Rome cruise port to FCO airport

[catz821]

We will be doing a Norwegian cruise ending in Rome flying to PHL. US air flight departs at 11:50 am, the cruise docks at 6 am. We bought transfers from our travel agent. Will there be enough time to make this flight? Thanks!

[paul929207]

Maybe. It is an hour or so from the cruise port to the airport. Then you need at least two hours and often three to get thru everything and onto the plane. If you are off by 7am and if a car service is waiting for you and if traffic is OK and if FCO is only the usual disaster, you can make it. I would take a later flight or overnight in Rome and not have all the stress.

[wantocruisemore]

That's the exact same flight we had but I think our ship got into Civitavecchia a little earlier. We arranged private transport from ship to airport (Rome in Limo, LOVE THEM!!!). We had scheduled an 8am pickup but we got off the ship early, self embark, around 7:30am and they were there waiting. We were off immediately to the airport and even with going through Terminal 5 had a few minutes to spare for last minute shopping.

 

You should be fine, just get off early and arrange private transport. Expect delays going through Terminal 5 though. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get through there.

[D4]

I'd cancel the transfers and book my own private transfer with RomeCabs. You might check on your roll call for others wanting to go to the airport at the same time to share the cost. Either way, you get in and zoom off to the airport.

 

Otherwise your prebooked transfer is probably on a big bus where you'll have to wait for it to fill with 50+ people and their luggage which is time consuming. Then you'd be unloading at FCO with everyone else.

[euro cruiser]

I'd be careful about taking a TA's advice unless they have personally done what they are recommending, and done it fairly recently.

 

In this case, if they have not flown out of FCO on a US branded airline, as you will be doing, in the past few years they will not have had direct experience with the new Terminal 5 and its procedures.

 

Arriving there as part of a bus load would only add to the headache as each airline only has one line for economy passengers and one for business/first class.

 

I would be very uncomfortable arriving at T5 any less than two and a half hours prior to flight time; three hours prior is even better.

 

In your case, that means being at the airport at 9 AM; if this is a weekday, that means leaving Civitavecchia no later than 8 AM. You really don't have time to wait for a bus to fill up.

[Girr]

I just flew home on Christmas day - the ultimate day to travel out of Rome: no waiting in any of the lines! However, it still took me 45 minutes to get to my gate.

 

I'd rebook from the ship's shuttle to a private car if you really need to fly home the same day.

[international politics]

I too am on that NCL ship Rome, January 23, 2013.

 

However, this time am flying back to Philly the day after docking.

 

Several years ago, I did a similar cruise and flew back same day as docking.

 

I recall the Cruise bus transfer left at 7:00am and took about 2 hours to the airport.

 

We left pretty much on time.

 

Staff is on the ball, searching for any stragglers.

 

They also announced to us that we were leaving soon, if the last few didn't show soon.

 

My flight first leg on British Air, left before noon for a London connection.

 

There was no problem making the flight out of Rome, although no time for extra shopping.

 

I did have time to run around with a VAT tax process and finished before the flight.

 

Personally, my suggestion is to ask NCL for their procedures and recommendations.

 

It would be bad for their business to let people take their bus transfer, and then they miss their flights.

 

If your timing is very close, they will tell you, and then you decide.