Shore Excursions - Civitavecchia

Good Morning

So we set sail 2 weeks on Sunday for a 2 week trip to the med. I'm not fussed about doing lots of excursions as I think they are pretty expensive. I'm more than happy to just get off the ship at each port, have a wander round for a couple of hours then get back on in time for lunch (yes I'm one of those who doesn't want to pay for meals on land when I've already paid for food on the ship :) )

The only port that I really fancy doing something is Civitavecchia. I'm really keen on seeing the vatican city, st peters basilica, trevi fountain etc. I've looked at the p+o excursions and even just for a train into St Peters its around £60pp.

Does anyone know the cost and ease of doing it yourself?

Try the ports of call section of CC.

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

I went into Rome from Civitavecchia from a Costa cruise. We went by train, it was no trouble at all. I don't remember the cost as it was a few years ago. We had a nice wander around, not enough time to visit all the sights but we at least saw them.

How about Googling Trenitalia (the Italian railways)? That should give you prices and times.

We also like to do our own thing when in ports but in this case we did book P&O's Rome On You Own trip when we were in Civitavecchia.

Probably could do it cheaper under your own steam, no pun intended, but we wanted the reassurance that P&O would get us back to the ship on time.

BTW, we did manage to do the coliseum (brought tickets on line) trevi fountain, Spanish steps.

There is another way. A coach from the port - 19 Euros - do it yourself - and if you want a guide to three stops including the Vatican, it's an extra 10 Euros. They guarantee to get you back on time. http://www.smartcruisetours.com/index.php/destinations/rome

Rome is one of our favourite places, it is impossible to see it all in one day. However it is one of the few places that we take the ships tour, transport it very hit and miss with the train staff being notorious for going on strike. The roads are very busy and it is approx one hour drive which can easily become three hours, especially rush hour which is usually when you are coming back to the ship. Some of the tour companies do guarantee to get you back on time, however not sure how that works if you are stuck on the motorway after an accident, the small print may say that they will get you to the next port of call? which is effectively what the cruise line will do if they can't wait for you.

Rome is one of our favourite places, it is impossible to see it all in one day. However it is one of the few places that we take the ships tour, transport it very hit and miss with the train staff being notorious for going on strike. The roads are very busy and it is approx one hour drive which can easily become three hours, especially rush hour which is usually when you are coming back to the ship. Some of the tour companies do guarantee to get you back on time, however not sure how that works if you are stuck on the motorway after an accident, the small print may say that they will get you to the next port of call? which is effectively what the cruise line will do if they can't wait for you.

I would second this. It’s one of the few ports that I would never try to do DIY as the trains can and do go on strike with no notice. People are regularly left behind if they don’t make it back, I’m sure there was a thread on here where one of them was the entertainment for that night.

Even doing It with p&0 it’s a very long, very hot day in a crowded city. While the things to see are very much worth the trouble - go well prepared with lots of water, sunscreen etc

While fairly expensive I thought the P&O Rome by Train excursion was pretty good.

It's not just them buying you a ticket and putting you on a local train. The train is a charter just for cruises which runs direct from Civitavecchia to St Peters station in Rome so as it's not stopping it gets there really quickly with a guaranteed big leather comfy seat (it's an old train so it's not the tiny plastic ones you get today). The train also isn't held to a timetable so they can wait if you're late.

I've done the coach many times and it makes for a far less tiring day with more time in Rome so well worth the money.

The only disadvantage is that if you want to do the forum or Colosseum you're at the wrong end of town (you'd be better at Termini) but if you're fit it's just a big hike and can be done.

As others have said, trains in Italy can be a bit of a lottery, I've had 2 cruises where people got stuck and ended up paying large taxi fares back to the ship.

The ship is in port often until 9 pm, so there is no problem getting back on time. We were back by 5. £65 for P&O Rome on Your Own is daylight robbery.

Good Morning

 

 

 

So we set sail 2 weeks on Sunday for a 2 week trip to the med. I'm not fussed about doing lots of excursions as I think they are pretty expensive. I'm more than happy to just get off the ship at each port, have a wander round for a couple of hours then get back on in time for lunch (yes I'm one of those who doesn't want to pay for meals on land when I've already paid for food on the ship :) )

 

 

 

The only port that I really fancy doing something is Civitavecchia. I'm really keen on seeing the vatican city, st peters basilica, trevi fountain etc. I've looked at the p+o excursions and even just for a train into St Peters its around £60pp.

 

 

 

Does anyone know the cost and ease of doing it yourself?

We used Civitatours and did a Panoramic Rome Tour - bout €30 each. Coach right at the port - efficient /all major sights/ good guide - recommended

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The ship is in port often until 9 pm, so there is no problem getting back on time. We were back by 5. £65 for P&O Rome on Your Own is daylight robbery.

Yes it is way overpriced but much cheaper than being left behind and having to pay for the subsequent accommodation and travel to catch up with the ship:)

If the ship is there until 9pm at least people have a fighting chance to get back. Most we have been on have been 5.30 / 6pm sailaway.

You can’t always tell in advance what time you will have now with these “arrive early, depart early” statements rather than giving the actual timings. It makes it much more difficult to make DIY arrangements.

We did the Rome by train tour with P&O 2 years ago the train took 1 hour compared to over 1½ hours on coach. The guide on the train was very good and spent half the time talking about the history of Rome and the other half going round giving prople suggestions of how to get to places, which was worthwhile. We pre-booked tickets at the cistene chapel for 11.15 which worked out well as we went straight in and avoided the very, very long queue. We met up at 3 p.m. to get the train back. I would definitely do this again.

It's quite easy to get port arrival and departure times if you look at Cruise ship schedules for each port. Also on the P&O site looking at the actual cruise, if it says late evening, it's about 9-10 pm. Also, if you look at the shore excursions, it's a give away if they are doing Pizza in Pisa in the evening!!

Good Morning

 

So we set sail 2 weeks on Sunday for a 2 week trip to the med. I'm not fussed about doing lots of excursions as I think they are pretty expensive. I'm more than happy to just get off the ship at each port, have a wander round for a couple of hours then get back on in time for lunch (yes I'm one of those who doesn't want to pay for meals on land when I've already paid for food on the ship :) )

 

The only port that I really fancy doing something is Civitavecchia. I'm really keen on seeing the vatican city, st peters basilica, trevi fountain etc. I've looked at the p+o excursions and even just for a train into St Peters its around £60pp.

 

Does anyone know the cost and ease of doing it yourself?

Good Morning

 

So we set sail 2 weeks on Sunday for a 2 week trip to the med. I'm not fussed about doing lots of excursions as I think they are pretty expensive. I'm more than happy to just get off the ship at each port, have a wander round for a couple of hours then get back on in time for lunch (yes I'm one of those who doesn't want to pay for meals on land when I've already paid for food on the ship :) )

 

The only port that I really fancy doing something is Civitavecchia. I'm really keen on seeing the vatican city, st peters basilica, trevi fountain etc. I've looked at the p+o excursions and even just for a train into St Peters its around £60pp.

 

Does anyone know the cost and ease of doing it yourself?

Check out http://www.smartcruisetours.com they offer great tours either by coach or train from Civitavecchia port - cost €29 to €32 / pp. Also offer a cheap transfer from port to airport - €20/ pp

Yes, that's the one we used. Absolutely brilliant.

Be prepared to queue. 2 hours to get into St Peter Basilica. 3 for Sistine Chapel. Mainly cruise passengers. This was with 5 ships in. The day before there were 11 so goodness knows how long people had to queue. Guides just said it had been a ‘difficult ‘ day.

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