I am taking a cruise from Rome next year and have a couple of questions. First, we are planning to come back home the same day the cruise returns to Rome. What is the earliest time we should look to book our return flight (i.e., after noon? after 1 pm?)?
Second, for our flight to Italy, are there airports on the east coast of the U.S./Canada that we avoid from a delay/cancellation perspective?
It sounds like you have a great trip planned. I hope you have built in some extra time at the front of the trip.
Your cruise line will have a section on its website called “port guide”, “destination information”, or something similar. It will give the cruise lines recommendations for the time that your flight should be booked after. As a general rule of thumb, take your expected docking time and add an hour for when you will disembark the ship. Will you walk off with your luggage or will you need to claim it? Add another 30 minutes for claiming luggage and port formalities. How will you transfer to the airport? Think about the method and time involved with that method. At best, the drive time is at least 50 minutes. Trains, private transfers, and cruise line transfers should be available. Finally aim to arrive at the airport 3 hours before an international flight. What time does that give you for your flight?
Look for direct flights if possible. I don’t know that anyone can accurately predict when and where irregular operations will occur with any great deal of accuracy. I’d also look for airlines with either multiple flight to/from Rome or are part of an alliance offering multiple flights.
Outbound-I would suggest arriving in Rome at least two days in advance. Most would say one day but having done this and had a flight canceled with a major delay, save yourself some stress. Plus, a full day in Rome to sightsee and shake off jet lag is a great way to begin a cruise. If your ship docks at 6-8 there will be some time for customs and immigration to clear the ship, usually about an hour. If you are taking your bags off you can likely make a flight after 1PM. Otherwise if you need to find your luggage allow another hour or two. You may find, once again, the stress free way is to spend another night and take an AM flight the next day.
What is the earliest time we should look to book our return flight?
Carol put together a good math story problem outlining everything that needs to be factored; the bottom line is 6 hrs, and hope nothing goes awry.
are there airports on the east coast of the U.S./Canada that we avoid from a delay/cancellation perspective?
Depends on time of year. During prime hurricane season ( mid Aug to mid Oct) any east coast airport could have weather related issues. Otherwise, random happens and therefore becomes 'your guess is as good as anyone else'.
If you're looking to fly into Rome from the East Coast, there are the following options:
American Airlines flies non-stop from Philadelphia and seasonally from JFK.
Delta flies non-stop from JFK and seasonally from Boston.
ITA Airways flies non-stop from JFK, Boston and Dulles.
Norse Atlantic Airways flies non-stop from JFK seasonally.
The cruises are out of Civitavecchia which is 37 miles or a 40 minute drive by car. Shuttle buses should be the easiest way to schedule your return. You should be okay to schedule a flight out after 1:00 p.m.
We usually take a train into Rome Termini after the cruise and spend one night prior to flying out the next day. When we went on a cruise a year ago, we stayed in Civitavecchia the night before departure.
Paying the cruise company $$$ to transfer you to the Rome airport saves a lot of stress, and gets you off the ship with the more expensive cabin passengers, i.e. early. It takes two trains and backtracking to get there by train from Civitavecchia, which is famous for being an inconvenient location. And the train is not close to the ship. I have walked it with luggage and it feels far! (see Google Maps.)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/3YDpXBwMLuofrjp66?g_st=ic
I think 1 PM is too early for a 3-hour required check-in, but you can choose to roll the dice. Risk of late arrival for the ship is non-zero.
Thanks for the good information. It looks like we should be able to leave the ship at 8 am. As a result, it looks like 1 pm is probably the earliest we would want to have a flight. Thanks for all of the tips
If you come to North America then you probably need to fly the next day. Most flights non stop flights to North America depart in the mid to late late morning. There are very few flights to North America departing after 1pm, I think only the last Delta flight to JFK departs not long after 1pm and a couple of Air Canada flights to Toronto and Montreal. Even for those flights you would need to be at the airport long before 11am, and you need almost one hour, when everything is said and done, to reach Fiumicino from the port of Civitavecchia. Are you sure you can be on a car ready to be taken to Fiumicino by 10am? Your choice.
If you haven’t already done so, I’d suggest you check with the cruise company about air. We’ve done this many times and got good deals with the flexibility we wanted. Some agents are more inventive than others, I may talk to several before we close. We too now subscribe to the two nights minimum in advance as Alan recommends. if you choose to book your own air, you can find out what is the earliest flight the cruiseline will book for the return trip and use that as a base. Have a wonderful trip and safe travels.
