Best way to experience Rome from Civitaveccia

[PL0425]

Hi Everyone...

We’re boarding 3 April in Valencia, cruising the Mediterranean. What’s the best way to see and experience the sights in Rome from Civitaveccia?

 

Also any other recommendations for Genoa, Palermo and Cagliari will be appreciated, we plan on getting on the hop-on-hop-off busses at these ports.

[cruisemom42]

It's about an hour, give or take, to Rome by either car or train. Are you looking for tips on doing Rome on your own and using the train, or are you looking for private tour ideas (e.g., with a driver to pick you up at the port and take you around in Rome)? The latter can be a lot more expensive unless you can get a group of at least 6-8 together to defray the cost.

[jenZ]

Following. Great question! ( interested in the latter, Cruisemom42)

 

 

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[CruiserBruce]

"Best" is a vague term, and will be different for everyone.

 

Having been to Rome several times, I would think you would want to use your limited time in the most efficient ways. IMHO, that is a private tour- 2-8 people- with a company like the wonderful Rome in Limo. You will see and understand more in this setting, than any other way you could see Rome, given your time constraints.

[cruisemom42]

You will see and understand more in this setting, than any other way you could see Rome, given your time constraints.

 

I have to disagree with this statement as being universally true. There are some of us who get infinitely more out of the challenge of doing our research in advance (which provides a solid background and makes it easier to both remember and appreciate what you will see) and getting around Rome by walking and using public transport.

 

I have talked to any number of folks on cruises at dinner or in the evening following a port stop in Rome. Many who take private tours cannot even name for me all of the places they visited that day.

 

Is it really time well spent to rush around visiting 12 places in one port day if you can't remember where you went without referring to the tour description or your photos? :confused:

 

Rome is quite easy to get around on one's own, and with a good plan you can see a lot in a day without necessarily going into hyperdrive.

 

While I fully understand that doing so isn't for everyone, I also cannot agree that a private tour is intrinsically better in every case.

[PL0425]

Thanks for the replies so far.

CruiserBruce is right in saying we want to make the best of the little time we have.

The first question will be: Do we make use of the excursions offered by MSC (probably safer but more expensive) or do we book a tour ourselves?

Are there independent tours operating from the port?

[CruiserBruce]

Thanks for the replies so far.

CruiserBruce is right in saying we want to make the best of the little time we have.

The first question will be: Do we make use of the excursions offered by MSC (probably safer but more expensive) or do we book a tour ourselves?

Are there independent tours operating from the port?

 

These questions are discussed here frequently. A ship's tour will likely put you with 40-50 of your new best friends. At least a couple will have problems telling time, and therefore is not your best use of time.

 

Secondly, a private tour is just as safe as a ship's tour. No private operator wants to risk their reputation on causing you to miss your ship. This question is asked frequently, and I can't think I have heard anybody claim a vendor caused them to miss their ship, That would be BIG breaking news.

 

Independent tours at the dock are not common. What happens if you get a bad one, instead of using recommended vendors?

 

To cruisemom42's point, yes, Rome is relatively user friendly, but not as much when you have a strict deadline. Yes, planning and restricting your targets to a few specific sites is a solid idea. But it all depends on your vision as a "once in a lifetime" trip, or something else.

[galfromkazoo]

I can only speak for Genoa and Rome. In Genoa the HOHO bus worked great for us. We rode it around through all of the stops and the audio was very interesting and it stopped close to sites we wanted to see. I recommend determining in advance your must-see sites and leave room for unexpected sites.

 

For Rome, we had Rome in Limo pick us up at the port. If this is your first trip to Rome, I would have them provide you with a tour and transportation back to the port. It was not our first time (we had a tour with them on a prior trip that was amazing) and we just used them for transport so that we would be sure to be on time for our tour of the excavations under the. Vatican. We took the train back to the ship. I reserved our seats in advance but I understand that it is not necessary. We left ourselves plenty of time for the return.

 

While I am mostly a do-it-yourself tourist, our first trip to Rome would not have been as amazing without the tour we went on. Best money I ever spent. A ships tour would just have too many people for me. The tour guide made suggestions but also made sure we saw what was important to us.

 

 

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[fabnfortysomething]

have you checked the roll call for your sailing?

 

there may be people who have set up private tours and looking for others to join to bring costs down

or you can set up your own tour and invite people from your roll call to join you

there are several well recommended tour companies on this Italy ports of call forum

as a general rule costs are about 600 euros for a 7-8 seater minivan with driver to pick up from ship and drive around Rome dropping off at various sites

so if you fill van works out around 75 euros per person which I bet will be much less than the big bus ships excursions

[WisRiver]

On our first cruise in the Mediterranean we had a one day stop in Civitavecchia. We were a group of six, so we decided to book a private tour with Rome in Limo. We added on a private tour guide for the Vatican. We had a great day. With a larger group, you move at the rate of the slowest person and have no choice of stops. We had a English speaking driver in an 8 passenger van. He picked us up at 8 AM. On our way to Rome, we planned our stops. We were able to get park to various sites. We skipped a going to the Spanish Steps, Colosseum or the Forum. We saw Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Campo de Fiori, and Piazza Narvona, We had a quick lunch, and then spent two hours going through the Vatican with a private guide. We had a good orientation to Rome. We were back to the ship by 5 PM. Our trip was expensive, but costs were shared among 6 people. A great way to make a first time visit to Rome.