Rome May 2025

[joestein514]

We will be stopping in Rome in late May 2025.   I know the Jubilee will be going on and that they are expecting 20 million religious pilgrims to visit Rome that month.

 

RCL has 2 Rome excursions which are sold out.

 

A few questions:

 

- DO you think they will add more excursions to Rome or add additional capacity?

 

- What reliable private tour companies can I use? Does anybody have suggestions?

 

- Does it even make sense to try to visit Rome at that time, due to the Jubilee.   We have never been to Rome or Italy before.

 

- There is an excursion by RCL to Marmare Falls at the Rome Port.  Does anybody know anything about the falls or the excursion?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Joe

 

[euro cruiser]

It would be a shame to be in Italy, so close to Rome, and not experience even a little bit of it.

 

It will be crowded, but it's usually crowded.  The key is to set your expectations appropriately, pick one or two key sites that are important for you to see, then fill in with whatever else time will allow.

 

I would post on the roll call for your sailing and see if you can find another couple to share the expense of a private car service to the city and back.  Or, if you're more adventurous, you can take the train.

[kctwinmommy]

I did a post on this page about the company we used. We did a private excursion through LimousInRome and it was awesome!

[TouchstoneFeste]

On 9/10/2024 at 7:03 PM, joestein514 said:

Does it even make sense to try to visit Rome at that time, due to the Jubilee.   We have never been to Rome or Italy before.

As @euro cruiser says, it never doesn't make sense not to visit Rome. (Just tried to re-read that sentence. What I'm trying to say is "go ahead and visit".)

However, we are just back from an Italy tour and all of the guides agreed: 2025 will be a zoo, so plan early. And they think 2026 will be over-crowded as well (but not as bad), since many people with options will postpone their visits.

[firefly333]

I'm on voyager in late may, 2nd leg ends in rome. I too hear it's going to be a zoo. I booked excursions and 4 nights in a hotel and then I decided to fly back to miami. Yes I have read miami will be terrible for customs. Royal wanted starting price for 1 rome to orlando $1510. That's why.

 

But I will be in rome thru royal myself. I would say do your best.

 

The excursion port we have that sold out before I even saw them was athens. We stop in 2 ports in greece and athens excursions sold poof. One single spot popped back up and I grabbed it, luckily I'm solo. It's not the best one, but we see acropolis from a viewing platform. If a better choice comes up I'll change but I want to stay with a group my first time. I booked to see greece tbh.. it's just happenstance it ends in rome. Rome was not on my bucket list... more I end there so might as well try and see it. Wrong timing for my first TA ... I plan to make the best of it. People think I'm crazy to go alone. Its that or stay home.

[cruisemom42]

9 hours ago, firefly333 said:

People think I'm crazy to go alone. Its that or stay home.

 

Don't allow others to tell you you're crazy. I have traveled alone for years and while it can present challenges, so can traveling with others. 

 

I've actually come to enjoy traveling by myself -- I get to do what I want, when I want. And nobody can make me feel bad if I want to spend hours in the Etruscan museum (part of the Vatican museums that no one goes to...!)

 

[NateUpNorth]

On 9/22/2024 at 10:04 AM, firefly333 said:

I'm on voyager in late may, 2nd leg ends in rome. I too hear it's going to be a zoo. I booked excursions and 4 nights in a hotel and then I decided to fly back to miami. Yes I have read miami will be terrible for customs. Royal wanted starting price for 1 rome to orlando $1510. That's why.

 

But I will be in rome thru royal myself. I would say do your best.

 

 

4 days in Rome......... having just returned from Italy, if I may be so bold.... make sure you book ahead everything you want to do, when they open up for tickets! I obsessively planned and we got everything done that we wanted. 

Deciding day of is NOT an option in our experience, and that was this year, not the Jubilee year!!!

