Rome post-cruise accomodations & tours.

[jamacka]

Hi, we're on the TA on Celebrity Edge from Fort Lauderdale to Rome (April 19 - May 4t).  It surprises me that Celebrity does not offer and post-cruise city-stay tours in Rome once we get there.  I see that they do offer a pre-cruise tour in Rome so why not also have a post cruise one.  🤔

 

Anyhow, we don't fly home from Rome until May 8th giving us 4 days to kick around, finding our own transportation and accommodations etc....  We can take a ship arranged transfer from port to Rome when we get there but it ends up dropping us off unceremoniously at a train station where we will then have to hire a taxi or something to our hotel ... which we have not booked yet because we know absolutely nothing about Rome other than it's big, old, crowded and confusing.

 

So I'm here looking for recommendations on accommodations that are within walking distance of as much as possible and also maybe private tour companies that speak English that can handle the logistics of the visit. 

 

And.. if possible we'd love to take a drive outside the city, maybe a day trip to Tuscany if it works out.

Edited January 5, 2020 by jamacka

[ischeer]

Many cruisers stay at Hotel Sonya, on Via Viminale, opposite the Rome Opera House.  It's within walking distance of the Termini Transportation hub, where you can access most transportation, including several HopOff/HopOns.

[RickT]

You are probably going to have more success posting your question on the Europe Ports of call forum as well as your cruises roll call.

 

For post cruise transportation I’d suggest a private company (we’ve used and would recommend Bob’s Rome Limo) as they will drop you at your hotel.  For hotels we usually stay at Hotel Londra and Cargill.  They are close to the train station and priced reasonably.

[ECCruise]

I would invest (or go to the library) and get a good tour guide on Rome and the surrounding area. 

Having been there over a dozen times, I would not characterize it as "big, old, crowded and confusing."  Obviously it is old, but the central area of Rome is not that big and only very crowded in mid-summer.  Since you are arriving in a shoulder season, the crowds should be significantly reduced (but you are not going to feel like the place is empty).  There are many private companies that can arrange both private transportation from the port (usually at less $$$ than a crowded Celebrity bus transfer) as well as tours in Rome, to Tuscany, etc.  One you will see recommended hundreds of times on here is RomeCabs.  We've used Stefano and his staff numerous times.  And you will have no problem finding English speaking guides in Rome.

And if Celebrity does offer a post-cruise tour, guaranteed it will be likely triple what you would pay to make your own arrangements.  

[ischeer]

RomeinLimo is an excellent transportation service, both for transfer from the cruise port and for transport around the city.

[Tapi]

We felt like you when we sailed out of Civitavecchia last year. We spent a few days in Rome pre-cruise, so I researched as much as I could, to the point where we didn’t need organized excursions or guides.

 

First of all, we didn’t use the cruise line’s transportation. We used Stefano’s Rome Cabs to take us from the airport to the hotel, hotel to port, and then port back to the airport. Personal, professional, courteous, and very easy. They will be waiting for you with a sign with your name on it, and drive you door to door. Money extremely well spent. 
 

As far as hotels go, the choices can be overwhelming, There’s no way that you’ll see it all in 4 days, so I’d recommend that you focus on what attractions you’re most interested in and then select a hotel that’s convenient to them. For us, we wanted to be as close to the Vatican as possible, so we selected Starhotel’s Michelangelo, located just a few blocks from the Vatican. We could see St. Peter’s Basilica’s dome down the street. For our needs, it was perfect. We had a very easy walk to the Vatican’s attractions, and there were many little restaurants and shops along the way that were frequented more by locals than tourists. This meant much more affordable prices. 
 

We did explore other parts of the city, and we just hailed a taxi to go to places like the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. It was much easier than we thought, and although most driver’s English was very limited, it was enough to communicate where we wanted to go. 
 

Enjoy your stay! Once you get your bearings, you’ll enjoy your visit. 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Tapi

[Miaminice]

We have been to Rome many many times. We can do it as a weekend trip.

I can highly recommend the Lh Suites Rome or the Hotel dei Barbieri due to their unbeatable location.
 

Both are located close to Largo di Torre Argentina, a centrally located square. All the points of interest are within walking distance from there... Piazza Navona, Pantheon, St. Peter‘s, Campo di Fiori, Trastevere for dinner etc. etc.

 

Bob‘s Limos are a great choice for transfers. Try Tours by Locals for affordable individual tours.

[RNCheryl]

Stayed at the Londra and Cargill and recommend.  We walked almost everywhere.  Also found the local transport system easy to use.  We had the pleasure of having Stefano of RomeCabs as our guide on a full day tour.  He was just wonderful.

[cruisestitch]

Try the Europe destination board since this isn’t a Celebrity question 

[Briggs99]

We recently stayed at the Hive.  Brand new with excellent accommodations. Within walking distance to transportation, great restaurants and high end shopping.   We did an afternoon of hop on  hop off Type of tour.  Skip the line tour for the Vatican museum and Scavi tours for Vatican if interested. 

[DENIE]

3 hours ago, ischeer said:

RomeinLimo is an excellent transportation service, both for transfer from the cruise port and for transport around the city.

We also used RomeInLimo, as they had a tour tailored to what we wanted to do - get picked up with our baggage, tour Rome (what we had time for) during the day, and drop-off at hotel of our choice.  Our driver, Luca (amazing!!) said he often is hired out for 3 or 4 days to do a variety of sites in and around Rome, so apparently people do that as well.  They were great for us, even though we just had 1 day. 

[cachouonacruise]

We stayed at the Navona Queen Hotel ( Bed and Breakfast) on Corso Victor Emmanuel II.

 

My wife and I are in our mid 50s and we wanted to be within walking distance of all attractions.

 

On our first day, we walked to Piazza Navone ( 5 minutes) then to the Pantheon ( another 5 minutes) then up to the Spanish steps ( 15 minutes further) and return to our hotel walking alongside the Tiber River.

 

The next day we walked to St-Peter’s Vatican) ( About 15–20 minutes to reach the Church, an additional 10-15 minutes for the Vatican’s Museum Entrance. We had pré booked a “skip the line “;tour directly on the Vatican’s web site.

 

The third day, we walked to the Colosseum (30 minutes). We had booked a skip the line tour of the Colosseum and other vestiges.

 

Our last day, we took a cab to go to the St-Callixt Catacombs, and another catacomb in the area San Sebastian. From there we walked to St-Croce in Jerusalem Church where they have pieces of the cross of Jesus, including nails, and thorns. Then we walked to St-John in Lateran Basilica and back to our hotel.

 

The back streets in the vicinity of our hotel / Piazza Navona / Pantheon are almost pedestrian streets only, filled with boutiques and restaurants.

 

Regarding the Navona Queen, our room was small, yet very clean. We had access to a nice lunching area for breakfast, which was very good, and my favorite touch, it has a roof top terrasse, with a small bar and beautiful views of Rome. 

 

The hotel is family run, and the owners were very nice. I would go back there in a heart beat. ( we were also there in May. May 2019 to be soecific)