It was great to see the Acropolis. We had a very nice lunch not far from the Acropolis museum, although we did not spend a long time at the museum. We had booked a guide for the Acropolis, but was probably too much information and the family would have preferred more time to walk around and take photos.

We walked around the old city, had lunch and a quick look at the small shopping mall located next to the old city. It was very enjoyable.

Great place to walk around and get lost in the different streets and cafes. Had lunch at Nikos Tavern which did a roaring trade.

We took a tour with a taxi for just over an hour. I think it was 50euro, a bargain for the four of us. After the tour we walked around the Stradun, the city walls and old city. The kids had a great time walking around the locations where they filmed Game of Thrones.

We organised our own tour through Mondo Guides (see review above for link) which was excellent and much cheaper than the ship's excursion. We also had a couple from Princess Cruises on our tour. Highly recommended!

We took the train to Rome without any issues. We had booked a tour at the Colosseum and had to wait 1 hour before it started. When we met the tour guide she spoke so softly the majority of the large group could not hear her. We ended up going back to the ticket counter and swapping for an audio tour. Our recommendation would be to do an audio tour unless the tour guide has a voice that projects or another means to be hear. Because of this delay we did not have enough time to explore the Roman Forum which would have been fantastic.

We then took a taxi to the Vatican - the taxi driver obviously knew we were tourists and charged us on an expensive tariff 2. The trip from the Colosseum to the Vatican costs us nearly 30euro! In comparison the taxi from the Vatican to Piazza Navona was only 7euro on tariff 1! We then walked to the Trevi fountain.

We nearly missed the ship as the train was delayed. The train staff was not very helpful - you need to make sure you know the number of the train returning to port and look that number up on the electronic screen as the port might not be the final destination...

We arrived in port on a Sunday - all the shops were closed! There was a market with predominantly produce. It was nice to walk around but we only stayed in town for 1-1.5 hours. Since it was near the end of the cruise it was nice to spend time on board...

We hired a car through Salacar Rent a Car. They must be a broker as the car we hired was from Avis and could be picked up from the port. There is also a Hertz and Europcar counter. When I booked the car they were all booked out.

It was an easy drive to Florence where we saw David at the Academia. We walked around Florence and hubby and younger son lined up to climb the Duomo bell tower. The wait for tickets was shorter in the afternoon.

We then drove to Pisa to take a couple of photos as that is all we had time for - nearly late again...

Walked around Venice, did a free walking tour which was very informative. We also did a gondola departing on the Grand Canal. The rides start out at 80euro but we chose to spend 120euro for the slightly longer tour which showed more of Venice. The cheaper option goes down canals for 20 or so minutes and then goes back the way it came. The more expensive option does more of a loop. No need to do a longer than 45min gondola ride...