FCO to Civitavecchia Port, will we make it? Another questi

[Teripg]

Hi everyone,

 

My husband and I are travelling to Italy in early September for one month. We are flying into FCO on September 5th at 12:15 pm and ships sail out of Civitavecchia at 7 pm that evening. We haven’t booked a cruise yet and cannot fly in earlier. There are a couple of cruises we are interested in but they leave a few hours after our arrival 🤷🏻‍♀️ we have been to Rome many times but have never been on a Europe cruise. If it were a Caribbean cruise, we would never book so close to arrival time but one cruise sails to Genoa the next day and the other to Naples I believe. It really wouldn’t be that hard to get to either port if there are issues to meet the ship in Civitavecchia. What would you recommend? Also, after the cruise, we plan on renting a car for a few weeks and wanted to know if we could pick up a car in Civitavecchia and return to FCO at the end of our trip?
 

Thanks in advance for your assistance 🙏😊🙏

[euro cruiser]

It's a lot easier to get to Naples from Rome than to Genoa.

[marazul]

2024 or 2025? September 5 this year is on a Thursday; next year it's a Friday. Are you tied to a particular cruise line? If not, you will find plenty of Friday, Saturday or Sunday sailings on other lines.  That will give you another day to board your cruise. Or you might want to do a few days of land travel first and maybe board a cruise in Venice a few days later.  Why risk missing embarkation or add all that stress to your plans?

[Hlitner]

The answer to the rental car question is, yes.  Not a problem with a one way rental as long as the drop is in the same country.  In the past we have rented from Europcar, Hertz and Budget, in Civitavecchia and dropped

at FCO.  If renting for more then 3 days you might want to check out Autoeurope and Kemwel as they will often have good deals with the major rental car companies.

 

Hank

[euro cruiser]

Yes, for a multi-week rental definitely check out Autoeurope and Kemwel.  Also read up on driving and parking regulations in Italy, especially ZTLs as violating them is an expensive mistake.  Also be sure to get an IDP - International Driving Permit) for every driver (available from AAA in the States, perhaps similar in Canada?).

[CruiserBruce]

I would find a cruise that departs a couple days later, and enjoy Rome. Sorry, but that is crazy to sail the day you arrive. 

 

The rental car is easy.

[Girr]

Generally, I'm in the camp of arriving a day early; however, for Civitavecchia I feel a little different.  As you already pointed out it's not that hard catching up with a ship at Naples, and it sounds like you plan on visiting after the cruise.

 

Using my last cruise out of Civitavecchia (1 Dec) our plane was scheduled to arrive at 11:45 AM, ship scheduled departure of 5:00 PM, and an on-board NLT 3:00 PM.  Plane landed on time, called our driver while on-board and he said he'd meet us at 1:00.  We were in the car on our way around 1:15 (we actually had to wait on the driver about ten minutes).  We arrived at port just after 2:00 PM.  I'll be honest there weren't too many people in check-in.  😁  However, we were not the last!  Probably the easiest check-in I've ever had.  I will admit to having a few twinges of anxiety, plus I downloaded train schedules to both Naples and Florences (next two ports) for a plan B.

 

BUT!  1 Dec was an unscheduled train strike leaving people scrambling to get to the port (this includes people who came in a day or two early!).  I was really thankful I'd prebooked private transportation to the port.  

 

Things to be considered. 

 

1.  Are you planning on going directly to Rome after the cruise?  If so, defer picking up the rental until after Rome.  Parking is non-existent and expensive. 

2.  In Europe I've found one-way rentals are my best bet.  There's no sense in paying for a car and parking for a car sitting in a car park.  Plus, while I'm becoming less fond of train travel sometimes it's just so easy to get to the next city (i.e., Rome to Florence) using a train.  I like staying in Rome, train to Florence, and then picking up car to drive after a few days in Florence to see the sights outside of Florence. 

3.  Why double back to Rome?  You'll find airports in all the larger cities, and multi-leg flights can be the same (if not less) in price than round-trip. 

4.  Car insurance.  I'm not sure how it works for Canada, but I know a lot of American car insurance companies do not cover car rentals in Italy.  Nor do credit cards offer the normal coverage.  Research to find out what you'll need.

5.  Don't be too alarmed after you've been home about six months to get notified of a ZTL, speeding, whatever ticket.  It just seems to come with driving in Italy.  😁😒

 

[euro cruiser]

1 hour ago, Girr said:

1 Dec was an unscheduled train strike leaving people scrambling to get to the port (this includes people who came in a day or two early!). 

 I often say on these boards that last minute/wildcat strikes are extremely uncommon in Italy, and they are, but this is an example of one.  They can happen so DIY travelers should always know what their "plan B" would be in the unlikely event that one happens when they are there (this is true anywhere, not just in Italy).

 

The strike was announced the day before, but if you're not checking the web site every day or unable to watch and understand Italian TV news programs, it's unlikely you would know.

 

The causal event, in this case, was a fatal accident in Calabria (a train hit a truck).  Several unions voted immediately to protest infrastructure issues left unaddressed.

 

Incidente in Calabria, sciopero di 8 ore delle ferrovie - Ultima ora - Ansa.it

 

Sciopero nazionale del trasporto ferroviario (rainews.it)

 

Ferrovie.it - Gruppo FS, sciopero nazionale il 30 novembre e il 1° dicembre