euro cruiser

It does add another complication. The evening trains will run to get commuters and students home from the city but they will be CROWDED. The guaranteed times (le fasce di garanzia) are 5 PM - 8 PM. Regional buses (Cotral) will likely also be on strike. You might get on the roll call for your sailing to see if you can share the cost of a car service with others on your sailing, to be sure.

I find the discussion interesting, the is it/is it not when something isn't clear, but when I step back I keep returning to the idea of a low level policeman on the street and what they are likely to recognize so I can go on about my day. I know they'll recognize the passport.

Also, almost every tour of the Vatican museums ends at the Sistine Chapel, so if you're hoping to see it you'll need to stay for the full tour. Further, due to crowds and distance the best case is 15 minutes from the Sistine Chapel to the exit, for most people it's more like 20 - 25 minutes.

First, do you know for sure what the latest time is that you can board your ship? Just because it is to leave at 8, the last boarding could be much earlier for several reasons, including how late the dock worker's contract will allow them to be there. Get a definitive answer on this before you nail down your plans. Also keep in mind that trains heading to Civitavecchia at that hour will be very crowded, even completely full with workers heading home, by the time they get to the S. Pietro station. Be prepared to push a bit to get on, and mentally prepare yourself for standing during much, if not all, of your trip.

It's possible that a passport card might meet the requirement, the problem is that in these situations you are typically dealing with a fairly low level civil servant, some (many?) of whom don't speak or read English. They will know what a passport looks like, I wonder if they'd know what a passport card is? I'm not sure I understand the issue about whether or not a passport is a national ID (I'm not a lawyer). It's a legal form of identification that is issued by the federal government, is it not? Of course, under that definition your question about the passport card or global entry would also be national ID, but then we're back to what a typical policeman on the street would recognize. Certainly someone at the station or questura would know but who wants to waste valuable vacation time sorting this out?

Italian law requires everyone to carry a national ID at all times. The only national ID for Americans is a passport. Here is the relevant part of the law, translated by google: "3. The foreigner who, at the request of the officers and agents of public safety, does not comply, without justified reason, to the order to produce the passport or other document of identification and residence permit or other document certifying regular presence in the territory of the State is punished with imprisonment of up to one year and a fine of up to 2,000 euros." The full law can be read here: DECRETO LEGISLATIVO 25 luglio 1998, n. 286 - Normattiva The quote above is from Article 6, paragraph 3. As to why would they check, there are dozens of reasons. You could be in a place where an important official is about to arrive, there could be a terrorist threat, there could be an immigration crackdown, you might look like someone who is accused of something, you could simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time, etc. Italian politics these days is leaning decidedly authoritarian, so this type of behavior shouldn't be a big surprise.

The trip by car will take between one hour (rarely ever this fast, but it can happen) to an hour and forty five minutes.

Just to be clear, I didn't say they wouldn't do it, just that they won't suggest it. You've got to make the suggestion and let them react to it.

The official website for FCO airport is here: Fiumicino - AEROPORTI DI ROMA - Aeroporti di Roma (adr.it)

I've never understood why this is such a big issue for travelers. With a very little bit of forethought it's easy to safely conceal your passport on your person. Of course, I mostly travel in the fall/winter/spring when one wears more clothing than in the summer months, so that helps.

With seat assigned tickets, simply get on the train and find your seats. Eventually a ticket agent will come along looking to see it, but not when you first get on. Unless you are traveling on Christmas Eve, there is zero chance of trains between FCO and Venice being sold out. Almost all trains will require a change at Rome Termini from the Leonardo Express from the airport. There are one or two direct trains from the airport to Venice (one is at 13:53) but the rest require the change. You can purchase your tickets at the FCO train station, there is a travel agency right there that sells tickets for both Trenitalia and Italotreno, or from the Trenitalia ticket office or from the multilingual machines. Between Italo and Trenitalia there are one or two trains between Termini and Venice every hour. Even if the next departing train is sold out, the wait for the following train will be less than an hour, so don't worry about having these tickets in advance.

