Princess 6 day Land Rome Florence Venice- Yay or Nay

Posted on Main Princess Boards too- I am looking at the 7 day Mediterranean and Aegean JUNE 2017 on Royal Princess. Thinking about adding the 6 day optional Princess land tour. This is the 2 nights each Venice/Florence/Rome- I need reviews/opinions of this Princess land tour. Anyone do it? Happy or not? How are the hotels? Any comments would be welcome- Thanks.

I would recommend putting together your own tour. Princess charges each person the full cost of a hotel room most places -- in other words, you pay a full rate and, assuming you are traveling with someone else in the same room, they also pay a full rate. In effect, you're paying for two rooms. And even if you are a solo, they add a HEFTY solo supplement...

In addition, the hotels used by the cruise lines on these tours tend to be NOT centrally located. You are dependent on the tour operator to get you around; you wouldn't be able to just walk around the city center, etc., which many recommend.

Finally, I've heard mixed reviews on the tour portion. Some have said good things; some not so good. For the price, I'd look at other options. Even if you work with a travel agent to put together a land tour, it will probably be much less than Princess (and you can customize it).

Totally agree with cruisemon42. Do it yourself. You will engage more with the local landscape and probably save a tidy sum of money. Traveling in Europe is not hard. Just takes a little research and planning.

It would be 3 of us, DH, DD and I. All adults.

I wondered about "cost" of Princess land tour, vs do it myself, so this info helps-

Especially as you are looking to do the big three this is quite simple to diy. Besides picking your own hotels you can also control how you distribute the time in each place adding or subtracting a day as desired. Also look at trains as the vehicle for travel . These cities are connected by high speed rail from stations in city centers which reduces time and expense of airport connections. Look at the trenitalia website for times. One trick is too travel either early AM or later afternoon on the train so as too maximize your midday for tourist time. Also look for senior and early booking rates which can come and go on some routes.

Hotels will generally let you drop off luggage early or store it late so you can work around check in times

Thanks Again! DH and I are now looking at maybe spending a few days in Venice, then a few more in Rome and Jumping on the Ship for 7 days. What is the closest airport to Venice and how close is Venice to Rome?

Thanks Again! DH and I are now looking at maybe spending a few days in Venice, then a few more in Rome and Jumping on the Ship for 7 days. What is the closest airport to Venice and how close is Venice to Rome?

A little reading on the board would reveal the airport for Venice (Marco Polo) is 25 or so minutes from the closest point the taxis can drive (Piazzale Roma). But you don't have to take a land taxi, you can take a bus, a water taxi or a water bus. All depends on what you want to see, and where your hotel is. I wouldn't take a land taxi or bus unless I was getting in late, or my hotel location was close to the Piazza Roma.

Further reading would reveal threads on trains between Venice and Rome. Very easy to do. The high speed train is about 3.5 hours.

Glad you decided on doing this on your own. Just a little planning and research, and you will have a great time.

We've booked on the Royal for a 10 day cruise in May 2017. I was looking at the land tour, too. I love not having to worry about all of the arrangements.

Then I saw the price :eek:

I've heard that the price of the cruise/land tour packages do NOT decrease, even if the cruise itself goes on sale. So, DH and I are planning our own tour.

Venice Airport is Marco Polo, there is also Treviso, which if I understand correctly is further inland. I'd just fly into Marco Polo. The best way to get into Venice proper, is a water taxi, which while expensive, is worth the money, IMHO. Others will disagree.

The distance between Venice and Rome depends on if/where you plan to stop in between. Train service is reputed to be the best away to get around, but you should do your research. There is direct, high speed service between Venice and Florence (I think it is a 2-2.5 hour run), which is certainly worth seeing, then you could go from there to Rome. After telling DH that it is suggested to pack light when travelling that way, he decided that he'd rather we rent a car and drive :rolleyes:

I have apps on my iPad, "Guide with Me" Italy and "maps.me" which have been very useful in planning. Plus there's no shortage of website and books you can use to plan.

Good Luck, and Happy planning. :D

Thanks Again! DH and I are now looking at maybe spending a few days in Venice, then a few more in Rome and Jumping on the Ship for 7 days. What is the closest airport to Venice and how close is Venice to Rome?

Do not miss out on Florence on this trip. Personally it is my favorite of the three. Also if you look at a map it is perfectly placed on the route from Venice to Rome. As you are just beginning now would be a good time to get a few guidebooks to Italy and delve in to see what want to do. Each city could warrant multiple days but a reasonable trip depending on your time and budget might be 3 days apiece. Both Venice and Florence are relatively small and easily walkable. Rome will also take lots of walking but you may find the need for other transport, bus, metro, cab as well.

Small tip if you do book via train use the Italian spelling for cities even on the English language page. Roma, Firenze Venezia . Also be careful of which station you enter as European cities especially Rome have multiple ones.

