May 14, 2001

Mr. Serba Ilich, President
via REGISTERED MAIL Uniworld Cruises
via FAX to: 818-382-7829
Uniworld Plaza
via serba@cruiseuniworld.com
17323 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91316

RE: Treasures of Northern Italy Cruise
April 30, 2001 through May 7, 2001

PASSENGERS: Andrea Brim
Marilyn Sher & Frank Adams

Dear Mr. Ilich:

Marilyn Sher, Frank Adams and I (Andrea Brim) have just returned from the subject river cruise down the Po River in Northern Italy. We, as well as all the other passengers on the cruise, were totally dissatisfied with the nine day nightmare, and are demanding a full and total refund of our expenses for not only the cost of the trip, but for our airfare and for reimbursement of hotel and penalty airfare expenses we had to incur in order to return home early from our extended portion, due to my becoming ill the last three days on the cruise and my inability to continue. My illness was entirely caused by the damp, musty, moldy, and filthy conditions of my cabin (#132).

Let me first point out that I was traveling as a single, and was charged a single supplement as well as a category upgrade, making my total payment to Uniworld (without airfare) $2800.00, or the equivalent of $400.00 per day Marilyn and Frank’s double occupancy equated to a total of $3822.00, or $273.00 per day per person. Please keep in mind these daily costs per person when perusing the following – and there will be more mention of expenses later. I summarize this nine day waste of time and money as follows:

Upon our arrival in Milan and transport to the Michelangelo in Cremona, (all done in a timely manner) the cruise staff was not at all prepared for our arrival. We arrived with approximately 25 passengers around noon and were the first passengers to arrive. We were directed into the lounge and left there—no one greeted us, or spoke to us, or offered us a drink or anything to eat. We had all been traveling for anywhere from 15 to 24 hours and a sandwich and cup of coffee would have been nice. There was no Uniworld English-speaking representative to greet us. There was no town to walk into however, the bus with our luggage sat in front of the ship all afternoon, with no offer to drive us into town to entertain ourselves until the rooms would be ready at 4:00 p.m. After a fuss was made, we were informed that the kitchen was preparing food – a salad, which was ready at 3:00 p.m.

First and foremost, the staff of the cruise DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. This cruise was to be geared to the English speaking experienced traveler. Marie (the purser) and Thomas were the only two staff who managed some English – and Marie knew less than Thomas. And Thomas’ attitude shown throughout the cruise was inexcusable. He should not be in the hospitality industry. Understandable communications were impossible.

Uniworld never indicated that the cruise was being operated by a French company called Cruisi Europe and that our entire experience through Italy would be French. We didn’t choose a French cruise experience—we would have had better scenery and itinerary if we had – and we personally did not wish to be subjected to the rudeness the French have always shown us in the past. And, I don’t care to put my American dollars into the hands of the French. This fact should have been disclosed. Additionally, we booked an Italian cruise. We expected an Italian staff with the ability to speak, understand and converse in English. We expected Italian food while traveling in Italy. We expected Italian music to be playing in the background throughout the ship and in the lounge – not French. We expected to pay for drinks in Lira while in Italy, not in Francs. We expected the flavor of Italy!! We didn’t get the slightest flavor of Italy until we docked in Chioggia on Day 6 and could fi! nally go into a town from the shore!!

Our cabins were #132 and #131. These cabins had an upgrade fee for a category upgrade, which is ridiculous, since the cabins are all exactly identical. This upgrade charge is a rip off. The cabins are very small. There is one uncomfortable wood slat chair. The beds are impossible to sit on since the frame cuts into your thighs. There is no drawer space to unpack your luggage. The hanging space for clothes is totally inadequate for nine days’ worth of clothes for two people. The cabins were never cleaned. The linens on the bed were never changed for the entire eight days. When I asked to have the linens changed, I was refused. I perspire during the night and didn’t appreciate sleeping on damp, dirty sheets night after night. Also, the beds were made up without a top sheet – only a comforter with a duvet. The towels were stiff and felt like sandpaper, and there were only washcloths available a couple of times. The carpets were never vacuumed. I dropped a piece of tissue on the floor the first night, and it remained there the entire trip. I have paid $400.00 per day and Marilyn and Frank have paid $273.00 per day per person for these room condition! s. Even a one star motel offers better services than what we received.

