joeholiday2

Good news about the move Brenda.

We nearly booked for Nerja over Christmas but have ended up in Beni :eek:

Hope the weather is OK.

Good news about the food improving, the new agency I presume.

They shouldn't have been doing that noisy work while guests were on, bang out of order.

I voted for Dream.

It's the best ship IMHO hardware wise. Shame it's had issues this last week, Thomson should not be letting that happen when paying passengers are on-board.

If the vote had been for the best overall cruise ship package I would have said Majesty.

Great staff, atmosphere, and this summer's entertainment team is the best we have ever seen on a ship. It only takes a change of staff for all this to alter though.....

They have started the rebranding.

This is the old Destiny in Piraeus 2 weeks ago:

3/4 inside plus is a good idea, I would advise you to book somewhere midships for stability.

Musik Unlimited are the house band and should be back onboard next year after a winter break. They are excellent, even better than Top Men in my opinion. They do half an hour in the showlounge before each show starts (so much better than just playing CD's whilst you wait for the show) they then go into Polo Lounge most nights to do a late night set.

There will be a pianist/singer playing in Rendezvous every night, the two we have seen in the past have both been very good.

There are 2 MDR's, four seasons is the smaller one, we preferred it over the larger seven seas, but you should try both.

As Linda says the Adriatic is a wonderful itinerary, esp if you have done the med and Greek islands a few times and are looking for something different.

Have a great time Brenda, and good luck with the move when you get back.

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Congratulations Vera and Sheila. :D:D

Hi

Should be open midnight tonight for you.

It has been for us in the past.

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Ooh. Dave.

I was going to dare you to post this on P&O and I see you have.

Get your hard hat out, mate.;)

V go back and have another look. It's really got going over the last few hours. :eek:

Glad we all keep it civil on here:)

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It's bad really that they cannot sort out a better system. After all Richard Grey the CD on Spirit said last week that Thomson have the most repeat passengers of all the cruise lines around the world.

They will have all our data about how many cruises we have done, it's bad that we have to fill out that online embarkation form in order for them to recognise we are repeaters.

They need a proper club system like the other lines do, and proper rewards like percentages off onboard spend or even a percentage off the cost of the DP when you book. They really aren't taking it seriously.

BTW, we got £25 OBC last week on the Spirit. Our fourth cruise with them this year.

Don't they have some kind of quiz league?

The one day we sat in a bar and did a quiz they were talking about those that did it yesterday to put your chit in for the extra points towards the total at the end of the cruise.

It got really serious for some of them, it's just a bit of fun if you happen to drop across it for us, not something we think we have to be on time to attend daily....

They are definitely not party ships, the Ship was really quiet at 11pm Christmas eve.

Buyer has all the rights here Joe - not the seller. If we don't agree to the deadline for completion the owner/lawyer says we lose the sale.

Didn't realise that.

Hope all goes well and you can find a good long let before Christmas.

Hi Brenda.

Can't you get it put back for a week or at least a few more days?

You are the seller after all.

Hi Travelbugz.

Someone has just posted a picture of the balcony on the FB group called thomsoncurises.

Looking at the plans 005 is more square than 001, you will be comfy in there, they are quite a bit bigger than the standard size cabins, and more like the picture of 106 but with a balcony and the bed along the side wall I would think.

Joe.

Hi.

You will love it.

No pics of the celebration deluxe cabins but these are of the spirit which is the sister ship, same layout but not quite as plush as the celebration. I would think cabin 005 might be similar to your booked one.

https://joeholiday2.shutterfly.com/pictures/2000

Have a mooch around the rest of the website to get the feel of the ships and the Caribbean.

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Great news Brenda. Hope all goes well.

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We got some hula hoops for a crew member and thought they were dear compared to home.

The Bombay sapphire was cheap though :D

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We missed Guadeloupe once and ended up in Antigua, was really pleased with that as I got to watch the final day of a WI v England test. :)

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We ended up at Mykonos the second week when we should have been in Beirut, docked and with a free shuttle. It was very windy. We were due to dock there and the maj tender the week before, so I don't know how they decided what happened. We ended up going to Rhodes twice.

Agree about Richard, he is a great CD. Shauna, the ents host has a really good voice, she deserves to be in the shows.

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Hi everyone.

Back safe and sound from a lovely cruise on Spirit, just done this review:

We departed from Limassol on 22nd Oct after an uneventful flight from Manchester. We took M&D with us again but left them more to do their own thing this time as they now know the “cruising ropes”, mainly meeting up at mealtimes and for the evening entertainment.

