Disembark in Civitavecchia ...NCL shuttle to Rome airport

[CruiseDuck]

Has anyone recently disembarked in Civitavecchia and taken the NCL shuttle to the airport in Rome? Wondering if the ship gives you a set time to disembark to the shuttle or can you get off anytime. Also, is it best to take your own luggage off?  

[MeHeartCruising]

I'm pretty certain they will have specific times assigned for you to disembark based upon the flight departure times you give them.   They don't run a continuous shuttle service thru the day to accommodate people leaving the ship anytime they want.  So if you tell them your flights leave Rome at 2:45pm, they will assign you a group number (say 23, corresponding to the bus leaving at 8:30am (I just picked a random time I made up)).  If you tell them your flight is at 1:00pm, they will assign you a group number (say 14, corresponding to the bus leaving at 8:00am (again, a random time I made up)).

 

The morning of departure, they will call numbers as the buses arrive and get read AND your luggage has been assembled for pickup in the luggage hall.  So group number 14 may not be called around 7:30am or 7:45am or even some other time depending on how the morning challenges arise.  So it is an inexact science.

 

However, once they call your group number, you leave the ship...get your luggage... pass thru any passport control (if there is any) and then head to your bus.  Once that bus is full, it will depart for the airport.

 

If you are using a ship shuttle to the airport, they don't make you carry off your own luggage.  But you can if you wish.

 

When you book the transfer, they will ask you for your specific airline name, flight # and departure times.  That is what they use to assign your disembarkation time (and therefore your bus).  If you want to get to the airport a little earlier... you can fib and use some other set of flight details that you researched on the internet and give them that info.  They don't actually call the airlines to verify you are on particular flights (unless you purchased them thru the cruise line, of course).

Edited August 7, 2023 by MeHeartCruising