Docking in Rome...time to train (Royal)

[cruisemom42]

Yes -- agree that if the Colosseum is your destination, getting off at Ostiense will get you there quite a bit faster. 

 

If it's not already clear, what you are doing at Ostiense is getting off the train and getting on the Metro. "Ostiense" is the name of the train station/stop, and "Pyramide" is the name of the Metro stop. The two stations are side by side and internally connected (although sometimes it can be a bit confusing, try to just follow signs to "Metro").  If all else fails, you can walk outside and over to the metro station too...

 

Once you are at the Metro station you want the Blue or "B" line, heading north. There are subway maps on the walls to show you the direction of the trains -- it helps to know the last stop, as that will be listed on the train itself and on the arrivals boards in the station. Going North on B, the end station may say "Jonio" or "Rebibbia" -- either one is fine to get on.

 

Once onboard you will get off at the second stop, which is Colosseo -- as already mentioned, you cannot miss the Colosseum as you exit the station: it is directly in front of you (and huge).

 

If you are early, there is a refreshment bar/window at the exit to the station with good espresso/cappuccino to fuel up, also restrooms. Take a few photos from the front of the station before you cross the street, it's a good vantage point.

 

[ldock]

Buy on arrival, it’s easy and fast.  You can grab the next train To leave without stressing about time

[Vineyard View]

Slightly different twist. We are hoping to fly home the day we disembark (if not we will use this info to overnight in Rome and explore that magnificent city again). What is the easiest way to get to the airport from the ship? 

[cruisemom42]

46 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Slightly different twist. We are hoping to fly home the day we disembark (if not we will use this info to overnight in Rome and explore that magnificent city again). What is the easiest way to get to the airport from the ship? 

 

Easiest to the airport would be a pre-arranged private (approx. 140-160 euros) or shared (80-90 euros) transfer.

[Vineyard View]

Thank you. I kind of thought that would be the case. Including being pricey

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Thank you. I kind of thought that would be the case. Including being pricey

We're doing the same thing, i.e. flying home the same day we disembark. Probably taking the train or a bus. Taxis are a rip-off, in my opinion. We have over 7 hours to catch our plane so I'm not shelling out for a taxi, but that's just me.

[bigsky]

On 7/25/2023 at 10:28 AM, euro cruiser said:

Actually, if you take a regional train it makes more sense to get off at Ostiense, not Termini, if you are going to the Colosseum because (a) it gets to that station first, (b) the trains slow down significantly to enter Termini, and (c) the distance from the Lazio train tracks at Termini to the metro station is a three block walk.

 

I thought I posted this map earlier but maybe it was on another thread.  You can see that the Ostiense train station and the Piramide metro station are connected, but not the same station:  mappa ferro e tram (giu 2022) (atac.roma.it)

Someone else said to take the train to Ostiense and then the blue line to Colleseo....

 

[bigsky]

14 hours ago, ldock said:

Buy on arrival, it’s easy and fast.  You can grab the next train To leave without stressing about time

That sounds good : )

[bigsky]

On 7/25/2023 at 11:17 AM, cruisemom42 said:

Yes -- agree that if the Colosseum is your destination, getting off at Ostiense will get you there quite a bit faster. 

 

If it's not already clear, what you are doing at Ostiense is getting off the train and getting on the Metro. "Ostiense" is the name of the train station/stop, and "Pyramide" is the name of the Metro stop. The two stations are side by side and internally connected (although sometimes it can be a bit confusing, try to just follow signs to "Metro").  If all else fails, you can walk outside and over to the metro station too...

 

Once you are at the Metro station you want the Blue or "B" line, heading north. There are subway maps on the walls to show you the direction of the trains -- it helps to know the last stop, as that will be listed on the train itself and on the arrivals boards in the station. Going North on B, the end station may say "Jonio" or "Rebibbia" -- either one is fine to get on.

 

Once onboard you will get off at the second stop, which is Colosseo -- as already mentioned, you cannot miss the Colosseum as you exit the station: it is directly in front of you (and huge).

 

If you are early, there is a refreshment bar/window at the exit to the station with good espresso/cappuccino to fuel up, also restrooms. Take a few photos from the front of the station before you cross the street, it's a good vantage point.

 

Thank you! Yes, this has been confusing, but the more I read posts, its starting to sink in. I'm just going to get my tickets when we arrive and when we leave. As long as I know the times they leave.

Hoping to see more next time as our tour ended up canceling on us since we didn't have enough people. So we're only doing half on our own.  I'm sure it will be amazing anyways.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

[Vineyard View]

6 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

We're doing the same thing, i.e. flying home the same day we disembark. Probably taking the train or a bus. Taxis are a rip-off, in my opinion. We have over 7 hours to catch our plane so I'm not shelling out for a taxi, but that's just me.