[firefly333]

19 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

4 days in Rome......... having just returned from Italy, if I may be so bold.... make sure you book ahead everything you want to do, when they open up for tickets! I obsessively planned and we got everything done that we wanted. 

Deciding day of is NOT an option in our experience, and that was this year, not the Jubilee year!!!

My TA said I had to wait for 11 months out to see air2sea and they were obscene. $1510 was the cheapest one way so I did what everyone on the thread about icon being cancelled says dont do or it's your fault, I'm booked nonrefundable air to miami. I've already had a earful about miami. Booked a night in miami and then already booked brightline for next may and booked 4 nights in rome at a awesome top rated central hotel. And excursions booked though I'm worried about getting around. Not buying a new phone just for 4 days in rome. Fingers crossed. Everything is booked and locked in though I almost didnt get a royalcaribbean excursion in athens they booked up like magic. One spot came open and I grabbed it. I'm doing royal excursions both legs. Fingers crossed. I dont want to hear the posters saying we told you not to book that way, we told you so. Cruise critic is so critical. 

 

So I waited to book air and hotels until june, 11 months out. I wanted air booked before I booked a hotel. The cruises were booked as soon as they were available. Then I had to sit on my hands until last june. 

[NateUpNorth]

15 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

 booked 4 nights in rome at a awesome top rated central hotel. And excursions booked though I'm worried about getting around. Not buying a new phone just for 4 days in rome. Fingers crossed.

Getting around - to put my 0.02 cents in, aside from sheer volume of people, is incredibly easy. Without knowing exactly where you are staying, if you are walking distance to a Metro line, you're already winning.

Edit: we bought the 1 week ATAC card at a machine at a station. scan it every time you get on a subway/bus/tram and away you go. Some prefer pay as you go, but for us, the few extra Euro's it may have worked out to was well worth the ease and speed of the ATAC card.


Vatican - 50 steps from Cipro station
Colosseum - 25 steps from Colosseo station
etc etc etc

You won't need a new phone. We did an "E-sim" for ours. Incredibly easy and seamless. Saved a screenshot of the metro line map, and then used the google walking directions for anywhere we needed to go.

Edited Tuesday at 04:36 PM by NateUpNorth

[firefly333]

38 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

4 days in Rome......... having just returned from Italy, if I may be so bold.... make sure you book ahead everything you want to do, when they open up for tickets! I obsessively planned and we got everything done that we wanted. 

Deciding day of is NOT an option in our experience, and that was this year, not the Jubilee year!!!

When I said cc is really getting bad lately, I was referring to the royalcaribbean threads. Here I find helpful and not mean spirited. This is one of the only neve forums. I can name several times people are going after how someone says something and over the top. I didnt mean this forum.

 

I have a tracfone which I already know woukdnt work in Rome. I'm not going to the expense of a different phone carrier to get thru 4 days. I already know it's a problem. All I can do is map stuff and do my best. 2 of my excursions I have to get to the vatican area..and first one ends a different place than it starts so learn 2 maps. My first time booking private excursions, me solo female. Its nough for me that I'm trying and will do my best. I have plenty of friends wouldnt try rome on their own. Hopefully taxi are plentiful if it's too far to walk. I dont know. Everything is booked except shuttles. But I'm a little tired of reading how if someone booked nonrefundable it's their fault, icon sept 28 got cancelled, a new ship and expensive. I'd like people to be a little more sympathetic and show that they have feelings, not all this well it's your fault if you booked nonrefundable...not the place to be mean when someone just got notified their cruise got cancelled. Just wanted to say this italy forum isnt what I meant when I said I'm tired of being criticised and mean posters. This is a exception. Nice here. I know miami will be a bear ro get thru customs. I booked a hotel that  night. The hotel has a 24 hours a day free shuttle in miami. If it takes 2 hours thru customs it does. Its booked. It's too late to tell me I shoukdnt have booked into miami. It's done. I even paid extra and picked aisle seats. Its booked. I dont find it helpful when people say I shouldn't have booked what i did. Especially if I say it's not refundable. I have brightline train the next day at noon food included to orlando. Booked and also not refundable.

