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Cruising out of Civitavecchia


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Hi friends! 

I just booked a Greece-focused cruise out of Civitavecchia departing early next summer.  Although we are seasoned RCCL cruisers, this is our first cruise that isn't going to the Caribbean.  I was hoping to consult the collective wisdom of the Blog to answer a few basic questions we have:  

  • Any recommendations for hotels in Rome?  We're looking to make this trip very special.  We'd be there for at least two nights before our cruise exploring the city. 
     
  • How does one conveniently travel from Rome to the Civitavecchia port, and then from the Civitavecchia port to the airport (FCO)? I read something elsewhere that alluded generically to rail service/public transit; is a car service practicable, or is the train really the only way?  Recommendations for either would be appreciated.  I'd rather not take a bus if possible (just a personal preference from past bad experiences).
     
  • Since I booked so close in, we're stuck with the 6 pm dining time.  We're scheduled to leave each of our ports at either 6 pm or 7 pm, and we'd want to have the freedom to get back on board around an hour prior to all-aboard and still have time to get properly gussied up for dinner and a night "out" on the ship.  With that in mind, should I just purchase the unlimited dining plan and, once aboard, try to book specialty restaurants for more convenient times?  Odyssey of the Seas, so we have plenty of good options and would at least do the 3 day dining plan even if our MDR time was convenient for us. 
     
  • How early is "too early" for a flight out of Rome after the cruise?  We're scheduled to be back in Civitavecchia at 5 am.  Is 12 noon too aggressive?  I don't want to be rushed, but it would be great to make a 12:45 that would get us home at a very reasonable time all things considered.
     
  • Any tips for a European cruise generally?  While we've taken a land tour in Europe before and we're Diamond C&A members from running laps around the Caribbean, we're all but first timers for this itinerary! 

Thanks in advance for any advice you may offer!

HC

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1 hour ago, Happy Cruisers said:

Hi friends! 

I just booked a Greece-focused cruise out of Civitavecchia departing early next summer.  Although we are seasoned RCCL cruisers, this is our first cruise that isn't going to the Caribbean.  I was hoping to consult the collective wisdom of the Blog to answer a few basic questions we have:  

  • Any recommendations for hotels in Rome?  We're looking to make this trip very special.  We'd be there for at least two nights before our cruise exploring the city. 
  • How does one conveniently travel from Rome to the Civitavecchia port, and then from the Civitavecchia port to the airport (FCO)? I read something elsewhere that alluded generically to rail service/public transit; is a car service practicable, or is the train really the only way?  Recommendations for either would be appreciated.  I'd rather not take a bus if possible (just a personal preference from past bad experiences).
     
  • Since I booked so close in, we're stuck with the 6 pm dining time.  We're scheduled to leave each of our ports at either 6 pm or 7 pm, and we'd want to have the freedom to get back on board around an hour prior to all-aboard and still have time to get properly gussied up for dinner and a night "out" on the ship.  With that in mind, should I just purchase the unlimited dining plan and, once aboard, try to book specialty restaurants for more convenient times?  Odyssey of the Seas, so we have plenty of good options and would at least do the 3 day dining plan even if our MDR time was convenient for us. 
     
  • How early is "too early" for a flight out of Rome after the cruise?  We're scheduled to be back in Civitavecchia at 5 am.  Is 12 noon too aggressive?  I don't want to be rushed, but it would be great to make a 12:45 that would get us home at a very reasonable time all things considered.
     
  • Any tips for a European cruise generally?  While we've taken a land tour in Europe before and we're Diamond C&A members from running laps around the Caribbean, we're all but first timers for this itinerary! 

Thanks in advance for any advice you may offer!

HC

I used Viator and booked transfers from the airport to hotel and hotel to cruise terminal.  Yes, you could easily do it cheaper by using the trains, but you are in a foreign country and Rome is not very close to Civitavecchia.  

There is a lot to do in Rome.  2 days is easy to fill.  I would do the Coluseum/ Romun Forum in one day, and the Vatican/ Vatican Museum in another.

12 noon should work fine assuming you have a transfer to the airport.  I would use the Royal one if flying out that day.

I would definitely try to get a later dinner or add a dining package.  European ports are not at all like the Caribbean - you will be exhausted from touring all day and may have eaten a great lunch in port.

 

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My sister and I did our 1st European cruise out of Civitavecchia this past September for my 60th birthday.  We did the 8 day Odyssey of the Seas Greek cruise.  We flew into Rome 2 days before cruise departure. 

I reserved private car service with Bob's Limo https://www.romelimousines.com/ from the airport to the hotel (70 Euro per car), the hotel to the cruise port (135 Euro per car) and from the cruise port back to the airport (135 Euro per car).  I made the reservations and prepaid about a month before the cruise so I didn't have to worry about it. 