This is a wonderful trip to both plan and take and there is a great deal of info on line and in many guidebooks. Good luck

Whatever others may suggest, it's up to you to decide where to spend your time. If you only have a week (or thereabouts), I would not try to do more than two cities. Otherwise you will eat up a lot of time on logistics of moving from one place to another.

I'd suggest arriving at one city, then taking the train to whichever city is closest to your cruise port.

I too would take a fresh start at this.

While Princess offers three cities you might want to do two so you can give them justice.

Read about each city and then think through what you would like to see and how much time you want to spend in each area.

Keith

Thanks so much for all this info. A dear friend told me Venice is not to be missed and since it's our first trip to Italy we are definately going to Rome as well. I thought two places/stops might be good. We have perhaps 5 days to add onto the cruise of 7. So now the question becomes Venice or Florence ? 😊 Decisions -decisions - I so appreciate everyone's 'take' - it helps us figure out what to do and what could work best for us.

Have a plan "A", then also a plan "B" for when "A" falls apart. And then still be prepared to go with the flow in the event plan "A" and "B" both fall apart.

After 18 months of planning, actually arriving on scene, we had it happen a lot.

Take half the clothes you think you need, and twice the money. We had planned $4500 for our 21 day trip, and it ended up costing us $6000 pp. We had a lot more days with hotels & meals than you will have, but just be sure to have an emergency fund (if needed).

Only 5 days will give you just enough time to know you want to return. My husband and I spent 30 days driving Italy, and it still wasn't enough.

Have fun planning, then taking your trip!

We make a list of what we want to see & do and prioritize it. No matter what you choose, you will not be able to see everything you want to see everywhere you plan to go. Sometimes, the best things you see aren't in any tourist books, its just the things you happen across by accident.

Our first trip to Rome, it was a port of call in the middle of a cruise, so we booked a tour to see the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum and Vatican. Then, it took two hours for the ship to safely get into port due to high winds. That two hour delay cost us the chance to see the Colosseum, which was the primary reason we took that tour. Second time in Rome, similar scenario, except we planned to do it on our own and were going to see the Forum instead of the Vatican. We got into port no problem and took the ship's transfer into Rome.

Then the subways were closed due to a ceiling falling in at one of the stations. We ended up walking from St. Peter's Square to the Colosseum and bussing back to pick up the bus back to the port. Day did not go as planned, but we saw a lot of things that we're glad we saw, but were nowhere on our list of things to see.

If you do go to Venice (highly recommend doing so), plan to go to the tourist sites first thing in the morning or later on in the evening. Avoid the day trippers, unless you like standing in lines. During the day, relax or go to more out of the way places. When we were there, I really wanted to see Arsenale, the old shipyards, it was quite a hike from our hotel, but it was worth it and there weren't any crowds there. Its an Italian Naval base, so you can't get inside, but it was still worth the look.

One other tip, don't overschedule - take time to just find a nice café to sit and relax and soak in the atmosphere and watch the world go by.

We make a list of what we want to see & do and prioritize it. No matter what you choose, you will not be able to see everything you want to see everywhere you plan to go. Sometimes, the best things you see aren't in any tourist books, its just the things you happen across by accident.

 

Our first trip to Rome, it was a port of call in the middle of a cruise, so we booked a tour to see the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum and Vatican. Then, it took two hours for the ship to safely get into port due to high winds. That two hour delay cost us the chance to see the Colosseum, which was the primary reason we took that tour. Second time in Rome, similar scenario, except we planned to do it on our own and were going to see the Forum instead of the Vatican. We got into port no problem and took the ship's transfer into Rome.

Then the subways were closed due to a ceiling falling in at one of the stations. We ended up walking from St. Peter's Square to the Colosseum and bussing back to pick up the bus back to the port. Day did not go as planned, but we saw a lot of things that we're glad we saw, but were nowhere on our list of things to see.

 

If you do go to Venice (highly recommend doing so), plan to go to the tourist sites first thing in the morning or later on in the evening. Avoid the day trippers, unless you like standing in lines. During the day, relax or go to more out of the way places. When we were there, I really wanted to see Arsenale, the old shipyards, it was quite a hike from our hotel, but it was worth it and there weren't any crowds there. Its an Italian Naval base, so you can't get inside, but it was still worth the look.

 

One other tip, don't overschedule - take time to just find a nice café to sit and relax and soak in the atmosphere and watch the world go by.

Thanks for the advice. At this point we pretty much ruled out the land based cruise line tour- we will do it on our own. We want to go to Venice, so may fly into there and then "train it"? to Rome, We just can't do it all, it being our first trip to Europe- have to pick and choose. So thinking a few days in Venice and Rome, then the 9 day Italy/Greece cruise. Still piecing it together!

