tour is booked no decision is final! I actually started thinking it's best to see Pompeii only, as then we're guaranteed to have more time there, and we'll be there earlier in the day when it's cooler. Also, we would then have time to go into Naples and see the museum with the Pompeian artifacts. Thanks for your input!

I really wish we had started planning earlier so that we could do more private tours, but at this point we're just too frazzled. I keep having to remind myself that this is a vacation!

[schoolinmy3]

Dritan, with me and my husband until the tour is booked no decision is final! I actually started thinking it's best to see Pompeii only, as then we're guaranteed to have more time there, and we'll be there earlier in the day when it's cooler. Also, we would then have time to go into Naples and see the museum with the Pompeian artifacts. Thanks for your input!

I really wish we had started planning earlier so that we could do more private tours, but at this point we're just too frazzled. I keep having to remind myself that this is a vacation!
Don't feel bad about not having the time/energy to book private tours. Sometimes life just gets in the way. ;). My son and I had a wonderful cruise in the Med this year and only booked Hal tours. I just didn't want the stress since I was going to be traveling without my husband. We enjoyed each one of our tours and I was much more relaxed the entire cruise (especially after flight difficulties, almost missing the cruise departure in Rome and having no luggage for the first 3 days). It will be fine. :D
Diane