How long from Civitavecchia to FCO?

We have a 9:45 flight from Rome to D.C. and our ship docks at about 5:00am on a Sunday morming.

If we leave, hopefully, at around 6:00am how long is the drive to the airport?

Thanx

This is asked almost weekly.

Docking at 5am doesn't meant getting off at 5am. It depends on immigration showing up, and clearing the ship. Travel time to the airport is about 45 minutes. And, it can be 2 hours to get thru security.

This could be extremely risky to try to catch this flight. If everything goes perfectly, you may catch your flight. But why do you want such worries and stress on your vacation?

I have done it several times. With a private driver, it took us 50 minutes to get to FCO. For us, the longest part was getting our bags checked and boarding passes at FCO. We had a 10:50 AM flight. They had one man checking luggage at the counter. Took us nearly 90 minutes. Security was not too bad. 30 minutes.

Then we had to show passports and boarding passes at another short line. Then a bus to the correct terminal and find our gate. Total time was about 2.5 hours at the airport.

Thanks for the heads up regarding the final bus to the correct terminal. I will be on the lookout for it. We have similiar flight plans from FCO to CLT at 11:05 AM. Our plan is to have RomeCabs pick us up at 7:00 AM. We will be one of the first off the ship and carry our own luggage as soon as we have clearance to disembark.

For me this will be the most stressful part of the trip - catching our flight home in time.

Thanks for the heads up regarding the final bus to the correct terminal. I will be on the lookout for it. We have similiar flight plans from FCO to CLT at 11:05 AM. Our plan is to have RomeCabs pick us up at 7:00 AM. We will be one of the first off the ship and carry our own luggage as soon as we have clearance to disembark

??? If you have a car service there's no need to worry about a bus to the terminal, the car service can drop you right at Terminal 5.

We used Rome Cabs too for our cruise. We asked them to pick us up at 6:45AM. We woke up to a rain storm. Turns out our driver, sorry I forgot her name, had been waiting outside the terminal under an umbrella since 6:00AM. So if you get off early, I think they will be waiting.

For US departures, everyone checks into Terminal 5 but then you need a bus to the real terminal. It's a pretty fast ride. You check in luggage, get boarding passes and pass security in Terminal 5. Your gate is usually in in Terminal C. And after all that rushing, our flight left an hour late, as do many international flights from FCO.

From the Delta web site. http://www.delta.com/traveling_checkin/airport_information/airport_maps/rome.jsp

We used Rome Cabs too for our cruise. We asked them to pick us up at 6:45AM. We woke up to a rain storm. Turns out our driver, sorry I forgot her name, had been waiting outside the terminal under an umbrella since 6:00AM. So if you get off early, I think they will be waiting.

 

For US departures, everyone checks into Terminal 5 but then you need a bus to the real terminal. It's a pretty fast ride. You check in luggage, get boarding passes and pass security in Terminal 5. Your gate is usually in in Terminal C. And after all that rushing, our flight left an hour late, as do many international flights from FCO.

 

From the Delta web site. http://www.delta.com/traveling_checkin/airport_information/airport_maps/rome.jsp

How long did it take you to get to FCO and what time was your flight. Thanx

a) the drive from Civitavecchia to FCO is an hour or just under - and that's from getting into the car to getting out at Departures. Of course, that relies on there being no holdups on the road;

b) as long as the ship's last call was at another port in the Schengen Zone - which includes France, Spain, and Greece - there are no immigration formalities when you arrive at Civitavecchia. The Schengen Zone is an area of genuinely open borders. Also, as long as your last port of call was in the EU - which also includes France, Spain and Greece - there's no need to go through Customs; the EU is a customs union. So there won't be any holdup on arrival at Civitavecchia. In any case, many cruises finishing at Civitavecchia do so having previous called at another Italian port, e.g. Naples or Messina - definitely no formalities when moving from one Italian port to another.

And after all that rushing, our flight left an hour late, as do many international flights from FCO.

