Andy W

3 hours ago, Brummijam said:

If you live nearby it may be worth it but I wouldn’t travel any great distance to do it.👍

East Midlands don’t do the tui bag drop apparently

Is there much chaos at East Midlands like at Manchester and Birmingham, I was at EM in April and we flew through, hoping will be similar again as I’m there in 11 days time 🤞

1 hour ago, howmuch! said:

If its before the school holidays in July, I'm sure you should be fine.

Ive just checked, kids break up the week before 🤨 I may just risk it and book, ive not cruised for a few years

I’m thinking of booking on the Magic of Spain cruise for July and just wondered how likely the flights could be cancelled due to the current airport disruptions and TUI cancelling many flights or are cruises still likely to go ahead as they are a complete packaged holiday, just not sure if to risk it or not 🤔

Go to reception and ask f you can keep your cabin, i sad i particularly wanted to keep the cabin i was already in so i didn't have to be out for 8 am 😁 

Not had a questionnaire for years 🤔

I kept my existing cabin on the celebration last week for an extra £35 so didnt have to be out for 8.00 am

I tipped $40  for a 2 week cruise

I was on the celebration last week, from where i remember the cinema was is now a small photography studio where the entrance to the cinema was, not sure what is behind it though.

Hey nannyannie,

An esta is really easy to get, its just an american electronic visa programme you apply for online and normally get approved the same day, it costs about 14 dollars?

Apparently, if you have a criminal record then you don’t qualify for an esta, you need to apply I think it is still a visa, it can take longer, if you have convictions for drugs, terrorism or firearms then you will be refused entry, loads of info on line if you look.

I was on the Discovery in October, it was my 16th cruise in total, I didn’t enjoy it and wouldn’t go on it again, there was far too much too list which I didn’t like, biggest problem was understaffed and staff moral was at an all time low, one of the entertainers even said on stage he was glad he was going home, the day we were coming back a loud female member of staff was whooping and high five her colleagues as she was getting off that day, I much prefer the spirit and celebration for friendly personal service.

Regarding filling in forms on the plane that we did up to a few years ago, it was nothing to do with the holiday it was to sell your details to other companies, I remember telling my wife that and she said I was paranoid so for a "test" I filled in the forms with my address but daft names, one name that comes to mind was Mustafa Kebab and my wife was Olive something silly as well as other daft names over a couple of years, you guessed it, within months we got loads of junk mail from car/house insurance, magazine subscriptions, savings plans, credit cards all addressed to the daft names that I had put.

Does anyone actually win the holiday they say you can win by filling in the forms?

On my last 2 cruises this year I was told to expect a questionnaire via email within a couple of days of my return and have never received one, dont they bother anymore? I know there administration side is an absolute shambles, prior to going I contacted Thomson about filling in the embarkation form as a return customer as part of the address they had for me was wrong, they said they couldnt change it but it could be changed on tge ship which I thought was odd, when I did ask on the ship I knew the answer before I even asked,how can they change it, they dont have the main computers.

The more I travel with Thomson the more that I get the impression it is money driven and they really couldnt care less as the brand sells itself so will always be popular.

I was on the same cruise, I had booked an outside cabin on the 3rd deck, on arrival we were given "premier status" what ever that means, a cabin on the 7th deck which was ok, no fridge, separate beds, window with the view of an hoist, no towel sculptures, we had to pay for a safe, bathroom showing age, underneath the beds were filthy and dusty obviously not been moved for a long time (dont usually check this but was checking if we had left anything on the day of departure)

Food in the Compass Rose was average, over 19 years of cruising with Thomsons they have really cut costs to the bone, I have had much better food on other ships, one night my wife had a sirloin steak which was without a word of a lie at least 75% fat, the head waiter of the restaurant came to check and agreed that that piece of meat should of never of left the kitchen and we were fully refunded.

The Lido buffet breakfast started off good and hot and sort of cooled as the week went on with some foods not cooked enough.

Entertainment in the Broadway show lounge was excellent once again and most of the same performers we saw on the Spirit 3 months ago, day time entertainment seemed rushed and pointless, they could do more in the daytime, really does need looking at particularly on the day at sea, the cinema had some of the same films from 3 months ago, years ago we had decent fairly new movies, now we have old one such as Devil wears Prada, Walk the line .... one day there was not even a list outside the cinema what the films were for that day and they no longer print in the cruise news what the in room movies are, we couldnt watch the TV anyway as the reception was so bad on all channels including the in room movie.

Thomson only charter this ship so dont know if standards have dropped on this ship but will be better on the other ships, we have had a better drinks package and food on The Dream a couple of years ago.

