Transport to Civitavecchia in Rome?

[Eclipsepearl]

Please, does anyone know anything about the airport/port/downtown transport situation in Rome?

 

We're booked on a Galaxy Med cruise, leaving out of Civitavecchia on August 3rd. We're thinking of flying Ryan Air into Ciampino airport;

 

http://www.adr.it/content.asp?L=3&IDMEN=200

 

Has anyone done this or is planning on it? All I can get from their site is that Ciampino is a 30 Euro taxi ride to central Rome. No information on getting to the port in Civitavecchia, although I think we'll probably at least spend the night, if not a few days in Rome itself. Ciampino is even further out than Fuimicino airport, if I'm looking at the map correctly...

 

Usually Ryan Air flies to really remote airports but the price is right and it's a non-stop from a kind of local airport. There are five of us and three more with the other family who is coming.

 

I'd love to hear from anyone who is done any sort of transferring in any Rome airport for their cruise, or is planning to before we leave.

 

TIA,

Sharon in France

[Dick in Falls Church]

When we went to Rome last fall, we were able to hook up with some others on th Rollcall and ride out together in a small bus.

[Ine]

Check the Europe Ports of Call section with lots of answers and questions.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

 

Also be aware that Ryanair not only flies to airports far away from the big cities,also their free allowance is only 15 kg. per person (33lbs)!!!

[hybrn8]

I used the services of a good driver last May for three separate trips - one from port to central Rome and two separate trips to airport. The service is owned and operated by a gentleman named Stephano - I cannot find his address but I am sure a google will turn it up. May have found him in tripadvisor dot com. Check there as well. His prices were very, very fair and a fraction what cruise line wanted to charge for the ride from port to city. His cars and drivers were immaculate and early! If I can figure out how to reach him, I'll re-post.

[hybrn8]

Check this: romecabs@yahoo.com

 

Our experience at port was that there were no taxis anywhere near to pick up folks - a long walk with luggage was only option if you didn't have a car or won't taking one of the ships buses. So, maybe you pay a bit more for service folks like Stephano provide (per cruisingGerman) but it's worth it to me.

[Eclipsepearl]

I've already checked out the Ports of Call section. I'm still trying to negotiate around this site. Sorry I didn't notice it earlier! I'll limit questions to the appropriate boards in the future...

 

I actually did fly Ryan Air last summer a few times between Germany, Dublin, London and Nantes. I was worried about the lugguage but we were fine. I brought a foldable bag and divided up our things. Maybe they felt sorry for the lady alone with three small kids? That wont be the case this time! The husband will be there too. With five, we'll just check in five equal-weight bags but thanks for the reminder.

 

And thanks for Stephano's email. Maybe we can order an extra big car since there are so many of us. We're still definitely in the planning stages of this whole adventure.

[ronjj66611]

Hi Hybern8,

Thanks for the tip on the driver for Rome, We're also going on the Galaxy in August, but on the 13th.

 

Take good care of our ship Sharon, we're on right after you!:D

 

Ron

[lov2sailtoo]

Please, does anyone know anything about the airport/port/downtown transport situation in Rome?

 

We're booked on a Galaxy Med cruise, leaving out of Civitavecchia on August 3rd. We're thinking of flying Ryan Air into Ciampino airport;

 

http://www.adr.it/content.asp?L=3&IDMEN=200

 

Has anyone done this or is planning on it? All I can get from their site is that Ciampino is a 30 Euro taxi ride to central Rome. No information on getting to the port in Civitavecchia, although I think we'll probably at least spend the night, if not a few days in Rome itself. Ciampino is even further out than Fuimicino airport, if I'm looking at the map correctly...

 

Usually Ryan Air flies to really remote airports but the price is right and it's a non-stop from a kind of local airport. There are five of us and three more with the other family who is coming.

 

I'd love to hear from anyone who is done any sort of transferring in any Rome airport for their cruise, or is planning to before we leave.

 

TIA,

Sharon in France

 

hi, we are flying ryan air this july from ireland to rome, we have booked a car to take us to the port of civitavecchia. we are using world-airport-transfer.com, they show prices from ciampino 3 persons or more at 25.00 EUR per per/per way. one other poster stated to mind the weight restriction for ryan air, they will get you on this if you are not careful, easy to over pack your bagage, very expensive to pay for over limit baggage.

