Rome and Civitavecchia

Citivavecchia

Civitavecchia is the port for a visit to Rome, and it is the hardest name place to get one’s tongue around, I reckon I got it eventually but John found it harder.  It mean’s old city.  (So far, John has drafted all the blog posts, but this time it’s Margaret’s turn).

Mal and Les Noble from Melbourne

The day started off very badly since we’d taken Princess Tours at their word and booked an “Easy Tour of Rome” for people using wheelchairs, including those “confined to wheelchairs”.  It would be easier if they learned the difference between tourists who needed a hoist or ramp and those whose wheelchairs or scooters can be carried separately on board or in the baggage hold.

Maybe then they’d get it right.  There are about four “confined” wheelchair users on board, with only John and Mal seemingly adventurous in port, but at least 20 scooter or wheelchair users who can transfer.  And scores of “wobbly walkers” as John calls them who also like the “easy tours”.

About 10 busloads of passengers left on coaches at the scheduled time of 9 am, but there was no sign of our transport.  Asking where it was, the contractors first stated that the “van was in the queue at the port”; then “the driver had a flat tyre”; then the driver, who turned up at 10:30 am with a perfectly good van with a hoist told us that “they’d “put gasoline in the van instead of diesel (not him,mind you).  GUESS WHAT?  We didn’t believe any of the excuses.

Instead, we reckon it was a right royal stuff up, whether on behalf of Princess Tours, or the contractor we’ll never know.  Princess took ultimate responsibility for the mess up and later gave us a gift of six chocolates on a plate.  John said they knew he was lactose intolerant so he wasn’t impressed.  We’ve already learnt from the Tour Office that the detailed form we fill in when booking is not shared between the shipping company and their tour office.

Let’s see how well Princess Tours does with the next five tours we have booked through the ship.

Meanwhile everyone else was getting on the shuttle bus to the nearby town of Citivavecchia, including our new friends Mal and Les Noble from Melbourne.  Mal also can’t transfer but has this nifty attachment which looks like a motorbike, and he’s game for anything.  He even drove it to Petra.

So, anyway we set off from the working dock along a tolled road to Rome, taking only an hour since it was Saturday.  During the week it takes twice as long during peak hours.  It’s very agricultural along the route, and reminded us very much of home except with the style of housing with all the terracotta roofing and vivid colours.

Marianna

The guide, Marianna (contracted by Princess Tours) was very intense – also a history graduate with excellent knowledge – but her pronunciation was not nearly as good as the guides for the private tours we had in Dubai or Salerno.  The driver Andriou was excellent and gave us his card afterwards – the company Fausta specialises in accessible tours.  Find them at www.accessibletransportationrome.com.  Unlike in Dubai, he had correct seatbelts ties for John.  Don’t bother going through your cruise line.

I’m sure we could have arranged to spend more time at fewer places, but as it was, John only left the van once at St Peter’s Square where we spent an hour.  I was able to leave the van at the Roman Forum and at the White Palace Square to take some photos and a movie for John, but otherwise we simply drove past other places.  We had a choice of entering the Basilica (wheelchair users are able to jump the queue apparently) or exploring outside, so we chose the latter.  First stop the accessible toilets, then photos.  The queue for the Basilica was enormous, so we assumed it would be very crowded inside anyway.

We drove past many churches of all eras, many built using stones from the Roman ruins, past statures of centurians and Roman emperors and of course past the Colusseum, the Spanish steps, the Borghese villa and papal palaces.  We found it quite overwhelming actually.  Too much information – we’d need to go back and spend a fortnight in Rome to get a real feel for it.  That’s the problem with cruising of course.

Church outside the walls

Spanish steps froma distance

Vatican wall

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

Luckily, amongst the crowds at St Peter’s Square, we were reunited with our guide and the van, and wended our way back to Citivavecchia by 3:30pm.  We asked the driver to drop us in town, after making sure there was a wheelchair accessible shuttle bus (coach) to take us back to the ship which was about one mile away on the working dock.   Most of these docks are hard, if not impossible to enter or exit independently because of the security.  There was plenty of the latter at the shuttle bus depot in town.

Proud residents in Citivavecchio

Building with old and new

Not so proud residents

In Citivavecchio

Drinking fountain in Citivavecchio

So we spent an hour or so in Civitavecchio, with John taking photos and Margaret enjoying her first real Italian coffee for 42 years.  Then back to the ship on a shuttle bus, without any dramas, apart from negotiating our way through a couple of soldiers with machine guns.

It appears that many cruisers had been to Rome a number of times before, so spent the day getting a cheap haircut, stocking up on medication or simply enjoying the pleasures of a portside working town.

And did I mention that the weather was perfect?  Indeed, a glorious day of sunshine, about 28C.

Must go, we are just entering the Strait of Gibraltar and are about to see North Africa (Morocco) on the portside and Gibraltar on the starboard side.  We will exit the Mediterranean in a few hours and enter the Atlantic Ocean.  I’ve lost John – looked everywhere for him – off taking photos and movies no doubt.