euro cruiser

Good point, but it doesn't invalidate mine. All of these rules are enforced by humans and so can be inconsistent.

Which underscores the unknowable "human" factor in these decisions. What one employee will let go, another will stop.

MSC has several ships that port at Venice, but not the old passenger terminal, I think they are using Marghera on the other side of the lagoon. It is still Venice, technically. Check out MSC sailings on the Lirica, the Armonia, the Sinfonia. Viking Sea, Viking Star are listed as using Marghera. Higher end lines like Silverseas and Seaborne list Venice as a port. Azamara does as well. Costa has the Deliziosa, Norwegian Gem is also listed at Marghera.

The only place I remember seeing a turnstyle (or similar) to get in the restroom is a train station; I do remember them at Termini. I have seen women working in the Autostrada ladies room with a small dish to place coins in.

Italiarail is a reseller, not a train company. The two national train lines in Italy are Trenitalia and Italotreno. Only Trenitalia serves Civitavecchia. IT - Trenitalia You may not be seeing all the trains because you are choosing a date too far in the future. Most of the trains to Civitavecchia are regionals and they don't load them into the system more than a few months in advance. To see what the schedule will look like when you are there, pick the same day of the week for the upcoming week. Small changes may happen, but you'll get the general idea.

There are taxis in the lot directly in front of the cruise port. The fixed fare for a taxi to Pompei is 100 euros. This is a round trip fare with a two hour stop at the ruins. If you want to stay longer you'll need to negotiate an additional fee with the driver. There are other options, a public bus (see other current thread on this) and a private shuttle bus run by the City Sightseeing company. Once at Pompei you can join a guided tour near the entrance: Guided tours - Pompeii Sites

Another option that some folks are more comfortable with is the City Sightseeing shuttle bus. It's more expensive and it limits the amount of time you have at Pompei, but it's an option. Audioguide in 5 languages (city-sightseeing.it) The meeting point for this shuttle bus on the other side of the castle you're facing at the cruise port (Castel Nuovo), it's about 750 meters/one half mile from the cruise port on foot. Note that you can pay more for a guided tour with City Sightseeing, or you can join a tour on your own at the ruins (less costly).

On your own I find the SITA bus (public bus) the easiest and most comfortable option for getting from the cruise port to Pompei and back. The SITA bus depot is located at Piazza Immacolatella, 600 meters/four-tenths of a mile on foot from the cruise port. There is a ticket office there where you can purchase your bus tickets (I would buy both the outbound and the return in the morning to make things easier). The ticket is called NA3 Aziendale and it costs 3 euro. Once on the bus you stamp it in the machine to validate it. The bus ride takes about a half hour. The stop you want is Pompei Scavi, the second one listed on this schedule (but not actually the second stop, there are intermediate stops not listed on the schedule): SITA Naples-Pompei schedule As you'll see, from Naples to Pompei is the bottom half of the page, the return schedule is at the top. Information on guided tours at Pompei: Guided tours - Pompeii Sites

Hotels do not have North American outlets, you will need adaptor plugs.

While in country in Italy you do not tip, at most you round up a bill to an even amount (for example, for a 38 euro lunch bill leave 40 euro). While on ship shore excursions I know that tipping is suggested/encouraged, that's the cruise line's issue. If on a private excursion no tip is needed or expected. You are dealing with professionals who are often self employed and set their own rates. They do not expect nor count on tips. I realize that this is uncomfortable for Americans who are accustomed to tipping for nearly everything and are begged for tips these days in even more situations. (Side note: I was recently at a ballpark paying for something at a stand where the employee didn't do anything other than hand me my purchase and he did not move more than two steps in the process. As I paid the credit card machine asked if I wanted to add a tip, I had to actually choose "zero" in front of the employee. This mechanized begging is embarrassing for everyone involved.) But back to my point, it's wrong to export the bad habits of the States to other parts of the world. It may make you feel generous in the moment, but please step back and look at the bigger picture. Of course most people will not embarrass you and refuse your tip, that doesn't make it the right thing to do. Please allow professionals to maintain their dignity and show them thanks and respect in other ways, such as asking them what web sites they would like you to leave glowing reviews on, then follow up and leave the reviews. This helps them build their business for the long term.

Trenitalia now offers a train + bus combo, if the timing works for you. Choose Taormina Centro as your destination to see the connection.

