joeholiday2

The Tui symbol was being refreshed, it looked like the Thomson Spirit had been re-done the day before....

I don't think the Russians will care what it says on the hull.

Just hope they don't abuse the old girl...

Thanks for the port review Kruzseeka, brightened up a miserable January morning :)

We never got as far as Brighton Beach, only to Brandon's beach. We found the lack of facilities nice, just us, beach towels and the locals. As you say, the walk isn't the nicest though.

Havana is great isn't it, we only did a quick day trip flying in from the Cayo's and felt we could have spent more time there. It's a shame so many of the buildings are in disrepair.

Nothing to do with the thread really but...

The Spirit was in Casablanca on 23rd Dec, she was having the TUI sign repainted in the morning and then set sail around 2pm.

Another one confirming you have made the right choice.

It's a great hotel.

We did the Son Matias many years ago and have said we will return, never got around to it though, we love the ships so much now....

Just backing up what others have said really...

If doing 2 weeks on Majesty a PLUS cabin is a MUST, I would rough it in a normal one for a week if I had to, but they are well worth the extra.

There are some things on the Majesty that niggles, like the buffet dining spaces and the pool/sunbed arrangements, but the food is excellent (bigger portions too) and the entertainment was superb, but we were spoiled last year with Brandi, Max, and Rob. Those lucky enough to go on the Dream this summer will have their company.

Flopsy's point about the band coming on half an hour before the main show really does make a difference, it's so much better than sat listening to canned music.

We are not sure what to do this summer, so may have a similar dilemma having done most of the itineraries except the Black Sea. Loads on our last cruise were raving about RCCI, but we are not sure if it's for us.

Hi all.. Happy New Year.

We came back from Oceana on Sunday, will do a full review later.

Kruzseeka, you are spot on as always.

We missed the fun, lively element that Thomson ships have. 12.30am Christmas day and the ship was dead, they were all tucked up in bed :eek:This is no party ship...

The showteam probably work about a quarter of what the Thomson guys do. On some nights they had a caberet act in the Lounge and a film on in the Theatre, come on, I can stay at home and watch a film....

We had a good time but are glad to be back on the Majesty in April.

Ladies, thank you for two excellent reviews.

I hope they sort the food out, it does seem to have declined in quality.

Bring back Chef Solomon I say, the things that man can do to a piece of smoked salmon is amazing :D

(psst... he told me he marinates it in Vodka and Whisky for 3 days before serving)

The peakles always seemed a bit raw to me, Top Men and Muzik Unlimited are much more polished acts.

Geo, have a great time on the Ventura, I doubt you will get the lumpy weather we are expecting on the Oceana....

Hi Kev.

have a look at this thread:

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1885085

I give details of the ports on the second page.

HTH

Joe.

Reported elswhere that P&O are going to reduce the number of formal nights on Oceana and Ventura. Only rumours of course ;)

 

One person was told that Venturas fly cruises next summer would feature one formal night a week.

 

P&O are targetting Thomson fans?

I think they are Dave.

They get a bit heated on the p&o board sometimes don't they? Not like us friendly lot on here.....

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That makes sense. Their main competitor for the future british ambience market is Thomson and they have one formal night a week. If they also reduce the number of venues where formal dress is mandatory (only the mdr on Thomson) they will hope they can attract Thomson cruisers to P&O.

 

ps - for those who don't know or won't admit it. Thomson ships are NOT full of chavs and the 'lower classes' ;)

Spot on there Dave.

Fly cruise to med, less formal nights, they are going after the Thomson cruiser. They just need to improve the entertainment and get the staff to have more fun with the guests.

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I expect there is Joe :D but no countdown clock :rolleyes:

 

Christmas panic setting in :rolleyes:

 

Have a great time :):)

 

Have a great time

I don't bother now Linda..... I am a naughty boy :o

It's bad enough using this app on my tablet to type, never mind anything else.......

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Thursday.

There is a thread about it on here....

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Nice to know you are all home safe.

Looking forward to the reports.

Will let you know how P&O compares when I return.

Joe.

Plenty of choice for the "british" cruiser over there next winter.

P&O have 2 big ships.

Fred has 1 and Thomson 2.

I see a price war developing if they can't fill them.

