If you've done a DCL port excursion in Rome that went to St. Peter's...

[fredandkell]

Have you ever run into the below situation (verbiage from this excursion https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...al-and-renaissance-rome-st-peters-basilica/)?

I want to book a Disney PA for our July 2018 Med cruise, but this paragraph worries me. Going inside St. Peter's is the whole point! The visit to the church is the last thing we would do before heading back to the ship; the excursion is 10 hours long, so I'm wondering if lines are typically bad that time of day - maybe 4pm-ish?

"In the event that the wait time at the Basilica’s security checkpoint is longer than 45 minutes, your guide will forgo the interior tour and provide a full narrative and description outside. Guests will be compensated with additional free time."

 

[SteveMouse]

It is perfectly plausible the line could be that long.

 

[gotomu212]

It's a possibility, although our guide knew of the shorter security lines and did a good job of hustling us through.

 

[MnkyGirl]

We visited St. Peter's (not with DCL) in the winter and the lines were close to 30 minutes long. I would imagine it would be worse in the summer. Although, once we got inside, it didn't feel crowded at all. Fingers crossed for y'all! It really is pretty incredible inside.

 

[fredandkell]

It's a possibility, although our guide knew of the shorter security lines and did a good job of hustling us through.

@gotomu212 Were you on a DCL excursion? Do you remember what time of day you went into St. Peter's? I did some googling and it seems that people do say St. Peter's clears out more after 3 pm, so perhaps Disney is on the right track here.

@MnkyGirl I know, right!? The husband and I have been inside St. Peter's - we went in April 2006 and I don't remember the lines being that bad - so we really want to go back but mainly we want our kids to get to see it since they weren't yet born when we went the first time!

 

[gotomu212]

@gotomu212 Were you on a DCL excursion? Do you remember what time of day you went into St. Peter's? I did some googling and it seems that people do say St. Peter's clears out more after 3 pm, so perhaps Disney is on the right track here.

@MnkyGirl I know, right!? The husband and I have been inside St. Peter's - we went in April 2006 and I don't remember the lines being that bad - so we really want to go back but mainly we want our kids to get to see it since they weren't yet born when we went the first time! [/QUOTE

It was a DCL excursion and it was our last stop of the day, but Im sorry I can't remember the time.

 

[GPaLarry]

Wife and I did this long day's adventure last Sept. that ended at the Vatican. Loads of people inside with different tour groups. Our guide got us through in a reasonable amount of time with, of course, time at the end to shop. During the tour, as we neared the Sistine Chapel, our group was diverted to one of three passageways to advance...security purposes. In the Chapel you could hardly move, it was packed. Make sure your ear piece and power pack are working or you might get lost. There were hundreds of chairs set up outside for the Pope's appearance in a day or two. So much history there the Vatican almost demands your attendance. We went through the Coliseum (see photo left) in the morning, toured Rome, had lunch by steps to Vatican, went through then back to the Magic by about 5:30. This was perhaps half an hour shorter then the previous Naples/Pompeii day. Long days, but well worth it. Probably better for older kids.

 

[morgan98]

I have been to St. Peter's more than a dozen times. Lines are always longer earlier in the day than later. We were there on September 3rd of this year late afternoon, probably 3:30 or so, and the security line was more in the 20-25 minute range. Crowds in July and August would probably be heavier from my experience.

Is it possible to take a bus or train in and do Rome on your own so you hit the highlights. It is not that hard to get around.

 

[kiford]

We had no wait to get into St. Peter's but were hustled out shortly afterwards there was apparently something planned to be going on for which they were setting up special seating. So you never know when it will be busy, closed, closing, or restricted access. That's pretty much going to be true for any and every cathedral or church. We weren't able to do more than just look through the door of one church in Barcelona during our tour because there was a wedding going on in the early afternoon during the week.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Not sure when in July you are going, but on our cruise, we're only scheduled to be in port for 9 hours for Rome. Hoping they come out with some excursions for the time frame we will be in Rome. Kind of bummed that we won't get more time.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

We did the imperial and renaissance Rome excursion though DCL last year. We went to the Vatican and St Peters first thing. Our coach drove us to Rome, picked up the tour guide and we headed straight there. The line was probably around 15 mins. I would guess we got to the Vatican around 9.30 as I can't remember exactly. I know our meeting time on the ship was 7.15am.

 

[fredandkell]

Not sure when in July you are going, but on our cruise, we're only scheduled to be in port for 9 hours for Rome. Hoping they come out with some excursions for the time frame we will be in Rome. Kind of bummed that we won't get more time.

We are there from 7 to 7 on July 17 sailing. Maybe because it's only a 5-night?

 

[oufpat]

We were just there on Sept 12 with a Disney Cruise Excursion, our guide was marvelous. Yes it was crowded, it was our last stop of the day and I felt we had plenty of time to take it all in and still have a little shopping time and bathroom break at the end. We did pay more to go on a "small groups"excursion so there were only 9 of us and I felt it was worth every penny.

 

[Jason Martin]

We were there on the 8/26/17 sailing and did the Taste of Rome. We were not planning on going into the Vatican, with young kids we were focused on them seeing thes city and a tour of the Coliseum was more important. Our tour ended with about 2 3/4 hours of free time and we were dropped off in the square in front of the Vatican. We had lunch on our own, it was very clear that the line was well in excess of 45 minutes, folks were saying 2 hours. We decided to take a cab into the retail areas, went to the Rome Disney store and did other shopping around the area.

 

[m3owbox]

when we went, our guide took us there first thing so we could avoid the lines.