Through HollAm coordinated flights to Rome we arrived at their recommended Visconti Palace for 2 nights. The rate was high but the location great. The room was small but clean, the cold morning buffet good. We did not see or hear from a HollAM rep until 2nd night when we found her leaving a room. We noticed a board with optional Rome tours but it was too late. She said she tried to contact us yet there were no messages at the desk, our room or on the phone. The morning of departure at 11:30 (only info we got from her as she was in a hurry) there were many not on the bus and she said she would leave without them until one appeared with a letter from HollAm telling them the bus was leaving at noon. We waited and around noon the bus left without her or any word from her.

The embarkation process went smooth and we were directed to our cabin. We did not know what to expect as we were approached 2 weeks before, and the week before the cruise, asking if we wanted to pay more to improve the deck level. Delightfully we found a nicely appointed cabin with wood accents, a newer bathroom and a walk-in closet. The cabin was spotless. We toured the shipped and were haunted by the many Purex sanitizer dispensers all around the ship. That night there was no welcome aboard, just dinner. We opted for open seating. Unfortunately, we were handed a pager and waited, but fortunately for only about 20 minutes. The meal was terrible. My med-rare prime rib was a quarter inch slice of what looked like deli meat well done, served with a potatoe that was hard and colder than the ice in my glass. A replacement was the same but with gravy. The dessert, a flaky crust tart with coconut cream filling, came out as chocolate cheesecake. My corrected dessert was a slice of what appeared to be pecan pie without the nuts. The crust was wet and soggy and the filling dry and disgusting. Never were we asked about the food nor did the waiter ever introduce himself. Stuff was basically thrown at us. I left, complained to the guy at the door that it was the worse meal I had on a ship in 32 years.

Day 2 at sea had it's first group meeting in the Queens lounge that was not a welcome aboard, but a one hour hard sales pitch on future cruises. I approached the person after and told her I could not make a decision to future cruises when my first meal was so horrible. She said her dinner was great. She ate at the upscale Pinnacle Grill. She referred me to the guest services manager who was busy listening to the complaints of another staff member. I finally had to interrupt. I was told that it can't be bad as so many people return to this ship. They sent a bottle of cheap wine to my room to resolve it. He also asked that I give them another chance. Later that day I attended a culinary class only to have half of the time preempted by the woman selling future cruises. I could not complain to the Cruise Director as it was his wife. The muster was incomplete with not all the cabins called. We got an excuse for an answer. Dinner was mediocre but the dessert pie was a dry stale thing. The show was their singers and dancers. Great talent but song selection and choreography was vaudeville-like. I said something to a cruise director staff person who told me to refer my comments to the third party that provided them. Throughout the day we notice a large amount of coughing sneezing going on with the staff, including kitchen staff, and passengers, many of which had already been on the ship weeks or months. Read more