Rome in a day

There's helpful but slightly dated information here, but it's a start:
http://www.roninrome.com/%20sites-and-attractions/rome-in-a-day-for-cruisers

Patricia, use a guidebook and your own preferences to list YOUR "must-see" items ( and are they drive-by for a photo, quick peek or visit ?) Then prioritize. If you want to see "the Vatican" do you mean walk through the church and/or see the entire Vatican Museum with the Sistine Chapel at the end of a long walk ? Tickets to the museum; no tickets for the church but long lines in the hot sun. Or you can get to the site and do exterior photos and move on.

Patricia, I'd be cautious about the amount of time it's realistically going to take to get off the ship, to the train station, into Rome, and then back again. While the train to the city may take a hour or so (some run under that amount of time and some run more), you'll need to allow extra for the time to/from the station. And as Ron in Rome's page wisely advises, you're going to want to take the train back to Civitavecchia BEFORE that last one which might have you arriving there with very few minutes to spare. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking you're going to have maybe 4.5 hours in Rome itself.

As Laura has noted, with a limited amount to time you're going to need to be very selective with your must-see list. The Vatican (museums and St Peter's) can very easily gobble up all of the those 4.5 hours - even if you've pre-reserved tickets - as the museums are vast. It's also quite a long walk between basilica and museums if you're not on a tour which allows access directly from museums (Sistine) to the church.

You may want to give some thought to a plan B which takes in the exteriors of many of Rome's attractions - along with, say, a stop into a couple of churches - instead of just one location which may be all you can manage in the time which you have?

One more thing that can gobble up your precious time: buying tickets at the train station in Civitavecchia with all the other cruise ship passengers. You may want to buy them on line.

4-5 hours sounds about right. If you want to see the Vatican Museums and Saint Peter's, concentrate on that area; otherwise, go for either the centro storico (Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo dei Fiori) and/or the classical sites (Forums, Coliseum, Palatine). That and a nice meal will take up your time.

I agree with the other posters that your actual time in Rome will be 5 hours or less, depending on train connections. You probably won’t get to Rome before about 9:00 and the last possible train option back leaves a little after 2:00. If you want to focus on the Vatican, buy round trip tickets to Termini (€5 each way) but get off at the Roma San Pietro station. That will save you about 20 minutes of train time. St. Peter’s Square is walkable from there, but taxi might be a better choice if going to the Museum first. If you finish at the Vatican and have sufficient time, taxi to Piazza Venezia. Go to the top of the Victor Emmanuelle II monument and take the elevator to the roof, from where you’ll get great views of the Forum, Coliseum and rest of Rome. Then hop a cab to either Termini, Trastevere or San Pietro train station. Check train schedules on the Trenitalia website and note the departure times at the various stations. You probably won’t have time to stop for lunch if you do Vatican and another sight, so consider bringing something along to eat midday. Another option if you finish early at the Vatican is to enjoy a nice lunch in the Vatican area and then head back to the San Pietro station to catch your return train.

If your cruise has several Mediterranean stops, I suggest bringing Rick's Mediterranean Cruise Ports guidebook. You can also download audio versions of Rick's self-guided tours for the top sites and some walking routes, but note that his recommended Heart of Rome Walk is only covered in the books.

This is one time when I would recommend you take one of the cruise line's excursions. They are responsible for getting you back to the ship on time; if there is a hold-up and you are late the ship, supposedly will wait for you. If you do an independent tour (even with a tour company), if you miss the ship you are responsible for making arrangements and paying to catch up with the ship at the next port.

And be aware that the ship will leave without you if you are late. Year before last our cruise ship left two people behind in Lisbon, after waiting and blowing the horn for about 15 minutes.

Everyone will have different opinions on this for sure. Heed the advice about minding the hours as you do not want to miss you cruise.

IF I only had a few hours in Rome I would take the train to the Stazione Trastevere, stop in a Tabaccheria buy 2 tickets per person for the #8 tram, walk out the front door of the train station (there is a Tobacco Stand also right next to the #8 tram stop), take the tram towards Piazza Venezia, get off at the second stop after you cross the river, and walk down via Giubbonari towards Campo dei Fiori. Buy some fruit, and head towards Piazza Navonna, then the Pantheon, stop in any number of churches along the way. St Agnese on Piazza Navonna, San Luigi dei Francesi (on the way to the Pantheon), Santa Maria Sopra di Minerva (near the back end of the Pantheon and Santa Maria di Maddelena one block north of the Pantheon. Somewhere along the way stop and eat, then wind your way back towards Largo di Torre Argentina and pick up the # 8 tram back to Trastevere Station. This could take 3 - 4 hours or two days depending on how you linger.

Thank you all for your very helpful information. I will consult with the others who are travelling with us to determine the must see places and also check out the ship tours for sure. Given the short amount of time, a ship tour might be the best decision.

Happy holidays!

Patricia