Livorno to Florence Shore Excursion

I have no experience with trying to get a taxi at the Livorno port. But if you manage to get to the Livorno station there are many trains going to Florence all day (at least two every hour) and the journey ranges from 72 minutes to 98 minutes depending on the type of Regional train (Regionale Veloce or RV are faster)
www.trenitalia.com
Your departure station is Livorno Centrale
Your arrival station is Firenze Santa Maria Novella

Are you certain that the cruise ship will let you off at 6 AM? We've not done a cruise in Europe, but on all ours, the ship's excursion people all got let off first.

The ship may be in port from 6 to 6, but you won't have 12 hours to sightsee. As mentioned, first off the ship are those on ship excursions, and also suite passengers. And then you want to be back on board an hour before sailaway.
While seeing a little of Florence by taking the train is certainly doable, providing there are no service disruptions, IMO the distance from the ship is one reason to consider a ship excursion. I don't know which line you are sailing on, but many offer a transportation only option. They bus you to and from, but you are on your own while there. Usually more pricey than DIY transpo, but if you are late returning to the ship they will usually wait for you.

Just another option to consider.

To clarify, I have heard that passengers can leave the ship at about 8 AM.

This is NCL and thus far have only three options and all are pretty awful: Florence doing selfies, HOHO, a "panoramic" without any details of seeing things (sounds like we travel as a group) etc.

I want just direct transportation, do my own thing for five hours, and back.

Thanks for your wisdom!

This is not the way to see Florence. Plan on visiting Italy in the future and spending 4-5 days in Florence.

There are excursions to other places, much closer to the port, like Cinque Terre, Pisa and Lucca.

You take the Blue "B" bus from Grande, to Livorno Centrale station on the other side of town. Buy bus tickets (2 per person to cover the round trip) from news stands (Tabacs) nearby. Trains to Florence are frequent before 9 am and every hour thereafter. Cost is 10.80 EUR each way and takes from 1 hour and 20 to 40 minutes depending on the type of train, regionale or regionale veloce.

Never been on a cruise and don't know any of the logistics. The dock is a bit of walk through a docklands area to get to the real city where the public buses are located. Does the ship provide shuttle buses to the city? Frequent cruisers will know.

This is not the way to see Florence. Plan on visiting Italy in the future and spending 4-5 days in Florence.

Amen.

Sam gave instructions on taking the train. Have you ever traveled by public transportation in Italy before? I wouldn't try this kind of trip with this kind of time pressure for the first time.

I had to Google NCL shore excursions from Livorno - I didn't believe there would actually be an excursion called "Let's Take a Selfie". But this other one looks acceptable - "affordable" is up to you.

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/LIV_55/Florence-On-Your-Own?destination=Mediterranean+Cruises&port=LIV&duration=7+To+Less+Than+10+Hrs.&priceRange=0+3000&sort=searchWeight&sortOrder=asc&perPage=12&startingRecord=12

Thank you for this advice. We have taken public trains and buses all over Europe, including Italy. The ship shore excursion "Florence on your own" still isn't showing as available on the reservation. It shows it on the general list for NCL cruises, therefore I can't book it. NCL is really dragging on posting excursions and the passengers are scrambling to find alternatives.

Everyone has different priorities in travel and spending four to five days in Florence is way down on my list. I've been to many cities in Italy, including five times to Rome. My favorite church of all time was not in Paris or Rome but is a small all-wooden church (UNESCO site) in SE Poland built in the 1400s. The folk art was stunning. I prefer to visit places that reflect the lives of the average person rather than the corrupt elite. I prefer skansens to palaces.

It was 2014 when we were on an NCL cruise that stopped in Florence, but the thing I remember during my planning was that no guidebook or website could give a clear explanation of how we were going to get from the ship to the cruise port so we could get to the train station. There is supposed to be a bus to take passengers from the ship to the port, but NCL won't be helpful letting you know about it.

The Florence port is massive and is an industrial port and you can't walk out. We're planners and tried to figure it out, but in the end we took an excursion for 110 Euros each which was just a bus ride to Florence and back. It's the only ship excursion we've ever paid for.

I prefer to visit places that reflect the lives of the average person
rather than the corrupt elite.

If this is the case, then I have to wonder why you chose Florence over, say, the Cinque Terre villages. Florence is ALL about those "corrupt elite" Medici and the Renaissance architecture and art that they sponsored.

If this is the case, then I have to wonder why you chose Florence over, say, the Cinque Terre villages. Florence is ALL about those "corrupt elite" Medici and the Renaissance architecture and art that they sponsored.

My answer: Because I want to.

After all, Switzerland had 500 years of peace, brotherly love and democracy and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.

-Harry Lime