Thank you. I need to get flights nailed down so I know what I am up af]giants but thanks OP for posting this. I think it’s been helpful for several of us!

[bigsky]

Well, we just returned from our cruise. Wanted to post in a few of my posts where I had questions.

We originally booked with a tour guide and they had to cancel on us since not many signed up thru the ship. It was very unfortunate since we didn't get to use them on one of our tours. It was amazing, organized and small! Much less than the ship as well. 

Anyways, we took the train to see the Colosseum. We booked a tour once we knew our other canceled. This one just met us there. Got off the ship later than I wanted. Didn't do advance tickets. Got there at 9:05, but next one was 9:53. Not knowing how long this would all take, I was a tad nervous.

Then had to take the metro which is a block away. Ended up getting to our meeting point with 5 minutes to spare!

Make sure when you return, take B back, NOT A. Ugh....I remember there were two stops, but we went in the wrong direction. Hubby warned me to check and I didn't listen. Someone finally was able to tell us once we got off that we needed to go on the other side to B. Very confusing to figure out at the time. Found some police and they told us. 

In my mind, I kept thinking when we got off the train, the metro was down below where we were. You have to exit out of the building, walk left to down the street to get the metro. Also, when we bought our tickets, she gave me to duplicates and hubby got the other two duplicates. I had both coming back and he had both going. A gal that worked there told me to put one in the machine to validate it. It validated the wrong one. We finally figured out what happened, didn't do anything more, and thankfully they didn't check them. They really should have someone there that can help direct you. Also, the train showed up 20 minutes prior to us leaving. We weren't sure to get on or not. No one speaks English either that didn't help.

Next time if we had to do it, would be much easier. But next time, we'll be sure to have a tour guide that picks us up and drives us to all our spots.

 

[euro cruiser]

1 hour ago, bigsky said:

Also, the train showed up 20 minutes prior to us leaving. We weren't sure to get on or not. No one speaks English either that didn't help.

 

Public transit isn't for everyone, and it's especially trying if you don't use it at home (an issue for many Americans, who live in places without much mass transit).

 

It sounds like you maybe used two different train stations, one upon arrival and another for departure?  At any rate, even in the same station, it's easy to get turned around when you approach it from a different direction than you did before.

 

In the afternoon, trains leaving from Rome to Civitavecchia can be as frequent as ten minutes apart, to accommodate commuters heading home after work.  The trick is to know which ones are regionales, vs. Frecces or ICs, because you could get on any regionale with your ticket. 

[euro cruiser]

I know this is very old school of me, but I always encourage travelers to take a paper copy of the regional train and metro network with them to refer to.  ATAC has a great one on their site you can download and print:  mappa ferro e tram (giu 2022) (atac.roma.it)

 

It's especially helpful since the directions in the metro stations are given by end points, so if you know where you are and where you want to go, following the line to see the name at the end tells you which side of the tracks to be on.

[bigsky]

7 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

 

Public transit isn't for everyone, and it's especially trying if you don't use it at home (an issue for many Americans, who live in places without much mass transit).

 

It sounds like you maybe used two different train stations, one upon arrival and another for departure?  At any rate, even in the same station, it's easy to get turned around when you approach it from a different direction than you did before.

 

In the afternoon, trains leaving from Rome to Civitavecchia can be as frequent as ten minutes apart, to accommodate commuters heading home after work.  The trick is to know which ones are regionales, vs. Frecces or ICs, because you could get on any regionale with your ticket. 

I used the same train station. Just a stupid move on my part. 
yes, not for me. Plus we were exhausted and hot. Too much packed in the week

[LuckyStar]

On 7/20/2023 at 11:08 AM, euro cruiser said:

It's fine to buy Frecce (fast, non stop train) tickets in advance, but there's no point in purchasing the regional tickets in advance because they never sell out and there's no price incentive to buy early.

 

The first Frecce you could make isn't until 9:16 (arrives Rome Termini at 10:03), so you'd have plenty of time to make that one.

 

In addition to the cruise line shuttle there is a port shuttle bus for 6 euro that takes you from your ship/terminal directly to the train station in Civitavecchia.

We are on another cruise line but is the port shuttle available for anyone?  And do you have to book in advance? TIA!

Edited August 20, 2023 by LuckyStar

[euro cruiser]

Yes, the port shuttle serves all ships, all lines.  There is no way to book in advance.

 

There are two shuttle options, the free one to the Largo della Pace exit, or the pay one (6 euro per person) to the train station.  For the later you can pay the driver on the bus.