Our DIY Rome Report – Pre-Cruise

Some of you may have seen my recent DIY reports in the Greek Ports thread, where I shared our DIY experience in Santorini, Athens, Corfu, and Katakolon/Olympia.

We started our cruise in Rome, so I thought I would share our DIY experience there and I may also post DIY reports on our stops in Livorno and Naples.

Some of you that frequent this forum, may recall I posted a rather lengthy review of our port day in Rome last year… Rome Review – How we covered all of Rome in a day on our own. Well as some smart-asses (wise folks) pointed out, we didn’t really cover all of Rome in a day. And after this recent trip, I couldn’t agree more! However, I still stand by that previous report as a fantastic well-thought-out way to see a lot of the key sights in Rome if you’re only there for a day on a cruise. If you are in Rome for just a day, and haven’t been to many of the key sights before, I think that itinerary is still the best approach.

So what did we do this year?

While we actually had about 48 hours in Rome this time between landing at the airport around noon 2-days prior to boarding our ship in Civitavecchia, we really only spent the one full day in Rome doing any sight-seeing worth reviewing here. We spent the first afternoon doing some shopping and revisiting St. Peter’s and the last morning in Rome doing some additional shopping and getting ready to go to the port.

So this DIY report is what I would call a great way to spend a 2nd day in Rome. As mentioned above, if this is your first visit to Rome, you’ll most certainly want to visit the sites in my thread from last year before most of these, but you can certainly mix and match or ignore my thoughts entirely!

Map

I have a Google Map of Rome that includes sights from last years “highlights” as well as this year’s 2nd day walking tour. Last year’s sights are marked with blue pins and this year’s sights are marked with red pins. The pins are listed in the left column in the order we visited them. In addition, I’ve included a few restaurant recommendations I’ve collected from here and elsewhere… a couple of which we visited and a couple we didn’t get to.

Also noted on the map are the key metro stations, train stations, bus station, and our hotel.

Arriving in Rome

My GF and I arrived on separate flights since I was already in Europe on business and although we had planned to meet in Frankfurt, her inbound was delayed so she ended up getting a slightly later flight to Rome than I did. It wasn’t a problem, I found some free WiFI upstairs in the shopping area and killed time until she got there.

Delayed luggage

Unfortunately, the airline lost my GF's checked bag somewhere along the way (her first connection in Montreal), which created some stress. This would be stressful in any situation, but through past experience, I know that getting anything delivered in Italy can be a long drawn out affair. On the bright side, we had 2 days before we boarded the ship and an AMEX Gold card with delayed baggage compensation with a $500 limit on emergency expenses :D

She filed a lost baggage report, gave them the hotel information, and we had no choice but to head into Rome on a prayer that somehow her suitcase would be delivered before we headed to the port. She was smart enough to pack overnight essentials in her carry-on (something we learned the hard way previously due to a missed connection). And thankfully, for both our sanity, she was remarkably relaxed about it. I guess the promise of a Rome shopping spree made it a lot easier to handle.

In the end, we did a bit of shopping at AMEX’s expense, but the luggage eventually showed up the 2nd night while we were out for dinner. Although, perhaps my fears of a total lack of any sense of urgency amongst Italians is ill-founded in this case, it still took a few calls to the lost baggage desk at Fiumicino by our helpful front-desk staffer to make sure they had the correct info and hadn’t forgot about it. If this happens to you, particularly in Italy, don’t just assume it’s gonna show up. Get your Hotel to help you track it down and keep on their case.

Train to Rome

We took the express train to Rome which cost 14-Euro each but it was convenient (literally through a short tunnel and up an escalator from the arrivals area) and a relaxed way to travel (no problem getting a seat or handling our luggage). It runs every 30 minutes and takes 30 minutes.

