5th wedding anniversary, never been on any cruise before, we will be on the Costa Victoria, end of September. Any advice? Ports of call will be Bari, Olympis, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykinos and Dubrovnic.
Thanks!

Newby Cruiser,

welcome to Cruise-Chat.com.

I'm sure you're pretty excited about taking your first cruise, but I hope you've been warned: Cruising is addictive!

I think you have made a good choice by choosing the "Costa Victoria". She is the last ship built for Costa with a truly Italian interior design. And she underwent a major refurbishment only a year ago.

This being a European ship, expect to find an international mix of passengers onboard, among them many Italians and German-speaking passengers (from Austria, Germany or Sitzerland). But don't worry about possible language barriers - you'll be fine.

As for the ports, you might want to check out our sister site, http://www.europeportreviews.com/, which has detailed information and reviews for most of your ports of call.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask. There are no "dumb questions", by the way.

Enjoy your first cruise!