Venice after cruise in/out of Rome

It's not usually a good idea to fly into a cruise the same day as Embarcation. So you might have at least one night in Rome already. How's your response to jet lag? Maybe you'd stay more than the one night. There's no reason you couldn't stay afterwards as well, and take the train to Venice from Rome. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly what hour you will be getting off the ship, so don't make too rigid a plan.

Many people overlook how extremely far the Rome cruise port is from the city of Rome. They they are shocked when the cruise company quotes rates over 100 Euros for a car transfer to either FCO or the city of Rome. (FCO is much closer, as the crow flies, than the city.) Another issue is that not all private vehicles can enter the port and stop beside a boat. (Don't hail a taxi at the Civitavecchia rail station until you know if it can go farther than the shuttle bus terminal!) Even the port shuttle bus can be tedious, from the dedicated little terminal beside the port.

It's fairly easy to research train trips on the Trenitalia site. Do you care about changing trains? Do you have a lot of heavy luggage? You might want to get some general rail advice from our host's website (top left of the desktop version of this page.) Non-luxury arrivals in Venice usually involve some bag lugging and getting onto a taxi boat or Vaporetto (boat bus.)

Most people would catch the Michelangelo Special train from Rome FCO Airport into Rome Termini train station. They could catch a taxi, local bus or the metro to a hotel for there for a couple of days.

Then catch a local train out to Civitavecchia--maybe 45 minute ride. You could walk to the front of the port, take a taxi or a local bus. Pack light!
When you get off the cruise in Civitavecchia, you would take a port bus to the front of the port. You catch a local bus that takes you to the train station. Trains run about once hourly, and you let off at Rome Termini. There you catch a fast train to Rome which will go thru Florence.
A more expensive option would take a shuttle bus from Civitavecchis to FCO and fly up to Venice.

The current plan for Venice (two nights) means you will be there only a small part of the arrival day and then just one full day. If possible, consider flying into Venice and spending at least three nights there. It is a great place to recover from jet lag and is truly one of the most unique cities anywhere. Then go to Rome and spend time there, do the cruise, return to Rome for one night and fly out the next day. Just one possibility.

Michelangelo Special

I think David means the Leonardo Express.

Thanks for the replies. We think we'll fly into Venice and stay 3-4 nights, take the Fast train to Rome and commuter train to Civitavecchia, cruise, then head back to Rome for 3 nights. Any idea of cost for Fast Train in October? Would it be ok to travel from Venice to Civitavecchia the day of cruise embarkation or should we plan to stay overnight before in Civitavecchia (seems quite affordable)?

If you go from Venice to Civitavecchia by train you'll probably have to go through Rome anyway -- but I might be mistaken since I've not researched it. If that is the case, I'd go to Rome the day before the cruise departs and on to the port the next day. My reasoning is this: If there is a train strike or train equipment problem on the first day (and it does happen from time to time) you still have the next day to get to the port. If there is a train strike or train equipment problem on the second day you could still hire a private (albeit expensive) car to get to the port. Many will say this is planning overkill, but while we hope for the best we plan for unexpected contingencies.