More Info:

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=99eb7bd0cfdea110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

Other, cheaper options include coach service from the airport into central Rome. From what I understand, they generally take about an hour and cost 4-8-Euro. Here are a couple of links for those options...

http://www.sitbusshuttle.com/

http://www.terravision.eu/rome_fiumicino.html

Hotel

Our priorities for a Hotel were… located a short walk from Termini, affordable, and well rated. A quick search revealed a few choices: Casa Romana, Franks House, and Hotel Andreina. We selected Hotel Andreina for about 100-Euro per night. It’s a small boutique hotel on the 4th floor of a large older building a block from Termini, run by some really great people. It’s not fancy, but that’s not our thing (we always book inside cabins on ships!). The rooms were reasonably sized, quiet, clean, with modern remote controlled AC. The hotel was staffed by some very helpful folks that spoke English and they served a nice continental breakfast (according to my GF as I was never up early enough).

The best part was the location. We could easily get to from the train with our luggage without having to use a taxi. We could walk to a lot of stuff in central Rome or even jump on the Metro to go a bit further afield. You can find more info on TripAdvisor and you can book online through booking.com which offers a better cancelation policy than most online booking sites.

Dinner in Rome

The first night we ate at Panzirone in Piazza Navona based on a review/recommendation from someone hear on the forums. It was great. The staff were super friendly, the services was great, the food was good if not excellent, and the value was what you’d expect from a place in the Piazza… totally acceptable. They offered a free glass of sparkling wine to start which was fabulous. We ordered a bottle of bubbly, some antipasto, and a couple of pasta dishes and couldn’t have been happier. Dining in Piazza Navona is just great with all the people watching, artists and buskers.

The next night I had made reservations at one of Rome’s top rated restaurants on TripAdvisor… Ad-Hoc. . It’s a cozy little place not far from Piazza del Popolo and the Metro station of the same name. They are perhaps most well known for their tasting menu and truffles, but their extensive wine list is also extra-ordinary Their beef carpaccio was the best I’ve ever had. Everything is very reasonably priced. Again we ordered antipasto, a couple of pasta dishes (lobster pasta and lamb truffle ragu) with a bottle of Barbera wine and some lemoncello aperitif. When the bill came, I reminded the waiter that we had booked online and they had offered 10% off, and not only did he subtract that out, but also took off the lemoncello as an apology. Needless to say, I tipped well. The net was we walked out of there for under 100-Euro all-in. To top it off, they sent us home with a complimentary bottle of Spumante!

DIY Sight-seeing Walking Tour

For our full day in Rome, I had researched a DIY sight-seeing walking tour that would take us on a wide arc around central Rome.

The places of interest are, in this order (all labeled in the same order on my Google Map). Note I won’t provide more than a summary here, you can easily look each up on Wikipedia for a ton of additional info.

1. Basillica di Santa Maria Maggiore: Amazing artwork dating back to 5th Century BC

2. San Giovanni in Laterano: Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome - central bronze doors from the Roman Senate and amazing statues of the 12 disciples

3. Colisseum: We visited this last year so just walked past and took photos

4. Circo Massimo: Ancient chariot track now just a field with construction going on :(

5. Santa Maria in Cosmedin: Mouth of truth and chapel

6. Theatre of Marcellus, Ruins of Temple of Apollo: Remains of ancient Rome

7. Santa Maria in Campitelli: Church dedicated to Virgin Mary

8. Piazza Campo Dè Fior: Market and Monument to astronomer Bruno who burned alive at the stake for heresy

9. Sant’Agnese in Agone: Boroque church in Piazza Navona

10. Pantheon: We visited this last year so just walked past and took photos

11. Temple of Hadrian: Ancient ruins integrated into a later building (or two)

12. Piazza di Montecitorio: Parliament building

13. Palazzo Wedekind: Column of Marcus Aurelius (spiral relief similar to Trajan’s Column)

14. Santa Maria della Concezione: Wall of skulls (never got to this)

As noted above, we didn’t’ get to see the wall of skulls at Santa Maria della Concezione as we ran out of time and although I have marked Trajan’s column and market on the map (near the Victor Monument) those were a little out of our way on this tour.

If I recall, we got started at 10AM or so and this filled our day, stopping for cappuccino, gelato, and the odd shop here and there along the way.

We stopped for lunch in Piazza Campo De Fior which had several patio dining options to choose from.

