Why Civitavecchia embarkation is totally awesome

[alaskawdw12]

We just finished our amazing vacation on the Symphony on Thursday. I plan on writing a review, but I wanted to first post separately about boarding in Civitavecchia because I searched for as much info on the subject as I could before we went on this cruise.

 

Anyone who noticed my previous threads on the subject knows I was pretty anxious and worried. I would like to take this opportunity to calm anyone else’s nerves - boarding in Civitavecchia is totally awesome and (IMOHP) the way to go.

 

There were 1,200 passengers who boarded in Civitavecchia out of a total of 6,700 passengers onboard. So we were very much in the minority. Here is what makes this so awesome:

 

1. Boarding is the easiest thing ever! We arrived at the port at 10:35. There were about 15 people there. Boarding began at 10:45 for top tiers. At 10:50 everyone was invited to check in. We were onboard, drink (juice [emoji56]) in hand, at 11:00. Thanks to recommendations I had read here we went up to our room to ask if we could leave our carry ons on the balcony. Our amazing stateroom attendant Keisha said we were welcomed to go into the room since it was already ready. So already at 11:10 we were off to enjoy the ship, luggage free.

 

2. Since so few people are boarding with you you never have that hectic boarding day ambiance. Your first day onboard is super chill and relaxed, especially since most people are off exploring Rome.

 

3. Your sea day is in the beginning-middle of your cruise instead of at the end. So you get a down day in the middle of your vacation that rejuvenates you for the rest of it. Also, on sea days for some reason there are fewer activities onboard. If you’re like us and you enjoy all of the trivias and dance classes, ending your cruise with an activity-lacking slow day like that kind of ends the cruise on a sour note (this happened to us on the Allure). But if it happened in the middle of your cruise - it’s just a day to relax a little before you get back to running from activity to activity.

 

4. Barcelona embarkation day is nuts! So many people boarding at once...us Civi people definitely felt good about not being part of that craziness. It’s also pretty cool to get to walk around freely while everyone has to be at the Muster Drill.

 

5. The exciting night celebrations happen later in your cruise so they help bring hype and excitement in after you’ve already grown accustomed to the ship. The first few nights onboard you don’t need much to get excited - you’re on the biggest cruise ship in the world with shows like Hiro and Skate 2.0 going on. Then come the excitement of the balloon drop, the captain’s speech and 80’s night to give more shots of excitement as your cruise moves on.

 

6. Your last day onboard is just a regular day full of activities. There’s no “pending doom” feeling, no sadness all around, no long lines at guest services or hallways full of luggage.

 

7. Disembarkation day is so relaxed it’s crazy!! We had a lovely regular breakfast at the Slorium Bistro and then straight off the ship. No line, no nothing.

 

We never felt like second class passengers. We actually felt special! As far as we’re concerned this is the way to go. We absolutely loved it!!!!

 

A few minuses to take into account:

 

1. The website and app and other technical aspects really only recognize the Barcelona cruises. As far as the app is concerned, the Civi embarkations do not exist, so you cannot use the app at all. Also, for instance, we only received the page that listed the BW balcony perks when we were in Barcelona. I’ve also read that this affects specialty restaurant reservations. This is quite irritating considering how easy it should be to fix this.

 

2. Barcelona day is embarkation day for the vast majority of the ship. This means that, unlike Civi day, there are much fewer activities throughout the day and this comes right after a sea day with few activities, so it’s a slow day that the Barcelona people don’t experience.

 

3. Since the vast majority of the ship embarks in Barcelona most of the people you meet are going to be leaving in three days and replaced by new people. This is something to take into account especially if your kids like making friends at the kids clubs.

 

That’s all I can think of. If you have any questions I’m happy to help!

 

 

 

 

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[dani negreanu]

We just finished our amazing vacation on the Symphony on Thursday.

1. Boarding is the easiest thing ever! We arrived at the port at 10:35. There were about 15 people there. Boarding began at 10:45 for top tiers. At 10:50 everyone was invited to check in. We were onboard, drink (juice [emoji56]) in hand, at 11:00. Thanks to recommendations I had read here we went up to our room to ask if we could leave our carry ons on the balcony. Our amazing stateroom attendant Keisha said we were welcomed to go into the room since it was already ready. So already at 11:10 we were off to enjoy the ship, luggage free.