[bestmom1]

We sailed last June (2006) on Galaxy from Rome and used the services of Touring-car.it. see link) We did airport FCO to City hotel, Hotel to Port, Port to City Hotel and Hotel to Airport. We had group of five ranging from 8 years old to 86 years old and a wheel chair. Service was best price on websites for Rome, cars were immaculate, drivers spoke some English, knew exactly where to go to get us to the right berth and were spot on time for all four legs. They even waited for us at meet-and-greet at the airport incoming as Delta lost my mother's wheel chair for almost two hours. I wrote ahead that we had a wheel chair and they sent a 12 passenger van and didn't charge extra.

 

Only caveat was they balked at taking credit cards, so we had Euro's ready. Recommend service highly and would absolutely use them again in Rome.

 

 

http://www.touring-car.it/

[Eclipsepearl]

We sailed last June (2006) on Galaxy from Rome and used the services of Touring-car.it. see link) We did airport FCO to City hotel, Hotel to Port, Port to City Hotel and Hotel to Airport. We had group of five ranging from 8 years old to 86 years old and a wheel chair. Service was best price on websites for Rome, cars were immaculate, drivers spoke some English, knew exactly where to go to get us to the right berth and were spot on time for all four legs. They even waited for us at meet-and-greet at the airport incoming as Delta lost my mother's wheel chair for almost two hours. I wrote ahead that we had a wheel chair and they sent a 12 passenger van and didn't charge extra.

 

Only caveat was they balked at taking credit cards, so we had Euro's ready. Recommend service highly and would absolutely use them again in Rome.

 

 

http://www.touring-car.it/

 

Thanks so much BestMom! They have eight seaters and advertise specifically for Ciampino and the port. Also thanks for the warning about the Euros. We're already in the "eurozone" so we'll just have cash on hand. We're also okay with the language since it's close to French so we can usually figure it out, even when it's solo italiano.

 

Plus, Italians are nice and you don't get the snooty attitude you do here in France!

 

Ron, bummer as we were originally booked on the 13th but friends wanted to join us and the 3rd worked better for them. I was secretly hoping they couldn't manage it but my dh called the agent and got it changed. While your roll call is hopping, I'm the only one on mine so far (I started it). At least we'll celebrate our ds' 8th birthday onboard, who is coincidently another "Ron" (Ronan). We'll take good care of your ship!!

[fifa]

If you want to save money, do as we did...

We caught a discount flight from Krakow, Poland to Rome. Shuttle bus from Ciampino approx 5 Euro each and it dropped us next to Termini Railway Station where we walked to our hotel. A few companies run buses - we picked the cheapest and waited til it filled with passengers which didn't take long. No bookings required.

Next day we caught the train from Termini to the port for approx 4.50 Euro each then walked about 500m towards the port and met the free shuttle bus which took us to the ship. We arrived at about 12.30pm in time for lunch on the Galaxy then had a relaxing few hours exploring before everyone really started arriving.

On our way back to Rome we were joined on the train by lots of other people who also wanted to save money.

But be careful, the ticket office at Civitaveccia tried to overcharge us (double) but we knew how much it should have been and he threw our change at us. Use the self serve ticket machines if in doubt.

Have fun - we had a ball and met the best people!!!!!

[Rev22:17]

Sharon,

 

Please, does anyone know anything about the airport/port/downtown transport situation in Rome?

 

We're booked on a Galaxy Med cruise, leaving out of Civitavecchia on August 3rd. We're thinking of flying Ryan Air into Ciampino airport;

 

http://www.adr.it/content.asp?L=3&IDMEN=200

 

Has anyone done this or is planning on it? All I can get from their site is that Ciampino is a 30 Euro taxi ride to central Rome. No information on getting to the port in Civitavecchia, although I think we'll probably at least spend the night, if not a few days in Rome itself. Ciampino is even further out than Fuimicino airport, if I'm looking at the map correctly...

 

Usually Ryan Air flies to really remote airports but the price is right and it's a non-stop from a kind of local airport. There are five of us and three more with the other family who is coming.

 

I'd love to hear from anyone who is done any sort of transferring in any Rome airport for their cruise, or is planning to before we leave.

 

As I understand the airports that serve Roma, the original airport at Ciampino, located to the northeast of Roma, did not have room to expand so the authorities built a new airport at Fiumicino, located on the coast to the southwest of Roma, and moved both Alitalia's hub and all of the intercontinental flights to the new facility. This is a situation similar to the airports that serve Paris (Orly and Charles de Gaulle), Houston (William P. Hobby and George W. Bush Intercontinental), and many other major cities throughout the world.