I’ll post some pictures of these sites in subsequent posts below.

Getting to Civitavecchia and your Ship

Getting organized before you head to the train station

Our recommended check-in time for the Crown Princess was 1-4PM with all-aboard by 5PM. I don’t feel a need to be the first to embark, but I also don’t want the stress of showing up late, so we decided a 1PM train out of Termini was about perfect. I had saved a schedule for the afternoon on my iPhone so when I got to the terminal I knew which train numbers to look for.

However, a very useful piece of information that comes in handy at the train station, is the FINAL destination of your train. Since that’s what appears on all the monitors. So even though you know there’s a train to Civi at 13:29, you may find yourself confused when you look at the board and Civi is not to be seen, but a train to Pisa Centrale is listed for around 13:29. That’s because your train to Civi is ultimately destined for Pisa.

There’s really only one way find this easily, that I know of, and that’s using these large time table posters that are at the train station. Simply find your train by departure time. It will show you the ultimate destination as the heading, the bin number in a circle on the right, and all the stops in fine print. Once you know your train’s ultimate destination and the time, check the board/monitors to see if the bin/platform has changed and then proceed to your platform.

Here’s a couple of pictures so you can see what I’m talking about…

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/21550b/

While you’re at it, take note of the last stop BEFORE Civitavecchia so you know at what point to start getting prepared to get off the train.

Beware of pick-pockets and scams

Read up around here on the many pick-pocket and other scams people use. In the two days we were in Rome I saw a few incidents… a couple involving me.

On the Metro, it appears some guy had some documents or tickets of some kind in his front shirt pocket that were picked. By the time he realized they were gone, the kids that stole them had run away. I recall seeing the kids board with them but then they ran off the train. Sure enough, moments later, the guy realized he had been picked. Too late... as the doors to the metro closed.

A couple we later ran into on the cruise told us their story of how the guy had his wallet picked from his front pocket. All his credit cards gone. They had a huge hassle to get replacement credit cards from Visa in Rome before they left.

When we were getting ready to board the train at Termini, some guy approached us asking if they could help with our luggage. I said "No!" and they backed off, but I had heard about this scam before and even warned my GF about it. If you let them help you they will demand excessive payment.

Finally, after we had boarded the train and were seated in two seats facing each other, a young guy came and sat next to me. My GF was watching him carefully but I was completely oblivious (probably wondering if I was on the right train). She said she was very concerned he was casing me but I guess since I had nothing that could be taken, he moved on after a couple of minutes. I use a passport holder around my neck that’s not visible and a zippered wallet on a chain connected to my belt loop. So be very cautious of people that sit next to you on the train.

Buying your tickets

On a regional train, a first class ticket seemed to only cost me a couple of euro’s more than a regular 2nd class ticket and that was a benefit because the seats are wider and there is more aisle space to navigate with your luggage. So I’d recommend buying a first class ticket and finding the first class car on your train to Civi.

You can either buy tickets from an agent (huge lines) or directly from a machine. The machines offer English and make buying tickets a breeze.

In case you don’t know, make sure to validate your ticket in one of the yellow boxes on the platform near the train before you board. This is not obvious unless you’ve heard about it.

Finding your train

I don’t know if it’s just my luck, but the two times I’ve taken a train from Termini to Civi, it’s been on Bin/Platform 29… which is about a 10-15 minute walk from the main terminal area. If you have the same luck as me, or this is common for Civi bound trains, then factor this into your timing.

Baggage on the train

As I mentioned, travelling in the first class car, makes baggage handling on the train a little easier. There seems to be more room to move around. Even the largest, heaviest luggage will easily stow in the overhead racks… so get someone to help you if needed and put your luggage up there rather than clutter the aisles with it.

At the last stop before Civi, another guy and I started moving everyone's bags from the overhead to the aisle and even out into the door area so that it would make for an efficient un-boarding of the train for everyone as we weren’t sure how long the train would be at the station in Civi. As it turns out, it’s there for a minute or two, definitely enough for everyone to get their luggage off without incident, but you certainly don’t want to be asleep when the train stops at Civi! :D

Getting to the ship

Once off the train, you will likely need to shlep your bags down some stairs to cross some tracks and back up again to ground level. (Italy is not very wheel-chair or cruise-baggage friendly!)

