Our family is going on the 7-day cruise from Barcelona in June. On the stop at La Spezia, we are planning on taking the "Florence and Michaelangelo" excursion through DCL. For any of you who have done this tour, does the excursion include tickets to the Uffizi Gallery? Or do we have to buy it on our own? Will there be time to see the interior of the gallery?
Question about excursion in Florence
- Thread starter cruzings
- Start date
Four Swampers
Picture is Disney Wonder at Cabo San Lucas
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2012
- Messages
- 998
The tour description includes this line:
"... and the Uffizi Gallery (external visit only)."
The Uffizi Gallery is huge, and lines to enter the Uffizi are very long. The DCL excursion gives you 2.5 hours of free time, which frankly would not be enough to get your ticket and get inside. It might be possible to get enough time inside if you have purchased a ticket online prior to your visit, but then you would have to have a pretty good guess at the time you will be free to go to the Uffizi. Those Italian museum guards can be pretty strict about the time!
"... and the Uffizi Gallery (external visit only)."
The Uffizi Gallery is huge, and lines to enter the Uffizi are very long. The DCL excursion gives you 2.5 hours of free time, which frankly would not be enough to get your ticket and get inside. It might be possible to get enough time inside if you have purchased a ticket online prior to your visit, but then you would have to have a pretty good guess at the time you will be free to go to the Uffizi. Those Italian museum guards can be pretty strict about the time!
Thank you Four Swampers. We were considering purchasing our tickets online in advance but after visiting their website, tickets have to be purchased based on a specific entry time. Looks like it is logistically difficult to estimate when the tour group will be in that area. Their website says that they will not allow entry into the museum if it is not the time you picked. Oh well, we still have to decide on this. Thanks for your input!
Four Swampers
Picture is Disney Wonder at Cabo San Lucas
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2012
- Messages
- 998
You are very welcome. Here are some of my tips from our first DCL Med cruise, in 2010:
We have been to Florence separately. It is insanely beautiful, but I think it merits more time than you can get when the trip is 2+ hours each direction. We went to Pisa on our first cruise, and the Cinque Terre on our second.
If you want to see pictures from both Med cruises, plus descriptions of each place for the 2013 Med cruise, visit this facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Our-Travels-On-Disney-Cruise-Line/529534883804808?sk=photos_albums
Disney Mediterranean Cruise: One Family’s Adventure
In August, 2010 my wife and our daughters, ages 12 and 10, went on an eleven night Disney Mediterranean cruise. We enjoyed it very much. I created this brief guide to help our friends who were considering going on the same cruise. Because one couple has never been to Europe nor on a Disney cruise, the introduction provides general information. The remaining pages provide some information about each port
Traveling to Europe: Before You Go:
Passports, valid for 6 months after your trip to Europe.
Make multiple copies of your passports. Take one or two copies on the trip, leave a copy at work, and leave another copy with relatives and/or friends.
Euros. Purchase ahead of time at www.wellsfargo .com. Free shipping on orders of $1000 USD or more.
You will use more than $1000 worth of Euros.
Rick Steves Guides to Naples, Rome, Florence, Barcelona. Rome is the most important guide. Read it now.
Download Rick Steves Audio Guides for iPods.
Purchase tickets to the Vatican Museums at http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html
Google search will yield third party vendors and the official Vatican site. Use the official site.
Purchase tickets for 4:00. Gives you time to see other sites and then tour Vatican.
You can show up early for your tour, but not late. We were admitted 2.5 hours before the start of our tour.
Arrive in Barcelona two or three days before your cruise.
1. Barcelona is a fantastic city. Stephanie and the girls spent a total of 5 days touring Barcelona, and there are still a couple of things we would like to see there.
2. You will be over your jet lag when you board the ship.
3. If your flight is delayed or cancelled, you can still reach Barcelona before the ship sails.
Pickpockets!
Pickpockets are rampant in Europe, especially Barcelona and Italy. Take nothing of extreme sentimental value. Watch all belongings at all times. Consider decoy wallets. I strongly suggest you wear travel socks that have a pocket or that you wear an ankle wallet.
Consider a Capital One credit card. This card does not charge an additional foreign exchange fee and is well worth having.
