Below are our general thoughts on this port -- our trip report is still to come!

Italy wasn't toured in a day, ever. Park your veteran traveler's pride at home. You chose a cruise, and that choice severaly limits your sightseeing options. Take the tour, please. So many sights require tickets and even reservations that the convenience of hassle-free admission alone may be worth the cost of the excursion. And you don't want to rent a car considering the often long distances from your ship to the city, miserable traffic, and legendarily aggressive local drivers.

Do you want to be savvy enough to plan a superior day in Rome or Florence? Come back another time, and spend a week or more exploring these destinations. While missing your ship's departure can be remedied with a quick train or plane ride to your next port, why would you want to risk it? The Euro is not a forgiving currency.

While each port offers "Surveys of the Glories of [insert city name here] 101," excursions for the first-time visitor, there's also usually a less-structured, lower-priced excursion offered that let's you visit familiar haunts (or explore with greater dignity) on your own. Take advantage of the transportation benefits that come with these excursions -- there will be fewer risks.

How do you make choices, when your visit to "Florence and Pisa" drops you into Tuscany and the Eastern Italian Riviera? What about Portofino, Siena, Lucca, the Cinque Terre? Rent a villa for a year, and you still won't experience it all. What can you do with a single day? Disney's choice of La Spezia as the port for Florence was a surprising one. It's location farther north than the usual cruise port of Livorno is interesting, to say the least. It adds perhaps a half-hour to your travel time to and from Florence and Pisa, and puts Siena essentially out of reach. However, Disney had its eyes on the Riviera Levante, with its rocky hillsides tumbling down to tiny waterfront villages. The Cinque Terre (five lands) is a stone's throw from the port of La Spezia. Boats will shuttle guests to these charming, unspoiled villages connected by hiking paths and isolated from the rest of the world by the terrain. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and can be enjoyed in a day, whether you're taking a beach excursion or a more adventuresome hiking expedition. A bit farther up the coast is the resort town of Portofino, if you want an experience more in line with your visit to Nice and Monte Carlo. Still on the menu are the art, architecture, and history of Florence and Pisa, or if you've seen it all (lucky you!) and are ready for something less frenetic, maybe it's time for that wine tasting excursion!

Near the Leaning Tower of Pisa