Civitavecchia (what is current access point to cruise ships?)

I can only profess to 10 months ago. We came in and the port had only one bus running--resulting in long lines and waiting about 1/2 hour. It was too far to walk to the front of the port. Once we got up front, there were long lines just to buy city bus tickets so we could ride to the train station. We missed the train by a couple of minutes and had to wait another hour for the next train (Saturday.)
By the time we got into Termini, took a long walk through the station, down into the Metro and rode to our hotel out by the Vatican Museum, it was mid afternoon. It was another reminder that Rome runs on Italy time,

Maybe the cruise line would know.

Norma - I am looking for "ground truth" from fellow travelers. I can always call the cruise line but I have my doubts as to how much accurate info. the sales people will have. Since I will be traveling to the port from Rome, via train, I want to make sure I know exactly what the situation is there, BEFORE I arrive.

You might also want to post your question on the Cruise Critic forum. Since it is devoted primarily to cruising, you'll have a much better chance of making contact with someone who has recently been there and get the "ground truth". Go to cruisecritic.com, click on "boards" on the upper right hand side, then "ports of call", then "Europe", then "Italy ports". You might also go to the board for your cruise line.

Thanks. I will do that.

It has been Largo della Pace for several years ... 25-30 walk from the train station with luggage. There is a regular city shuttle that will transport you from the train station to Largo della Pace, then you carry your luggage onto a 2nd port shuttle that delivers you to your ship. The "old" entrance by the fort is no longer open for vehicles, and I'd be very hesitant to recommend that you plan on walking your luggage all way to the ship. Depending on the ship's docking berth, you could have a VERY long walk. Four of us got a taxi for 30 euros at the train station last fall that delivered us directly to the ship. It seemed like a reasonable price, split 4 ways, to avoid the hassle of carrying luggage on and off 2 buses. Also much faster. I don't know if this particular taxi had special privileges, or if all taxis are allowed to enter the port.

Thanks Will. Exactly what I wanted to know.

It is not at all clear to me that unaccompanied pedestrians are permitted to walk on the cruise piers. That would be quite a security problem - as well as a long, hot walk. We sat on a hot, engine-off bus (for three ships, total) until it was full enough to leave the Port Shuttle area and head out onto the piers. Were barely on-time. I mention this because some of the posts in this thread make it hard to tell descriptions of the city bus from the train station from descriptions of the port shuttle busses. It's worth repeating Rick's (?) note that not all limo and taxi companies are permitted to drive right out to the ships.