Excursion question 're Rome

[SteelerBaggy]

Hi all

Considering the 'Classical sights and Vatican City' excursion whilst on the Discovery 2 in August, is it worth It?

 

Feels expensive but then does this include entrance to sights?

 

Cheers all

[Pensioncruiser]

All excursions are expensive to Rome as the port is about 2 hours transfer. Sorry don't know about that particular trip but they are all good. 

[kruzseeka]

If you read the excursion description very carefully it should indicate whether sights are just viewed from the coach, or from outside or if entrance is included.  If they don't mention visiting an attraction, I think its fair to assume anything else is seen from outside - either from the coach, or at best a short photo stop.

 

It seems to me from this description that you do have tickets for the Museum (Sistine Chapel) but it specifically says on the bottom line of 'Just so you know' that the morning of the tour is spent on the coach.  Given the size of Rome and the number of sights they say you will see, you couldn't possibly be visiting all of them.  It would take the best part of the morning to do the Colosseum alone.  Given the travel time and time for lunch, even a 10 hour excursion couldn't include visits to several sights.

 

https://www.tui.co.uk/cruise/excursion/overview/-991833

 

We find in a place like Rome, we prefer not to have lunch provided as it seems with a party to take so much time out of the day.   We just get something to suit us wherever.  Unless you really want the Sistine Chapel visit (which you could do by pre-booking on line anyway) have you thought about the Hoho bus? 

 

We generally do the Rome on Your own excursion (still have the security of doing a ship's trip so if the coach is late back they will wait for you) and decide where we will target to spend our time.  The HOHO would give you the overview with commentary and you can get off anywhere where you think you want to spend more time. Especially if it's a nice day, you get much better views from the top of the bus than from a coach too. 

Whatever you decide, enjoy your visit.  

 

https://roma.city-tour.com/en

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by kruzseeka

[SteelerBaggy]

Thank you kruzseeka, that makes an awful lot of sense.

[Broughton]

Been to Rome twice previously, both from cruise ships although not Marella. Did Rome On Your Own both times but never went into the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum. Going with Marella this year first week in September and was also thinking of doing the  'Classical sights and Vatican City' excursion as we definitely want to visit them this time. The thinking was that having the pre-booked tickets and being on an official tour it may be faster to get in rather than stand in a long queue. 

Does anyone know whether if we buy tickets on-line, rather than through Marella,  it would speed up entry ? If so Rome On Your Own would become our preferred option.

[kruzseeka]

We used tickitaly for timed tickets into the Colosseum.  We were able to walk past the queue.  They sell Vatican Museum tickets too.

 

I've just read on another site where someone was asking for advice about how good tickitaly is,  and there were some negative reviews.  Someone replied by suggesting booking direct with the Vatican site.  I can't recommend a particular ticketing site but I've found the link for the Vatican site for you.  You select a date and a time and it does say you skip the line.  Would be worth doing a bit of research.   

 

I would give yourself a good margin when committing to a time.  The roads in Rome are very busy and it's slow going once you hit the city.  We were there last month on a Rome on Your Own trip and the coach drop off was close to the Forum which is a good step from the Vatican.  So allowing for travel time plus time to get to the Vatican I wouldn't book a ticket too early. 

 

Another thought - does the ship do a train transfer to Rome?  We could have done that - it wasn't much difference in price BUT the train drops you near St Peter's so you are in the right vicinity for the Vatican so you don't need to cross the city.  Also, the train is more likely to stick to time as it won't get stuck in traffic!  

 

https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking

[Broughton]

Thanks for the very comprehensive reply Kruzseeka. There is  train option but it looks like it is only part of a bigger excursion and does not include tickets for the Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museum. It is also £126 per head which is a bit expensive given that there are no entry tickets.

I've had a look at the link you have provided and the on-line ticketing option looks good especially if it as it says you will skip the queues. Will have a further look at this option start of July as it says you can book them 2 months in advance. Then will decide whether to go on the bus tour or do Rome On Your Own.

[kruzseeka]

2 hours ago, Broughton said:

Thanks for the very comprehensive reply Kruzseeka. There is  train option but it looks like it is only part of a bigger excursion and does not include tickets for the Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museum. It is also £126 per head which is a bit expensive given that there are no entry tickets.

I've had a look at the link you have provided and the on-line ticketing option looks good especially if it as it says you will skip the queues. Will have a further look at this option start of July as it says you can book them 2 months in advance. Then will decide whether to go on the bus tour or do Rome On Your Own.

 

That's a pity - it's obviously a different excursion which includes more.  I've seen those excursions in the past and they are expensive.  But this year I noticed that P&O were offering a 'Shuttle and Roma' train transfer which I'd not seen before.  It was £46 as opposed to the coach 'Rome on Your Own' transfer which was £40.  I remembered there wasn't a deal of difference in the price as we certainly wouldn't have considered it at £126 so I've just looked it up again.  We debated which to take but as we didn't especially want to go to St Peter's as we'd been before, we elected to take the transfer which would drop us nearer the sites we were most interested in visiting on this trip.  That train transfer option would have been just right for you, but I can see that the one they are offering is very expensive (probably includes lunch too) but doesn't give you entry to where you want to go.

Hope it all works out well for you. 

[Broughton]

Thanks Kruzekka. You input and advice is much appreciated.