Uniworld never disclosed that the cabins on the first floor are submerged below water level. The rooms are very damp (even with air conditioning) and the mold growth in the carpeting and within the exterior walls infected my lungs causing me to have to stay on board ship the entire second day in Venice. Additionally, the ship was double docked with the Venezia in Venice, causing the lower level rooms to have fumes backing up into the rooms (two of the rooms had to be relocated to empty first floor rooms—even though the Captain said the fumes were “harmless”) and also blocking the view.. Due to these numerous conditions causing me to have a fever and cough, we had to return home and not continue to Lake Como and Milan for another six days, as planned, and causing us to incur additional expenses.

The itinerary was not as promised on the Uniworld website or in your catalog. The Po River scenery existed entirely of poplar trees – no towns, no buildings, no other type of foliage, no birds or wildlife – nothing. I now notice that you show no photos in your catalog of the “breathtaking scenery” in your description of the subject itinerary. All you show are photos of Venice. The three of us have been to Venice, we didn’t need to take this cruise down a boring river for five days just to visit Venice! A waste of our time and money.

The shore excursions were not as described in your catalog, nor as described by the Uniworld representative when I called Uniworld to inquire about the cruise. The towns were represented as being located within walking distance of where the ship was to dock – this only occurred in Chioggia. We were driven to see churches for an hour. The tour guides never met us at the boat and/or rode on the bus with us describing the towns – they met us at the churches. Big deal!

And on a couple of occasions when we got to the guides, we were late, and there were arguments between the guides and Mila over being paid extra for May Day or for being late—arguments wasting our touring time as the passengers stood by and listened as we continued to enjoy our planned vacation! We never had an opportunity to go through these towns, to shop or experience sitting in the cafes and watching the people. We always managed to have shore excursions during the afternoon “siesta” when everything was closed. We also never saw any of the description in your published itinerary. Hasn’t anyone from Uniworld bothered to experience this trip, or are you just throwing together an inferior trip to ride on the tails of your so-called good reputation?

Uniworld never disclosed that our first day of excursions in Cremona and Parma would occur on May Day. Had we known our cruise would have included two excursions during a national holiday when the towns were completely shut down, we would have chosen another date to travel. One of my incentives of taking this cruise was Cremona and the Stradivarius exhibit – which was closed due to May Day. It is Uniworld’s responsibility to choose correct dates to fulfill its own itinerary, or to disclose to the customer the changes prior to booking the reservation.

Your itinerary calls for our docking in Boretto. Why did we dock in Parma? The docking conditions in Parma were very hazardous and unsafe, having to climb a concrete stairway of over 35 steps without any handrails or assistance from any of the cruise staff. What was the purpose of this change in the itinerary, especially when Boretto had no stairs?

The docking conditions in Mantua were even more hazardous – 52 steps straight up at a 45 degree angle, no solid handrail – only a rope, and no offer of any assistance by any of the cruise staff. We had to return down these same steps. And for the passengers who wished to visit the river museum that evening, they had to again climb and return down these 52 steps in the dark. Only 15 people attended out of 122. Mila, the Uniworld representative, was at a loss for all that was out of control. She arrived at the ship ill – suffering with a fever, cough, loss of voice, and bronchitis. She was in no physical condition to deal with the situation and was probably contagious to everyone else. She did the best she could under the circumstances, but when I suggested she call the Uniworld office and ask for assistance, which she claimed she did the next day, no assistance was offered. I expected that a representative from Uniworld would have arrived on the scene within 24 hours to salvage this disaster of a trip.

