Calling all Naples experts:)

[Leejnd4]

I don' think you should have a problem. Since you are taking the train - traffic should not enter into the equation :D If planning on touring both historical sites you will need to keep your eye on the clock tho.... I would probably chose one or the other and do a more in depth tour. JMO

 

Like I posted we did Pompeii in the morning..... the Ravello, Amalfi, Positano then Sorrento with stops in each one..... we had the same time frame in port. We did go late Nov. but again...you are taking the train so traffic should not enter into your plans.

 

Just remember, whenever you are planning on using trains for port excursions, that Italy is notorious for its train strikes. Most of the time these strikes are announced in advance - you might want to ask your tour desk onboard if they can check to see if there are any announced train strikes. This happened to us once when we ended a cruise in Rome, and the tour desk notified us, so rather than training it to our next destination we rented a car.

 

Not only that, but trains (especially in Southern Italy) don't always run on time, and delays can be catastrophic. I took a train from Portofino (where our ship was docked) to the Cinque Terre once, and for unknown reasons it just stopped for about an hour half-way there. Not only did it cut that hour out of my time there, but it freaked me out so much worrying that the same thing might happen on the way back that I cut my day there short by a couple of additional hours to take an earlier train. As it turned out we were on time going back, but if I'd stuck to my original plan and we'd hit a similar delay I might have missed the ship!

[1happyfam]

We want to do the same thing. The train to Herculaneum, Pompeii, and finishing in Sorrento. We want to ferry back to Naples, or hydrofoil. Is there enough time in the day, with an early start, to make it back to the ship on time? It docks at 7:00 am and leaves at 6:00 pm.

The tour compny sent me that the ferry from Sorrento to Naples is at 1:40 and 4:25. Hope that helps!!

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

i read the title of the post and expected to find some questions or suggestions about naples , but costiera amalfitana has nothing to do with naples, since it's not even province ( or district as u say) of naples but salerno, that is another town. why u wrote expert of naples if these places have nothing to do with naples????

 

hence; to avoid misunderstandings:

 

 

capri, ischia, procida and penisola sorrentina= district of naples

 

 

costiera amalfitana= district of salerno

[texancruzer]

i read the title of the post and expected to find some questions or suggestions about naples , but costiera amalfitana has nothing to do with naples, since it's not even province ( or district as u say) of naples but salerno, that is another town. why u wrote expert of naples if these places have nothing to do with naples????

 

hence; to avoid misunderstandings:

 

 

capri, ischia, procida and penisola sorrentina= district of naples

 

 

costiera amalfitana= district of salerno

 

Well - actually they have alot to do with Naples.

Since alot of cruise ships DOCK in Naples.... and therefore excursions/tours begin and end here, it is only natural for cruisers to link Naples with the Amalfi coast. Whether it is geographically correct to do so doesnt really matter since most people (other than locals) just think this way.

Please remember that you are responding to questions from people who are on cruise ships and are looking for information about Naples and how it ties in with the Amalfi coast.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

exactly. i think that cruisers are interestd to know where they are. costiera amalfitana HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NAPLES

 

i heard people saying that they went to new york in florida. it's all united states for us, do u agree with me??

[texancruzer]

exactly. i think that cruisers are interestd to know where they are. costiera amalfitana HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NAPLES

 

i heard people saying that they went to new york in florida. it's all united states for us, do u agree with me??

 

No I don't agree with you. If you were to dock and get off a cruise ship in New York - you will definately NOT be doing a 1 day excursion/tour in Florida.

There is a big difference. About oh 1000 miles. Simple logistics.

Also, if you look at how the cruiselines show the ports you will be docking at on their itineraries, it is natural to link Naples with Amalfi coast. Also when they say you will dock in Livorno they put Florence and Pisa in parenthesis. When we docked in Villafranche France they put Nice in parenthesis. Same for Toulon (Provence).

Since a large majority of cruisers take tours to Amalfi coast from Naples they have alot to do with each other.

Again.....think like a cruiser and how they are trying to plan their day.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

i've done 15 cruises and i don't think as a cruiser but as a knowledge traveler that WANTS TO KNOW where she is.

 

If i didn't know naples reading this post i'd think that costiera amalfitana is naples or near naples, when naples is no mentioned at all.

 

why not talk about milan when ships dock in genoa? milan is not that far to genoa, and it' not only another district it's another region.

 

and whi not going to do a shorex in Ny if it's just 1000 miles? with an overnight in miami it's doable with a plane. what did u think if u saw port of call miami and into brackets (new york) as a shore ex?? that new york is miami?? some cruises that do overnight in saint peterburg organishe an excursion to moscow. is it the same for u??