[Tayscot]

We have been to Rome on a cruise 3 times. Once we took an organised ship tour to Viterbo and other local towns (avoiding Rome altogether) which was reasonable value but we have baulked at the cost of trips to Rome. On the other two occasions we took the train ourselves into Rome and encountered no problems at all. The ship docked 7.00 to 19.00 both times and bearing in mind the situation if you were to miss the boat, literally, by leaving it too late to return to the ship we took an early train in c 08.00 and returned on a train no later than 15.00 and were back on the ship with 2.5 hours to spare. On the first occasion we got off the train at the Vatican stop and had climbed to the top of the Cupola by around 09.30. A walk to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and the Forum left us tired enough to enjoy the early train back to Civitavecchia. The second time we toured the Forum to a larger extent, took in the Colosseum, had lunch and returned on the same early train. The cost was less than 10 euros each for the return rail fare which included metro travel in Rome. For those fit enough to get to the station ( it is a fair walk from the dock entrance) I would recommend such a trip BUT remember the early return times to be on the safe side. After 4 or 5 hours walking in a hot city you will welcome an early train back. Most cruise lines have transport from the ship (sometimes quite far out on the long quay at Civitavecchia) but often don't start early enough for the 08.00 train. Check this out with the cruise line. On both occasions we walked from the ship all the way to the train station and depending on the berth this can be a long trek of 45 mins or so.

[kruzseeka]

More recently we have found that you have to take the shuttle out of the port as it has been greatly extended and they don't allow you to walk to the fort at the port entrance.   But instead of dropping you off there they now take you off left to a car park/ bus station which is in the opposite direction to the train station.  Whether it's possible to walk from there or best to take a taxi, I'm not sure but it's definitely much further away than the port entrance.  Perhaps it would be an idea to check with Destination Services exactly where the drop off is in relation to the station.

 

I agree that it's important to factor in plenty of time for the return journey.  We once went just before 3pm to S. Pietro and when the train doors opened, I thought it would be impossible to get on but the pressure from behind propelled us forward.  It was a double decker train and I managed to squeeze up the stairs where it appeared there was a little more standing room.  But I lost my other half and wasn't even sure he had got on!  It was absolutely packed and we had to stand for most of the journey.  There were a lot of upper school age children on board most of whom travelled back to Civitavecchia.  We resolved to go to the Terminii to catch a train back in future to be sure we could get on - I think there are two or three stops before S. Pietro.  We might have been unlucky just pitching for a time when the school/college students were making their way home but perhaps something to bear in mind.  If travelling during school holidays presumably there wouldn't be so much pressure on the trains - or try an earlier or later service.  Our experience un-nerved us such that we've used the ship's transfer since then. The scheduled trains are certainly a lot cheaper though.

[Tayscot]

On 6/12/2019 at 6:05 PM, kruzseeka said:

More recently we have found that you have to take the shuttle out of the port as it has been greatly extended and they don't allow you to walk to the fort at the port entrance.   But instead of dropping you off there they now take you off left to a car park/ bus station which is in the opposite direction to the train station.  Whether it's possible to walk from there or best to take a taxi, I'm not sure but it's definitely much further away than the port entrance.  Perhaps it would be an idea to check with Destination Services exactly where the drop off is in relation to the station.

 

I agree that it's important to factor in plenty of time for the return journey.  We once went just before 3pm to S. Pietro and when the train doors opened, I thought it would be impossible to get on but the pressure from behind propelled us forward.  It was a double decker train and I managed to squeeze up the stairs where it appeared there was a little more standing room.  But I lost my other half and wasn't even sure he had got on!  It was absolutely packed and we had to stand for most of the journey.  There were a lot of upper school age children on board most of whom travelled back to Civitavecchia.  We resolved to go to the Terminii to catch a train back in future to be sure we could get on - I think there are two or three stops before S. Pietro.  We might have been unlucky just pitching for a time when the school/college students were making their way home but perhaps something to bear in mind.  If travelling during school holidays presumably there wouldn't be so much pressure on the trains - or try an earlier or later service.  Our experience un-nerved us such that we've used the ship's transfer since then. The scheduled trains are certainly a lot cheaper though.

 

 

That's interesting. Thanks for the info. We are back in Civitavecchia again in September and haven't thought of what to do yet. Is the port shuttle run by the port authority or the ship and is it free? With a fairly busy two week cruise and only one sea day each week we are tempted to have a quiet day on the ship relaxing. Ports where it is easy to walk off the ship directly into town are much more our preference rather that the Civitavecchia/Livorno type where port shuttles are required!

[kruzseeka]

5 hours ago, Tayscot said:

 

 

That's interesting. Thanks for the info. We are back in Civitavecchia again in September and haven't thought of what to do yet. Is the port shuttle run by the port authority or the ship and is it free? With a fairly busy two week cruise and only one sea day each week we are tempted to have a quiet day on the ship relaxing. Ports where it is easy to walk off the ship directly into town are much more our preference rather that the Civitavecchia/Livorno type where port shuttles are required!

We went on the 'Rome on Your Own' ship's excursion so were picked up dockside.  The previous time we were there iirc we took the port shuttle out to this car park/ bus station area.  I feel sure it was provided by the port authority as you weren't allowed to walk - or so we were told. Since it's now much extended its not a walk I'd fancy although going back quite a lot of years ago, we always walked out of the port to the fort at the entrance then headed right to the train station.  Once at the drop off point, it was easy to wander into town or the seafront.  When we stayed in Civitavecchia we had a stroll along the waterfront, stopp3d for a drink and just had a leisurely day.