Thanks for the advice. At this point we pretty much ruled out the land based cruise line tour- we will do it on our own. We want to go to Venice, so may fly into there and then "train it"? to Rome, We just can't do it all, it being our first trip to Europe- have to pick and choose. So thinking a few days in Venice and Rome, then the 9 day Italy/Greece cruise. Still piecing it together!

I agree with all who have responded to your questions. We looked at the Princess land portion and saw the cost and decided the same...too costly.

We are leaving in a week for Venice, Florence and Rome pre cruise (Mediterranean), spending 2 days in Venice, 4 in Florence and 4 in Rome. We are also taking the train between the cities. It will cost less than the Princess tour with more days.

I'm sure you will enjoy Venice and Rome, we sure plan to since it's our first trip. Enjoy!

Thanks for the advice. At this point we pretty much ruled out the land based cruise line tour- we will do it on our own. We want to go to Venice, so may fly into there and then "train it"? to Rome, We just can't do it all, it being our first trip to Europe- have to pick and choose. So thinking a few days in Venice and Rome, then the 9 day Italy/Greece cruise. Still piecing it together!

Happy to be able to help. In Venice, we stayed at the Hotel Ala in San Marco - its a beautiful hotel, reasonably priced and easy to get to. Its 50 yards from the Santa Maria del Giglio stop on the orange line of the Alilaguna. We got there by water taxi because I didn't want to have to haul luggage on public transit. There are no bridges to get there if you use the Alilaguna. The hotel has a dock on a small canal running behind the hotel for water taxis, which is how we left when we went to board the ship. If you want to do a water taxi, I would recommend pre-booking. We didn't know that you could and ended up waiting about an hour for one to be free to take us after getting through the airport and down to the dock.

One thing to note about Venice, it is extremely easy to get lost. The first day we were there and left the hotel to explore, it took us about 45 minutes to find the hotel again from Piazza San Marco :o. The last day, we could do it in 7 minutes :cool:. DH likes wandering, but I don't, so he ended up using the GPS on his phone to help us navigate the city.

Have fun!

For OP, now that you have decided, buy your train tickets 4 months prior to travel date on the trenitalia site. That is the best time and source- the fares will be lowest.

We did this last year spending 3 nights in Venice, 2 nights in Florence and 2 days in Rome. We had been to all locations except Florence on prior trips. This is a really easy trip to plan and with the trains in Italy it will only take a couple of hours travel between cities. I would recommend taking at least 1st class rail tickets. We did choose business class on all trains and this made the travel very relaxing. Give it a try yourself, Trip Advisor is a great place to start and also consult Rick Steves (Got our train tickets here ahead of time)

Enjoy your trip.

The high speed trains in Italy are quite nice and I find second class quite sufficient. Sometimes you can get a high class of car for the same or lower price due to a sale, so always check, but I wouldn't spend a lot of extra money for it.

I agree that you should purchase your train tickets as far in advance as possible to save money. Note, however, that these discounted tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable.

Also, challenge yourselves to minimize what you pack and carry, as you do all of the hauling yourself on the trains unless you pay extra for baggage service.

The high speed trains in Italy are quite nice and I find second class quite sufficient. Sometimes you can get a high class of car for the same or lower price due to a sale, so always check, but I wouldn't spend a lot of extra money for it.

 

I agree that you should purchase your train tickets as far in advance as possible to save money. Note, however, that these discounted tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable.

 

Also, challenge yourselves to minimize what you pack and carry, as you do all of the hauling yourself on the trains unless you pay extra for baggage service.

I just googled Trenitalia and found the info, still trying to figure out if I have to purchase a TIMED ticket or just date. I also need to get a map in front of me- I better hold off asking questions until I educate myself on Venice a little more, Thanks Again.

AFTER I do that, then I'll ask more questions. : )

You will select a specific train on a specific date, and then will be asked to choose your seats (or you can let the system choose for you).

Basically high speed rail in Europe is set up so that second class is 2 by 2 seating. Premium and 1st class may be 1 by2 with some extra amenities. Unless you catch a super deal on the bookings it generally is not worth a lot to pay extra for 1st class. Carry on luggage will fit overhead and larger pieces will stow in open compartments at one or both ends of the car. You can move around and go car to car to purchase food, etc. You should have assigned seats but people will trade around . The routes are relatively short time wise and any stops other than major cities will be very brief.

Did a recent land based vacation and as many of the trips were2-3 hrs we looked for early pm departures. Could grab a 3 to 4 pm train in one city after a full day of touring and still be in the next by 6pm. Get checked into your hotel, go out for a nice meal and then be ready to start early the next day. Hotels will hold your luggage even after check out. This way you really make efficient use of your time plus in Italy you will be more like an Italian if you dine at 8 rather than an American eAting at 6.