My husband and I will be doing a Mediterranean cruise this october. The time that we will be in Livorno, we are planning to visit Florence (Duomo and Accademia Museum) and on our way back stop quickly to see the Pisa tower.
Our ship - Celebrity Century - will be docked on Sun, Oct 03, 2010 from 07:00 AM to 07:00 PM.
I am planning to make a museum reservation to see David. What time should I book considering using train (public transportation) from Livorno to Florence? Thanks in advance
Veronica

We love helping independent travelers but Livorno does have its challenges. Much depends on two factors: how fast you can actually get off the ship and how lucky you are in getting a taxi to take you to the train station (many taxis do not want to do this short haul). By the way, you can expect to pay about 20 Euros for a taxi to the Livorno train station and if you would have another couple it gets that cost per person down to 5 Euros. At any rate, if you look at the train schedule (and they are usually on time for this route) there is a 7:30, 7:43 and 8:11 (if you miss this it would be 9:11. My advice is to work with the assumption you will make the 8:11 (get off the ship fast) although we have personally made the 7:30 at times. This means you will be in Florence at about 9:30. It would take you nearly a half hour if you wanted to walk to the Academia, but about 10 min if you grab a taxi. If it were me we would try to get a reservation for about 10:30 which gives you time to relax, perhaps have an expresso, and walk if you like to take long walks. Do the Academia first thing since it will be your furthest point from the train station. You can then get back towards the center where you have lots to see, plenty of nice cafes for lunch, and an easy walk back to the train station. Do not cut it too tight on your return to Livorno since there is often a shortage of taxis waiting at the train station. You should be back at your ship by 6:30 which for us, means you should plan to be back in Livorno by around 5 (to play it real safe). The return trains all leave at 27 min past the hour and take about 1:30 so we personally like to get the 3:27. There are plenty of others that will cut it closer and take the 4:27 but this is a bit risky if the train is late and if there are no taxis.

As Hank said (and we did this)see if you can pair up with another couple or 2 and you may get a taxi to take you to the train station without a big fuss. Its too far to walk but not far enough to get the taxi's attention.

We did what you are planning.. went to the train, the museum to see David, did some other sight seeing in Florence and then stopped to see the tower in Pisa and then back to the ship.

We didn't make reservations at the museum. We waited in line but it was not too bad. Follow Hank's advice and get off the ship as early as possible and you should be able to do this. On the way back you can take a bus (Route 1R I think is the correct one) and it will drop you at the place the port shuttle drops off the passengers from the ship and then you can take the port shuttle back to the ship. You might get lucky and get a taxi to the ship from the train station but I would not count on that.