Copper2031

3 hours ago, taiwan_girl said:

We recently got off in Rome (on a Viking cruise).  I had looked ahead of time for transport into the city, but was not able to book anything.

 

Maybe just pure luck, but we talked to the people inside the "terminal" and they immediately called someone to come and take us.  They said that there are certain companies that are allowed inside the port gates and they called one of them.  We had 8 people + luggage and they came in a mid Mercedes van.  Didn't have to wait long at all. We were staying very close to Vatican City, and on a Friday morning, it only took between 60-90 minutes.  Did not seem like traffic was very bad at all.

That is all very good info for us. Thank you so much! 

8 hours ago, alcpa1 said:

Please consider letting the staff take your luggage down to the terminal. It will be much easier. Toting one's luggage may entail steps within the ship or ramps disembarking. 

Too many passengers choose to remove their own luggage and it creates chaos in the elevators and hallways on the ship.

A disembarkation time of 8:30 to 9:00 is very reasonable and less crowded than anything earlier.

We have used Rome in Limo and recommend them too.

I believe we will do as you suggest with our luggage. I do not want to be the cause or part of any chaos. Thank you very much! 

9 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

We have used Rome Cabs a few times.  Actually used them as a pick-up and guide on our first trip to Rome.  We have used Rome in Limo (touring also), and on the last visit to Rome, we used Roma Shuttle Airport https://www.romashuttleairport.it/  Excellent service!  We used them for 4 different types of transfers during a month long trip.  The owner was our driver.

Great! I will look at all of them. Thank you so much! 

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

We hired a private driver/guide for our excursion to Rome off Riviera (11/2023). He met us right at the gangplank and we drove off immediately after getting of the ship. But we were just there for the day, not embarking or disembarking.

Thank you! How nice to have the driver/guide pick you up right at the ship.  I’m thinking a private transfer will make life easier then taking the train. 

2 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

FYI - You did not say what day of the week.  Week days are known for a lot of traffic getting into Rome.  If you are disembarking on a week day, best to ask your driver what the best time is for pick-up.  Have you been to Rome before?  If not, you may want to get off earlier to have time to see some sights.

 

We have used a few different transport companies to get us to and from Civitavecchia.

I didn’t think of that. June 1st is a Saturday so hopefully the traffic may be better then during the week. We haven’t been to Rome, this will be our first visit. We’ll be staying four days which isn’t enough to see everything but it'll just make us want to go back another time. I’m looking at Rome Cabs as they get good reviews on CC.  Do you have any suggestions?  

Thank you very much for your reply and help!! 
 

I will set it for 8:30. Thank you so much for such a fast reply!  I really do appreciate it. 😁

I am looking for advice on disembarking in Chivitavecchia on June 1st.  I think I will reserve a private transfer from port to our hotel in Rome. Disembarkment time is listed as 8 am and I’m wondering if we must be off at 8 am and what time I should set for the car service to pick us up. Can we take our luggage with us or is it better to have the ship take our luggage off for us. I appreciate any help anyone can give me. Thank you!! 

1 hour ago, Jancruz said:

Cooper I hope you have a fabulous time ..my grandaughter works for Gate 1..

Jancruz1

Thank you Jancruz! Just a few more weeks and we will be on our way. Your granddaughter works for a very good company. 😁

1 minute ago, susiesan said:

I've been looking at that same Gate 1 tour for late 2024 or early 2025. It depends on if I can get J award tix to South America that coincide with the dates. I have friends who didd that tour with them and they loved it.

Thank you Susiesan! That’s good to hear.  We choose early December because that’s summer for Patagonia and it won’t be very warm but it also won’t be very cold. It may be windy.  

2 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Thx Susiesan!

OAT has some poor reviews when things go wrong. A similar/related company is Grand Circle Tours, which is a budget cruise line. Hit or miss….

My husband and I did a 12 day land tour of Vietnam and then a 13 day tour of Thailand with Gate 1 in November 2023.  Our tour guides were excellent, can’t say enough good things about them.  We saw and did so much and both tour guides made sure everything went smoothly.  Our guides also set up extra tours for us that we asked for and were not part of our itinerary and they made it happen.  We are going with Gate 1 at the end of this November to Chile, Argentina (Patagonia) and Brazil.   Looking forward to it and expecting 🤞🏻to have another excellent tour.  

1 hour ago, Vertygo said:

Very friendly O agent is messaging their shore excursions dept regarding the return & will e-mail me their response. I’ll keep y’all posted.

He did show Vista departing at 5, which gives an extra hour leeway than schedule I see on-line, so that helps.

Linda

 

I’m thinking to ask my TA to see if she can get any info on the end of the food and wine excursion.  When I do and have an answer I will let you know. Thank you for reaching out! 

12 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

I think we are in the same itinerary. That tour looks very interesting. I was torn on it as it includes some nice options for the day. However, after seeing that there are 10k+ passengers in port that day, we opted for the boat, even though we have never been to Santorini. 

Hello Vineyard View, I believe you are right that we are on the same cruise. We are looking forward to it.  I did see about the amount of passengers in port that day and it is definitely a concern. I also looked at the boat excursion you are doing and we have thought about doing it. It does sound like a very nice day. We may decide to change our excursion I’m still working on what to do.  I was hoping someone on cruise critic has done the food and wine and could give me some information especially about the end of the day.  So many people on cruise critic are so helpful and I appreciate that they take the time to answer questions. 

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Yes. It’s install and done automatically as you pass through the security portal. They record your temp along with your photo for facial recognition. 
 

On an earlier cruise they moved the machine around on sea days for monitoring, so it might not be limited to only at boarding.

Thank you Pinotlover for your quick reply.  We didn’t know that and it’s good to know!! 

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

That’s debatable! 
 

Posted signs ( for the non oblivious) clearly state your temperature is being taken upon boarding. On an earlier cruise, the staff was reporting passengers with troubling coughs and appearing blush. I talked with fellow passengers that had been directed to medical for testing. Security escorted some to medical in that cruise that didn’t go voluntarily as directed.

 

It’s not necessarily all voluntary.

So are you saying that Oceania is taking each passengers temperature as they board the ship in 2023?

I also have booked an OE with 16 for 8 1/2 hours in Santorini and am concerned that for the price if the guide isn’t very good we won’t be happy. It’s a food and wine excursion.  I think we’ll probably stick with it but I’ll still be researching other ideas.  

My husband and I will be on Oceania Marina May 2024 and are thinking about taking Oceania’s excursion Food &Wine Trails: Santorini Boutari Winery, Oia & Fira. I’m wondering if anyone has done this excursion and if they were happy with it.  It’s an 8 hour excursion and is expensive.  I believe we would not have to deal with the cable car going up into Santorini which is a plus but we would have to take it down to get back to the ship.  Or walk down the donkey steps which is probably what we would do. Did the tour spend enough time in Oia? Is the winery and lunch worth the cost?  Would we be better off doing a DIY to Oia?  I appreciate any thoughts and experiences anyone has had with food and wine excursions.   Thank you!