Help getting from Princess Sun cruise ship dock Naples to Herculaneum for group of 5

HI there,

You'll want to get yourselves to the Napoli Garibaldi train station. It looks like the Sun docks at the Stazione Marittima. If it were me I think I'd walk up to the nearest subway station to the port -- Universita or Municipio? and then take the Metro/subway line L1 to Garibaldi. You can pay for the subway by tapping your phone.

Buy tickets at Garibaldi for the Circumvesuviana train. It shouldn't be more than a few euros. Get off at Ercolano Scavi and head downhill. You can buy tickets for the site itself ahead of time.

Finding your way around Naples -- and likely your other cruise stops -- will be easiest if you have access to Google Maps or Apple Maps.

Have a terrific trip!

Consider hiring a private driver
You can be picked up at port, driven to Herculaneum and have the driver wait for you then driven back to port
Split 5 ways the cost will be reasonable
There are many recommendations for drivers in the area-use the forum search function-filter by Type and Date

Here is one
https://www.topexcursionsorrento.com/private-transfers

Or
Book an excursion thru the cruise company (if offered)

Or use one of the taxi apps and ask for a taxi van

Note you will all need service and Apple Pay on phones to tap for the Metro if you go that route

Book an excursion thru the cruise company (if offered)

The traffic in Naples can be very unpredictable and terrible. If you take a tour offered by the cruise line, the ship will wait for you if you are late returning. Not so if you are off on your own. We remember seeing two couples in Naples who didn't make it back in time actually running along the pier as the ship was pulling away.

Yes, the ship excursions are more expensive than doing it on your own, but not nearly as expensive as having to get yourself to the next port on your own to catch up to the cruise.

Don't mean to rain on your parade, just offering food for thought.

Check the Circumvesuviana train schedule carefully, there is a large gap in the day after 9:30 between trains that stop at Herculaneum.

https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule

Oh! Good catch Allan

Think about more than just how to get there. Think about how to understand and interpret what you are seeing when you get there. A guide makes a huge difference in such a situation.

Cruise ship excursions do have a guide but they also have huge groups. Look at Get your Guide for a privately arranged guide .

Thank you. I will forward this to my son-in-law. Even though we are 5 adults in the group it is only 2 families so the split isn't a 5 way split of cost exactly. It's my husband and myself, along with our daughter, her husband and adult son. What about a bus? Is there a bus going back if we get done before the train returns?

I would highly recommend taking an excursion from the cruise line. My concern would be in getting back to the boat if they are sailing out that same day. With the traffic in Naples I would not want to be stressed with getting back to the boat in time and risk being left behind. A group tour might not be what you wanted, but the ship wouldn’t leave without you if there are delays.

I agree with everyone who is saying book an excursion through the ship’s system.
Then you can relax and not worry about any delays.
If you have not traveled to Naples …or Italy.. before, perhaps this is not the time to try out public transport there when you are on a deadline to get back on the ship.
There are no cafes or food options right at Herculaneum, at least not when I was last there a few years ago, so bring your own water or drinks.
I liked it better than Pompeii.

Almost everyone seems to think I need a ship excursion, but that is not my intent. I appreciate the responses, but I am going to do this on my own as it isn't far from the ship, and it shouldn't take that long to see it all. I realize this sounds rude, and I am sorry as I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just looking for my options through public transportation, and I'm getting few responses to my actual question. Please answer the with public transportation options.
Thank you.

I found this detailed article which might help you:

https://www.alongdustyroads.com/posts/how-to-get-from-naples-to-herculaneum

You haven’t said if you have visited Italy before, or in which month you’ll be there?

Almost everyone seems to think I need a ship excursion, but that is
not my intent. I appreciate the responses, but I am going to do this
on my own

I wouldn't do a ship excursion either, but that's the general advice this forum seems to give when it comes to exploring from a cruise ship because everyone seems to be nervous about getting back late. Over the years, I've done 5 cruises and only once did we book a ship's excursion. We're doing an ocean cruise this Fall for the first time in almost 10 years and I've been following a few cruising sites on Facebook and unlike this Forum, most experienced cruisers on those sites advise to do it yourself or find tours not put on by the ships.

Having said that...that part of Italy is on a whole new level of crazy and chaotic when it comes to transportation, so plan carefully and have a back-up plan.

I am going to give you an app that you should find very helpful for Public Transport in Naples and most other major cities worldwide. Citymapper will show you the transportation options in real time. Choose your city. Choose your departure point, arrival point, and desired departure date and time. It will show you the options.

I just did this for your desired start and finish and several public transportation options came up. All them took about an hour and 10 minutes.

You will be able to manage public transportation options in most ports using this app.

I was just at Herculaneum last week. I felt the value of having a guide there was quite high. I just checked on “Get Your Guide”. A 2 hour private tour guide for your group of 5 would run $223 and includes $105 of admission tickets so net cost is $118. 2 hours of having someone knowledgeable about the site and history is money well spent.

Have no problem with those who wish to explore on their own when in port. To each his own. We've been on 22 cruises, including some that docked in Naples. On 4 different cruises we have seen people left behind as the ship departed. That's 18+ % of the time. Just offering some perspective.

Last time I was in Naples on a cruise was 14 years ago. We had a group of 6 and walked to the train, took the train to Pompeii. It all worked out well.
We generally took private tours from cruise ships, since the prices were usually half of what the cruise line charged. Only time we did the cruise line excursions was if the travel on the excursion was lengthy and took all day. Like when we docked in Normandy and took a lengthy excursion to D-day beaches, Bayeux and the American Cemetery, we took the ship's. Even then, our group got back 10 minutes before the ship departed.

Public transportation info is above in second post

Allan posted the link to train schedule

Thank you to all who understood the actual question. I appreciate your help. If going to the Herculeanum was far and needed a lot of time to see, I probably wouldn't do it on my own. I may switch and do MANN.

We all understood the question

Here is taxi rate sheet
https://www.taxinapoli.it/wp-content/uploads/tariffario-taxi-2024-eng.pdf

You can use one of the taxi apps and ask for a taxi van

Allan posted the link to train schedule

He actually posted the wrong schedule, there isn't the claimed long gap in service as there are 2 or 3 stopping trains an hour as well as the Sorrento Express trains- https://www.eavsrl.it/download/orari-ferrovia-l4-napoli-torre-annunziata-poggiomarino-in-vigore-dal-1-giugno/?wpdmdl=25586&refresh=69fcc7f71352e1778173943

Note that Herculaneum is a 15-minute downhill walk from the (unstaffed) Circumvesuviana station. (Buy your return tickets when you buy the outbound tickets.)

You cannot re-enter Herculaneum if you leave for lunch. There are only a few restaurants, open meal hours only, and European “slow food”.