GinoG

Tried that - waited forever but still didn't load.

They have now sent me a second email this morning which opened straight away.

As the title says!

I've just booked a cruise on line for next April and received a confirmation email which is completely blank - just the subject title and no content.

By the way I used the discount code mentioned in another post and got the £100 discount.

I am always happy with the actual cruises but their admin really needs improvement.

Just returned from the Spirit cruise and had to give two cards each time for drinks. We got the drinks package included free of charge as we booked early as did most people on board.

Thanks - that's really helpful.

We are on the same cruise this Sunday - just wondered which terminal you used in Lisbon and whether there is anything of interest walkable from the ship. If not will probably do the hoho.

We also got the AI which was already part of the deal but also asked for and got £100 discount so there is obviously some scope for negotiation at the TA's. Now wish we had asked for free parking instead but still happy with the deal we got.

We got free parking on our previous cruises but Thomson have now changed this to free AI - as we quite like a drink (or two) this is a better deal for us. I believe the parking is now £12 per day but this is less than the drinks package.

We have sailed with Thomson twice before from Newcastle and both times driven up from Hull - takes about two and a half hours but it is an easy drive up the A19. The Port of Tyne is easily accessible just through the Tyne tunnel. It is very easy to drop off your unlimited luggage and park up at the port. As the ship doesn't sail until late afternoon it is probably best to drive up on the day unless you have a really long journey.

Island tours are offered at most ports of call for around 20USD pp. These are either a shared taxi, minibus or sometimes open buses. Great value and a good way to contribute to the local economy rather than TUI.

I'm not sure what is happening with Thomson's admin these days. I've just received my E Ticket through the post for a cruise next month with a letter saying that they were unable to email them because my email address was incorrect. They quoted my email address which was correct and I have also received other information from them at this email address.

I know their systems have been playing up recently but a company of this size should be able to sort things out quickly.

Usually they time the transfer for late morning/lunch time ish. Coach transfers are direct from the ship to hotels (may go to several hotels on same coach).

You will need to be out of your cabin from around 8am but you can use all the facilities (including drink package if you have this) until you leave the ship.

We checked with the rep each day for the last 3 days of our holiday but the transfer was only confirmed at 8pm the night before we were due to come home. The transfer arrangments were given to us by the rep on a written card under our door and also handwritten in the guest folder in reception but as I said before the coach still failed to turn up. Don't know how much more I could have done to check up on the arrangements before.

You are supposed to get a transfer back from the hotel to the airport but unfortunately our coach did not turn up when we were in Tenerife in February and we had to arrange our own taxi in order not to miss our flight.

Thomson did reimburse the taxi fare once we got to the airport but it made the transfer experience quite stressful and we only received a very reluctant apology. We have done a few cruise and stay holidays and this was the first time we have had any problems.

It really does seem very hit and miss.

We have done over a dozen cruises with Thomson and once had a bottle of sparkling wine and on a couple of occasions had £25 obc. We've had nothing the last few cruises but on a Canarian cruise last month repeat cruises were invited via the Cruise News (not individually) to a reception with the Captain - not sure what this involved as we didn't go.

Thanks for such a great guide to Malaga.

We should be arriving at Malaga airport at 11am on 12th June to board the Spirit for the Iberian Treasures cruise so should have time to visit the City before sailing late that evening and will certainly try to visit some of these places.

Paid my balance on Thursday. Rang the customer services number and got through to a call center in India. It took the operator quite some time to locate my booking even though he asked me to confirm my name five times! He eventually told me he could not process my payment as my booking was subject to change and gave me another number to ring.

On ringing the different number I was told this was a mistake and that this team usually dealt with changes to holidays such as Egypt and Tunisia cancellations - he said that the call center in Goa was telling a lot of people to ring them when they should be dealing with it themselves. The operator though was very helpful and took my payment rather than refer me back to the original call center.

After recent problems with the organisation of our transfers on our last cruise and stay holiday I am really losing confidence in Thomson's.

Really interested in the Iceland one. Do you know whether they have a date and itinerary for this yet?

Just heard back from Thomson's regarding my complaint - a very standardised apology - I'm not impressed. Having travelled many times with this company I am seriously looking elsewhere.

Just wanted to highlight an issue regarding transfers on our recent Cruise and Stay holiday:

Just returned from Tenerife following a very enjoyable cruise followed by a week at the Riu Arecas.

As the hotel is part of Thomson's Al la carte programme guests should get taxi transfers but according to the rep Cruise and Stay guests do not.

We checked the hotel information book for our departure information a couple of days before we were due to fly home and our flight was not listed. The rep told us this was because we were Cruise and Stay guests and that she did not have our details yet. We spoke to the rep the following day (day before departure) and she still did not have them. We eventually received a card under our door the night before we were due to fly home saying that we would be picked up by a coach at 1.30pm for a 4pm flight.

We waited for the coach from 1pm but by 1.55 no coach had arrived and I was getting anxious that we would miss our flight. I tried to ring the contact number in the folder but could not get a response. I had no other option than to get myself a taxi to the airport at a cost of 30 Euros. After checking in we went to the Thomson desk and explained what had happened and eventually, and rather reluctantly, they refunded the fare.

I have to say we have done quite a few Cruise and Stay holidays and have never had this problem so hope it was a one off issue, however talking to another Cruise and Stay traveller from another hotel they had been told transfers were not included and they were charged extra for it.

I have complained about this to Thomson but am not hopeful of a speedy response.

We use World First for annual travel insurance. My husband and I have serious health issues and they have always covered these at a reasonable cost. Recommended the company to a friend who has angina and had several stents and he also found them very competitive.

We are aged 63 and my husband has multiple health problems and I also had surgery for cancer last summer but we still managed to get a reasonable price for annual travel insurance from World First insurance.

We go on 2nd February and received our e tickets this week although not in the same format as previously, just an email containing flight details with attachments for terms and conditions etc.

Seems they are operating 2 systems and confusing everyone including their TAs.

La Palma is also one of the smaller islands - we have been there before but did the trip to La Caldera as we arrived on a Sunday and the main town was virtually closed down. Visiting on a Friday this time and wondered if there is likely to be anything to see in the town as we have an early departure at 2pm so not bothered about going too far.

Thomson do put on some excursions in La Gomera but nothing much in El Hierro - is that because there is nothing worth seeing?

Just booked this cruise and would be grateful of any information on La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma as I can't find much on here.

Is there likely to be anything to see in the ports or would we need to look at booking trips?

We have been to Madeira and Gran Canaria before so are fine with these ports of call.

Sounds like a good plan. We went to Rome on the coach and visited the Colluseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. It was a very long, busy day and Rome was absolutely packed and very hot - everyone went straight into the bar for a cold pint when we got back!