A couple of weeks ago we returned from Holy Land cruise (September 3, 2011 - September 15, 2011). We booked this cruise 3 weeks before sailing through Online Vacation Center and this included cruise, flights, 2 days pre-cruise hotel in Rome, some OBC and all transfers. While the booking process was easy and painless we ran into some issues afterwords. I specifically asked about the location of the hotel since my husband had some mobility issues and we needed a place where we could go out, walk a little bit and get back to the hotel without having to deal with taxi or any kind of transportation. The agent assured that the location of the hotel would be "central". However, when we received the package we found that we were staying at the hotel way far away from the center. Online Vacation Center tried "to sell" this hotel explaining that Rome has a very good public transportation system. After a few phone calls and emails they straightened this out and we stayed at Forum hotel which is really in the center of Rome and a walking distance almost to everything. The hotel was very nice with a friendly and helpful staff and complementary breakfast: very basic (juices, tea, coffee, pastries - very good pastries), but good.

The transfer from the hotel to the port was something we didn't expect. The bus driver had to pick up 8 more people besides us and all of us were staying at different hotels all over Rome and leaving on different ships. My understanding was if the transfer is included it means the transfer from the hotel door to the pier. However, the transfer mini-van dropped all of us with our luggage in the middle of the port and we had to drag the suitcases to the bus shuttle stop.

The embarkation Read more