Osaka Cruise Port to Kyoto travel

We will have two days in port--Feb. 12 &13, 2017 and want to spend the time in Kyoto. What is the easiest/best way to get to and from the cruise port to Kyoto? Thank you...

So you will stay one night (12th Feb, Sunday) in Kyoto, right? I think this date is not so busy, so you will be able to book some accommodation close to the tourist spots, such as Higashiyama.　Most of the accommodations in Kyoto provide you for the towels, nightwear, soap, etc., so you don't need to take anything for one night stay. From Osaka port (Tempozan I guess), go to JR Osaka (Hankyu Umeda) or Keihan Yodoyabashi and then take JR to Kyoto or Hankyu to Kawaramachi or Keihan to Sanjo. Which is better depends on the exact place of the accommodation. The traveling time is almost identical but JR is on the faster side (but JR Kyoto is somewhat inconvenient to access some tourist spots).

Then you should decide what do you want to see in Kyoto. With the time constraint, taking the sightseeing taxi might be a good idea.

Thank you for the travel information. We will be staying on the cruise ship and so will be going back and forth for two days. I was told it was a 30 minute trip from Osaka to Kyoto but your description of train travel makes it sound very complicated. Is there no train we can take by walking from the cruise ship which will put us in a central Kyoto location so we can walk around? Then we would go back on it in the evening and return the next day. Thank you very much.

the port is located in the west side of Osaka.
if you want to go to Kyoto, you have to go to the central Osaka and, then go to Kyoto. there are three railways between Osaka and Kyoto.

probably, the easiest for a visitor,
(walk) - subway Osaka-ko station - (subway Chuo-line) - subway Bentencho station.
transfer to JR line. JR Bentencho station - (JR loop line) - JR Osaka station - (change trains at JR Osaka station) - (JR Tokaido line) - JR Kyoto station.

Thank you both for you help. I really appreciate it.