skszy

Hi, my upcoming cruise is departing out of Rome, in the port city of Civitavecchia on a Monday @ 6pm. I could save $$ arriving on monday early morning from NJ (instead of sunday). But I wonder how risky it is to arrive the same day as the cruise. This is my first cruise, is it always wise to arrive a day earlier?

Also, does anyone have any specific suggestions for taxi service to the port from FCO airport - ie cost and name of company. There will be some older people on this trip, so the train would be too difficult.
thanks!!

traveller69

We used this company for a private port tour when we were in Rome on the Rotterdam. They do have a service from the airport to the cruise port. Here is the website where you can find the cost of the different options. I highly recommend them as far as giving excellent service.

http://www.romecabs.com/index.html

I do recommend traveling a day ahead. Anything can happen to delay the flight etc but its nice to get over the jet lag a little before the cruise. There were several nice hotels in Civitavecchia. Enjoy your cruise!!!

jacketwatch

I too think its a good idea to arrive atleast one day early, maybe more if possible as Rome is fantastic to see and it will give you that much more time to recover from jet lag. And more time to slurp down those gelatos. .

skszy

Thanks for your input, I think I am now leaning more towards arriving the day before. I was trying to save some money by arriving the same day as the cruise, but I think I'm going to follow everyone's advice. It's been 20 years since I've been in Rome, and it would be great to see the city again, even for a day!

jacketwatch

Now you're talking!!

traveller69

HI again Larry!!

skszy - I have found that it is false economy to try to save on hotel bills when you are spending so much for the cruise. You will not regret going a day ahead or even as jacketwatch says two days ahead is even better. It is nice to get on the ship refreshed and ready to enjoy the sailaway and the evening ahead. The company I recommended is great and you could email them (they are wonderful at responding right away) and have them plan a tour for you after they pick you up and before you go to Civitavecchia. You can have a nice restful night and be ready to board the ship raring to go!!!

jacketwatch

Hello my man. How's it going? All is good here. Cubs win!

ParrotMom

WE made a mistake ONCE ARRIVING the same day and here is no way I ever want to do it again.. worrying about the plane leaving late, changing gates, getting luggage.. It is "false economy?.. actually we now go two days ahead.. If you go on the CC board you will find people on your same cruise and they might recommend hotels and have arranged service from the hotel to the ship. DO NOT TAKE THE TRAIN... The trains are known to break down frequently and there are often strikes..

fmpden

ParrotMom your advice is a little extreme. I don't know where you are getting your information about frequently break downs and strikes. We have taken four cruises out of Rome, always take the train, and have never had a problem. We have traveled extensively via in Italy and all over Europe and the travels in Italy are just as dependable as anywhere else. There are always threats of strikes, and occasionally a strike but rarely shut down the whole system. Generally just a few trains and the strikes are always well announced. It is a game. The chances of being inconvenienced by strike is very small and then you fall back on a taxi.

While we always two or three days earlier, you would be fine if you have a direct flight from NJ. We have known two couples who have missed cruises but it was always the connect on the US flights. International flights are very dependable when compare to US domestic flights.

A taxi from the airport would be about hour or a little less and probably cost in the range of 75 to 100 Euro. However, for four people would be about the same cost as the train would run about 20 to 25E/person. BUT, four people and luggage will not fit the average cab. I would look to hire a van or limo. Goggle Rome Lino.

skszy

Thank you all for your input! Since I first posted this question 2 days ago, the airfare to arrive 1 or days before has gone up quite a bit. I will keep looking daily and try to grab a flight that arrives a day before.

traveller69 - thank you for this link, they look great, and I think I will use them to take us to the port.

one more question, I should probably post this as a new question, but has anyone had experience flying Alitalia? I don't think they have a good reputation(but they are cheap), so right now, I am looking into US based airlines.
Thanks again!

traveller69

Did you try checking prices through Kayak? When we did our Med cruise last fall we embarked in Copenhagen and disembarked in Athens. I got the flights through lessno.com and the price was better than any of the airline websites and the flights were on NWairlines and British airways. No problems at all with booking etc.

Zignats

I just got back (5/25) from cruising on the Soltice out of Rome. I too highly recommend arriving at least 1 day before the cruise. WE arrived 3 days before to tour the city.
Totally pumped the day of departure. It's at least a 1 hour drive to Civitavecchia. (and a wild one at that).

skszy

Yea! I just bought my plane ticket - and will be arriving one day early. I'm so excited!!

Zignats - did you go on the Easter Meditteranean cruise? If so, how was it? Anything you'd like to share? This is my very first cruise. Do you recommend doing the ship excursions or doing some alone? There are older(but fit) travlers in my gorup. Now that I have the air out of the way, i will start researching more here on Fodors - thanks so much!

traveller69

skszy- Your best bet is to join if you haven't already cruisecritic.com. We always do private tours and usually get a group together beforehand on cruise critics. Just go to the website and sign up. It is free and they don't bother you with emails etc if you don't want. Then go to Boards - then scroll down to roll calls. Click on your cruise line and then the ship you are sailing on. If you scroll down on that page you will probably find someone has already started a thread with you specific cruise. Its really good and you can exchange information etc there. We have been doing that for years and have met a lot of wonderful new friends and saved a lot of money by splitting the cost of the tours. What ports are you going to? I can give you any info I have because we have done the Med a couple of times. Its exciting isn't it!! Glad you booked your tickets!

skszy

Thanks traveller69, I will check out that site. We are stopping in Santorini, Mykonos, Istanbul, Piraeus and Naples, and yes I am very excited!!! thanks for all your help!

fmpden

We have done both eastern and western out of Rome. We seldom do the ship's excursions. BUT the ship's excursions are convenient and easily although you pay for thata convenience. We do our own but that requires a lot of advance homework and a good sense of adventure. And it is learning curve. We are headed for our seventh European cruise this Fall and mostly like will not use any of the ship's excursions but on our first cruise out of Venice we probably did about half of what the ship offered. As you get your feet wet you may what to use more of the ship's services until you can decide what appeals to you and what doesn't not.

vetralla

Check this article http://www.elegantetruria.com/explor...itavecchia.htm for inside information on the area: when is your cruise ? I'll be aboard the Solstice leaving Monday 15, myself.

Wiskers

I would never take a chance of missing the cruise by arriving on the same day, it's not worth it. Save yourself the aggravation and go a day early.

WILDWOOD03

I'm glad you're going in early--it will give you a chance of seeing Rome. I did about the same cruise 2 summers ago, and would highly recommend www.romeinlimo.com. they will do just a shuttle to Rome or will do a tour (best thing I ever did--I usually like to be on my own). I used them for 9 hours and saw all the important sites. They will drop you off at the enterance and pick you up at the exit. They can estimate how long it takes to see a site and were bang on. It was a wonderful experience!!! enjoy