[Leejnd4]

i've done 15 cruises and i don't think as a cruiser but as a knowledge traveler that WANTS TO KNOW where she is.

 

If i didn't know naples reading this post i'd think that costiera amalfitana is naples or near naples, when naples is no mentioned at all.

 

why not talk about milan when ships dock in genoa? milan is not that far to genoa, and it' not only another district it's another region.

 

and whi not going to do a shorex in Ny if it's just 1000 miles? with an overnight in miami it's doable with a plane. what did u think if u saw port of call miami and into brackets (new york) as a shore ex?? that new york is miami?? some cruises that do overnight in saint peterburg organishe an excursion to moscow. is it the same for u??

:rolleyes:

 

Texancruiser, it's not worth trying. He's just trying to make a point, even though the point has nothing to do with the purpose of the thread.

 

Persistenze...etc (wow, perfect name now that I shorten it!), please just try to recognize the purpose of the thread. The cruiser who asked the question is docking in Naples, and wants to visit the Amalfi coast FROM Naples - thus the name of the thread. That's all. The rest of us really did understand, we were not confused, but thanks anyway. There have been enough answers to her questions in here with great and detailed information (including a MAP) that I don't think a geography lesson is necessary. It's pretty obvious that the OP (and the rest of us posting in here) know where Naples is. For the purpose of this thread, Naples and Amalfi Coast ARE the same - you dock in one, and visit the other. Yeah yeah we get it that they are in differently named districts...but you get to one by docking in the other.

 

We get it that you live in Italy and know it reeeeally well. Thanks for the clarifications.

[agabbymama]

Persistenzaretinika,

 

I think it is because the cruise ship doesn't dock in Salerno. The Amalfi coast is between Naples and Salerno, NO??? I don't personally know all the different districts of Italy, nor do I want to. I know I am going to Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno (Florence, Pisa), Naples (Capri, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast), and Venice. I have no idea what district any of them are in, that would only add confusion for me. And the cruise ships list excursions usually within 1 days distance from whatever port they are in (therefore Naples port includes trips down to the Amalfi coast, Capri, Sorrento, Pompeii etc.) NOT AN EXCURSION TO VENICE OR LAKE MAGGIORE FROM NAPLES. And yes, a ship making port in Genoa could very easily have an excursion to Milan. And a cruise making a port stop in New York would most likely not list an excursion that was over 1000 miles away be it Florida or Ohio or California. And if St. Petersburg is the port with an excursion to Moscow, they would be linked in the cruisers mind.

 

When I visited Italy in '98 we had a car and drove from Germany through Austria down the Eastern Coast of Italy crossed over at Benevento/Naples/Salerno down to Reggio de Calabria crossed the straits to Messina, all around Sicily to a lovely little town of Cefalu, back to the mainland, up the Western coast to Naples, Rome and Pisa, then to Lake Maggiore and on into Switzerland and back to Germany. All this without knowing any of the districts or provinces in Germany, Austria, Italy or Switzerland. It's not really something I cared about. I knew I was going to Munich, Innsbruck, Verona, Venice, Benevento, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Pisa, Stressa, Zermatt. I don't travel by provinces, I travel by city.

 

It was really kind of funny when I started looking at the cruise itineraries, I had to look it up on the Internet where the heck Civitavecchia & Livorno and Katakolon (Sp?) for Olympia Greece were as they were totally unknown to me. Just because the towns are sometimes inland and the actual port stop an hour or more away from the city, the city is still the destination.

 

Sounds a little like you are a disgruntled Napolitano because the cruisers are asking for info for other areas, rather than actually staying in Naples proper.

[Susan-M]

what did u think if u saw port of call miami and into brackets (new york) as a shore ex?? that new york is miami??

 

That's not something that you would see on a cruise itinerary because it wouldn't make any sense.

 

Many on CC think of Naples, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii Sorrento and Capri as one area because they are all easily accessible from the ports of Naples and Sorrento, and those are the destinations most go to from those ports.

 

Just to reassure you, many of us have looked at the map to determine where we are going. But if someone coming to NYC thinks Miami is a day trip...then I don't think they've looked at the map.:)

[Leejnd4]

 

Sounds a little like you are a disgruntled Napolitano because the cruisers are asking for info for other areas, rather than actually staying in Naples proper.

 

The thing is, just like Civitavecchia vs. Rome, there's really not much for a cruiser to see in Naples, vs. the attractive nearby destinations (Pompeii, Costa Amalfitana, Capri etc). The VAST majority of cruisers who dock in Naples spend little if any time actually in Naples...just like I don't know of any cruisers who spend time in Civitavecchia instead of Rome.

