Hello- we have arranged a private train ride through Princess from our cruise ship to the Vatican (St. Peter train station) and back, and are wondering how we can determine if we will return to the ship on time. We have a Vatican (non Princess) tour arranged beginning at 2:30 ending at 4:30, and supposedly the train station is 400 yards from Vatican City. How can we make sure we get to the train station on time, catch the train and arrive back to the ship prior to Sail Away time of 7pm? We have asked Princess but they don't seem to have the answers at this time. We hate to cut our Vatican tour short but want to make sure we get back to the ship in plenty of time. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

If your train trip was arranged through the cruise line, and you are on time for your train back to Civitavecchia, you have nothing to worry about. What times did the cruise line give you for the train departures?

The Vatican station is on the opposite side of St. Peter's from the Vatican Museums/Sistine chapel, so plan to walk more than 400 yards.

Adding .... use Google maps (satellite or hybrid view) to see the area. Use terms "Musei Vaticani" and "Stazione Vaticana" to get walking directions between the two locations (and print the maps).

The Train from Rome termini to the port is about 45mins. The Vatican to termini is about 10-15 min in a cab. I would say you will have enough time long as the train is on time.

I would think it's quite a bit more than 400 yards from the piazza in front of St. Peter's to the Roma S Pietro train station (not part of Vatican City). The Vatican Museums entrance is on the opposite side of Vatican City. On this map, the arrow in the upper left corner is pointing to the museum entrance. The train station would be below the bottom of the map.
http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/P...n-area-map.jpg

I'm assuming you booked a museum only tour and not museum and St. Peter's? Did you book directly through the Vatican? If so, change to an earlier tour.

The cruise ship is providing your train tickets (4.10€ each way), but there will be nothing private about it. These are slow R trains and don't even have reserved seating (no 1st or 2nd class). There are return trains departing at:

16:59 RO S.PI 17:57 C.CCHIA 00:58 12254 4,10 € 4,10 €

17:29 RO S.PI 18:15 C.CCHIA 00:46 3262 4,10 € 4,10 €

17:35 RO S.PI 18:32 C.CCHIA 00:57 12256 4,10 € 4,10 €

Assuming your train is on time (not always the case), you would also have to allow enough time to get from the train station back to the ship.

OP is using the local train, for the station at St. Peter's, not Roma Termini, so the more frequent stops add time to the trip. Boarding a train at St Peter's around 5 would get them to Civitavecchia by about 6:15, allowing some time to get a taxi to the ship.

There are a number of things on your post that are quite confusing: how was a "pravate train ride" arranged with Princess but not the actual tour? IF Princess arranged the train ride that in and it itself makes them liable to wait for you so long as you show up at the station in due time. I go back to my original question; how does Princess arranged for a "private train ride"? :-?

That said, the train station (Roma San Pietro) is nowhere near 400 yards from the Vatican Museums. It is a good 20-25 minute walk. In addition, once you get to Civitavecchia you still have good 15 minutes to get to the actual dock. Don't dilly-dally; get a taxi if arriving at Civita after 6pm. Departure at 7pm means that you need to be IN the ship at least a quarter hour BEFORE.