 

7. Disembarkation day is so relaxed it’s crazy!! We had a lovely regular breakfast at the Slorium Bistro and then straight off the ship. No line, no nothing.

 

We never felt like second class passengers. We actually felt special! As far as we’re concerned this is the way to go. We absolutely loved it!!!!

 

So glad you had the same lovely experience as we did when boarding at "Civi" :D

[alaskawdw12]

So glad you had the same lovely experience as we did when boarding at "Civi" :D

 

 

Thanks! Your positive posts about boarding in Civi kept me optimistic before our cruise.

 

 

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[Crazy planning mom]

We choose to board our Med cruise in Civil rather than Barcelona because of the distance from Rome to the cruise port.

Rome is over an hour ride from Civi. and has so much to see To try in see it in one day from the ship is very hard. So, we arrived 4 days early and had a chance to really appreciate Rome. Then, we boarded in Civi. Barcelona cruise port is extremely close to the city. Much easier to see in a port day.

[Jax129]

thanks for a different perspective. Most reviews about this I have seen have been negative but I think Rome is a place you need way more time in than Barcelona so it would be great to start there. I am planning my Med cruise so this is very helpful!

[kochleffel]

I agree that embarkation from Civitavecchia is easy -- IF the itinerary interports with Barcelona and most passengers board at Barcelona. I'm not sure how it would be with an itinerary that embarks only from Civitavecchia.

 

 

 

The downside is that Civitavecchia is relatively hard to get to. For me, that was offset by better flight connections from where I live to Rome than to Barcelona.

[cruisegirl1]

OP -glad you had a good experience but I suspect much of it had to do with the number of passengers boarding.

 

Two years ago we boarded the Raphsody in Dubai where 3/4 of the passengers were on the previous sailing. Boarding was simple mainly because there were so few boarding. For most of the passengers this was their last leg of a B2B or a B2B2B.

 

M

[alaska_planner]

very interesting!! such a different point of view from everything else i've read from the symphony people boarding in rome...

 

thanks for taking the time to post this!!!!!!!! :D

 

.

[Clarea]

I agree that embarkation from Civitavecchia is easy -- IF the itinerary interports with Barcelona and most passengers board at Barcelona. I'm not sure how it would be with an itinerary that embarks only from Civitavecchia.

 

 

 

The downside is that Civitavecchia is relatively hard to get to. For me, that was offset by better flight connections from where I live to Rome than to Barcelona.

Same here, Rome (FCO) also had many more flight optiosn for us from STL, compared to flight options to BCN.

[alaska_planner]

Same here, Rome (FCO) also had many more flight optiosn for us from STL, compared to flight options to BCN.

 

 

while we have lots of flight options to both, flights to barcelona are more expensive for us than to rome.

but that's offset by the cost of getting to the port in rome.

on the other hand, rome itself is more interesting to me so it's good to know getting on the symphony in rome is a good experience :)

 

.

[barb in ga]

Thanks so much for posting this! We are on the 9/27 sailing from Civitavecchia. We are spending 3 nights previous in Rome and we're really looking forward to it.

 

We decided to embark in Rome with a pre-cruise stay since there is so much to see! It's a second Italy trip for us, and the first for our traveling companions. We spent 5 days in Barcelona a few years ago, and while it's a lovely city, we felt we could hit some major highlights in the one day stop.

 

We have a driver picking us up on embarkation day, with plans to arrive at the port around10:30AM. Glad to know it will be so easy, and that we may be able to take carry-ons to the cabin.

 

I'm looking forward to your review, thanks again.

Barb

[KSull58]

We just finished our amazing vacation on the Symphony on Thursday. I plan on writing a review, but I wanted to first post separately about boarding in Civitavecchia because I searched for as much info on the subject as I could before we went on this cruise.

 

Anyone who noticed my previous threads on the subject knows I was pretty anxious and worried. I would like to take this opportunity to calm anyone else’s nerves - boarding in Civitavecchia is totally awesome and (IMOHP) the way to go.

 

There were 1,200 passengers who boarded in Civitavecchia out of a total of 6,700 passengers onboard. So we were very much in the minority. Here is what makes this so awesome:

 

1. Boarding is the easiest thing ever! We arrived at the port at 10:35. There were about 15 people there. Boarding began at 10:45 for top tiers. At 10:50 everyone was invited to check in. We were onboard, drink (juice [emoji56]) in hand, at 11:00. Thanks to recommendations I had read here we went up to our room to ask if we could leave our carry ons on the balcony. Our amazing stateroom attendant Keisha said we were welcomed to go into the room since it was already ready. So already at 11:10 we were off to enjoy the ship, luggage free.

