Traveled with Norwegian Cruise to Livorno. Once at port, Cruise had shuttle to Piazza Municipo, exactly where Florence shuttle picked up. Gave print out of ticket purchase to travel coordinator when bus arrived. She printed out tickets and we boarded bus. Bus was air conditioned. There was WIFI, but whole family had trouble connecting either completely or intermittently. Travel Guide gave out Florence maps on bus, offered water for 1 Euro, and told us where to meet them for our return trip once in Florence. Having been to Florence several times, the amount of time was perfect (especially for first time travelers, which included the rest of my family). We were able to see all the major sites we wanted to, have lunch and shop. It was an easy way to travel and visit Florence from our cruise.

Simple, inexpensive option for a day in Florence from Livorno

The tuscanybus.com service was easy to use. The bus starts next to where the free shuttle bus from the port drops you off in Livorno, and then drops you off by the train station in Florence. On this occasion, because all the passengers were from the cruise ship, it dropped us off on the return journey back at the ship. If there is a downside there is only one bus per day, but that's just like taking a tour anyway. Would definitely use again.

Transfer itself was fine but more organization is required where boarding the bus in Livirno. Multiple tours wait at the same location causing confusion on which bus to board. The location for meeting the bus returning from Florence is fine but again, we were waiting where we'd been dropped off but the bus was well down the street from where we were told to wait. Although we arrived 15 minutes before the required time we almost missed the bus back to port potentially missing our ship. It would be nice if the driver held a sign or the bus was better marked. Luckily another passenger noticed us and ran back to call us. A little more organization would go a long way.