Finally good news on the Spirit

Now official (been on the cards for a while) Spirit has got another years contract with Thomson.

Now official (been on the cards for a while) Spirit has got another years contract with Thomson.

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/thomson-cruises-extends-its-summer-spirit-into-2018/story-30422512-detail/story.html#ThZV7QBe92Zraxpe.99

Thomson Cruises has announced that it will extend fan-favourite ship Thomson Spirit's time with the fleet, sailing it until the end of summer 2018 as a result of overwhelming popular customer demand.

The award-winning ship, which was due to sail for the final time in November this year, will be based in Palma in April 2018, before moving to Malaga in May 2018. This means customers will have the chance to visit the best that the Western Mediterranean has to offer including big city favourites like Rome, Barcelona and Lisbon, as well as lesser-known Spanish gems like Tarragona, Mahon and Roses.

Managing director of Thomson Cruises, Richard Sofer, said: "When we announced that Thomson Spirit would be sailing with us for the last time this year we were overwhelmed by the response. Our customers really love Thomson Spirit – it's the longest serving member of our fleet and has a really homely feel, being one of our smallest ships.

"Extending her time in our fleet will give customers more chance to explore some of the Mediterranean's most stunning ports in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy - while experiencing the friendliest service at sea."

Oh good and there's me doing what I thought would be my last cruise on Spirit in June to say goodbye

Thomson Spirit ​Oct 2005 Repo Palma to Sharm el Sheikh

Thomson Celebration ​Jan 2007 Red Sea Magic

Ocean Village ​Feb 2008 Western Caribbean & Central America

Ocean Village ​Aug 2008 Eastern Med

Ocean Village 2 ​Feb 2009 Eastern Caribbean

Ocean Village ​Mar 2010 Eastern Caribbean

Thomson Dream ​Feb 2011 Eastern Caribbean & Cuba

Thomson Celebration ​Aug 2011 Eastern Med

Thomson Celebration ​Apr 2012 Red Sea Magic

Thomson Celebration ​Apr/May 2012 Repo Sharm el Sheikh to Marmaris

Thomson Dream ​Feb 2013 EasternCaribbean

Thomson Majesty​ ​Nov/Dec 2014 Colourful Coasts Canaries

Thomson Dream ​Jan/Feb 2015 Western Caribbean Panama & Cuba

Thomson Dream ​Apr 2015 Transatlantic Sunset

Thomson Majesty​​June 2015 Hellenic Classics

Thomson Celebration ​Sept 2015 Adriatic Affair

Thomson Dream​​Jan 2016 Mayan Treasures/Cuban Revolution

Thomson Dream​​April 2016 Atlantic Adventure

Thomson Dream​​June 2016 Iconic Islands/Adriatic Explorer

Thomson Celebration​Jan 2017 Cities of Gold

Thomson Dream​​April2017 Atlantic Daydream

Thomson Spirit​​June 2017 Classical Greece

Thomson Majesty​ Sept2017 Med Medley/Treasures of Med

Tui Discovery 2​​April 2018 Cuban Fusion/Atlantic Discoveries

Tui Discovery 2​​June 2018 Aegean Meze

Thomson Dream​​Sept 2018 Mediterranean Medley

That must be a first Thomson responding to customer requests, but its nice to see.

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That must be a first Thomson responding to customer requests, but its nice to see.

 

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The cynic in me says that it is likely that the the ramp up in capacity caused by the new ships is too fast and sales cannot keep up with the increase.

So I should imagine Mein Schiff 2 will be delayed for a year or so accordingly.

To say that keeping Spirit is recognizing customer demand is, in my view, spin.

Still my favourite of all the Thomson ships so I'm very pleased to hear the news.

The cynic in me says that it is likely that the the ramp up in capacity caused by the new ships is too fast and sales cannot keep up with the increase.

So I should imagine Mein Schiff 2 will be delayed for a year or so accordingly.

To say that keeping Spirit is recognizing customer demand is, in my view, spin.

But isn't Mein Schiff 2 not due till 2019 ?????

Dont know if you are part of the Spirit fraternity but the last two years thoms have done very well out of it ,always full to capacity, average prices well up, no such thing as cheap late deals,usually sold out well in advance, still a very successful well supported ship, pity that when the TUI game plan changed all the planned upgrade work stopped. Myself i would be quite happy to sail on it for the next ten years exactly as it is now.