[NateUpNorth]

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

 

 

I have a tracfone which I already know woukdnt work in Rome. I'm not going to the expense of a different phone carrier to get thru 4 days. I already know it's a problem. All I can do is map stuff and do my best. 2 of my excursions I have to get to the vatican area..and first one ends a different place than it starts so learn 2 maps. My first time booking private excursions, me solo female. Its nough for me that I'm trying and will do my best. 

Allow me to say -we just got back from Rome - if you map ahead of time you'll be fine.  Anecdotally on day 2 I asked my 12 year old daughter what she would do if we got separated. We were at Colosseum, we stayed near Vatican. She was able to detail exactly how to get back to the apartment. 

All kinds of small suggestions for you if you have any questions about your logistics. Don't want to highjack this thread though. 🙂 

[firefly333]

3 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Allow me to say -we just got back from Rome - if you map ahead of time you'll be fine.  Anecdotally on day 2 I asked my 12 year old daughter what she would do if we got separated. We were at Colosseum, we stayed near Vatican. She was able to detail exactly how to get back to the apartment. 

All kinds of small suggestions for you if you have any questions about your logistics. Don't want to highjack this thread though. 🙂 

I was also told write down my hotel and address for the taxi drivers in case we have trouble understanding each other.

 

I'm at the albergo santa chiara hotel which is behind the Coliseum I think but maybe it's the parthenon hahahaha. I'm still not really seeing a map in my head and my imagination cant imagine rome. .. yet. But I'll get better before I get there. The hotel got 9.4 ratings so I feel confident I'll like it, everything booked. Im a planner ahead type. No worries..thanks formyourngood thoughts.

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'm at the albergo santa chiara hotel which is behind the Coliseum I think but maybe it's the parthenon hahahaha.

 

Its behind the Pantheon, and to address one of your concerns, there is a taxi stand right alongside the Pantheon, so if you need to get from hotel to Vatican, for example, it's as easy as going out the front door of your hotel, turning a corner, and the taxi stand is right there.

 

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Its behind the Pantheon, and to address one of your concerns, there is a taxi stand right alongside the Pantheon, so if you need to get from hotel to Vatican, for example, it's as easy as going out the front door of your hotel, turning a corner, and the taxi stand is right there.

 

Actually it's the opposite I'm worried about first. My first excursion starts at santa maria Marjorie, which someone on the carnival board said they liked so I googled it and it was attached to st Peter and then ends with a tour of st john. I signed up, no clue why he liked it. But I'm worried about getting from st John's back to the hotel. First days excursion.

 

Really rome wasnt even on my bucket list, but I wanted to see greece, so I am saying on to see greece, the last stop is rome. I dont like italian food and so I'm sure this isnt helping but people said if you are in rome stay and see rome. I'm irish and English..  ireland and others places like greece and iceland I want to see, rome wasnt even on my wish list. Im protestant irish. No catholic roots. But i end in rome so trying to see stuff. So i have to google st john address and map it out before i go. Last day is skip the line sisteen chappel. My friend already told me i booked wrong. No help.. help is how do i get to and from these places with my tracfone that doesnt work in rome. I hope this works out.the hotel has wifi and I'll look a maps each morning too memorize too and take screen shots. 

 

Google maps says bus is very busy where i am 26 minutes by bus, 31 minutes to walk to starting point santa maria Marjorie. And I read the bus often skips my stop. So I probably will try and walk there to starting pt. I have a starting address, not a ending address at st john.  Just picked random places to see tbh. I'm not deeply religious. First place is some place for the virgin mary. I googled and got the excursion but I need to google more and get pictures. I really am clueless.

 

Im doing the Panama transit late next year .. other things I feel comfortable about ... rome.. ? I hope i dont get tired of seeing churches. Lol. I do have some good ship excursions especially azores...and Greece.. but rome.. I'm going to do my best solo. 

