marazul

@capecruzer The question is what do you want to do in Pisa? If you take a taxi and get there by 9, do you want to be in Pisa for 4 hours? Maybe you want to climb the tower, go to the Cathedral, Baptistry and Camposanto and use the full 4 hours. Maybe you only want to see the tower. If it is the latter (with hopefully a look at the cathedral), you can be done in less than two hours. Then you would like to take an earlier train to Vernazza around 11 to 11:30. After some time in Vernazza you could take the ferry or train to Monterosso, and later a train back to Livorno. You can buy tickets for any of the trains at the Pisa station. It might not be a good idea to buy the Pisa-CT ticket ahead of time because it would not give you any flexibility.

A taxi for 4 people makes sense to go from Livorno to Pisa. You do know that there are no direct trains from Pisa to CT. You have to change trains at La Spezia. The combined trains take from 1.5 to over 2 hours. On the way back, you change at la Spezia for a train to Livorno. That also runs about 1.5 to 2 hours. You are going to spend 4 hours on the trains plus another hour getting to the train and waiting. Your "practical" time in port is 10 hours. Yes, you can do it, but it is a lot of running around. If you really do this, stay a maximum of 2 hours in Pisa and give yourselves more time in CT. And take that taxi to Pisa to save you a lot of time. In this case, time is more important than money.

It's just before the pedestrian part starts.

"Acropolis Plaka entrance". If you want to add "across from Acropolis Museum."

Yes, but it is very tight in Palma. The train gets back at 3. You would have more time in Palma if you took a bus or taxi back around 1 pm. Or if you took a bus or taxi to Soller at 9 or earlier and took the 12:15 train back to Palma. There is no benefit in doing the train round trip. Take a look at the "pinned" thread on Mallorca at the top of this forum.

There is only one sure way to avoid the cable car and really enjoy Santorini: 1. Take a cruise that skips Santorini, and 2. Fly to Santorini from Athens before or after the cruise. Stay 2 or 3 nights. The flight from Athens takes 30 minutes. There are a dozen flights to Santorini (JTR) everyday on Aegean Air. The prices start at €45 each way. There are many, many hotels in Santorini at all price points. The easiest would be to fly there the same day you fly into Athens. Just take an afternoon flight to Santorini and stay there to begin your trip. Fly back to Athens the day before your cruise or earlier if you have more time. The few cruise excursions that avoid the cable car, and tender to and from Athinios are geared to handicapped passengers.

The land visitors have no need to take the cable car. There is nothing down at the port. It will be crowded enough just with cruise passengers.

For history and architecture stay in Palma. Visit the cathedral and the royal palace. Plus the rest of the old town. If you are on a long port day, you could also do a half day tour to Valldemosa and/or Soller. But don't miss Palma. The whole island is beautiful.

@scotlady Do anything else. Tour Palma, it is amazing. If you can also add Valldemosa, even better. Flamenco is not typical of this region, especially not of Mallorca. It is performed in the south of Spain (Andalusia). This will be strictly a show for foreign tourists who do not know any better. Mallorca is beautiful. Enjoy the island.

The beaches are much better in Cannes than in Nice. The ones on La Croisette are comparable (or better) to Ruhl in terms of amenities and restaurants, plus Cannes has sand while Nice has pebbles on the beach. You can take the ferry to ile Ste M right from the tender pier. You do not need an excursion for that.

Then pick one of the trattorias named above.

Right. Just get the debit/ATM card.

It isn't that complicated. We keep a second account for travel purposes. We do a wire transfer into it before every trip and have a cc.

museivaticani.va is the real one. You could stand in line for hours to buy tickets. Do it online. They are available two months ahead of time.

Have you thought of opening a "travel" account and credit card from a credit union? (If you work in the public schools, you know which one.) They do not charge fees. Also, if your WF credit card is lost or stolen you would have access to another financial institution.