Hellokelly76

39 minutes ago, hallasm said:

A good example of how difficult it is to provide proper assistance when the information provided is extremely limited or deficient.

This is the exact description from HAL's site.  And I am taking it on Saturday, June 3rd.  Gives a departure time of 8:15 am and that is all.  I have scoured the internet, chat boards, and facebook groups to find someone who has actually taken this excursion so I can get actual times to and from the S. Pietro station with no luck.

On Your Own:  Rome by Train 

It consists of a motorcoach ride from the ship to the railway station in Civitavecchia and a 60-minute train ride to the Vatican City's St Peter's Station. The train coach escort will advise you of the pick-up time for the return journey. You will have approximately 6½ hours to shop and explore independently in the Vatican and in Rome. A city map is provided and public transportation in Rome is readily available.

Optional upgrade: You can maximize your day in Rome with a hop-on, hop-off bus ticket. Purchase the upgrade on the train journey to Rome (when available). The hop-on, hop-off bus stops at many of the main archaeological sites and historical landmarks. The buses run continuously arriving at each stop about every 20 to 30 minutes.

Bring local currency for attractions, meals and shopping, as many vendors do not accept credit cards or US dollars.

48 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

Just to be clear, it is about a 15 minute walk from the Roma S. Pietro station to the piazza in front of the basilica of St. Peter (900 meters/six-tenths of a mile), but it's much further (1.9 km/one and a quarter miles) to the entrance of the Vatican museums.

 

It sounds like all HAL is doing is bussing you to the Civitavecchia train station and back.  You can make the train ride on your own for less than 10 euro round trip.  

Thank you for the information provided.  This will help.

2 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Are you taking the train as part of an excursion or individual?
Likely the train from Civitavecchia 8:42 - arrival S. Pietro at 9:25 

It’s a 15 minutes walk from the station to the Vatican.

When do you need to be back in Civitavecchia and from which station? If Colosseum most likely from Roma Termini.

You can check Italy train times here

It is a HAL excursion and it arrives and departs both to the S. Pietro station.

8 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

As much as I like my fellow HAL-igans, some are not very fleet of foot, and I loathe hurry up and wait.  Oosterdam is in port for 07h, and it's very likely you could hit an 08h01 train, and be at Roma S.Pietro for 08h54 and get a jump on the day.  I'm saving my HIA for airport transfers -- knowing I will leave some money on the table.     Enjoy your cruise.     Scott.  

You as well.  But I just did see in the fine print of the Venice Marco Polo airport transfer that it is not eligible for the HIA redemption.  Not sure of which transfers you are looking at but check the fine print for sure.

6 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

(A).  It is 53 mins give-or-take to Stazione di Roma S.Pietro. Depending on how fast the HAL herd is on you tour, you could meet an 08h42, 08h54, or 09h07 departure from Civitavecchia into Rome, which would put your arrival time at Roma San Pietro at 09h25, 09h54, or 10h00 at the latest.  It's about a ten minute walk or so to St Peter's Square. 

 

(B).   Returns vary -- assuming you're on Oosterdam with a scheduled 19h00 departure, I expect your all aboard time will be 18h00 - 18h30.  Working backwards you would have four likely departures (16h02, 16h32, 16h43, or 17h02) -- there is no boarding formality - you simply walk onto the platform a few minutes before the scheduled arrival of your train.  Corresponding arrival times would be 17h05, 17h13, 17h20, and 18h05 -- which might be a bit too tight on time)  

 

Unasked (C).   There is a free shuttle from the ship to Largo della Pace at the port entrance -- from there it is a 12 min walk or so to Stazione Civitavecchia.  Return train fare is €9.20 ($10.12USD or $13.60CAD) so compare and contrast what the value of your tour cost is.   You can research / book tickets here:  https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html.    Scott. 

Thanks.  Yes it is a HAL excursion on the Oosterdam.  I am only using it because I had an excursion credit and this is the only thing I could find it to use it on since I found better tours in all the ports elswhere and cheaper.  But I may cancel and just do the train on my own as it looks cheaper and will save me some time in Rome if we do it on our own.

I have this excursion booked on Saturday June 3rd.  The description says departure time is 815 am and that we are taken by private coach to the train station for a 60 minute train ride to St. Peter's station.

If anyone has taken this excursion can you tell me...

A.  What time the train actually arrived at the St. Peter's station in the morning?

and

B.  What time they asked you to return to the station to get on a train back to the port?

Trying to buy skip the line tickets but need times first.

29 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

Kelly, recommend you ask on the Holland America forum located at:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/103-holland-america-line/

Ok, will do. Thanks!

32 minutes ago, hallasm said:

might depend on date/weekday. One to two train each hour. More details please.

It is June 3rd, a Saturday.

I have this excursion from HA coming up and had a few questions hopefully someone can answer.  

The description says departure at 815 am with a motorcoach ride to the Civitavecchia Station then a 60 min to St. Peter's station.

I am just wondering what time the train actually departs and arrives at St. Peter's and then what time is the train to return to Civitavecchia?  I am purchasing some skip the lines tickets for Vatican and colosseum and of course I need to select times for those and I am trying to plan accordingly.