 

Before you ask why this cruise ... I moved near port Canaveral and the ship leaves there. Just a uber call away so it started off as a good idea. It's just rome has me rattled. 

[cruisemom42]

32 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Actually it's the opposite I'm worried about first. My first excursion starts at santa maria Marjorie, which someone on the carnival board said they liked so I googled it and it was attached to st Peter and then ends with a tour of st john. I signed up, no clue why he liked it. But I'm worried about getting from st John's back to the hotel. First days excursion.

 

If you post a link to your tour, we could help you with getting from Point A to Point B. I'd take a stab but your description is a bit confusing. I think you're talking about Santa Maria Maggiore, and the St. Peter's you mention is probably San Pietro in Vincoli (and not the St. Peter's at the Vatican), but it would be better to confirm it.

 

 

32 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

 

Really rome wasnt even on my bucket list, but I wanted to see greece, so I am saying on to see greece, the last stop is rome. I dont like italian food and so I'm sure this isnt helping but people said if you are in rome stay and see rome. I'm irish and English..  ireland and others places like greece and iceland I want to see, rome wasnt even on my wish list. Im protestant irish. No catholic roots. But i end in rome so trying to see stuff. So i have to google st john address and map it out before i go. Last day is skip the line sisteen chappel. My friend already told me i booked wrong. No help.. help is how do i get to and from these places with my tracfone that doesnt work in rome. I hope this works out.the hotel has wifi and I'll look a maps each morning too memorize too and take screen shots. 

 

You can do a lot of the research and mapping before leaving home. Use Google maps and input the starting point and finish point, choose walking (if you want to know how to get there on foot) and then you can print out the resulting map and step-by-step directions. Remember that in Rome, the street signs aren't on metal poles but usually are affixed to (or painted on) the walls of buildings. 

 

Rome is just as historic as Athens (or Greece) and not just for Catholics. The Roman empire basically diffused a lot of ideas across their whole empire that originally came from the Greeks and were adopted by the practical Romans. Their excellent road system is what allowed Christianity to spread so quickly. Their language, calendar, ideas about government (during the republic) and military practices still inform a lot of things that we build on today. 

 

Don't limit yourself just to churches. Enjoy some of the pretty piazzas and fountains. Keep your eyes open for the way Italians have adapted parts of ancient buildings into their modern ones. There's a lot to enjoy in Rome. (Including gelato.)

 

[euro cruiser]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

But I'm worried about getting from st John's back to the hotel. First days excursion.

 

Assuming by St. John's you mean St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano), that's an easy return.  There are a couple of different buses that depart from Porta San Giovanni and drop you off a few hundred meters from your hotel.

 

Or, if you prefer, there is a taxi stand across the street from St. John's.

Edited Tuesday at 11:51 PM by euro cruiser

[firefly333]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

If you post a link to your tour, we could help you with getting from Point A to Point B. I'd take a stab but your description is a bit confusing. I think you're talking about Santa Maria Maggiore, and the St. Peter's you mention is probably San Pietro in Vincoli (and not the St. Peter's at the Vatican), but it would be better to confirm it.

 

 

 

You can do a lot of the research and mapping before leaving home. Use Google maps and input the starting point and finish point, choose walking (if you want to know how to get there on foot) and then you can print out the resulting map and step-by-step directions. Remember that in Rome, the street signs aren't on metal poles but usually are affixed to (or painted on) the walls of buildings. 

 

Rome is just as historic as Athens (or Greece) and not just for Catholics. The Roman empire basically diffused a lot of ideas across their whole empire that originally came from the Greeks and were adopted by the practical Romans. Their excellent road system is what allowed Christianity to spread so quickly. Their language, calendar, ideas about government (during the republic) and military practices still inform a lot of things that we build on today. 