“Free refills” do not exist in Europe. Soda costs a lot, and each one costs separately.
Water fountains flow constantly throughout Rome. They provide safe drinkable water. Walk up, fill your water bottle, then cover the spout to force water out the top hole and take a drink.
The Disney Magic is an American ship. Yes, it was built in Italy and it is registered in the Bahamas, but it is ours. Why is that important? It uses standard American electric outlets! Take all the electric gadgets you want.
Consider walkie-talkies, especially if not everyone has a cell phone that works in Europe. They can also be useful onboard.
A GPS with preloaded map of Italy might be useful, but city maps of Naples, Rome, Pisa, and Florence should do the trick. We had none of these, but maps were easy to grab at the tourist offices near every train station.
Barcelona, Spain:
Sites galore! Consider a bicycle tour your first day there. It is a great introduction to the city, and the exercise will help you adjust to the time difference. My wife and the girls used “Fat Tire Tours.”
The subway system is easy to use. Take the subway everywhere, including to the beach for swimming and people watching.
Las Ramblas is the action street. When night arrives, the street performers, caricature painters, portrait makers, trinket sellers, and other vendors all flock to Las Ramblas, followed by the pickpockets.
The book “1000 Places to See Before You Die” lists three spots in Barcelona:
Catalan National Art Museum. Housed in Palau Nacional, it has entire portions of churches moved to this museum to display the Romanesque and Gothic paintings.
La Sagrada Familia. We only viewed the outside, as the crowds are insane.
Museu Picasso. Intimate and nice. Try to visit the galleries in chronological order of his life.
Tapas is not indigenous to the area, but several tapas places exist and offer good food. Paella is a good option. Irish pubs abound, especially between the subway and the beach.
Villefranche, France
The train is right here, and it is your easy gateway to Monte Carlo in Monaco and Nice and Cannes in France. We spent the morning walking around Monte Carlo and the afternoon in Nice. Consider taking your swimsuits to jump in the water at the beach in Nice. The Cote d’Azur truly is more blue than you can imagine!
La Spezia, Italy. Gateway to Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Florence:
After you purchase your train ticket, you MUST TIME AND DATE STAMP it in one of the nondescript little yellow machines. A train ticket in Italy is like a subway ticket: you can purchase it now and use it whenever. To prevent people from using the same ticket over and over, you are required to time and date stamp it before you board the train. If they check your ticket on the train and you have not stamped it, you will be fined $50 per person. Ignorance of the rule will not save you.
TIME AND DATE STAMP YOUR TICKET! See above.
Today is a long train ride to Pisa or Florence, or you can choose to take a much shorter ride to the Cinque Terre. We visited Pisa. A few weeks later, my wife and I had the opportunity to tour Florence and the Cinque Terre. If I were to choose again for the Disney Cruise, I would again choose Pisa. It was manageable in a day and the kids loved it. Florence has a lot of art, but I think perhaps overwhelming to see it and Rome back to back.
Cinque Terre:
The Cinque Terre, or “Five lands,” are five picturesque seaside villages joined by train and by hiking trail. The hike from the northernmost town to the next town is very strenuous and sometimes tenuous. I do not suggest it for kids under 8, although I am sure it has been done by hardy toddlers. Each town is beautiful. Kids would likely be bored. Also, the authorities shut down the hiking trails on rainy days and for a couple days after rain, for fear of landslides.
Pisa:
Disparaged by many, but not by me. All of the important things to see are in the Piazza Miracoli, or Square of Miracles. The Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, and the Baptistery are all here. When you reach Pisa’s train station, walk or get a cab to the Piazza Miracoli. If you need to find a restaurant for lunch, go right ahead. As the family sits down, send dad to the Piazza to purchase tickets. Dad, stand with your back to the Leaning Tower and the back of the Cathedral immediately to your left. You are staring at a long wall of a one story brick building with several doors. One of these doors is the ticket office. Go over and buy tickets for three attractions: The Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, and Baptistery. Your ticket for the tower will be valid for a precise time, which you can choose. Probably the first choice is an hour or two from now. Choose a Leaning Tower entry two hours from now, and then rejoin your family for lunch.
This is Italy, so lunch just took you one and a half hours. Hustle everyone to the Leaning Tower and wind your way to the top. Then back down. Visit the cathedral and the baptistery.
