Rome Express

[biffybear]

Has anyone been on the Rome Express excursion? Do you know if you get to go inside the Vatican or is it just a walk around the square outside? We are thinking of booking it for this year.

[ekco]

Has anyone been on the Rome Express excursion? Do you know if you get to go inside the Vatican or is it just a walk around the square outside? We are thinking of booking it for this year.

 

We didn't go on the Rome Express but on the coach at about £86. Entrance tickets included. We picked up the coach at the ship along with our guide and travelled into Rome arriving at around 9.30am. Even at that time there were queues around the block but we were dropped off and went right to the front of the queue to pick up our headsets and another guide. She took us through security and into the Vatican with a tour around the piazza that is in the centre. After that we walked through a few of the museums which were amazing and then into the Sistene Chapel. We had about 20 minutes here before going into St Peter's with the guide. Free time after this for about half an hour then we all met up and were taken to lunch at a restaurant. Very nice 3 course with wine. Afterwards a tour around all the sights of Rome on the coach without getting off anywhere. Then back to the ship with the guide, around one and a half hours if I remember correctly. Very good day and well worth it.

 

Looking at the trips this year I can't see the same trip but there is Classical Sites and the Vatican City which is close enough, also the Rome On Your Own which drops you off just near the Vatican or you can just get the ordinary train. There is a video on YouTube that shows you how to do it. If you do either of these I would advise that you pre-purchase tickets from the Vatican website that you can pick up from the tickets office on the day and avoids hours of queueing.

 

I seem to remember someone doing the Rome Express last year so I would suggest doing a search.:):)

 

Jan

[biffybear]

Thanks for the information. We quite fancied the train journey as we had been on an excursion to Rome before by bus and had got caught in road hold ups. We will definately visit the Vatican this time though so will do some more research.

[ekco]

I would double check with Thomson as some of the trips are a bit confusing as to whether they actually go into the Vatican instead of just looking from the outside.:)

 

Jan

[biffybear]

Will do, thanks again.

 

Liz

[ekco]

Hi Liz. Found this on a search and thought you might be interested.

 

"Hi, we were on the Dream 16th-23rd July and did the Rome Express on the train. it was a bit more pricey but worth it for us. We got off the ship and were sent to a coach and met by a lovely man called Daniele, just a few minutes on the coach took us to the train, it was an old-fashioned train with 8 carriages, 4 used by Thomson and 4 by RCI. When settled onboard, train was nicely air conditioned and journey was v fast, approx 1 hour. Daniele gave out earpieces and radios for the tour. When we arrived at St Peters train station we met another guide called Solomon (I think) who was to be our guide for the day. Transferred to a coach which took us to the Colosseum (excuse the spelling), Solomon giving commentary the whole way, got off and had half hour or so there, back on coach to Spanish Steps and from there the rest of the tour was on foot. We took in Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, having a wee while in each to take pictures and listen to Solomons commentary, we then had lunch in a wee restaurant , cheese and olives, lasange, tiramisu, water, wine and coffee, then in the afternoon into the Vatican where we had about an hour and a half or so guided tour and then some free time to get a drink or souvenirs, then back to the station and onto the train for the journey home. It was a lovely trip and great having both guides there as Daniele remained at the back to make sure no-one got left behind. He had also given out a wee leaflet at the start with his name and mobile number and name, address and number of the restaurant if there were any problems which I thought was great. Expensive but for me was worth it for a 1st time taster of Rome"

 

Ha, ha, just read it properly. I don't think the poster meant "had a wee while in each" but rather a small amount of time in each. Perhaps a few too many "wee's" in there, lol.

 

Jan

[smnb64]

Although this time Thomsons is a bit pricey for this trip i think Mrs SMNB and I will do this one especially if it includes queue jumping and a knowledgable guide. It isn't every day you go to Rome. lets see it s best we can.

[ekco]

Although this time Thomsons is a bit pricey for this trip i think Mrs SMNB and I will do this one especially if it includes queue jumping and a knowledgable guide. It isn't every day you go to Rome. lets see it s best we can.

