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Civet port to FCO


timandnancy
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Keep in mind that the airport is a good hour away from the port, and that most International flights suggest that you are at the airport 3 hours ahead of time. Also, Rome airport is very large and it can take a long time to walk to your gate.

 

If you are planning on doing the tax-free paperwork, that adds a lot of extra time, too.

 

I think that flight is way too early.

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Even though the ship is scheduled to dock at 5 am, the earliest we have seen debarkation start is closer to 7am. To have a chance in h____ of making it you would need to be among the first to do self debarkation, carrying your own luggage off.

 

 

Then you will need to have a transfer booked and ready to go as soon as you exit the terminal. Trying to find a shuttle once off the ship normally means you wait till they find 4-6 others to fill the van. That could take 15 minutes or it could take an hour.

 

Assuming all that goes well keep your fingers crossed that the buses & trains don't have a one day strike as that means a ton more traffic.

 

Then if there are no lines for security and your gate is close to the security checkpoint you might make the plane. Odds aren't in your favor.

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I am looking at a Celebrity cruise that arrives in Civet port at 5am. I am looking at a flight that leaves 9:55am. How quick has everybody experienced getting off the ship at that port? Then getting a shuttle service to the airport?

 

Thanks!

 

Tim

 

 

 

As stated by others, there is virtually no chance of making a 0900 flight. The actual release time by Celebrity, the drive time, traffic, customs, check-in and buffer time - as well as many other potential complications make your early flight plan off by at least 3 hours.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I'll add to the concencus of moving your flight to a later time - there are too many variables that could add to an unexpected delay.

 

The first time I was at FCO, I was shocked at the magnitude and how 'different' it was from the airports I was accustomed to in North America. Everything took more time, not to mention it felt so more chaotic (although the feeling of it being so hectic does dissipate if you are more accustomed to these busy international airports)...

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After just using FCO I am sure it would be impossible to catch your flight. Some on our ship I believe got off close to 6.30 a.m. Walk to the transportation took us 10 minutes, you then need to find your driver, what if he is late? FCO is huge and depending where your plane is could easily take a fair bit of time, remember you have security lines to wait in.

 

Why not take the flight the next day and spend a day walking around Rome, great site lots to see even a second time if you have done it before.

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Arriving in FCO on a Sunday morning was a nightmare! The line to go thru immigration was endless, though it did move relatively fast. Took more than an hour just to get out of the airport Not sure if different times or days are better. But if arrival is ANY indication of departure . . .

 

Also, if you're coming into port on a weekday, traffic could be an issue. Finally, US airlines are typically the furthest away from the terminal at foreign airports. So if you're using a US airline, you could have a long walk.

 

You probably will make it if everything goes perfectly. But any hiccup (traffic, trouble finding driver, long lines at airport, mobility issues) could wreck your plans.

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To update, we just disembarked in Civetevecchia. It seemed the earliest folks could disembark was around 7:15 (that was timing of first announcement), but it might have been earlier. Meeting a driver is super easy and the cars are parked close by. Drive to airport appeared to take an hour (we went on to Rome but hit the exit for FCO at about 45 minutes into the ride so figured another 15 minutes). There was some road construction, which slowed things down for several miles.

 

Today we were at the airport (we did 2nd day departure). It was madness at the gates for the US flights -- had to wait to get into the area where you get your boarding pass, which took about 10 minutes. There was also a line at check-in -- if you're business class, it's not too bad. If you're economy, it will take longer. Did not see any options for self-check-in.

 

A line at security -- can be tough without fast track. Another long line at immigration, though it moved quickly. The transit to the US gates takes a while -- you have to walk the distance of the terminal and then take a shuttle and walk some more. I would say that it took us about an hour from the time we arrived at the airport until we got to our gate and we had minimal wait to check in and fast track through security -- I would add at least another 15-20 minutes if you're flying economy.

 

Bottom line is that we would have been OK for our 10:50 flight had we gone the same day. However, I would have been VERY nervous had we been flying economy and would have been frantic with a 9:55 departure, especially if we didn't have "status" on the airline we were taking.

 

Hope this helps.

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I'll add my agreement to the above posters. We had an 11:10 flight and our ship arrived at 5am. Did self-disembark which made a huge difference. Our driver which we had pre-arranged was waiting for us when we got off of the ship at 7am..there was no problem getting off the ship that early. It was a Friday morning and there was not too much traffic save some construction which slowed things down a big. What took the longest were the multiple security/customs lines we had to wait in at the airport and the very (really, very) long walk to our gate once checking our luggage. An 11:10 flight was fine and we had plenty of time, but I wouldn't want to schedule much earlier.

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As others have mentioned, you will be taking a big risk if you schedule a flight that early. We did the transfer from Civitavecchia to FCO airport yesterday, and it took about an hour. We had made arrangements for a driver to meet us at the ship at 6:45 am, which is the earliest we could disembark, according to Celebrity. I believe some folks were able to disembark earlier, since there were about 30 people standing around/waiting for transfers when we got off. There also were taxi drivers there asking if people needed a ride to the airport.

As another person mentioned, there was a lot of road work being performed, and the traffic on the other side of the highway was being diverted to the side we were on, with cones down the middle of the two lanes. Although that surprisingly did not slow traffic too much, I suspect we were lucky there were not longer delays due to the road work.

Unlike other peoples experiences, once we got to the airport (terminal 1), checking in and going through security and passport controls went very quickly/smoothly. The whole process took about 30 minutes. However, we flew on Delta, and I assume that part of the reason there was no line to check in was due to the fact that we arrived over 3 hours before the flight was scheduled to depart. As we were walking to the Delta counter, we passed many Alitalia counters, which all had long lines to check in.

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Ur making me nervous...I have an 1135 flight scheduled through celebrity air with celebrity transportation.... if I miss it does celebrity cover my costs???

 

My flight was also made with Celebrity Air, although I made my own transfer arrangements. According to the disembarking information we received, the first Celebrity transfers were scheduled to begin shortly after 7:00 am, with a meeting time at 7:00 am. It is my understanding that if you book with Celebrity air and use their transfers, they would cover costs if you miss your flight. However, I never read the fine print, so I do not know exactly what your rights would be. Based on my experience yesterday, you should have no problem making a 1135 flight.

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We disembarked at Civitavecchia on a Wednesday a couple of weeks ago. Self disembarkation started at 6.45am and we had a regular disembarkation at 7am. We had prebooked a transfer and had no problem making our 11.20 flight from Ciampino (20 minutes further away than Fiumicino) but I'd have been stressed with a 9.55am flight

 

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11 am flight and later is doable if you get off the ship first and have a private driver or taxi (assuming no unexpected delays). Any time before that is risky. That risk decreases if you're traveling business class or have status on the airline you're using. If you're traveling basic economy, I'd think about 12 noon and later.

 

Quite a few folks in our hotel had disembarked some cruise the day before and had decided to spend a day/night in Rome. Folks, it's not the worst thing you can do, even if you've seen Rome before, which we had. We did the hop on/hop off bus, ate lunch, took a nap and had dinner. Very relaxing. And had a no-pressure trip to the airport the next day.

 

Unless time is a huge issue for you, consider spending a night in Rome. Stress free!

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