Rome excursions

[Tas353]

I am preparing for our selection of excursions on the October 30th Mediterranean Odyssey. I am reviewing the generic list on the Viking Ocean website and expect those for our cruise will be available soon so we can view them before we make our choices. I am looking at Sistine Chapel and Vatican City vs. Panoramic Rome and St. Peter's Basilica. My impression is that the first is heavy on Vatican museums which includes the Sistine Chapel and includes just a stop to view St Peter's Basilica. The second option focuses on St. Peter's and includes free time to explore Vatican City. I am leaning toward Panoramic Rome and St. Peter's Basilica. I would really appreciate feedback from anyone that has information about either. Also, since they are both listed as 10 hours, I assume they involve a long bus ride to Rome?

Thanks!

[HUNKY]

The bus between Civitavecchia and Vatican City is about one hour and fifteen minutes.

[Tas353]

2 minutes ago, HUNKY said:

The bus between Civitavecchia and Vatican City is about one hour and fifteen minutes.

Thanks

[kctwinmommy]

The Vatican museum is huge and long!! I wish we had bought tickets to see St. Peter's instead. You can read my thoughts on the museum in my review posted in this group. And like Hunk said, it's at least an hour to an hour and a half just to get there. So figure that close to 3 hours of your 10 hours is travel time.

 

I agree, your one tour might get time to walk over and see St. Peter's, but it's most likely just time to go to the museums. I mean, it took us nearly 3 hours to get through the museum. And it's not really a museum that you can just venture off to see different things. It's basically a one way path of people, and it was so busy. It all ends in the Sistine Chapel.

 

We did a private driver tour instead, gave us more time in Rome to see what we wanted to see. We didn't go into other sites, but we still saw a lot. I also posted about that in the Italy page.

[Tas353]

15 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

The Vatican museum is huge and long!! I wish we had bought tickets to see St. Peter's instead. You can read my thoughts on the museum in my review posted in this group. And like Hunk said, it's at least an hour to an hour and a half just to get there. So figure that close to 3 hours of your 10 hours is travel time.

 

I agree, your one tour might get time to walk over and see St. Peter's, but it's most likely just time to go to the museums. I mean, it took us nearly 3 hours to get through the museum. And it's not really a museum that you can just venture off to see different things. It's basically a one way path of people, and it was so busy. It all ends in the Sistine Chapel.

 

We did a private driver tour instead, gave us more time in Rome to see what we wanted to see. We didn't go into other sites, but we still saw a lot. I also posted about that in the Italy page.

I had read your thoughts (very helpful) which make me think I'd rather focus on St Peter's. I just read that the pope does his audience on Wednesdays and wonder what that would mean as that's the day we are there. 

[Tas353]

17 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

The Vatican museum is huge and long!! I wish we had bought tickets to see St. Peter's instead. You can read my thoughts on the museum in my review posted in this group. And like Hunk said, it's at least an hour to an hour and a half just to get there. So figure that close to 3 hours of your 10 hours is travel time.

 

I agree, your one tour might get time to walk over and see St. Peter's, but it's most likely just time to go to the museums. I mean, it took us nearly 3 hours to get through the museum. And it's not really a museum that you can just venture off to see different things. It's basically a one way path of people, and it was so busy. It all ends in the Sistine Chapel.

 

We did a private driver tour instead, gave us more time in Rome to see what we wanted to see. We didn't go into other sites, but we still saw a lot. I also posted about that in the Italy page.

Also wonder if it includes St John  Paul II's tomb. 

[kctwinmommy]

@Tas353 I read the descriptions for each of those, I would do the St. Peter's basilica. Since you get to go up in the dome! And no, the time in the museum doesn't include the grottoes, which is where the tombs are. If it did, I'm sure it would say that.

[Pegct]

Did the panoramic tour of Rome from Viking which basically was a drive-by of the major tourist sites with tour guide narrating on bus. It gives an overview but little time to explore much. The stop in St. Peter’s Square was disappointing as it was extremely crowded and the  lines to enter Vatican museums & St. Peters wrapped around the Square which was several hours wait to enter. Not much you can do in a day traveling from the port and impossible to see it all. 