 

We hadn't been to Rome before and although we went on the coach one we thought we got our money's worth considering the entrance fees and lunch included, when we took that off it wasn't that much more than Rome On Your Own. Next time we would do the On Your Own one though or diy on the train as we would like to see the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps etc. which weren't included on our trip and we feel more confident about doing it ourselves in a big city.:):)

 

Jan

[smnb64]

We hadn't been to Rome before and although we went on the coach one we thought we got our money's worth considering the entrance fees and lunch included, when we took that off it wasn't that much more than Rome On Your Own. Next time we would do the On Your Own one though or diy on the train as we would like to see the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps etc. which weren't included on our trip and we feel more confident about doing it ourselves in a big city.:):)

 

Jan

 

On the Rome Express tour. You do get to see the Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps to name just a few, and food and an english speaking tour guide and queue jumping, :eek: but at i think £100 each its quite expensive but i think it will be worth while and educational. As this is our first cruise and our usual holidays involve laying on sun beds we're not that confident and i like the idea of the Ship waiting if we are delayed getting back for any reason.

[ekco]

That's just what we thought, although we did do Florence On Your Own the next day which was fantastic getting dropped off with a map and wandering around on our own finding all the points of interest, the map was very accurate and we found everything we wanted to see. It's not as big or as busy as Rome and I would say the walking is only about a half mile radius and we found our way back to the meeting point near the station with no trouble.:)

 

Jan

[biffybear]

Hi Jan

 

Great information, just what we were looking for. This excursion ticks all our boxes so will definately be a goer. We have decided to do two excursions this cruise, one to Rome and one on Sardinia (haven't decided which yet). The rest of the cruise we will wander ashore for a couple of hours or just enjoy the ship.

 

Liz

[ekco]

I'm sure you'll have a great time whatever you decide going to places it would take many holidays to get to.:):)

 

Jan

[biffybear]

Thanks Jan, this weather is putting me in the holiday mood already, roll on the summer.

[mtt]

We want to do an excursion in rome, we want to see the trevi fountain, spanish steps, not bothered aboutthe vatican and suggestions which trip is best on the spirit in oct

[marylizcat]

We want to do an excursion in rome, we want to see the trevi fountain, spanish steps, not bothered aboutthe vatican and suggestions which trip is best on the spirit in oct

If you want a full tour, then 'Rome and the Coliseum' looks like it meets your requirements. Otherwise, do what we have done twice, which is the 'Rome on Your Own' tour. Then you can either do the hop-on hop-off bus tour or walk around the sights, depending on your fitness!

[mtt]

Thanks

[ekco]

I would do the Rome On Your Own. Kruzseeka says that you get a lot longer in Rome than going on the train on your own and if it runs late the ship will wait but won't when you DIY so you end up leaving earlier than perhaps you need to.:):)

 

I don't want to gloat Liz but we're off to the Caribbean in less than 2 weeks. AND the summer clothes have just come into the shops in time. Oh! I'm so happy!:D

 

Jan

[biffybear]

You are making me jealous now. Hope you have a fab time. Your right about the summer clothes in the shops, although you have to buy early now as they all seem to disappear as the summer approaches. I'm on the look out for a pair of silver sandals with plenty of bling. Have to hide the shoe boxes from my other half mind you to keep his blood pressure down!!!!

[ekco]

I can't tell you how many pairs of black shoes I've tried on in the last couple of weeks. Hundreds! and not one pair fitted correctly. Keep an eye on the De***hams web site for sandals, they have regular sales and you can pick them up instore. I've seen some nice silver ones on there today 30% off. They change the sales every couple of days though so be quick.:):)

 

Jan

[biffybear]

Hi Jan

 

Thanks for the tip off. I'm taking a few maxi dresses this year for night time and looking for a kind of boho look so dont want a high heel. Saw a really nice pair in Dune but they were gold. I might have another sortie around the shops this weekend if the weather changes for the worse as is predicted (snow I believe!!!). Any excuse for a bit of retail therapy.

 

Liz

[jessie36]

We have been to Rome a number of times and know our way around a bit.

Is it possible to get an ordinary train from near the ship just so we can have lunch in Rome do a little shopping and then make our way back to the ship. The full day tours seem awfully long but I guess that could be because of distance from Rome. Has anyone done completely DIY to Rome?

Many thanks for any advice

Jessie

[kruzseeka]

We have been to Rome a number of times and know our way around a bit.

Is it possible to get an ordinary train from near the ship just so we can have lunch in Rome do a little shopping and then make our way back to the ship. The full day tours seem awfully long but I guess that could be because of distance from Rome. Has anyone done completely DIY to Rome?

