HAL Excursion- On your own- Train to Rome

[Hellokelly76]

I have this excursion booked on Saturday June 3rd.  The description says departure time is 815 am and that we are taken by private coach to the train station for a 60 minute train ride to St. Peter's station.

If anyone has taken this excursion can you tell me...

A.  What time the train actually arrived at the St. Peter's station in the morning?

and

B.  What time they asked you to return to the station to get on a train back to the port?

Trying to buy skip the line tickets but need times first.

[YXU AC*SE]

(A).  It is 43 - 60 mins give-or-take to Stazione di Roma S.Pietro depending on your departure time.  Depending on how fast the HAL herd is on you tour, you could meet an 08h42, 08h54, or 09h07 departure from Civitavecchia into Rome, which would put your arrival time at Roma San Pietro at 09h25, 09h54, or 10h00 at the latest. The 08h54 departure has a 1h0m transit time.  It's about a ten-minute walk or so to St Peter's Square. 

 

(B).   Returns vary -- assuming you're on Oosterdam with a scheduled 19h00 departure, I expect your all aboard time will be 18h00 - 18h30.  Working backwards you would have four likely departures (16h02, 16h32, 16h43, or 17h02) -- there is no boarding formality - you simply walk onto the platform a few minutes before the scheduled arrival of your train.  Corresponding arrival times would be 17h05, 17h13, 17h20, and 18h05 -- which might be a bit too tight on time)   So I wouldn't pre-book anything before 10h30, nor past say 15h00 (assuming 90 or so minutes at your venue) to allow you time to get to the station. 

 

Unasked (C).   There is a free shuttle from the ship to Largo della Pace at the port entrance -- from there it is a 12 min walk or so to Stazione Civitavecchia.  Return train fare is €9.20 ($10.12USD or $13.60CAD) so compare and contrast what the value of your tour cost is.   You can research / book tickets here:  https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html.    Scott. 

Edited April 12, 2023 by YXU AC*SE

[Hellokelly76]

6 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

(A).  It is 53 mins give-or-take to Stazione di Roma S.Pietro. Depending on how fast the HAL herd is on you tour, you could meet an 08h42, 08h54, or 09h07 departure from Civitavecchia into Rome, which would put your arrival time at Roma San Pietro at 09h25, 09h54, or 10h00 at the latest.  It's about a ten minute walk or so to St Peter's Square. 

 

(B).   Returns vary -- assuming you're on Oosterdam with a scheduled 19h00 departure, I expect your all aboard time will be 18h00 - 18h30.  Working backwards you would have four likely departures (16h02, 16h32, 16h43, or 17h02) -- there is no boarding formality - you simply walk onto the platform a few minutes before the scheduled arrival of your train.  Corresponding arrival times would be 17h05, 17h13, 17h20, and 18h05 -- which might be a bit too tight on time)  

 

Unasked (C).   There is a free shuttle from the ship to Largo della Pace at the port entrance -- from there it is a 12 min walk or so to Stazione Civitavecchia.  Return train fare is €9.20 ($10.12USD or $13.60CAD) so compare and contrast what the value of your tour cost is.   You can research / book tickets here:  https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html.    Scott. 

Thanks.  Yes it is a HAL excursion on the Oosterdam.  I am only using it because I had an excursion credit and this is the only thing I could find it to use it on since I found better tours in all the ports elswhere and cheaper.  But I may cancel and just do the train on my own as it looks cheaper and will save me some time in Rome if we do it on our own.

[YXU AC*SE]

As much as I like my fellow HAL-igans, some are not very fleet of foot, and I loathe hurry up and wait.  Oosterdam is in port for 07h, and it's very likely you could hit an 08h01 train, and be at Roma S.Pietro for 08h54 and get a jump on the day.  I'm saving my HIA for airport transfers -- knowing I will leave some money on the table.     Enjoy your cruise.     Scott.  

[Hellokelly76]

8 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

As much as I like my fellow HAL-igans, some are not very fleet of foot, and I loathe hurry up and wait.  Oosterdam is in port for 07h, and it's very likely you could hit an 08h01 train, and be at Roma S.Pietro for 08h54 and get a jump on the day.  I'm saving my HIA for airport transfers -- knowing I will leave some money on the table.     Enjoy your cruise.     Scott.  

You as well.  But I just did see in the fine print of the Venice Marco Polo airport transfer that it is not eligible for the HIA redemption.  Not sure of which transfers you are looking at but check the fine print for sure.

[loveheart]

It's straightforward to get to the train station and cheap to buy a return ticket yourself. We always used to take the ships excursions but we're more adventurous these days and try out stuff on our own sometimes. 

We always make sure we leave plenty of time to return to the ship.

[Vict0riann]

1 hour ago, YXU AC*SE said:

As much as I like my fellow HAL-igans, some are not very fleet of foot, and I loathe hurry up and wait.  Oosterdam is in port for 07h, and it's very likely you could hit an 08h01 train, and be at Roma S.Pietro for 08h54 and get a jump on the day.  I'm saving my HIA for airport transfers -- knowing I will leave some money on the table.     Enjoy your cruise.     Scott.  