 

Now, there's good news and there's bad news, so let me give you the bad news first and get it out of the way. Civitavecchia is located on the coast to the northeast of Fiumicino, and the highway from Roma to Civitavecchia actually goes southeast to the outskirts of Fiumicino where it splits, with one branch going past the airport and turning to the southeast along the coast and the other branch turning northwest along the coast to Civitavecchia. Thus, the transfer from Fiumicino to Civitavecchia is a straight shot along the coast that actually does not go anywhere near Roma. I think thaht Ciampino actually is closer to Roma than Fiumicino, but it's on the wrong side of Roma if you are going to the coast. If you arrive in Ciampino on embarkation day, you still have to go through (or around) Roma and skirt Fiumicino to get to Civitavecchia. Due to the combination of location and lack of intercontinental flights, most cruise lines do not bother to offer transfers from Ciampino to Civitavecchia so you will have to get to the ship on your own if you arrive there on embarkation day. This also may be one of "those" situations in which you'll spend more on transfers than your savings on air fare if you arrive at that airport.

 

Okay, enough bad news. Moving on to the good news, an arrival in Ciampino should work out pretty well if you want to spend a few days in Roma before your cruise. A taxi or other transfer from Ciampino to downtown Roma should be no more expesive than a taxi from Fiumicino to downtown Roma, and may cost somewhat less. I'm not recommending the train here, partly because it won't be seamless and partly because you will have plenty of luggage for your cruise. You also can purchase transfers from downtown Roma to the pier in Civitavecchia through Celebrity, and Celebrity's transfer service also will take care of your luggage (which usually goes on the motorcoach with you).

 

Finally, if you are planning to spend a couple nights in Roma before your cruise, it might be advantageous to purchase one of Celebrity's hotel packages. The price of the package does include the transfer to the pier in Civitavecchia, which will leave from your hotel. If you purchase only the transfer and stay elsewhere, you will have to get to a pick-up point on your own. Also, Celebity will have representatives at a hospitality desk in the lobby to assist you with any problems that may arise and to coordinate optional tours of the city's major attractions.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Norm.

[Eclipsepearl]

Finally, if you are planning to spend a couple nights in Roma before your cruise, it might be advantageous to purchase one of Celebrity's hotel packages. The price of the package does include the transfer to the pier in Civitavecchia, which will leave from your hotel. If you purchase only the transfer and stay elsewhere, you will have to get to a pick-up point on your own. Also, Celebity will have representatives at a hospitality desk in the lobby to assist you with any problems that may arise and to coordinate optional tours of the city's major attractions.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Norm.

 

Thanks Norm for the background information. I looked it up on Mappy and the port looks just ages away. We're leaning towards spending a little time in Rome afterwards and at least one night before so the downtown info is handy. I've been to Rome many times but as a flight attendant, I didn't have to worry about the transfers and where to stay lol!

 

My question is, I've been to the site and can't seem to locate the information on the hotel packages. Can you in fact purchase them if you're not flying in with them from N. America? Seems to be the case elsewhere. It was hard enough simply booking a cruise that wasn't MSN or Costa here in France, let alone dealing with the transport. The agents simply balked and even the one who did book, it took a little arm-twisting...

[Ce U At Ce]

We will be staying in Rome for several nights prior to our cruise in May and using the Celebrity tansfer to the ship. Does anyone know the approx. pickup time and or even better when we should expect to get to the ship on the day of embarkcation.

 

Thanks

[Rev22:17]

Eclipsepearl,

 

Thanks Norm for the background information. I looked it up on Mappy and the port looks just ages away. We're leaning towards spending a little time in Rome afterwards and at least one night before so the downtown info is handy. I've been to Rome many times but as a flight attendant, I didn't have to worry about the transfers and where to stay lol!

 

My question is, I've been to the site and can't seem to locate the information on the hotel packages. Can you in fact purchase them if you're not flying in with them from N. America? Seems to be the case elsewhere. It was hard enough simply booking a cruise that wasn't MSN or Costa here in France, let alone dealing with the transport. The agents simply balked and even the one who did book, it took a little arm-twisting...

 

Yes, you can book hotel packages -- both before and after your cruise -- without booking flights through Celebrity. Celebrity publishesinformation on hotel packages for your cruise on the web site. You have to book Celebrity's hotel packages through your travel agent as part of your cruise booking, so you will have to go though your travel agent to get pricing. Nonetheless, the names of the hotels on Celebrity's web page are links to descriptions of the properties. Once you import the booking into your "My Celebrity" account, the information on the hotel packages also will be available there.

 

BTW, if you have not already done so, go to Celebrity's web site, create a "My Celebrity" account, and import your cruise booking into it. This will let you submit all of your personal information (passport, emergency contacts, etc.) and arrangements for your shipboard account via the web site. Once Celebrity has all the information and your final payment, you'll be able to print an "Xpress Pass" that will expedite the boarding process considerably.

 

Norm.