 

I've been to the area several times, and stayed in Naples. It's just...well...not the nicest Italian city...ESPECIALLY when there are such compelling destinations such a short distance away.

 

On my upcoming cruise (which stops in Naples), however, I'm actually NOT going to any of those places...I'm going scuba diving! That's something most people don't know about the Naples area - there's some pretty darn good diving around there. So I'll probably be staying closer to the ship than anyone. :D

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

:rolleyes:

 

Texancruiser, it's not worth trying. He's just trying to make a point, even though the point has nothing to do with the purpose of the thread.

 

Persistenze...etc (wow, perfect name now that I shorten it!), please just try to recognize the purpose of the thread. The cruiser who asked the question is docking in Naples, and wants to visit the Amalfi coast FROM Naples - thus the name of the thread. That's all. The rest of us really did understand, we were not confused, but thanks anyway. There have been enough answers to her questions in here with great and detailed information (including a MAP) that I don't think a geography lesson is necessary. It's pretty obvious that the OP (and the rest of us posting in here) know where Naples is. For the purpose of this thread, Naples and Amalfi Coast ARE the same - you dock in one, and visit the other. Yeah yeah we get it that they are in differently named districts...but you get to one by docking in the other.

 

We get it that you live in Italy and know it reeeeally well. Thanks for the clarifications.

 

 

first of all i'm a woman and not a man.

 

secondly i appreciate really your kidnenss about "it's not worth trying". maybe a geography lesson is not required or necessary but many other kind of lessons could be....and sorry if i insist but amalfi and naples are not the same thing. and naples is a town to charming and full of history to be understood and appreciated by everyone.

 

next time u'll come to italy i hope u'll enjoy your gelato

[Leejnd4]

first of all i'm a woman and not a man.

 

secondly i appreciate really your kidnenss about "it's not worth trying". maybe a geography lesson is not required or necessary but many other kind of lessons could be....and sorry if i insist but amalfi and naples are not the same thing. and naples is a town to charming and full of history to be understood and appreciated by everyone.

 

next time u'll come to italy i hope u'll enjoy your gelato

 

Sorry if you're offended...but do me a favor and go back and read your last few posts, and you might see what I'm saying. I suggested it's not worth trying because folks have repeatedly tried to get through to you see that, for the purpose of this thread, it DOESN'T MATTER that Naples and Amalfi are in fact different places. We get it! They have different names! There's a map! We saw it! You just seem quite intent on focusing on that one point that really has nothing whatsoever to do with the questions asked by the OP. So it seemed to me that there's not much we can do to get you off that point...which obviously continues to be true.

 

I've been to Italy numerous times. I have relatives there. I'm actually not a big fan of gelato, but thanks anyway.

 

Naples has some interesting areas...but for cruisers who've never been to the region, the surrounding destinations are way more compelling, so I would encourage anyone docking in Naples for the first time to head straight to one or more of the other sites. As for me, having been to those destinations already, I'll be spending my Naples port stop underwater. :)

 

Sorry about the gender error - your screen name gives no hints, so I took a shot. 50-50 chance! ;)

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

for a first time cruiser i usually suggest pompei as a first visit as well.

 

my point is simply that many times locals HATE to be blended with other next populations. in italy the culture of a place, the language, the food can change completely every 100 km and if u have italian heritage u should know it. this is why we hate to be mixed up with with neighbours. they are things we drag since middle ages. i live exactly in the middle between venice and verona: verona hates vicenza, vicenza hates verona ( since the times of romeo and juliet) padova hates vicenza and everybody hates venice, venetians hate everybody, included the ones from MESTRE!!

[agabbymama]

for a first time cruiser i usually suggest pompei as a first visit as well.

 

my point is simply that many times locals HATE to be blended with other next populations. in italy the culture of a place, the language, the food can change completely every 100 km and if u have italian heritage u should know it. this is why we hate to be mixed up with with neighbours. they are things we drag since middle ages. i live exactly in the middle between venice and verona: verona hates vicenza, vicenza hates verona ( since the times of romeo and juliet) padova hates vicenza and everybody hates venice, venetians hate everybody, included the ones from MESTRE!!

