Honeymooners on Galaxy E. Med. 08/23/04 -- transpo ?s

[FONToKNOW]

My wife and I will be embarking on a delayed honeymoon in a few weeks aboard the Galaxy. We are greatly looking forward to this particular itinerary and cruising aboard Celebrity for the first time.

 

After pricing the cruise with and without airfare from our home town, we decided to use frequent flyer miles that my wife accrued over the last three years to get to Rome. As I have never been to Rome, we booked our flight to arrive three days before the departure of the cruise from Civitavecchia. While our travel agent has been encouraging us to book transfers via Celebrity from Leonardo De Vinci Airport (FCO) to Civitavecchia, it appears fairly easy to take the train from Rome to the Civitavecchia station.

(1) Having looked over several online forums, we are thinking of taking the train from San Pietro Station in Rome (we have booked a room near Vatican City) to the Civitavecchia station at approximately 9€ per person. Has anyone taken this route? Is it preferable to backtrack to Termini Station and take an IC or ES train?

 

(2) Upon arrival at the Civitavecchia station, what is the best way to get to the ship?

a. walk (free)

b. taxi (5€ per person?) or

c. free shuttle from the train station to the ship (a poster mentioned in the Celebrity forum that the line offers as much--is this accurate?)

 

(3) After the cruise, we will be departing the next day from FCO. For convenience, we plan on staying at a hotel near the airport. What is the best way to get from Civitavecchia to FCO? Is it best to take the train back into Rome and then take the Leonardo Express to FCO or is there a more direct route?

Many thanks in advance!

[StephenJohnson]

It is dead easy to get around Italy by train. Tina & I did our whole land package by train - though we sailed out og Genoa. Probably San Pietro is better if closer to your hotel - we were right by Termini, so worked entireely from there.

 

No clue about Civitavecchia - probably cab is your best choice unless it's super close or the free shuttle is in sight.

 

You'll probably have to change in Rome for the airport

 

Have fun!

[FONToKNOW]

Thank you for your advice, Stephen.

 

We are mostly curious about the train from San Pietro as it is closer to our hotel, but also understand that the express trains that run from Termini are faster.

 

Thanks again.

 

It is dead easy to get around Italy by train. Tina & I did our whole land package by train - though we sailed out og Genoa. Probably San Pietro is better if closer to your hotel - we were right by Termini, so worked entireely from there.

 

No clue about Civitavecchia - probably cab is your best choice unless it's super close or the free shuttle is in sight.

 

You'll probably have to change in Rome for the airport

 

Have fun!

[Artemis]

Ditto, training in Italy is easy, fun and a good way to save a few bucks for something you'd prefer spending money on!

 

The 9E ticket is called the BIRG--it is good for a whole day's worth of train, subway & bus travel around Rome and environs. However, as you have realized, it won't get you on the express train.

 

We just did the Civ-Rome-Civ train ride in June. I don't recall the express being that much faster--maybe by 15 min.?--but whatever, you can compare the minute-by-minute schedules of each train linking Termini-Civ, including noting the time of the San Pietro stop, and figure out the time difference between regular and express at the Italian train site, http://www.trenitalia.com After you have performed your search for the schedules for Roma-Civitavecchia on the desired date/time, you will see a list of departures. Click on the red arrow by the train departing at your desired time, and the next screen will give you the train number--click on that hyperlink to pull up the entire schedule for that train, and you will see the "Roma S. Pietro" stop and scheduled time of arrival.

 

Depending on how much luggage you have to schlep, you can easily walk from the train station to the shuttle bus pick-up point at the mouth of the port (5-10 min. on sidewalks). The (free--I think this is for all cruise lines) bus will take you from there back about 1/2-1 mile into the bowels of the commercial port complex to the pier where your ship is berthed. However, I'm not sure you will know how to figure out where to catch the shuttle since you are just arriving? You could get lucky and run into some other cruisers in the Civ train station. Otherwise, I'd spring for a taxi.

 

On your return at the end of the cruise, it is my understanding that the only way to do it is train to Termini and then catch the airport express train. However, you should double check the archives of this board--I know that's been discussed before. Also, I think airport websites are often overlooked, yet are usually chock full of helpful info, esp. re: ground transport. So, check out FCO's!

 

And just a note about making your flight out of FCO: in our experience, moving through all of the lines, counters, security checks, etc. to depart from Italian airports has been a maddeningly slow process. Definitely allow a min. of 2 hours from the time you hit the door of the airport terminal to your flight time. If you have to sit and wait, well, you can be mad at me while you take advantage of the phones or an Internet terminal or do some last minute shopping!

 

You chose well for a honeymoon! Have a wonderful trip.

[FONToKNOW]

Thanks much for all of your helpful insights. This will be my first time to Rome as well as my first time on a cruise so I want to dot all of my "i"s and cross all of my "t"s. If it were any other trip but my honeymoon, I might wing this more.

 

I do hope that we bump into some seasoned cruisers at the Civitavecchia station so that we can find the free shuttle. :)

 

Good suggestion regarding the airport website. I will have to explore the FCO website in a little more depth, I suppose. From what I can tell there is not a direct connection between Civitavecchia and FCO...

 

The port website (http://www.port-of-rome.org/english/porto.htm) seems to provide confirmation of what both Stephen and you have posted:

 

"If you want to go by train please note that the rail way station is only about 500 meters far from the port main entrance (Varco Fortezza). Also note that it is possible to find cabs for the station directly in port at about $ 5.

F.S., the company currently running the Italian Railways, guarantees daily connections from Civitavecchia to Rome station called “ Trastevere “, and from there to the Airport railway station in Fiumicino and vice versa. For both fares, at about $ 6, you can buy a special daily ticket called “BIRG” which allows you not only to benefit of all the train services above mentioned, but also you can use all other regional train services, busses and subway facilities at no additional cost, but be aware the this ticket will only be valid until midnight. (info at: www.metrebus….)"

 

Thanks again, Artemis, for the lengthy and helpful reply (particularly the info regarding being early so as to avoid the headaches of FCO).