Civitavecchia Departure

[Banjo]

Late September we will be leaving on the Celebrity Reflection from Civitavecchia. We used airline miles for a trip from the States but due to mileage usage restrictions will be arriving in Rome a week prior to the cruise. Plan is to rent a car at FCO, travel around countryside of Tuscany for the week and return the car at the port. Rental company had no drop-off fee for this and I noticed the rental car company office was close to the Civitavecchia train station. What I can tell from google map its within walking distance to the pier. I recall from last year's trip when we stopped at Civitavecchia on the Solstice, the pier is like a breaker and stretches a few miles. If the Reflection is way out on the pier, any advice to get from the base the pier to the ship terminal would be appreciated?

[MeHeartCruising]

The port of Civitavecchia runs free shuttle busses from the entrance of the port out to all of the ships. You will probably be best served to use your car to drop one of you and your luggage off as near as possible to the port entrance as they will let you. Then have one person return the car and rejoin the rest of you at the port to get on a bus to your ship.

[ROCruiser]

Drop off passengers and luggage at the port entrance and take the shuttle to ship. Private cars cannot get to shipside, as far as I understand.

[Banjo]

Thanks MYHeartcruising and ROCruiser.

 

I will do that. I just looked at the Port of Civitavecchia website and they state the cruise terminal is only 600m from the train station and rental car office is across the street from the train station. Cruise ship terminal seems to be close to that castle or citadel at the base of the pier.

 

So I will drop wife off with the bags, return car and it doesn't look like more then 5 minute walk back to the cruise terminal.

[jstarling]

We have the same idea to drop off a rental car before leaving on our Sunday 11/24 cruise. However, it seems car rental offices are closed Sunday. Has anyone ever dropped off a car at the port on Sunday?

[paul929207]

Are you renting from Hertz? We returned a car there last September. It is about 1/2 mile from the Hertz office to the entrance to the port. Gradually down hill. Decent sidewalk all the way.

[bellclip]

Drop off passengers and luggage at the port entrance and take the shuttle to ship. Private cars cannot get to shipside, as far as I understand.

 

That is correct, but get there early. The lines get long because they will usually only run 1-2 shuttle(s) and if the ship is docked on the far end, you may wait for a little in the heat.

 

Have fun in Italy!

[MeHeartCruising]

Thanks MYHeartcruising and ROCruiser.

 

I will do that. I just looked at the Port of Civitavecchia website and they state the cruise terminal is only 600m from the train station and rental car office is across the street from the train station. Cruise ship terminal seems to be close to that castle or citadel at the base of the pier.

 

So I will drop wife off with the bags, return car and it doesn't look like more then 5 minute walk back to the cruise terminal.

 

Yep. You have this correct. The busses will pull up to the street side of that castle and that's where you board them to go to be taken to your ship. You put your luggage underneath the bus. Multiple ships may be in port, so look for a sign in the window of the busses to make sure you get on one actually going to YOUR ship. The area is gated, so you won't be able to pull your car in to the port facility, but you can get near the area to drop off somewhere. On departure day, you'll see a lot of people rolling their luggage along the route from the train station. You COULD do the same from the rental car facility if you were inclined. But I'd probably drop off first to save the extra work. But the route between train/rental car/port entrance is nicely paved and sidewalked and flat. A 5-10 minute walk if done at a decent pace. It's also sane enough traffic that you can do a drive by once to see the layout and distance of things and make your final decision on the spot.

[lisiamc]

Yep. You have this correct. The busses will pull up to the street side of that castle and that's where you board them to go to be taken to your ship. You put your luggage underneath the bus. Multiple ships may be in port, so look for a sign in the window of the busses to make sure you get on one actually going to YOUR ship. The area is gated, so you won't be able to pull your car in to the port facility, but you can get near the area to drop off somewhere. On departure day, you'll see a lot of people rolling their luggage along the route from the train station. You COULD do the same from the rental car facility if you were inclined. But I'd probably drop off first to save the extra work. But the route between train/rental car/port entrance is nicely paved and sidewalked and flat. A 5-10 minute walk if done at a decent pace. It's also sane enough traffic that you can do a drive by once to see the layout and distance of things and make your final decision on the spot.

 

You are made of sterner stuff than me! I found the Civitavecchia drivers quite daunting - maybe they were in touch with their inner Romans the day we were there.

[Banjo]

Are you renting from Hertz? We returned a car there last September. It is about 1/2 mile from the Hertz office to the entrance to the port. Gradually down hill. Decent sidewalk all the way.

 

Paul it is Hertz. Down hill, should not be a problem :)

[Banjo]

Yep. You have this correct. The busses will pull up to the street side of that castle and that's where you board them to go to be taken to your ship. You put your luggage underneath the bus. Multiple ships may be in port, so look for a sign in the window of the busses to make sure you get on one actually going to YOUR ship. The area is gated, so you won't be able to pull your car in to the port facility, but you can get near the area to drop off somewhere. On departure day, you'll see a lot of people rolling their luggage along the route from the train station. You COULD do the same from the rental car facility if you were inclined. But I'd probably drop off first to save the extra work. But the route between train/rental car/port entrance is nicely paved and sidewalked and flat. A 5-10 minute walk if done at a decent pace. It's also sane enough traffic that you can do a drive by once to see the layout and distance of things and make your final decision on the spot.

 

Thanks for the great advice.

 

We are staying at a B&B just outside of Civitavecchia the night before the departure. I plan to have the car tanked up that night and get to the rental office early. Maybe I can beat some of the crowd to the terminal.

 

Just one question, where do passengers actually check in and leave your bags? At the ship (maybe you just show boarding passes to port authorities to get to the ship) or at the terminal (do you check your bags at the terminal or bring them to the ship?)?