Florence:
So much to see and do here, it would be very hard to do it justice on a day that was bookended by two hour train rides. Still, you can visit the Uffizi Museum, which houses Boticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and thousands of other paintings, and the Galleria dell’ Accademia, which houses Michelangelo’s “David.” The architecture is amazing, the food is marvelous. Grab a taxi and go across the river to “Olio et Convivium” for lunch. Walk back across the Arno river via the Ponte Vecchio, or “Old Bridge” and marvel at the jewelry shops on the bridge.
After visiting Pisa or Florence or both, head back to the ship.
We have been to Florence separately. It is insanely beautiful, but I think it merits more time than you can get when the trip is 2+ hours each direction. We went to Pisa on our first cruise, and the Cinque Terre on our second.
If you want to see pictures from both Med cruises, plus descriptions of each place for the 2013 Med cruise, visit this facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Our-Travels-On-Disney-Cruise-Line/529534883804808?sk=photos_albums
Disney Mediterranean Cruise: One Family’s Adventure
In August, 2010 my wife and our daughters, ages 12 and 10, went on an eleven night Disney Mediterranean cruise. We enjoyed it very much. I created this brief guide to help our friends who were considering going on the same cruise. Because one couple has never been to Europe nor on a Disney cruise, the introduction provides general information. The remaining pages provide some information about each port
Traveling to Europe: Before You Go:
Passports, valid for 6 months after your trip to Europe.
Make multiple copies of your passports. Take one or two copies on the trip, leave a copy at work, and leave another copy with relatives and/or friends.
Euros. Purchase ahead of time at www.wellsfargo .com. Free shipping on orders of $1000 USD or more.
You will use more than $1000 worth of Euros.
Rick Steves Guides to Naples, Rome, Florence, Barcelona. Rome is the most important guide. Read it now.
Download Rick Steves Audio Guides for iPods.
Purchase tickets to the Vatican Museums at http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html
Google search will yield third party vendors and the official Vatican site. Use the official site.
Purchase tickets for 4:00. Gives you time to see other sites and then tour Vatican.
You can show up early for your tour, but not late. We were admitted 2.5 hours before the start of our tour.
Arrive in Barcelona two or three days before your cruise.
1. Barcelona is a fantastic city. Stephanie and the girls spent a total of 5 days touring Barcelona, and there are still a couple of things we would like to see there.
2. You will be over your jet lag when you board the ship.
3. If your flight is delayed or cancelled, you can still reach Barcelona before the ship sails.
Pickpockets!
Pickpockets are rampant in Europe, especially Barcelona and Italy. Take nothing of extreme sentimental value. Watch all belongings at all times. Consider decoy wallets. I strongly suggest you wear travel socks that have a pocket or that you wear an ankle wallet.
Consider a Capital One credit card. This card does not charge an additional foreign exchange fee and is well worth having.
“Free refills” do not exist in Europe. Soda costs a lot, and each one costs separately.
Water fountains flow constantly throughout Rome. They provide safe drinkable water. Walk up, fill your water bottle, then cover the spout to force water out the top hole and take a drink.
The Disney Magic is an American ship. Yes, it was built in Italy and it is registered in the Bahamas, but it is ours. Why is that important? It uses standard American electric outlets! Take all the electric gadgets you want.
Consider walkie-talkies, especially if not everyone has a cell phone that works in Europe. They can also be useful onboard.
A GPS with preloaded map of Italy might be useful, but city maps of Naples, Rome, Pisa, and Florence should do the trick. We had none of these, but maps were easy to grab at the tourist offices near every train station.
Barcelona, Spain:
Sites galore! Consider a bicycle tour your first day there. It is a great introduction to the city, and the exercise will help you adjust to the time difference. My wife and the girls used “Fat Tire Tours.”
The subway system is easy to use. Take the subway everywhere, including to the beach for swimming and people watching.
Las Ramblas is the action street. When night arrives, the street performers, caricature painters, portrait makers, trinket sellers, and other vendors all flock to Las Ramblas, followed by the pickpockets.
The book “1000 Places to See Before You Die” lists three spots in Barcelona:
Catalan National Art Museum. Housed in Palau Nacional, it has entire portions of churches moved to this museum to display the Romanesque and Gothic paintings.