Also here on Rotterdam, we were told we could only use our HIA excursion credit for airport transfers if they included a tour.

[3rdGenCunarder]

33 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Also here on Rotterdam, we were told we could only use our HIA excursion credit for airport transfers if they included a tour.

 

Seriously?? Oh, come on HAL, give us a break! I thought that would be a good way to use HIA shorex credit if an excursion I booked got cancelled too late to replace it, as happened to me in January. I "left money on the table" on that cruise because of the cancelled tour. 

[YXU AC*SE]

2 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Also here on Rotterdam, we were told we could only use our HIA excursion credit for airport transfers if they included a tour.

Good to know.  Thanks.   Regardless, I  f u l l y  aspire to maximize my HIA value in the Ocean Bar, much to the detriment of my CCL share ownership.  I'm on vacation after all, and on a Rotterdam westbound TA, so my port stops will be limited !!   😛.     Scott. 

Edited April 12, 2023 by YXU AC*SE

[Torquer]

@Hellokelly76If this is your first time in Rome I would strongly urge you to pay the extra money for a guided tour, than try to do it on your own.  There is so much to see in Rome, you really want to optimize the few hours you have there.  If you try it on your own, you will spend a lot of time waiting for busses and trains, and a guide will be able to tell you a lot of history of the city.  We very seldom use HAL excursions, but our first time in Rome we did and felt it was very much worth the extra money we paid.  That was about 10 years, and today, we would probably use a private guided tour, rather than HAL, but either way you will see much more than you could on your own.  BTW, after that visit on a 1-day port stop, a few years later we spend 3 days exploring Rome on our own after our cruise ended in Civitavecchia and still didn't see nearly everything.

[CruiserBruce]

10 hours ago, Torquer said:

@Hellokelly76If this is your first time in Rome I would strongly urge you to pay the extra money for a guided tour, than try to do it on your own.  There is so much to see in Rome, you really want to optimize the few hours you have there.  If you try it on your own, you will spend a lot of time waiting for busses and trains, and a guide will be able to tell you a lot of history of the city.  We very seldom use HAL excursions, but our first time in Rome we did and felt it was very much worth the extra money we paid.  That was about 10 years, and today, we would probably use a private guided tour, rather than HAL, but either way you will see much more than you could on your own.  BTW, after that visit on a 1-day port stop, a few years later we spend 3 days exploring Rome on our own after our cruise ended in Civitavecchia and still didn't see nearly everything.

Couldn't agree more.

[mahi mahi]

I second that....have done it both ways.  First time took the train on our own, 2nd time booked a tour with Rome in Limo which was excellent. We were 4 couples in a roomy van that whisked us into the centre of Rome (first stop was washroom right by Pantheon).  Guide booked a private guide for the Vatican that allowed us to skip the line.  We were able to hit all the highlights in one day and never felt rushed.

Can't say the same for our first time doing it on our own with the stress of worrying about train schedules (and strikes!) not to mention finding our way around all those confusing streets!

[Iamthesea]

We have been to Rome many times by land and sea.  During one cruise (4th visit to Rome), we walked to the train station in Civitavecchia and took the fast train to Rome on-our-own. Once we got to the train station in Rome, we walked down to St. Peters Square.  Took about 5 minutes.  We arrived just in time to see the Pope's Papal service. This was not planned, and a once in a lifetime unexpected experience.

 

After the service ended, we hailed a cab and asked the driver to take us to several stops that we had mapped out.  The cost was very reasonable, and the driver had a ball with us and our wacky itinerary!!!  We visited places that we had not been to, and places that we wanted to see again.  With the exception of going inside St. Peters (at the end of our tour before heading back to the train station), the rest of the tour was seeing scenery from the cab, or a quick jump out for pictures.  The driver did take us to his favorite pizza place and then came back to pick us up after an hour. 

 

THIS was one of our favorite stops that trip. 😀  Of course, we passed by the Colosseum, took a quick walk by the Pantheon and over to Trevi Fountain (to assure we would be back), and a drive by the Victor Emmanuel II National Monument and The Aventine Hill.   It was a whirlwind tour, for sure, but we were so proud that we got everything checked off on our list. 

 

I agree with the others that if you have not been to Rome, please take advantage of many wonderful tour guides in Rome.  We have used Stefano Rome Day Tours a few times, and Rome in Limo.  It's a must to take a private tour that include "skip the line" tickets to see the Sistine Chapel.  

Edited April 13, 2023 by Iamthesea

[syesmar]

It’s been a few years since I was in Civitavecchia. Can you still buy transportation passes for the day at the newspaper stand inside the train station? Saved us waiting in a long line. Thanks!

Edited April 13, 2023 by syesmar

[CruiserBruce]

32 minutes ago, syesmar said:

It’s been a few years since I was in Civitavecchia. Can you still buy transportation passes for the day at the newspaper stand inside the train station? Saved us waiting in a long line. Thanks!

Yes...discussed on the Italy board.