One Day in Rome

There is a regular »regionale« train which brings you within some 1,5 hrs from Civitavecchia to Rome (schedule at: www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en), at the price of EUR 10 return journey. Arriving at the Termini station, some landmarks are well within easy walking distance, such as the basilicas of Santa Maria Maggiore and St John Lateran, from where the Colosseum is also not too far away. Print a map (such as http://romemap360.com/rome-tourist-map) and you can have a leisurely day at your own speed and following your own taste.

Pull down a a copy of this sheet, cdn4.ricksteves.com/Projects/cms/.../000/.../class-handout-cruising-mediterranean.pdf. Sorry the link is a little off from copy and paste. I googled rick steves mediterranean cruise ports pdf handout. Cameron Hewitt who works with Rick helped write Rick's book on cruising. I would get the cheat sheet and the book. You may really want to go with the ship's tour as far as Rome is concerned.

Although I don't know of a way (other than the library) to get copyrighted material for free, I agree that Rick's "Cruise Ports" discussion of Rome is the precise answer to your question. As he writes in the book, trying to cram too much into a single day, from a far-away cruise port at that, requires DRASTIC compromises in the detail and quality of your tour.

You might not car much about museums, but for example, he says (correctly) that you don't have any time for the Vatican Museums.

I personally would be leery of hooking up with people I don't know for a home-brew tour that I don't know the details of. What happens if someone is late or lags behind? Rick correctly emphasizes that you have to keep on the move every moment to see a fraction of Rome in a day.

You say that you don't want to wait in lines in the heat. How are you going to avoid lines if you go on a tour of your own? You'll be bumbling around (I mean, like I did .... no insult to you) trying to make sure you're on the right line, because you've never been there before. And if you miss your train or the train is delayed, the ship will leave without you.

My "solution" is, alas, not even to tell you to "pay up and take the cruise company excursion." My advice is to see Rome by land. It's cheaper, and not rushed. I know you picked a particular cruise for various reasons. But we've been on more than one cruise that started or ended in Rome. That gives you a chance for a few leisurely days to see one of the great cities of the world, and make your leisurely way to Civitavecchia.

BTW, I found that Rick's book understates the distance, time, and tedium of getting (on foot ... ) from the rail station to your ship in Civitavecchia.

Try toursbylocals.com. We used them In 2 ports on a British Isles cruise last summer and they were great. Pick up/drop off at pier, you can set the itinerary. They are licensed, independent tour guides. Their profiles and tours offered are on the website. We were 2 couples so it was a little more affordable, but you will see more and what you want.

thanks to all who replied so far. Will have a look at some suggestions, but maybe I will 'bite the bullet' and do the ships tour. Either that or get the train into Rome, but still time to look at other tour companies.

pm