It’s a nice 5-10 minute walk along the water front with your bags to get to the port entrance. There, someone will likely direct you to where the shuttle is for your particular ship. I believe most will be able to get on a coach right there at the entrance. In our case, it was another 5-minute walk to our coach since Princess was tied up in an odd location.

That's it. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try and answer. I should acknowledge that a lot of this very helpful information was gleemed from these boards, and in particular, some of the regulars that post here, so my sincere gratitude to them and everyone that makes this forum such a valueable resource! :)

Pictures from our DIY walking tour…

A few of Basillica di Santa Maria Maggiore…

A side street in Rome…

San Giovanni in Laterano

Amazing Statue of Saint Philip one of the disciples of Jesus (What I find most amazing is how they sculpt the flowing cloth)

The Temple of Hrecules Victor (apparently the oldest marble structure surviving in Rome)

The remains of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus

A back alley somewhere near Piazza Camp de Fiori

Monument to Astronomer Giordano Bruno who was burnt alive at the stake for heresy in 1600

Piazza Navona

I would feel a bit of pressure to maintain these flowers if I owned this office/apt…

Temple of Hadrian… (I like how there are three types of façade and crown molding)…

The column of Marcus Aurelius with a spiral relief depicting various wars…

And finally, no report on Rome would be complete without a few pictures from St. Peter’s…

Thanks for your thorough review.

Thanks so much for your review and wonderful photos! We'll be back in Rome again this spring but using the trains from Venice and then flying out of Rome. We plan to do alot more DIY this time and your review of the train station was helpful.

Great pictures - what kind of camera did you use?

I've never heard of the crypt at Santa Maria della Concezione being called the "wall of skulls", although I guess it's kind of accurate. It's beautifully weird, or weirdly beautiful, too bad you didn't get there.

As for the three block walk to the binario in Termini, it's not you. That's where most of the regional trains that go up the Lazio coast depart from, unfortunately. It also used to be where the Leonard Express arrived and departed from, but I think that's been changed back to the main tracks in the last year or so.

Great report and photos! Thanks for sharing.

Great pictures - what kind of camera did you use?

 

I've never heard of the crypt at Santa Maria della Concezione being called the "wall of skulls", although I guess it's kind of accurate. It's beautifully weird, or weirdly beautiful, too bad you didn't get there.

 

As for the three block walk to the binario in Termini, it's not you. That's where most of the regional trains that go up the Lazio coast depart from, unfortunately. It also used to be where the Leonard Express arrived and departed from, but I think that's been changed back to the main tracks in the last year or so.

Thanks... I use a Canon 5D Mark III SLR.

I wrote something of an essay here if anyone's interested in my thoughts on how to get great results... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=35864556&postcount=12

BTW, I owe you a special thanks for all your helpful advice and input when I was here planning my trip. You and folks like Hank and CruiseMom42, and many other's I'm sure I'm forgetting to name... make these forums an invaluable wealth of information!

I am glad to hear you enjoyed Panzirone. We ate there twice on our last trip and ....both nights were perfect ! I have recommended it here on CC and it is always good to hear that others had the same experience we did.

VirtualRain,

Wow! Great information and amazing photography.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

Many folks will benefit from your detailed posts.

That's what makes CC so great!

I am glad to hear you enjoyed Panzirone. We ate there twice on our last trip and ....both nights were perfect ! I have recommended it here on CC and it is always good to hear that others had the same experience we did.

Your recommendation was probably the one that prompted us to visit there... thanks!

VirtualRain,

Wow! Great information and amazing photography.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

Many folks will benefit from your detailed posts.

That's what makes CC so great!

Thanks... it's the least I can do given almost all the information was obtained from other folks on here - making our trip great.

Just want to bring your thread to the top so people can see your excellent google map of Rome!