La Sagrada Familia. We only viewed the outside, as the crowds are insane.
Museu Picasso. Intimate and nice. Try to visit the galleries in chronological order of his life.
Tapas is not indigenous to the area, but several tapas places exist and offer good food. Paella is a good option. Irish pubs abound, especially between the subway and the beach.
Villefranche, France
The train is right here, and it is your easy gateway to Monte Carlo in Monaco and Nice and Cannes in France. We spent the morning walking around Monte Carlo and the afternoon in Nice. Consider taking your swimsuits to jump in the water at the beach in Nice. The Cote d’Azur truly is more blue than you can imagine!
La Spezia, Italy. Gateway to Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Florence:
After you purchase your train ticket, you MUST TIME AND DATE STAMP it in one of the nondescript little yellow machines. A train ticket in Italy is like a subway ticket: you can purchase it now and use it whenever. To prevent people from using the same ticket over and over, you are required to time and date stamp it before you board the train. If they check your ticket on the train and you have not stamped it, you will be fined $50 per person. Ignorance of the rule will not save you.
TIME AND DATE STAMP YOUR TICKET! See above.
Today is a long train ride to Pisa or Florence, or you can choose to take a much shorter ride to the Cinque Terre. We visited Pisa. A few weeks later, my wife and I had the opportunity to tour Florence and the Cinque Terre. If I were to choose again for the Disney Cruise, I would again choose Pisa. It was manageable in a day and the kids loved it. Florence has a lot of art, but I think perhaps overwhelming to see it and Rome back to back.
Cinque Terre:
The Cinque Terre, or “Five lands,” are five picturesque seaside villages joined by train and by hiking trail. The hike from the northernmost town to the next town is very strenuous and sometimes tenuous. I do not suggest it for kids under 8, although I am sure it has been done by hardy toddlers. Each town is beautiful. Kids would likely be bored. Also, the authorities shut down the hiking trails on rainy days and for a couple days after rain, for fear of landslides.
Pisa:
Disparaged by many, but not by me. All of the important things to see are in the Piazza Miracoli, or Square of Miracles. The Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, and the Baptistery are all here. When you reach Pisa’s train station, walk or get a cab to the Piazza Miracoli. If you need to find a restaurant for lunch, go right ahead. As the family sits down, send dad to the Piazza to purchase tickets. Dad, stand with your back to the Leaning Tower and the back of the Cathedral immediately to your left. You are staring at a long wall of a one story brick building with several doors. One of these doors is the ticket office. Go over and buy tickets for three attractions: The Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, and Baptistery. Your ticket for the tower will be valid for a precise time, which you can choose. Probably the first choice is an hour or two from now. Choose a Leaning Tower entry two hours from now, and then rejoin your family for lunch.
This is Italy, so lunch just took you one and a half hours. Hustle everyone to the Leaning Tower and wind your way to the top. Then back down. Visit the cathedral and the baptistery.
Florence:
So much to see and do here, it would be very hard to do it justice on a day that was bookended by two hour train rides. Still, you can visit the Uffizi Museum, which houses Boticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and thousands of other paintings, and the Galleria dell’ Accademia, which houses Michelangelo’s “David.” The architecture is amazing, the food is marvelous. Grab a taxi and go across the river to “Olio et Convivium” for lunch. Walk back across the Arno river via the Ponte Vecchio, or “Old Bridge” and marvel at the jewelry shops on the bridge.
After visiting Pisa or Florence or both, head back to the ship.
SuzanneSLO
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 10, 1999
- Messages
- 3,556
We are heading to Europe on the Disney Magic for the first time this summer, so I am no expert.
But, others more experienced than I on this board have pointed out that one way to make a visit to Florence make sense is to skip the return trip to the ship and instead head from Florence to Rome by train.
The train ride from Florence to Rome is 3 hours or less. Staying with the ship requires 2 hours from Florence to La Spezia, sailing to Civitavecchia, then another 1+ hour to Rome. Of course, you will need to pay for your hotel in Rome, dinner and breakfast. But if it is important to you, it may be worth looking at your options. -- Suzanne
Four Swampers
Picture is Disney Wonder at Cabo San Lucas
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2012
- Messages
- 998
Nope. Not even close. Sorry.
