We will be arriving in Civitavecchia on a Celebrity cruise ship in early May and then going onto Sorrento by train. We'll fly back to Seattle from Naples through Heathrow. I have a handful of questions.
1) We will need to ship one of our bags back to the US from Civitavecchia because we want to lighten our load for our rail travels. Has anyone used a luggage forwarding service and can you provide any recommendations and tips on how to connect with them when we disembark?
2) Is the train station at Civitavecchia close enough to the cruise port so that we can walk there from the ship?
3) Will we have to go through customs and immigrations when we disembark? Our previous port call will be near Florence and there will be others before that in France and Spain. If so how much time will it take to clear? I'm planning to purchase train tickets in advance and don't want to cut it too close.
4) On our return through Heathrow will we have to retrieve any checked luggage and clear customs and immigration? We fly from Naples and connect in Heathrow to fly onto Seattle all on British Airways.
Thank you.
Posted by
Boston
1804 posts
You clear customs and immigration only once entering or leaving the Schengen zone. When you transit at Heathrow you stay in a separate section so there are no British formalities beyond perhaps a security check; you don't retrieve your luggage.
There is a shuttle bus at Civitavecchia to get between the port and the train station. https://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/shuttles
There are cruise ship forums where you may be more likely to get experienced cruise opinions.
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/464-italy-ports/
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7943 posts
Is this your first trip to Europe? I ask because you have not told us where you are boarding the ship. That is a crucial factor in answering question 3. Even if you are boarding in the USA (unlikely), some cruises that only visit Shengen ports simply do full immigration at the first stop, since it (vastly, hugely) cuts down their work at additional stops.
You need to find out (for example, by looking at "Yesterday's Arrival Info" on the airline website) whether you have to change terminals at Heathrow. If you do, it is certain that you will have full British immigration there. If not, you should confirm with the airline that you will be restricted to a Transit Lounge and avoid the immigration. You might have to do it anyway. But Heathrow has a lot of automated immigration gates. Do you have a machine-readable passport? Anyone in your party not a US citizen?
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning
While the train is quite cheap, it is a long ride to Rome. Civitavecchia is kind of famous for being inconvenient, as well as popular with cruise companies. Are you aware that the really fast trains to Naples (Frecciarossa) have much cheaper tickets if you buy in advance? But like air tickets, they are only good on one single train, and cannot be refunded.
Are you flying a "discount airline" from Naples to Heathrow? There may be significant luggage charges to deal with.
I realize that your west coast destination has a huge effect on air travel planning. But I would have tried to connect somewhere other than Heathrow. But it's true there is tremendous Sorrento demand in the U.K.!
Posted by
Seattle
139 posts
So if I understand your plans correctly, you are arriving at Civitavecchia and want to get to Sorrento by train. Here are four steps you need to take
1) Take the shuttle bus from the cruise terminal to the train station in Civitavecchia
2) Take the train from Civitavecchia to Rome Termini
3) Take the train from Rome Termini to Naples Centrale
4) Take the Circumvesuviana from Naples Garibaldi (downstairs from Naples Centrale) to Sorrento
It's a rather complicated plan with lots of connections. Is there anyway you can stay in Rome or Naples on the way to simplify your trip? Otherwise, it's going to be a long day with lots of transfers with lots of luggage.