Sorry but i dont agree with your spin theory, its pure economics , its making money without any big outlay or commitment

But isn't Mein Schiff 2 not due till 2019 ?????

Dont know if you are part of the Spirit fraternity but the last two years thoms have done very well out of it ,always full to capacity, average prices well up, no such thing as cheap late deals,usually sold out well in advance, still a very successful well supported ship, pity that when the TUI game plan changed all the planned upgrade work stopped. Myself i would be quite happy to sail on it for the next ten years exactly as it is now.

Sorry but i dont agree with your spin theory, its pure economics , its making money without any big outlay or commitment

Yes Mein Schiff 2 is due 2019 but I think it will be delayed until at least 2020.

Obviously Spirit is still popular with some but she won't generate the profit margin that TUI wants. I believe that Thomson Cruises lost money over the last few years hence the move by the parent company towards larger vessels with more balconies etc.

The more pax on board the greater the revenue, and the profit. Plus the older the ship the more it will cost to maintain.

Spirit cruises are still priced way below the Discovery ships so I still think this move is a stop gap, and the statement 'by popular demand' is spin to cover the delay.

I'm not knocking Spirit I just don't believe the reason, and as PC said 'it's a first time they've (allegedly) listened to their customers'

But isn't Mein Schiff 2 not due till 2019 ?????

Dont know if you are part of the Spirit fraternity but the last two years thoms have done very well out of it ,always full to capacity, average prices well up, no such thing as cheap late deals,usually sold out well in advance, still a very successful well supported ship, pity that when the TUI game plan changed all the planned upgrade work stopped. Myself i would be quite happy to sail on it for the next ten years exactly as it is now.

Sorry but i dont agree with your spin theory, its pure economics , its making money without any big outlay or commitment

the spirit has the most returning passengers, 86% minimum per cruise

Yes Mein Schiff 2 is due 2019 but I think it will be delayed until at least 2020.

Obviously Spirit is still popular with some but she won't generate the profit margin that TUI wants. I believe that Thomson Cruises lost money over the last few years hence the move by the parent company towards larger vessels with more balconies etc.

The more pax on board the greater the revenue, and the profit. Plus the older the ship the more it will cost to maintain.

Spirit cruises are still priced way below the Discovery ships so I still think this move is a stop gap, and the statement 'by popular demand' is spin to cover the delay.

I'm not knocking Spirit I just don't believe the reason, and as PC said 'it's a first time they've (allegedly) listened to their customers'

Sorry but disagree with you,Using Spirit is probably the the most financially sound part of the empire.

It puts hard cash into the coffers every week.

No debts.

No capital costs.

No financing costs of capital costs.

No depreciation of asset value.

No maintainence costs.

Only used for the busiest/highest revenue time of the year with no lay up costs at other times.

Revenues have increased by i would say £200-£300 pound per cabin per week over the last couple of years.

Summing that lot up i would say its a very sound buisness venture which Thomson know they can still milk, call it a cash cow if you like.

Sorry but disagree with you,Using Spirit is probably the the most financially sound part of the empire.

It puts hard cash into the coffers every week.

No debts.

 

No capital costs.

No financing costs of capital costs.

No depreciation of asset value.

No maintainence costs.

Only used for the busiest/highest revenue time of the year with no lay up costs at other times.

 

Revenues have increased by i would say £200-£300 pound per cabin per week over the last couple of years.

Summing that lot up i would say its a very sound buisness venture which Thomson know they can still milk, call it a cash cow if you like.

As the ship is chartered from a third party then the cost of that charter will be high as it includes depreciation, maintenance, and possibly crew costs. There will also be a profit margin for the third party.

Thomson will then have to fund the day to day running costs such as fuel, port fees, passenger supplies such as food, and associated items.

With a low passenger capability I think the cash cow element is very small.

After 27 Thomson cruises on all their ships except the Spirit, we decided to have a week's cruise on her last September. I have to say, in my personal opinion, she is my least favourite of all the ships I have been on. Too dated and past its sell by date. The contrast between the Spirit and her sister ship, the Celebration, is very noticeable. Give me the newer ships every time.

I hope the retaining of the Spirit will not delay the arrival of Mein Schiff 2. I have cruised on her but my experience of the noisiest cabin ever has led me to avoid Celebration and Spirit in recent years

Thomson spirit is a death trap waiting to happen

There are no lifejackets at the lifeboats

We were told at the departure port drill that we had to leave wherever we were on the ship and negotiate our way back down to our cabins to collect our lifejackets and proceed to deck 7 for the emergency muster .

