Thinking of a cruise to Rome Italy flying from NYC

[dis2cruise]

Hi, how many days in advance would you head to Rome from nyc vacation time is limited.  

 

[jelayne]

I would plan to arrive in Rome at least the day before your cruise.  If you can spend a day or 2 in Rome so much the better.

[MaggieAtSea]

Hello:

 

We did a sailing that had us considering the same question... limited time but wanting to be sure we 1) made the ship and 2) took in some of the origin port sights... so we arrived 2 days prior to departure.  We left on a Friday and arrived into Italy on a Wednesday.  That left us Thursday as a full day of sightseeing on our own and Friday more sightseeing before getting on the ship (which was a late departure).  

 

Enjoy!

 

Maggie

[Turtles06]

There is a Port of Call forum for Italy, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/464-italy-ports/

[Shadow9612]

@MaggieAtSea's  idea is excellent (that's similar to what I did on my first trip).  I used the arrival day to recover from the flight and explore the city a little bit, then the next full day of planned touring. 

 

If you can arrange the time, I would recommend having at least 2 full days to explore - as excited as we were to get on the ship, I wish I had had a little bit more time in Rome.

[bEwAbG]

If you want to see Italy, do a land trip.  There is too much to see in Rome alone that you could spend a full week there and still not see it all.  You also need several days for Florence and Venice and at least one other city.  Two weeks minimum, all of it on land. 

[waterbug123]

if the goal is just to make it to the ship, I'd arrive at least one day early.  No way would I ever consider arriving the day of if I have to fly across a continent or to another continent for the cruise. 

If you actually want to sightsee in Rome prior to the cruise I'd arrive 2 days early minimum, but preferably 3.  You could hit the hightlights with just 2 nights pre-cruise, but you'd be going pretty nonstop. 

[MaggieAtSea]

I’ll put in a plug for the golf cart tours of Rome...gets you right up to things tour buses cannot, it is private so you can set agenda...make it as long or short as you wish.  It was the perfect way to see Rome in one day...

[Ravbo]

Need sufficient time for:

• Flight delayed/cancelled.
• Airline looses luggage.
• Other unknown delays

And still make the ship.

[TSC]

I agree with flying in the day before...but... I've flown in on the day we boarded without any trouble. If you can get a direct flight you should be safe. Even better is go with Choice air through Celebrity and they will make sure you get on board. 

[Merly]

Rome is a wonderful city with so much to see so I would say as many days as you can spare. 

[Presto2]

16 hours ago, dis2cruise said:

Hi, how many days in advance would you head to Rome from nyc vacation time is limited.  

 

 

As many days as you can afford and time allows ! We've been a number of times and words can not describe this incredible, amazing place. You will never regret staying too long ….. you will regret not staying long enough. You are travelling a LONG way too so just enjoy the magic that is Roma !!!!

Edited June 15, 2019 by Presto2

[ECCruise]

Echoing some of the same comments.

 

As much time as you can, based on your schedule, but minimum of a full day ahead.  If you can spare 2-3-4-5 days, use them all.  No way you can see (or appreciate) Rome in a limited amount of time.  We've been there over a dozen times, multiple days most times, and still have no problems seeing or re-seeing things, enjoying the restaurants and cafes or just walking the streets.

[Denny01]

2 hours ago, TSC said:

I agree with flying in the day before...but... I've flown in on the day we boarded without any trouble. If you can get a direct flight you should be safe. Even better is go with Choice air through Celebrity and they will make sure you get on board. 

Understand a direct flight is ‘safer’ than a two-legger, but it isn’t safe especially when flying to Europe without many options if your flight is delayed. And Rome airport isn’t exactly close to the Rome ‘Port’ which is really Civitacecchia which is 40+miles away and can take an hr or so to get there. 

 

And yes Choice Air is OK, but the point is to get to the port on time, not fly in the day of, taking risks and then having Celebrity ‘help’ you catch up with the ship you missed and all that stress. 

 

Take a lot of stress off - picture yourself the days prior checking and rechecking weather and flights - and fly in a few days prior. Then you’ve got to the to the NYC airport 3+hrs prior; sit there waiting; get on a 9hr flight; get through the Rome airport; get transportation to the actual port. Sounds like such fun in one day on what is suppose to be a vacation. 

 

Suggestion that most all do: Fly in prior and relax. Heck, last time we just laid around the hotel area and enjoyed and rested after the flight. 

 

Den

[GerScot]

Rome is hard work! Lots to see and lots of walking. Well worth it though.

[shipgeeks]

6 hours ago, TSC said:

I agree with flying in the day before...but... I've flown in on the day we boarded without any trouble. If you can get a direct flight you should be safe. Even better is go with Choice air through Celebrity and they will make sure you get on board. 

And the prices on ChoiceAir make it worth investigating, too.  Our one-way flights back from a TA to Rome would have cost us over $4,000 through the airline; we got them for under $700 through ChoiceAir.  And you can use it to fly in advance of your cruise.

[waterbug123]

18 hours ago, TSC said:

I agree with flying in the day before...but... I've flown in on the day we boarded without any trouble. If you can get a direct flight you should be safe. Even better is go with Choice air through Celebrity and they will make sure you get on board. 

 

Yes, MOST of the time MOST people make it to the cruise when they fly in the same day.  But it doesn't always work out that way and it only takes once to decide it's a stressful situation that you don't want to repeat. 

As for Celebrity making sure you get onboard if you book air through them, yes that certainly helps.  Just understand that if the delay is severe, they won't be holding the ship for an indefinite period of time, so making sure you get onboard might mean getting you to the next port, i.e. you still miss a portion of your cruise.

[Nextcruise42]

We did a cruise with a one day stop at Civitecchia. We took a private tour to Rome, and although we saw a lot an extra day would have been so much better , plus I would have loved walking around the city at night.  So much to see. Enjoy

[txtechmk]

We flew into Rome last fall for a Celebrity cruise.  Arrived early in the morning and spent two nights in hotel.  I had a couple of tours lined up on our "full" day.  I thought we might be tired on the first day, as we are not good plane sleepers.  But we were so excited to see that beautiful city,  we were "on the go" upon arrival.  Our hotel had a free shuttle that took us to "city center", and we walked everywhere from there.  Previously I had arranged a private car to drive us to the port on the last morning.  It's around an hour and 15 minutes to go from Rome to port, depending on where your hotel is located.  Our driver was a young man who drove really fast and got us there in 40 minutes!  Needless to say, we were the first ones onboard!