Thanks for the report. Your photos are always breathtaking. They make me want to take up photography in a major way. (Either that or kill myself because my photos pale in comparison....:o)

Just want to bring your thread to the top so people can see your excellent google map of Rome!

Thank you.

Thanks for the report. Your photos are always breathtaking. They make me want to take up photography in a major way. (Either that or kill myself because my photos pale in comparison....:o)

Thanks. You should take up photography. I long wanted to get into photography but never felt I had anything interesting to photograph around home. While that's not true at all, it sure helps to be inspired by travelling to visually interesting locations. I didn't really start taking it seriously until I started travelling more frequently in the last couple of years. So everyone that travels frequently really couldn't ask for better subject matter to shot... And that's half (or more) of the challenge to good photography! :)

Now, as you may have noticed, getting "that shot" really adds a new dimension to our travels... from the planning to how we approach a day in port. It's also a satisfying way to continually draw on the memories once you get home too.

VirtualRain, excellent report and photos.

Keith

This report is a keeper. Your advice, maps and organization are excellent. This and your earlier report will be very useful to others spending a day or two in Rome before a cruise.

Thanks for all the helpful info and the great pictures!

Some of you may have seen my recent DIY reports in the Greek Ports thread, where I shared our DIY experience in Santorini, Athens, Corfu, and Katakolon/Olympia.

 

We started our cruise in Rome, so I thought I would share our DIY experience there and I may also post DIY reports on our stops in Livorno and Naples.

 

Some of you that frequent this forum, may recall I posted a rather lengthy review of our port day in Rome last year… Rome Review – How we covered all of Rome in a day on our own. Well as some smart-asses (wise folks) pointed out, we didn’t really cover all of Rome in a day. And after this recent trip, I couldn’t agree more! However, I still stand by that previous report as a fantastic well-thought-out way to see a lot of the key sights in Rome if you’re only there for a day on a cruise. If you are in Rome for just a day, and haven’t been to many of the key sights before, I think that itinerary is still the best approach.

 

So what did we do this year?

 

While we actually had about 48 hours in Rome this time between landing at the airport around noon 2-days prior to boarding our ship in Civitavecchia, we really only spent the one full day in Rome doing any sight-seeing worth reviewing here. We spent the first afternoon doing some shopping and revisiting St. Peter’s and the last morning in Rome doing some additional shopping and getting ready to go to the port.

 

So this DIY report is what I would call a great way to spend a 2nd day in Rome. As mentioned above, if this is your first visit to Rome, you’ll most certainly want to visit the sites in my thread from last year before most of these, but you can certainly mix and match or ignore my thoughts entirely!

 

Map

 

I have a Google Map of Rome that includes sights from last years “highlights” as well as this year’s 2nd day walking tour. Last year’s sights are marked with blue pins and this year’s sights are marked with red pins. The pins are listed in the left column in the order we visited them. In addition, I’ve included a few restaurant recommendations I’ve collected from here and elsewhere… a couple of which we visited and a couple we didn’t get to.

 

Also noted on the map are the key metro stations, train stations, bus station, and our hotel.

 

Arriving in Rome

 

My GF and I arrived on separate flights since I was already in Europe on business and although we had planned to meet in Frankfurt, her inbound was delayed so she ended up getting a slightly later flight to Rome than I did. It wasn’t a problem, I found some free WiFI upstairs in the shopping area and killed time until she got there.

 

Delayed luggage

 

Unfortunately, the airline lost my GF's checked bag somewhere along the way (her first connection in Montreal), which created some stress. This would be stressful in any situation, but through past experience, I know that getting anything delivered in Italy can be a long drawn out affair. On the bright side, we had 2 days before we boarded the ship and an AMEX Gold card with delayed baggage compensation with a $500 limit on emergency expenses :D

 

She filed a lost baggage report, gave them the hotel information, and we had no choice but to head into Rome on a prayer that somehow her suitcase would be delivered before we headed to the port. She was smart enough to pack overnight essentials in her carry-on (something we learned the hard way previously due to a missed connection). And thankfully, for both our sanity, she was remarkably relaxed about it. I guess the promise of a Rome shopping spree made it a lot easier to handle.