We stayed at the Marriott Le Meridien (I used my Bonvoy points so I'm not sure what the room cost was).  I enjoyed the hotel.  The staff were very helpful and friendly.  The hotel itself was very clean and had a somewhat modern decor.  We were really there to sleep so no complaints.  The hotel was about 6 blocks from the Vatican, 6 blocks from the Spanish steps all walkable for us.  The only time we took a taxi was from the hotel to the Coluseum after spending 7 hours doing a Vatican tour (I was getting tired).

On the ship we had My Time Dining.  We didn't make any reservations but usually went between 7-7:30 waited maybe 10 minutes at the most on line.  We did reserve Teppanyaki on day 2 (sea day for my birthday) otherwise we were too tired and didn't think we would appreciate the specialty restaurants on this cruise.  

We had RCCL excursions booked for all the ports and 4 of the 5 ports we had to meet around 7:15 every morning in the theater and we were off the ship for at least 7-8 hours.  We had 2 sea days.  Day 1 we were resting from our Rome adventures and Day 8 where we didn't do much of anything because we were so exhausted.

Our flight home was at 1:00PM I had arranged for the car service to pick us up at the port at 8:00AM.  I think we got to the airport by 9:00.  The airport was a zoo and the lines for regular check in were very long and a lot of unhappy people.  We had premier access so our line was short and we were checked in within 10 minutes and on our way to duty free shopping.

A European cruise is so much different from a Caribbean cruise.  There is a lot of planning that needs to be done ahead of time but that makes the vacation so much more stress free when you are there.

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Mary, many thanks for your helpful response!  That is wonderful information and I appreciate you sharing it.  We're on a 10 day itinerary that also has two sea days, so I suspect our experience with the port day marathon will be very similar to yours. 

We booked this trip on a bit of a whim, so we're behind the curve on planning.  Mrs. Cruiser picked it because of Santorini and Crete, but there is so much more to do to maximize our time at all of the other great ports.  It'll be fun to plan, although we need to get on the ball! 

I had considered My Time in lieu of my specialty restaurant-based solution that I noted above, but had originally written it off based on a really bad experience with it on Liberty circa 2014.  Your experience sounds so much better than ours was back then, and maybe it is the way to go for our European itinerary.  I hadn't appreciated the angle that we may be too tired from touring all day to appropriately enjoy a specialty restaurant, so I appreciate that call out. 

Thanks also for the Bob's Limos suggestion.  That appears more cost-effective for a private car than similar options I had researched so far.  Le Meridien looks like a very nice option, and we'll give it a closer look.  Thanks for sharing your airport experience, as well.  We're carefully considering springing for business class to make the trip more comfortable; mitigating the Sunday morning craziness at FCO seems like another great reason!

Did you find that the evening activities on the ship were toned down from a Caribbean cruise since there were so many ports?  We typically enjoy the shows and going dancing in the evenings on cruise ships, but I sort of worry that not as many evening activities would be offered because most people are tired from a day of touring. 

Kind regards, 

HC

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16 minutes ago, Happy Cruisers said:

Did you find that the evening activities on the ship were toned down from a Caribbean cruise since there were so many ports?  We typically enjoy the shows and going dancing in the evenings on cruise ships, but I sort of worry that not as many evening activities would be offered because most people are tired from a day of touring. 

The evening activities weren't toned down at all.  We did go to all the shows (I think I fell sleep during Effectors because I don't remember it), enjoyed the Music Hall and the Schooner Bar even though we were wiped out.  Most nights we were back in the cabin around 11 because we knew we needed to be up early. 

If funds allow I would spend more for business class or premium economy (we were on United) for the comfort and little extras.

Mary

 

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We just did the 12 night Holy Land on odyssey last month. 
 

We had an Airbnb in Rome for 3 nights after the cruise. We spent the night before the cruise in Civitavecchia in another Airbnb. More affordable than hotels. 

I used Daniele Your Driver in Rome (you can find him on Facebook) for all 3 of our transfers. Very reliable and very reasonable. 

We did the 5 night dining package with 7 nights in the MDR with My Time Dining. 

This was our Airbnb in Rome: https://abnb.me/QCPJFj7l7ub

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I agree with all the wonderful insights above.  We used RomeInLimo for transfers and they were fantastic.  A noon flight should be fine.  I have always been told to plan on being at the Rome airport 3 hours before your flight.  
We stayed at the Argentina Residenza hotel this September, and while a bit quirky, was in a great location.  We really like being near the Pantheon- Trevi Fountain area as everything is so close to walk to.  Next time in Rome, we are planning to try the Singer Palace for a special treat.
if you can do the Vatican tour early in the morning, I would recommend it.  The crowds are less and you are still fresh.  We did the Colosseum/ Forum tour at night and it was a beautiful way to see the city at night.  We used the Tour Guy, Walks of Italy and Tours with Locals for various tours and they were all great.  We found Rome city center very easy to walk around.  Having an aperol spritz in the square overlooking the Pantheon for aperitivo was a great simple relaxing pleasure. 

Enjoy!

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