My family of four did the tickets to climb Vesuvius plus transportation from Naples morning trip. I have to say it went way better than I anticipated based on other reviews. The bus left Naples promptly at 9:10. The bus was clean and not full.
I had read from reviews that you had to get on the Vesuvius Park wifi and receive your tickets by Whatsapp; that was not our experience. When we arrived at Vesuvius, the trip organizer had to download the tickets to his phone via the visitor center wifi. This took about 20 minutes (there must be a reason they can't do this in advance). He then gave us each paper vouchers, and he showed the park staff all of the tickets on his phone. I expected this delay so I was not bothered by it. Some others grumbled a bit. It seemed like an improvement from the older process.
They gave us a full two hours based on when we were all set to enter. It was more than enough time (maybe too much time) to climb up, take pictures along the way, stop at souvenir shops and wait for the bathroom. The parking lot was crowded, but small, very easy to find the bus and be ready to return to Naples.
Be warned, it was far colder and windier on Vesuvius than in Naples. Some unfortunate visitors were wearing shorts for the hike, but it was winter hat and gloves weather in April. Vesuvio Express was a great solution for our family - I had been disappointed to see tickets on the park's website to be sold out. Plus this saved me the trouble of coordinating public transportation. read more