We were cruising to celebrate my wife's 50th anniversary. We visited Venice in 1999 and have wanted to return, and were on the Voyager in 2005, so this sailing, which included my wife's birthday, was exactly what we were looking for. Our dinner companions were lovely (from Houston and from Wales), the staff was extremely polished, pleasant and always helpful. As Americans, we were in an extreme minority on the ship- which made the trip that much more fun and interesting- breaking bread and sharing excursions with people from Germany, Ireland, France. London, Italy, Spain, etc. etc. if you travel from outside the Euro zone, it is a very good idea to have Euros with you- sometimes it may be a little difficult or expensive to change over dollars.

The ports: Koper, Slovenia.....Ravenna, Italy.....Bari, Italy.....Dubrovnik, Croatia.... and, of course, in and out of Venice (including an overnight stay at the end of the cruise) were amazing.

All shuttles were available all day with virtually no waiting on either end. We purchased shuttles, not excursions- as the ports were easy to work our way through. In Bari, the ancient city was so close that we walked in and did not purchase a shuttle. TAKE LOTS OF WATER !! We brough small backpacks and about a liter of water each.