What would you do?

[zeppgirl]

We have a Italy/Greece Mediterranean cruise leaving out of civitavecchia in June and are trying to plan.  We are looking at a few options and I would love to have some input.  Cruise leaves 5pm.  We will be coming from Dublin.  Options are:

1. Take an early morning flight that arrives in Rome 10:30am.  We would go straight to the port using private taxi or shuttle.  Am thinking we should be there by 1pm at the latest.  This would give us one more day in Dublin.  Negatives- if there is a delay, we are cutting it close.

2. Fly in day before, either 10:30am or 8pm.  There are only 2 direct flights so these are the options.  From here, go to port city and spend the night.  Negatives- hotel options don't look to great.  Would prefer to spend my time in Dublin.  But we would be playing it safe.

3. Fly in day before, either 10:30am or 8pm and stay in Rome proper.  Positives- playing it safe.  Negatives- a lot of back and forth since we would need to do the drive from airport to the city, then back to the port.  

 

We will be spending a few days in Rome after the cruise, so this isn't a factor for us.  Option 1 is my preference, but we usually err on the side of caution so I'm concerned.

[ColeThornton]

Option 1 is a terrible choice.  Way too close on the timing.

[tef43]

Even when driving a short distance to the port, I always book a hotel for the night before.  I prefer to decompress and take my time on embarkation day.

[trish1c]

Fly in the day before.  It's always better to be safe then sorry.  Take the later flight & stay in the not so great hotel in the port city.  At that hour you will basically be asleep any way so as long as it's safe you get a bit more time in Dublin but have a wider margin of error for boarding.  

[Seafan22]

What I would do is stay in Dublin until the evening before, take the 8:00pm flight.  Then from Rome take the train down to Civitavecchia and stay in a basic hotel - since you will arrive very late - and have a relaxed morning.  Eat breakfast in towan and then go to the port and board.  You will be much more relaxed in the morning this was.

 

Have fun!

[rachiem]

I'd take option 2 and get the 

Just now, Seafan22 said:

What I would do is stay in Dublin until the evening before, take the 8:00pm flight.  Then from Rome take the train down to Civitavecchia and stay in a basic hotel - since you will arrive very late - and have a relaxed morning.  Eat breakfast in towan and then go to the port and board.  You will be much more relaxed in the morning this was.

 

Have fun!

I would agree with this too

[casofilia]

Arrive the day before, never on the day, and spend the night at the Airport Best Western.   Use their shuttle to go to the airlort to get a shuttle or taxi to Civitavecchia the departure morning.

[zeppgirl]

I appreciate the responses!  Guess we will go the evening before!

[bluesea777]

Hotel San Giorgio in Civitavecchia offers shuttles between FCO and hotel. You need to find out if they can do evening shuttle. They also offer shuttles from hotel directly to the ship.

 

 

[hamrag]

Option 2 but, most importantly NOT option 1.

[Gershep]

Any option but number one.

[jancl57]

I agree with above....We never fly in day of.  We are on this cruise May 28.  Actually flying in 2 days early!

Enjoy!

[Joken35]

Due to a death in our family. If  we didn’t, want to cancel the cruise we had no option but to meet it at the port. We flew from EWR to England to catch  our cruise in Southampton. Out flight was delayed !!! 
It was a mess trying to get to the ship on time. Fortunately for us.,Princess cruise line was aware  of our situation and held the ship for almost an hour. MY H was on the phone with the, almost the entire ride from the airport, This Treatment was above  and beyond  what Princess  had to do,, Had this been just a delayed flight, no way would they have waited. 
GO IN THE NIGHT BEFORE!

 

 

[complawyer]

things to consider: if you arrive in rome at 10:30, figure at last half hour to 45 minutes to get your luggage. it takes about an hour plus to get from rome airport to the port. ncl insists you be on the ship not later than 2 hrs before sailing. which means 3:00 it might be cutting it close if there is a problem, but i would go with option 1. also you can call ncl and make arrangements to be picked up at rome airport on one of their shuttles. i believe it's $60 per person. hope this helped . bon voyage!

[XuGator]

This is a no brainer. Fly in the day before (morning flight) and stay in Rome proper. You get a full day and night in one of the best cities in the world. Then take private or train to port in the morning. Traveling in and out of the city is pretty easy and even though you are spending time after the cruise - it might be pouring down rain then. This is even more important if its your first time in Rome

Edited February 12, 2020 by XuGator

[schmoopie17]

I'm surprised nobody has reminded you about jet lag...especially if flying in the day of your cruise. Flying in a day or two before the cruise allows you to adjust to the local time and make the most of your first cruise day.

[zeppgirl]

19 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I'm surprised nobody has reminded you about jet lag...especially if flying in the day of your cruise. Flying in a day or two before the cruise allows you to adjust to the local time and make the most of your first cruise day.

I wish I could delete the post because I got my answer, but we will fly in the night before and stay at at hotel at the port.

 

We wouldn't have jet lag because we're going to Dublin for a few days before the cruise (flying from Dublin to Rome), but that is a valid point for those coming from farther away.

[KeithJenner]

I would fly in the evening before.

 

We arrived at Rome in the evening recently the day before the cruise. We stayed at the Airport Hilton, which is walkable from the terminal, and to the train station (if you would like to take the train to the port). More likely you would get a transfer direct from the hotel to the port on the morning of the cruise.

Edited February 12, 2020 by KeithJenner

[KeithJenner]

28 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I'm surprised nobody has reminded you about jet lag...especially if flying in the day of your cruise. Flying in a day or two before the cruise allows you to adjust to the local time and make the most of your first cruise day.

The time difference between Dublin and Rome is one hour.

[Travelling2Some]

Here's a third choice:  Take the morning flight from Dublin the day before.  There are very nice hotels near FCO and you can use the rest of the day to visit the ruins of Ostia Antica, which are also right in the same town as the airport.  The next morning take any of the many shuttle services to the port.  (We have used Stefano's Rome Cabs several times and highly recommend them.)

[schmoopie17]

10 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

The time difference between Dublin and Rome is one hour.

 

I understand that. I missed the part where it said they were coming from Dublin.