I'd just like to echo Janet's comments. I've also just done this trip but I think I was away the week before Janet as we had the wonderful Michelle Bassett as our Tour Manager (Michelle told us it was her first tour as a JY TM but you would never have known it, she was as skilled, confident and welcoming as a Blue Badge guide).
This tour is too be thoroughly recommended. A super itinerary with lots to see and do if you want to but plenty of free time and a lovely roof terrace to chill out on if you didn't. In our week (16th September departure) the weather was clear and very hot - up to 37 degrees which made walking around the ruins of Pompeii a challenge as there is little shade, but we were all armed with bottles of water and so fascinated that it really didn't matter. Our local guide Laura, who was also with us in Capri and Herculaneum, was a force of nature who let no challenge or surly Italian boatman or bus depot manager stand in her way! (Utterly brilliant lady!)
The Hotel Palma was superbly central and nothing was too much trouble for its staff. I have read several comments regarding the food on various forum threads and I can honestly say that I thought it was fine. Personally, I don't go on holiday expecting to be served the same food in the same way as I would get at home. I always try to 'go with the flow' and try things, even if they turn out to be a bit of a 'cultural experience' as some of the dishes served on the Inspirational China trip did :s
Too me, it's all part of the fun and, let's face it, you are not likely to starve during a couple of weeks' holiday. You certainly wouldn't manage that it Italy with all the pastries and gelato available! (Speaking of which, for anyone embarking on this tour - turn right out of the Hotel on to the Via Roma and 500 yards down the road you will find De Vivo, a.k.a Ice Cream Nirvana:D
One of the joys of a JY trip is the way the group gels together and shares the experience. We had a largely great group who spent the whole week laughing ( when we weren't shovelling ice cream!!) As occasionally happens though, we had a couple of divas on our trip who seemed determined not to enjoy themselves and complained loudly (behind the TM's back, never to her face to give her the chance to help them) about everything from the food, the hotel, the excursions, the heat, you name it. We also had that slightly new phenomenon, a small group who had come together (on a holiday for single travellers....) and insisted on keeping themselves to themselves, even sitting away from the rest of the group at a table at the other end of the restaurant at every meal. They didn't do the majority of the excursions (quote "When you've seen one ruin you've seen them all") and spent their time wandering round modern Pompeii looking for shopping malls. Their loss, I say.
One holiday highlight for me, which was totally unexpected and certainly not in the brochure, was being serenaded by the hotel staff and the group and presented with a freshly baked chocolate cake, complete with candle on the morning of my birthday (which I had completely forgotten about as I was away). As breakfast was a little early for cake, it was wrapped for me to take with us on that days excursion - there can not be many people who have celebrated their birthday with chocolate cake and a group of amazing news friends, 1200 metres up on the crater of Mount Vesuveus! Thank you so much to JY, Michelle and the Hotel staff for arranging that really special memory for me.
So, just to underline what Janet said, this tour is really great fun and if it's on your 'possible' list - move it up to 'definitely book it' :)
All the best
Mandy