[Banjo]

That is correct, but get there early. The lines get long because they will usually only run 1-2 shuttle(s) and if the ship is docked on the far end, you may wait for a little in the heat.

 

Have fun in Italy!

 

Could get crowded, checked the port schedule for 9/30 and it looks busy with several liners leaving.

 

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/fromcivitavecchiaromeitaly-30sep2013.html

[MeHeartCruising]

Just one question, where do passengers actually check in and leave your bags? At the ship (maybe you just show boarding passes to port authorities to get to the ship) or at the terminal (do you check your bags at the terminal or bring them to the ship?)?

 

I don't really even recall having to show anyone any ID or ticket to get on the shuttle bus, but I may have forgotten that. You put your luggage on the shuttle bus with you (under the bus in a storage compartment). The bus will will then drive you to a check-in building located beside your ship. In my cases, I think it was actually a relatively permanent tent. Each ship has it's own check in building of some sort, I think. There will be people there telling you were to leave your bags and where to then proceed inside the "tent" terminal building. In our case, the baggage drop off area was at the end of the tent building and we just had to walk about 25 yards to get into the building for checkin. After you are processed and checked in, you will proceed on to the ship. Your checked bags will join you later that evening, delivered by the ship staff to your cabin door.

[bellclip]

I don't really even recall having to show anyone any ID or ticket to get on the shuttle bus, but I may have forgotten that. You put your luggage on the shuttle bus with you (under the bus in a storage compartment). The bus will will then drive you to a check-in building located beside your ship. In my cases, I think it was actually a relatively permanent tent. Each ship has it's own check in building of some sort, I think. There will be people there telling you were to leave your bags and where to then proceed inside the "tent" terminal building. In our case, the baggage drop off area was at the end of the tent building and we just had to walk about 25 yards to get into the building for checkin. After you are processed and checked in, you will proceed on to the ship. Your checked bags will join you later that evening, delivered by the ship staff to your cabin door.

 

You will not have to show ID or cruise documents to get onto the bus.

[Twickenham]

Have a private limo company take you into Rome and then rent a car from there...it's much easier! Try guided italy tours I'm sure they can help.

 

 

Why would you voluntarily drive in Rome, when it can easily be avoided by renting at FCO?

[slidergirl]

If you don't have to, I wouldn't rent a car INSIDE Rome.

I rented my car from Hertz at the Rome Cavalieri hotel that I stayed at. It's up on the hills on the outskirts of the city. It looked pretty easy to get from there to the Autostrada with a minimum of city traffic. That's the ONLY reason I didn't take the train to FCO to get my car. I had a couple of "city moments", but not enough to make me scream. I just had to remember to not be tentative and to make my lane changes and turns assertively. If I messed up (and I did a few times), I just made turns around again to get back to where I was. No fits, just do it...

For peace of mind for those not used to driving in European cities, and Rome especially, I would absolutely not recommend renting anyplace other than the airport.

[Banjo]

Returned 2 weeks ago and I thought I share my experiences.

 

The night before the cruise we stayed in a B&B in Tarquinia. Its a beautiful walled city maybe a 20 minutes from the Civitavecchia port. Since we arrived early we dropped off our bags at the B&B walked around the town, visited an Etruscan museum and had lunch. After lunch my wife suggested why don't we see where Hertz is so no surprises. So we did that and being late Sunday afternoon, Civitavecchia was deserted. Also noticed several gas stations along the way so that was not a problem. The next morning we left the B&B around 9:15a. Gas upped the car along the way to the port and took the car right to Hertz. Hertz is located right next to train station. Only problem was no nowhere to park near Hertz so I ended up triple parking. The Hertz representative came out checked the car, mileage and fuel indicator and gave me my receipt. I asked about the parking and he said don't worry. The walk to the port gate is only about 5-10 minutes. Not difficult at all and along the way met several Celebrity passengers getting off the Reflection asking them how they liked the cruise. We even stopped and took some pictures of that statue of that VJ Day Sailor Kissing along the beach. Went through the gate, a shuttle was waiting (you do need your cruise documents and he does give you back your luggage at the terminal to check in). By 11 we were sitting in the terminal to be called to check in.

[CathyCruises]

Thanks for checking back--I wish more people would do that! My only question is, was there a reason you didn't drop your wife and luggage before returning the car? I thought that idea made a lot of sense. . .

 

We drive a lot in Europe but always try to drop our luggage off before returning the car--hate the clickety-clacking of the rolling bags!!!

[Banjo]

Thanks for checking back--I wish more people would do that! My only question is, was there a reason you didn't drop your wife and luggage before returning the car? I thought that idea made a lot of sense. . .

 

We drive a lot in Europe but always try to drop our luggage off before returning the car--hate the clickety-clacking of the rolling bags!!!

 

Cathy we did consider that but, unlike Sunday afternoon, Monday morning Civitavecchia was very congested with several cruise ships in port. We did ask the staff at Hertz if they could take us down but they just gave us some excuse.

 

I did not mention this in my post but driving in Italy is not for the 'faint of heart'. This was the first time I have driven in Italy largely because rental car insurance does not cover your rental car if you bring a car in from other European countries. I now realize why that rule is in effect. I have driven from Gibraltar to Sweden and enjoy driving in Europe, even driving on the left in the UK was not as challenging as Italy. They drive very aggressively. Many a times I just would pull over because the driver behind me would be 6 inches from my bumper. Also the roads, especially in the towns, can be very narrow. One time in Perugia we had bring in both mirrors to make it down the alley. I actually felt re leaved when I turned the car in.

[Keith1010]

Glad you returned back to your original thread and posted again.

 

Keith

[Tiggertastic]

What a shame the rental car company does not tap into the idea of dropping the passengers and their luggage - they could get more sales from this if they did.

 

Anyway thanks for the info everyone