The ships officer told us that if the fire screens blocked our way down we were to override them using the buttons next to the fire door and keep going down and down , Smoke, fire, water , listing ship was not mentioned ,

I complained on board

Met with the safety officer and staff captain , they agreed it was crazy, unsafe and dangerous but Thomson would not supply the 1200 extra lifejackets needed ,

In a genuine emergency many people will die in the ensuing panic as the fight their way down as ordered and try and get back up 4 decks with their lifejackets ,

I emailed Thomson, maritime safety agency in uk , bbc. Sky. Radio. No interest. No replies,

I am an ex ship superintendent partner in a shipping company , I know what I am talking about here

My advice if your sailing on the spirit is tdguse to sail until lifejackets are otovided at the boats

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Sry for spelling at the end. I advise you refuse to sail unless lifejackets are provided st the lifeboats for everyone on board and the advice is changed to this

On hearing the emergency klaxon go directly to your allocated lifeboat and. DO NOT. Return to your cabin

A genuine emergency will result in injury and death for many elderly cruisers as the try and do as they are ordered

Colin campbell

Campbellcolin9@ail.com

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Thomson spirit is a death trap waiting to happen

 

There are no lifejackets at the lifeboats

 

We were told at the departure port drill that we had to leave wherever we were on the ship and negotiate our way back down to our cabins to collect our lifejackets and proceed to deck 7 for the emergency muster .

The ships officer told us that if the fire screens blocked our way down we were to override them using the buttons next to the fire door and keep going down and down , Smoke, fire, water , listing ship was not mentioned ,

 

I complained on board

Met with the safety officer and staff captain , they agreed it was crazy, unsafe and dangerous but Thomson would not supply the 1200 extra lifejackets needed ,

 

In a genuine emergency many people will die in the ensuing panic as the fight their way down as ordered and try and get back up 4 decks with their lifejackets ,

 

I emailed Thomson, maritime safety agency in uk , bbc. Sky. Radio. No interest. No replies,

 

I am an ex ship superintendent partner in a shipping company , I know what I am talking about here

 

My advice if your sailing on the spirit is tdguse to sail until lifejackets are otovided at the boats

 

 

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Rubbish

Ditto

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Rubbish. I was on Spirit early June and we were told no such thing

Outside all the doors on the promenade deck are white boxes filled with life jackets which you are asked not to sit on ( although many do whilst having a cigarette)

PS Thomson is not responsible for the ships safety equipment on Spirit and Majesty which is why when the cable snapped on a lifeboat during a safety exercise in the Canaries a few years ago Louis Lines of Cyprus were fined and not Thomson - check it out on Google

Rubbish. I was on Spirit early June and we were told no such thing

Outside all the doors on the promenade deck are white boxes filled with life jackets which you are asked not to sit on ( although many do whilst having a cigarette)

Yes there are spare lifejackets for people who would be unable to access their cabins.

I would imagine before the general emergency signal was given one of the crew emergency codes would be broadcast so that they could be getting to their emergency positions to guide and advise passengers.

As with all other cruise ships Spirit fully complies with all SOLAS requirements so this guy has no idea what he is talking about.

As for all his rantings HE CANT EVEN GET THE MUSTER STATION DECK RIGHT

Dear vitalsign. I've just read your post re Thomson spirit

Thomson celebration has the same set up re lifejacket storage

I've just come off the Magellan and it was the same on that ship , I reiterate

We are all assembled on deck10 Our muster station with our cabin lifejackets. The boats are also on deck 10

The crew had yellow lifejackets and demonstrated the wearing of them, we then had to hold onto each other's lifejacket grasp strap and did the conga to the actual boat

The instructions given on the tannoy were the same as spirit and celebration

On hearing the emergency klaxon proceed to your cabin and pick up your lifejacket. I was deck 4. Do not use lift. Stairs only,

Solas regulations allow this. There are 10% excess at the lifeboats themselves ,the age group on board was 60 plus , many infirm and dozens of clinically obese . 6 flights of stairs down. Along a 100m narrow corridor. Back along the same corridor with people coming the other way , then up 6 flights of stairs to get back to where you were sitting when the emergency klaxon sounded , many will not make it

Regulations have not evolved as cruise ships have become small cities , some are just an empty tall shell with cabins on outside and above the lifeboats

Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's common sense