Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy port

[Alysue]

Looking for advice on getting to Rome from the ship and touring independently without purchasing a cruise line excursion.  Obvious concerns are getting back to the ship on time and getting from the ship to Rome without having to wait hours with 2000 people.  Any tips, advice, suggestions, do or don'ts.  Or do I just purchase an excursion??  Cruising with NCL in JUly.

[euro cruiser]

Lots of us simply use the local train to get into the city.  You have to be a responsible adult and get yourself back on time but that's not hard to do.

 

There is a ticket called the BIRG that costs 12 euro and can be purchased from the news agent in the train station, rather than the ticket office.  This ticket covers your round trip train fare (on a regional train only) plus all mass transit in Rome all day.

 

There is also a train called the Civitavecchia Express, which costs 10 euro one way or 15 euro round trip.  On this train you are guaranteed a seat, which is not the case with the regional train.

 

For even more ease there is a Frecce train at 9:16 that arrives to Rome Termini at 10:03.  On this train you get an assigned seat, the fare one way is 16 euro.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Alysue said:

Looking for advice on getting to Rome from the ship and touring independently without purchasing a cruise line excursion.  Obvious concerns are getting back to the ship on time and getting from the ship to Rome without having to wait hours with 2000 people.  Any tips, advice, suggestions, do or don'ts.  Or do I just purchase an excursion??  Cruising with NCL in JUly.

If you are going to be overly concerned, to where it can ruin your day, about getting back to the ship you might just consider taking one of the cruise line's excursions.  Otherwise there are multiple options including booking a private tour (you can access companies like Romecabs and Romeinlimo online) or using the train.  The train does take a little homework so you understand the options of getting to and from the train station and your options in Rome (there are multiple train station).  A popular option for those of us who routinely use the train is to purchase a BIRG ticket which includes roundtrip regional train to Rome and unlimited all day's use of Rome's Metro and bus system.

 

I could tell you that many folks have used the trains without a problem, but we have learned over a lot of years that some folks always obsess about missing the ship and this takes away much of their joy of independent travel.  Just something to consider.

 

Hank

[trotzoll]

Check out Italy Tours. We used them in Naples and it was a phenomenal tour. They guarantee to get you back to the ship on time. Their prices are right and their guides are fun and informative. You can find them here: https://www.italytours.eu/shore-excursions/