 

Sounds like Italy has a big problem with love/hate relationships. We take pride in the state we come from, but I wouldn't say Californians hate New Yorkers or Floridians hate Michiganders. You are all Italians. The same as we are all from the U.S. (notice I didn't say Americans). That term is often used incorrectly too, as Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Peruvians, and many more can claim the title American.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

yes i know this thing that many times even south americans selfclaim as americans. actually we are all italians just on our documents, but we have been forced to get united in 1861. last time we have been united it was during the roman empire. and we don't like each other. we usually hate the neighbour or have a great friendship with people far from us. for examples napolitans love sicilians and vice versa because until 150years ago they were united in one of the richest kingdoms of europe ( with calabria and puglia) that lasted for many many centuries. actually, as far as i know sicilians and napolitans don't like people from puglia and calabria. let's summary like this: north west doesn't llike north east and south, northeast doesn't like south and aalso northeast would like to be indipendent ( or at least like catalunia in spain), tuscany hates themselves since many ages ( night of the times we say here), south hates north in general ( expecially napolitans hates north because they occupied and forced them to become italians getting them very poor and giving them to camorra and mafia that before unification of italy didn't exist ) northwest love sardinia ( expecially piemonte because before the unification they were the same kingdom) in liguria same story as in toscana: savona deadly hates genova and so on.

 

we are all italians only during fifa world cup matches ( soccer)hehehehe

[1happyfam]

Persistenaretinika, I am the one who started the thread and meant no offense. I saw many such threads re day trips from Naples, so titled it such and it does seem the majority of people were not confused or offended. I am sure your Naples is lovely but most of the tour excursions lead us away from the port. I am desperate to see Positano and the Amalfi coast and wanted to hear from others who have done the same for thier advice. thank you to all who did advise and come to my defense as to why I titled this thread such. Again I meant no offense and hope this puts an end to any more conversation regarding such as there is much more fun items to discuss.

 

Lee Anne

[texancruzer]

Sheesh ~ I'm done !!!!! I've had all the geography/history lesson I need for one day

 

:D :D :D

[agabbymama]

Sheesh ~ I'm done !!!!! I've had all the geography/history lesson I need for one day

 

:D :D :D

 

Oh come on, that was just Italy. Let's move on to Turkey and Greece!

The Med is such a hotbed of wars, invasions, and takeovers, you want to talk HISTORY! Man was I surprised when we went to Sicily and saw the Greek ruins as well as to Greece and saw the Roman ruins, and learned that the Greeks themselves were responsible for most of the damage to the Acropolis by placing explosives there when they were fighting the Turks.:eek: Or even Hungary and saw the Roman ruins, or Bath England to see the Roman ruins. Egads, they were everywhere.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

thanks agabby mamma for your answer.

 

most people here don't care about history and geography here is striktly linked to history. for most of u it's not funny to understand who we are,or at least u just want to understand what is immediately and superficially clear. when i go in a place i want to know how they talk, wich is their history and the history that they still live and drag from centuries. all europe is so full of history that as i tried to expain we still live it as it happened yesterday and instead it happened 700 years ago, 2000 years ago, 3000 years ago. i do realize that these gap of times are unthinkable for americans but try to be open minded when u come to europe ( and in mediterranean most of all) and understand what u could never do as u have shown in this thread getting angry because i explained u a difference that for us is VITAL.

why u travel if u want to be arrogoant and u don't want to learn from locals things and point of views that u've never heard?

who cares about the post or what u think at this point, but at least be respectfull toward us and try to LEARN how we are. there are rules of being a good host and i think that us italians don't need to take lessons from anybody about this, and there are also rules to be good guests. don't take it for granted

 

 

secondly i'm not napolitan at all, even if i know naples very very well and napolitan language too.

[agabbymama]

thanks agabby mamma for your answer.

 

most people here don't care about history and geography here is striktly linked to history. for most of u it's not funny to understand who we are,or at least u just want to understand what is immediately and superficially clear. when i go in a place i want to know how they talk, wich is their history and the history that they still live and drag from centuries. all europe is so full of history that as i tried to expain we still live it as it happened yesterday and instead it happened 700 years ago, 2000 years ago, 3000 years ago. i do realize that these gap of times are unthinkable for americans but try to be open minded when u come to europe ( and in mediterranean most of all) and understand what u could never do as u have shown in this thread getting angry because i explained u a difference that for us is VITAL.

why u travel if u want to be arrogoant and u don't want to learn from locals things and point of views that u've never heard?

who cares about the post or what u think at this point, but at least be respectfull toward us and try to LEARN how we are. there are rules of being a good host and i think that us italians don't need to take lessons from anybody about this, and there are also rules to be good guests. don't take it for granted

 

 

secondly i'm not napolitan at all, even if i know naples very very well and napolitan language too.

