cruise

Marie,
How long will you have at each port? Will you just take day trips from the ship and return each evening?

You might want to post at cruise critic. I don't think most of the RS crowd is into cruising.

How mobile is your group? How long do you have? I think there would be better ways to see Naples, Rome and Florence. A Rick Steves tour would be much better, IMO.

Since you're looking for general information, here are some great resources to get you started.

First, pick up a copy of Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports. This has details of how to get from the port to the city on your own and how you might organize a day in port if you're not taking a tour. You can then decide for each port if you want to do it on your own, do it with a ship's tour, or do it with a private tour.

If you do a private tour, you can use the Cruise Critic website's Roll Call pages. This way, you can meet others on your sailing, and see if anyone wants to join up with you for a private tour. You get "best of both worlds" - a smaller and more customized tour than you get from the ship, while splitting the cost with others. However, if there are 6 of you, a private tour for just you may not be prohibitive, compared with the cost of a ship tour for 6.

The Cruise Critic website has lots of information, but it can be very hard to navigate. Here are their Roll Calls: https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/

Here is their Italy Ports forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=595

Here is their general Mediterranean Ports forum list: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=603

Rome and Florence are actually some distance from the ports. The port at Naples, however, is right in the city -- unless your cruise line is using some port with which we're not familiar. So far as excursions, you can do it cheaper on your own and many have done so and will advise you to do the same. If you take an excursion offered by the cruise line you will pay more. But they will wait for you if the excursion is late returning. That is not the case if you are just off on your own. The last two times we were in Naples on cruise excursions we got caught in terrible traffic jams and were late getting back but the ship waited. On several occasions on different cruises we have seen people left who were literally running down the pier after the ship was moving away. I guess a good rule of thumb is that if you are going to be staying close to the port and can hoof it back if you have to, then doing it yourself is ok, but if you plan to go far afield that's a different deal altogether. I don't mean to put a damper on your plans, just want to give you the benefit of our experiences.

Naples is a great place to get guided tours of Pompeii and Herculaneum. If fact they can both be done in one day if you are in port long enough. Going to Rome from the port will only afford you a once over lightly experience. In Florence there is always David and the Uffizi gallery.

About 10-12 hours at the ports. Day stop only. I'm looking at cruise critic as well. Thought maybe some on here have taken a cruise too. :)

I love cruises, but they really are not a good way to reasonably explore other countries or cities. At best, they are a sampler of sights, and limited times in port necessarily give passengers only a brief overview of attractions accessible from those ports. Naples is the only real port of call; the port nearest to Rome is Civitavecchia, and I imagine that La Spezia is the port closest to Florence.

I think it would be productive to check with your cruise line as to which excursions would interest you, and to plan on booking them through the cruise line. If you are delayed on a cruise line excursion, they will hold the boat for you. If you are exploring on your own and are late getting back to the ship, you will get to see an empty dock and a small white dot receding into the distance.

Suggest you find out how much time is spent in each port and then come back to the Forum with more pointed questions regarding sights you wish to see.

Great ideas/help so far. Thank you all. This is our first cruise to the Mediterranean. Ideally I would not be on a cruise and only have one day in a city. But that being said, this is a way to say I'd really like to come back here, etc. And I hope to! Thank you for the suggestions. Now I have much to do this weekend. :)

Hello Marie...
Harold gave great advise. I am doing a similar cruise this May and I recommend you check which dates you arrive in each port. Some sites in the cities have free admittance on certain days of the week and can get really crowded. There can also be special events taking place on the days of your arrival, which may affect your schedule in each city (i.e.- In Rome the day we are there it will have streets closed due to the final day of Italian bike race). This type of event may sway your decision on how to get into and out of the city. Once again, follow Harold's tips and websites...Have fun!

I am anti-cruise so cannot be of much help.
I did previously watch this video though and think it may be helpful for you.
It discusses which ports are worth exploring on your own vs. which are better for excursions and what type of excursions are offered.
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/travel-talks/mediterranean-cruise-ports