MasterNotCommander

Can anyone recommend a hotel for 2 adults + 2 teenagers in Rome. We are staying one night before a cruise, so will be flying into Fiumicino, train into the city and then train to Civitavecchia the following morning. So ideally a hotel room that handles 4 people and is near a train station. I've tried searching on the usual websites but get a lot of guest-house style places and would prefer to stay in a chain style hotel.

Generally 30-35kn will be the limit for 90% of cruise ships. Minor deviations around this are related to direction, tug type and availability, ship configuration, masters experience etc. But you'd be unlikely to see a cruise ship operate above 35 knots. Some of the issues with wind are around the 'swept path' (drift angle/crabbing) in a channel, also the ability to manoeuvre on and off the berth and also the ability to remain alongside (the mooring ropes & wire cables have limits and therefore thrusters may need to be left on all day to prevent them reaching their breaking strength)

We have a few cruises booked in June and are wondering whether there are any protocols or long queues for getting off the ship in the mornings? We'd like to be off early each morning and wondering whether we can expect any challenges.

The last cruise before a scheduled dry dock should generally be fine. The first one after a dry dock can be hit and miss and occasionally will result in embarkation of passengers whilst the crew are still cleaning up.

Pilot helicopters in Australia have landed on Solstice class ships, but not routinely as it's an absolute pain. Helicopters are seen as an external risk to the ship and a liability, standards of helicopter evacuation vary across the world, there isn't a consistent approach.