Civitavecchia to Rome Airport

[sailorgirl]

Looking to return directly home to Florida upon Galaxy arrival in port May 21st (after the 13 day crossing and 7 day Greek Island back to back). How early a flight can be booked out of Rome and how long does it take to get from port to airport? Thanks for any advice or input.

[tuggers]

I started to answer this and then realized I don't know what I'm talking about!:D

It was about an hour from Rome to the port but that was from a hotel in Rome and not the airport. Sorry!

[ECCruise]

Looking to return directly home to Florida upon Galaxy arrival in port May 21st (after the 13 day crossing and 7 day Greek Island back to back). How early a flight can be booked out of Rome and how long does it take to get from port to airport? Thanks for any advice or input.

Leave yourself a MINIMUM of 3 1/2 - 4 hours from the time you disembark before your flight time...1/2 hour to find, secure luggage + 1 hour travel time to airport + 2 hours arrival prior to check in. Anything less than this and you are tempting fate at FCO.

[sailorgirl]

Tuggers, you're funny. Not too many people admit they don't know what they're talking about. At least you were trying.....

 

And, ECCruise, thanks for your informative answer. I tend to be conservative and would rather wait at the airport than sweating it out in the highway traffic. Of course, with a 7 a.m. port arrival, who knows when they will let you off the ship!

 

When you say one hour drive, can I presume you are referring to a taxi or limo service rather than a shuttle bus from the ship?

[Seabee]

I normally don't take the cruise line transfers but in Rome I did...and I am glad I did. I hve never seen a easier disembakation. It was well organized and went extremely smooth. The buses were right there waiting on us with a guide. We were dropped off at the airport by 9:00. Then the fun began. The lines at FCO were long and disorderly. It took about two hours to check in. But the transfer was great!

[ECCruise]

When you say one hour drive, can I presume you are referring to a taxi or limo service rather than a shuttle bus from the ship?

 

Yes, the actual drive time is 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. The advantage of a limo is you leave right away rather than waiting for the bus to fill up (though it may fill quickly). The price for a limo for 2 people is generally equivalent to the price of the bus transfers. More than 3 people and the limo is a bargain.

 

If your ship arrives at 7, you may be disembarking as early as 8.

[tom_uk]

People were disembarking from Galaxy at Civ last June at about 6am, I believe, and the first buses were ready to roll. Some people were on early flights, i.e.9:30 or so, and I believe they made it in time.

[ECCruise]

People were disembarking from Galaxy at Civ last June at about 6am, I believe, and the first buses were ready to roll. Some people were on early flights, i.e.9:30 or so, and I believe they made it in time.

 

This will depend on the itinerary. For example, the 5/21 cruise, with the last port Naples, arrives in Civitavecchia at 4:00 AM. The OP's cruise, last port Mykonos, is scheduled to arrive at 7:00 AM. We've found these schedules to be fairly accurate unless there are glitches like a unplanned medical evac. With a 7:00 AM scheduled arrival, I would never make flight reservations prior to noon.

[Rev22:17]

sailorgirl,

 

Looking to return directly home to Florida upon Galaxy arrival in port May 21st (after the 13 day crossing and 7 day Greek Island back to back). How early a flight can be booked out of Rome and how long does it take to get from port to airport? Thanks for any advice or input.

 

To give you the lay of the land, Leonardo da Vinci International Airport is in Fiumicino, located on the coast about sixty miles ESE of Rome. The main highway from Rome to Civitavecchia goes ESE to the outskirts of Fiumicino, where it splits with one side of the fork going to the airport and the other turning up the coast to Civitavecchia, about thirty miles to the northeast from Fiumicino. I would allow about an hour to get from the pier to the airport, and you should be at the airport at least two hours -- and probably three -- before your scheduled departure.

 

Have your travel agent call Celebrity Cruises and ask the earliest permissible flight time for Celebrity's transfer service, then book flights that are absolutely no earlier.

