Flight arrival time versus boarding time in Rome

[Tuff Yen]

So the 7 night Greek Isle cruise leaves from Rome's Civitavecchi port, which is about 45 min taxi from Rome airport (FCO). My flight arrives at 10:55am. The ship check-in starts at 11:30am and closes at 3:30pm, I was told.

Will I have enough time based on my flight arrival time to get to the ship before it closes? My wife also said we need to arrive earlier to reserve restaurants and other events when we board.

Anyone who flew in around that time before to share some wisdom? I may have to change my flight if this is too late.

 

Tuff Yen

[smokeybandit]

I wouldn't feel comfortable at all with making the cruise getting in that late.

[Shanethegriff]

Where are you flying in from? It's always advisable to fly in the night before but at a minimum I'd fly in on the earliest flight to allow some leeway for any delays. Last thing you need is a delay/diversion or cancellation and have no alternative. 

[Villageidiot]

Will you have to clear customs in Rome? That could take up some time if you do. I'd fly in the day before if that is the only flight I could get.

[Ryan79]

You are a brave individual to even think about flying in the same day as embarkation and flying in that late in the morning. I’d never take that risk

[loki007]

i would definitley recommend flying in the day before. you aren't leaving any contingency for flight delays, traffic, etc. Port is about an hour from the airport. 

[JasonOasis]

I'm gong to tell you this with the hope that you take my advice.  Do NOT arrive in Rome the same day as your cruise departs.

I don't know how much money you've spent on this cruise and I don't need to know.  What I do know from 27 years working in the airline industry is this anything and everything can happen in a moments notice.  When you are talking about going on a cruise you never want to chance it by flying in the same day the cruise departs.  Your margin for error is slim as it is assuming everything is on-time.  But what happens if your flight has a mechanical delay lets say 2-3 hours leaving the U.S. what will that do to your margin of error.  What happens if customs in Rome is totally backup and it takes 2 hours to clear customs (that isn't an exaggeration its happened multiple times this year) what will that do to your margin of error.

If you want to error on the side of caution I would suggest at the very least you arrive in Rome the day before your cruise departs.  If your budget could afford the cruise fare and the airfare, then surely your budget can afford a hotel in Rome or Civitavecchi for at least one night.

[ChessE4]

Whatever you choose, get trip insurance so you have coverage for delays, etc.

[cedricmr]

Flight the same day is.... BAD idea !

[TessFromFlorida]

This gives me such anxiety and I'm not even traveling with you.

[PeloAl]

We flew to Rome last May from Philly. Had a 3 hour delay. This caused our reserved taxi to ditch us and we had to stand in line for 30 mins just for a taxi. But thankfully we weren’t cruising so we weren’t on a time crunch. 

[CynBeth]

I would fly in at least a few days before if not longer. It seems just about any time we have flown since 2018 either just in the US or overseas our flights have been delayed leaving by 2-3 hours or so for mechanical issues so landed later than expected. Another possibility that could impact your Italy travels would be a strike. They have different kinds such as airport, train, taxi, etc. When we were on our Med cruise in July we left out of Barcelona and ended in Civi. Afterwards we then spent time in Venice and Rome. The day we were supposed to come home from FCO there was an airport strike. Luckily we heard of the possibility before we went so added days at the kennel for the dog and I let my manager know there was this chance I might miss a few extra days. We kept hoping it would not happen so did not change our flight and by the time we got the e-mail on Thursday that the Saturday flight was cancelled we could not find another non stop flight until Tuesday.