Many thanks for any advice

Jessie

 

 

Yes we've done it a few times and it's quite easy and of course very cheap compared with a ship's trip at 9E return. But I would offer some advice if you are going to do it independently.

 

1. Get off the ship as early as you can to give you enough time in Rome to not feel rushed and have plenty of time to get back with a decent margin. Use the port shuttle if it's running to the port entrance then turn right walk for about 10 minutes and the station is across the road up a slightly elevated secton - I think it may be painted a darkish yellow colour and is a low rise building. If we are doing anything like this we often walk the route using Google Earth street view just to familiarise ourselves with the area - makes us feel more confident about DiY! (If it's too early for the shuttle it's not far to walk to the port gates.)

 

2. Get the train timetables before you go from the Trenitalia site

 

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD

 

Again, reassuring to know you have the timetable to hand.

I think we caught a train just before 9 am.

 

3. Make sure you validate your ticket BEFORE getting on the train - there are shoe-box size boxes on the platform - you put your ticket in and it dates it. If an inspector asks you for your ticket and it's unstamped, there are on-the-spot fines.

 

4. Plan where you want to go in Rome before you go so you can choose the best station to get off. We always have a decent map of Rome with us so that we can plan the most efficient route around the city pulling in the sites we want to see. You have been before so will have this sorted I'm sure. We generally get off at St Pietro but I believe your train ticket is valid for the Metro and buses (just check this to be certain) so you can make the most of public transport to get across the city as you need.

 

5. Make sure you give yourself good time to get back - I think from your plans you won't be late heading back to Civitavecchio. We went for a train somewhere between 2.30 and 3.00 I think and made the mistake of going back to St Pietro to get on.

 

Take my advice and go to the Terminii - the train was packed by the time it got to St Pietro which is two or three stops along from the Terminii where the train starts. I think you'd be much more confident of getting on here and of getting a seat. There were quite a lot of young people from school/college on the train and most didn't get off until Civitavecchia so that's a bit of a critical time. Perhaps if it's school holiday time this wouldn't be such an issue.

 

I have never experienced anything like it though. I didn't think there was a snowflake in h***'s chance of getting on but people kept pushing and pushing - sardines didn't come into it. More like a Guiness Book of Records 'How many in a railway carriage' challenge! It was actually a bit scary - I didn't even know if the rest of my party was on the train. Texting proved useless as my DH couldn't get his arms up to answer his mobile and let me know he had squeezed on!!!!!

 

H&S didn't come into it - I know it gets a bad press but goodness knows how we would have fared in an emergency! But we were just so relieved to be on our way back to the ship as we were worried the next train would be as bad.

 

But having said all that it really is very straight-forward and we'd do it again - just head for the Terminii to come back! Hope that helps. :)

[jessie36]

Many thanks Kruzseeka, we go on 19th may and I think our Rome stop is the following Wednesday will look at school holidays. I will print off your info I remember having to validate the train tickets from our last visit but we loved the metro as there were only two lines. We have a map and will get timetable sorted. You are an amazing source of help for everyone on this forum. Thanks so much

[kruzseeka]

Many thanks Kruzseeka, we go on 19th may and I think our Rome stop is the following Wednesday will look at school holidays. I will print off your info I remember having to validate the train tickets from our last visit but we loved the metro as there were only two lines. We have a map and will get timetable sorted. You are an amazing source of help for everyone on this forum. Thanks so much

 

 

You are very welcome - pleased to be of help. :)

 

I meant to include this link too;

 

http://www.rometoolkit.com/airport/civitavechia_train.htm

 

I assume you are on the Dream - we did the Med itineraries last year on her and really enjoyed our trip. Have a great time. :)

[Jakanne1]

Many thanks Kruzseeka, we go on 19th may and I think our Rome stop is the following Wednesday will look at school holidays. I will print off your info I remember having to validate the train tickets from our last visit but we loved the metro as there were only two lines. We have a map and will get timetable sorted. You are an amazing source of help for everyone on this forum. Thanks so much

 

Probably the only thing not mentioned by Kruzseeka is to watch out for the Pick Pockets. Still don't know how they managed to get my camera:eek:. Was on overcrowded bus from Terminii to Vatican. They work in packs of three one of which was pushing himself into me in a "nasty way" so I obviously was trying to move away from him which was towards a woman sitting in a seat. Must have been her who took it. The queue at the police station waiting to report thefts was very long.... and if you have to get back to a cruise ship not a good thing to have to do:mad: