Florence - Time for Uffizi + ???

You might want to check this tour site - I'm not familiar with it but it sounds good. http://www.florence-jewish-tours.com/guestbook.htm I don't remember how long the line was to get in but we were able to see what we considered the 'best of the Uffizi' in about 2-1/2 hours. If you want to see the David at the Accademia in addition to the Uffizi and some jewish sites, you might want to find a tour that does all of them, it will cost a little more but you will probably be able to skip the lines. There are lots of tours, just google: tours in Florence or jewish tours in Florence. Some you can customize to your needs and wants. Also check your particular cruise on cruisecritic.com and maybe you can hook up with some others that share your interests and split costs of private tour.

Sorry, my mistake. We are docking in Livorno and need transportation to Florence.
I do want to see the "David".

the ship will be docked at Florence from 7 am - 7 pm. No, actually you will be docked quite a distance away. Florence is pretty much in the middle of the country - over 100 km from the coast. There will be travel time involved getting from the boat to Florence.

The Ufizzi is big -- might want to skip that, and just do the Jewish synagogue and see the David at the Accademia. This museum is doable in an hour. Nigel brings up an important point re the timing.

Although the Uffizi are big, however you should never spend more than 1.5 hours in any museum, by focusing on no more than 10 works of art. If you go to Uffizi.org you can see a virtual tour of the gallery. There are also several guides (printed or online) that can point out the top works. The Accademia can be done in less than one hour easily. Both should be in your agenda for Florence.
From the dock to Florence set aside 2.5 hours each way.

I have to disagree with Roberto's museum formula, I think it varies from person to person. For me it's 2.5 hours and then I need an espresso break. I do think after ten great works of art I need to at least close my eyes os look out a window, and I am a museum geek. I once stood in front of Michelangelo's Saint Matthew so long that the museum guard brought me a chair (years ago, it couldn't happen now).

It kills me to say this but take the cruise transportation to/from Florence (which is horribly overpriced, horribly). The train is only a/o 8/9 Euros each way and o/a 1hr20min but you have to get to/from the train station etc. This is all OK if you're familiar with doing this which I suspect you are not. There's also the shared cab option. Either way you do it you've got to tack on 2 hours to/from. Buy tickets for the Academia on line to see David. (Yours will not be the only cruise ship in port.) Then, go around the corner (exit turn left, left at corner) Museum of Precious Stones a few meters away, again on your left - it's all about inlay work and is fantastic. I'm not an art student myself and wish I understood more but we never miss the Uffizi. Again you must have advance tickets or the line will chew up your day. That said, there is so much else to see your eyeballs are going to start spinning

If you are not accustomed to navigating trains, I agree with the idea of overpaying for cruise tour transport to Florence. Some lines offer just the shuttle service to the city and then you're on your own. You'll need to weigh for yourself the plusses or minuses of having someone do the planning for you, including getting you past the lines into the Uffizi and the David. Read through the comments from other passengers to see if their experience is one you want to share or avoid. If you're not an experienced traveler, the planned ship's tour will definitely let you see the "musts" in Florence.

Thank you so much everyone. We are experienced with trains and doing our own tours on our own-been using Rick Steves' books for years. However, it is sometimes easier to make this a real vacation from work to let someone else do everything in some of the cruise cities. I like the idea of checking in advance to see what we want to look at in the Uffizi, as I would hate to miss it.
You are all so helpful and it is appreciated!

How long of a walk is it from the Uffizi to the Accademia? It looks like 25 min. in Rick's book.
Does anyone know where the Jewish sites are so I could look it up in a map?

To walk from the Uffizi to the Galleria dell'Accademia (David) is not going to take you 25 minutes. It's at most 15 minutes. I was born and raised in Florence, but I don't know about Jewish sites except for the Synagogue in Via Farini. If that is what you mean, it's easier to go there from the Accademia. Just walk on via degli Alfani and you'll be there in 10 min from the Accademia. Alternatively you can walk Piazza Santissima Annunziata to via della Colonna.