Sea cruises from Rome (Civitavecchia), Cruise ship: MSC Seaview

Warsaw, Kraków and Gdańsk. The hardest part of the journey is not the flight but the eighty kilometres from the airport to the port.

Because the port for Rome lies in Civitavecchia, eighty kilometres north west of the city. Operators name the region their port serves rather than the address of the quay.

It follows from where you sleep. Staying near the Vatican makes one station the obvious choice. Staying by the main hub makes crossing the city for a faster train pointless.

It is short and flat, so yes, although heat makes it tiring. Anyone who would rather not walk takes the local bus, which follows the same road.

No, and there is no exception for a short distance. Everyone rides the shuttle from the gate onwards, and it costs nothing.

Five, and that figure is not caution for its own sake. It adds up the ride out of Rome, the change onto the shuttle, the desk itself and a reserve for a train that runs late.

No, and confusing the two ends in an argument at the desk. One figure belongs to a service sold by the line. The other belongs to this page and means your presence on the quay.

The currency of the contract is either the euro or the US dollar, and the booking itself decides which. Payment goes by transfer, in euros or in zloty, to the details we set out in the document. With a payment link the settlement runs in zloty only. Prices on the site are shown in zloty at the day’s rate.

The difference sits in the kind of trip, not in the quay. One direction is chosen by car and the other by air, and that decides whether the starting city gets seen or merely passed.