We booked a room at The Grand Hotel, Grand Canyon with travelnow com. We gave them our credit card details and received a confirmation number. Everything was OK - we thought. But when we arrived Saturday evening, the Grand Hotel had not heard about the reservation, did not recognize the confirmation number and, of course, had no available room on such a busy evening. The hotel manager told us that he had no information about this booking portal, and since TravelNow had no phone number on their Web-page, there was no way to get in contact with them (they only had a standard comment form and would provide an answer on Monday morning - as if that would help). The reception clerk called around, but there were no available rooms in the vicinity. We just had to haul all our baggage out to the car and - tired after a long day of driving - drive to another town; far, far away on a Saturday night. TravelNow effectively ruined our tour to Grand Canyon.
The rest of our three weeks holiday in USA was wonderful; America is a great country to travel in.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
MSC cruises - never again
Italian cuisine is no guarantee of good food – MSC Poesia was a disappointment
The Italian cruise ship company MSC hosts a Mediterranean gastronomic dining cruise featuring fine food and wine. Unfortunately the culinary experience will be less than expected, since the food comprises three-course cafeteria fare served as six dishes and costing twice as much – I will actually contend that I have eaten better dinners at roadside inns than the food turned out by the Italian cruise kitchen. Tough meat, tasteless fish and unsavoury side dishes characterised my dining experience. We felt cheated. The cruise company has apparently put their "bean counters" to work applying the modern economic principle known as "profit maximization". Basically this means using the cheapest ingredients available and charging the highest possible price. The dessert was good, I admit. Italian ice cream is not easy to ruin, but this one treat was not enough to compensate for poor dinners throughout the entire week.
Breakfast and lunch were good, but strangely enough, the fare was identical day after day. The advantage of this, of course, is that the meals are predictable - you know in advance what you are getting – and the dishes are placed in exactly the same place each day. The disadvantage is that the food becomes increasingly boring. Fortunately the cruise lasted only one week. If MSC Cruises had sent us on a two-week trip with second-rate food like this, I would have abandoned ship at the first available port of call.
Not one ill word about the service personnel on board, always smiling, helpful and service minded. Frustration increased, of course, with each passing day and the guests' realization that the quality of the food very simply would never improve. Naturally one cannot expect the gastronomic quality of French cuisine on board an Italian boat, but again, this was really the bottom of the barrel. If you are tempted by a cruise in the Mediterranean, be my guest, but if you want to enjoy fine cuisine on the high seas – forget it.
Overall value
We have previous experience from Celebrity cruises; far higher value for money.
On the Poesia, the service was perfect, the staterooms were OK but on the small side, the entertainment was Italian and not to our taste at all. The excursions were fine, but of course – all the cruise lines buy this from independent operators. The pools were crowded with Italian children and the organisation of getting in and out of the ship was several times a complete mess – waiting in the stairs for half an hour. The ship was new and everything was clean, polished and nice. If you really want that particular itinerary, sure go ahead, but personally we would find a better company.
The Italian cruise ship company MSC hosts a Mediterranean gastronomic dining cruise featuring fine food and wine. Unfortunately the culinary experience will be less than expected, since the food comprises three-course cafeteria fare served as six dishes and costing twice as much – I will actually contend that I have eaten better dinners at roadside inns than the food turned out by the Italian cruise kitchen. Tough meat, tasteless fish and unsavoury side dishes characterised my dining experience. We felt cheated. The cruise company has apparently put their "bean counters" to work applying the modern economic principle known as "profit maximization". Basically this means using the cheapest ingredients available and charging the highest possible price. The dessert was good, I admit. Italian ice cream is not easy to ruin, but this one treat was not enough to compensate for poor dinners throughout the entire week.
Breakfast and lunch were good, but strangely enough, the fare was identical day after day. The advantage of this, of course, is that the meals are predictable - you know in advance what you are getting – and the dishes are placed in exactly the same place each day. The disadvantage is that the food becomes increasingly boring. Fortunately the cruise lasted only one week. If MSC Cruises had sent us on a two-week trip with second-rate food like this, I would have abandoned ship at the first available port of call.
Not one ill word about the service personnel on board, always smiling, helpful and service minded. Frustration increased, of course, with each passing day and the guests' realization that the quality of the food very simply would never improve. Naturally one cannot expect the gastronomic quality of French cuisine on board an Italian boat, but again, this was really the bottom of the barrel. If you are tempted by a cruise in the Mediterranean, be my guest, but if you want to enjoy fine cuisine on the high seas – forget it.
Overall value
We have previous experience from Celebrity cruises; far higher value for money.
On the Poesia, the service was perfect, the staterooms were OK but on the small side, the entertainment was Italian and not to our taste at all. The excursions were fine, but of course – all the cruise lines buy this from independent operators. The pools were crowded with Italian children and the organisation of getting in and out of the ship was several times a complete mess – waiting in the stairs for half an hour. The ship was new and everything was clean, polished and nice. If you really want that particular itinerary, sure go ahead, but personally we would find a better company.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tallinn
My wife and I just had a great week in Tallinn; it is a wonderful old town. The guide “Tallinn in your pocket” was a great help, we particularly liked the subjective descriptions of the different restaurants. Too bad, but the comments on the service quality and the excruciatingly long waits to get a waiter is right on the point.
There is a lot to gain on the service level in Tallinn. We actually left three places before we got any menu and two places after we got the menu – because the waiter/waitress did not come back to take the order. Actually, a couple of places we would have liked to leave just after we had eaten, because nobody was around to take our payment, but we did not have the courage.
Then we visited two places were the service was quick, friendly and efficient; the Peppersack and the Grillhaus Daube (I think they are under the same management). We enjoyed the surprisingly good service so much, that I actually tipped 20% – according to my wife that has never happened before. Could this information get across? For the life of me I cannot understand why people who live on tips don’t give better service, they must lose a lot of money that way.
On another matter, I think the guide is a little bit unjust when it comes to Oliver, the food was excellent and you could pick and choose side orders that gave the meal all the variety you could wish for. The service was actually good as well. We are really looking forward to coming back to Tallinn in a year or so, and hope they have been able to raise the general service level then.
There is a lot to gain on the service level in Tallinn. We actually left three places before we got any menu and two places after we got the menu – because the waiter/waitress did not come back to take the order. Actually, a couple of places we would have liked to leave just after we had eaten, because nobody was around to take our payment, but we did not have the courage.
Then we visited two places were the service was quick, friendly and efficient; the Peppersack and the Grillhaus Daube (I think they are under the same management). We enjoyed the surprisingly good service so much, that I actually tipped 20% – according to my wife that has never happened before. Could this information get across? For the life of me I cannot understand why people who live on tips don’t give better service, they must lose a lot of money that way.
On another matter, I think the guide is a little bit unjust when it comes to Oliver, the food was excellent and you could pick and choose side orders that gave the meal all the variety you could wish for. The service was actually good as well. We are really looking forward to coming back to Tallinn in a year or so, and hope they have been able to raise the general service level then.
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