Embarkation Time - Civitavecchia . - Meraviglia

[CCJack]

We just received our cruise documents for Dec 23rd embarkation and they indicate you cannot check in until 14:30.   Has anyone recently sailed on MSC out of Civitavecchia - I was hoping to arrive earlier.  Not sure how strict they are on this.  thank you.

 

[hamrag]

The ship is scheduled to arrive 7am....you will be able to board anytime from 10.30am, simply ignore the time shown on your documents.

[Tapi]

We just returned from the Meraviglia on Sunday. We arrived at the port around 2:30pm (not because of  the notice on our paperwork, but because we wanted to enjoy our morning in Rome) . They were calling group #22 when we arrived so needless to say, check-in had been in progress for a while. The terminal was pretty packed and the line long. We had the Aurea Experience so thankfully we were able to bypass the line since we had priority embarkation. Once onboard, an MSC employee swiped our card on a  handheld device as we board and informed us that our stateroom was ready. Pretty fast and efficient process.

 

By the way, arrivals/departure times at all port of calls varied from what appeared on our paper itinerary, including the posted 7:00am return time to Civitavecchia. It was changed to 8:00am which for us was a source of stress since we had an 11:25am flight home. Just giving you a heads up in case you have an early flight home as well. 

[Jimbo59]

For anyone recently off Meraviglia: What time did Meraviglia arrive at Civitavecchia? The scheduled arrival is 7:00 AM.

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, Jimbo59 said:

For anyone recently off Meraviglia: What time did Meraviglia arrive at Civitavecchia? The scheduled arrival is 7:00 AM.

It arrived at 8:00am. And the front desk agent who I spoke to said that the ship always arrives in Civitavecchia at 8:00am so she’s didnt know why my paperwork showed 7:00am. But the other people who we spoke to waiting in line to get off the ship said that their itinerary also stated 7:00am.

 

This was a recurring theme all week long. Our arrival and departure times at every single stop was off by +/- 1 hour. Sometimes later, sometimes earlier. 

[Jimbo59]

The MSC website shows 7:00 am

[BK&JK]

On 11/29/2018 at 9:20 AM, Tapi said:

We just returned from the Meraviglia on Sunday. We arrived at the port around 2:30pm (not because of  the notice on our paperwork, but because we wanted to enjoy our morning in Rome) . They were calling group #22 when we arrived so needless to say, check-in had been in progress for a while. The terminal was pretty packed and the line long. We had the Aurea Experience so thankfully we were able to bypass the line since we had priority embarkation. Once onboard, an MSC employee swiped our card on a  handheld device as we board and informed us that our stateroom was ready. Pretty fast and efficient process.

 

By the way, arrivals/departure times at all port of calls varied from what appeared on our paper itinerary, including the posted 7:00am return time to Civitavecchia. It was changed to 8:00am which for us was a source of stress since we had an 11:25am flight home. Just giving you a heads up in case you have an early flight home as well. 

Did you make the flight?  I have an 11:15 returning flight.  Also did you use a certain car service and would you recommend?

[Tapi]

2 hours ago, BK&JK said:

Did you make the flight?  I have an 11:15 returning flight.  Also did you use a certain car service and would you recommend?

Yes! We made the flight! I asked at the reception if we could do self-assist debarkation and they said yes. We went to the debarkation point (located right on the Galleria Meraviglia) about one hour prior to our arrival expecting a long line of passengers, but only about 20-30 passengers total showed up. We were second in line. 

 

We were cleared to disembark about 15 minutes after we docked and we were outside the terminal 5 minutes later. No customs getting off the ship in Civitavecchia. We made private car arrangements through Stefano’s Rome Cabs and prepaid using PayPal. Our driver was waiting outside with a little sign and she escorted us to our car parked 20 feet away. We made it to the airport about 9:10am. 

 

We were traveling with small children so we had to stand in the much longer pre-departure customs line, but if everybody in your group is an adult, you can proceed to an expedited line. But even with this, we were at our gate with about an hour to spare. 

 

I have a detailed review in the members review section if you’re interested in more information, both about disembarkation and the cruise in general. I’ll also be glad to answer other questions!

[BK&JK]

@Tapi Thank You So Much!  You're experience alleviated my only stress about my travel plans.  I'll take your suggestions.  Also, thanks for mentioning your experience with Stefano's.  I read their reviews on TA and I feel confident that they will be well worth the expense for the peace of mind you shared.  I'm going to go read your review with a touch of anticipation.  I appreciate the info so much!!!  If I have any other questions, I'll take you up on the offer!  Grazie

[Tapi]

6 hours ago, BK&JK said:

@Tapi Thank You So Much!  You're experience alleviated my only stress about my travel plans.  I'll take your suggestions.  Also, thanks for mentioning your experience with Stefano's.  I read their reviews on TA and I feel confident that they will be well worth the expense for the peace of mind you shared.  I'm going to go read your review with a touch of anticipation.  I appreciate the info so much!!!  If I have any other questions, I'll take you up on the offer!  Grazie

Hey, here’s a link to the review. Have a great cruise!

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=640575