Pre Cruise In Rome

Hello CCers,

My wife and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary and starting our cruise in Rome, can anyone suggest a hotel and a 1 day tour in Rome. We have never been to the city before but cannot spend too much time overseas.

Thanks

Geographer

In Rome, our favourite is Albergo del Senato.

The location is wonderful and very friendly.

If time is short ... location is everything.

Tip..Download the Tripadvisor Rome app which needs no data and will point you where you choose to go...reviews are also available to you.

if you stay at Albergo al Senato, ask for their advice, particularly Mauro.

Yep for a 15 yr anniversary I will second the Albergo del Senato - IF, and thats a big IF, you can get them to book a 1 night stay. We have stayed there a few visits back (we like apartments now) and you just can't beat the location.

Given that you want to do justice to Rome, do yourselves a favor and spend two nights. Most people arrive tired the first day and by the time you arrive, go through passport control and get your luggage, make your way into the city, check into your hotel, etc.... you've lost a minimum of a half day even if you arrive early in the morning.

So arrive one day and take it easy -- visit a few outdoor sites or perhaps the Colosseum. Do your strenuous touring, i.e., the Vatican, the next (full) day. After your second night, you can have a leisurely morning then head to your ship, keeping in mind that the port is about a 90-minute trip by car from the city.

Albergo del Senato is also my favorite hotel in Rome and certainly would make for special memories. As someone above hinted, they have recently started asking for a two-night minimum stay. Not sure if that's year-round or only for peak periods.

 

Albergo del Senato is also my favorite hotel in Rome ...

Before I forget to ask you this: do they have double windows that block the street noise? (As I noted on another hotel thread, the Albergo Cesari does, and it was really necessary in that location. I imagine there are similar [if not worse] noise issues around the Pantheon.)

Thanks!

We had a room which did not look out onto the square which avoided any noise problem.

I did not hear any noise as we were also on a high floor. From the roof terrace we could hear musicians playing below but it was not intrusive.

The pantheon square did not seem very noisy as traffic is minimal.

Our first stay there we had the "wonderful" balcony room on the second floor (they call it the first floor in Italy) Room 204 and it was not noisy at all. As someone else posted - there is no real vehicle traffic so no worries about that. I LOVED waking up early and watching the piazza come awake. Then late at night I would watch as the reverse took place. There were these wonderful huge wooden doors on the balcony door…… no noise got through those ! I will say that one night we slept with the doors wide open !

Our second visit we stayed in a room on the back….also quiet but no view :(

Now, we have stayed in other locations where there was a restaurant below….. we had noise late into the wee morning hours from that one…… but del Senato does not have that issue. The piazza becomes a ghost town late at night so no worries.

We had a room which did not look out onto the square which avoided any noise problem.

 

I did not hear any noise as we were also on a high floor. From the roof terrace we could hear musicians playing below but it was not intrusive.

 

The pantheon square did not seem very noisy as traffic is minimal.

Traffic outside the Cesari was not an issue, it was people noise (all blocked by the double windows). Plenty of people around the Pantheon, which is why I asked the question.

Thanks.

Traffic outside the Cesari was not an issue, it was people noise (all blocked by the double windows). Plenty of people around the Pantheon, which is why I asked the question.

 

Thanks.

The Albergo del Senato does have the soundproofed (I think they call them triple glazed?) windows. With windows open, you can hear noise from below. With windows closed, it's possible that you might hear a very loud noise or disturbance, but normal piazza noise is completely blocked. (Caveat: I am not uber sensitive to noise, as I live in a small city and am used to it.)

I agree that Piazza della Rotonda becomes very quiet after about 10 or 11 pm.

As previous posters commented, spend at least 2 days. My wife and I have now spent 3 days in Rome since 2011 (one was a cruise port day and 2 were pre-cruise before taking train to Venice) and we have barely scratched the surface. We stayed at Hotel Isa which is now called Isa Design Hotel. Location was very nice. 5 minute or so walk to Vatican and Piazza Navona. The hotel was very nice with roof top terrace where you could see the Vatican. Free breakfast as well and the hotel has a small lift (elevator). It is north of Piazza Novana, north side of the canal and east of the Vatican. Close to Corte Suprema and Castel Sant'Angelo. Price was very reasonable. Longer walk to the Roman Forum and Colesseum, but a walk is managable and very nice to make.

Advice is to plan what you want to see and time required. Pantheon maybe takes 0.5 to 1hr to look at and was free as far as i remember. Vatican is almost 1/2 day or so if you do the full vatican. Forum is a few hours and colesseum depends on the tour u book. I would pre-purchase any tickets as lines are very long to buy in person, especially the Vatican. Colesseum i think we did over the phone but it is all italian no english. So we had a "road map" which helped us pick the phone menu options for the tour we wanted. Maybe they have a website now. Vatican website has ability to purchase tickets. Also, the Basilica at the Vatican is free if i remember but has its own line so show up early as there is no way to skip the line unless you cut in front of people. Sistine Chapel is via museum ticket only.

So research what you want to do, pre-purchase any tickets and for those where you have no tickets or specific time tours, arrive early to get in line. Lastly, enjoy. Walking the city at day and night is almost as wonderful as trying to get into all the must see places.

Cheers.

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Hello CCers,

 

My wife and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary and starting our cruise in Rome, can anyone suggest a hotel and a 1 day tour in Rome. We have never been to the city before but cannot spend too much time overseas.

 

Thanks

Geographer

We have just returned from a westbound TA and spent three pre-cruise nights in Rome at the Albergo Cesari. The location can't be beat; my more detailed post about the hotel is here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44756420&postcount=7

I will echo others above in the suggestion to spend more than one day in Rome, but recognize that this may not be feasible for you.

Happy Anniversary!

P.S. If you do a search in this forum, you will find a number of hotel discussions.