Best excursions for each port in Italy?

First ever cruise coming up on 30th May on the Emerald Princess, so I'm a complete novice!

Our Italian stops are:

Naples (for Capri & Pompeii & Sorrento)

Livorna (Pisa/Florence)

Palermo

Genoa (for Milan)

Also stopping at Toulon and Barcelona, but already know about these.

My question is which excursions did you find best in terms of value for money, good pace, sights you see etc? Naples especially has so many excursions I don't know where to begin!

We're both in our 20's and fit and healthy so activity level is no object. We like a bit of everything in terms of historical sights, active pursuits, enjoying the views, food and drink.

Please advise :)

Welcome to Cruise Critic...

I notice you have already joined the roll call for your cruise. That's really the best place to learn about private tours being offered by other cruisers. It's a bit late in the game for joining private tours, so you might want to check out the tours being offered by Princess. Check your Cruise Personalizer for Princess offerings.

Rather than wait for replies to your post, I suggest you search this forum by clicking on Search this Forum near the top of this page. Enter the names of the ports, one at a time, to find all posts with references to the ports you're interested in.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise...

Lew

The "best" excursion what interests you most. Not what we might say it is. So as Lew said, do a little research here, on your cruise line's website, and perhaps in a guide book to narrow this question down to a far more manageable level.

Also take a look at the excursion companies like Rome In Limo and Joe Bananas, as well as the Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports book (I picked up at library)

I think the biggest dilemma is Naples. You can combine Pompeii with the Amalphi Coast as an excursion or simply walk off your ship to the hydrofoils and spend a day at Capri. We have done both on separate cruises and enjoyed each day. In Capri, we reserved Gianni's Boat and even got to swim in the colored grottos. These were two of the best days on either cruise and only you can decide what you want to do. As for Livorno, I would spend the entire day in Florence and did the second time and thought Pisa was a waste of a couple of hours. You should do your own reading and decide for yourself. We have never been to the two other ports you mention.

First ever cruise coming up on 30th May on the Emerald Princess, so I'm a complete novice!

 

Our Italian stops are:

 

Naples (for Capri & Pompeii & Sorrento)

Livorna (Pisa/Florence)

Palermo

Genoa (for Milan)

 

Also stopping at Toulon and Barcelona, but already know about these.

 

My question is which excursions did you find best in terms of value for money, good pace, sights you see etc? Naples especially has so many excursions I don't know where to begin!

 

We're both in our 20's and fit and healthy so activity level is no object. We like a bit of everything in terms of historical sights, active pursuits, enjoying the views, food and drink.

 

Please advise :)

I used to live in Genoa so if you've got any questions, just ask? How long are you in that port for? You wrote Genoa (for Milan) which I personally wouldn't use it for. Once you get past the Duomo in Milan there really isn't much there apart from the shopping and it is quite far away. In my opinion there are better places much closer.

If your ship is in port long enough, I would say Pompei as a DIY since you can take the train and stay at the ruins for much longer than most cruise tours do.

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Definitly go to Pompei from Naples if you have never been. True, there are so many good excursions from there. You will just have to go back again! The Amalfi coast is gorgeous and Capri is neat but very crowded, touristy and expensive.

I've been on a few but the one that stands out the most is

Naples

Amalfi coast, sorrento and positano. ( lunch at la tagglianno ( sp). We went with a great group through our roll call. We used italytoursharing.com

I think the biggest dilemma is Naples. You can combine Pompeii with the Amalphi Coast as an excursion or simply walk off your ship to the hydrofoils and spend a day at Capri. We have done both on separate cruises and enjoyed each day. In Capri, we reserved Gianni's Boat and even got to swim in the colored grottos. These were two of the best days on either cruise and only you can decide what you want to do. As for Livorno, I would spend the entire day in Florence and did the second time and thought Pisa was a waste of a couple of hours. You should do your own reading and decide for yourself. We have never been to the two other ports you mention.

IF WE WALK OF THE SHIP IS THERE A LONG LINE TO BUY A TICKET TO GET TO THE COLORED GROTTOS, OR SHOULD WE PAY IN ADVANCE, CAN YOU? IF SO HOW DO I PAY IN EUROS, WITH MY CREDIT CARD? (CHARGE FEE)

CAN WE JUST WALK OFF GET IN LINE FOR A TOUR RIGHT THERE? ALSO CAN WE HAVE THE OPTION TO GO INTO THE GROTTOS AND SWIM? SOUNDS AMAZING. WE DID THE AMALFI COAST AND THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE SO COOL! HOW DID YOU RESERVE GIANNI'S BOAT? (sorry confusing)

Thanks for your suggestions everyone, it's helped me a lot.

And so you are joining the cruising dilemma - where to go when. Naples is a complicated one as hubofhockey mentioned: Capri or Pompeii have been the classic options. Pompeii combined with Amalfi is a bit of a stretch. Capri is a nicer option if you are not really into archeological sites like Pompeii. BUT, have in mind that Naples is, in itself, an amazing city and you can use part of the stay to explore it. Go early to Capri and enjoy afternoon in Naples.

Livorno has too many options: Florence is a must if you haven't been BUT it has so much to offer that a day in Florence is just an intro to its beauty and greatness. I am finalizing a guide for Florence but will not be ready in time for you. This said, you will find on my website a few interesting traveling hints regarding Livorno, Pisa, Volterra, Siena, San Gimignano and Florence.

Palermo is a bit like Naples in the sense that you can either stay in town - perusing highlights and attractions or go on a tour - personally, I would use Palermo to have a bit of a rest and stay in town, have a great lunch and a wonderful walk. The weather is great in May - not TOO hot.

From Genoa the obvious choice is either Milan or Portofino, although many a cruiser forget Genoa itself, which is a pretty nice city once you get out of the multi-cultural-mess next to the port area. Milano is fabulous for art (Da Vinci, Cathedral ...) and Shopping (go to the Rinascente department store in Piazza Duomo). Portofino is just too pretty to be true and very laid back - be aware, if Capri is expensive, Portofino is uber-expensive.

Here you have a link for http://www.iqcruising.com/Ports/Livorno/index.html