 

In the end, we did a bit of shopping at AMEX’s expense, but the luggage eventually showed up the 2nd night while we were out for dinner. Although, perhaps my fears of a total lack of any sense of urgency amongst Italians is ill-founded in this case, it still took a few calls to the lost baggage desk at Fiumicino by our helpful front-desk staffer to make sure they had the correct info and hadn’t forgot about it. If this happens to you, particularly in Italy, don’t just assume it’s gonna show up. Get your Hotel to help you track it down and keep on their case.

 

Train to Rome

 

We took the express train to Rome which cost 14-Euro each but it was convenient (literally through a short tunnel and up an escalator from the arrivals area) and a relaxed way to travel (no problem getting a seat or handling our luggage). It runs every 30 minutes and takes 30 minutes.

 

More Info:

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=99eb7bd0cfdea110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

 

Other, cheaper options include coach service from the airport into central Rome. From what I understand, they generally take about an hour and cost 4-8-Euro. Here are a couple of links for those options...

 

http://www.sitbusshuttle.com/

http://www.terravision.eu/rome_fiumicino.html

 

 

Hotel

 

Our priorities for a Hotel were… located a short walk from Termini, affordable, and well rated. A quick search revealed a few choices: Casa Romana, Franks House, and Hotel Andreina. We selected Hotel Andreina for about 100-Euro per night. It’s a small boutique hotel on the 4th floor of a large older building a block from Termini, run by some really great people. It’s not fancy, but that’s not our thing (we always book inside cabins on ships!). The rooms were reasonably sized, quiet, clean, with modern remote controlled AC. The hotel was staffed by some very helpful folks that spoke English and they served a nice continental breakfast (according to my GF as I was never up early enough).

 

The best part was the location. We could easily get to from the train with our luggage without having to use a taxi. We could walk to a lot of stuff in central Rome or even jump on the Metro to go a bit further afield. You can find more info on TripAdvisor and you can book online through booking.com which offers a better cancelation policy than most online booking sites.

 

Dinner in Rome

 

The first night we ate at Panzirone in Piazza Navona based on a review/recommendation from someone hear on the forums. It was great. The staff were super friendly, the services was great, the food was good if not excellent, and the value was what you’d expect from a place in the Piazza… totally acceptable. They offered a free glass of sparkling wine to start which was fabulous. We ordered a bottle of bubbly, some antipasto, and a couple of pasta dishes and couldn’t have been happier. Dining in Piazza Navona is just great with all the people watching, artists and buskers.

 

 

The next night I had made reservations at one of Rome’s top rated restaurants on TripAdvisor… Ad-Hoc. . It’s a cozy little place not far from Piazza del Popolo and the Metro station of the same name. They are perhaps most well known for their tasting menu and truffles, but their extensive wine list is also extra-ordinary Their beef carpaccio was the best I’ve ever had. Everything is very reasonably priced. Again we ordered antipasto, a couple of pasta dishes (lobster pasta and lamb truffle ragu) with a bottle of Barbera wine and some lemoncello aperitif. When the bill came, I reminded the waiter that we had booked online and they had offered 10% off, and not only did he subtract that out, but also took off the lemoncello as an apology. Needless to say, I tipped well. The net was we walked out of there for under 100-Euro all-in. To top it off, they sent us home with a complimentary bottle of Spumante!

 

 

DIY Sight-seeing Walking Tour

 

For our full day in Rome, I had researched a DIY sight-seeing walking tour that would take us on a wide arc around central Rome.

 

The places of interest are, in this order (all labeled in the same order on my Google Map). Note I won’t provide more than a summary here, you can easily look each up on Wikipedia for a ton of additional info.