The bus drivers had no clue of where to go. They repeatedly got lost and we spent numerous hours driving through the roads of these small towns, looking at poppy fields, laundry hanging out of windows, graffiti on almost every building. (So much for the quaint scenery of northern Italy!) The lead driver drove us around looking for Boretto for 90 minutes before he stopped for directions from a lady on a bicycle. This is not exactly an organized, professional tour.

With regard to activities onboard, the Uniworld representative told me that although a river cruise does not have a casino, professional show or movie theater, that there would be entertainment in the lounge every evening from local towns, since we were docked in the towns. This only occurred one evening – the sixth night on board in Venice! Who needed this in Venice? The number of people in the lounge amounted to 12 out of 122 to hear these talented people. The only reason I was there was because of my illness – otherwise I would have been in town for dinner. The only other entertainment was on the fifth night when the staff acted out skits, which were silly, but amusing since we were so bored and annoyed. The video movies that were supposed to be available were only played occasionally, and repeated movies, since there was trouble with the DVDs. No chance of catching even a film on video in our cabins. And even the television in the lounge only played a “French” television station for the staff. What about the paying guests? We all received satellite CNN, CNBC and ESPN in our cabins, why not in the lounge?

Thomas did play CDs in the lounge for dancing, but refused “when asked” to turn the music down when people were not dancing and were sitting around and trying to talk, but had a difficult time since the music was too loud. Additionally, Thomas asked for volunteers for a game one afternoon in the lounge, a game of Simon Sez, and used baseball caps with the Cruisi Europe logo as props. When the game was over and one of the volunteers put the cap in her purse, Thomas announced over the microphone that he was missing a cap and she had to return it! The winner received a free drink at the bar—the only free drink offered on the entire trip, to my knowledge.

The food and food service were mundane. The first evening the food was very good. However, the good food experience ended there. Even though the chef was French, doesn’t he know how to cook Italian? I thought the food was geared to Americans? The food was highly seasoned with sauces and marinades and everyone was complaining of swollen ankles from water retention from the seasonings in the food. Iced tea was full of sugar, and I personally had to carry the hot tea carafe and a glass of ice from the lounge to the dining room, in order to avoid the sugar.

Breakfast consisted of a buffet of cold cereals, canned and fresh fruits, sliced cheeses, breads, croissants, butter, jelly, honey, coffee, tea and a hot plate of burnt to a crisp bacon, bratwurst and soggy powdered scrambled eggs! This breakfast was served each and every day, with no variation. There was an ample amount of food available, however, I personally haven’t eaten powdered scrambled eggs since the days of overnight camp and sleeping in a tent – and we definitely paid enough for a fried egg, if we so desired! But if you slept past the 9:00 a.m. end of breakfast time, you were out of luck for any type of food until lunch. This was a cruise, where food should be in ample supply whenever, and not a prison ship full of prisoners.

Lunch was served buffet style in an area where there wasn’t enough room for 122 hungry people to converge on a buffet table all at one time. The food consisted of a sliced cold cuts and cheeses, breads, tomatoes (which always ran out before all passengers got their first helping) and numerous forms of marinated items—onions, leeks, eggplant and other unidentifiable objects. With very slight variation, this same lunch buffet was served day after day (including leftovers from day to day) for the entire cruise. In fact, it was almost identical for the first three days, as well as the same salad buffet being served with our dinner meal.

Dinner entrees were very small portions. There was soup served first, then the leftover salad buffet from lunch, then a dinner portion, which you had to select the night before because the chef only prepared the exact amount of food needed. There were no second portions. One night a delicious squab was served. It was the size of a chicken leg. I asked Marie for another portion and she never returned to say whether it was or was not available. At the rate of $400.00 per day, I expect not to be hungry. And…I also expect not to be served leftovers!

