After 8 days traveling through Venice, Florence, and Rome on our own, we were glad to embark on Emerald Princess and let them guide us to an excellent 2nd half of our vacation.
The transfer from Rome airport was very easy. We even got a bit of another guided tour as the transfer bus took us back through Rome for a tour of the city before heading off to Civitavecchia. We arrived around 12:00 PM and were on the ship and in our cabin by 12:20. It wasn't crowded, but I suspect it was because we embarked on 1 leg of a 4 leg itinerary. Either way, it was painless.
Our Mini Suite (D405 mid ship) was clean, roomy, and well maintained. Our steward was friendly and more or less attentive and responsive to our requests. We tried to do some laundry after our land tour and found it to be difficult because other passengers on longer itineraries were also doing the same thing.
D405 Midship cat. MA was the second time we had a Mini Suite. The extra room allowed us to spread out after each day of exploring. The larger bathroom with tub also is a nice bonus. The cabin has lots of storage, and the second TV was quite helpful when my DW wanted to watch "Love Boat" reruns 24/7 (a nice bonus).