Civitavecchia. A good impression.

[PTCruizer]

So I have to write this review while it is still fresh in my mind. I’m settling into bed the night before our Med cruise on the Celebrity Edge. In researching where to stay prior to our cruise from Civitavecchia, I saw many posts that were not very complimentary to this port town. While I was concerned, I found some positive reviews that mentioned certain B&B’s and restaurants that gave me encouragement to plan our pre-cruise night in Civitavecchia.

 

A bit of our experience for your reference. We are in our 50’s and cruise fairly often. Once or twice a year at least. This is our third cruise in the Med. We prefer Celebrity but have never had a bad cruise on any of the lines we’ve sailed. We are adventurous to a fault sometimes. At least I am. My saint of a wife goes along with me despite her reservations. I tend to research the Dickens out of everything before making any commitments and that can be frustrating to my wife at times. Although, she is a planner in her profession. Go figure. 

 

So for this trip we were flying standby thanks to my son who works for American Airlines. The number one rule of flying standby is to leave early and be flexible. Seeing that we were not going to have any luck getting into Rome, we decided to fly to Milan. We left on a Tuesday for a Saturday sailing. Just to make sure we would make it. We were fortunate and made the first available flight to Milan. Not knowing where or when we would be going, we had no reservations for where we would stay once we got to Italy. So once we were confirmed for Milan, the question was, “where do we stay for three nights pre-cruise? 

 

Having been to Rome before and wanting to have a quieter stay we decided to forego the city and opted to stay in Lucca. More on Lucca at a later time. However, if you’ve never been before, you have to check into it. We don’t like getting to our port town the day of the cruise so despite the unflattering reviews in generaI for the city, I booked us at the Fuori Dal Porto B&B in Civitavecchia for one night prior to sailing. This B&B had great reviews that are well deserved. We travelled from Lucca to Civitavecchia by train, four hours by the way, and were met at the station by Ugo who drove us to the B&B. 

 

The Fuori Dal Porto B&B is a modern, well run inn. There are only five rooms so the personal attention is high. Ugo took great care of us and gave us all the necessary information to enjoy our short stay in Civitavecchia. We could not find anything negative about the room at all.  As for the town. We walked down the seafront and dined at Di Vitale. The food was good and reasonably priced. The wine that came with the pre-fix menu was nothing special but it was a good accompaniment to the meal. After dinner we wanted to purchase a couple of bottles of wine to bring on the cruise so we found our way to “Wine Experience Enoteca”. Having already eaten, we decided to sit inside and have a glass of wine before purchasing a couple of bottles to bring back to our room. They were doing a very brisk business outside on the patio. Well one glass turned into a few glasses and we spent a couple of wonderful hours talking with the proprietor Antonio. Both of our children are working in the wine industry so we had a lot in common. Antonio was an absolute pleasure to speak with. He brought us different wines to try and complimented them with different bites from the kitchen. His knowledge of wine and the food pairings was remarkable. At the end of the evening we chose two bottles for our cruise and strolled back to our room very full and extremely satisfied. 

 

The bottom line is this. We had a wonderful night in Civitavecchia before our cruise. We found a great B&B to stay at and some good food and an awesome wine experience. Do your research and be willing to see the positive in all your experiences. You’ll find that you will be glad you did. Remember, it not always about the destination, but the journey. 

 

[LTC]

Hi PTCruizer,

We are spending 2 nights in Civitavecchia before our cruise in September so was quite interested in reading your post. We are also staying at the Fuori Dal Porto and was glad to read that you liked the B&B and Civitavecchia. We will certainly go to Wine Experience Enoteca, sounds like you had a wonderful experience there.

[Scubadoobie2]

Thank you, PTCruizer, for that nice review.  You remind me of us. I am the compulsive researcher and planner.  My wife, not at all.  My rationale for the way I am is this:  Vacations are relatively rare.  I want to make them as good as they can be. That means no major glitches or disappointments, less vacation stress and more opportunity to just enjoy the events.  Besides, as the planner I get to plan what I like (though I do ask for wifey's input, of course). 

 

My wife is a flight attendant.  So, we will be flying standby to Italy, hopefully to Venice a few days ahead of the cruise departure date.  We last cruised the Med in 2013, with out two young adult children.  We also flew into Milan because flights to Rome did not appear good for standbys.  But, that Milan entry afforded us the pleasure of our first high speed train ride in Europe. 

 

We, too, get to Civitavecchia the day BEFORE the cruise.  Much more relaxed that way.  I will look into dinner at Di Vitale.  Take care.  Again, thanks.  

[hun]

Thanks so much for this post PTCruizer! I’ve been researching for one night in Civitavecchia before our May cruise and had the same sense from other posts.  It’s always good to hear recent positive experiences and I just booked Fuori dal Porto as well!