Port of Call: Civitavecchia (Day 3)

With sea day the previous day and rested from a good night's sleep, waking up early and breakfasting on the deck gave us a chance to witness our ship's entry into the port of Rome, the harbour town of Civitavecchia.
Civitavecchia is a sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 80 km WNW of Rome. Civitavecchia means ancient town.

In order to get to Rome, take the bus, or more conveniently IMO take the train. If I remember correctly (I have no access to my cruise diary because it's in my PC and right now I'm blogging on my laptop) the fare one way to Roma Termini (main terminal) is 9 euro.

When we disembarked, we found buses waiting for us. We were sorted out according to who's taking the official NCL tour (about $170 pp) and who are going on their own. On the DIY line, we met a lovely couple from Victoria BC who in the coming days became one of our fave tour mates. The buses for DIY-ers stop outside the fort walls, where a tourism office/kiosk is situated. We were told to ask for directions to the train station. There were too many people opting to do the tour on their own that it was easy to find the train station - just follow the crowd.

The image was captured on our return from Rome. I was in hurry in the morning to stop and snap.

The fortress walls at night. Waiting for the bus that would take us back to the ship.

For my cruise virgin readers, this is what you need to know. You don't have all the time in the world in your port of call. Your time is limited. Sometimes, VERY limited. Like Rome for instance. I think this would be where people find unpalatable about cruising - they don't see enough of the port of call sights.

For instance in Rome, the ship docks at 8 am and departs at 8 pm. Docks at 8 am doesn't mean you get off at 8 am. You get off later. Sometimes there is a delay in docking too. Factor in your travel time to Rome, which is about an hour by train each way. That's another two hours that you will not have for sightseeing or shopping.

Understand that cruising is like going to the buffet, you only get to taste a little bit of this and little bit of that. Now when you like what you tasted, hopefully, you get to devote a whole vacation to that place.

For us cruising is the answer to all our needs. We want to take one plane ride but see many different places where we don't have to pack and unpack to each place we see. We also don't want to worry about the food. We like to pay one price and be done with it. With cruising our accommodations, food, and transportation is covered.

Comments

  1. I'm in total agreement about the pluses of cruising, Maria. If you ever want to go back to a special port-o-call, you can. We were twice in Rome and the second time I went on my own and did the highlights in an afternoon, racing from here to there to get the pictures I wanted. It was totally doable, though I was totally exhausted when done. But I knew exactly where I wanted to go and saw what I wanted to see with my camera!

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  2. Never went on a cruise but it sounds exciting !

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  3. a cruise is convenient but yes, a bit limiting. but as you said, if like the place, you can go there on your next vacation and explore more.

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  4. very well said abt Cruising, I once went in curise to nowhere and realised there is so much to do inside teh ship and thats why ppl dont go out of it often LOL

    I loved the port pictures again a feast for eyes!

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  5. thanks for sharing us your experience of cruise. it's not the usual way of traveling here in the philippines. i too wish to try it but not as you've experienced it. short stops with very limited time.

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  6. thanks for the helpful insights.
    i agree with the pros and cons, with cruising it's more about relaxing, to unwind, dock off the pier when you want to and then, go check out some sights if you have the time,
    but if you're traveling like a backpacker, you're always on the go, in a hurry, leaving you totally exhausted but on the other hand, you get to check out more sights. ^0^

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  7. @GINNIE - we loved this route too much. I didn't know how much my husband loved it until a few days ago out of nowhere he asked, would you like to take that same cruise again? LOL!!!!

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  8. @SRIVATS - yes you are right, onboard entertainment is aplenty so you always have a choice to leave the boat or not on port days.

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  9. cruising does seem like a wonderful way to see places! i love that first picture!!

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  10. There are pros and cons to cruising but as you pointed out, it suited your needs well which is really what's important. Others who want to see more of say, Rome may need to revisit the city in the future.

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  11. Another nice tour, thanks for sharing these very beautiful views!

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  12. nahirapan ako sa pag pronounce ng place hihihi :P

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  13. So true! When we went on our Alaskan cruise, I sometime wish we had more time on shore and there were days when you just want to hang around the bar and just chill. Would love to one day do a mediterranean cruise. I'll be hanging around here to follow your trip. :)

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