The all inclusive drinks package was hit and miss, one night I had undrinkable whisky when requesting a decent brand, same as the Vodka, in the casino bar we were served Smirnoff, in the Broadway bar we were served cheap weak booze, I even heard people who were paying for their drinks complain how weak they were, some of the cocktails were horrible and too sweet and sickly, the bloody marys varied from bar to bar from so hot and spicy they were undrinkable to far too much tomato juice and not enough vodka.

The photography staff were not as pushy this time which was nice.

I agree about the ports, some were too far away but we took advantage of the shuttle buses after walking back from Palma on the first port.

Thomsons are stopping using this ship probably next year and according to some of the ships staff another cruise line could take it over complete with the staff as all the staff are not employed by Thomson but an agency (thats what we were told)

Malaga airport was ok for us, luggage arrival was slow but not too bad.

Not sure if I will use Thomson again now, quite a few people did say that things have changed, quality and standards have dropped and Celebrity Cruise Line was mentioned by many people as been better for the money.

I am not usually a moaner but think that Thomson could and should do so much better.

There is wifi on board but it is quite expensive to use no matter if you use the on board computers which are incredibly slow or set your ipad up to your room account, do what the crew do (and myself) every port terminal building has wifi and it is free, on my cruise in July on The Spirit I was able to access all my usual stuff on my ipad and phone no problem what so ever in each port, the only day you will struggle for free wifi is the day at sea (monday) and I have never been able to get a phone signal in any cabin on any cruise I have been on.

See you Sunday, I am on the same cruise ;)

When I was there in July, on the night before the head of the entertainments team offered to show people the way into town and point out the sights, loads of people turned up, we had a steady walk into town to the main square, he pointed out a few things and everyone went their own way, you cant get lost, it is all in walking distance and if you want to see the apes then you can take the cable car or there will be minibuses outside the cable car station to take you by road, personally I think the min bus tour is better than the cable car after experiencing both, I loved Gibralatar and we did look at the same cruise as you are doing.

Try these https://www.direct2insure.co.uk/

I went on an organised trip to Marrakesh a few years back, my favourite part was the market, it was massive and very easy to get lost, we were advised to stick to the perimeter of the stalls so you could find your way out again, you do get pestered constantly but that is part and parcel of their way of life as well as the haggling.

I personally am a little cautious these days of going to Muslim countries with all the unrest and hatred to westerners but they must be just a small minority of the people, I would only do these trips in groups nowadays, call me over cautious but that's just me.

Rose red city at Petra as seen on Indiana Jones, well worth a visit.

No they are not. Both the Spirit and Majesty are run by Louis Line. All the waiters etc are hired through the agency used by them. Only the entertainment staff are Thomson. The Dream and Celebration are run by agency staff used by Thomson. At least, that is what I have been led to believe but no doubt someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Intrigued me so just searched and found this about Louis group - Welcome to our company!

Louis plc, is one of the European Companies that operates in the Sector of Marine Tourism - Cruises - through Louis Cruises Ltd (5 cruise ships) and in the Hotels Sector, through the Subsidiary company Louis Hotels Public Company Ltd (18 Hotels). After the completion of the sale of 57% of the share capital of the Cypriot Tourist Development Public Company Ltd the Group continues to hold the 21% of the shares of Hilton Cyprus hotel.

In the cruise sector the company operates six cruise ships. Five owned and one chartered. Three vessels sail out of Greek and Turkish ports offering 3,4 and 7 day cruises and one out of Limassol port offering cruises to the Greek Islands. Finally two cruise ships are chartered to Thomson Cruises, a subsidiary of TUI AG, the largest European Tour Operator.

Baileys was not on the all inclusive when we were on the Spirit last week. So maybe only on the Thomson run ships

What is the Malaga customers issue?

Not sure if you mean this but in July we were warned that when you leave the boat at the end of the holiday when your bags are checked and scanned in the cruise terminal, if you are over your limit you have to leave your bags there, make your own way to the to the airport, pay the excess charges before returning to the cruise terminal to collect your bags, apparently they are hot about this.

I shall be there in 4 weeks time so interested in any information also :D

Most people do make an effort on formal night, I dont take a suit anymore, just wear a shirt and tie but it is not compulsory, many men dont even wear ties and I have seen some in jeans.

Very surprised, I was on the Spirit in July and back on again in 4 weeks time, entertainment was amongst the best I have seen on any Thomson cruises I have been on and no complaints of the food choices or how hot the food was, did you raise your concerns on board, I am sure the waiters would go out of their way to accommodate you, nothing is ever too much trouble for them.