Ship's tours to Rome on disembarkation day?

[ijkh]

I noticed that our up coming Grand Med cruise the ship offers tours of Rome. How does that work with luggage etc? We will be staying on for two nights in Rome at a Hotel to be arranged (as of yet). We are leaning towards the Hotel Lancelot. Anyone been there yet? But back to the question...would the cruise tour leave us back at the ship? back at the airport? downtown at our tba hotel? what about luggage? Do we need to pay for a transfer too?

 

I will admit I am inclined to just book a limo service BUT I loved the way Princess handled the logistics of disembarkation smooth and easy at our last cruise. Should we just skip a tour?

 

So any opinions about this? How about the Hotel choice? Thanks cruisers

 

I will cross post this on Europe board as well if that is ok

[BJS]

Are you sure that tours are offered for the day you get off the ship in

Civitavecchia? I don't remember any offered last year on the Star Princess.

 

From past experiences when Princess offers tours for those getting off of a cruise they usually either go to the airport or to a hotel if you have a hotel package. They leave your luggage in the coach and take it with you.

 

The tour would also include the transfer to the airport. The hotel package, if available, would include the transfer to the hotel and the airport.

 

If you have checked the Europe board you will probably see that most opted to be picked up by a private tour company - taken on a tour in Rome -and then taken to their hotel.

 

The drive between Civitavecchia and Rome is approximately 1 1/2 hours IF traffic allows. The day we went into Rome ( 1st leg of our b2b) there was a traffic accident that closed the highway. We were in a mini-van and made it in under 2 hours by taking a mountain road. Those in large buses did not make it into Rome for 3-4 hours. When we disembarked (the 2nd leg) traffic moved well and we made it to the airport in good time.

[Pam in CA]

As an FYI, we've booked a limo to pick us up at the pier and take us on a private tour for several hours in Rome, then dropping us back at our hotel at the airport where we're leaving the next morning. We figured this wouldn't be much more expensive than arranging for transfers, tours, etc. for all of us and that the logistics would be a heck of a lot easier. We've used this limo service before in Rome and they were terrific -- got us into the places we wanted to visit ahead of the lines and customized the tour to exactly what we wanted.

[caryh]

We boarded in Civitavecchia and there were free shuttles from the train station to the ship. I don't know if there are shuttles from the ship to the train station. There was nothing in Venice. If you didn't get a transfer you were basically booted off the ship and on your own. We took the transfer to the train station in Venice and it cost $27 each to go about 1 mile. The cost to take the train from Rome to Civitavecchia was about 6 euro. You do have to have to lug your bags on and off the train if you do it this way. It was simple to catch a cab from the train station to a hotel in Rome. Rome is easily done on your own. Get a good travel book with a map. We walked, took buses, and the Metro everywhere in Rome.

[Tania]

cary

 

Was the shuttle offered by Princess or the Port Authority?