With the exception of the Dream they are doing the same old ports...

Ta Saint.

Looks like it won't be full when we go.

Now if they offer me a cheap B2B on the 4 day cruise after ours and Eavesway can get us back I will be tempted....

Not everyone who works in education is a teacher. I am a school network manager, and I too have flexibility in holidays, as I can work on the network during school holidays.

Spot on clareq, we aren't all on teachers money too.....

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There are plenty of P&O and Cunard last minute bargains ATM.

At weekend they had Oriana 19 nights over to Dubrovnik going 15th Dec, so it takes in Christmas and New Year, for £799 :eek:

We are tied to holidays as we both work in education.

I have some flexibility in my job, but DW moved to a Primary School recently working term time only and they are really strict about time off. This time she finishes Weds and off we go Thurs morning....

She has got a 2 day dispensation for next Easter as it's a BIG birthday, but after that we will be playing the game of booking to fit it in rather than where we would want to go.

Next years Dream at Christmas is out, but Celebration is in the mix. :mad:

Jules, I think you have it spot on about the followers of the Celebration, however a great deal of people do not (or cannot for medical reasons) want to take the long flight out there. I think like P&O have found this year, they will struggle to fill some weeks having 2 ships out there.

Don't understand why you think "taking it higher" will sort it out, it has ALWAYS been like this. Just because someone doesn't like the way something is done, taling it higher doesn't get it sorted if that is the way things are done, and for a reason.

 

Here's the quote from last years brochure when it was called All Inclusive:

 

All Inclusive Drinks Package

Here we’re talking about a drinks package that’s available on our cruises. You can book the

package when you’re aboard or before you travel. If you book before you travel you’ll get a

discount on the price. Every person on the booking must be included

If you don't ask, you don't get.....

Agree with you about Cafe Jardin, excellent for Lunch.

The sea days were better, An ex-Concorde captain gave a really good lecture, Ricky Tomlinson doing a Q&A, The comedian John Martin who gave an excellent talk on Operation Anthropoid, loads of other things going on.

Hope it's as good this time.

We have defected over to P&O for our next cruise.

Oceana 19th Dec for 10 nights, down to Casablanca and back.

After many years of spending Christmas and New Year on land based hols, DW put her foot down and said it's cruise or nothing this year.

We kept waiting to see if any of the Caribbean cruises, (both Thomson and P&O) came down in price but they never did. In fact next years P&O ones are cheaper than this years have been over the last few months. So we might book for one of those in the New Year.

We have been on Oceana in the past so know what to expect, P&O do a better job of the sea days than Thomson, so we are not bothered about 5 of them. Just hope the BOB is kind to us. We have never done any of the ports either so that's a bonus.

However.... we plan to book the Majesty for 2 weeks in April very soon before the £69 PW AI runs out.

So you haven't got rid of us just yet.....

Joe.

I can understand them restricting it if there are 4 people in one cabin, but if there are 2 separate cabins on a booking then they are being a bit anal about it.

If this is the case Jull8, I would take it further, speak to a supervisor you might be able to talk some sense into them.... if that doesn't work then take it higher.

We were on the Spirit when it got hit by a cargo ship - yes it caved in the windows of the cinema but I don't think it is going to be the usual occurrence.....! Seems a real shame they are not replacing the cinema with more public usable areas rather than cabins which will equal more passenger therefore less deck space ratio per passenger.....

A good point Jules...

Not many more PAX, but it's already too tight a squeeze on sea days.

I like Explorers as it was, yes it was underused, but that is the point, it was somewhere nice and quiet to relax. Will the afternoon tea still be done in the new bar? Or is that another cost cutting exercise? They will make money selling the coffees instead of giving the afternoon tea away....

Have a great time everyone. Will be looking forward to the reports.

Have you all arranged a meet up?

Fair winds and calm seas...

We saw these two... :p

https://joeholiday2.shutterfly.com/pictures/1577

Another vote for Cosol, a great day out.

It's also very east to donate £5 by texting help to 70000

 

Sue on facebook has put on that it was announced on the Majesty last week that Thomson would match every penny donated by the passengers.

Brilliant:):)

Just noticed this after asking on the Frazer thread for them to donate to the appeal.

Well done Thomson.