I would like to purchase a train ticket from Civitavecchia to Florence and then from Florence to Milan. Which rail line/site would be best for me to look at. When I did a search there were sooooo many choices, it was very confusing. Thank you
Sometimes the bahn.de site is easier to use for schedule information but to purchase you need to use trenitalia.com. From Civit.. you will need to go to Rome first and then to Florence. If coming from a cruise ship, you should purchase a regional train ticket (unreserved seat) so that you can get on the first regional train headed to Rome. There is no point to purchasing a regional ticket in advance other than convenience so purchase at the first train station you find before Civit.. The Civit.. ticket office will be mobbed by the cruise passengers. From Rome to Florence you can get deep discount tickets in advance BUT they are non-refundable should you miss the train. Given the uncertainty of the cruise ship docking I would not prepurchase the Florence until you are in Rome.
If you're going to be anywhere in Italy before taking your cruise, then do what Frank suggests and buy your tickets from Civitavecchia to Rome in advance and wait until you get to Termini to buy your tickets to Florence. If you won't be in Italy at all until you dock at Civitavecchia, then you'll have to stand in line at the station. Buy your tickets to Florence there so you won't have to stand in another line at Termini. The standard 2nd class fare for Florence-Milan is €29.50 on IC trains and €53.00 on high-speed EuroStar Italia trains. However, if you book well in advance on the Trenitalia site, you can get a Mini fare as low as €12.00 on IC trains and €37.00 on ES Italia trains.