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Help booking Academia tix(Florence)

1happyfam

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1happyfam

1happyfam

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I got a booking number from another thread (39 055-294-8833) and the thread advised to press 4 and so forth but when I call I just keep getting recording with no person to book with. Anyone use this number before? Or is there another wayto book??

Lee Anne:)

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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I got a booking number from another thread (39 055-294-8833) and the thread advised to press 4 and so forth but when I call I just keep getting recording with no person to book with. Anyone use this number before? Or is there another wayto book??

 

Lee Anne:)

 

 

The number I have in my notes is 39-055-294-883. You have an extra 3 at the end.

 

Other possibilities: Are you dialling the 011 country code first (Assuming you are dialling from US)?

 

The other thought that occurred to me is that you may be calling when the ticket office is closed. You have to call during their regular hours and account for the time difference.

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1happyfam

1happyfam

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Cruisemom42, I did dial o11, the extra three shouldnt matter and it did state that it was for booking. I also did call during business hours today:cool: I could use an online service but had read that this was less expensive.

 

Heatescapee- If I cant get through I may have to try that. I looked on Florenceart.it and they do have my day and time available but with the extra charges. But I may have to bite the bullet if I cant get through.

 

Lee Anne:)

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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Cruisemom42, I did dial o11, the extra three shouldnt matter and it did state that it was for booking. I also did call during business hours today:cool: I could use an online service but had read that this was less expensive.

 

 

Lee Anne:)

 

Don't know what else to suggest... it has worked for me twice and I've recommended it to others twice.

 

What time did you call today? Depending on your time zone, Italy is 6 hours ahead of EDT; 9 hours ahead of PDT....

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CHK

CHK

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Here is the link to the website we used to book our Accademie tickets:

 

http://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/Uffizi/info_venue_accademia.aspx

 

I don't think this one charges a booking fee. One thing: when you make your purchase, you'll come to a page that wants you to list your country.

If you're from the US, you'll have trouble locating it--it's under Stati Uniti--or something to that effect.

 

It was great to bypass the long line outside.:)

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nicknack

nicknack

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Here is the link to the website we used to book our Accademie tickets:

 

http://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/Uffizi/info_venue_accademia.aspx

 

I don't think this one charges a booking fee. One thing: when you make your purchase, you'll come to a page that wants you to list your country.

If you're from the US, you'll have trouble locating it--it's under Stati Uniti--or something to that effect.

 

It was great to bypass the long line outside.:)

How did you get the tickets? Can you print them out, or pick them up the date of your visit? If you can deal on line directly with the museum without a booking fee, why are so many people recommending the private, ticket-booking agencies they used?

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1happyfam

1happyfam

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cruisemom, you may be right, I might have just missed thier open times. Thank you for the extra info.

 

CHK thank you too for your info and the no booking fee is great!

 

I'll try tomorrow and let everyone know how it went.

 

nicknack great question, I want to hear the answer too.

 

Lee Anne:)

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CHK

CHK

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How did you get the tickets? Can you print them out, or pick them up the date of your visit? If you can deal on line directly with the museum without a booking fee, why are so many people recommending the private, ticket-booking agencies they used?

When I booked our tickets, we printed out a confirmation with a booking number on it. When we got to the Academy, we went to the office marked for reservations and showed our confirmation to them. They gave us our tickets and in we went.

 

As for why others would use agents that charge a fee--those are the ticket sites that come up in the search engines. I accidently found this ticket website when I was trying to find out what museums were open on May 1st (Labor Day--all of the museums in Florence were closed) The different "ticketing" agencies had different info, so I spent some time online trying to find the actual museum website--which is what the "B-ticket" is connected to.

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1happyfam

1happyfam

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OK I got through to museum and only availability is for 11:30am, here's my question..The tour bus leaves Livorno @ 9:15 can I make an 11:30 time?? The other booking sites had not good availability either.:eek: Now what??

 

Lee Anne:)

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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OK I got through to museum and only availability is for 11:30am, here's my question..The tour bus leaves Livorno @ 9:15 can I make an 11:30 time?? The other booking sites had not good availability either.:eek: Now what??

 

Lee Anne:)

 

 

I assume by tour bus you mean one of the "Florence on your Own" buses? If that is the case, they sometimes let the buses go as they fill up, in which case you'd want to be there early and at the front of the queue. Or you could take the train.

