boatboy2000

Hi does anybody have travel insurance with their account and what banks have cruise cover included with the account?

Thinking of switching banks TIA

We have done a lot of Thomson cruises, just back from second cruise with P and O on the Azura and have to agree with what is said above, everything is at a higher level, food fantastic quality choice of 5 course menu, waiters in dining room smart with waist coats on, the breakfast is to die for and so much choice. Entertainment far superior with many walk on British acts in the entertainment lounges, have to pay for drinks but reasonable prices but quality of beers superb. We have booked a cruise next year with Marrella because of the itinerary to Vietnam and Cambodia but have to say much prefer P and O now. Marrella need to up there game!

As I understand it Mein Schiffs 1 and 2 are transferring to Marella. They are not cast-offs they are being replaced by new builds and had very extensive refurbishments before moving to TUI. Further remodelling is being done before they move to Marella. Explorer is arriving this summer and I trust Mein Schiff 2 next year.

 

What about Celebration and Dream? They have to go eventually.

I remember the Dream coming from Costa, not exactly a refurbishment, it was dogged with problems, we were on Discovery 2 last year, an improvement yes, but I feel such a bigger ship for Thomson /Marrella it lacked proper entertainment in the lounges, they cannot expect to keep rolling out audience participation game shows as in the past this showed in the Venue show lounge, it was nearly empty most of the time, a real waste. A ship this size needs proper British headline acts.However the theatre performances were great, just a shame they put the same acts on in the show lounge every night. The point is that TUI are a big company and why should we have so called refurbished ships and the Germans have the two new ones, why not one each, seems fairer!

P and O have just announced they are building a further two new ships in addition to the new one one they got in 2015. Just wondering when are Marrella going to bring in new ships into the fleet instead of the TUI cast offs now they are charging similar to premium cruise lines.

CONTiNENTAL COASTS 27th OCTOBER. Have just received this email from Thomson/TUI re. itinerary change due to new rebranding. We now are staying in Tenerife overnight and missing Gran Canaria the next day BUT are calling at Gran Canaria instead of La Palma on the final day and are are being given 25 Pounds per person as compensation.

Dear Mr Lee,

RE: Your holiday to Santa Cruz Port.

Departure date 27-10-2017. Reference Number 4851991

We’re writing to give you some important news about your cruise holiday.

This week we announced that we’ll be setting sail with a brand new name later this year – Marella Cruises. It’s the biggest evolution in our company’s history.

With Thomson changing to TUI, and so many new adventures ahead on the horizon, we wanted a new name that reflected who we are and what we do. Marella is of Celtic origin and means shining sea. The sea is the place we call home so the name felt like a perfect fit. But rest assured, everything else you know and love about Thomson Cruises will stay the same – especially the genuine and friendly service you enjoy from our crew.

Of course, we’ll need to rename our ships too. And TUI Discovery 2 will be updated during your cruise.

What does this mean for you? Well, firstly, when you join the ship she’ll be TUI Discovery 2, and when you leave she’ll be Marella Discovery 2.To do this we need to stay in Santa Cruz overnight, which means we’ve made some changes to your itinerary. We’ve cancelled our call in La Palma, and moved Las Palmas to the end of the cruise to make sure you don’t miss out on visiting Gran Canaria. We can’t rename our ship without a celebration. So we’d like you to join us for a relaunch party in the atrium on Saturday night. This is in addition to our sailaway party and our Dress to Impress night, so make sure you pack your finery for all the festivities.

We’ll also be crediting your onboard account with £25 per adult to spend onboard as gesture of goodwill.

Your new itinerary looks like this…

Day Port Arrive Depat

1 Santa Cruz, Tenerife

2 Santa Cruz, Tenerife 23.00

3 Arrecife, Lanzarote 08.00 18.00

4 Agadir, Morocco 08.00 18.00

5 At Sea

6 Funchal, Madeira 08.00 18.00

7 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria 09.00 18.00

8 Santa Cruz, Tenerife 06.00

If you’ve got any trips or tours booked in La Palma, we’ll automatically cancel and refund them for you. Anything you’ve booked for Gran Canaria, we’ll move across to the new date for you. For new ones, meanwhile, visit our resident port experts onboard – Destination Services – for the full list of trips and tours.

We hope you understand the reasons behind this change and go on to have a wonderful cruise. If you’ve got any questions you can either visit your local travel shop, chat to us on Facebook by visiting www.facebook.com/thomsoncruises or give us a call on 0800 009 3870

The Team at Thomson Cruises.

Yours sincerely,

Bev

Change Control Executive TUI Group

 

We are staying in a hotel on Tenerife the night before we were due to sail. We may as well have had an extra (cheaper) night in the hotel and just booked a 6 night cruise. NOT happy!