 

2. Since so few people are boarding with you you never have that hectic boarding day ambiance. Your first day onboard is super chill and relaxed, especially since most people are off exploring Rome.

 

3. Your sea day is in the beginning-middle of your cruise instead of at the end. So you get a down day in the middle of your vacation that rejuvenates you for the rest of it. Also, on sea days for some reason there are fewer activities onboard. If you’re like us and you enjoy all of the trivias and dance classes, ending your cruise with an activity-lacking slow day like that kind of ends the cruise on a sour note (this happened to us on the Allure). But if it happened in the middle of your cruise - it’s just a day to relax a little before you get back to running from activity to activity.

 

4. Barcelona embarkation day is nuts! So many people boarding at once...us Civi people definitely felt good about not being part of that craziness. It’s also pretty cool to get to walk around freely while everyone has to be at the Muster Drill.

 

5. The exciting night celebrations happen later in your cruise so they help bring hype and excitement in after you’ve already grown accustomed to the ship. The first few nights onboard you don’t need much to get excited - you’re on the biggest cruise ship in the world with shows like Hiro and Skate 2.0 going on. Then come the excitement of the balloon drop, the captain’s speech and 80’s night to give more shots of excitement as your cruise moves on.

 

6. Your last day onboard is just a regular day full of activities. There’s no “pending doom” feeling, no sadness all around, no long lines at guest services or hallways full of luggage.

 

7. Disembarkation day is so relaxed it’s crazy!! We had a lovely regular breakfast at the Slorium Bistro and then straight off the ship. No line, no nothing.

 

We never felt like second class passengers. We actually felt special! As far as we’re concerned this is the way to go. We absolutely loved it!!!!

 

A few minuses to take into account:

 

1. The website and app and other technical aspects really only recognize the Barcelona cruises. As far as the app is concerned, the Civi embarkations do not exist, so you cannot use the app at all. Also, for instance, we only received the page that listed the BW balcony perks when we were in Barcelona. I’ve also read that this affects specialty restaurant reservations. This is quite irritating considering how easy it should be to fix this.

 

2. Barcelona day is embarkation day for the vast majority of the ship. This means that, unlike Civi day, there are much fewer activities throughout the day and this comes right after a sea day with few activities, so it’s a slow day that the Barcelona people don’t experience.

 

3. Since the vast majority of the ship embarks in Barcelona most of the people you meet are going to be leaving in three days and replaced by new people. This is something to take into account especially if your kids like making friends at the kids clubs.

 

That’s all I can think of. If you have any questions I’m happy to help!

 

 

 

 

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Do you know if the dining package was available to purchase onboard? I've read and was told when I called RCI that it will be available onboard. I'm concerned that it will only be available the first day or so from the boarding in Barcelona. The woman I spoke to on the telephone didn't even seem to understand that there was a separate boarding in Civi. Thanks for any info you may be able to provide!

[Nunagoras]

As many here say for all those coming from the USA Rome is a far more desirable city to have a longer pre or post cruise extension than Barcelona! While BCN is a lovely city and I lived there for some 2 years, Rome has simply far more to see as a once on a lifetime visit! Just to give you an idea: Save a good full day just to visit the Vatican city!... BCN is doable all in all by the most part in your cruise day by a ship excursion, private excursion or simply by using the HOHO bus that has a stop really by the cruise terminal door!...

 

 

Have a nice day!... :)

[voyager70]

As many here say for all those coming from the USA Rome is a far more desirable city to have a longer pre or post cruise extension than Barcelona! While BCN is a lovely city and I lived there for some 2 years, Rome has simply far more to see as a once on a lifetime visit! Just to give you an idea: Save a good full day just to visit the Vatican city!... BCN is doable all in all by the most part in your cruise day by a ship excursion, private excursion or simply by using the HOHO bus that has a stop really by the cruise terminal door!...

 

 

Have a nice day!... :)

 

Totally agree with you. Barcelona is fantastic but Rome is just magical. Can't even put it into words but my favorite city in the world!

[Gordo]

Thanks for sharing your experience, as what you shared will have us consider a Civitavecchia departure for a future Med cruise that also departs from Barcelona.