 

I'd suggest you go ahead and make the reservation. If you use the phone system there is no penalty for being a no-show, as you don't pay for the tickets until you pick them up. They would probably also have a certain grace period (15 mins at least, maybe half an hour....)

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Susan-M

Susan-M

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The tour bus leaves Livorno @ 9:15 can I make an 11:30 time?

 

I would go ahead with it. It should take about 1 1/2 hrs for the bus ride, 10 minutes to walk to the meeting place and get instructions about your return trip, and another 10-15 minutes to walk to the Accademia.

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lambs2

lambs2

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1happyfam,

Just a little story to help relieve your stress on the time for your Accademia visit a bit. We helped my SIL & BIL plan their first Mediterranean cruise which was this past May. They ordered their Accademia tickets on line and were all set. They decided to book the Livorno & Pisa on-your-own excursion on their ship (Calebrity summit). They took great care to ask exactly when the bus would be arriving in Florence to be sure they were there in time for their reserved tickets at 10:30. After they got on the tour bus it was announced that the order was now going to be Pisa first - not Livorno! :eek: They protested (loudly) and told the tour leader that they had been promised by the excursion desk folks that Florence was first - even the promo literature and the promo TV clips showed that order. They even turned the bus around and went back to talk to someone from the ship's excursion department. No Deal. The bus was still going to do Pisa and THEN Livorno. SIL & BIL had already prepaid for their Accademia tickets! They were very upset. Everyone else on the bus was very quiet. Anyway, when they finally got to Florence it was already an hour later than the time on their tickets. My BIL said they were gong to try anyway. The walked right up to the head of the pre-paid ticket line and explained their situation to the guard there. The guard pulled out two tickets from his pocket, gave them to my inlaws and told them to have a wonderful time! SO..in that case everything worked out just great even though they had technically "missed" their pre-paid slot of time! So the moral is, even if you ARE late - still TRY!

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lambs2

lambs2

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That's a good story! But the moral that I got out of it was, "don't prepay for tickets if you don't have to." :)

 

Absolutely true, Susan M. Wish we had known about the ability to reserve tickets and not have to prepay before our first Med cruise!

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1happyfam

1happyfam

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Thank you sooooo much everyone for all your help. Lambs2 what a story, but my bus only goes to Florence so no chance of stopping elsewhere.

Thanks for the tip on being in the front que, we'll be up and ready. I was pretty upset today as my indecision cost me another day booking (and why didnt I book this a while ago:confused: ) but I said what is meant , will be, so if we dont get to see David this trip we'll still enjoy Florence...but I WANT to see David!!

 

Thanks agin, I'll update tomorrow.

 

Lee Anne:)

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Susan-M

Susan-M

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Oh dear. Now I learn we didn't have to pre-pay....and we're taking the ship's "Florence on Your Own" transportation and may not make our 11 AM ticket time! But I'm going to try really hard not to let this worry me....

 

You should be fine... you'll probably arrive in Florence between 10 and 10:30.

Have a great cruise! :)

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1happyfam

1happyfam

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OK thank you all again for your input. I woke early to make sure I got through early and booked for the 11:30. I used the direct phone number for the museum (011 39 o55294 883 press 2 for English and then 4 for booking) so I didnt have to pre-pay anything. I believe I will make it in time and feel comfortable that if we are a little late they will still let us in.

Thanks for all the specifis on the timing and the letting me know they will hold a little while.

I cant wait!!!

Lee Anne:)

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sfnew2sail

sfnew2sail

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Lee Anne, I've tried to email you twice since we got home, but your email keeps coming back saying that you can't accept my email at this time. Thought maybe your inbox was too full. I hope you see this. I don't want you to think I'm ignoring you!

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travelingran

travelingran

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Here is the link to the website we used to book our Accademie tickets:

 

http://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/Uffizi/info_venue_accademia.aspx

 

I don't think this one charges a booking fee. One thing: when you make your purchase, you'll come to a page that wants you to list your country.

If you're from the US, you'll have trouble locating it--it's under Stati Uniti--or something to that effect.

 

It was great to bypass the long line outside.:)

 

unless i misunderstood, the site said 4.00 euros for booking fee.

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