Hi. We are celebrating an anniversary and will be taking a cruise out of Civitavecchia. I am concern about not having enough time to get to FCO for our return flight. The ship docks at 6:00am and our flight is at 11:00am. Questions:
How long will it take to get off the ship?
What's the travel time from Civitavecchia to FCO (considering the train or shuttle)?
How early do we need to arrive to FCO for a US bound flight with luggage?
Thank you!
Having been on two cruises in/out of Civit.. and one that passed through, my first response is that you cannot do it. Second response is, you might but I would not try. And this is only if you are doing carryon luggage only.
Is the flight directly to the US OR to another European city for a connection to the US ? -- Very Important. If a connecting flight you might get by arriving as late as 9:30 although at that time of day a 9 AM arrive would be much better. If direct to the US you would need to be there by 8. Time from Civit.. to FCO via limo/taxi will be 45 min to an hour. That will be you only choice and it will be expensive. By train you would have to go into Rome and then to the airport. A good two, 2.5 hours total trip time.
When a ship docks at 6AM it does not mean you walk off at 6:02 or even 6:30. Ships have to be cleared by port authorities, etc. so it can sometimes be as much as an hour after the ship docks before passengers can depart. Unless you are doing carryon only luggage, the ships has to have time to get your luggage off. Next the ship gives first exit priority to passengers who have booked airport transfers through them. For everyone else the ship established a priority schedule for departure that is coordinated with luggage. If everything clicks you might get off by 7. And grab the first cab.
However, if you have only carryon luggage you can walk off with the airport transfers, grab a cab. That will be about the only you can do it.
Note: All posts thus far have been edited by the webmaster.
I'm taking Royal Caribbean and our flight is from FCO to the US directly. I would need to be one of the first off the ship I guess.
I really don't think you can do it. You need to look at the downside risk if you miss the plane. Years ago we have very tight connection in LaHavre to catch a ferry to England. The cruise ships issue color code cards and they refused to give us cards to exit with the air transfers. We only had carryon luggage so we just walked off. That caused a lot of confusion. They tried to stop us but we just keep walking and headed to the first cab. You have an extra complication in Civit... in that you have to be shuttled to the port entrance where the taxis are waiting. It can be a really zoo if there is more than one ship in port.
