Fred321

we did this excursion there is a lot of walking. The time at the acropolis was "OK"  its a very crowded area ( as always) the info given by the tour guide was minimal but just enough for a 1st timer go get an idea of the basics. from there a very long walk  next stop was the museum which is pretty good but outside of it be careful of open stairwell holes in the ground with no railings around them,, one of our group walked right into one then down the stone stairs. he was cut up and headache unsure of the final outcome but he was on the bus back to the ship. anyway, the "plaka" stop and lunch was VERY disappointing we were dropped off the bus very far from "lunch" and marched ( very fast pace- again was ok with me but some of the older folk struggled) for about 15+ minutes to stand in line for our"free" lunch of a gyro which we had to eat standing there while everyone else filtered through the line then another walk. The Free time in Plaka was not the area of Plaka I had previously been to and enjoyed. The time there was OK since we had explored and found that section on our own the previous trip. I would suggest finding out if you can skip the free lunch part, take off and just meet at the final pickup point. I'll attach a map. I cant remember exactly where were were dropped off but it was apx the green X off the right side of the map then the walk to free lunch at the yellow with red pin which in my opinion just wasted a good hour+.  The red circle was the take off and meet back here free plaka time. There is a church to visit there and the tourist junk stores. If you want to see some old ruins  hit the blue circles. Hadrians Library has more to see than the roman forum.

Orange is a giant, reputable telecom. You should be fine.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I am thinking about the Orange European Sim Card - I think its a decent price if it works, its says it 4g-5g speeds for $50 good for 14 days (averaging $3.57 a day VS most USA carriers I looked at are $10 a day and only 2g speeds) the current "special" allows up to 30GB data
Has anyone used this sim card?
*For those that asked, I currently use straightalk, they dont offer international.

I'm booked out of Rome on Odyssey in Sep returning to port at 5am. The return flight I'm looking at out of FCO is at 12:00. I'm not familiar with the transportation/travel time/airport processing time there. I would really like that flight as its $2,000 cheaper (total savings for 4 of us ).
Is that enough time without any running? ( a couple of slow seniors 🙂 )
 
 

I would recommend purchasing the home covid tests through the Royal website.  You can take these tests yourself on the ship the day before and the results would be emailed to you.  You may also need them to test before boarding and they would be easier than trying to locate a testing center in Italy.
I am scheduled to cruise out of Rome in June.  We are staying both before and after, so I have planned to use these tests for all our required tests.

Is your cruise starting and ending at in Rome (Ciitavecchia) if so then the cruise is considered domestic because you starting and ending in the Schengen Zone so you basically walk off the ship collect your bags and walk out the terminal. Whenever I've done European cruises I've always booked private car to transport us to the airport from the cruise port. Citiavecchia is about 45 minutes to an hour from FCO. You could get off the ship at 7:30 am (or earlier if you want) and could be at the airport by 9 a.m. which is in my opinion more than enough time to make a 12 p.m. flight. 
If you really want to make that flight book private transportation from the cruise port do not use cruise ship provided transportation. You tell the company when you book at what time you want the private transportation to show up and in my experience the transportation has always been there.

I am not sure if this link is air2sea or not but the link is on the RC home page.  At the bottom of the RC home page is a list of links one of which being in the far right column,  "Book a flight."  I selected that link and entered the required information for the first sailing of a back to back cruise.  After the search for flights completed I changed the date search range to a day earlier and a full week later to account for back to back cruise.  It accepted the changes and I clicked the "search flights" button again and it displayed flight information for the new date range.  You have to pick and mock book the departing flight to get the returning flight.  I stopped there as I'm not yet ready to book a real flight yet. 

Air2Sea number…. 1(800)533-7803

Once I got the link yes it was easy to click ( the link took 9 days), but I dont know about Save!! $100 for a link to 6 pictures which I then have to pay another $20 to print? thats not really saving..

Ahh- I found it. On the page that has your photos to download, scroll to bottom and there is a "copyright release form" link between "Contact us" and "FAQ"
Thanks for all the above replies!
 

Ahh- I found it. On the page that has your photos to download, scroll to bottom and there is a "copyright release form" link between "Contact us" and "FAQ"
Thanks for all the above replies!
 

Ahh- I found it. On the page that has your photos to download, scroll to bottom and there is a "copyright release form" link between "Contact us" and "FAQ"
Thanks for all the above replies!
 

Ahh- I found it. On the page that has your photos to download, scroll to bottom and there is a "copyright release form" link between "Contact us" and "FAQ"
Thanks for all the above replies!