Where to wait in Rome airport

We are arriving at FCO(Rome airport) at 9:30 am; our cruise companions with whom we are sharing transport to Civitivecchia, are arriving 3 hours later, at 12:30. Both flights are on KLM. Where would you suggest we meet? We have access to KLM and other SkyTeam lounges, but I am assuming that we will be outside security when we retrieve our luggage and will be unable to go back to a lounge to wait. Does anyone know the airport well enough to suggest a place for us to wait? We don't want to be juggling our luggage too far and of course, we will be quite tired. We will most likely meet our companions where they exit after getting their luggage.

rome is a nightmare airport if my experience in september was anything to go by. Even tho we were up the front and were off the craft quickly we were directed through a chanel something similar to what you would direct sheep into before doing something unspeakable to them. We were left there for an hour before 2 imigration officers opened up an alley and we slowly progressed two at a time through a minuscule exit. This took 2 hours.... Several of the older passengers had to sit on the floor and the mood amongst the waiting tourists was not pleasant. I would hope that this was not a common occurance but there was no evidence for any space for more officers to do the processing and my knowldge of Italian culture confirms that "everything will happen when the Bureaucracy gets around to it'. To add insult to injury...EU passport holders were invited out of the queue and processed first, this apparently is now normal.

I dont want to scare you but it would have been a less unpleasant experience if I had been aware this was the way imigration worked at this particular airport and I had been prepared for it. Usually Ive either flown into a different port or arrived by train and this was my first...and last experience at Romes international airport.

Anyway...the point of this was to tell you that it would be better to meet your friends at your hotel..or maybe even the ship as you could be in for a long wait. From memory there was no access to lounges either before or after exiting immigration as it was only available to transit passengers.There was only a cafe and a couple of shops outside of the official area.

I hopre you have some time in Italy and this will not be your only experience there...it is a great country and and incredible country.

Our experience with FCO was quite different. We were off the plane, led along a path, through customs and at baggage claim quite quickly. Our driver was waiting for us and we were on our way to our hotel with 30-35 minutes after landing. Is there some reason you need to wait at the airport for your friends? I would go to the hotel and at least get checked in and maybe settled first and maybe check out the area around the hotel until you could all meet up. I don't remember seeing much out of the security for places to sit.

I agree with the last posters. Why don't you just go to the ship or hotel and meet your friends there?

Even here in Los Angeles airport to try to connect with friends is almost impossible.

When you are that tired then to wait 3 or more hours , I would rethink that plan.:o

The main reason that the first posters want to wait for their friends is probably the ridiculous cost of getting from the airport to the ship. From what I've been able to glean from the web, the cost to the ship is at least 200 euros for two people in one vehicle. Four people cuts the cost quite a bit. We're doing the same thing in 05/2007, but we will be going from a Rome hotel to the ship.

here is a website of a shuttle service for Rome..they also do ship to airport transfers.

http://www.airportconnection.it/standby.htm

Our experience with FCO was quite different. We were off the plane, led along a path, through customs and at baggage claim quite quickly. .

heya nparmelee., when were you there...? wondering if what I went through was a new arrangement since you were there or it has been changed. The turnstiles looked pretty permanent as they were and not tempory. It certainly put me off which makes my next trip to Italy complicated if I cant fly through FCO.,

BTW Emirates Airlines offer a free Limo serivce to Business Class and above passengers., this is really handy and not advertised. They meet you at the arrivals lounge and will take you to your ship or hotel.....pretty economical if your car was quoted at 200 euros!

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in here also. We travel almost every month and planning to meet another couple at Rome Airport is just too risky. Either plane might be very late due to various reasons -- engine trouble or weather related problems. Just arrange to be taken to the ship when you arrive. The cruise is costing so much money -- just figure that it will cost you more and have peace of mind. We were stuck in NYC during the famous 2003 Blackout and arrived at Healthrow 12 hours late. Another time, our flight was delayed on the way to Dulles and we missed our connection to Franfurt. We ended up flying to Heathrow and 10 hours trying to get a flight to Malta for a cruise. It's a good thing we allowed an extra day both times. If you don't want to cancel your plans with the other couple, make sure you have a cell phone that works in Italy and they do have one also. That's the only way you will be able to meet up with them. I'm sure this isn't what you wanted to hear, but things happen.

Sheila