My husband & I (late 30's) have been traveling around the world since August 2010. We returned to the U.S. this summer to get married then set off again on our "extended" honeymoon in September. We are backpackers/budget travelers and don't always plan our adventures too far in advance. Since we didn't have return flights to the U.S., we decided to book a cruise at the last minute instead! This was my husband's first cruise, too!
Since we were already in Europe, we simply made our way to Rome where we spent one night near Termini station to make it convenient to take the train to Civitavecchia and board the ship. While you can take a direct train for around 13.50 euros per person, we opted for the more budget-friendly local train which only cost 4.50 euros but took twice as long. Once we reached Civitavecchia train station, we walked about 5 minutes down the road to where all the cruise ship buses were lined up and then were shuttled (free) to the embarkation hall.
Embarkation was a bit unusual because our ship had an outbreak of GI illness and was being thoroughly cleaned. Thus no one was allowed to board prior to 2pm so there was a large crowd in the building. There were plenty of staff members offering sandwiches, coffee, tea, etc. but there was not adequate seating. In fact, many of the cheap plastic chairs broke while people were sitting in them.