 

Don't limit yourself just to churches. Enjoy some of the pretty piazzas and fountains. Keep your eyes open for the way Italians have adapted parts of ancient buildings into their modern ones. There's a lot to enjoy in Rome. (Including gelato.)

 

Day 1 I'm walking around to the fountains and stuff close to my hotel, and maping out food places I heard were near the fountain. I don't eat pasta, so I'm just looking around for whatever I can find. Places I can walk in, nothing special. 

 

Day 2 I have the excursion I mentioned. It has a address for a start point. I now see a end address too .. just have to figure it out and map bsck to the hotel.

 

Vatican Basilicas and Holy Doors Small-Group Tour, wow I just clicked and the price has more than doubled since I booked last june. I have a booking I assume is still good for this. Maybe I should try and pay, I have a pay later option at a later date.

 

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore Start your tour with the most significant Marian Basilica in the world - Santa Maria Maggiore. Your guide will meet you at the front of the Basilica and after a brief check-in will accompany you to the core of this ancient marvel. The basilica is home to some of the most important Catholic Relics in Rome. 45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included 2 Abbazia di San Paolo Fuori Le Mura The second stop of this experience is the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Once the largest catholic church in Rome, the Major Papal Basilica of Saint Paul is the resting place of the Patron Saint to Gentiles - Saint Paul. Discover this magnificent Basilica with the help of your passionate guide, and have some free time to explore on your own. 50 minutes • Admission Ticket Included 3 Arcibasilica di San Giovanni in Laterano On your last stop of this tour, visit the most important Catholic church in the city of Rome and the world, Saint John in Lateran. The Basilica, built in the times of Constantine the Great, is home to the throne of his Holiness the Pope. But your tour does not end there, your guide will take you to the Holiest of all Catholic Chapels that houses the stairs of Christ - Scala Santa.

Read more about Vatican Basilicas and Holy Doors Small-Group Tour - https://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/3-Major-Vatican-Basilicas-outside-the-Vatican-Small-Group-Tour/d511-62570P47?m=63070&nid=VR.973b0218-d270-4413-8260-c37ff38dbc7c.VT_EMAIL_TRV?mcid=56757

 

It does now have a end address. So looks like I can map back to the hotel. I just moved across the country from texas to florida and other cruises and stuff booked. I will get this figured out. This is my first tour. Day 2. Meet 9 am.. just new to me. I never booked a private tour on my own tbh. Only thru the cruiselines. First time on my own... I'll get it done. A map now I'd forget, but closer to next may I'll map the tours. Too soon. Have you seen these places. Are they like churches or lots of art work. I'm expecting lots of art. It says I'm seeing doors for the Pope, called the holy doors., idk .. someone liked that first place so I booked it figuring ok I'll go see it. Had to go do something. First tour anyway. Different starting and ending places as you see. I guess my price is still good. My email says $65.05...when I clicked says prices start at $136. Wow. I did book as early as I could. Well this will be a adventure. Everything totally new to me. I'll figure it out before next may.

 

 

 

 

[firefly333]

Put more simply for 20 years I've only done cruises and ship tours where you meet very close to the ship and they take you back to the ship.

 

These viator excursions seem to meet and end all over the place, not like ship tours. That's what's new to me. I never booked excursionsmi did on my own. I'm a experienced cruiser but never did another country where english isnt the first language on my own. That's the scary and new part for me. The viator tours meet all over the place.

 

Day 3 is pretty easy and interesting buildings near my hotel .. that one isnt churches. But 2 days are vatican tours.. I just dont really know what to expect, but I will figure it out. I'm reading everything. Taking it all in. No worries. It's just harder than a cruise excursion where you walk off the ship and meet and they bring you back. .. but I'll figure out transportation somehow. Read read read.. too bad my tracfone ddoesnt work in europe.

[cruisemom42]

8 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Have you seen these places. Are they like churches or lots of art work. I'm expecting lots of art.

