Hello! My husband and I are on a cruise ship that goes to cititavicchia to Rome on Thursday the 16 of May ( tomorrow) I did NOT buy our tickets in advance ( long story) POOPY on me! Arriving off ship at 7 am and being most interested in seeing Vatican museum and St. Peter’s. Assuming we could be at the site by 9 at the latest what would u suggest? Would the ticket line be long at 9 already? Or should be bit the bullet and buy tickets with reservations at the train station in cititavicchia? our other interests are to see the coliseum. We are fairly adept at moving around ! 🙏 thank you for help in advance!!!
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12026 posts
Would the ticket line be long at 9 already?
YUP.
Posted by
1969 posts
Do you just have 1 day in Rome? If so, skip Vatican museum and go straight to St. Peter Basilica. Or, go get a streetwise Rome map and hang-out around the Pantheon. Don't try for the coliseum. Here's a good walk in the "heart" of Rome. Sopra Di Minerva Church - Pantheon - gelato break (San Crispino) - San Luigi French Church - Piazza Navona and St. Agnese. I think St. Ignatius is close by as well. (I would have to look up St. Ignatius.)
I hope this helps! Enjoy your day in Rome. Just accept the fact that you can't do it all and simply enjoy what you can. Don't go crazy trying to cram things in to your day. Relax, Stroll, Savor. Repeat.
(If you can't get a streetwise map - any map of historic Rome (pantheon area) will work.)
Posted by
Columbus, OH, USA
117 posts
Hi - a brain dump of my ideas....for your quandary....
one thing you could consider doing is to see if you could book a ticket for the Vatican for 9 am - 10am right now on their website. Is that possible? However, Might be dicey if that 7am “off ship” gets delayed.
Does the cruise line have any excursions that could assist in procuring tickets? Even with a higher cost?
You also might try Walks if Rome or Roman Guy (websites) for tour tickets for one or both sites (Vatican, Colesseo). Might be a lot more expensive, but there might be last minute openings?
Good luck! You’ll find something great to do either way it turns out.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16687 posts
..our other interests are to see the coliseum
Those tickets also sell out in advance and indeed show as sold out for the 16th on the website. However, I'm seeing 45-minute tours in English still available for tomorrow (the 16th). I'd book one of these ASAP for one of the still- available time slots if you want to see the interior of the arena:
You will want to purchase the FULL TICKET + TOUR + RESERVATION ticket (19.00€) for each adult.
With limited time, I'd go with the advice to skip the Vatican Museums and just do the basilica, which will involve a long line to get in but it moves reasonably quickly. Entry is free. Tickets and group tours for the museums show as completely sold out for tomorrow and there's no way I'd waste the few hours you have in Rome to stand in the ticket line. Your only other option there is to go with any 3rd party tours, as Stephanie suggested, which still have openings.
Posted by
Charlotte, NC
238 posts
At this late of a date, I would check all of the third party tour companies and hope for the best but expect the worst
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
There are ALWAYS roving tour guides working the crowds at the Vatican Museums trying to entice people from the long line into their tour group.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
If the OP's ship comes into Civitavecchia at 7:00am, that does not mean you will be able to get off right away. There are port formalities to be done, and some groups often take precedence in the disembarking procedure, making it much after 7:00 when you will be able to walk down the gangway, so you might want to re-think your timing.
Posted by
1969 posts
FYI - Tips about Vatican Museum
1). The museum is literally wall-to-wall packed with tourists. Not a peaceful stroll by any means. More like a slow herd plodding forward.
2). You cannot bring a backpack or large bag of any kind into the museum. You would have to check your bag. So, what's the big deal? Because of the jam-packed crowd in the museum - retrieving your checked bag is practically impossible. Honestly, I don't have any idea how a person retrieves his bag at the museum. It's practically one-way traffic through the museum with visitors exiting out the back of the Sistine Chapel to get to the Basilica.
So, if you go to the Vatican with only a short, cruise port day - your best bet is to just go to St. Peter Basilica and do the Dome Climb for a small fee. The Basilica, as stated above, is free. The Dome Climb is an optional add-on experience for you.
If you don't care about the Vatican - then, I hold to my above advice about hanging-out in the Pantheon area for a great Rome experience.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16687 posts
Well, it's 1:30 AM in Rome right now so if our OP hasn't made their arrangements for tomorrow yet, they'll be making it up as they go!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
For future reference, there are several bus companies that meet cruise ship passengers at the public transit point in Civitavecchia and can take them on a bus tour of Rome, with the promise to get back to the ship on time. These are a lot cheaper than excursions the cruise companies sell to their passengers. One company is Civita Tours, but there are others if you do a Google search.