Sistine Chapel

[HeinBloed]

That's exactly the tour we are doing too. I've heard great things about Sidi Bou Said. Everyone seems so upset about the change. I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed about not going to Portofino, because I was so excited about Cinque Terre. However, that has no reflection of my thoughts on Tunisia. I am ecstatic to see Carthage!!!

 

Yes, we are doing Rome post cruise. We will be there for 3 nights. The first night is our anniversary. Any suggestions?

 

We are planning to do Cinque Terre out of Livorno... (subject weather permits... otherwise we stay on board).

 

That's what we did in 2007 in Rome:

 

http://heinbloed-cruiseguides.blogspot.com/2009/01/civitavecchia-italy-getting-to-vatican.html

 

This time I have planned

 

Villa d'Este

Villa Adriana

 

in Tivoli (about 1 hour apart from Rome) subject time permits. I love to see the gardens.

 

We stay also one night in Fiumicino (Airport area) to see Ostia Antica.

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[Ashlm85]

We are planning to do Cinque Terre out of Livorno... (subject weather permits... otherwise we stay on board).

 

That's what we did in 2007 in Rome:

 

http://heinbloed-cruiseguides.blogspot.com/2009/01/civitavecchia-italy-getting-to-vatican.html

 

This time I have planned

 

Villa d'Este

Villa Adriana

 

in Tivoli (about 1 hour apart from Rome) subject time permits. I love to see the gardens.

 

We stay also one night in Fiumicino (Airport area) to see Ostia Antica.

 

Regards

HeinBloed

 

 

Thanks HeinBloed! I love your recap and will take it all into consideration!

[fnewman]

I see that myvaticantour.com has 3 hour 'skip the line' tours of museums and Sistine Chapel for 54 Euro pp. 9:30 and 2:30. We may decide to book the morning tour. Does anyone who has done the train think it is unreasonable to make it there by 9:30?

[HeinBloed]

I see that myvaticantour.com has 3 hour 'skip the line' tours of museums and Sistine Chapel for 54 Euro pp. 9:30 and 2:30. We may decide to book the morning tour. Does anyone who has done the train think it is unreasonable to make it there by 9:30?

 

No risk - no fun...

 

Here you have all information on taking the train to Rome:

 

http://heinbloed-cruiseguides.blogspot.com/2009/01/civitavecchia-italy-getting-to-vatican.html

 

You are there on Tuesday, October 12, 2010.

 

Your ship arrives at 07.00 hrs.

 

Last port is Naples so there would not be major clearance in Civitavecchia.

 

07.00 hrs you get from the ship

07.15 hrs getting on the free shuttle (mostly all has the same idea and you need to queue up for the shuttle maybe have to wait a little)

07.25 hrs at the gate

07.40 hrs after walk arrival at Civitavecchia train station

 

you missed 07.33 hrs departure

 

next would be 07.59 hrs leaving from Civitavecchia (it's rush hour and you should check how many other ships are same day in town and if the are all at the same time in Civitavecchia or if you are lucky and you are the earliest arrival that day...)

 

arrives Roma S. Pietro 08.53 hrs

 

depending to your meeting point you can be there the last minute...

 

subject you made it right on time from the ship to the train station and your train is scheduled

 

Sale for individual tours directly by Vatican opens tomorrow and you can also get slots at 10.30 hrs or 12.30 hrs which makes it much more safer for you to get there:

 

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?aaaamm=201010&numeroPartecipanti=2&codiceLinguaVisita=ENG&step=3&action=booking

 

Wandering why you want to pay 54.00 EUR for skip the line while you also can get it for 31.00 EUR directly from the Vatican. But this is your money and your business.

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[fnewman]

Yes, I would certainly perfer to spend less, but when looking at the site last night, I did not remember the 60 day limit and thought they must be sold out. Thanks, also, for the advice on the appointment time. I was thinking that 9:30 was going to be cutting it pretty close, so I did book 10:30 on Oct. 12.

[HeinBloed]

Yes, I would certainly perfer to spend less, but when looking at the site last night, I did not remember the 60 day limit and thought they must be sold out. Thanks, also, for the advice on the appointment time. I was thinking that 9:30 was going to be cutting it pretty close, so I did book 10:30 on Oct. 12.

 

Now you took a little pressure out of your plans:

 

If you miss the 07.59 hrs departzure you can still catch 08.41 hrs with a arrival time 09.24 hrs and have plenty of time to get to the entrance.

 

And even in the very worst case: 08.59 hrs and arrival 09.53 hrs in Roma S. Pietro and you can still make it but on the last minute again.

 

I would try to get the 07.59 hrs and use the time to see a little bit around in the St. Peter Basilika.

 

But just in case you missed it because you had to chance to get an early shuttle to the port gate you know now that you haave two backs-up and still can make it to the 10.30 hrs visit.

 

Have a good time there.

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[Nebr.cruiser]

I have to agree with most of the posters, unless you can do the after-hours tour ( we haven't, but it sounds great), don't count on spending a lot of time in the Sistine Chapel. I hate to say this, but I was underwhelmed by the experience--expected much more.

 

We were there this year in late April and it was unbelievably crowded, enough so that it really wasn't enjoyable--pretty much standing room only. We spent a few minutes looking at the famous ceiling and other paintings, of course, but there was no way to quietly enjoy the experience and the lighting was bad.

 

The constant 'shushing' of the guards was annoying as well, although I understand why they do it--with that amount of people the atmosphere could easily get circus-like. In spite of the 'no photos' rule, many people were sneaking pictures. Personally, I think they'd be better off allowing digital photography with no flash.

 

Really, we only stayed a few minutes due to the crowds. At least we were able to exit through the 'secret door' and skip the lines into St. Peter's.