The Captain’s dinner was supposed to be special. But no, it was not special. It was held the same night we docked in Chioggia. Very poor planning, since we could have gone into town an eaten an Italian meal, sit in a café and shop. A number of passengers went into town for dinner and skipped the Captains Dinner. They were the smart ones. Not even a glass of wine was offered with dinner. The portions were extremely skimpy. The soup was offered in a demitasse cup, and not an unlimited bowl as had been done the nights before, and the entrée portions were extremely small. And, the captain had the audacity to get up and speak to us and mention that there had been complaints, for which he was sorry, but, “that he and the staff were providing us with clean room and good food and what more can we ask for.” I cornered the captain at the bar in the lounge and politely told him that it had now been five nights and my linens were still unchanged, that my room was damp, my sheets were damp, and the same piece of tissue was still on the floor in the same spot and vacuuming had not been done at all. He, of course, disagreed with me. I asked him if he had any idea what this cruise cost, and when he replied “no,” I informed him. He politely excused himself to dance with one of the ladies. Of course, as soon as he finished his dance, he went back to the bar to have another drink, and never asked another woman to dance again.

There were numerous safety issues that I find unacceptable. As we left the dock in Cremona, there were a number of locks to go through, with low bridges to pass under. There is a canopy on deck that had to be lowered. No announcement was ever made for passengers to get out of the way of the canopy. Some of the staff motioned people away, but that was all. People were standing all around the lowered canopy, and when the ship went to pass under the low bridges, some of us sitting facing these standing passengers had to yell at them to get down. If we had not done so, there would have been a decapitation or two. Those of us sitting in the lounge chairs even ducked down in our chairs since it was so low. Also, at this point in time, an emergency drill with life vests had not been performed. This drill was not held until the morning of Day 4. The first evening when the Captain introduced the staff he had two of the girls demonstrate the use of the life jackets. The Cap! tain himself was very disturbed when one of the girls put the life jacket over her head and then proceeded to tie it INCORRECTLY. The Captain went over to her and took the ties from her hand and showed her how to use the life jacket. Now, how much confidence can passengers have when a member of the staff doesn’t even know how to put on her own life jacket?

Another safety issue is in the bathroom/showers. There are NO HANDICAP RAILS in these areas. I slipped twice getting out of the shower and stepping down onto the floor of the room. Actually, the floor should be made rougher to avoid slipping. Additionally, when the Michelangelo and the Venezia were double docked in Venice, I noticed in the evening when passengers had gone ashore, that the room keys left at the front desk were placed on the ledge. The passengers from the Venezia were crossing through our boat to get to their boat. What kind of security control is this? Why did these strangers have access to our security code on the door? Whose liability is this?

At Mila’s suggestion, we decided to stay on board the ship for the ride to San Basilio and Venice. I must admit that the ride on deck was beautiful with some beautiful scenery, and I frankly feel that the passengers on the land tour to Padua missed the best part of our sailing trip.
After meeting up with the bus in San Basilio, the ship sailed to Venice and docked – not 500 meters from San Marco as mentioned in Uniworld literature, but more than double the meters--quite a walk from San Marco Square. Another misrepresentation in Uniworld literature. (Speaking of the deck, not once during the entire trip when sitting on the deck did anyone ever offer a drink or come to see if there was anything we wanted. Some service!)

The last night on board, a group of people returned to the ship around 10:15 p.m., after enjoying dinner in Venice. They went into the lounge for drinks and to continue their evening. They were informed by Marie that the lounge was closed! No service was available! You can be sure that Marie opened the lounge when the paying guests finally made an uproar and demanded service. Too bad we all didn’t do that on Day 2!

Day 9 finally arrived and we could leave. I knocked on Marilyn and Frank’s room and was greeted by Marilyn, “Get me off this fucking ship!” The perfect summation of a wonderful river cruise vacation. (Please excuse the foul language—but it is a direct quote and very appropriate!)

