Gormels

Have just returned from a fabulous 2 weeks in the Caribbean on the Celebration. We also enjoy a decent glass of wine. Having purchased a wine package for 7 bottles (£99 I think) we were advised that the premium upgrade was much better value at £50 per person per week. This included unlimited upgraded wine, top shelf spirits and canned mixers, bottled beer, liquer coffees, 2 large bottles of water each day, all cocktails as well as Coffee Port drinks.

For us it was well worth the money for wine alone.

Hope this helps:)

From our perspective,we prefer the smaller ship.Whilst we enjoyed the Discovery around the Caribbean in January, we missed the friendliness of the crew and the smaller ship 'atmosphere 'of the Celebration - so much so we have booked to go back on her next year. The way things seem to be progressing with Thomson being slowly but surely taken over by TUI, I dont think that this option will be available for much longer, and we are going to enjoy it while we can.

Robes were provided in our cabin 8084 Junior Suite over looking the back of the ship so I presume they must be in all the suites on Discovery also had Clarins toiletries which was an added bonus!

Thank you for your replies regarding my posting in respect of Thomson v P and O pricing. It now has its own dedicated thread in the correct manner as promised. Once again apologies for the error.

Many apologies for the above post, didnt mean to hijack the thread. Having a Monday morning moment, and have now resubmitted in correct place.

Having been on Thomson cruises for the past four years ( 2x Celebration,2x Destiny), we are currently in the process of evaluating our options for 2014. The Caribbean will definitely be the destination and we were pretty certain that we would be aboard the Dream for 14 nights to celebrate my `half century `

Therefore we visited Thomson`s website and priced up a two week cruise in a deluxe cabin, together with the drinks package and premium seating from Gatwick. Having seen the Azura in the Caribbean when we were aboard the Destiny in 2011,we decided to have a look at the P and O website in order to obtain a price ,thinking that it would be beyond our budget.

I was surprised to learn that this was not the case, and a cruise aboard the Azura on similar dates, in the lowest grade balcony cabin, together with premium seating, was approximately £500 less than what was quoted for the Dream. Whilst I appreciate that drinks would not be included on the Azura, a per person on board credit of £70 is offered.

This has made what was going to be a perfectly straightforward decision rather difficult. We are loyal Thomson customers and enjoy the atmosphere of the ships and the attentiveness of the crew . However on our last cruise ( Red Sea Jan 2013) we encountered some difficulty obtaining sunbeds and whilst staff took measures to mitigate

the situation, the lure of your own private balcony on a newer more modern ship is somewhat appealing!

Once again I must stress that we have thoroughly enjoyed all our cruises with Thomson, however when looked at objectively the prices charged do seem to be encroaching upon those levied for much newer vessels.

Apologies if this has been brought up before, but I would be interested to learn if any forum members have also undertaken this comparison, and if they have, what conclusions were drawn.