Frankly, Pompei is less about the crowds (the site can hold 15,000 people before it is considered "full", and that only happens on free days in the summer) and mostly about the heat. Later in the day it will be hotter. That said, if your ship arrives at 7 AM it would be a waste of time to go to Pompei first, as it's only about a half hour drive from the port but it doesn't open until 9 AM. You have other options available to you, but RIL (nor any other car service) isn't going to suggest them to you. For example, if you choose to go to Pompei in the morning you could greatly speed up the return trip to the ship by having the car service drop you off at the marina in Sorrento and taking the ferry back to Naples. The ferry port is adjacent to the cruise port so it could not be easier, and the ferry makes the trip in about half the time of the car service.

Yes, that appears to be the case. The daytime work is finished on the tracks but nighttime work will continue for quite a while.

Rome2Rio is, at best, a good starting point . Everything you "learn" from them must be double checked.

I think you've got dated information. Who knows how updated google is ... the ATAC web site says that the daytime work was completed in August. Now the work is taking place after 9 PM at night. So, it's either the time you requested in the information, which could easily have fallen into the nighttime work frame, or google isn't updated. If you redo it, be sure to enter the time of day you'll be making the trip. METRO A: STIAMO RINNOVANDO I BINARI DELLA TRATTA ANAGNINA-OTTAVIANO. DALLA DOMENICA AL GIOVEDI' DALLE ORE 21, TRENI SOSTITUITI DA BUS (atac.roma.it)

Or choose a hotel very near Piazzale Roma, which is easy to reach from the airport and easy to go from there to whichever port you'll depart from.

The easiest would be a car service that is authorized to drive into the port so they can drop you off at your ship or the terminal, whichever applies for your ship. There are several frequently mentioned on this board. Prices have gone up this year, expect to pay around 150 - 170 euros.

I think you've nailed it, the bus to Ravenna departs from Tronchetto. It seems that this is a place where some punctuation would greatly enhance communication, as I think they mean to say Venice City Center, Tronchetto or Venice City Center (Tronchetto). The generality is Venice City Center, while Tronchetto is the specific locaiton. Kind of the same way cruise lines say the stop is Florence, but let you know it's really Livorno in parentheses.

It's not a rip off at all. The purpose is to prevent the passenger from reusing the ticket, as paper regional tickets are not sold for a specific train, they only specify the start and end points of the journey.

This is only true for paper tickets on regional trains. Electronic tickets for regional trains must be validated on line. Tickets for seat assigned trains (Frecce or Intercity trains), regardless if they are electronic or paper, also don't need to be validated.

It depends on where you are flying to. If it is a direct flight to the States or to Israel, the recommendation is three hours prior. If you will be flying to another country within the Schengen zone, or have a connecting flight that stops within the zone, then two hours prior is the recommendation.

I have a completely opposite strategy upon disembarking vs. a port day. For a port day I want to be one of the first off the ship and on my way into town. For disembarking, on the other hand, I stay on the ship much longer hoping to avoid the commuters. I'm also willing to wait longer and spend more for a Frecce train upon disembarking, in order to have a guaranteed seat and more room for my luggage.

Actually, there is a sort of discount store I've used for years not far from your hotel, in the Jewish Ghetto. It doesn't have a name as far as I know, I even checked a receipt once and it didn't have a name. It's located on Via Portico d'Ottavia at the corner of Via della Reginella. According to google maps it's 400 meters/two-tenths of a mile on foot from your hotel. The only way I can describe it is kind of like a Walgreens/CVS/RiteAid but without the pharmacy. There's a lot of health and beauty products, plus a variety of household items. Look for the yellow security gates at the top of the windows and doors, that's the place.

You can book all trains in advance but be aware that tickets purchased on line for regional trains must now be validated on line, which will require a connection while in Italy. If you won't have that access you won't be able to use the ticket. If this is a port day trip you might consider using the BIRG ticket, which can only be purchased on site. The newsstand in the train station sells them, 12 euro gets you round trip regional train fare as well as unlimited use of the the buses, metro and trams in Rome for the day.

Also keep in mind that the Frecce trains make no stops between Rome and Civitavecchia, so there's no opportunity for someone to get off with your things. The regionale trains, on the other hand, make up to ten stops en route. You should never walk away from your luggage on a regionale train.