[Tas353]

19 minutes ago, Pegct said:

Did the panoramic tour of Rome from Viking which basically was a drive-by of the major tourist sites with tour guide narrating on bus. It gives an overview but little time to explore much. The stop in St. Peter’s Square was disappointing as it was extremely crowded and the  lines to enter Vatican museums & St. Peters wrapped around the Square which was several hours wait to enter. Not much you can do in a day traveling from the port and impossible to see it all. 

Based on your feedback I reread the description and it says a panoramic tour via bus then St Peter's Basilica - this specifies visiting the Dome of St. Peter's and time to explore Vatican City with lunch included.  I'm assuming it doesn't include a tour of the Basilica. I'm not sure why it's so pricey. I will have to read more about the Dome.  

The included excursions are Rome in Brief - the Colosseum Quarter and Rome in Brief - The Vatican Quarter. You can take a shuttle between them. I may have to think about that.

Thanks for your feedback..

[Tas353]

15 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

@Tas353 I read the descriptions for each of those, I would do the St. Peter's basilica. Since you get to go up in the dome! And no, the time in the museum doesn't include the grottoes, which is where the tombs are. If it did, I'm sure it would say that.

Yes, I need to read more about the Dome!

[kctwinmommy]

3 hours ago, Tas353 said:

Based on your feedback I reread the description and it says a panoramic tour via bus then St Peter's Basilica - this specifies visiting the Dome of St. Peter's and time to explore Vatican City with lunch included.  I'm assuming it doesn't include a tour of the Basilica. I'm not sure why it's so pricey. I will have to read more about the Dome.  

The included excursions are Rome in Brief - the Colosseum Quarter and Rome in Brief - The Vatican Quarter. You can take a shuttle between them. I may have to think about that.

Thanks for your feedback..

Yes, that was an option on ours. Now, we couldn't even book excursions in Rome until we boarded the ship. Our day in Rome was turnover day, so people getting on and off. Thus, the excursions weren't available online as they didn't want people getting on/off to book. I think they may have changed that for future cruises.

 

The included one wasn't the best from what our friends said either. The thing I remember is that you could be dropped off at point 1, 2, or 3. Then you could take the shuttle between the 3 points. However, at the end of the day, you had to go back to our original starting point to come back to the ship. So, our friends said it really was a lot of hassle and they didn't get to see as much as they wanted.

 

I would reach out to Viking and ask if that includes the basilica as well. It seems odd that it would only be the dome. But you're right, the wording makes it sound that way. So definitely reach out to them. But I would still pick that one! We love taking any tour that includes climbing up to the top of something. LOL!

Edited July 2 by kctwinmommy

[Tas353]

1 hour ago, kctwinmommy said:

Yes, that was an option on ours. Now, we couldn't even book excursions in Rome until we boarded the ship. Our day in Rome was turnover day, so people getting on and off. Thus, the excursions weren't available online as they didn't want people getting on/off to book. I think they may have changed that for future cruises.

 

The included one wasn't the best from what our friends said either. The thing I remember is that you could be dropped off at point 1, 2, or 3. Then you could take the shuttle between the 3 points. However, at the end of the day, you had to go back to our original starting point to come back to the ship. So, our friends said it really was a lot of hassle and they didn't get to see as much as they wanted.

 

I would reach out to Viking and ask if that includes the basilica as well. It seems odd that it would only be the dome. But you're right, the wording makes it sound that way. So definitely reach out to them. But I would still pick that one! We love taking any tour that includes climbing up to the top of something. LOL!

Thats great feedback...thanks. Agree about the climbing up to the top of something. Hoping we can get the City Wall Walk in Dubrovnik!

[kctwinmommy]

3 minutes ago, Tas353 said:

Thats great feedback...thanks. Agree about the climbing up to the top of something. Hoping we can get the City Wall Walk in Dubrovnik!

The city wall is super easy to do on your own. We did the included city walk tour, which was nice, about 2 hours or so. And then we actually broke off near the end, before they were totally done, so we could head to the walls. But mostly because it was starting to get cloudy and we wanted to make sure we didn't get caught in the rain. But the ticket office is near the front gate (where our tour had started, right by the big fountain ~ forget the name right now). It's hard to spot the office though, as it's tucked back in a little crevice. LOL! And the nice thing is the wall is one-way walking, so it's not chaotic, or it wasn't when we were there. Oh, and keep your ticket because at one of the other points, they will ask for your tickets to check. Again, in my review on this page I discussed all of this too.