The train to Pisa takes about an hour each way. Then you have to spend a couple hours in Pisa. So four hours. I guess you might be able to get to one or two Cinque Terre towns, look at them briefly, then return. Sort of like Chevy Chase's visit to the Grand Canyon in "Vacation." You would not be able to have lunch, as that would take too much of your time.
My suggestion would be to purchase your Leaning Tower tickets online for as early as you can get to Pisa, which would be two hours after your onshore time. You have to get to the station, wait for a train, ride for a little over an hour, then get to the Piazza Miracoli. That will take 2 hours if you use taxis, longer if you walk. Take a quick look at the Baptistery and the Cathedral, then decide if you want / have time to try to have lunch at one of the towns in the Cinque Terre. I will say, I am renowned for packing in too many things (a friend's wife once remarked that if she was married to me, she would have to let me have a second wife so they could take turns visiting places), and even I wouldn't try to do both.
Nope. Not even close. Sorry.
The train to Pisa takes about an hour each way. Then you have to spend a couple hours in Pisa. So four hours. I guess you might be able to get to one or two Cinque Terre towns, look at them briefly, then return. Sort of like Chevy Chase's visit to the Grand Canyon in "Vacation." You would not be able to have lunch, as that would take too much of your time.
My suggestion would be to purchase your Leaning Tower tickets online for as early as you can get to Pisa, which would be two hours after your onshore time. You have to get to the station, wait for a train, ride for a little over an hour, then get to the Piazza Miracoli. That will take 2 hours if you use taxis, longer if you walk. Take a quick look at the Baptistery and the Cathedral, then decide if you want / have time to try to have lunch at one of the towns in the Cinque Terre. I will say, I am renowned for packing in too many things (a friend's wife once remarked that if she was married to me, she would have to let me have a second wife so they could take turns visiting places), and even I wouldn't try to do both.
Thanks for the information (even if it's not what I wanted to hear
). I definitely don't want to rush so much that I don't get to enjoy any of it. I've never been to Europe so the list of things I want to see is much, much larger than what my schedule will allow. Four Swampers, sorry for the delay. I appreciate you sharing your family's wonderful adventure. Your photos are beautiful!!! You gave very helpful tips. Yes, I am finding Rick Steves' guides very useful. We are actually going to fly into Madrid first (tour on our own for three days) and then go to Barcelona (also three days) before embarking on the cruise.
SuzanneSLO, skipping the port is out of the question for us. We figured we paid for the cruise already, so we are going to enjoy the ship and the meals. Taking a train and paying for one night at a hotel will not be good for our budget
SuzanneSLO, skipping the port is out of the question for us. We figured we paid for the cruise already, so we are going to enjoy the ship and the meals. Taking a train and paying for one night at a hotel will not be good for our budget
Four Swampers
Picture is Disney Wonder at Cabo San Lucas
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2012
- Messages
- 998
Glad I could help.
Of note, we had intended to skip the port last summer. We were going to go from the ship to Florence, then stay in Florence, then train to Rome, see Rome, then rejoin ship in Rome.
We discovered that La Spezia does not let you stay off the ship! So we were not allowed to do that here. In 2010, we knew people who did that in reverse, when the ship stopped at Rome then Florence.
If planning to stay off the ship, you should check with Disney Cruise Line to make sure it is ok.
Share this page
-
How To Plan Disney on a Tight Budget Without Missing Out
-
2026 V.I.PASSHOLDER Summer Days Announced at Disney World
-
New Disney Cruise Funnel Collectibles Come With a Frustrating Catch
-
NEW Winnie the Pooh Dress (and More!) at EPCOT's UK Pavilion
-
The Perfect Special Gift for a Disney Fan Going on Vacation
-
NEW Reveal: 2026 runDisney Virtual Series Medals Go Retro
-
Disney Just Revealed NEW Endor Merch for May the 4th
GET UP TO A $1000 SHIPBOARD CREDIT AND AN EXCLUSIVE GIFT!
If you make your Disney Cruise Line reservation with Dreams Unlimited Travel you’ll receive these incredible shipboard credits to spend on your cruise!