For what it's worth, this has not been my experience at FCO, flying in and out of there once or twice a year for the past eight years. I can only remember one flight delay.

a) the drive from Civitavecchia to FCO is an hour or just under - and that's from getting into the car to getting out at Departures. Of course, that relies on there being no holdups on the road;

 

b) as long as the ship's last call was at another port in the Schengen Zone - which includes France, Spain, and Greece - there are no immigration formalities when you arrive at Civitavecchia. The Schengen Zone is an area of genuinely open borders. Also, as long as your last port of call was in the EU - which also includes France, Spain and Greece - there's no need to go through Customs; the EU is a customs union. So there won't be any holdup on arrival at Civitavecchia. In any case, many cruises finishing at Civitavecchia do so having previous called at another Italian port, e.g. Naples or Messina - definitely no formalities when moving from one Italian port to another.

thanx for the info. Our last stop is actually in Isreal so I do not know if that will be a problem or not - probably not (I hope)).

thanx for the info. Our last stop is actually in Isreal so I do not know if that will be a problem or not - probably not (I hope)).

That does change things, in fact: Israel is not a member of either the Schengen Zone or the EU. If the last port of call before Civitvecchia is in Israel, then the ship may well need to complete various formalities before passengers can disembark, and I honestly don't know how long they will take, or what will be entailed.

Can you change your flight time? What time do your cruise line recommend as the earliest flight to book?

I would suggest you have a contingency plan in place. You may make the flight, but there's more than a small chance that you won't. Be ready with alternate flights and an idea of where to stay if you can't get a flight home that day.

Most of the people on our roll call are spending extra days at the end of the cruise in Rome. We are not as we have been there before and will be flying home on the day of disembarkation. Right now we have Princess transfers. Our flight leaves at 10:55am. Is there anyone who has ever donw Princess transfers and will this work with our flight?

We had a 10:50AM Delta flight from FCO to JFK. Based on a review of its flight history (and you can also check other flights) , it rarely leaves on time. Our Rome Cabs driver made it from the ship to FCO in about 50 minutes. And it was raining; but also a Saturday morning. I would not book a flight though assuming it will depart late. For our flight, we sat at the gate an extra 45 minutes.

The following web site will allow you to register for free and track flight history for several months. As an example I just tracked the 10:20AM Delta flight 245 from FCO to JFK.

It departed as follows:

4/27/2010: 11:23AM

4/25 11:01AM

4/22 11:13AM

4/17 11:06AM

4/16 12:28PM

4/15 12:55PM

http://flightaware.com/

We had a 10:50AM Delta flight from FCO to JFK. Based on a review of its flight history (and you can also check other flights) , it rarely leaves on time.

Yikes! As if I needed another reason to avoid Delta ...

Let's sum up. I've finished a cruise in Civitavecchia on three occasions, and each time the ship (Galaxy x 2, Solstice) docked very early (earlier than 6am) and some people were off the ship and into cars by 6am. But all of those cruises had come to Rome either from a Schengen Zone port or indeed another port in Italy, so there were no formalities to perform. IN addition to my experience, other people have also said that in the case of their similar cruises, the ships docked very early.

In the case of the OP's cruise, however, the previous port is not a Schengen Zone port, so entry formalities may well have to be gone through. Does anyone have any knowledge of docking times in that case?

Thanks for the heads up regarding the final bus to the correct terminal. I will be on the lookout for it. We have similiar flight plans from FCO to CLT at 11:05 AM. Our plan is to have RomeCabs pick us up at 7:00 AM. We will be one of the first off the ship and carry our own luggage as soon as we have clearance to disembark.

 

For me this will be the most stressful part of the trip - catching our flight home in time.

Gourmet Cook I know this was 7 years ago, but did you make the flight? Im running into the same issue in Sept?

I have finished in Rome twice and both times the ship docked at about 3am - if you arrange for a car service and walk off you should make it to FCO as long as there are no major road problems

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I have finished in Rome twice and both times the ship docked at about 3am - if you arrange for a car service and walk off you should make it to FCO as long as there are no major road problems

 

 

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Thanks!!

What about a cruise that docks at Civitavecchia at 6 am? Can I make a flight at FCO at 11 ?

It's a short cruise on Norwegian, and we will have only carryons and no large bags to check. We plan to get off the ship asap and look for a private driver. Or can we maybe hire a driver in advance and he'll hold a sign for us to look for him?

I figure: an hour before Immigration allows de-embarking. So maybe 7 am. If we're lucky and can get off with the first group, we're on land at 7:30. An hour hassle at the port is 8:30.

An hour to drive to FCO is 9:30.

An hour to clear customs and security at FCO is 10:30. Leaving us 30 minutes before an 11 am flight....not too much time to spare. But are my estimates accurate?

Thanks!

What about a cruise that docks at Civitavecchia at 6 am? Can I make a flight at FCO at 11 ?

