tilford

Have been on Thomson Dream 5 times, Thomson Spirit once and Thomson Majesty twice - all 8 cruises have been excellent but, although still most enjoyable, Dream is definitely now showing her age and the other 2 leave the Thomson fleet at the end of this Summer (such a shame as Majesty is by far our favourite ship). We generally stay in 4 or 5 star hotels but, although cabins may be a little more basic than top quality hotel rooms, have never felt that we have been missing out even though we always book basic cabins as we prefer to put the money charged for cabin upgrades towards a future cruise.

 

This year we are trying the new to Thomson Discovery 2 in May.

 

Thomson ships may not be the most 'posh' but you certainly cannot beat them for crew, entertainment, passengers and itineraries. I personally think the quote of 'glorified ferries' in an earlier post is an insult to the Thomson fleet.

 

Give them a try and I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

Agree completely, it's the great crew that make it for me. And the fact that tips are included and on-board prices are in sterling. The clincher for me is the open dining and how you can always get a table for 2 if that's what you want. Give Thomson a try, I don't think you will regret it.

I've cruised with P&O on Arcadia and Azura. There's little to choose between them and Thomson on food, however the main reason I think Thomson are great are that the MDR is all open sitting. If you turn up around 6.45/7 you will always get a table for 2 if thats what you want. After the first night,if you tell the waiting staff(who are really great) you will be back the next night they will keep that table for you. They are also very generous with the table wine if you are on AI.

I wouldnt go with P&O again while they force the fixed seating on you (if you are on one of their cheaper fares you may well find you are too late for "freedom" dining).

I think the best thing about Thomson are the unfailingly nice staff,they really make the cruise.

i did not think you had bottle,s of wine on a drink,s package only served by the glass,unless you brought five bottle,s at a price when embarking on ship that was dream last year please quote me if i am wrong :p

Yes,its the wine package you buy on board £72 for 5 bottles and £99 for 7 bottles. I assume this is the same across all Thomson ships?

Just back from Majesty bad cruise really bad husband is a Coeliac and there practices are really poor ended up with him being Glutened.

 

People were drunk at the dinner table one night and again next day at lunch different people each time someone was asleep in the games room. Dress code flip flops, running vest and hudie in bright orange or any sports wear this is in the evening.

 

It took over an hour to check in then what's with finding your luggage and then putting labels on it never done that before, paying for a safe.

 

Also walking around with bottles of wine in your hand sorry that's not on. I will amit that I did not do enough checking out of the ship but this was a cross between Butlins, Blackpool and Benidorm.

 

So come on TUI you need to spend serious money to get your ships, staff ect up to standard.

 

 

Sennen

Well,I am also just back of Majesty(disembarked Tenerife 13 Feb) and I think I must have been on a different ship to you. I don't recall seeing anybody drunk or walking around with wine bottles. Check-in at the quayside took around 5 minutes maximum and our cases were delivered to our cabin at the same time as we got there.(On my last cruise with Celebrity it took 3 hours for our cases to arrive).You say that "you have never had to put a label on a suitcase before". err right.

For the money we paid,I thought Majesty was excellent,and moreover the many other passengers I chatted to were well pleased also. To say that "staff need to get up to standard" is really outrageous. The staff on Majesty are fantastic and could not have been more helpful and friendly. They are the main reason I would be happy to go on Majesty again.

Its clearly very unfortunate your husband became ill,and everyone is entitled to their opinions but I really do not feel that yours are representative of the vast majority of passengers on Majesty.

We are not long back from the Cuban Fusion / Mayan Treasures cruise which was fantastic

We were on the week after Iain and he is not alone with his experience of the Panama leg. On our first week, many people had been on the Panama leg and would certainly agree with Iain.

That said, we had a great time. I am not sticking up for Thomson's and we are not cruise line loyal, but Thomson does offer some cracking itineries, so much so we have already booked for the Cuban Revolution cruise next January.

Everything is down to a personal perspective.

Many good points have been made, Yes they are older ships, Yes they have smaller entertainment venues, Yes, balconies are severely limited and if available, ridiculously expensive, but.

We have done 4 cruises with Thomson over the last 5 years and compared to other lines, we have found that Thomson consistently has friendlier fellow passengers and in those 4 cruises we have never had a single concern over any member of staff at any level.

We have had issues with the flights but that has not distracted from the enjoyment of the cruise part.

Each to their own.

All the best

Mike

Completely agree with you.Just back from a week on Majesty and compared with my last experience on P&O(Azura),for the money we paid,Thomson wins hands down. For me,the friendly crew,fantastic entertainment(standing ovation on last night,never seen that on a cruise ship before)and excellent itineraries,are the best point. I must have chatted to at least a dozen other passengers and level of satisfaction was very high.

I am delighted to hear that you had a trouble free cruise. I only wish I could have experienced the same. Perhaps the fact that they kicked us off to clean the ship helped those who came after us. I would much preferred to have a nice relaxing cruise with no issues like yours but unfortunately I did not.

I was not in any way doubting or trying to diminish your disastrous experience and I hope my post did not come across like that. I would have been livid if what happened to you had happened to me.

But I did feel that my experiences would be useful to others who have booked and are very worried to read the comments/reviews,as indeed I was, before my trip .

Excellent news from you guys :) Looking forward to your reviews ;)

On that subject.... I spent quite a while writing a detailed review and when I clicked on the submit icon nothing really happened except I just got a white screen. I went back a page twice and tried again twice but same result,so how can I tell if my review has been received? It was not my broadband as everything else was working. I am new to this board so was just wondering what to do,don't really want to write it all again....

I just read a review on the Celebration and it appears that the clean up did not work. There is (allegedly) still an issue onboard.

Having just disembarked Celebration in Las Palmas yesterday (having embarked 1st Feb) I can only say in all honesty that absolutely NONE of the very bad things that happened on your cruise happened to us. We had an excellent week with absolutely no problems of any kind.

Yes,great attention is being paid to hygiene with handrails etc being often cleaned. The Lido buffet was all served by staff,and ample chilled bottled water is offered in the MDR.

I always chat to other passengers and I can honestly say that the general level of satisfaction with Celebration seemed high. The staff were absolutely great and just could not do enough for you.

I will shortly be posting a review hopefully.