[DrD]

I also boarded that day and agree 100%. We spent 3 nights in Rome before cruise and 2 nights after. Lots to do!

 

I also enjoyed staying at pool with drink on Sunday when everyone else went to muster.

 

We did the stay awhile option and that also was great. We stayed on until 2. I finally got to win a prize in a game show as my boys and I were the only ones playing on last day. We were able to store luggage in card room. When we left we were off in 2 minutes.

[Wine-O]

What kind of cruise was this? Most people embarked in Barcelona, then 1200 people embarked in Civitavecchia?

 

Having embarked and disembarked in Civitavecchia, it's a huge tent, not a cruise terminal. I can't imagine embarking 6700 people there, let along disembarking that number there.

[DrD]

What kind of cruise was this? Most people embarked in Barcelona, then 1200 people embarked in Civitavecchia?

 

Having embarked and disembarked in Civitavecchia, it's a huge tent, not a cruise terminal. I can't imagine embarking 6700 people there, let along disembarking that number there.

 

It's called interporting.

 

The Western Med itinerary on Symphony can be boarded in Barcelona or Rome (Civitavecchia.) By far the most people board in Barcelona. We boarded in Civ on Thursday 7/26. Obviously you disembark in the same port a week later.

 

There is now a full terminal building in Civatavecchia.

[Wine-O]

It's called interporting.

 

The Western Med itinerary on Symphony can be boarded in Barcelona or Rome (Civitavecchia.) By far the most people board in Barcelona. We boarded in Civ on Thursday 7/26. Obviously you disembark in the same port a week later.

 

There is now a full terminal building in Civatavecchia.

 

Thanks. That's all new to me.

 

Glad to hear of the full terminal building as we will be there next Spring. At least on Celebrity in the past we had to walk from the tent to the ship in the open air to whatever elements were at the time. :)

[stanze5]

Thanks so much for posting this! We are on the 9/27 sailing from Civitavecchia. We are spending 3 nights previous in Rome and we're really looking forward to it.

 

We decided to embark in Rome with a pre-cruise stay since there is so much to see! It's a second Italy trip for us, and the first for our traveling companions. We spent 5 days in Barcelona a few years ago, and while it's a lovely city, we felt we could hit some major highlights in the one day stop.

 

We have a driver picking us up on embarkation day, with plans to arrive at the port around10:30AM. Glad to know it will be so easy, and that we may be able to take carry-ons to the cabin.

 

I'm looking forward to your review, thanks again.

Barb

Hi Barb!

We are on this same cruise. Our roll call has been so quiet.Can you tell me who you are using to get to Civi from Rome? We are hoping to go early as well. Thanks! And thanks to the original poster about your experience.

[John&LaLa]

Thanks. That's all new to me.

 

Glad to hear of the full terminal building as we will be there next Spring. At least on Celebrity in the past we had to walk from the tent to the ship in the open air to whatever elements were at the time. :)

Carnival used to interport Tampa or New Orleans. I'd love to see that option for Anthem with NJ and PC

 

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[alaskawdw12]

Hi Barb!

 

We are on this same cruise. Our roll call has been so quiet.Can you tell me who you are using to get to Civi from Rome? We are hoping to go early as well. Thanks! And thanks to the original poster about your experience.

 

 

We used Civitavecchia Cab Service. They were absolutely fantastic! We chose the shared shuttle option. It was a total of 65 Euros for both of us (DH and I). We ended up having our own private shuttle to the port and then a shared shuttle with two women going to the same hotel as us on the way back. Both drivers arrived early, were very friendly and spoke English.

 

 

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[DrD]

We used Civitavecchia Cab Service. They were absolutely fantastic! We chose the shared shuttle option. It was a total of 65 Euros for both of us (DH and I). We ended up having our own private shuttle to the port and then a shared shuttle with two women going to the same hotel as us on the way back. Both drivers arrived early, were very friendly and spoke English.

 

 

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We used Bob’s limo. For our group of 3 it was 139 euro each way. Driver early each time.

[tsgarp83]

Thank you for this post. We're booked on Oasis in June 2019, boarding in Civitavecchia, with the same Barcelona interport itinerary. We'll be staying in Rome for 5 days after the cruise.

[alaskawdw12]

We just finished our amazing vacation on the Symphony on Thursday. I plan on writing a review, but I wanted to first post separately about boarding in Civitavecchia because I searched for as much info on the subject as I could before we went on this cruise.

