Rome Excursions

[gcbranscome]

Hi! We just booked a Western Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona for June 2025.  I have cruised before but never booked so far in advance.  How far out before a cruise does Royal allow you to book excursions?  Which excursions would you recommend for Rome?  Thank you!

[Biker19]

Just now, gcbranscome said:

How far out before a cruise does Royal allow you to book excursions?

That varies - you'll need to keep checking the planner.

[birdofsong]

I'm not sure what excursions they will offer, but if you have a chance to go to the Pantheon, you should do it. 

[The Collector]

We took the Rome in a golfcart tour and really enjoyed it. Our driver asked us where we wanted to go and planned our ride around our list. He also added a few hidden gems. We booked through Viator

[Norwich Cruiser]

Forget the Royal excursions book a private tour with Romeinlimo  and pay the extra for there guide.

 

It’ll be money worth spent.

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

Forget the Royal excursions book a private tour with Romeinlimo  and pay the extra for there guide.

 

It’ll be money worth spent.

We've done their private tour before and loved it. Just us and the driver/guide....but once at the Vatican we booked a private guide for this venue....RomeInLimo organized everything.

[RobInMN]

When we did the Western Med (Symphony's inaugural season), we specifically chose to do it out of Rome (Civitavecchia) so that we could spend a week in Rome before hand. And that still wasn't enough time.

You will either need to pick a single thing to do in depth (like the Vatican), or do a "Rome in a day" quick drive-by of Rome's most popular attractions. Keep in mind that there is a a 1+ hour drive each way, so you have to account for that.

Because there is so much and your time is limited, I would second what @Norwich Cruiser recommends. If anything, you will not be limited by slow or late people.

Oh, and pre-book "skip the line" tickets for everything you can.

Edited December 3, 2023 by RobInMN

[dmrrn73]

3 hours ago, The Collector said:

We took the Rome in a golfcart tour and really enjoyed it. Our driver asked us where we wanted to go and planned our ride around our list. He also added a few hidden gems. We booked through Viator

We did this in October when we were in Rome for a couple days before our cruise. It was really fun! Turned out to be my husband's favorite tour we did the whole week. It was probably my #2 but #1 because it was a private tour, which was really nice. 

[jacobtsf]

Echoing what was said above, do private or small group tours for most of your stops in the Mediterranean!

 

When we went back in 2017 we used ItalyTours.eu for both Rome and Florence/Pisa. There were a total of 6 people on each tour, plus a guide and driver. We were able to get a truly personal tour, see EVERYTHING (including with skip the line passes), and feel confident we would make it back to the ship on time. AND it was only a touch more expensive than the giant group tours Royal offered. 

[gcbranscome]

5 hours ago, The Collector said:

We took the Rome in a golfcart tour and really enjoyed it. Our driver asked us where we wanted to go and planned our ride around our list. He also added a few hidden gems. We booked through Viator

This sounds great! If you don’t mind, how much was this excursion? 

[time4u2go]

12 hours ago, RobInMN said:

When we did the Western Med (Symphony's inaugural season), we specifically chose to do it out of Rome (Civitavecchia) so that we could spend a week in Rome before hand. And that still wasn't enough time.

I agree with this. There's absolutely no way to see what Rome has to offer in just one day! 

[The Collector]

10 hours ago, gcbranscome said:

This sounds great! If you don’t mind, how much was this excursion? 

I was around $250 for 4 adults, for about 5 hours.

[gcbranscome]

On 12/2/2023 at 7:13 PM, Ashland said:

We've done their private tour before and loved it. Just us and the driver/guide....but once at the Vatican we booked a private guide for this venue....RomeInLimo organized everything.

Great…I’m actually thinking about booking with RomeInLimo. If we do, will they wait if we get tickets for the Vatican or will they book all this stuff for us?

[gcbranscome]

On 12/3/2023 at 9:18 AM, The Collector said:

I was around $250 for 4 adults, for about 5 hours.

Thats a great price! Were you able to go in the St.Peter’s Basilica or was that not included?

[The Collector]

That was not included

[bonsai3s]

DIY...Civitavecchia to Rome.

 

* Take shuttle from ship to train station. 

* Purchase BIRG ticket...roundtrip train and access to Metro in Rome. 14€

* Approx.1 hr train ride.

* Get off San Pietro (St. Peter) station.

* 10-minute walk to St. Peter's Basilica/Vatican.

* From St. Peter's Basilica, you can walk to Castel D'Angelo, cross the Tiber River, walk to Piazza Navona, then Pantheon, then Trevi Fountain.

* Spanish Steps is nearby or you can take the Metro to the Collosseum.

* You can take the train back to Civitavecchia from the Main Termini.

 

This is just a brief summary...lots of other details in the Italy forum if you are interested.

[Ashland]

5 hours ago, gcbranscome said:

Great…I’m actually thinking about booking with RomeInLimo. If we do, will they wait if we get tickets for the Vatican or will they book all this stuff for us?

When we made the original booking these were extra add on's and so glad we opted for the Vatican admission and the private guide. They handled everything involved. Book it, you'll be so glad you did.