 

I'm planning a cruise aboard MV Galaxy in the fall that will end in Civitavecchia. When I checked flight schedules, I found that the latest flight out of Leonardo da Vinci International Airport to the States on my airline of choice is at 10:30. Concluding that 10:30 would be too early, I reserved a post-cruise hotel stay rather than a precruise hotel stay in Rome. When I spoke to my travel agent a few days ago, though, she said that the ships disembarking in Civitavecchia are doing so in time to make those flights. If Celebrity will sell you transfers, the flights should be okay.

 

Norm.

[sailorgirl]

Thanks so much Norm and you others who have given some excellent info and tips on this subject. Another reason to say how great Cruise Critic is, bringing us all together to help and share. And sometimes vent!

 

Carole/Sailorgirl

[ColoTravelers]

I understand disembarkation is linked to one's departure flight, reasoning that an earlier flight gets you off the ship sooner.

 

We have a 1pm flight after a 4am embarkation, so I assume they'll get us off the ship fairly early...8-9am??? We have a private car picking us up at port, so I'd like to be able to get an idea of disembarkation time for us so that the car is able to meet us.

 

Will Celebrity be able to estimate a time for our car to look for us based on our departure time? I think our service gives us a 45-minute max wait time from the time we tell them. I'll be sure to check with the car company, however, I'd like to know others experience with this process.

[yak]

The FCO airport can be very, very confusing. Trust me on this, I lived in Italy for 9 years and travelled often thru it.

 

When you enter the Departure area from outside... Turn Left and Start Walking. The typical carriers to the US (US Airways, Delta, Continental, America, ect...) are all at the very end. You will be walking for a few minutes to say the least. Italians will no doubt bumb into you and attempt to get in your way. Don't get mad, it's the way things are done in their culture. Just walk in a straight line and say "Excuse Me", in Italian it sounds almost the exact same and they will get it. You will see the International (Non-EU) flight area where the Italian police will look very quickly at you passport and tickets to ensure you belong past the checkpoint. Then the fun begins. It is hectic in this area as all the lines are confusing and very little help is offered by the employees unless you ask for it. Just ask politely and they usually go out of their way to help.

 

The morning rush hour runs from 7 AM to 11 AM and it is busy. When you get your luggage checked in and have your boarding pass. Follow the Departure Gates signs where you will see the security checkpoint. Last time I was there was December and they still were very strict on the no water bottle policy. Most likely this policy will be around for a while. Once thru security follow the signs towards your gate in the international section which is shaped like a big circle with some random shopping in it.

 

If you are travelling with kids there is a hidden play room for kids just inside the area on the right side (a sign for an elevator and carabinieri is right outside). It is one of the few places in the entire area that has an electrical outlet and I used it to charge my laptop battery every time before the flight, and also played some movies on the laptop for the kids to pass the time. There is a couch and some comfy chairs there that are much better than the ones in the main area. Just be warned that the Carabinieri (state police) hang out in the room next door and smoke cigarettes sometimes. I never had a problem with this as the door to the room closes, but just so I warned you.

 

Civitavecchia to FCO is about an hour... 1 hour to get your boarding pass... 30 minutes to get thru security and to your gate and the 2 hour arrival time puts you at about 4:30 hours prior to airline departure time that you should plan to depart Civitavecchia

 

Good luck and Enjoy.

 

P.S... Rome is a great city to see and a little tip if you get the chance. Every McDonald's in Rome has a city map for free inside them. This is truely the best map as it includes bus schedules and train schedules with all the main tourist sites in the city displayed on the map and bus routes color coded to help ease confusion. The many other city maps I have seen many people wandering around with are horris and I see many people turning them upside down and sideways trying to figure out where the Colosseum is. I always get my map from the McD's on the left side of the Main Train Station.

[Dick in Falls Church]

Timing is just about as described by the others.

We met up with some folks at the CC meeting and were able to get on their charter bus to the airport, for about 1/2 the price of the ship transport.

 

Having gotten to the airport well in advance of our flight, and after about 1/2 hour in checkin line, we found our flight had been cancelled (what, we didn't know that?). So, we were put on an earlier flight, boarding now. It's a long long way to the other end of the airport, and we bumped the security lines-- most folks had no problem with it. At any rate, we also missed the connecting flight, and got to spend just over 2 hours in the rebooking line (Frankfurt) and spent a pleasant night there.