 

 

 

Anyone who noticed my previous threads on the subject knows I was pretty anxious and worried. I would like to take this opportunity to calm anyone else’s nerves - boarding in Civitavecchia is totally awesome and (IMOHP) the way to go.

 

 

 

There were 1,200 passengers who boarded in Civitavecchia out of a total of 6,700 passengers onboard. So we were very much in the minority. Here is what makes this so awesome:

 

 

 

1. Boarding is the easiest thing ever! We arrived at the port at 10:35. There were about 15 people there. Boarding began at 10:45 for top tiers. At 10:50 everyone was invited to check in. We were onboard, drink (juice [emoji56]) in hand, at 11:00. Thanks to recommendations I had read here we went up to our room to ask if we could leave our carry ons on the balcony. Our amazing stateroom attendant Keisha said we were welcomed to go into the room since it was already ready. So already at 11:10 we were off to enjoy the ship, luggage free.

 

 

 

2. Since so few people are boarding with you you never have that hectic boarding day ambiance. Your first day onboard is super chill and relaxed, especially since most people are off exploring Rome.

 

 

 

3. Your sea day is in the beginning-middle of your cruise instead of at the end. So you get a down day in the middle of your vacation that rejuvenates you for the rest of it. Also, on sea days for some reason there are fewer activities onboard. If you’re like us and you enjoy all of the trivias and dance classes, ending your cruise with an activity-lacking slow day like that kind of ends the cruise on a sour note (this happened to us on the Allure). But if it happened in the middle of your cruise - it’s just a day to relax a little before you get back to running from activity to activity.

 

 

 

4. Barcelona embarkation day is nuts! So many people boarding at once...us Civi people definitely felt good about not being part of that craziness. It’s also pretty cool to get to walk around freely while everyone has to be at the Muster Drill.

 

 

 

5. The exciting night celebrations happen later in your cruise so they help bring hype and excitement in after you’ve already grown accustomed to the ship. The first few nights onboard you don’t need much to get excited - you’re on the biggest cruise ship in the world with shows like Hiro and Skate 2.0 going on. Then come the excitement of the balloon drop, the captain’s speech and 80’s night to give more shots of excitement as your cruise moves on.

 

 

 

6. Your last day onboard is just a regular day full of activities. There’s no “pending doom” feeling, no sadness all around, no long lines at guest services or hallways full of luggage.

 

 

 

7. Disembarkation day is so relaxed it’s crazy!! We had a lovely regular breakfast at the Slorium Bistro and then straight off the ship. No line, no nothing.

 

 

 

We never felt like second class passengers. We actually felt special! As far as we’re concerned this is the way to go. We absolutely loved it!!!!

 

 

 

A few minuses to take into account:

 

 

 

1. The website and app and other technical aspects really only recognize the Barcelona cruises. As far as the app is concerned, the Civi embarkations do not exist, so you cannot use the app at all. Also, for instance, we only received the page that listed the BW balcony perks when we were in Barcelona. I’ve also read that this affects specialty restaurant reservations. This is quite irritating considering how easy it should be to fix this.

 

 

 

2. Barcelona day is embarkation day for the vast majority of the ship. This means that, unlike Civi day, there are much fewer activities throughout the day and this comes right after a sea day with few activities, so it’s a slow day that the Barcelona people don’t experience.

 

 

 

3. Since the vast majority of the ship embarks in Barcelona most of the people you meet are going to be leaving in three days and replaced by new people. This is something to take into account especially if your kids like making friends at the kids clubs.

 

 

 

That’s all I can think of. If you have any questions I’m happy to help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Do you know if the dining package was available to purchase onboard? I've read and was told when I called RCI that it will be available onboard. I'm concerned that it will only be available the first day or so from the boarding in Barcelona. The woman I spoke to on the telephone didn't even seem to understand that there was a separate boarding in Civi. Thanks for any info you may be able to provide!

 

 

Yeah, the phone reps are really bad...I called to ask about the Stay Awhile option. He had no idea what I was talking about and then was confused about the interporting, so he just said it wasn’t being offered (it was...).

 

I’m sorry, I can’t help with the dining package because we weren’t interested so I wasn’t paying attention. I know they had guys set up on the first day (in Civi) selling drink packages, so I assume they were selling dining packages as well. But you can post a thread to ask, I’m sure others will be more helpful [emoji4].

 

 

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