tickets for Galleria dell'Accademia

If you book over the phone as Nadine suggested, you do not pay in advance, so in the unlikely event you missed your reservation time, you would not be out anything. If you are late enough they they can't honor the reservation, then you would just wait in line, and pay the ticket price without reseration fee.

If you are willing to sacrifice convenience for price, then just line up outside the building and wait your turn, especially if you don't know when you will be there. It shouldn't take too long to see what's inside.

There is a reservation fee, but if you call instead of buying on-line you aren't out anything if you can't get there for some reason. The official site is www.firenzemusei.it and the phone number is +39 (0)55 294883.

First, I would determine how many cruise ships are docked in Liverno that day and what the passenger count will be. Go to www.cruisett.com to easily figure this out. If your ship is alone, the non-cruise tourists in Florence could still be a large number, especially in Oct. on weekends. But if there are some huge ships in port, you can figure many of their passengers will be in line to see David. Thus, pick a safe time and make a reservation. You only need one hour to see David and the other works of art there. Say your ship docks at 8 am, you can safely book for 12 pm, I'd say. David is the essence of the Renaissance. You will never regret securing yourself a way to comfortably see one the greatest accomplishments of humankind! I used www.virtualuffizi.com for both the Uffizi and the Academia last week. My David reservation and ticket was 16.2 euros.

Depending on how long you have in Florence, the line is usually very short at the very end of the day. Go about an hour before closing and you can usually practically walk right in. The museum can easily be seen in an hour.