 

Between your first tour (Santa Maria Maggiore, San Paolo fuori le Muri, San Giovanni in Laterano) and your Vatican tour, you will be seeing all four of the Vatican basilicas in Rome. IMHO that's a lot of basilicas if you are not especially interested in religious art.

 

Yes, you will be a lot of art and a lot of history in these churches. I've visited all of them over time, but not all in a single visit. I go to them primarily to see the many items that have been scavenged from ancient Roman buildings and re-used in these later churches (such as columns, marble, bronze doors, etc.)

 

I think the Vatican is sort of a given for any first-time visitor, but would you reconsider your first tour and maybe do something that is a little less tied to Rome's religious past? What about all of the ancient monuments -- the Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, Baths of Caracalla, etc.? 

 

I'm not saying it's a bad choice. But given what you've said, there may be things in Rome that are more interesting for YOU. Keep reading, and don't be afraid to change your plans if something else sounds more interesting.

 

I started touring on my own long before smart phones came into being. Rick Steves books were a good travel "partner" for me initially, since he is very good about giving simple walking directions from place to place as well as just enough history for beginners. 

 

 

[firefly333]

9 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Between your first tour (Santa Maria Maggiore, San Paolo fuori le Muri, San Giovanni in Laterano) and your Vatican tour, you will be seeing all four of the Vatican basilicas in Rome. IMHO that's a lot of basilicas if you are not especially interested in religious art.

 

Yes, you will be a lot of art and a lot of history in these churches. I've visited all of them over time, but not all in a single visit. I go to them primarily to see the many items that have been scavenged from ancient Roman buildings and re-used in these later churches (such as columns, marble, bronze doors, etc.)

 

I think the Vatican is sort of a given for any first-time visitor, but would you reconsider your first tour and maybe do something that is a little less tied to Rome's religious past? What about all of the ancient monuments -- the Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, Baths of Caracalla, etc.? 

 

I'm not saying it's a bad choice. But given what you've said, there may be things in Rome that are more interesting for YOU. Keep reading, and don't be afraid to change your plans if something else sounds more interesting.

 

I started touring on my own long before smart phones came into being. Rick Steves books were a good travel "partner" for me initially, since he is very good about giving simple walking directions from place to place as well as just enough history for beginners. 

 

 

I'm not seeing the vatican, what I meant was the tours says they are sponsored by the vatican. Actually day 4 is the skip the line sisteen chappel and Vatican museum. I didnt feel like I could handle 2 of those skip the line excursions. Sorry I said it wrong. 

 

Day 1 and 2 are for the other stuff. Day 3 says parthenon but we are just visiting it. There is another place that interests me. I copied and pasted the name. 

 

Piazza Navona looks interesting to me. It's a walking tour close to my hotel with 3 places  named. I was mistaken it's the spanish steps I dont have on that tour. I will walk there day 1 on my own. Yes I'd also like the coleseum but the tours were more skip the line and all that kind. I think one skip the line sisteen chappel is enough.

 

I saw you said you spent all day at Pompeii and I thought wow, you are much more energetic...I admit I'm doing pompeii with the ship tour you disparaged. I'm doing a weak moderate athens excursion, the one with 200 steps sold out and I dont know how my knees would feel. And I booked a motor coach to ohia and kira. Someone already told me his wife freaked out and it was so steep she refused to get back in the csr and go back and they waited for the air tram things. Everyone has said I booked thismormthat wrong. I'm a dare devil in the past and dont thing the drive will freak me out to ohia..that's just the 2nd leg. I got other excursions on leg 1. Pacing myself and my money.  This started as oh do a TA they are cheap...and I keep adding on to this cheap TA. I feel like it's getting out of hand, though I can afford it, I'm cheap, I admit it. I love a bargain. This is my bargain TA. My first ever TA. I took care of my parents and mom passed last year so I never cruised dr until this. Might be first and last. See how this goes solo.