Far from amazing

Posted by Bob Fenster on May 16, 2004 at 12:45:39:

In Reply to: EF is amazing !!! posted by James Martins on April 28, 2004 at 19:40:15:

I'm glad someone had an amazing experience with EF. My two trips with them were on the whole enjoyable, but there were MANY problems. The hotels were tiny, cramped, and with one notable exception (in Florence, Italy), far from the center of the city. It was particularly bad in Paris, Venice and Rome.

The food they served in France was awful. Warmed over approximations of American food. We had french fries at seemingly every meal. The FINAL meal was in a cafeteria. Mmm, frozen pizza. Or frozen fried fish (which we had three times, actually).

The food in Italy was much better. It's hard to go too far wrong with pastas.

All that being said, I'm going back to EF for a Japan trip in 2005, simply because they're the only ones offering an affordable trip there. If you go with EF, just be prepared for less than stellar food and accomodations. If you prepare your travelers to expect the worst -- or at least to make the best out of everything -- things will probably be just fine.