I will be flying to Rome Italy in 5 weeks and will arrive 5 days before my cruise leaves with ports of call in Naples, Barcelona, Mallorca, Marseilles, La Spezia, then back to Rome. Currently I have a shore excursion (Amalfi Coast by Land and Sea) booked with R/C during our stop in Naples which says we will visit the towns of Amalfi and Pompeii which is supposed to take 9.5 hours. The R/C excursion website doesn't provide much info. Does anyone know if I will have enough time to look around on my own in Amalfi on this excursion? Has anyone taken this excursion in the past? Because the Amalfi Coast is so close to Rome, I am thinking about taking a train from Rome to Naples before my cruise and finding my own tour to go to Positano and Sorrento in addition to my shore excursion I currently have booked. Any thoughts?
Another excursion I currently have booked is from La Spezia (Best of Florence and Pisa) - 11 hours. Again, the website does not provide much info. From what hear it is a 1 hour trip from the cruise ship port to Pisa, then another 2 hours to Florence. I am afraid this will not allow me much time to explore on my own in Florence and it is a lot of riding on the bus. I am thinking about cancelling this excursion and instead take a train from La Spezia to Pisa and explore on my own and not go to Florence. I would buy tickets to the Leaning Tower in advance which would allow me to go inside then leisurely walk around Pisa then go back to the ship. Any thoughts?