Being a sister ship to the Celebration we had no trouble finding our way around, the decor has not been updated to the same level as Celebration but it was fine, always in good order and spotlessly clean. We had 2 inside cabins next door to each other, 470 and 474, our cabin Stewards, Marissa and Sandy were superb, so helpful and caring to M&D, also obtaining a stool to use in the shower. Mum is in a wheelchair and cannot walk more than a few steps unaided so we were concerned that a non-adapted cabin would be unsuitable, however as there were no adapted cabins available they decided to go for it and see how an inside worked out. As it turns out it was better for Mum, although the wheelchair could not go into the cabin, she could reach the walls of the cabin to steady herself when getting around. This meant that she could get up in the middle of the night to use the toilet without having to get Dad up to help her. Us being next door also worked well.

We always use the MDR for meals in the evening, however after the first 2 nights we decided to try the buffet and never went back to the MDR. It’s nice being waited on, but the buffet meant that there was a lot more choice available, it just worked better for us. The food was excellent, the quality the same as we have had on the other ships, the carvery and other cuts of meat were good, not cheap stuff, and well prepared. The Indian and Oriental nights were particularly good, as good if not better than in good restaurants back home. One thing we did notice was that the buffet was a lot busier on the last night of each weekly cruise, the cynic in me says it’s done to avoid tipping the boys in the MDR, who knows??

The staff are fantastic, as they always are on Thomson ships, so friendly and helpful, I would say they are no more or less friendly than the other ships.

The entertainment was excellent, all very talented performers as usual with Thomson, they do provide the best west end style shows at sea. The day at sea plays were excellent and I can also recommend the backstage tour, it certainly gives an insight into the hard work they all do and the cramped facilities they put up with.

We were disappointed that we didn’t go to Mykonos the first week, we were told by the Captain that it was too windy and we therefore went to Rhodes instead. We were looking forward to this as the Majesty was due in port the same day and we wanted to meet up with some of our friends that work on the ship. The cruise news informed us that the Majesty was at the Island of Syros. When we returned home we found out that the Majesty had been to Mykonos on that day. It seems that Thomson don’t tell you the whole story, only what they want you to hear, a bit like the Celebration not making Santorini a few times over the summer when we know other ships have made it in... Hmm... not happy :mad:

The itinerary was good, however many people we spoke to were unhappy about missing Israel the first week and Beirut the second. This didn’t bother us as we knew about the Israel change before we booked and would rather be safe in the changed port of Mykonos than Beirut. So we visited Piraeus and Rhodes twice on this cruise. The X80 bus service from Piraeus to Athens is excellent, you have to get a €4 day ticket from the kiosk close to where the HoHo buses are, and the bus stop is just across the road. We just waved off the hoards of taxi drivers that were stopping at the bus stop telling us that there were no buses today. The bus driver was really good, he got out of the bus at the stop for Acropolis and Plaka and explained to everyone which way to go for the different attractions, inviting us back onto the bus if we wanted to get off at the next stop which is Syntagyma Square, and told us exactly where the stops are in order to get back. (Just outside McDonald’s from Syntagyma Square) The journey takes 15-20 minutes depending on traffic.

Whilst in Rhodes we visited the Jewish Museum, we are not Jewish, but found it a really interesting hour or so. The history of the Jews on the Island is so fascinating, and told really well.

We got the local bus to Knossos from Heraklion, €3 each return and €6 each into the attraction, a taxi driver wanted €60 just for the transport. The bus station is a 10 minute walk from the port and the bus drops you off right outside Knossos.

In summary it was a very relaxing cruise, mainly because we have done most of the ports before and didn’t feel the need to rush around and see everything. The Spirit is a fine vessel and we would not hesitate in sailing on her again.

Ps:

Some cabin and ship pictures:

https://joeholiday2.shutterfly.com/pictures/2000

If you check in online (which I think you have to do, not sure if they can refuse boarding if you haven't???) you stand a better chance of being seated together than just turning up at the gate.

The earlier you check in the better, as the seats together will get allocated first.

Maybe someone who has just turned up at the gate will be able to tell us what happens? We have always printed them out since this system has been in place.

If you booked through a TA then they will do all this for you.

Like Dave we only print the first 2 pages of the E-ticket, the rest of it is BS.

A photo has just been posted on Thomson Cruises FB unofficial site showing Majesty and Spirit together in Mykonos. Spirit is docked and Majesty at anchor. Wonder if many of the crew get chance to meet.

 

Enjoy the sunshine, Linda. :)

They do meet up Jackie.

There is a picture of the band from Spirit and Adam Franks from the Maj up on FB.

Glad you are enjoying it Linda :D

Have a Mythos for me, and look after that tooth.:)

Joe.

Dave, you already have a reputation....:p:D:D

Not really any football showing:mad: the cabin TV's have sky sports news and sky news, bbc world, a couple of movie channels showing films on a loop.

No sports bar like on the NCL ships, however there are reports that they showed England matches early this year when the World cup was on. I have never known them to show any premiership matches.

Have a great time Linda.

The showteam are fantastic this year, and the improved San Marco has made the breakfast and lunch service better.

Fair winds and calm seas.

Joe.