Flight out of Rome on a Monday morning...

We are getting off the Reflection on July 31 (Monday). We have a 11:50am flight. We've never done self disembark before. Wondering if we really need to or if we would be okay not doing it. We have older kids who would carry their own luggage so it would not be an issue to do self disembark (we wouldn't need to drag tired toddlers and luggage around). I would rather not do it, but obviously need to get to the airport on time!

We have a 12:20 PM flight on July 10th and plan on taking the Celebrity Transfers - should be on one of the first buses with that flight time - the issue with self disembark in Rome is that the airport is about an hour or so from the port and I'm not sure if there are taxis waiting vs having to arrange your own transportation

FCO can be a complicated airport for travel back to the U.S., as many folks on CC will attest. Last time, we went through two security lines, one in the arrival terminal (T5) and then transferred to T3 where we went through the process again. My opinion is 1) you need to self embark and 2) you should book transportation to the airport ahead of time. I've disembarked to Rome twice, both times I had flights that were after 12:00 and used a service to get to the airport. Last time, our friends had a 12:15 flight back to US (we were leaving later) and we had a driver pick us up at 8:00 a.m. I would think, for an 11:50, you would want to leave earlier than we did. I'm risk averse, so I like to have plenty of time. Others may differ. Given that they like to throw us off the ship early anyway, not giving up much except worry.

1) Pre-arrange transportation. You will be able to do your own transfer for less than Celebrity's transfer cost. And, you will leave when you are ready, not having to wait for a bus to be filled.

2) With an 11:50 departure you will NOT have to do self-disembarkation. Just get the earliest time luggage tags available. This assumes a 5:00 AM arrival. We made an 11:05 flight literally with hours to spare this month. Disembarked at 07:00, driver ready when we came out, at the airport a couple minutes before 8.

Thanks everyone! Last time we did this we didn't fly out the same day so I just wanted to be sure :)

We are getting off the Reflection on July 31 (Monday). We have a 11:50am flight. We've never done self disembark before. Wondering if we really need to or if we would be okay not doing it. We have older kids who would carry their own luggage so it would not be an issue to do self disembark (we wouldn't need to drag tired toddlers and luggage around). I would rather not do it, but obviously need to get to the airport on time!

We did it several times with flights around noon. No need for self embarkation, there are no custom agents. we used Rome Cabs transfer , they are great!.

If you've got four people or more, you'd be best served by booking with Rome Cabs as someone mentioned or Rome in Limo. There are several other reliable transfer companies that may also get recommended here. Your family will spend less with them than with Celebrity transfers. You also won't have to worry about dealing with a busload of people getting luggage on and off or waiting for the bus to fill. With that early of a flight time you should be one of the first numbers called but self-disembark will get you off the ship even faster. The Rome airport is massive and chaotic, you want to get there as early as possible.

Just wanted to remind you, at the port there is no customs or immigration if your prior port was also a European Union country. That means you walk directly off and gather your luggage. There is no hassle with disembarking. I'm thinking of the lengthy queues at POM or Everglades after a Caribbean cruise.....this is very different, in a good way!

The earliest you will be able to get off the ship is 07:00, that is if the port

authorities do show up by then. It will take between 55-90minutes, depending

on the day of the week and road conditions. Do self departure and private transfers.. Also, what happens

next depends on the airline that you are using. Delta, you go to Terminal One, into a special

area. You will have two stops of questioning about where you have been. Then you can check

in your cases, and go thru security. Then begins the journey ---the long walk to terminal 3.

When you get to terminal 3 there will be sign telling you your gate and how long to get to the gate.

Ours was a 30 minute walk to get to gate. Last year, we went to terminal 5 United and American,

Check outside of terminal tickets and questions. Inside cases check and cases check in. Then thru two separate securities.

Then board bus to terminal 3 and the gates. Anyway you look at it, it does take time.

We did this on the 20th of May, so information is current.

The earliest you will be able to get off the ship is 07:00, that is if the port

authorities do show up by then. It will take between 55-90minutes, depending

on the day of the week and road conditions. Do self departure and private transfers.. Also, what happens

next depends on the airline that you are using. Delta, you go to Terminal One, into a special

area. You will have two stops of questioning about where you have been. Then you can check

in your cases, and go thru security. Then begins the journey ---the long walk to terminal 3.

When you get to terminal 3 there will be sign telling you your gate and how long to get to the gate.

Ours was a 30 minute walk to get to gate. Last year, we went to terminal 5 United and American,

Check outside of terminal tickets and questions. Inside cases check and cases check in. Then thru two separate securities.

Then board bus to terminal 3 and the gates. Anyway you look at it, it does take time.

We did this on the 20th of May, so information is current.

Thanks for the info. We are flying United. Do you know if you clear customs in Rome before boarding? We are Global Entry so we save some time there. Although our first stop is in Canada, not the US, which we've never done before either.

Thanks for the info. We are flying United. Do you know if you clear customs in Rome before boarding? We are Global Entry so we save some time there. Although our first stop is in Canada, not the US, which we've never done before either.

U. S. Global Entry is not a factor (no way to use it as it is for arrivals in the U.S.) so that will not save you any time at FCO. I've flown United out of FCO and, like bcnvcanada, found it very time consuming to get to the eventual gate. Other posters who mention how quickly they were processed at FCO likely weren't flying United :).

Thanks for the info. We are flying United. Do you know if you clear customs in Rome before boarding? We are Global Entry so we save some time there. Although our first stop is in Canada, not the US, which we've never done before either.

There is no pre-clearance for US customs at FCO. You'll clear when you land in the US.

Just remember also that those that said they breezed through in early May are not travelling in peak season - July and August in Europe is a totally different ball game ;).

We will be embarking as you are disembarking :). Think I read that there are 5 ships in port that day.

Most likely you will clear customs in your Canadian stop. Be sure to have your

goes card with you. Off times in Canada, in Canada special line for goes, much faster thru U.S.

customs. Again, I would give myself plenty of time at FCO. Most of the flights to North American ,

mostly leave around noon and the airport T5 United will be very crowded.

We just got off the Reflection yesterday and left the ship at 7:45 am. Walked off with our luggage. We had a pre arranged private shuttle to the airport in Rome. By 9:10 am we were checked in and through security and it was a Monday morning. This was on Lufthansa.