Barcelona - a very beautiful city with a lot places to visit, we staid there for 2 days after the cruise, if you have the time to explore it just go for it, it's definitely worthy. We were there on your own, no excursions, the subway system is very well done and you can go pretty much anywhere.

Marseilles - we didn't took excursion here, there was a shuttle bus witch leaves you near the Cathedral but you have to pay for it 23 usd per person for a round trip (too much i think). The city itself is ok but nothing too interesting to see here. I mean it's not a bad place but if you compare it to the other ports i think you can spend an hour or two tops or even skip it entirely (remember don't do the same mistake we did, take it slowly).

La Specia - we took the all day Pisa and Florence excursion (exploration on your own with a smart device). First you go to Pisa (about 1,5h driving time) - you have about 45 min to take pictures with the leaning tower. You've seen it many times on pictures but to see it with your own eyes is really something. There is no time to go to top of the tower, but i don't know if i want to do it anyway. Next you go to Florence (about 1 hour driving time) and maybe you can skip this part - don't get me wrong it's a nice old town with several things to see, much nicer than Marseilles for example, but again if you wan't to have some time on the ship or just to relax it's not a 100% must see (unlike the leaning tower). About the "exploration on your own with a smart device" - they give you a Samsung phone with gps map, internet and short audio guide. Unfortunately the battery of my phone died just as we entered Florence. You still have tourist guide in the bus that explains you a lot of things, but when you stop you are on your own (some folks from the other bus told me that their guide was walking with them and told them many things about the place even if she didn't have to). It took us more then 2 hours to drive back to the ship.

Civitavecchia - I've been to Rome before and we decided that we'll go on our own, something that I don't recommend - it turned out to be a little nightmare. First mistake we made was that we didn't go too early because we wanted to get some sleep. We left the ship at about 9.30 - there was a shuttle bus that takes you just outside the port (this time for free). From there we got on another small bus for 2 euro each that took us to the railway station. The left us near to a door with "tickets to Rome" sign on it. Turns out later that it is a separate private ticket office that sell you the ticket to Rome for 6 euro each (the regular price is 5) and is trying to sell you another ticket for the Hop on Hop off buses in the city(we didn't get those, i told the subway will be faster way to go around and probably is. Anyway as they were tying to sell us the HOHO tickets we missed our train to Rome (by just 2 min damn it) and we had to wait for 45 more minutes for the next one. Remember that you have to "validate" your tickets before you get to the train (there is a machine that you put your tickets inside). It took us about 45min to get to Rome - San Pietro station and went straight to Vatican city (it was about 11.30 a.m.). We skipped the whole to get to the Basilica (a know, not a good thing to do but we really didn't have any time). I'm not a religions man but the Basilica (the entrance to St. Peter is free btw) is worth seeing its enormous and beautiful. Then we waited on a separate line to get to the top (the Cupola). We paid 8 euros each for the lift (the other choice is the stairs for 6 euro, but believe me you don't need that - there are plenty of stair left to go to the top after you get off the elevator). Finally, after many stairs and tiny claustrophobic corridors we were there and a was very very upset. I was in Rome 9 years ago and I went to the top of St. Peter and I remember the beautiful panoramic view and the perfect place to take photos, but not anymore - now there are metal bars all over the place, it's like a huge birdcage and you are inside, so the view is ruined and the selfies are not possible any more. Huge disappointment. There is no point to go to the top of the Basilica anymore. Next we went to the Coliseum. Thankfully I got the tickets online in advance, so we got in very quickly. One of the symbols of Rome you definitely need to see this. We didn't go to the Roman Forum next to it because one we didn't have the time and two it is pointless without a guide to tell you all about the thing you see there. (The same goes for the Vatican museum). After that we went to Trevi Fontain and that was our last stop. It was 4 p.m. and we decided to go back (and thank God because otherwise we would have missed the ship), although the Pantheon and Piazza Navona are very close to Di Trevi, but the clock was ticking and we were very tired - we didn't stop even for a second, we were running for the trains and we ate like 1 sandwich for 5 min without even sitting. The same train that took us to Rome in just 45 min, took us back to Civitavecchia in 1h 20 min! From the train station we were running to get a taxi - minivan took us straight to the ship (there were other people from our ship too) for 5 euro each and we were there at 6,25 p.m. (the "all on board" time was 6.30). And make no mistake - if you are late the ship will leave, it will not wait for you (it will if you are on a shore excursion).So it was very very extreme day and a I won't advice you to do the same.