[silentbob007]

I've used RomeinLimo many times and have always been happy with them.  However, as bonsai3s mentioned above, this can be done very easily on your own for an extremely low price ... it just depends if you want to be responsible for navigating the train schedules and are feeling adventurous.  My first time going to Rome I bought a BIRG, saw lots of things, and put about 20 miles in.

[time4u2go]

11 hours ago, Ashland said:

When we made the original booking these were extra add on's and so glad we opted for the Vatican admission and the private guide. They handled everything involved. Book it, you'll be so glad you did.

Do these types of tours include fast lane access into the Coliseum or do you have to wait in the slow line? 

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

Do these types of tours include fast lane access into the Coliseum or do you have to wait in the slow line? 

I can't remember if this was an option so ask RomeInLimo...but we had no interest in going inside. Our time was spent better elsewhere especially at the Vatican.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

You will need to decide what you would like to see in your day in Rome.  . . and how much energy you have.  Rome will involve a lot of walking on side streets and on cobble stones.  

 

We were there for 3.5 days and saw most of the big venues.  We also stayed in a hotel adjacent to the pantheon.  That helped.  We bought timed tickets for the Colosseum in advance and got in line at the appointed time.  We did a self-guided audio tour.  That can take as long or short time as you like. And it could be part of any arranged tour.

 

We did a golf cart tour one day and it was a highlight for us.  We got to see things that were too far apart for us to walk to. But you would need to get to Rome from the pier and meet the tour.  

 

The day we went to the Vatican it was a zoo.  I am glad I went [DH would not commit to that statement] and promised myself I will never go back. If you look at the picture below you can see our group walking with our tour guide at the Vatican.  [green umbrella folded down on right] You can see the other group leaders holding umbrellas and other signage so their groups can follow them.  I included a couple of other pictures so you can see it was true in most of the rooms in the Vatican.  Ours was a skip the line tour.  Yes, we skipped the line, but not the crowd.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since you only have the one day, I think I would take the Rome in Limo tour.  Let them do all the driving and organizing.  You will see more. We did not tour with them.  However, several of our fellow passengers gave them high marks.

 

If the Vatican is a must see--go by all means.  You just need to know it will take a good portion of your time.  Maybe you will be lucky and go on a slow day. 🙂

 

Have a great cruise.

 

 

 

[dmrrn73]

On 12/6/2023 at 3:29 PM, DragonOfTheSeas said:

You will need to decide what you would like to see in your day in Rome.  . . and how much energy you have.  Rome will involve a lot of walking on side streets and on cobble stones.  

 

We were there for 3.5 days and saw most of the big venues.  We also stayed in a hotel adjacent to the pantheon.  That helped.  We bought timed tickets for the Colosseum in advance and got in line at the appointed time.  We did a self-guided audio tour.  That can take as long or short time as you like. And it could be part of any arranged tour.

 

We did a golf cart tour one day and it was a highlight for us.  We got to see things that were too far apart for us to walk to. But you would need to get to Rome from the pier and meet the tour.  

 

The day we went to the Vatican it was a zoo.  I am glad I went [DH would not commit to that statement] and promised myself I will never go back. If you look at the picture below you can see our group walking with our tour guide at the Vatican.  [green umbrella folded down on right] You can see the other group leaders holding umbrellas and other signage so their groups can follow them.  I included a couple of other pictures so you can see it was true in most of the rooms in the Vatican.  Ours was a skip the line tour.  Yes, we skipped the line, but not the crowd.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since you only have the one day, I think I would take the Rome in Limo tour.  Let them do all the driving and organizing.  You will see more. We did not tour with them.  However, several of our fellow passengers gave them high marks.

 

If the Vatican is a must see--go by all means.  You just need to know it will take a good portion of your time.  Maybe you will be lucky and go on a slow day. 🙂

 

Have a great cruise.

 

 

 

 

This was pretty much my Vatican experience too. It was so crowded and it was hot that day too. 

[Scout977]

Another option to explore is italytoursharing. We used them for three tours (Florence, Rome, Amalfi Coast) in 2015 and again in 2018 for different tours in Rome and Florence. They are easy to work with and reliable.

[firefly333]

I'm doing leg 1 and leg 2 may 2025 voyager from PC. 2nd leg ends in rome, so I'm reading about tours. Cant see much for may 2025 so far away so right now just reading. Not everyone only has 1 day port stop in rome. TA was a awesome group price. Leg 2 not so much lol. But decided if I'm already over there 2nd leg stops in Greece twice and would be a shame not to see greece. 

 

So it ends in rome. 

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'm doing leg 1 and leg 2 may 2025 voyager from PC. 2nd leg ends in rome, so I'm reading about tours. Cant see much for may 2025 so far away so right now just reading. Not everyone only has 1 day port stop in rome. TA was a awesome group price. Leg 2 not so much lol. But decided if I'm already over there 2nd leg stops in Greece twice and would be a shame not to see greece. 

 

So it ends in rome. 

 

I think you made a good choice to do the following cruise as well. As you said, you're already over there (and airfare is so expensive now....)

 

As you read, feel free to ask questions about things. Nice that you have so much time to plan. You'll be able to get a good idea of what you are interesting in seeing & doing in port if you do a little research.