hello cruisers juls here .can anyone tell me is it a good idea to get the train from rome to civitavecchia on the morning of the cruise and if so how do i go about it i am staying in rome beside the train station so it would be great if any ones ever done it could they let me know.when you get on the train can you keep your bags with you as a me nice new clothes are in them and id hate to b clothesless on the boat not a good look for me.leaving on the 14 to cruise on the 16 august any infro would b greatly received juls

Juls

Welcome. You may want to check out this thread which has the train travel tips for Europe, including Rome.

thankyou mcpayne the information was a great help.the site tells you all you need to know so thanks for your help juls

Hi all, I have an upcoming cruise on 6th September from Barcelona, to Naples, etc then to Nice back to Bracelona. We are virgin cruisers dont know what to expect we have been advised not to partake in the shore excursions and make our own way around so any advice would be greately welcomed thanks

I don't know why anybody would advise first-time cruisers NOT to take shore excursions--especially in Europe! I think most of us here would advise just the opposite. It is certainly possible, even enjoyable to venture out on your own: but only after you have had some exprience getting abound in foreign countries.

On a cruise you have a very limited time in each port, and I think you can see much more on an excorted excursion than you can trying to find your way around--unless of course you are familiar with the city and the language. Ships are very unforgiving about departure times--you DON'T want to miss the ship in a foreign country.

Perhaps they meant book your own tours instead of using the ship's excursion desk? Tours booked privately can often (but not always) be less expensive. If I had never been to the places you mentioned, I would not suggest you venture to far off the beaten path on your own. When a cruise line says the ship leaves at 4pm, they mean it. If you are on a ship's tour and it is late, they will usually wait. If you are off on your own, they won't wait. Actually they will want you back aboard 30 minutes prior to the departure time.