Cefalu would be about an hour by taxi, a bit more by bus. You could take the train. Palermo Centrale is a little less than two miles from the port. From there to Cefalu by train takes 45-50 minutes and there's one train per hour in each direction. Fare is euro 6,80 each way.

We did this as well with our kids as they were growing up. They did learn from it but we quickly learned that we needed more than just budget authority, because the lesson about considering everyone in the family's interest was lost on them! Fortunately they've gotten better at that as they've reached adulthood. 😁

We just walked from the port up to the Duomo and Palazzo Reale area, then back through the mercato di Ballarò. It was about three miles in total and we got a cab back from the market because we were pretty beat by then. While we did not have kids with us, I did have one 80-something and one partially disabled family member.

Make sure when you reserve a private transfer that they can enter the port. If they can, they can drop you off right at the ship or the terminal, whichever is appropriate in your situation. All of the providers typically mentioned on these boards can do that.

For either type of transportation, just tell them the flight you are on and its arrival time, they will then know about what time to pick you up.

I could not, in all honesty, describe the train route as "easy and smooth", especially for a first timer using the trains. It's not difficult but it is cumbersome, with so many different segments (taxi, train, taxi or bus). Add luggage and keeping your family together and attitude becomes important. Anxiety would not be a good addition to the situation. I once moved from Rome to Venice with three adults and one child and a month's worth of luggage, but it was really two adults because the third one had to be fully focused on the child, leaving the two of us to do everything else. It worked out but it wasn't smooth or easy.

It's nuts to try and cram all three into one day. Plus I would question their definition of "visit". It could just be a drive by with a quick stop to take pictures of Positano from the road above before dropping you off in Sorrento to get a ferry to Capri. What are your port hours? That might impact the order of things, for example if you have an early arrival there's no point in going right to Pompei only to wait for an hour until it opens.

There are two different underground tours, Napoli Sotterranea on Via dei Tribunali (1.8 km/1.1 miles on foot from the cruise port) or the Galleria Borbonica (1.3 km/0.8 miles from the cruise port). I've only been to the first one (several times) and always found it fascinating. Sorrerranea: Home - Napoli Sotterranea Borbonica: Home Page - Galleria Borbonica - Bourbon Tunnel - Napoli sotterranea

In most cases this means the first passengers can get off between 6 - 6:30, which puts them at the airport between 7 - 7:30. The earliest I would consider for a direct flight to the States would be 11, or only shortly before.

Yes, do keep trying. None of the cruise lines have staff answering the phones who know all of the ins and outs in every port, and for some reason they don't give them access to a database that does have the information. The train is a viable option but it is a bit cumbersome, especially if your starting point is the airport in Venice. You'd need a bus or taxi to the Mestre train station, then a train with one transfer, followed by another bus or taxi to the port. You might try posting on your roll call to see if there are others in your situation who want to share a transfer service. You're not flying in on the day of your cruise departure, are you?

What time does your ship arrive? What time do they suggest? It takes about an hour by car to get to the airport from the port at Civitavecchia. If your flight is direct to the States you need to be at the airport three hours prior to departure. If you will change planes somewhere within the Schengen zone prior to your transatlantic flight you will need to be at the airport two hours prior.

The ticket sold at the newsstand is different than a plain train ticket, it's the BIRG which includes round trip regional train fare plus use of buses, metro, and trams in Rome for the day. Never pay more than the train fare, which is 4,60 euro for a regional train.

I happen to love Siena, to each his/her own. San Gimignano and Volterra are nice but I wouldn't race to either of them if you haven't been to Florence yet, or Siena for that matter. Lucca is another lovely option that can be easily accessed by train from Livorno. You can spend the entire day there or pair it with a stop in Pisa (you have to change trains there anyway to get to Lucca). There is much to see and do in Florence other than museums.

Everything leaves from the same place at Civitavecchia, so that's easy. Once off the train at Termini you'll see signs for the metro, just follow them. There are two lines that meet at Termini, so you'll need to know which one you want to get on, and which direction. Metro directions are given by the last stop on the line (for example, line A, direction Battistini would take you to the Vatican, while line B, direction Laurentia would take you to the Colosseum). Where are you headed first? Here is the map of Rome metro and regional trains: mappa ferro e tram (giu 2022) (atac.roma.it)