 

It's a short cruise on Norwegian, and we will have only carryons and no large bags to check. We plan to get off the ship asap and look for a private driver. Or can we maybe hire a driver in advance and he'll hold a sign for us to look for him?

 

I figure: an hour before Immigration allows de-embarking. So maybe 7 am. If we're lucky and can get off with the first group, we're on land at 7:30. An hour hassle at the port is 8:30.

An hour to drive to FCO is 9:30.

An hour to clear customs and security at FCO is 10:30. Leaving us 30 minutes before an 11 am flight....not too much time to spare. But are my estimates accurate?

Thanks!

If your ship docks on schedule you should have no problems. Arrange for a car/driver to meet you at the port for a 7am pick-up. It normally takes about 20-30 min for a ship to be cleared after the gangplank is in place. There are normally no customs or immigration checks at this port so once you are off the ship you simply find your driver and you will be on your way. As to FCO, if you are flying to the USA (or other International destinations) it is recommended to be at the airport about 3 hours before the flight. In our own experience (with more then a dozen flights) 2 1/2 hours is usually more then enough time...but one should always try to comply with the 3 hour recommendation.

"Looking for a private driver" makes little sense. There will be some taxis at the pier but many prefer to pre-book a private transfer through any of several recommended companies. Our personal favorite is Romecabs.com and we know others who like Romeinlimo.com. Both have decent web sites with pricing and will quickly respond to booking requests. Your cost per person really drops if you have another 1 or 2 couples to share your transfer which might be something you can arrange by posting on your CC Roll Call board.

Hank

"Looking for a private driver" makes little sense. There will be some taxis at the pier but many prefer to pre-book a private transfer through any of several recommended companies.

Hank

I agree with Hank. Do not wait until you arrive at Civitavecchia to seek a private transfer. The port is a (somewhat) closed area and you are not going to find many (or any) private transfer vehicles waiting for fares. They will only be there if pre-reserved. I just returned from a cruise that ended in Civitavecchia (have done this many times). Although I was on a small ship, we docked right next to a behemoth NCL ship. While awaiting my transportation, I had time to look around. All of the vehicles I saw had been pre-booked.

Thank you both. I'll definitely book a driver in advance. Even so with a private driver, there seems to be some disagreement about docking at 6 am and catching a flight at FCO at 11 am.

We are really trying to not stay an extra night in Rome, so catching that 11 am flight would be ideal for us. But we're nervous about making it in time. :(

Thank you both. I'll definitely book a driver in advance. Even so with a private driver, there seems to be some disagreement about docking at 6 am and catching a flight at FCO at 11 am.

 

We are really trying to not stay an extra night in Rome, so catching that 11 am flight would be ideal for us. But we're nervous about making it in time. :(

I could be like Uncle Sam and say "trust me because I am here to help." :). So trust me, if your ship docks on time (or shortly thereafter) and you have arranged for a private transfer, you will have little reason to be concerned. Can something bad happen? Sure. The worst case would be something delays your ship from docking on time. This is rare, but it does happen. If that is the kind of thing that keeps you awake you could book your air through your cruise line (most lines have a scheme to book air) which often gives you a guarantee that if you miss your flight they will take care of getting you on another flight for no additional cost.

We used to routinely take a 10:50 AM flight out of FCO after cruises and never gave it any thought. The last time we did this we shared a Romecabs transfer with 2 other couples....one of whom had a 9:45 flight. Personally I thought they were nutz, but they were also very experienced travelers and had no concerns. We got to FCO a little before 8am and we later saw those folks having coffee before they went to their gate.

Hank

So trust me, if your ship docks on time (or shortly thereafter) and you have arranged for a private transfer, you will have little reason to be concerned.

Hank

I do trust you! We are both new to cruises, and your answers are so helpful!. Just finished our first cruise and liked it so much we are already planning number 2. We docked in Vancouver at 7 am. We disembarked at 9:30. I had said that we had no checked luggage and that we had a late flight back to U.S., so we didn't mind being among the last group to disembark.

Got off the ship fairly smoothly, but then once we got in the port building, it was a madhouse. Granted, we are inexperienced, but it seemed like a sea of people asking questions, not knowing what line to go to. There were lines forming in all directions, and no ropes to keep the lines orderly, and no one around to ask which line is which.

That is the main reason I am leery about Civitavecchia. If Vancouver was so crowded and disorganized, I can only imagine what C is like! Then again, I certainly wouldn't volunteer to disembark with the last group knowing I had an FCO flight to catch.