We have done over 20 Cruises with Thomsom but Colourful Coasts on the 27th will probably be the last, the Thomson standards have fell dramatically latlely, waiters not smart anymore, only 3 courses, may as wll be in a canteen, drinks are now poor unless you pay the supplements and to top it all they are keeping us in crappy cool santa cruz overnight while they paint the name on the boat.:mad:

Just back off the Ventura, first time with P&O, had a lovely time, booked again on Azura for 2018 whilst on board :)

Just rang Thomson to pay final balance of next cruise in Caribbean and instead of taking my payment, all the operator from the call centre was interested in was trying blackmail us into paying for seats on the aircraft, that if we didn't we would be split up, sorry but so be it, nobody puts a gun to our heads, another money making gimmick!

On route from Southampton to Canaries, are duty free sales available and when?

Been on the Spirit end of July, fantastic food and service, gave the Majesty its second and final chance last November and will never go on it again unless it was offered at a ridiculous cheap price, does not come anywhere near the standard of Spirit and Celebration.

Wish there were more sailings from Liverpool, really enjoyed the Fred cruise to Norway last year , it was on the news the other night that councillors are pushing for a new terminal in Liverpool, great for us just being 30 minutes away.

How long ago is it that you wrote to Thomsons ?

 

I've had a couple of issues with them in the past and they've taken several weeks to reply.

 

I suspect that's because they direct the complaints to the appropriate individual(s) for an internal investigation and subsequent response before getting back to the customer.

 

There is no reason of course why they can't acknowledge receipt of your letter and advising that it is being dealt with.

Thanks for your comments, it has been several weeks and all we have had is an automated email, which is totally unacceptable in this day and age.

You've had no written response of any kind from Thomsons ?

How did you guess, they had written recorded delivery letters and emails, but in the long run they will lose out, as like us we will not put up with it and will try something else :)

After being with Thomson into double figures,we are trying p and o in November on the Ventura, we have had a problem with Thomson on the last cruise we did, they have chosen to ignore our communication with them, well they have driven us away with poor after service, we can't go into details for legal reasons, but the bottom line is they couldn't care less!:mad:

Normally fly from Scotland but Manchester next time Where is the best place to park or Park & Fly. Close to Airport or on airport please

 

Dont know Manchester Airport at all

 

Thanks

Try Bewleys hotel Manchester airport, if you have a nights stay before you can get a deal on there parking, we only live 30 mins away but stayed there when we had a delay and also my daughter and kids stayed overnight before their hols. Hope this helps

So we get there old cast offs and the Germans get nice brand new ships, sorry Thomson but when this occurs, we will probably move to p&o who have just provided a new shipfor there loyal customers .

Don't get me wrong we love a lot on Thomson but don't take us for granted!

Went on Majesty the first few weeks of Thomson getting her in 2012, booked for Destiny, wasn't impressed at all, said we would never go back on it again, unless we got a good deal!:)

So we have just booked a Junior suite with balcony for a great price for canaries end of November, thought we would treat ourselves for a change as we have never had a balcony, hopefully it will be ok, hope some of them east European crew members have been sent to friendly school since last time we were on:D

Just back off 2 week cruise on Celebration, had a fab time, great itinerary and big improvement in food quality compared to when we were on in February, but breakfast in the Meridian has gone right down the pan, really slow service , cant get what you want, gave up some days and went to Lido restaurant.:p

Hopefully things will be OK when we are back on the Celebration next month, we will be a party of 8, and two of these are on their very first cruise, so come on Thomson don't let us down :)

On Fred Olsen Black Watch at the moment and it has to be said that the food on here is far superior to Thomson, we have noticed a deterioration over the years,we were on the Celebration in February and the food was worse than ever, come on Thomson get your act together!

Didn't have one bad meal on the whole cruise, plenty of choice and really well presented, well done Fred:)

On Fred Olsen Black Watch at the moment and it has to be said that the food on here is far superior to Thomson, we have noticed a deterioration over the years,we were on the Celebration in February and the food was worse than ever, come on Thomson get your act together!

I have photos but haven't a clue how to put it on here, but all the area that was the sports deck will be sunbeds and in corner they have put in a bar, so if you been on the Celebration before, it will double the amount of sunbeds on the top deck.

Was hoping to get to Liverpool early, drop the luggage off and spend some time in the city, but informed that the luggage can only be checked in between 14.30 and 15.30

We are a little bit disappointed with this, planned to drop off luggage am, have a wander and get some lunch and eventually make our way to the ship:(

Is there duty free on board or in Ports?

I've just come back from a FO cruise and it was very quiet on our roll call, but on the ship a lot of people were using tablets. However this was mainly to communicate with family at home and not really to explore options in ports, ask questions about their cruise etc. On our cruise the average age was 74 (number-crunched by one of the officers) and most of them just did Fred tours so didn't need to do research beforehand. Also very many were repeat cruisers who've never cruised with any other lines. As it was a long cruise the average age was probably higher than a cruise during school holidays etc.

 

boatboy2000 - don't hold your breath hoping the ship will be livelier. Things were fine during the day but we found it very quiet after dinner.

Thanks tartanexile, we go week on Monday, not banking on good weather, never done Fred before, so we will play it by ear, not planning on doing a lot of ships tours, as long as we can get off and do out own thing we will.