 

1. Basillica di Santa Maria Maggiore: Amazing artwork dating back to 5th Century BC

2. San Giovanni in Laterano: Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome - central bronze doors from the Roman Senate and amazing statues of the 12 disciples

3. Colisseum: We visited this last year so just walked past and took photos

4. Circo Massimo: Ancient chariot track now just a field with construction going on :(

5. Santa Maria in Cosmedin: Mouth of truth and chapel

6. Theatre of Marcellus, Ruins of Temple of Apollo: Remains of ancient Rome

7. Santa Maria in Campitelli: Church dedicated to Virgin Mary

8. Piazza Campo Dè Fior: Market and Monument to astronomer Bruno who burned alive at the stake for heresy

9. Sant’Agnese in Agone: Boroque church in Piazza Navona

10. Pantheon: We visited this last year so just walked past and took photos

11. Temple of Hadrian: Ancient ruins integrated into a later building (or two)

12. Piazza di Montecitorio: Parliament building

13. Palazzo Wedekind: Column of Marcus Aurelius (spiral relief similar to Trajan’s Column)

14. Santa Maria della Concezione: Wall of skulls (never got to this)

 

As noted above, we didn’t’ get to see the wall of skulls at Santa Maria della Concezione as we ran out of time and although I have marked Trajan’s column and market on the map (near the Victor Monument) those were a little out of our way on this tour.

 

If I recall, we got started at 10AM or so and this filled our day, stopping for cappuccino, gelato, and the odd shop here and there along the way.

 

We stopped for lunch in Piazza Campo De Fior which had several patio dining options to choose from.

 

I’ll post some pictures of these sites in subsequent posts below.

 

Getting to Civitavecchia and your Ship

 

Getting organized before you head to the train station

 

Our recommended check-in time for the Crown Princess was 1-4PM with all-aboard by 5PM. I don’t feel a need to be the first to embark, but I also don’t want the stress of showing up late, so we decided a 1PM train out of Termini was about perfect. I had saved a schedule for the afternoon on my iPhone so when I got to the terminal I knew which train numbers to look for.

 

However, a very useful piece of information that comes in handy at the train station, is the FINAL destination of your train. Since that’s what appears on all the monitors. So even though you know there’s a train to Civi at 13:29, you may find yourself confused when you look at the board and Civi is not to be seen, but a train to Pisa Centrale is listed for around 13:29. That’s because your train to Civi is ultimately destined for Pisa.

 

There’s really only one way find this easily, that I know of, and that’s using these large time table posters that are at the train station. Simply find your train by departure time. It will show you the ultimate destination as the heading, the bin number in a circle on the right, and all the stops in fine print. Once you know your train’s ultimate destination and the time, check the board/monitors to see if the bin/platform has changed and then proceed to your platform.

 

Here’s a couple of pictures so you can see what I’m talking about…

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/21550b/

 

While you’re at it, take note of the last stop BEFORE Civitavecchia so you know at what point to start getting prepared to get off the train.

 

Beware of pick-pockets and scams

 

Read up around here on the many pick-pocket and other scams people use. In the two days we were in Rome I saw a few incidents… a couple involving me.

 

On the Metro, it appears some guy had some documents or tickets of some kind in his front shirt pocket that were picked. By the time he realized they were gone, the kids that stole them had run away. I recall seeing the kids board with them but then they ran off the train. Sure enough, moments later, the guy realized he had been picked. Too late... as the doors to the metro closed.

 

A couple we later ran into on the cruise told us their story of how the guy had his wallet picked from his front pocket. All his credit cards gone. They had a huge hassle to get replacement credit cards from Visa in Rome before they left.

 

When we were getting ready to board the train at Termini, some guy approached us asking if they could help with our luggage. I said "No!" and they backed off, but I had heard about this scam before and even warned my GF about it. If you let them help you they will demand excessive payment.

 

Finally, after we had boarded the train and were seated in two seats facing each other, a young guy came and sat next to me. My GF was watching him carefully but I was completely oblivious (probably wondering if I was on the right train). She said she was very concerned he was casing me but I guess since I had nothing that could be taken, he moved on after a couple of minutes. I use a passport holder around my neck that’s not visible and a zippered wallet on a chain connected to my belt loop. So be very cautious of people that sit next to you on the train.