 

Didn't mean to offend you by assuming you were Napolitan. Such a strong defense of Naples made me think that was where you were from. My Father in law was born in Ponte outside of Benevento. He was ten when he walked to Naples to board the ship for America. And yes, I do know the history of all of Europe runs deep. I think that was the first thing that struck me my first trip to Europe, I was looking at things that were older than my whole Country has been in existence. As a Country we have a very short history compared to Europe.

 

Happy travels.

[texancruzer]

OK gotta jump back in.....

 

Unfortunately as a country the USA fails miserably when it comes to teaching history or geography for that matter.

 

Most kids and way too many adults don't even know where our own capitol is....let alone anything about Europe or the rest of the world. Ever watch Jay Leno on the street when he asks people questions ? Sad really altho they portray it as funny.

 

I love history (not so much geography :o ) and was totally taken by the beauty, history, people, food, ambience and everything else about Italy. If you read any of my other posts you will see that this is true. I can't wait to come back.

 

DH and I usually like to rent a car when we travel so we can get off the beaten path. We usually stay in private homes or villas renting from such places as cyberrentals or vrbo instead of hotels. I have had a cook in Jamaica teach me to reggae dance , a gardner teach me about the different trees, fruits and other flora and fauna in Bahamas. I do not understand the whole concept of people going to an all-inclusive and never leaving the property :confused:

 

All the above taken into consideration - When someone travels to Europe for the first time (or maybe even more) there is only so much one can absorb as there is alot to take in. It is great that you have a strong sense of history - it's sad that you say that you hate other Italians for reasons why ????? Just because it has always been so ????? Just because I have defended why cruisers link Naples and the Amalfi coast together does not mean I have become angry because you feel a need to explain the geography of the area. Far from it. I was simply trying to lighten things up a bit when responding to the original posters (1happyfam) regarding ending the debate. :)

 

As far as Italians being great hosts..... I wholeheartedly agree. As far as being a good guest - I was raised being taught " treat others as you would have them treat you" and live my life by this.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

actually my husband is from naples ( pure napolitan) and they joke about the pesant of the area. actually for them all people outside naples are pesant and for old people also the tophill of naples (posillipo and vomero) can be pesant. i can understand that it can be absurd, but they hate when people from outside ( even 10km) say they are from naples and they are from other places. people from outside naples would never say to a napolitan that they are from naples but they do it when they go abroad ( or north italy, wich can be almost the same thing)

 

the fact that we hate each other is due to historical episode, wars, and so on. and of course total "incapacity" of understanding each other because our cultural heritage are deeply different one from the other.

 

in region campania u can find many different populations with similar language but different heritage: napoli people are also said partenopei,

the are aof benevento is sannio ( people sanniti), salerno is an area of cilento and so on. u can see that we are different population in really little areas one next to the other. some places of puglia still have a greek name, and the cultural heritage is greek-albanian. me i have a surname that is in pure latin and also my cousins ( my father is from south).

 

this is why i get angry when i see some imprecisions and a kind of superficial attitude toward italy.

please don't take it as a kind of contempt toward americans, there are a lot of unknowledge, unsensitive and arrogant people in italy as well and i get angry with them even morebecause they are more " guilty".

believe me that nobody hates americans in italy , we simply hate a kind of superficial attitude toward us. but it can come from germans or scandinavian or british people or whoever around the world. it is not against a peculiar population.

 

whatever italian would prefer to work in US or abroad in genral, since the deep crisis we have ( wich is not only an economics matter but also a kind of cultural fall).

 

when i try to get the focus on certain things it's just FOR U, since i find it a kind of duty as a host toward potential or actual guests-to-be in my motherland. the same when i offer italian language classes i dont do it because i want something in return !!

[Leejnd4]

Oh man. What happened to this thread about logistical questions related to SHORE EXCURSIONS FROM NAPLES? This REALLY got diverted, didn't it?

 

Persistenze, one thing that might help you is to realize that not every thread about Italy needs to turn into a full-service educational experience on Italy. On these types of message boards, it's usually preferable to keep threads on topic, meaning, specifically what was asked about. The topic of this thread was pretty narrowly focused, and was not asking for geographical or historical lessons about the area, or Italy in general. By diverting it as you did, you dilute the great information that is available in threads like these, making it more difficult for other members who are trying to find actual answers to the same specific questions.

 

But clearly you are a font of knowledge about Italian geography and history. I might suggest that you start a few threads of your own to address the lack of knowledge that you perceive we Americans have about your lovely country. By using appropriate titles, you will get more people who are actually looking for this type of information, rather than those looking for specific shore-excursion logistics.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

oooooooooooh