Disembarking from Civitavecchia

I am sure this question has been asked, but I am looking for some insight as a 1st time cruiser.

I am taking a cruise in April with Holland America. We end the cruise at Civitavecchia and our boat docks at 7 am on a Saturday. I am looking a flight options home, and they are somewhat limited. The latest direct flight home is an 11:15 am out of FCO.

Would 4 hours and 15 minutes be enough time to get off of our boat and to the airport? Is it reasonable to expect to be off the boat by 8 am?

I would really appreciate any insight!

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

Yes, you will be OK with getting off the ship by around 7:30 and catching your flight. I would suggest you arrange your own transport, through recommended companies like the wonderful Rome in Limo, who we have used many times.

Other info can be found by looking at the Italy portion of Cruise Critic, located here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=595

Thank you for the reply. Is it reasonable to expect to be off the boat by 7:30 if we arrive in port at 7?

The ship will probably be tied up before then, maybe well before then. Yes, quite reasonable to be off by 7:30.

You might not need the recommended three hours check-in time at FCO, but for an 11:15 flight you want to be sure to get there by 10:15 - which means you want to be CERTAIN about being on the road from Civita Vecchia no later than 9:20 or so.

You should be able to make it, but I would not want to count so heavily on everything working out-- Rome is worth a day or two post-cruise.

You might not need the recommended three hours check-in time at FCO, but for an 11:15 flight you want to be sure to get there by 10:15 - which means you want to be CERTAIN about being on the road from Civita Vecchia no later than 9:20 or so.

 

You should be able to make it, but I would not want to count so heavily on everything working out-- Rome is worth a day or two post-cruise.

At Rome, for a flight to the US (guessing here...OP doesn't say), or even domestically, I would never be checking in only 60 minutes in advance. FCO is not a well oiled machine.

I am sure this question has been asked, but I am looking for some insight as a 1st time cruiser.

 

I am taking a cruise in April with Holland America. We end the cruise at Civitavecchia and our boat docks at 7 am on a Saturday. I am looking a flight options home, and they are somewhat limited. The latest direct flight home is an 11:15 am out of FCO.

 

Would 4 hours and 15 minutes be enough time to get off of our boat and to the airport? Is it reasonable to expect to be off the boat by 8 am?

 

I would really appreciate any insight!

I am a worrier when it comes to airplane flights. However, it you do book the 11:15 flight, make sure that you are a plan B already defined.

DON

Don,

You say you are a "worrier." I live with a world class worrier.

While the ship may let you off first (or quickly) HAL should have ground transfers available for your trip to the airport. Check with HAL and/or your travel agent to see if transfers are available.

Our usual strategy, however, is to book a hotel room near the airport on disembarkation day and schedule our flight a day home a day later. Otherwise my DW will lose a lot of sleep and will definitely not enjoy the last few days of the cruise worrying about making the flight. Besides, not having a looming air departure hanging over our heads on disembarkation makes for a very relaxing day and allows you unlimited time to get to your flight the next day.

At Rome, for a flight to the US (guessing here...OP doesn't say), or even domestically, I would never be checking in only 60 minutes in advance. FCO is not a well oiled machine.

With the "latest direct flight" at 11:15, it is a virtual certainty he is talking about a trans-Atlantic flight home. And, if you acknowledge that FCO is "not a well oiled machine" - how can you seriously say "... you will be OK with getting off the ship by around 7:30 and making your flight"?

There is no certainty that the ship would be in port on time, that debarkation would be timely, that the ordered ride would be waiting, and that there would not be traffic delays in getting to FCO.

I posited 60 minutes as an absolute minimum --- only possible if everything else worked - which is why I mentioned that Rome is worth a day or two post cruise.

A few thoughts. We rarely disagree with Navybankerteacher.....but getting to FCO an hour before a flight to the USA is not cool....and may well leave you sitting at FCO and wondering...."what do I do now that I have missed my flight" The normal standard for International flights out of FCO would be to arrive about 3 hours before one's flight. We would feel pretty comfortable with 2 1/2.....and in a pinch 2 hours would probably be OK. But 1 hour.....that is nutz.