 

Buying your tickets

 

On a regional train, a first class ticket seemed to only cost me a couple of euro’s more than a regular 2nd class ticket and that was a benefit because the seats are wider and there is more aisle space to navigate with your luggage. So I’d recommend buying a first class ticket and finding the first class car on your train to Civi.

 

You can either buy tickets from an agent (huge lines) or directly from a machine. The machines offer English and make buying tickets a breeze.

 

In case you don’t know, make sure to validate your ticket in one of the yellow boxes on the platform near the train before you board. This is not obvious unless you’ve heard about it.

 

Finding your train

 

I don’t know if it’s just my luck, but the two times I’ve taken a train from Termini to Civi, it’s been on Bin/Platform 29… which is about a 10-15 minute walk from the main terminal area. If you have the same luck as me, or this is common for Civi bound trains, then factor this into your timing.

 

Baggage on the train

 

As I mentioned, travelling in the first class car, makes baggage handling on the train a little easier. There seems to be more room to move around. Even the largest, heaviest luggage will easily stow in the overhead racks… so get someone to help you if needed and put your luggage up there rather than clutter the aisles with it.

 

At the last stop before Civi, another guy and I started moving everyone's bags from the overhead to the aisle and even out into the door area so that it would make for an efficient un-boarding of the train for everyone as we weren’t sure how long the train would be at the station in Civi. As it turns out, it’s there for a minute or two, definitely enough for everyone to get their luggage off without incident, but you certainly don’t want to be asleep when the train stops at Civi! :D

 

Getting to the ship

 

Once off the train, you will likely need to shlep your bags down some stairs to cross some tracks and back up again to ground level. (Italy is not very wheel-chair or cruise-baggage friendly!)

 

It’s a nice 5-10 minute walk along the water front with your bags to get to the port entrance. There, someone will likely direct you to where the shuttle is for your particular ship. I believe most will be able to get on a coach right there at the entrance. In our case, it was another 5-minute walk to our coach since Princess was tied up in an odd location.

 

That's it. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try and answer. I should acknowledge that a lot of this very helpful information was gleemed from these boards, and in particular, some of the regulars that post here, so my sincere gratitude to them and everyone that makes this forum such a valueable resource! :)

Loved this....

Outstanding. Thank you.

Thank you.

 

 

 

Thanks. You should take up photography. I long wanted to get into photography but never felt I had anything interesting to photograph around home. While that's not true at all, it sure helps to be inspired by travelling to visually interesting locations. I didn't really start taking it seriously until I started travelling more frequently in the last couple of years. So everyone that travels frequently really couldn't ask for better subject matter to shot... And that's half (or more) of the challenge to good photography! :)

 

Now, as you may have noticed, getting "that shot" really adds a new dimension to our travels... from the planning to how we approach a day in port. It's also a satisfying way to continually draw on the memories once you get home too.

Can you recommend a camera that is a little less than $3000? :-)

Can you recommend a camera that is a little less than $3000? :-)

Look at the Canon Rebel series...T3i, T4i. Great cameras to get you started in DSLR photography. Pair it with a good lens (really more important, and usually more expensive, than the camera) and you should be off to a great start. Nikon also has some great cameras like the D5100 or D3200.

If you want to go full frame then it will cost a lot more...about $2000 for a canon 6d. Honestly for a beginner one of the Canons or Nikons I mentioned should be perfect. Ive been shooting with a T3i and a variety of lenses for about 2 years now and think its a great camera.....although I am eying that 6d :D

Look at the Canon Rebel series...T3i, T4i. Great cameras to get you started in DSLR photography. Pair it with a good lens (really more important, and usually more expensive, than the camera) and you should be off to a great start. Nikon also has some great cameras like the D5100 or D3200.

If you want to go full frame then it will cost a lot more...about $2000 for a canon 6d. Honestly for a beginner one of the Canons or Nikons I mentioned should be perfect. Ive been shooting with a T3i and a variety of lenses for about 2 years now and think its a great camera.....although I am eying that 6d :D

Great advice. The Canon 6D looks to be an incredible camera... almost ideally suited for travel photography.