[Tas353]

21 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

The city wall is super easy to do on your own. We did the included city walk tour, which was nice, about 2 hours or so. And then we actually broke off near the end, before they were totally done, so we could head to the walls. But mostly because it was starting to get cloudy and we wanted to make sure we didn't get caught in the rain. But the ticket office is near the front gate (where our tour had started, right by the big fountain ~ forget the name right now). It's hard to spot the office though, as it's tucked back in a little crevice. LOL! And the nice thing is the wall is one-way walking, so it's not chaotic, or it wasn't when we were there. Oh, and keep your ticket because at one of the other points, they will ask for your tickets to check. Again, in my review on this page I discussed all of this too.

I see your point that the included tour includes free time. I see you can actually buy the tickets online. I did go back and reread your post on Dubrovnik. Very helpful.

[kctwinmommy]

1 minute ago, Tas353 said:

I see your point that the included tour includes free time. I see you can actually buy the tickets online. I did go back and reread your post on Dubrovnik. Very helpful.

Actually, it didn't include the free time, but Viking had a shuttle bus going during the day, leaving every 30 minutes. So it was easy to do things on your own then.

[longterm]

On 7/1/2024 at 7:58 PM, Tas353 said:

I had read your thoughts (very helpful) which make me think I'd rather focus on St Peter's. I just read that the pope does his audience on Wednesdays and wonder what that would mean as that's the day we are there. 

Although the Vatican Museum is very large, it's absolutely fantastic and well worth the time to visit. We were lucky to have gone in March 2021 when tourists were just being let back into Italy after Covid, so crowds were small and we were able to enjoy the museum without feeling the claustrophobia o huge groups of people. 

Which is better to visit? That's a subjective call, and depends on where one's interests lie; however, I would rank the Vatican Museum as one of the finest we've ever visited.

 

[Pegct]

8 hours ago, Tas353 said:

Yes, I need to read more about the Dome!

 

23 minutes ago, longterm said:

Although the Vatican Museum is very large, it's absolutely fantastic and well worth the time to visit. We were lucky to have gone in March 2021 when tourists were just being let back into Italy after Covid, so crowds were small and we were able to enjoy the museum without feeling the claustrophobia o huge groups of people. 

Which is better to visit? That's a subjective call, and depends on where one's interests lie; however, I would rank the Vatican Museum as one of the finest we've ever visited.

 

 

[Pegct]

My prior post where I stated I did the Rome panorama bus tour was the “ included tour” so if it is an optional tour it probably different from the one I took. 

[kctwinmommy]

3 hours ago, longterm said:

Although the Vatican Museum is very large, it's absolutely fantastic and well worth the time to visit. We were lucky to have gone in March 2021 when tourists were just being let back into Italy after Covid, so crowds were small and we were able to enjoy the museum without feeling the claustrophobia o huge groups of people. 

Which is better to visit? That's a subjective call, and depends on where one's interests lie; however, I would rank the Vatican Museum as one of the finest we've ever visited.

 

That was definitely a good time to visit then. When we went, it wasn't even fully packed, and we still felt like herded cattle. I didn't enjoy most of it. The only section where it eased up a bit was the hall of maps, which was great, and we loved that. But then, when you get into the Sistine Chapel, it's a massive crowd standing in the middle and around the edges, with the flow of people going between that (like a moat). And then security walking all over making sure nobody takes pictures.

 

Again, my personal choice, I would have chosen St. Peter's over the museum. Not only that, while yes, it's a exquisite collection, it reminds me of the British Museum, it's a collection of items from all around the world. Some of which should be given back to those countries. After visiting the Acropolis Museum, I truly feel that some countries need to look at this deeper. I realize, this is a personal thought.

 

Anyway, I hope to return to Rome one day, I did throw my coin in the Trevi Fountain, so fingers crossed! 😃

[Murt22]

Be aware - during the Papal audience - the Basilica and dome are closed.