I am arriving Civitavecchia Nov 2nd by cruiseship and would like to travel by train to Barcelona. Any suggestions?
Turn around and take the ferry from Civitavecchia to Barcelona. Quicker than any train with 5 to 7 changes.
If you really want to do this by train, use the Bahn website to get routes and schedules, following this tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/db_tips.htm However, you couldn't pay me to do this by train, unless I was taking several weeks and making stopovers. I'd fly instead. Look for flights on http://www.skyscanner.com
As Harold said, use the German rail site to get detailed timetables. While I love trains, the only way I'd do the entire route by train would be plan a stopover for a night or two. Nice would be a good choice. My other suggestions would be to either fly from Rome to Barcelona or take the train to Nice, spend a night or two, and fly to Barcelona from there. Sam's suggestion of taking the ferry is also a good one.
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. It really helps. Sounds like we had better fly or check out the ferry. The Nice suggestion also sounds good