My advice to the OP is book your 11:15, plan on using express disembarkation (where you must carry all your own luggage) and book a private transfer with Romecabs...for a 7:20 - 7:30 pickup.

Hank

A few thoughts. We rarely disagree with Navybankerteacher.....but getting to FCO an hour before a flight to the USA is not cool....and may well leave you sitting at FCO and wondering...."what do I do now that I have missed my flight" The normal standard for International flights out of FCO would be to arrive about 3 hours before one's flight. We would feel pretty comfortable with 2 1/2.....and in a pinch 2 hours would probably be OK. But 1 hour.....that is nutz.

 

My advice to the OP is book your 11:15, plan on using express disembarkation (where you must carry all your own luggage) and book a private transfer with Romecabs...for a 7:20 - 7:30 pickup.

 

Hank

Thanks Hank. Agree totally...I think that is what I said earlier. Except I mentioned a better private service...;p:D

I agree with a lot that has been mentioned by CruiserBruce and Hank.

I would be in the first group off the ship.

I would have a private transfer. We also recommend Rome Cabs who is not a taxi service but provides private car service. Web site is:

http://www.romecabs.com

Another private service that many recommend is romainelimo at http://www.romeinlimo.com

Book sooner rather then later as both are very popular.

In my case I like to arrive to FCO three hours before the flight but as has been mentioned I would arrive at least two to two and one half hours before the flight and nothing less.

FCO can be chaotic.

Also please keep in mind that there is stricter security now on items taken in carry ons for flights returning to the USA.

And one more thing that sometimes people forget. All it takes is an incident to happen sometime before your flight for any flight returning to the USA from Europe and procedures can tighten further. I am not sure if you remember but back in I believe 2006 there was the issue where they stopped the plot of the attempt to explode planes returning to the USA from London. Well, right afterwards many procedures changed on flights to and from London including additional security checks and even the size of the carry ons below what they are today. Things do happen. Best to allow a lot of time.

On a related note we have also done what Host Walt has mentioned when getting off ships when we are not comfortable with the flights. I did this in Los Angeles one time and coincidentally there was a delay getting the luggage off the ship due to a temporary union work stoppage.

Keith

I used the one hour because it is "possible". I have made a trans-Atlantic flight from FCO after arriving at the airport about 45 minutes early (unplanned, of course) and advised personnel of the time crunch and was expedited.

That said: I agree with allowing three hours- which means that planning on an 11:15 flight after a scheduled arrival at CV is risky. To get to FCO by 8:15 means being in your car no later than 7:25. There is no way to be sure of being cleared and off the ship within 25 minutes of ship' s scheduled 7:00 arrival.

We've disembarked there twice and while the process itself at the port went smoothly, we were warned that any traffic hiccup could cause a delay getting to the airport. I called the cruise line and asked what was the earliest flight they felt would be comfortable with, and they said no earlier than noon, which was 45 minutes earlier than recommended. We tried to think of ways to shave 45 minutes off our departure. We booked RomeInLimo for transportation. After carefully thinking about ending a wonderful cruise by stressing out about getting to the airport and making the one flight of the day, we decided to book a hotel and stay one night post cruise in Rome. We kept our transportation and just had the driver take us to our hotel, with arrangements to pick us up the next morning and take us to FCO for our flight home. If you are a worrier like me, it's well worth the extra day. We dropped our bags at the hotel and had an extra day in Rome, get a good night's sleep and head to the airport the next morning after breakfast. That said, I would never depend on the ship's transportation because they sit there and wait until everyone is on the bus if I decided to try to make the flight on the same day I disembarked. It's worth every penny to have private transportation pre-arranged so that you get out of there as early as possible.

The port is 40 miles north of FCO. With local drivers, your looking at an hour from the port to the airport. So everything depends on disembarking quickly, getting your luggage, finding transportation to FCO, traffic, and getting through the chaos at the airport:rolleyes:. Personally, I would look at a backup plan, or alternate flight plan.;)