We were supposed to continue our trip by train from Venice to Milan to Como, spending three nights in Como and then back to Milan for two nights. Fortunately, we had planned this excursion without the Uniworld package, since those who had gone to Como before the cruise with Uniworld were very, very unhappy. Since I felt so awful, we decided to just take the train to Milan and get on the next plane back to Chicago. That meant calling American Airlines to see if room was available on the next day’s flight, since we couldn’t get back to Milan to fly that same day.

I went to Marie to ask how to contact American Airlines. She looked at me as if I had just landed from Mars. The Captain was there with his cell phone and I asked him how to contact American Airlines to change flight arrangements. He asked me for the phone number. All I had was the U.S. number. He was dumbfounded. I asked him if he could call for information for a local European number. He did manage to handle that task for me and I was able to make the arrangements, paying an additional $150 per ticket service charge. He was about to ask me for the money for the call, but I walked away before he could.

The train ride to Milan from Venice was loaded with beautiful scenery. It’s the type of scenery that we expected to see while sailing down the Po River. Upon arrival in Milan I was able to find a pay phone that worked so that I could cancel our reservations in Como and Milan. We did end up having to pay for the first night in Como, since we didn’t give them 24 hours notice of cancellation. Then we had to find a hotel for the night in Milan. It was difficult with a convention in town, and we found a tourist class hotel with very small rooms, but sufficient and seemed clean, but both Marilyn and I received bedbug bites on our arms and neck – but did they come from this hotel or from the Michelangelo? Mr. Ilich, I think you get the picture. Now for our recourse. We demand a full repayment from Uniworld as outlined below. These monies are to be in my possession no later than Thursday, May 31, 2001. If these monies are not received by us by the demand date, and/or you choose not to reimburse us in full, the following actions will occur:

1. A copy of this letter and a copy of my day-to-day detailed experience will be e-mailed to every travel agent association, company, whatever, in mass, so they can have an objective view when suggesting a Uniworld cruise.

2. A copy of this letter and a copy of my day-to-day detailed experience will be e-mailed to any and all travel chat rooms throughout the internet, making certain that in any search engine when Uniworld or river cruise is searched, that these reviews will appear.

3. We will pursue settlement in court. Instead of suing Uniworld in California, we will contact the producers of a national network court TV program (i.e., Judge Judy) and see to it that the lawsuit airs nationally—giving Uniworld full exposure. If this cannot be accomplished, we will then sue in whatever court is necessary.

Repayment due to Marilyn Sher and Frank Adams by cashiers’ check made payable to Marilyn Sher:

Fee charged by Uniworld for the trip and charged to VISA
$3822 Airfare for two via American Airlines ($426 x 2) 852
Early return penalty for American Airlines ($150 x 2) 300
First night hotel penalty in Como—unable to cancel prior to 24 hrs. 200
One night in Milan—unable to get plane back to Chicago 150
Travelers Insurance—purchased separately from Uniworld 200
TOTAL DUE MARILYN SHER $5524.00

Repayment due to Andrea Brim by cashiers’ check along with release to VISA for STOP PAYMENT on Uniworld charge.

Fee charged by Uniworld for the trip and charged to VISA $2800 (I have placed a protest against this charge and it is being held pending further investigation.)
Airfare (Business Class Upgrade) via American Airlines 852
Early return penalty for American Airlines 150
First night hotel penalty in Como—unable to cancel prior to 24 hrs.153
One night in Milan—unable to get plane back to Chicago 125
Travelers Insurance—purchased separately from Uniworld 183
TOTAL DUE ANDREA BRIM $4263.00
The $2800 Uniworld trip fee can be deducted from the $4263.00 by a letter of release To VISA in the amount of $2800, leaving a balance due from Uniworld to Andrea Brim in the amount of $1463.00

We expect the imminent receipt of your checks. Please do not offer us any other Uniworld cruise compensations, as they are not acceptable. If you, Mr. Ilich, and Uniworld are as reputable as you claim to be, I am confident we will be hearing from you immediately.

Respectfully,

Andrea Brim